Emerald Archer named director of Mount Saint Mary's University's new Center for the Advancement of Women

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ One of the nation's premier women's universities is expanding its efforts to become a hub for gender research, advocacy and women's leadership development. To lead the way, Mount Saint Mary's University has named Emerald Archer, PhD, as the inaugural director of its new Center for the Advancement of Women.

"Our goal is bold," Archer says. "In partnership with a diverse coalition of partners, we will work to eradicate gender discrimination in our lifetime."

The goal is bold, but leading on issues related to women's empowerment and gender equity is nothing new to Mount Saint Mary's. The Center for the Advancement of Women will build on an established legacy at the Mount. For the past six years, the University has produced an annual Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California, as well as customized local-level reports commissioned by governments and nonprofits across the state.

Mount Saint Mary's also convenes rising women leaders for two additional public events each year. Ready to Run is a campaign-training program designed to get more women running for office and involved in policymaking. And the Mount's annual Women's Leadership Conference, which takes place this Saturday, Sept. 16, is a day-long event featuring cutting-edge leaders of industry who help women enhance and expand their existing leadership skills across a variety of fields.

Launched in 2017, the Center for the Advancement of Women will build upon these initiatives as a dedicated hub for our most impactful work. The Center provides an opportunity to deepen our research, expand our training support throughout the state, and amplify our advocacy work to improve the lives of women, girls and families everywhere.

Emerald Archer is now tasked with advancing those efforts. Prior to joining Mount Saint Mary's, Archer served as the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and as a political science professor at Woodbury University. She has dedicated her research to gender equity, stereotype threat and women's representation in non-traditional sectors. This August, she published the much-praised book, Women, Warfare and Representation: American Servicewomen in the Twentieth Century. Her PhD in political science is from the University of California, Santa Barbara.