Dear members of the School of Arts & Sciences community, 

It is with mixed emotions that I tell you this edition of the SAS In Focus newsletter will be my last as dean of the School of Arts & Sciences for this year. 

As you know, President Mangelsdorf has asked me to serve as the University’s provost on an interim basis, effective Aug. 1. It is an opportunity I look forward to, but the move is bittersweet because I have so enjoyed leading the School of Arts & Sciences. 

Since last summer, we have made tremendous strides. Together, we aligned the School’s strategic priorities with those of the University, reorganized the former Arts, Sciences & Engineering operational unit, channeled more resources to better support faculty, staff, and students, embarked on an initiative to expand facilities for the natural sciences, and hired more than 20 new faculty who will start this coming academic year.  

I assume my interim role knowing that the School will continue to advance in the good hands of Duje Tadin, chair of the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, who becomes interim dean on Aug. 1. 

You may recall that Duje stepped into that role in the summer of 2023 prior to my arrival. I am grateful to Duje for his willingness to take the helm again during another period of transition for the School. 

I also look forward to working closely with Duje to support the School in my new capacity, and I thank you for all the work you do to support our students, staff, and faculty.  

Meliora! 

Your dean, 

Nicole    

PROMOTIONS 

One of the privileges of being your dean is having the opportunity to recognize faculty whose hard work has warranted promotions. 

It is my pleasure to announce that the following 29 instructional- and tenure-track faculty have been promoted. Please join me in congratulating them!  

If you’re among the promoted, please be sure your faculty bio on the University webpage has been updated to reflect your new title.  

Ajay Anand, of the Goergen Institute for Data Science, has been promoted to professor of instruction.  

Paul Audi, of the Department of Philosophy, has been promoted to professor. 

Ryan Bickel, of the Department of Biology, has been promoted to professor of instruction.  

Cantay Caliskan, of the Goergen Institute for Data Science, has been promoted to associate professor of instruction.  

David Dodell-Feder, of the Department of Psychology, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Ignacio Franco, of the Department of Chemistry, has been promoted to professor. 

Anderson Frey, of the Department of Political Science, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Dragony Fu, of the Department of Biology, has been promoted to professor. 

Aran Garcia-Bellido, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been promoted to professor. 

Katherine Grzesik, of the Statistics Program, has been promoted to associate professor of instruction.  

Mark Herman, of the Department of Mathematics, has been promoted to professor of instruction.  

Jon Holz, of the Department of Biology, has been promoted to professor of instruction.  

Stephen Kleene, of the Department of Mathematics, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Chigusa Kurumada, of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Jennifer Kyker, of the Arthur Satz Department of Music, has been promoted to professor. 

Gabriel T. Landi, of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Amanda Larracuente, of the Department of Biology, has been promoted to professor with the title of Nathanial and Helen Wisch Professor of Biology. 

Matthew Lenoe, of the Department of History, has been promoted to professor. 

Katherine Mannheimer, of the Department of English, has been promoted to professor.  

Ellen Matson-Hicks, of the Department of Chemistry, has been promoted to professor. 

William Miller, of the Department of English, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Christopher Niemiec, of the Department of Psychology, has been promoted to professor of instruction.  

Matthew Omelsky, of the Department of English, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Martina Poletti, of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure. 

Ronald Rogge, of the Department of Psychology, has been promoted to professor. 

Luisa-Maria Rojas-Rimachi, of the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, has been promoted to professor of instruction. 

Stephen Schottenfeld, of the Department of English, has been promoted to professor. 

Alexis Stein, of the Department of Biology, has been promoted to associate professor of instruction. 

Amanda Tucker, of the Department of Mathematics, has been promoted to associate professor of instruction.  

 

NEW DIRECTOR AND CHAIRS 

A new director is overseeing the Susan B. Anthony Institute and three departments in the School of Arts & Sciences are welcoming new chairs. 

Stefanie Dunning joined the Susan B. Anthony Institute effective July 1 with a primary appointment in the Department of Black Studies and a secondary joint appointment in the Department of English. Stefanie comes to us from Miami University, where she taught courses in literature and Black World Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality programs. Her background makes her an ideal leader of the Institute. Associate Professor of anthropology Kristin Doughty shepherded the SBAI through an interim period. Welcome, Stefanie!  

Professor Thomas P. Gibson has been named chair of the Department of Anthropology on an interim basis while the department’s chair, associate professor John Osburg, is on leave for the fall 2024 semester. John will resume his duties as chair in January 2025. Thomas has been with the University since 1985, after earning his PhD in social anthropology from the London School of Economics. Thomas’s institutional knowledge of the department will be an asset.  

Associate Professor Jeffrey Q McCune Jr. has officially been appointed chair of the Department of Black Studies. Professor John Michael served as interim chair last year to allow Jeffrey time to conduct research. Since coming to the University in 2021, Jeffrey has been the lead architect of Black Studies and initially served as the director of the Frederick Douglass Institute.  

Professor Paul Audi has been named chair of the Department of Philosophy. Paul joined the department in 2015 and earned his PhD from Princeton University. Prior to assuming the role of chair, Paul served as the department’s director of graduate studies. His familiarity with the department will serve it well. Associate Professor Alison Peterman led the department for three years.   

I want to thank the outgoing chairs for their service. The University and School are grateful to them.  

 

AWARDS AND GRANTS 

Congratulations are in order for . . .  

• Assistant professor Tolulope Olugboji in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences for securing a National Science Foundation CAREER grant to fund deep probabilistic seismic imaging on the Earth’s crust beneath the ocean. Tolulope’s plan includes two project-based courses that integrate research and provides experiential learning for a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students.   

 

• Associate Professor Chigusa Kurumada in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for securing funding from the University of California at Irvine for her National Institutes of Health-supported research into speech communication in children and adults, specifically the adaptive mechanisms that enable listeners to navigate cross-talker variability in human speech.  

 

• Professor of physics Antonino Di Piazza for securing a joint grant through the National Science Foundation and the Czech Science Foundation to employ methods from strong-field quantum electrodynamics to investigate the radiation emission in a laser field. The aim of the research is to ascertain the feasibility of creating a gamma-ray free electron laser, an ambitious and unrealized goal. The experimental validation will be performed at the ELI Beamlines laser user facility in the Czech Republic.  

 

• Associate professor of mathematics Sevak Mkrtchyan for securing a National Science Foundation grant to support the annual Finger Lakes Probability Seminar through 2028. The conference brings together researchers in probability in the Finger Lakes region and is scheduled to be held at the University of Rochester in April 2025.  

 

• Associate professor Joshua Dubler for securing a grant through the Bennack-Polan Foundation to support the Rochester Education Justice Initiative. Specifically, the grant will fund mentorship and reintegration activities for participants in REJI, which offers academic programs to people incarcerated in state prisons.   

 

 

YELLOWJACKET TO CARDINAL 

Congratulations to dual neuroscience and business major Nolan Sparks ’24, who was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball draft this week! 

Nolan, a pitcher, was as impressive on the mound as he was in the classroom during his four years at Rochester. He was a two-time Liberty League Pitcher of the Year and a two-time Academic All-American.  

We are so proud of Nolan for his accomplishments and for representing the best of what it means to be a student-athlete at Rochester.  

 

GOT NEWS TO SHARE? 

Send your SAS In Focus news tips to SAS Senior Communications Officer David Andreatta at david.andreatta@rochester.edu. Be sure to put “SAS In Focus” in the subject heading, and tell him about research, awards, publications, and symposiums, and whatever other news you think is fit to print.