Faculty Scholarship

DR. SARANNA R. THORNTON, ELLIOTT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS

A NATIONALLY recognized expert on how the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act apply to faculty in higher education, Elliott Professor of Economics Saranna R. Thornton has seen her scholarship cited in The Law of Higher Education [William A Kaplin and Barbara A. Lee, 2 vols., 4th ed. (Josey-Bass Publishers, August 2006)], the most comprehensive reference book on higher-education law. In addition, she has done research on sexual-harassment law, affirmative action law, and employee benefits policies, and has served as a consultant for Hampden-Sydney and a number of other American institutions.

She has also served as a consultant for the American Association of University Professors
(AAUP) and the International Association for Feminist Economics. Thornton authored a legal brief for the American Economics Association’s Executive Board on affirmative action in job advertisements, which resulted in a change of policies by the association.

She chairs the Committee on the Economic Status of the Profession of the AAUP, which
analyzes salaries and benefi ts for college and university professors. The committee chair is the chief economist for the AAUP membership. The most recent reports are “The Devaluing of Higher Education: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2005-06” [ Academe (March-April 2006), pp. 24-34] and“Financial Inequality in Higher Education: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2006-07” [ Academe (March-April 2007), pp. 20-34].

She also wrote “Making Graduate School More Parent Friendly” for the November- December 2005 issue of Academe, and two essays for the Chronicle of Higher Education:
“From Fantasizer to Fulbright Scholar (September 22, 2006) and “Beijing and Back”
(November 24, 2006). In October of 2005 she chaired a session on “Returns to Education,
Returns to Gender” at the meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and
Management.

In the summer of 2007 Thornton supervised the honors research project of Ivo I. Gyurovski ’09, “Economic Eff ects of Polish Emigration on Poland and Destination Countries”; and during the academic year she arranged fi eld trips for students to tour the facilities of the Virginia Port Authority in Norfolk and to hear a presentation on the logistics of international trade by J. Robert Bray ’60, and to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond for economic briefings by economists there.

With Elliott Associate Professor of English Sarah B. Hardy, Thornton, who received degrees from Colby College (B.A.), the University of Texas (M.P.A.), and Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D.) before arriving at the College in 1996, has organized the last three Summer Alumni Colleges. She was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2006 and at commencement that year received a John Brooks Fuqua Award for Excellence in Teaching.