Eddie L. Branch, has been named chair of the department of mathematics and computer science in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He has over three decades of professional experience, including service as the senior principal systems engineering with the United States Department of Defense.
Dr. Branch is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he majored in mathematics. He holds master’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University.
Jamila Kareem has joined the University of California, Santa Cruz faculty as an associate teaching professor of writing in the Humanities Division. She comes to her new role from the University of Central Florida, where she was an associate professor of writing and rhetoric. Her scholarship focuses on critical race theory and racial hierarchies in writing education.
Dr. Kareem holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition from the University of Louisville.
Derek Griffith has been named the Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Population Health and Health Equity University Professor in the School of Nursing and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently, he served as a professor of health management and policy, founder and director of the Center for Men’s Health Equity, and co-director of the Racial Justice Institute at Georgetown University.
Dr. Griffith is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he double-majored in psychology and Afro-American studies. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from DePaul University in Chicago.
Dereck Barr-Pulliam has been named director of the School of Accountancy and director of the master’s degree in accounting and analytics program at the University of Louisville. He has been a faculty member with the university for the past five years, teaching auditing courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Earlier in his career, he taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Barr-Pulliam is a three-time graduate of the University of Mississippi, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in accounting.
Don Simmons has joined the Simmons University faculty as an assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science. He has a background serving in both public and academic libraries. His research centers around misinformation, algorithmic bias, and information privilege.
Dr. Simmons holds a master of library and information science degree from Syracuse University in New York and a doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi.
