UNLV's College of Liberal Arts recently appointed Lois Helmbold as chair of its women's studies department.

Helmbold will oversee the department's growing academic programs, which include an undergraduate minor, major, and new graduate certificate program.

"Lois Helmbold's extensive experience and scholarly accomplishments in the field of history and women's studies are impressive," said Jim Frey, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. "Her reputation as a pioneer in the field will serve as a great asset to UNLV and the community of Southern Nevada."

Helmbold brings to UNLV more than 30 years of teaching and scholarship in the fields of history and women's studies. Previously, she was a professor and coordinator of the women's studies program at San Jose State University. During her 13-year tenure there she also served as a Fulbright senior lecturer in American studies at Tsuda College and Japan Women's University in Tokyo.

Other career highlights include a Rockefeller post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Research on Women, a cooperative program administered by Duke University and the University of North Carolina. She was also the academic coordinator for women's studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She started her teaching career in 1969 at Mary Holmes College, an historically Black institution in West Point, Miss.

In addition to her teaching experience, Helmbold is also a prolific author of historical scholarship and feminist commentary. Her articles have been published in the country's leading academic journals and she has lectured extensively around the nation and the world. She is currently finishing a book that compares the survival strategies of black and white working-class women during the Great Depression.

Helmbold received her Ph.D. in history from Stanford University and her master's and bachelor's degrees in history from the University of Michigan and University of Richmond, respectively.