Elizabeth Ashby

Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Economics

Elizabeth Ashby begins an appointment as an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Economics after having served as an adjunct instructor of economics at Rochester in spring 2022 and a teaching professor of economics at Syracuse University since 2018.

Ashby taught Principles of Economics at Rochester last spring, and in the fall will teach Principles of Microeconomics. At Syracuse, where she began as an instructor of economics in 2002, she taught most recently Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Public Economics, Economic Ideas and Issues, and an MBA course, Economics for Managers.

In 2016, she was awarded the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for nontenured faculty by the Syracuse Office of the Provost. Ashby’s leadership roles in the Department of Economics at Syracuse included director of undergraduate studies and director of advising.

Early in her career, she served as a research assistant for the New York State Tax Commission as well as for a project of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her own research focused on the economics of child support and family behavior.

• Undergraduate degrees: AA, social sciences, Cayuga Community College; BA, economics, Wells College
• Graduate degree: PhD, economics, Syracuse University
• Most recent appointment: Teaching professor, Syracuse University; adjunct instructor, University of Rochester

Anushika Athauda

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Anushika Athauda joins the faculty as an assistant professor of instruction after having served most recently as an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Prior to that, she was a visiting assistant professor of physics and engineering at Washington and Lee University.

An experimentalist in condensed matter physics, Athauda is focused on designing, synthesizing, characterizing, and investigating the structure of novel materials, particularly those with the potential for superconducting properties. She uses single crystal and powder, neutron, and x-ray diffraction measurements to investigate the crystal structure and local lattice distortions that contribute to the mechanism of superconductivity. She is the lead author of five papers on this topic in material science journals.

Athauda has taught introductory to advanced physics courses that are included in the core curriculum as well as in the major programs of VMI and Washington and Lee University. This fall, she will teach Engineering Mechanics II: Dynamics and coteach Engineering Computation and a new lab course, Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Measurements.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, engineering physics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Graduate degree: PhD, experimental condensed matter physics, University of Virginia
• Most recent appointment: Assistant professor, Virginia Military Institute

David Figlio

Professor, Department of Economics

University Provost David Figlio joins the faculty as a professor in the Department of Economics. He served most recently as dean and as the Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP).

Figlio is an expert on the economics of K­–12 and higher education whose interdisciplinary work spans educational, public, and social policy, including the link between health and education. His National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, “Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of US Born Students,” was recognized by the George Lucas Educational Foundation’s website Edutopia as one of the most significant education studies of 2021. Figlio was the inaugural editor of Education Finance and Policy. He also edited the Journal of Human Resources from 2012 to 2021, and served as editor in chief for seven years. He has published in a range of journals including American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Education Finance and Policy, and JAMA Pediatrics.

Figlio directed Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research from 2012 to 2017 and was named dean of SESP in 2017. That same year, he was elected to the National Academy of Education. He has also served as president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy.

Prior to joining Northwestern, he held appointments at the University of Oregon and the University of Florida. He is a research associate of the NBER; a research fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, Germany; a member of the CESifo Network on the Economics of Education in Munich, Germany; and an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

• Undergraduate degree: BS/BA, business economics/public policy, George Washington University
• Graduate degree: PhD, economics, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Most recent appointment: Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy and dean, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy

Hamid Firooz

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Economics

Hamid Firooz begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction after having taught in the Department of Economics for two years. Previously, he served as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Florida. He earned a PhD in economics at Pennsylvania State University and an MSc at Sharif University of Technology in Iran.

Firooz’s research interests are in the areas of international trade, macroeconomics, and firm dynamics. In a recent paper, he and his colleagues argue that the rise in automation technologies has contributed to an increase in industrial concentration among a small number of superstar firms. In another paper, Firooz and his coauthor conclude that finance-dependent industries benefit from financial development only when trade barriers are low. He has presented at numerous conferences and seminars, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and Econometric Society meetings.

Firooz received a graduate assistantship while at Penn State and was named the best graduate student at the master’s level in economics at Sharif University.

At Rochester, he will teach Intermediate Macroeconomics, an undergraduate course that focuses on economic growth, fluctuations, and other topics concerning the aggregate economy.

