Rodney T. Whitaker is one of nine faculty members to be promoted to the rank of University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. Those honored with this title are recognized for their achievements in the classroom, laboratory, and the community.
Professor Whitaker is a professor in the university’s College of Music and director of the jazz studies program. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Metta Sama was named an assistant professor of creative writing and director of the Center for Women Writers at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was a visiting assistant professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Dr. Sama is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She holds a master’s degree and a master of fine arts degree from Western Michigan University and a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York system.
