The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) welcomes 13 new faculty members this fall, bringing expertise spanning structural geology, quantum information theory, auditory neuroscience and creative writing.

"This new group of faculty reflects our College’s interdisciplinary strengths," says A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi. "Their work speaks directly to our vision for a liberal arts education. I'm confident they'll help our students think across disciplines and tackle the grand challenges facing our world today."

Meet the new A&S professors

Melissa Birkett Greene, associate teaching professor, psychology

• Education: Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2007

Adam Cawood, Michael G. and Susan T. Thonis Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, Earth and environmental sciences

• Education: Ph.D., Structural Geology, University of Aberdeen & NERC CDT in Oil & Gas, 2019; B.S., Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, 2015
• Previous Position: Senior Research Scientist, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
• Key Award/Honor: Distinguished Lecturer, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 2025

Nicole Davis, assistant teaching professor, biology

• Education: Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, Wake Forest University, 2010; B.S., biochemistry, Florida State University
• Previous Position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Southern University, 2018-22
• Key Award/Honor: Education Fellow, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2017-22

Aditi Gargeshwari, assistant professor, communication sciences and disorders

• Education: Ph.D., auditory neuroscience, Purdue University, 2023; M.S., audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, 2016; B.S., speech language pathology and audiology, J.S.S. Institute of Speech and Hearing, 2014
• Previous Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Binaural Hearing and Speech Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Key Award/Honor: 2026 University of Wisconsin-Madison Provost and Vice Chancellor's Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities

Hannah Holland-Moritz, research assistant professor, biology

• Education: Ph.D., ecology and evolutionary biology, University of Colorado Boulder, 2021; B.S., biochemistry and molecular biology, University of California, Davis, 2014
• Previous Position: Research Scientist, University of New Hampshire, 2023-26
• Key Award/Honor: BRiDGE Scholar, in recognition of her achievements and support of early-career scientists

Christopher Niemczak, assistant professor, communication sciences and disorders

• Education: Ph.D., auditory neuroscience, Syracuse University, 2020; Au.D., Syracuse University, 2018; B.S., communication sciences and disorders, University of Vermont, 2013
• Previous Position: Assistant Professor of Medicine and Scientist, Space Medicine Innovations Lab, Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine
• Key Award/Honor: Principal investigator, NIH R21 award examining whether auditory measures can quantify cognitive fatigue in long COVID

Yanjun Qian, assistant teaching professor, mathematics

• Education: Ph.D., industrial and systems engineering, Texas A&M University, 2018; M.S., automation, 2012, and B.S., automation, 2009, Tsinghua University
• Previous Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018-26

Gabriella Reynolds, assistant professor, communication sciences and disorders

• Education: Ph.D., communication sciences and disorders, University of South Carolina, 2021; M.S., speech-language pathology, Gallaudet University, 2014; B.A., linguistics, Georgetown University, 2010
• Previous Position: Assistant Professor, Long Island University Post
• Key Award/Honor: 2024 American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Editor's Award

Isabel Salas, assistant professor, biology and neuroscience

• Education: Ph.D., biomedical sciences, KU Leuven-VIB, Belgium, 2017; master's, molecular and cell biology, and bachelor's, biochemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, 2013 and 2012
• Previous Position: Senior Research Associate, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 2024-2026
• Key Award/Honor: Fellowships from the Alzheimer's Association and the BrightFocus Foundation

Anthony Taylor, assistant professor, philosophy

• Education: D.Phil., University of Oxford, 2018; M.A. and B.A., University of Manchester, 2012 and 2011
• Previous Position: Senior Researcher, Chair for Ethics and Political Philosophy, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
• Key Award/Honor: Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowship, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Alejandro Varela, visiting professor of practice, English

• Education: Master's in public health, University of Washington
• Key Award/Honor: Finalist, National Book Award, for "The Town of Babylon"

Aron Wall, professor, physics

• Education: Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2011
• Previous Position: Faculty, University of Cambridge
• Key Award/Honor: New Horizons Prize, Breakthrough Prize Foundation, 2019

Peixue Wu, assistant professor, mathematics

• Education: Ph.D., mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023; B.S., mathematics, Fudan University, 2017
• Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo
• Key Award/Honor: Simons Empire Faculty Fellow in Mathematics