• Undergraduate degree: BSc, mechanical engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
• Graduate degrees: MSc, economics, Sharif University of Technology, Iran; PhD, economics, Pennsylvania State University
• Most recent appointment: Assistant professor (non-tenure track), University of Rochester

Tong (Tony) Geng

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Tong (Tony) Geng joins the faculty as an assistant professor after having served as a postdoctoral research associate at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

His research interests are at the intersection of computer architecture and systems, machine learning, graph intelligence, and high-performance computing. His doctoral training in computer engineering concentrated on high-performance neural network acceleration. As a postdoctoral research associate, he studied a next-generation heterogeneous computer system for high-performance computing and machine learning.

At Rochester, Geng’s Intelligent Architecture (IntelliArch) research group will pursue new computer systems and architecture for emerging artificial intelligence methods through algorithm-architecture codesign. This work has potential applications for drug discovery, social media, smart traffic, and recommendation systems.

Geng was a finalist for Boston University’s Best Thesis Award in 2021 and received PNNL’s Outstanding Postdoc Award the same year. His 45 papers have appeared in prestigious conferences and journals, including IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO), IEEE’s International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA), the Design Automation Conference (DAC), the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC), and the ACM International Conference on Supercomputing (ICS). 

In addition to his research, Geng will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in computer architecture.

• Undergraduate degree: BE, electronic engineering and information technology, Zhejiang University
• Graduate degrees: MS, electronic systems, Eindhoven University of Technology; PhD, computer engineering, Boston University
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral research associate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Rafael Guntin

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics

Rafael Guntin joins the faculty as an assistant professor of economics after having completed a PhD in economics at New York University.

His research interests include macroeconomics, international macroeconomics, and macrofinance. In his dissertation, Guntin analyzed the macroeconomic implications of firms’ rollover crises—events in which firms default because creditors fail to roll over debt—through the lens of a quantitative model of heterogeneous firms. He concluded that rollover crises can have quantitatively relevant aggregate and policy implications in the United States. His current work addresses the role of financial factors in large crises and in the long run using heterogeneous agent models.

While working toward his doctorate, Guntin received a MacCracken Fellowship at New York University and was a dissertation fellow at the Federal Reserve Board.

Guntin has served as a lecturer in international economics at New York University and as a teaching assistant at both NYU and Universidad de Montevideo. Previously, he held roles as a research associate and as a junior economist at Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Economica y Social (CERES) in Uruguay.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, economics, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
• Graduate degree: PhD, economics, New York University
• Most recent appointment: Dissertation fellow, Federal Reserve Board

Benjamin Hafensteiner

Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Chemistry

Benjamin Hafensteiner begins an appointment as an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Chemistry, after having served as a faculty lecturer at the University since 2011. Previous to his time at Rochester, he was an instructor and a postdoctoral research scholar at the University of California, Irvine.

As a synthetic organic chemist, Hafensteiner constructs molecules from smaller building blocks, using known reactions and inventing new ways of linking together atoms. His research expertise includes creating new transformations of and synthesizing alkaloids, a type of naturally occurring organic compound composed of at least one nitrogen atom. Alkaloids have unique characteristics, including anticancer and antimalarial properties, which make them uniquely suitable for pharmacological applications. Hafensteiner specifically focuses on Stephacidins, alkaloids with antitumor properties.

Hafensteiner has published research papers in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of the American Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie. He was awarded the University of Rochester Students’ Association Professor of the Year Award in Natural Sciences in 2013 and again in 2022. Since 2012, he has been a co-instructor of a training course for workshop leaders through Rochester’s Learning Center.

