Colgate welcomes 44 new faculty members

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Colgate welcomed a host of new faculty members diverse in background and expertise in August, introducing a fresh group of faces and reintroducing some familiar ones in new roles.

Four former visiting professors -— Sally Bonet, educational studies; Jennifer LeMesurier, writing and rhetoric; Andrew Pattison, environmental studies; and Ashley Taylor, educational studies -— have been hired to tenure-stream positions.

The new faculty members bring a wide range of research interests, from Brenda Sanya, who is co-editing a book on feminism and technology in Kenya, to Isla Globus-Harris, who studies the intersection of economics and environmental policy. The Division of University Studies has welcomed the most new professors, welcoming five new members. Bonet, who served as a visiting assistant professor in educational studies last year before joining on a permanent basis this year, researches educational outcomes of refugee families and youth, specifically on Arab and Muslim students in a post-9/11 context.

The new crop of faculty members reflects Colgate’s commitment to diversity, improving on racial diversity and gender balance compared to last year’s faculty demographics figures. The 44 incoming professors are split evenly between men and women, while more than a quarter said they identified as people of color.

Read a full list of new faculty and their biographies below.

  • Brittany Adell, Instructor in Physical Education and Head Women’s Rowing Coach
  • Jomarie Alano, Lecturer in University Studies
  • Nicholas Albertson, Lecturer in University Studies and Japanese
  • Casey Avaunt, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater
  • Antonio Bentivegna, Visiting Assistant Professor in Spanish
  • Steve Black, Associate University Librarian
  • Sally Bonet, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies
  • Courtney Campany, Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology
  • Lianca Carlesi, Visiting Lecturer in Italian
  • Seth Coluzzi, Assistant Professor of Music
  • April Cornell, Instructor in Physical Education and Head Field Hockey Coach
  • Michael Danti, Colgate NEH Associate Professor of the Humanities in the Department of the Classics (Fall 2017)
  • Yedida Eisenstat, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies
  • Christopher Ejizu, Colgate NEH Professor in the Humanities in the Department of Religion and the Africana and Latin American Studies Program (Spring 2018)
  • Maximiliano Ferro, Lecturer in Art & Art History
  • Joshua Finnell, Head of Research and Instruction; Associate Professor in the University Libraries
  • Alexander Forte, Visiting Assistant Professor of the Classics
  • Dennis Geist, Lecturer in University Studies
  • Isla Globus-Harris, Assistant Professor of Economics
  • Jacob Goldberg, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
  • Emma Greensmith, Visiting Instructor in the Classics
  • Rachel Hanson, Olive B. O’Connor Creative Writing Fellow in the Department of English
  • Margaretha Haughwout, Assistant Professor of Art and Art History
  • Emily Jaeger, Olive B. O’Connor Creative Writing Fellow in the Department of English
  • Sandra Jackson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science
  • Aftab Jassal, Assistant Professor of Religion
  • Travis Jeffres, Lecturer in History
  • Mahita Kadmiel, Lecturer in Biology
  • Alison Koleszar, Lecturer and Research Associate in Geology
  • Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater
  • Jennifer LeMesurier, Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
  • Marissa Lamison-Myers, Instructor in Physical Education and Head Softball Coach
  • Joseph Levy, Assistant Professor of Geology
  • Erik Lillethun, Assistant Professor of Economics
  • Daniel Ludwinski, Visiting Instructor of Economics
  • Matthew Luttig, Assistant Professor of Political Science
  • Jie Ma, Visiting Instructor in Economics
  • Sean Macdonald, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese
  • Sarah Mattes, Lecturer in Art & Art History
  • Scott Mehl, Assistant Professor of Japanese
  • Tanya Minteer, Lecturer in Biology
  • Reagan Mitchell, Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Studies
  • Rajinikanth Mohan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
  • Stephen Owen, Lecturer in Economics
  • Andrew Pattison, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Amanda Rogers, Visiting Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
  • Sam Rosenfeld, Assistant Professor of Political Science
  • Arthur Salvo, Visiting Assistant Professor of German
  • Sophie Salvo, Lecturer in University Studies
  • Brenda Sanya, Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Studies
  • Walter Tangarife Garcia, Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics
  • Sara Tanis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
  • Ashley Taylor, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies
  • Semiha Topal, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Spring 2018)
  • Megan Varney, Visiting Lecturer and Second Language (ESL/ELL) Coordinator
  • Rachel White, Head of Metadata and Cataloging; Associate Professor in the University Libraries
  • Haiyan Zhang, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology