Featured Board Members

Mary White Stewart, Associate Professor of Sociology, has been a faculty member at UNR for almost ten years, coming from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Nevada-Reno, focusing her research on deviance and communal movements. Her research and teaching interests lie in the area of deviance, gender, violence and family, areas she teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Dr. Stewart has a forthcoming book, Silicone Spills: Breast Implants on Trial, in which she analyzes the legal, medical, and socio-cultural factors related to the current breast implant debacle in this country. She incorporates an analysis of breast implants as violence against women and illustrative of corporate crime. Her earlier work has been concerned with other forms of violence against women, leading to a study conducted for the Nevada Supreme Court Gender Bias Taskforce on sexual assault in the Nevada Justice System. More recently her writing is on legal issues related to rape and evidence standards, and she continues consulting in breast implant and medical malpractice litigation.

Dr. Stewart has two daughters: Tyler, who is pursuing her secondary teaching certificate in literature, and Kate, who is majoring in anthropology, both at the University of Nevada-Reno.

Stephanie White Thorn was one of the original participants and hosts for the Center’s widely successful Festival for Peace ‘96, and she has been on the Center’s board of directors for two years.

Stephanie has been recognized as one of the University of Nevada, Reno Board of Regent Outstanding Student Scholars for the 1996-1997 academic school year. She is finishing up her Master's degree in English literature and is currently applying to PhD programs.

Ms. White Thorn received her BA in English from the University of Redlands. She spent a year studying in Paris, France, and most recently Stephanie was the recipient of a Rotary Graduate Fellowship, under whose auspices she was sent to study in Senegal, West Africa. Both of these experiences sparked Ms. White Thorn's interest in global issues. This commitment to diversity and expanding our definition of multiculturalism has been recognized by the University and the outside community. Ms. White Thorn is the advisor to Sister II Sister, a support group for women of color at the University, and she works closely with the Women's Resource Center and Women Studies Program at UNR.