As a member of the teaching faculty in the Department of Chemistry, Hafensteiner will teach classes and mentor students in general and organic chemistry.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, chemistry and biology, University of Rochester
• Graduate degree: PhD, chemistry, Scripps Research (formerly The Scripps Research Institute)
• Most recent appointment: Faculty lecturer, University of Rochester

Katie Hamilton

Senior Lecturer, Department of English

Katie Hamilton joins the faculty as a senior lecturer in the Department of English. Most recently, she served as the assistant technical director and lighting supervisor at Colorado College, where she was involved in bringing dozens of productions to the stage, including Spring Awakening, Macbeth, Angels in America, The Dutchman, and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

Hamilton has more than two decades of professional experience in the theatre world, during which she has developed an expertise in technical direction—the building of sets for theatrical and dance productions. In addition, she has worked in production management, stage lighting, and stage properties, as well as with a variety of organizations, such as the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the Opera Theatre of the Rockies, and the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati.

In 2019, she was part of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of You Can’t Take It with You, which was recognized by the Colorado Theatre Guild with several Henry Awards honoring outstanding achievements.

At Rochester, she will teach Introduction to Stage Lighting and Advanced Technical Theatre.

• Undergraduate degrees: BA, anthropology/sociology, Centre College; BFA, theatre design and production, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
• Most recent appointment: Assistant technical director and lighting supervisor, Colorado College

David Hansen

Senior Lecturer, Department of English

David Hansen begins an appointment as a senior lecturer after having served four years as an adjunct instructor in creative writing in the College and at the Eastman School of Music. Previously, he taught creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a master’s degree in fiction.

Hansen specializes in very short fiction that examines shame, taboo, ecstasy, indiscretion, sin, secrets, fantasies, and other aspects of human life that are rarely discussed openly. He espouses brevity and trust in the reader. As a teacher, he believes competence—and even excellence—in fiction is achievable through effort, care, and knowledge.

His stories have appeared in Fence, Puerto del Sol, Chicago Review, Conjunctions, On the Seawall, Fairy Tale Review, Necessary Fiction, Pithead Chapel, and other journals. He has been a finalist for several major prizes, including the Masters Review Flash Fiction Prize and the Shirley Jackson Prize, and he was the winner of the senior fellowship in fiction at Washington University.

Hansen will teach Introduction to Creative Writing (fiction); serve as faculty liaison to LOGOS, the University’s undergraduate literary journal; and work on administrative and promotional matters relating to literary arts on campus.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, English and history, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• Graduate degree: MFA, creative writing, Washington University in St. Louis
• Most recent appointment: Adjunct instructor, University of Rochester

Hangfeng He

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Goergen Institute for Data Science

Hangfeng He joins the faculty after having completed a PhD in computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania.

He’s research aims to create intelligent agents to assist humans, so that people and computers can communicate better. By designing suitable formulations for tasks that require complex reasoning as well as analyzing the structure of data in different media formats, He hopes to produce simple, efficient models for real-world applications. In a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, He and his colleagues proposed the Layer-Peeled Model, a simple yet effective modeling strategy for understanding the deep neural networks used to develop virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles, product recommendations, and other applications.

At Rochester, He will use machine learning and natural language processing to further understand and analyze the structure of real-world data while simplifying modeling without the need for large-scale data.

He is author or coauthor of 15 journal and conference papers. In addition to his research, He will teach a graduate course this fall on artificial intelligence, introducing fundamental principles and key applications of AI, including heuristic search, automated reasoning, probability, and machine learning.  

• Undergraduate degree: BS, computer science, Peking University
• Graduate degree: PhD, computer and information science, University of Pennsylvania
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, University of Pennsylvania

Marisol Herrera Perez

Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Marisol Herrera Perez joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University.

Herrera Perez specializes in generating tissue models and genetic tools to understand how cells communicate and organize to create multicellular structures. At Columbia, for example, she investigated how mechanical forces generated by cells influence the ability of tissues to change shape and deform during embryo development. Her research, which combines genetic engineering, confocal microscopy, and cell mechanics, aims to understand what goes wrong during certain disease processes and to enable scientists to generate tissues that more closely resemble human tissues for medical applications.

Herrera Perez received the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Career Award at the Scientific Interface in 2021. Her work has been published in such peer-reviewed journals as Tissue Engineering and Biophysical Journal.

Herrera Perez will teach an upper-level cell and tissue engineering course in spring 2023 as well as core-curriculum courses.

