Department of Geography

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Dean Elizabeth Smith recognizes faculty members who were appointed to an endowed chair, promoted, and awarded tenure, as well as recipients of awards or grants from the Dean of Faculty Office and from centers and institutes in the Arts and Sciences during the 2024-25 academic year.

Endowed Chairs

• Rebecca Biron (Spanish and Portuguese; Comparative Literature)
• Douglas Bolger (Environmental Studies)
• José del Pino (Spanish and Portuguese)
• Jeremy DeSilva (Anthropology)
• Vievee Frances (English and Creative Writing)
• Trica Keaton (African and African American Studies)
• Meredith Kelly (Earth Sciences)
• Eric Schaller (Biological Sciences)
• Sean Smith (Computer Science)
• Robert Staiger (Economics)
• Benjamin Valentino (Government)
• Melanie Taylor (English and Creative Writing; Native American and Indigenous Studies)
• Dennis Washburn (Comparative Literature; Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages; Film and Media Studies)
• Dean Wilcox (Chemistry)

Promotion to Full Professor

• George Edmondson (English and Creative Writing)
• Desirée Garcia (Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies)
• Udi Greenberg (History)
• Erich Osterberg (Earth Sciences)
• Jonathan Smolin (Middle Eastern Studies Program)
• Craig Sutton (Mathematics)
• Erik van Erp (Mathematics)

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

• Richard Beaudoin (Music)
• Mia Costa (Government)
• Rachel Feldman (Religion)
• Patrick Glauthier (Classics)
• Robert Hill (Biological Sciences)
• Yoonsang Lee (Mathematics)
• Katherine Nautiyal (Psychological and Brain Sciences)
• Golnar Nikpour (History)
• Jorge Quintana Navarrete (Spanish)
• Viola Störmer (Psychological and Brain Sciences)
• Soroush Vosoughi (Computer Science)

Promotion to Senior Lecturer

• Amy Garapic (Music)
• Maria De Greiff (Spanish and Portuguese)
• Christian Kohn (Theater)
• Melinda Petre (Economics)

Promotion to Research Assistant Professor

• Omar Sami Saydjari (Computer Science)

Dean of Faculty Awards

• Frank J. Guarini Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Off-Campus Programs: Petra Bonfert-Taylor and Petra McGillen
• Jerome Goldstein Award for Distinguished Teaching: Zaneta Thayer
• John M. Manley Huntington Award for Newly Tenured Faculty: Richard Beaudoin and Robert Hill
• John M. Manley Huntington Award for Newly Promoted Faculty: Erich Osterberg
• Robert A. Fish 1918 Memorial Prize: Michael Mastanduno
• Karen E. Wetterhahn Memorial Award for Distinguished Creative or Scholarly Achievement: Soroush Vosoughi
• Dean of Faculty Teaching Award: Wendy Epps and Francine A'ness
• Dean of Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentoring and Advising: Andrew Campbell
• Dean of Faculty Award for Exceptional Service: Alan Gustman
• Elizabeth Howland Hand-Otis Norton Pierce Award: Francis Magilligan

Dean of the Faculty Senior Faculty Grants

• Zahra Ayubi (Religion)
• William Cheng (Music)
• Deeparnab Chakrabarty (Computer Science)
• Feng Fu (Mathematics)
• Cecilia Gaposchkin (History)
• Paul Novosad (Economics)
• Chandrasekhar Ramanathan (Physics and Astronomy)

James Wright Sustaining Faculty Excellence Award

• Desirée Garcia (Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies)
• Patrick Glauthier (Classics)
• Jorge-Quintana Navarrete (Spanish and Portuguese)
• Kate Nautiyal (Psychological and Brain Sciences)

Ralph J. and Sheila Q. Maffei Faculty Fellowship Award

• Udi Greenberg (History)
• Mia Costa (Government)
• Rachel Feldman (Religion)
• Golnar Nikpour (History)

Mellon Research and Professional Development Award

• Katie Hornstein (Art History)
• Carolyn Dever (English and Creative Writing)
• Veronika Fuechtner (Comparative Literature, German Studies)
• William Cheng (Music)
• Israel Reyes (Spanish and Portuguese)

Dean of the Faculty Scholarly Innovation and Advancement Awards

• Bala Chaudhary (Environmental Studies), "SpoVis 2.0: Developing an Open Source AI Method for High-Throughput Microscopy Assessment of In Situ Microbial Biodiversity"
• Feng Fu (Mathematics), "Leverage Computational and Generative AI Technologies to Overcome Vaccine Skepticism"
• Edward Miller (History; Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages), "Imperfect Spies? Re-interpreting Pham Xuan An and the Intelligence History of the Vietnam War"

Leslie Center for the Humanities

Jonathan Crewe Fellowships for Associate Professors

Eng-Beng Lim (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages)
Petra McGillen (German Studies)

Co-sponsorships

Mauricio Acuña (Spanish and Portuguese); Zahra Ayubi (Religion); Ingrid Brioso Rieumont (Spanish and Portuguese); Jorge Cuéllar (Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies); Maria Clara De Greiff (Spanish and Portuguese); Hayri Dortdivanlioglu (Studio Art); Levi Gibbs (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages); Antonio Gómez (Spanish and Portuguese); Marie Larose (French and Italian); Marie Larose (French and Italian); Michael McGillen (German Studies); Edward Miller (History); James Murphy (Government); Annelise Orleck (Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies); Lynn Patyk (East European, Eurasian, and Russian Studies); Donald Pease (MALS); Donald Pease (English and Creative Writing); David Plunkett (Philosophy); Roberto Rey Agudo (Spanish and Portuguese); Israel Reyes (Spanish and Portuguese); Robert St. Clair (French and Italian); Patricia Stuelke (English and Creative Writing); Viktor Witkowski (Studio Art); Miya Xie (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages)

