Lecture Speakers
Mary Gatta, PhD, will be the evening keynote speaker for the Annual Social and Economic Justice Lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010.
Dr. Gatta is a Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is also the director of Gender and Workforce Policy at the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers. She holds a doctorate and master's degrees in sociology from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree in social science from Providence College. Her areas of expertise include gender and public policy, low wage workers, earnings inequality, and evaluation research on workforce projects.
Dr. Gatta has published several books, articles, and policy papers. Her latest book, Not Just Getting By: The New Era of Flexible Workforce Development released by Lexington Press's imprint Press for Change, chronicles groundbreaking thinking and research on new and innovative workforce development initiatives that delivers skills training to single working poor mothers via the Internet. Her book, Juggling Food and Feelings: Emotional Balance in the Workplace was released by Lexington Press in 2002. She is currently one of the editors on an upcoming book A US Skills System for the 21st Century: Innovations in Workforce Education and Development to be published by Cornell Press in 2011.
In addition to books, Dr. Gatta has published numerous scholarly articles and public policy papers on topics including gender equity in academia, the gender based pay gap, and welfare policy. She is currently working on two large research projects—a cross-national study of women union leaders; and the experiences of women navigating the public workforce development system. In addition, Dr. Gatta is evaluating a NSF-ADVANCE grant at Rutgers University to promote institutional transformation to promote opportunities in higher education and the sciences.
Yvonne Luna, PhD, will deliver the afternoon Annual Social and Economic Justice Lecture.
Dr. Luna is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.She is also the Sociology Internship Coordinator for the Department of Sociology and Social Work in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at NAU. She holds a doctorate, master's and bachelor's degrees from Arizona State University.
She was the 2008-09 College of Social and Behavioral Sciences' Outstanding Teacher at NAU. Her research and teaching interests include social stratification, poverty and welfare, and race and ethnic relations. She has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, technical reports and monographs.
For more information contact Katy Strzepek, 563/333-6113.