• Undergraduate degree: BSc, chemical engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia–Bogotá
• Graduate degrees: MSc, chemical engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia–Bogotá; PhD, agricultural and biological engineering, Purdue University
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral research scientist, Columbia University

Aruni Jayathilaka

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Statistics

Aruni Jayathilaka joins the faculty at Rochester as an assistant professor of instruction from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she completed a PhD in applied statistics. As a graduate student and graduate research assistant at UTSA, she taught basic statistics courses. While completing her MSc in statistics at the University of Texas at Dallas, she taught basic mathematics courses.

Jayathilaka’s research interests include statistical modeling in the areas of reliability and survival analysis, specifically accelerated life testing. The field involves developing mathematical models to test the reliability of products under conditions of higher-than-normal stress in order to uncover potential failures. She is involved in applying these statistical methods in industrial engineering, by determining the service life, warranty periods, and maintenance intervals for different products. Her research into accelerated life testing aims to reduce the time it takes to obtain these results so that manufacturers can have service-life data in advance of releasing products.

In 2021, she received the Silver Award in the Application Category at the Annual Conference of the Upstate New York Chapters of the American Statistical Society.

This fall, Jayathilaka will teach Introductory Applied Statistics and Computational Introduction to Statistics.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, mathematics and physics, University of Peradeniya
• Graduate degrees: MSc, applied statistics, University of Peradeniya; MSc, statistics, University of Texas at Dallas; PhD, applied statistics, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student and graduate research assistant, University of Texas at San Antonio

Anson Kahng

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Goergen Institute for Data Science

Anson Kahng joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto.

Kahng’s research examines theoretical problems in computational social choice, specifically the aggregation of individual preferences to make collective political or economic decisions. He combines theoretical and empirical tools to solve real-world problems, incorporating ideas from theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction.

For his PhD thesis, for example, Kahng examined how modern implementations of democracy must adapt to the changing technological landscape. He posed two questions: What can computer science do for democracy? What can democracy do for computer science? Kahng’s recent projects include studies of liquid democracy, virtual democracy, and participatory budgeting—all forms of collective decision-making that leverage tools from computer science to achieve fairness, representation, and efficiency.

He is the author or coauthor of 16 conference and journal papers, which have appeared in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research or at the ACM Conference on Economics and Computation, International Conference on Machine Learning, AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, and International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, among others.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, computer science, Harvard University
• Graduate degree: PhD, computer science, Carnegie Mellon University
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Toronto

Christopher Kanan

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

Christopher Kanan joins the faculty after having served as an associate professor in the Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Kanan is an expert on artificial intelligence (AI) whose research aims to develop machine learning that can mimic the human brain in its ability to continually acquire, fine-tune, and transfer knowledge and skills. His work spans subfields including deep learning, bias mitigation and measurement, and computer vision.

In 2021, Kenan received an NSF CAREER award to leverage what neuroscientists know about how information is stored and organized in the human brain during sleep, to create computationally efficient algorithms that learn continually. The award followed his publication of a highly cited article on the topic in the journal Neural Networks in 2019.

While at RIT, Kanan led AI research and development at the medical AI startup Paige.AI, Inc., including the team that developed the world’s first FDA-approved AI system for helping pathologists detect cancer.

He is author or coauthor of 69 refereed journal, conference, and workshop publications and has 17 patents to his name.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, philosophy and computer science, Oklahoma State University
• Graduate degrees: MS, computer science, University of Southern California; PhD, computer science, University of California–San Diego
• Most recent appointment: Associate professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

Heather Layton

Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Art and Art History

Heather Layton begins an appointment as an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Art and Art History. She joined the University in 2004 as a lecturer and studio art program coordinator. 

Layton is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose interests include art diplomacy, narrative painting and drawing, and socially engaged art. Current sociopolitical events often serve as inspiration for Layton’s work, which has been exhibited globally in spaces including the At Home Gallery and Contemporary Art Centre in Šamorín, Slovakia, and the Haslla Art World museum in Gangneung, South Korea. Nationally, she has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Arts Long Island (MoCA LI), the International Gallery of Contemporary Art in Anchorage, Alaska, and the George Eastman International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester. Layton has worked on numerous intercultural bridging projects with artists in countries including Saudi Arabia, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, Gambia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

She has been recognized with numerous awards and grants for her community-engaged projects and innovation in teaching.