Faculty Research Grants

Danielle Callegari (French and Italian); Paul Carranza (Spanish and Portuguese); Anaiis Cisco (Film and Media Studies); Tania Convertini (French and Italian); Jorge Cuéllar (Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies); Maria Clara De Greiff (Spanish and Portuguese); Carol Dunne (Theater); Kate Gibbel (English and Creative Writing); Sergei Kan (Jewish Studies); Lada Kolomiytets (East European, Eurasian, and Russian Studies); Maximilien Novak (French and Italian); Kristin O'Rourke (Art History); E. Ornelas (Native American and Indigenous Studies); Sachi Schmidt-Hori (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages); Matt Siegle (Studio Art); Bianca Stone (English and Creative Writing); Miya Xie (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages)

Humanities Institutes

James Dorsey (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages)
Michael Wyatt (Comparative Literature)

Humanities Lab Grants

Tania Convertini (French and Italian); Jenny Lynn (Classics); Douglas Moody (Spanish and Portuguese); Alexandra Schultz (Classics); Julie Hruby (Classics); Victoria Somoff (East European, Eurasian, and Russian Studies); Anne Sosin (Anthropology)

Project Grants

César Alvarez (Music); Kianny Antigua (Spanish and Portuguese); Meryem Deniz (German Studies); Cecilia Gaposchkin (History); Lucas Hollister (French and Italian); Trica Keaton (African and African American Studies); Iyabo Kwayana (Film and Media Studies); Kelly McConnell (French and Italian); Petra McGillen (German Studies); Colleen Boggs (English and Creative Writing); Jorge Quintana Navarrete (Spanish and Portuguese); Israel Reyes (Spanish and Portuguese); Analola Santana (Theater); Dan Kotlowitz (Theater); Dennis Washburn (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages); Mark Williams (Film and Media Studies)

Venn Vision Grants

Innovative Chinese Curriculum Development Project
Ao Wang (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages); Lei Yan (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages); and Shucheng Zhang (Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages)

The Menstruation Project
Rebecca Clark (English and Creative Writing); Faiza Rahman (Religion); and Zaneta Thayer (Anthropology)

Nelson A. Rockefeller Center

Faculty Research Grant Awards

• Robert Bonner (History), "Enslaved Georgian Lives in a 21st Century Public/Digital History Project"
• Stephen Brooks (Government), "Command of Commerce: America's Enduring Economic Advantage over China"
• Mia Costa (Government), "Candidate Roots: Perceptions of Place and Region in U.S Politics"
• Mona Domosh (Geography), "Black Spatial Agency and the Making of U.S. Cities"
• Susanne Freidberg (Geography), "Healthier Soil, Healthier Food? Regenerative Agriculture Envisioned as Nutritional Solution"
• Apoorv Gupta and Jonathan Zinman (Economics), "Loan Transformation and Financial Distress"
• Brooke Harrington (Sociology), "Anti-Immigrant Sentiment As A Causal Factor in Tax Evasion"
• Darrin McMahon (History), "Whaling, Lighting, and Enlightenment: The Nantuckois of Dunkirk and the Struggle to Illuminate the World"
• Brendan Nyhan (Government), "Evaluating Social Media's Role in the Effort to Overturn the 2020 Election"
• Julia Rabig (History), "The Library Exception: Defending Public Space in an Age of Privatization"
• Casey Stockstill (Sociology), "Structural Racism and Investments in Child Care"
• Emily Walton (Sociology), "The New White Flight to Exurbia"
• Mahounan Yedomiffi (Economics), "Balancing the Scales: Gender Norms, Household Chores, and Girls' Educational Outcomes and Aspirations"

Neukom Institute for Computational Sciences

CompX Faculty Grant Awards (2025-26)

• Brendan Nyhan (Government), "Computational Analysis of the Social Media's Role in the Effort to Overturn the 2020 Election"
• Nate Dominy and Cat Hobaiter (Anthropology), "From Nests to Syntax: Using Deep Learning to Probe the Origins of Language"
• Tor Wager, Amin Dehghani, (Psychological and Brain Sciences) and Ethan Murphy (Thayer School of Engineering), "Advancing Non-Invasive Neuromodulation for Chronic Pain with Temporal Interference Stimulation"
• Kate Nautiyal (Psychological and Brain Sciences), "Understanding How Brain-wide Serotonin Encodes Reward"
• Emily Finn (Psychological and Brain Sciences), "Characterizing Differences between Human and LLM Predictions of Language"
• Yi "Louis" Lu (History), "Information Flows in Authoritarian Regimes Distant Reading Chronological Biographies of Chinese Communist Party Leaders"
• Mikhail Gronas (East European, Eurasia, & Russian Studies) & Sergey Bratus (Computer Science), "AI-TextbookMate: A Method to Augment Existing Textbooks with AI-Based Interactivity +"
• Bala Chaudhary (Environmental Studies), "SpoVis 2.0: Developing a Novel Open-source Method for High-throughput Microscopy Assessment of in Situ Microbial Biodiversity"
• Soroush Vosoughi (Computer Science), "Revitalization of Endangered Languages with AI"
• Jonathan Chipman (Geography), Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Hyperspectral Images to Enable Alpine Zone Ecological Research
• Sarah Kelly (Geography) and Charis Boke (Anthropology), Building a Community Science Tool for Inland Flooding in Vermont