Meet the
New Faculty!

Emory College of Arts and Sciences welcomes an exceptional group of 46 new faculty members starting this fall who reflect ambitious recruitment and hiring from 2019 and Spring 2020. These new faculty bring extraordinary scholarly and pedagogical creativity across the humanities, the arts, and the natural and social sciences. 

Our newest faculty continue to enhance the diversity of the Emory community and their contributions will push the boundaries of discovery and scholarly impact in the liberal arts and sciences.

The College also celebrates several faculty recipients of named chairs and faculty who have been promoted to associate and full professors with tenure, senior lecturers, and professor of pedagogy.

Michelle Armstrong-Partida
Associate Professor
History

Michelle Armstrong-Partida completed her PhD in History at the University of Iowa (2008). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2019, Dr. Armstrong-Partida held a position at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Armstrong-Partida’s research interests are gender and sexuality, the use of violence in medieval society, as well as the social, cultural, and religious history of Spain and the Mediterranean, Jewish-Christian relations, and Medieval Islam. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Gender & History, Journal of History of Sexuality, and Cahiers de Fanjeaux.

Melvin Ayogu
Professor of Pedagogy
Economics

Melvin Ayogu completed his PhD in Economics at Ohio State University, Columbus (1989). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Ayogu held positions at the University of Cape Town, American University of Sharjah, University City, Gauteng Provincial Department of Infrastructure, Brookings Institution, Standard Bank Group, South Africa, Ohio State University, and James Madison University. Dr. Ayogu’s research interests are infrastructure nexus, value chain and economic diversification, kleptocracy and value-recovery of stolen public assets. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Journal of African Development, Telecommunications Policy, and Applied Financial Economics.

Marcela Benitez
Assistant Professor
Anthropology

Marcela Benitez completed her joint PhD in Biological Anthropology and Biopsychology at the University of Michigan (2016). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in Spring 2021, Dr. Benitez held positions at Georgia State University and the University of Michigan. Dr. Benitez’s research interests focus on behavioral endocrinology, biological anthropology, animal behavior, evolution of communication, and primatology. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including American Journal of Primatology, Scientific Reports, and International Journal of Primatology.

Sara Botto
Lecturer
Psychology

Sara Botto completed her PhD in Cognition and Development, Psychology at Emory University (2020). Dr. Botto’s research interests focus on the understanding of social partners in infancy and early childhood. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Child Development Perspectives, New York Times, and Body Schema and Body Image: New Directions.

Celia Campbell
Assistant Professor
Classics

Celia Campbell completed her DPhil in Latin Language & Literature at Trinity College, University of Oxford, UK (2014). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Campbell held positions at Florida State University, University of Virginia, Fordham University, New York University, and University of Oxford.  Dr. Campbell’s research interests are Latin poetry, Latin pseudepigrapha; Classical literature, and Senecan drama. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Lexis Vol. 34, Vergilius Vol. 63, and Ramus.

Mariana Candido
Acting Associate Professor
History

Mariana Candido completed her PhD in African History at York University (2006). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Candido held positions at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Kansas, Princeton University, and the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Dr. Candido’s research focuses on the Atlantic world and the African diaspora. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including History in Africa, Estudos Ibero-Americanos, and African Economic History.

Achille Castaldo
Assistant Professor
French & Italian Studies

Achille Castaldo completed his PhD in Romance Studies at Duke University (2019). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Castaldo held a position at Duke University. Dr. Castaldo’s research interests focus on Century Italian and French Literature, Aesthetics, Film Studies, and Mediterranean Studies. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including L’avventura, International Journal of Italian Film and Media Landscapes, Critica Letteraria, and Studi (e testi) Italiani.

Guangchen Chen
Assistant Professor
Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures

Guangchen Chen completed his PhD in Comparative Literature at Harvard University (2017). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Chen held positions at Princeton University, Harvard University, and Peking University. Dr. Chen’s research interests focus on modern Chinese and comparative literature. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, The Critical Flame: A Journal of Literature and Culture, and Comparative and World Literature.

Katherine Davis
Assistant Professor
Chemistry

Katherine Davis completed her PhD in Physics at Purdue University (2014). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Davis held positions at  Pennsylvania State University, Princeton University, Purdue University, and the University of Louisville. Dr. Davis’ research uses structural and spectroscopic techniques, with an emphasis on x-ray methods, to characterize the catalytic mechanisms of metalloenzymes. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Physical Review X.