• Undergraduate degree: BFA, art education, Syracuse University
• Graduate degree: MFA, painting, SUNY New Paltz
• Most recent appointment: Senior lecturer, University of Rochester

Joseph Loporcaro

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Computer Science, Undergraduate Program in Digital Media Studies

Joseph Loporcaro begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction after having served as a lecturer since 2018 and previously as an adjunct professor at Rochester. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. John Fisher College, Cayuga Community College, and Hilbert College.

For his doctoral dissertation at the University of Buffalo, Loporcaro analyzed the term “hardcore” as it relates to video game culture while defining it in a way that is useful for gamers, game journalists, and game developers. Video game studies continues to be a focus of many of the computer science and digital media studies classes he teaches.

In his Video Games as Interactive Storytelling class this fall, students will learn how a rich story can be the difference between a forgotten game and a timeless classic before constructing their own interactive stories. In Video Game Design, meanwhile, they will learn important game design elements such as interactivity, challenge, games as systems (cybernetic, emergent, conflict), genre, and setting—and then design and develop their own games. He will also teach Social Implications of Computing, introducing students to the pros and cons of how computers and the internet have transformed society.

Loporcaro has taught a digital media studies class on the overall design process regarding digital products and devices. Beyond the classroom, he is faculty advisor for the undergraduate student organizations eSports Club and Video Game Dev Club.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, communications/journalism, St. John Fisher College
• Graduate degrees: MA, television, radio, and film, Syracuse University; PhD, communication, University at Buffalo
• Most recent appointment: Lecturer, University of Rochester

Daniel Mruzek

Lecturer, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology

Daniel Mruzek begins an appointment as a lecturer in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Department of Psychology, after having served in various roles at the University since 2002, including as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Dentistry and as an adjunct associate professor at the Warner School of Education and in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

A licensed psychologist and behavior analyst, Mruzek specializes in clinical and psychoeducational assessment of individuals with developmental and learning disabilities; assessment and treatment of challenging behavior; and promotion of inclusive practices. His clinical practice includes supporting families coping with challenging behavior, as well as developing applied behavior analytic programs for the development of skilled behaviors. He provides direct consultation and technical assistance to school districts and agencies regionally, nationally, and internationally and has been the primary investigator and investigator on projects including the MCH Autism Intervention Research Program, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the Seychelles Child Development Study, and the University’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.

A member of numerous committees and professional organizations, Mruzek has published chapters in various books and monographs and in peer-reviewed journals including The Journal of the American Medical Association, Autism, and Environmental International.

At Rochester, Mruzek teaches courses in cognitive development, research methodology, and the psychology of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, psychology, University of Toledo
• Graduate degree: PhD, psychology of developmental disabilities, The Ohio State University
• Most recent appointments: Adjunct associate professor and clinical associate professor, University of Rochester

Benjamin Partridge

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry; Levinson-Shapiro Faculty Scholar

Benjamin Partridge joins the faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry and a Levinson-Shapiro Faculty Scholar, after having served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University.

Partridge’s research focuses on supramolecular chemistry, which is the study of how individual molecular building blocks come together and assemble into functional materials. This kind of assembly—analogous to making complicated models from LEGO bricks—underpins how living systems grow, survive, adapt, and reproduce. Combining organic, biological, and materials chemistry, Partridge aims to understand how simple building blocks made in the lab can generate sophisticated materials that mimic and interface with living systems, with potential impact for human health and the environment. Specific systems of interest include synthetic materials that mimic cellular networks and chemical structures that control protein assembly.

Partridge has published research papers in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Advanced Materials, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society. In 2021, he received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the International Institute for Nanotechnology.

In additional to conducting research at Rochester, Partridge will teach classes in organic chemistry and mentor graduate and undergraduate students conducting research projects in organic, biological, and materials chemistry. Partridge is also a faculty member in the Materials Science Program at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences.

