PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As the 2022-23 academic year begins at Brown and more than 3,203 new undergraduate, graduate and medical students arrive on College Hill, the University also welcomes a group of 62 dynamic new scholars and educators to the Brown faculty.
With research and teaching expertise on topics ranging from global health security to climate change, brain science to diaspora studies, and architecture to algorithms, Brown’s newest faculty members represent a wide range of fields, backgrounds and viewpoints. Welcoming faculty with such diversity of experience comes at a time when Brown is developing an operational plan for significantly growing its research enterprise.
“Our faculty are accomplished researchers, creative artists and educators whose work expands knowledge at the leading edge of their disciplines and, in partnership with Brown students and staff, makes a positive impact in communities both locally and across the globe,” said Provost Richard M. Locke. “I’m delighted to welcome this cohort of talented scholars to Brown to build on and amplify efforts across campus to develop solutions to many of the most vexing questions faced by society today.”
The arrival of 62 new faculty members reflects Brown's strategic efforts to recruit top scholars from research areas — articulated in the Building on Distinction strategic plan and related operational plans — in which the University is uniquely poised to have a meaningful impact. And with nearly 30% of this year’s new faculty members coming from groups historically underrepresented in higher education, strategic investments in actions outlined in Brown's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan are helping to ensure that faculty represent the varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences critical to advancing knowledge, learning and discovery.
In addition, multiple new deans (including those with interim appointments) will lead schools and academic units in their first full academic years in 2022-23: Ronald Aubert, interim dean of the School of Public Health; Tejal Desai, dean of the School of Engineering; Dr. Mukesh K. Jain, dean of the Warren Alpert Medical School; Thomas Lewis, interim dean of the Graduate School; Shankar Prasad, dean of the School of Professional Studies; and Leah VanWey, dean of the faculty.
Desai, who began her tenure at Brown on Sept. 1, will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Opening Convocation ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 10.
The new professors, associate professors, assistant professors and lecturers will serve across the University’s academic departments, divisions and schools. The full listing of new faculty, with links for more information about each of them, follows below.
Humanities and Social Sciences
Leslie Acton
Lecturer in Environment and Society
Christelle Alvarez
Assistant Professor of Egyptology and Assyriology
Rick Baldoz
Associate Professor of American Studies
Sandra Barnes
C.V. Starr Professor of Sociology
Keisha Blain
Professor of Africana Studies
Jayna Brown
Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies
Donghyun Danny Choi
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Becci Davis
Lecturer in Visual Art
John Diamond
Professor of Sociology and Education Policy
Gemma Dipoppa
Assistant Professor of Political Science
John Eason
Watson Family University Associate Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs
Kim Gallon
Associate Professor of Africana Studies
Macarena Gomez-Barris
Professor of Modern Culture and Media
Chris Grasso
Professor of History
Heeyeong Jung
Lecturer in East Asian Studies
Tricia Kelly
Lecturer in Education
Kent Kleinman
Faculty Director of the Brown Arts Institute, Professor of the Practice of History of Art and Architecture
Nell Lake
Lecturer in English
Shelley Lee
Professor of American Studies
Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo
David S. Josephson Assistant Professor of Music
Elisa Macchi
Assistant Professor of Economics
Kyuwon Moon
Lecturer in East Asian Studies
Mark Ocegueda
Assistant Professor of History
Mindi Schneider
Lecturer in Environment and Society
Matthew Shenoda
Professor of Literary Arts
Grace Talusan
Lecturer in English
Ivan Tan
Lecturer in Music
Timo Vollbrecht
Lecturer in Music
Alexander Weheliye
Malcolm S. Forbes Professor of Modern Culture and Media
Karin Wulf
Beatrice and Julio Mario Santo Domingo Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, Professor of History