Angela Dixon
Assistant Professor
Sociology

Angela Dixon completed her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy at Princeton University (2018). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Dixon held a position at Princeton University. Dr. Dixon’s research interests focus on race/ethnicity, skin color, stratification and inequality, and health. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including the Annual Review of Sociology and The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

Bernard Fraga
Associate Professor
Political Science

Bernard Fraga completed his PhD in Government and Social Policy at Harvard University (2013). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Fraga held positions at Indiana University and Harvard University. Dr. Fraga’s research focuses on American elections, racial/ethnic politics, and voting rights. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and the Stanford Law Review.

Emily Kalah Gade
Assistant Professor
Political Science

Emily Kalah Gade completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Washington (2017). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Gade held a position at the University of Washington. Dr. Gade’s research interests are political violence, insecurity, state use of force against civilians, civil resistance, terrorism/insurgency, discrimination, and human rights. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including The Political Methodologist, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Journal of Military Ethics.

David Gorkin
Assistant Professor
Biology

David Gorkin completed his PhD in Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2013). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in Spring 2021, Dr. Gorkin held a position at the University of California San Diego. Dr. Gorkin’s research focuses on epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation during mammalian development and cellular differentiation. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Nature Communications, Nature Neuroscience, and Cell. 

Kali Nicole Gross
Acting Professor
African American Studies

Kali Nicole Gross completed her PhD in History at the University of Pennsylvania (1999). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Gross held positions at Rutgers University, Wesleyan University, and University of Texas – Austin. Dr. Gross’s research interests focus on race, gender, incarceration, and justice. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Journal of American History, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, and Journal of African American History.

Nicole Guidotti-Hernandez
Acting Professor
English

Nicole Guidotti-Hernandez completed her PhD in English at Cornell University (2004). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2019, Dr. Guidotti-Hernandez held positions at University of Texas at Austin and the University of Arizona. Dr. Guidotti-Hernandez’ research interests are race, gender, class and sexuality in Latinx America. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Cultural Dynamics, Radical History Review, and English Language Notes. She has just completed her second book entitled Archiving Mexican Masculinities (Duke UP).

Rachel Hall-Clifford
Assistant Professor
Human Health and Sociology

Rachel Hall-Clifford completed her PhD in Anthropology at Boston University (2009). Prior to joining he faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Hall-Clifford held positions at Agnes Scott College, University of Rwanda, University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Boston University. Dr. Hall-Clifford’s research focuses on accessible health care for marginalized populations, health systems strengthening in post-genocide contexts, and global health fieldwork ethics. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Health and Human Rights Journal, Reproductive Health, and Social Science and Medicine.

John Heemstra
Senior Lecturer
Chemistry

John Heemstra completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2007). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Heemstra held a position at the University of Utah. Dr. Heemstra’s research interests focus on cloning, production, purification and characterization of new bioactive peptides from bacteria for therapeutic uses. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Biochemistry, ACS Synthetic Biology, and Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Richard Himes
Lecturer
Chemistry

Richard Himes completed his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at Purdue University (2004). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Himes held positions at the College of Charleston, The Citadel, Trident Technical College, Johns Hopkins University, and Purdue University. Dr. Himes’ research interests focus on biochemistry, bioorganic chemistry, and enzymology. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, JCI

Stefan Hoderlein
Professor
Economics

Stefan Hoderlein completed his PhD in Economics at Bonn University (2002). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Hoderlein held positions at Boston College, Harvard University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Brown University, and Mannheim University. Dr. Hoderlein’s research interests focus on the intersection of Econometrics with Computer Science. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Applied Econometrics, and Review of Economics and Statistics.

Nahomi Ichino
Associate Professor
Political Science

Nahomi Ichino completed her PhD in Political Science at Stanford University (2008). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Ichino held positions at the University of Michigan and Harvard University. Dr. Ichino’s research interests focus primarily on ethnic politics, voter behavior, and political parties in developing democracies. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Social Networks, Sociological Methods and Research, and American Journal of Political Science.

Axelle Karera
Assistant Professor
Philosophy

Axelle Karera completed her PhD in Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Karera held positions at Wesleyan University and Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Karera’s research focuses on 20th century continental philosophy, critical philosophy of race, contemporary critical theory, and environmental humanities. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Concept for a Critical Phenomenology, Critical Philosophy of Race, and Intervention in Contemporary Thought: History, Politics, Aesthetics.