• Undergraduate degree: MChem (undergraduate master’s), chemistry, University of Oxford
• Graduate degree: PhD, chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral fellow, Northwestern University

Sara Bickweat Penner

Senior Lecturer, Department of English

Sara Bickweat Penner begins an appointment as a senior lecturer in the Department of English after having served as an adjunct lecturer of voice and movement at the University and a lecturer of acting and voice diction at Finger Lakes Community College.

Penner has been working with the University’s International Theatre Program to shape its consent policies and practices, and training with Theatre Intimacy Education and Intimacy Direction for the Performing Arts. She recently was awarded a teaching innovation grant to build new coursework and practices.

She has taught voice and speech to actors and business professionals and continues to work as an actor, director, and dialect coach.

Penner will teach Movement for the Actor and From Scratch: Devising for the Theatre. She’ll also oversee acting, voice coaching, and intimacy direction on the International Theatre Program’s mainstage productions.

• Undergraduate degrees: BFA, fine arts in acting, music, and dance, Adelphi University; BFA, fine arts in music theatre, Webster University Conservatory
• Graduate degree: MFA, fine arts, The Actors School/New School for Drama, New School University
• Most recent appointment: Adjunct lecturer, University of Rochester; lecturer, Finger Lakes Community College

Andrew Read-McFarland

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Computer Science

Andrew Read-McFarland joins the faculty after having completed a PhD in the Department of Computer Science.

Read-McFarland’s research is in theoretical computer science, with algorithms as a subfield. Specifically, he looks at problems—computational tasks with input “x do y”—and categorizes them as either “easy” (meaning an efficient algorithm) or “hard” (meaning no efficient algorithm exists or is possible). This includes problems of decision and of sampling with applications in areas such as motif counting, polymer models, parallel scheduling, and fair redistricting.

In 2019, he received the University’s Edward Curtis Peck Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student. This fall, Read-McFarland will teach Introduction to Programming, which he designed. The course, one of the department’s largest, is for nonmajors or students with less extensive backgrounds in math and science. He will also teach Introduction to Web Development, which introduces students to HTML5, CSS3, webpage design and construction techniques, mobile design issues, and search engine optimization.

In addition to teaching, Read-McFarland has served as a graduate admissions committee member, reviewing student applications, inviting selected applicants to campus, and interviewing them.

• Undergraduate degrees: BS, computer science and math, Denison University
• Graduate degrees: PhD, computer science, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, University of Rochester

Mizin Shin

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Art and Art History

Mizin Shin begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Art and Art History after having served as a visiting assistant professor in the department since 2019.

As a visual artist focused on printmaking, Shin has mastered both traditional and contemporary printmaking practices, and has exhibited in institutions across the United States, as well as in Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, India, and South Korea. A major theme of her work is the interdependency of systems of manufacturing, production, and consumption; more recently, she has created work to support the #StopAsianHate campaign. That work has helped spread the message against hate while raising funds for organizations including Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate, Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus, Asian American Leadership Delegation, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, and AAPI Women Lead.

Shin has taught courses in screenprinting, contemporary experimental print, the relief and intaglio techniques, and two- and three-dimensional printmaking in the undergraduate studio arts program. This fall, she will teach one introductory printmaking course and one advanced course.

Shin is a cofounder of the Buffalo, New York, studio Mirabo Press, offering limited edition printmaking to local, regional, and national artists, as well as educational and community programming.

• Undergraduate degree: BFA, printmaking, Hongik University, Seoul
• Graduate degree: MFA, State University of New York at Buffalo
• Most recent appointment: Visiting assistant professor, University of Rochester
   

Sobhit Singh

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Sobhit Singh joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral research associate at Rutgers University.

Singh uses the laws of quantum mechanics and advanced high-performance supercomputers to better understand the movements of electrons and atoms in solid-state crystals and other materials. His goal is to discover and design quantum materials with interesting properties for applications in data storage, quantum computing, energy harvesting and energy storage, and sensors. He is particularly interested in polar metals, novel ferroelectrics, topological quantum materials, magnets, superconductors, and two-dimensional materials.

