Daniel Hastings has been named an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The title is the university’s highest faculty honor. Dr. Hastings, the Cecil (1923) and Ida Green Professor in Education in the department of aeronautics and astronautics, first joined the MIT faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor and earned the rank of full professor in 1993. Throughout his tenure, he has made significant contributions to astronautical engineering, particularly through his studies in space plasma environment interactions, electric propulsion, and space systems architecture.
Dr. Hastings is a graduate of the University of Oxford in England, where he majored in mathematics. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT.
Linda R. Baker is interim director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she has taught since 2003. She teaches internship courses in political science and social work as well as healthcare policy at the university’s School of Medicine. Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Baker held several senior roles in Illinois state government, including service as secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Dr. Baker is a three-time graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in health care administration, a master’s degree in gerontology, and a doctorate in public administration.
Alma Littles, dean of the Florida State University College of Medicine, is the new president of the Florida Medical Association, an organization that represents more than 20,000 physicians on legislative, economic, educational, and ethical issues. Before her dean appointment, Dr. Littles was the college’s senior associate dean for medical education and academic affairs. A Florida State faculty member since 2002, she previously served as founding chair of the department of family medicine and rural health.
Dr. Littles earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and her medical degree from the University of Florida. She completed her family practice residency at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
Derrick Cohens is the new chair of the department of English, humanities, and foreign languages in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Dr. Cohens first joined the HBCU in 2016 as an instructor of English. He was promoted to assistant professor in 2019 and again to associate professor earlier this year.
Dr. Cohens earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas and a second bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Wyoming and a doctorate in English from Emory University in Atlanta.