Ho Jin Kim
Lecturer
Quantitative Theory & Methods

Ho Jin Kim completed his PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (2013). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Kim held positions at Georgia Gwinnett College, University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University. Dr. Kim’s research interests are infant perceptual and cognitive development. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Frontiers in Psychology, Developmental Science, and International Journal of Behavioral Development.

Philip Kragel
Assistant Professor
Psychology

Philip Kragel completed his PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Kragel held positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Duke University. Dr. Kragel’s research focuses on the neural underpinnings of affective behavior. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Science Advances, Journal of Neuroscience, and Neuroscience Letters.

Geoffrey Levin
Assistant Professor
Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies

Geoffrey Levin completed his PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies/History at New York University (2019). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Levin held a position at Harvard University. Dr. Levin’s research focuses on Israel-Diaspora relations, U.S.-Middle East relations, and perceptions of Israel/Palestine in the world. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Israel Studies Review, Arab Studies Journal, and Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies.

Fang Liu
Assistant Professor
Chemistry

Fang Liu completed her PhD in Chemistry at Stanford University (2017). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Liu held a position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Liu ‘s research focuses on the grand challenges in theoretical and computational chemistry. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Nature Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, and Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Talea Mayo
Assistant Professor
Mathematics

Talea Mayo completed her PhD in Computational Sciences, Engineering, and Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin (2013). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Mayo held positions at the University of Central Florida, Princeton University, and the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Mayo’s research interests are computational and applied mathematics and coastal engineering. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Science of the Total Environment, Renewable Energy, and Ocean Modelling.

Kate McKnelly
Lecturer
Chemistry

Kate McKnelly completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine (2020). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. McKnelly held several positions at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. McKnelly’s research focuses on chemical biology. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Biochemistry, Immunol, and Science Translational Medicine.

Malavika Murugan
Assistant Professor
Biology

Malavika Murugan completed her PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University (2013). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Murugan held a position at Princeton University. Dr. Murugan’s research focuses on neural circuit mechanisms underlying socially motivated behaviors. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Cell, Neuron, and Nature Neuroscience.

Edward Nam
Senior Lecturer
Biology

Edward Nam completed his PhD in Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University (2011). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Nam held positions at the University of St. Thomas, Baylor College of Medicine, and Vanderbilt University. Dr. Nam’s research focuses on DNA damage and DNA replication stress responses. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Plant Physiology, Computational Biology, and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Monika Raj
Acting Associate Professor
Chemistry

Monika Raj completed her PhD in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (2009). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Raj held positions at Panjab University, the Indian Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Seton Hall University, and Auburn University. Dr. Raj’s research focuses on the development of new chemical reactions, catalysis and ligation methodologies for synthesis of biological molecules. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Organic Letters, Chemical Communications, and Chemical Science.

Miguel Reyes
Lecturer
Biology

Miguel Reyes completed his PhD in Biology at Clark University (2016). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Reyes held positions at Clayton State University, Drepung Loseling Monastery, Spelman College, and Clark University. Dr. Reyes’ research interests are understanding the interaction between natural stressors, physiological tradeoffs, and ultimately adaptive ability. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Journal of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology Research, and Ecology of Freshwater Fish.

Marilia Ribeiro
Lecturer
Spanish and Portuguese

Marilia Ribeiro completed her PhD in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University (2008). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Ribeiro held positions at Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais, Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais, Michigan State University, Harvard University, and Brown University. Dr. Ribeiro’s research interests include modern and contemporary Lusophone literature and culture, autobiographies and autobiographical fiction, editing, translation, and the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Luso-Brazilian Review, Romance Notes, and Ellipsis: Journal of the American Portuguese Studies Association.

Raphael Ribeiro
Assistant Professor
Chemistry

Raphael Ribeiro completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine (2016). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Ribeiro held a position at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ribeiro’s research focuses on molecular dynamics and spectroscopy. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Nature Communications, Science Advances, and Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Jennifer Rieser
Assistant Professor
Physics

Jennifer Rieser completed her PhD in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in Spring 2021, Dr. Rieser held positions at Cornell University and Hands on Schools in both Italy and Brazil. Dr. Rieser’s research focuses on experimental soft matter. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Robotics: Science and Systems, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Physics Review.

Shashank Shekhar
Assistant Professor
Physics

Shashank Shekhar completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Twente (2012). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Shekhar held a position at Brandeis University. Dr. Shekhar’s research focuses on molecular and organismal biophysics. His articles have been published in a number of journals including Current Protocols in Cell Biology, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, and Methods in Molecular Biology.