Singh has published more than 40 research papers in journals including Physical Review Letters, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, and Nano Letters. His research has also been featured in popular research blogs and media, such as Newswise (from the US Department of Energy) and EurekAlert! (run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science). His awards include a Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship from the West Virginia University Foundation and Seehra Research Award.

Singh will teach undergraduate and graduate courses and mentor undergraduate and PhD students at Rochester.

• Undergraduate degree: BSc, physics, mathematics, and computer applications, University of Lucknow, India
• Graduate degrees: MSc, physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati; PhD, physics and astronomy, West Virginia University
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral research associate, Rutgers University

Christopher Sleet

Professor, Department of Economics

Christopher Sleet joins the faculty as a professor of economics after having served most recently as the H. J. Heinz Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

Sleet’s research and teaching interests include macroeconomics, public economics, monetary and fiscal policy, computational economics, policy games, and mechanism design. He is a leading expert on the effects of technological change on income inequality and optimal tax policy, and on the challenges posed by informational and political constraints to the design of tax systems.

As head of economics at Tepper, a position he held from 2014 to 2019, he oversaw the implementation of a new series of concentrations in market design, global markets and finance, and economics and public policy. He also led the school’s Inclusive Growth and Prosperity Initiative, a project to foster research on the disparate effects of economic growth on individuals, businesses, and communities, and on how policy can be designed to ensure that the benefits of growth are widely shared.

Since 2019, Sleet has served as coeditor of the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference on Public Policy, a semiannual forum for scholars engaged in empirical policy research. 

Before joining the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 2005, he held appointments at the University of Texas–Austin, the University of Iowa, and Northwestern University. 

• Undergraduate degree: BA, economics, Cambridge University
• Graduate degrees: MSc, economics, London School of Economics; PhD, economics, Stanford University
• Most recent appointment: J. Heinz Professor of Economics, Carnegie Mellon University

Yuki Taguchi

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures

Yuki Taguchi begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction in Japanese in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures after having served as a lecturer in the department since 2017.

Taguchi has 17 years of experience teaching Japanese (pedagogy) in the United States, including at Rochester Institute of Technology, Binghamton University, Vassar College, and Kenyon College. She joined the University of Rochester in 2017 as an adjunct lecturer in Japanese and became a full-time lecturer in 2021.

Taguchi has also taught at the Rochester Japanese School, in nearby Pittsford, New York, and is a member of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese.

She will teach Elementary Japanese and Intermediate Conversational Japanese.

• Undergraduate: BA, English, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan
• Graduate degree: MA, Japanese language and pedagogy, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Most recent appointment: Lecturer, University of Rochester

Vialcary Crisóstomo Tejada

Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures

Vialcary Crisóstomo Tejada joins the faculty as an assistant professor of Spanish. For the past two years, she has worked as an assistant professor of Spanish and Hispanic studies and as an affiliated faculty member of the African and African American studies program and the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies program at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.

Her research explores issues of race and gender in the Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinx communities in the United States. She focuses on Black and feminist movements in the Caribbean, particularly on the political and epistemic work of decolonial Afro-feminist collectives in Puerto Rico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

In addition to presenting at numerous conferences, Crisóstomo Tejada has published several book chapters as well as articles in Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, Revista Entreletras, and AlterPresse. She is writing her first book, Spaces of Resistance, which analyzes representations of Black and gender nonbinary bodies in feminist Caribbean literature. She also cofounded Candela Review, an Afro-feminist biannual academic journal, and serves as its coeditor in chief.

This fall, she will teach Quemaremos el cielo si es preciso: Subversive Narratives of the Afro-Caribbean, an undergraduate course examining contemporary literature and cultural productions (films, art, music) from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

• Undergraduate: BA, history, Spanish and Latin American literature and cultural studies, New York University
• Graduate degrees: MA, Spanish and Latin American literature and cultures, New York University; PhD, Latin American and Caribbean studies, University of Connecticut
• Most recent appointment: Assistant professor, Earlham College

M. Kristana Textor

Lecturer, Undergraduate Program in Digital Media Studies

M. Kristana Textor begins an appointment as a lecturer in digital media studies after having served as an adjunct instructor in the program.

