Women Inspire Archives
The Office of The Provost celebrates the achievements of Georgia State University women who motivate and inspire others. Here, you will find archival video from previous editions of the Women Inspire Speaker Series.
Open to the university community, the speaker series has showcased distinctive women from the ranks of Georgia State’s stellar faculty, leading administrators and distinguished alumni who are making a difference and are eager to share their stories to empower others.
Additional information is available from the Advancement of Women website at https://aofw.gsu.edu/. Any future updates about this series or other similar events will be posted at that address.
2018-19 Nominations
The Office of the Provost is seeking nominations for women faculty to serve as speakers for the 2018-19 Women Inspire Speaker Series. Please submit your nominations by clicking the button below.
Nominations will be accepted on a rolling basis, but speaker selection for Fall 2018 will begin July 2, 2018. Please contact Kavita Pandit, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, at [email protected], if you have any questions.
2017-18 Speaker Series Highlights
Ann-Margaret Esnard: From Katrina to Nate and Everything in Between: A Planner’s Perspective on Reshuffling the Disaster Management Puzzle Pieces
Ann-Margaret Esnard, who opened the 2017-18 speaker series in October 2017, is Associate Dean for Research and Strategic Initiatives in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Public Management and Policy. She first came to Georgia State under the university’s Second Century Initiative, which sought to bring top faculty in their fields to pursue innovative and impactful research at Georgia State. She served as the Chair of Georgia State’s Council for the Progress of Cities from 2014-2016.
Her expertise encompasses urban planning, disaster planning, vulnerability assessment, and GIS/spatial analysis. She has been involved in a number of research initiatives, including NSF funded projects on topics of population displacement from catastrophic disasters, school recovery after disasters, long-term recovery, and community resilience. She is the coauthor of the 2014 book Displaced by Disasters: Recovery and Resilience in a Globalizing World, and co-editor of the 2017 book Coming Home after Disaster: Multiple Dimensions of Housing Recovery.
Esnard has served on a number of state and national committees including the Disasters Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council’s committee on Private-Public Sector Collaboration to Enhance Community Disaster Resilience, and the State of Florida Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning initiative. She currently serves as a member of the Committee for Measuring Community Resilience led by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Esnard holds degrees in Agricultural Engineering (B.Sc., University of the West Indies-Trinidad), Agronomy and Soils (M.S., University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez) and Regional Planning (Ph.D., UMASS-Amherst). She also completed a two year post-doc at UNC-Chapel Hill.
MaryAnn Romski: Breaking the Speech Barrier
Speech is such an essential part of human communication that we may take it for granted. Not having the ability to speak has historically excluded individuals with severe speech and language disorders from social interaction as well as from opportunities in employment, education and more.
On March 8, 2018 as part of the Women Inspire speaker series, Georgia State’s Dr. MaryAnn Romski discussed her research that has led to new discoveries, technological interventions and supports for parents, teachers and caregivers of children with severe speech and language disorders.
The talk was entitled: “Giving a Voice to Individuals With Disabilities: Breaking the Speech Barrier.”
Dr. Romski is a Regents Professor of Communication, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Educational Psychology, Special Education & Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Education and Human Development.
Risa Palm: Political Ideology and Views on Climate Change
Although most Americans believe that climate change exists and is a serious problem, a significant and vocal minority don’t. As the country’s political climate continues to polarize, is it possible that something might shift beliefs about one of the most serious threats facing society?
During the final session of the 2017-18 Women Inspire Speaker Series, Risa Palm, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, presented “Political Ideology and Climate Change Attitudes,” discussing findings of research about how political ideology influences views on climate change, and whether those views may change if people become more informed about the problem or experience the effects of climate change first-hand.
Along with a global comparison of views about climate change and common predictors about those beliefs, Dr. Palm also gave an overview of findings about what might shift the beliefs of those in the U.S. who do not perceive climate change as a serious risk to the nation and the world during the 21st century. The research, a collaboration with Georgia State Professor Greg Lewis (public policy) and Associate Professor Toby Bolsen, along with graduate students Bo Feng and Justin Kingsland, continues.