Debjani Sihi
Assistant Professor
Environmental Sciences

Debjani Sihi completed her PhD in Soil and Water Science at the University of Florida (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Sihi held positions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Maryland, and Harvard University. Dr. Sihi’s research interests are ecosystem ecology, climate change/warming studies, biochemistry, and modeling greenhouse gas emissions. She has been a speaker at several conferences and symposiums including DOE Environmental System Science (ESS) PI meeting (2019), American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2018), and the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2017).

Heeju Sohn
Assistant Professor
Sociology

Heeju Sohn completed her PhD in Demography and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Sohn held positions at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Sohn’s research interests intersect health policy with family demography and social stratification. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Social Science and Medicine, Population Research and Policy Review, and Research in the Sociology of Health Care.

Jessica Sun
Assistant Professor
Political Science

Jessica Sun completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Michigan (2020). Dr. Sun’s research interests include counterinsurgency and post-conflict reconstruction of state security forces. She has been a speaker at several conferences including the American Political Science Association (2018), Midwest Political Science Association (2018), and the Peace Science Society (2017).

Arber Tasimi
Assistant Professor
Psychology

Arber Tasimi completed his PhD in Psychology at Yale University (2017). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Tasimi held a position at Stanford University. Dr. Tasimi’s research interests are cognitive psychology, social psychology, behavioral economics, and affective science. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Child Development, Cognitive Science, and Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

Jitendra Thakur
Assistant Professor
Biology

Jitendra Thakur completed her PhD in Genetics and Cell Biology at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (2012). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in Spring 2021, Dr. Thakur held a position at the University of Washington. Dr. Thakur’s research focuses on genetics, cell, and developmental biology. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Genes & Development, Genome Research, and Eukaryotic Cell.

Didem Uca
Assistant Professor
German Studies

Didem Uca completed her PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2019). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Uca held positions at Colgate University and Gaziantep University. Dr. Uca’s research focuses on German post/migrant literature and culture. Her articles and reviews have been published in a number of leading journals including Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures, International Journal of Communication, and German Studies Review and she is co-editor of the Turkish-German Studies Yearbook.

Brooke Ullery
Assistant Professor
Mathematics

Brooke Ullery completed her PhD in Mathematics at the University of Michigan (2015). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Ullery held positions at Harvard University and the University of Utah. Dr. Ullery’s research focuses on algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. She has been a speaker at several conferences and seminars including Algebraic Geometry Mini-Conference; MIT (2019) Algebraic Geometry Seminar;  Ohio State University (2018), and Algebra Seminar; Rutgers University (2017).

Yi Wang
Lecturer
Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures

Yi Wang completed her PhD in Chinese Linguistics, East Asian Studies with a minor in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona (2020). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Wang held positions at the University of Arizona, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and East China Normal University. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on second language acquisition, study abroad, sociolinguistics, and Chinese language pedagogy. Her articles have been published in a number of leading journals and books including Chinese as a Second Language Research, Second Language Chinese Development, The Routledge Handbook of Study Abroad Research, and Practice, and Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad.

Benjamin Wilson
Assistant Professor
Psychology

Benjamin Wilson completed his PhD in Neuroscience at Newcastle University (2014). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Wilson held a position at Newcastle University. Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on the uniqueness of humans and the commonalities between human and nonhuman primates. His articles have been published in a number of journals including Topics in Cognitive Sciences, Interaction Studies, and Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.

Ji (Carl) Yang
Assistant Professor
Computer Science

Ji (Carl) Yang completed his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign (2020). Dr. Yang’s research focuses on span graph data mining, network data science, and applied machine learning. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM), Conference on Information and Knowledge Management(CIKM), and Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD).

Katherine Young
Assistant Professor
Music

Katherine Young completed her D.M.A. in Composition from Northwestern University (2017). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Young held positions at Berklee College of Music, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, North Central College, Northwestern University, and Wesleyan University. Dr. Young’s research focuses on innovations in concert music and operatic forms. She has presented at several conferences including The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015), Northwestern University New Music Conference (2014), and Northwestern University (2015).

Liang Zhao
Assistant Professor
Computer Science

Liang Zhao completed his PhD in Computer Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2016). Prior to joining the faculty at Emory in 2020, Dr. Zhao held a position at George Mason University. Dr. Zhao’s research interests are data mining, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. His articles have been published in a number of leading journals including Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering (TKDE), ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems (TSAS), and ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data (TKDD).