Her research focuses on motivation, communities of practice, video games, digital media production, and media literacy as well as on augmented, virtual, and extended reality. In addition to presenting at several conferences, she has published in the American Journal of Play and Games, Learning & Society.

As part of her work, Textor has collaborated with organizations on and off campus, including the University’s Center for Learning in the Digital Age, RIT’s MAGIC Center, the Strong National Museum of Play, and New York City public schools. Before joining academia, she worked as a videographer for PBS and as a freelance director of photography whose camerawork has appeared on HBO, CBS, MTV, and the Food Network, among other outlets.

Textor is in the dissertation phase of the doctoral program in teaching and curriculum at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education. This fall, she will teach an introductory writing course about video games and play, in which students write about games through a variety of lenses, including design, narrative, psychology, gender, and genre.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, communications: film and TV, University of Iowa
• Graduate degree: PhD (expected 2023), teaching and curriculum, University of Rochester Warner School of Education
• Most recent appointment: Instructor and course designer, University of Rochester

Laura Whitebell

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program

Laura Whitebell begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program (WSAP), after having served as a lecturer in the program since 2016.

In addition to teaching first-year composition and upper-level writing courses in WSAP, Whitebell has taught a variety of courses in the English department, including American Literature, British Literature, and Crime and Surveillance in Victorian Fiction. She has also served as an instructor in Rochester’s Early Connection Opportunity Program, offering intensive writing support and tutoring to first-generation college students.

Whitebell’s research interests have focused on displacement and trans-Atlantic migration in 19th-century literature and, more recently, the rhetoric of conspiracy theories. While working toward a PhD in English at Rochester, she served as a graduate instructor in WSAP; a project assistant and later coordinator of the William Blake Archive; and an editorial assistant for the University of Rochester Press’s Middle English Texts Series. In 2019, she was awarded the William H. Gilman Memorial Prize, which is given annually to an outstanding PhD candidate in American or English literature at Rochester. 

• Undergraduate degree: BA, English and history, University of York
• Graduate degrees: MA, 19th-century studies, University of Sheffield; PhD, English, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Lecturer, University of Rochester

Suzanne Woodring

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program

Suzanne Woodring begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program (WSAP), after having served four years as a lecturer and six years as a writing consultant in the program.

Woodring has taught a range of courses at the University—in WSAP, at the Warner School of Education (where she earned a doctorate), for the Early Connection Opportunity and Early Connection Africa programs, and at the Simon Business School.

Woodring’s research interests include optimal learning experiences and code-meshing, which treats all dialects of a language as being of equal value. For her PhD dissertation, she researched strategies for encouraging young children to apply knowledge in one context to a different and novel context.

Her research has been published in The Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children and in the Impact of the ScienceStart! Curriculum on Low-Income Preschooler’s Language and Literacy Skills technical report for the United States Department of Education.

She has presented at various events and venues, including the Conference on College Composition and Communication and the SUNY Council on Writing.

Woodring was awarded a two-year Breadth Teaching Fellowship in 2012 for teaching in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, English, University of Baltimore
• Graduate degrees: MEd, early childhood education, Towson University; PhD, human development in educational contexts, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Lecturer, University of Rochester

Eustrat Zhupa

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Computer Science

Eustrat Zhupa begins an appointment as an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Computer Science after having served as a lecturer in the department since 2018.

Over the past four years at Rochester, he has taught six different classes ranging from web programming to the design and analysis of algorithms. This fall Zhupa will teach Introduction to Cryptography as well as a course on fundamental concepts of database design and use.

Zhupa previously served as an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Information Science and Technology in Ohrid (North Macedonia) and at the University of Vlora (Albania), where he also served as dean of the College of Technical Sciences for two years. He was also a visiting teaching faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Zhupa’s research interests include theory of computation, cryptography and information security, graph theory, Linux-based file systems, cloud computing, and big data. He has authored three books and 14 journal and conference papers. 

• Undergraduate degree: BSc, computer science, University of Bari
• Graduate degree: PhD, computer science, University of Bari
• Most recent appointment: Lecturer, University of Rochester