Derik Smith has been appointed an associate professor in the department of literature at Claremont McKenna College in California. He was previously an assistant professor at the University at Albany of the State University of New York System.
Dr. Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
Lindsey D. Grace has been named to the Knight Chair of Interactive Media at the University of Miami. He currently serves as the vice president of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and has previously taught at American University.
Professor Grace holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in computer information systems from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He also earned a master’s degree in electronic visualization/computer sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Lois Brown has been named director of Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and a foundation professor in the department of English. She was director of the Center for African American Studies, chair of the African American Studies Program, and the Class of 1958 Distinguished Professor at Wesleyan University.
Dr. Brown is a graduate of Duke University and holds a Ph.D. in English from Boston College.
Tameka Winston has been appointed interim associate vice president of research and institutional advancement at Tennessee State University. She currently serves as a professor in the communications department.
Dr. Winston holds a bachelor’s degree from Alcorn State University in Mississippi, a master’s degree from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and a doctorate of education from Tennessee State University.
Axelle Karera has been named assistant professor of philosophy at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She previously taught at Florida Atlantic University.
Dr. Karera holds a bachelor’s degree from York University and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.
Cassandra Hawkins, assistant professor of public administration and rural public policy and planning at Mississippi Valley State University, has been selected to serve as chair-elect of the Rural Sociological Society’s Rural Poverty Research Interest Group for the 2018-2019 academic year. She will serve as chair in 2019-2020.
Dr. Hawkins holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in English, and a Ph.D. in public administration from Jackson State University.
Robert Reid-Pharr has been named the first full tenured professor in the Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality program at Harvard University. He was previously a Distinguished and Presidential Professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Dr. Reid-Pharr holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and master’s degree in African American studies and a Ph.D. in American studies from Yale University.
Kimberly Luchtenburg has been named assistant professor of finance and real estate at American University in Washington, D.C.. She was previously an assistant professor at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Dr. Luchtenberg holds a Ph.D. from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Edward Ofori has been named an assistant professor of biomechanics in the College of Health Sciences at Arizona State University. Most recently, he led the Laboratory for Rehabilitation Neuroscience at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Dr. Ofori holds a master’s degree in statistics and master’s and doctoral degrees in kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Anthony Foxx has been appointed distinguished executive in residence at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh for this academic year. He served as the 17th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2013 to 2017 and was previously the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Secretary Foxx holds a bachelor’s degree from Davidson College in North Carolina and a law degree from New York University.
Natasha Ngaiza has been appointed an assistant professor of film and media culture at Middlebury College in Vermont. She recently taught film analysis, media arts, and media and culture courses at Temple University as a graduate student.
Professor Ngaiza holds a bachelor’s degree in literary and cultural studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and a master’s degree in film and media arts from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Brittany Hearne has been named an assistant professor in the department of sociology and criminology in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. She was a graduate assistant in the sociology department at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Dr. Hearne holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in sociology from Vanderbilt University.
Kathryn Riley has named an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She has been teaching at the college since 2016.
Dr. Riley holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, mathematics, and education from Swarthmore College. She earned a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
