Leading Thinkers Join A&S Faculty in Fall 2024
Meet the new professors teaching in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) welcomes 12 new faculty members in Fall 2024. According to A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi, their new perspectives will enrich both the breadth and depth of research and scholarship within the College.
“I am thrilled to welcome this new cohort of professors this fall,” says Mortazavi. “As leaders in subjects ranging from biophysics research to media psychology, they will help guide and inspire our students as we seek together to answer big questions and help solve some of the world’s grandest challenges, including climate change, social justice and human thriving, and health and wellness.”
Meet the new A&S professors
Christopher Bousquet, visiting assistant teaching professor, philosophy
Instructional philosophy: “I hope to engage my students in the practice of philosophy, encouraging them to solve practical political, social and ethical problems using the tools of the philosophical method.”
- Ph.D., philosophy, Syracuse University
- Specializations: social and political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of law
- Previous position: instructor, Syracuse University
- Key honor/award: Syracuse University Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2022)
Shukai Du, assistant professor, mathematics
Instructional philosophy: “The general objective of my teaching is twofold: first, to help students recognize and appreciate the beauty of math, and second, to equip them with the skills to weave mathematical thinking into their study and future professional endeavors.”
- Ph.D., applied mathematics, University of Delaware
- Specializations: numerical analysis, scientific machine learning and inverse problems
- Previous position: visiting assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Key honor/award: Wenbo Li Prize for Graduate Research, University of Delaware (2020)
Katie Duchscherer, assistant teaching professor, psychology
Instructional philosophy: “My favorite part of teaching is getting students excited about the process of conducting psychological research. I aim to inspire students to become scientific thinkers: to apply the principles of hypothesis testing, critical analysis and application of knowledge to their everyday lives, even if they do not plan on doing formal scientific work after college.”
- Ph.D., Yale University
- Specializations: media psychology, social identity and individuation processes in virtual spaces
- Previous position: visiting assistant professor, Quinnipiac University
- Key honor/award: Degree with Honors and Distinction, Stanford University
Ellen Hebden, assistant professor, art and music histories
Instructional philosophy: “I approach teaching and learning as community-based and applied. As a result, my students develop strong research ethics while learning to reflect on their position within, and responsibilities to, the communities they work and live in.”
- Ph.D., cultural anthropology and ethnomusicology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Specializations: music and dance performance, gender and sexuality and mobility politics (how the movement of people and information is regulated and influenced within a society)
- Previous position: assistant professor of ethnomusicology, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
- Key honor/award: Research Development Fellow, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2023-24)
Lynne Henry, assistant teaching professor, communication sciences and disorders
Instructional philosophy: “I’ve worked in various clinical settings with individuals from birth to end of life, including early intervention, preschool and school age, acute care, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned through those experiences with undergraduate and graduate students in the Gebbie Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.”
- M.S., speech-language pathology, State University of New York at Fredonia
- Specializations: dysphagia, cognitive-linguistic rehabilitation, speech and language development and bilingual speech development
- Previous position: speech-language pathologist, North Syracuse Central School District
Colm Kelleher, assistant professor, physics
Instructional Philosophy: “Research in oocyte and embryo biophysics is intrinsically interdisciplinary. Our lab members learn to work in a team that depends critically on expertise in fields ranging from clinical IVF to theoretical physics.”
- Ph.D., physics, New York University
- Specializations: biophysics, cell biology and embryology
- Previous position: postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
- Key awards/honors: White Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Harvard University (2020)
Alexander Maloney, Kathy and Stan Walters Endowed Professor of Quantum Science; Director, Institute for Quantum and Information Science, physics
Instructional Philosophy: “There is nothing more exciting than sharing knowledge with students, and nothing more fun than a good physics problem. The best science often comes from conversation and dialogue, not just sitting alone in a room trying to think deep thoughts. So, I work closely with students, but also give them enough independence to develop their own perspectives and expertise.”
- Ph.D., physics, Harvard University
- Specializations: fundamental theoretical physics, quantum information theory, black holes, cosmology and quantum field theory
- Previous position: James McGill Professor of Physics, McGill University
- Key honor/award: John David Jackson Award for excellence in teaching, McGill University
Jessica Mejia, assistant professor, Earth and environmental sciences
Instructional Philosophy: “From my experiences teaching students in classroom and field settings I have developed a student-centered pedagogy to build a collaborative classroom environment that leverages peer-to-peer learning techniques. The purpose of this approach is for students to build the skills of independent learning that are necessary for students to contribute meaningfully to their chosen field.”
- Ph.D., geology, University of South Florida
- Specializations: glaciology, glacial hydrology and ice dynamics
- Previous position: postdoctoral fellow, SUNY University at Buffalo, Glacier Modeling Lab
- Key honor/award: Fred L. and Helen M. Tharp Scholarship (2020)
Shahar Sukenik, assistant professor, chemistry
Instructional Philosophy: “I believe there’s no ‘one-size fits all’ approach to mentorship. My goal is to help my students and trainees achieve their goals by working together to understand what those are and coming up with a road map that will help reach them.”
- Ph.D., chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
- Specializations: protein biophysics, intrinsically disordered proteins, and environmental stress
- Previous position: assistant professor, University of California Merced
- Key awards/honors: 2024 Sloan Fellow in chemistry
Britt Tevis, Phyllis Backer Professor of Jewish Studies and assistant professor of history (Maxwell)
Instructional Philosophy: “To my mind it is impossible to overstate the importance of historical knowledge. I believe that history teaches us why our world functions as it does, illuminating how people made given choices and shaped later developments. I am overjoyed to join the incredible faculty here as the Backer Professor of Jewish Studies, as I pursue my work and have the opportunity to uncover many of the underdeveloped and undertheorized dimensions of American Jewish history.”
- J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School; Ph.D., history, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Specializations: Jewish studies, antisemitism and American law
- Previous position: postdoctoral fellow, Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, Columbia University
- Key honor/award: Two-time winner (2016, 2022) of the American Jewish Historical Society’s Wasserman Essay Prize for best article
Elizabeth Tollar, assistant teaching professor, communication sciences and disorders
Instructional Philosophy: “My hope is that my students will become passionate about using their knowledge to positively impact their future students, patients, or clients. I hope that their curiosity and critical thinking skills will continue to develop throughout their lifetime, and that it will help them to value diversity of thought and to foster the confidence to pursue their goals and empathy to collaborate with others.”
- M.S., speech language pathology, Syracuse University
- Specializations: study, evaluation and remediation of communication disorders in children with a focus on augmentative and alternative communication/assistive technology
- Previous position: licensed and accredited speech-language pathologist in private practice
Jiwoon Yulee, assistant teaching professor, women’s and gender studies
Instructional Philosophy: "I encourage students to navigate the world not as isolated 'monads' but as integral parts of an ecologically weaved social fabric. My teaching is grounded in feminist practice and emancipatory pedagogy."
- Ph.D., feminist studies, University of Washington
- Specializations: intersectional social movement, alternative unionism, feminist social reproduction, East Asian labor history, global political economy and financialization
- Previous position: visiting assistant teaching professor, Syracuse University (2022-24)
- Key honor/award: National Women’s Studies Association & University of Illinois Press First Book Prize (2020)