Alumni Notes
Kartina “Kadji” Amin (Romance Studies Ph.D. ’10) has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies, Humanities, and French at Columbia College, Chicago.
Wayne Troy Caldwell (English Ph.D. ‘73) has written a second novel, Requiem by Fire, published in February 2010 by Random House. His first novel, Cataloochee, appeared in 2007.
Fred Chappell (English A.M. ’64 is the recipient of the 2010 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, the state’s most prestigious public humanities honor. Chappell taught for forty years at UNC-Greensboro, where he helped establish the M.F.A. Writing Program. In 1999 UNC-G established the Fred Chappell Creative Writing Fellowship. Author of over two dozen books of poetry, fiction, and criticism, Chappell was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2002 and a North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame inductee in 2006.
Ruey-Kuang Cheng (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) is a postdoc at the A*STAR/Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Neuroscience Research Partnership in Singapore.
Shirley M. Collado (Psychology Ph.D. ‘99) has returned to Middlebury, Vermont to begin her role as Dean of the College at Middlebury.
Howard Conyers (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering '10) has begun work with NASA's Stennis Space Center's Engineering & Test Directorate (ETD) as a structural dynamicist. The ETD office is charged with overseeing the safe operation of one-of-a-kind national test facilities and for overseeing several rocket engine propulsion test programs.
Zach Erwin (Romance Studies Ph.D. ’10) is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Swarthmore College.
Marie-Joelle Estrada (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) has an appointment as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Rochester.
Lisa Fazio (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) has a postdoc position at Carnegie Mellon University, working with Dr. Robert Siegler.
Claire Fontijn (Music Ph.D. ’94) honored Professor Emeritus Alexander Silbiger with the collection of essays, “Fiori Musicali: Liber Amicorum Alexander Silbiger.”
Deborah Hall (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) has been appointed assistant professor at Arizona State University.
Elizabeth Holmberg (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) is an Associate at McKinsey & Company.
The Lindbergh Foundation announced August 16, 2010 that Lekelia “Kiki” Jenkins (Ph.D. Marine Science and Conservation ’06), has been awarded a 2010 Lindbergh Grant in intercultural communications and animal conservation to support her project, “Identifying Best Practices for Promoting Cross-Cultural Adoption of Marine Conservation.” Dr. Jenkins is currently a Research Associate with the University of Washington-Seattle, School of Marine Affairs.
Tovah Klein (Psychology Ph.D. ‘94) presented “Experiences and Challenges of Women Combining Academic Careers and Motherhood” at the AAUP Conference, Washington DC, June 11, 2010, which was picked up by the Washington Post.
Klaus Libertus (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) is working as a postdoc at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Melissa Libertus (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) is working as a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University.
Francisco J. Lopez-Martin (Romance Studies Ph.D. ’10) is Assistant Professor, faculty of Transatlantic Studies, at Denison University.
Kristen Pleil (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) is working as a postdoc at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill in the Department of Pharmacology.
Philip F. Rubio (History Ph.D. ’06), assistant professor of university studies at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro and author of the award-winning A History of Affirmative Action, 1619-2000 has published There’s Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality.
Mahmod Samman (Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Ph.D. ’91), a resident of Houston, Texas, and senior associate at Stress Engineering Services, has been named a fellow of ASME. The Fellow grade is the highest elected grade of membership in ASME. Fellowship is conferred upon a member with at least 10 years of active engineering practice and who has made significant contributions to the profession.
Robert Saunders (Ph.D. Physics ’06) has joined the Institute of Medicine as a Program Officer in the Roundtable on Value and Science-Driven Health Care, fielding issues related to value and costs of care. The roundtable convenes leaders from the healthcare sector to promote the development of a learning healthcare system that generates and applies the best evidence to ensure quality care.
Jason Taylor Smith (Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. ’06) has been named the new Product Manager for LiteCure and will lead the company’s strategy and business development, product development, brand and market development, and organization development. LiteCure is the developer and manufacturer of the LCT-1000 Deep Tissue Therapy Laser as well as a line of companion animal and equine therapy lasers.
Peggy St. Jacque (Psychology Ph.D.) has a postdoc position at Harvard University.
Micah True (Romance Studies Ph.D. ’09) is Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at the University of Alberta.
Sarah Wong-Goodrich (Psychology Ph.D. ‘10) has a position as a postdoc with the National Institutes of Health, NIMH.