Faculty are invited to meet with WSU GEARS FANs Faculty Family Advisors to discuss family leave, caregiver support, tenure clock extensions, and other aspects of managing work/family/life circumstances. FANs Advisors are trained to serve specific colleges on campus as outlined here. WSU GEARS generally adopts a broad definition of Family as “a socially recognized group (usually joined by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption) that forms an emotional connection among its members.”
Serving the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Fine, Performing, & Communication Arts, School of Business, College of Education, School of Information Sciences, Law School, School of Social Work:
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering | Years at WSU: 10
What motivated you to become a Faculty Family Advisor? I was motivated to be an Faculty Family Advisor to help those who have questions about family associated leave and don’t know who to ask. When was pregnant with my first child, it was difficult to determine what type of leave I was entitled to and no one in my department or college could help. I ended up having to meet with the associate provost for faculty affairs in order to figure out what I needed to do. I hope to help others avoid having to search for these answers.
I am married and have two children. Jaiden, my son is 6 and Riya, my daughter is 9 months.
Professor, Russian History | Years at WSU: 18
What motivated you to become a Faculty Family Advisor? I have been inspired by the work of the GEARS team and I wanted to help my colleagues balance work and family obligations. I have been an active parent and scholar over the past sixteen years, so hopefully I can share some of my experience in this role.
I live with my partner, and we are raising a son and daughter along with two attention-seeking cats, Coco and Simon.
Professor, Mathematics | Years at WSU: 19
What motivated you to become a Faculty Family Advisor? I applied to serve as a Faculty Family Advisor for two reasons. First, I strongly support the overall GEARS mission of making Wayne State University a better place to work for women. Second, I encountered some work-family challenges when my children were toddlers, and I would like to share the wisdom that I gained from that experience.
I live in Oakland County with my wife, three children (ages 8, 10, and 12), and two dogs.
Serving School of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences:
Professor, Molecular Medicine & Genetics & of Obstetrics and Gynecology | Years at WSU: 10
What motivated you to become a Faculty Family Advisor? The desire to share my experience and make a difference to improve work-life balance in STEM and women faculty retention rates.
My husband recently joined Wayne State as a full time faculty member, and I have two children (12 and 8 years old). We are Italian and value spending a lot of time together as a family, whether it is while cooking meals, playing games or going for walks. We have a hamster and leopard gecko.
Assistant Professor (Research), Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology | Years at WSU: 5
What motivated you to become a Faculty Family Advisor? The possibility of helping a colleague in situations that I was once in and didn’t know where to turn.
I live with my husband and our two year old daughter. We love eating pizza and spending time together, whether it’s playing with play-doh or reading books.