2010-11 Wesleyan's Newly Tenured Faculty & Faculty Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Newly Tenured Faculty

The Wesleyan University Board of Trustees affirmed promotion to Associate Professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2011, for these members of the faculty: 

Mary Alice Haddad, Associate Professor of Government, has taught at Wesleyan since 2004. Her scholarship studies comparative politics, with a focus on civil society, and a regional specialization in East Asia. She is the author of Politics and Volunteering in Japan: A Global Perspective (Cambridge, 2007), Building Democracy in Japan (Cambridge, forthcoming in 2012), numerous articles and book chapters, and has delivered more than 25 invited talks and conference presentations. She is currently working on a project about environmental politics in East Asia. She has received numerous awards and fellowships from organizations such as the Japan Foundation, the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, the East Asian Institute, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She received her B.A. from Amherst College, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and served as a visiting scholar at Keio and Kobe Universites in Japan.

Elvin Lim, Associate Professor of Government, came to Wesleyan in 2008. He specializes in American political development and presidential studies, with a focus on presidential rhetoric, and in language and politics. He is the author of The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford, 2008), several articles and book chapters, is completing a book The Lovers' Quarrel: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists, 1787-2010, for Oxford, and has delivered more than 20 invited talks and conference presentations. He is an active public intellectual whose writing is frequently published in print media and online, and he is regularly interviewed on radio and television news. He holds a B.A., M.Sc., M.A., and D. Phil. from the University of Oxford. 

Yonatan Malin, Associate Professor of Music, came to Wesleyan in 2004. He specializes in music theory, and his research has focused on the German Lied (art song) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially songs for voice and piano by Hensel, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, and Schoenberg. He is the author of Songs in Motion: Rhythm and Meter in the German Lied (Oxford, 2010), three articles, a review essay, and has delivered more than 20 talks and conference presentations. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. 

Dana Royer, Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, came to Wesleyan in 2005. His research focuses on the earth's climatic and ecological history, by analyzing the size and shape of fossil leaves and their stomatal distributions to reconstruct ancient levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in order to discern the relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperatures over geologic time. He was awarded the Donath Medal (Young Scientist Award) by the Geological Society of America in 2010, and the Ebelman award from the International Association of Geochemistry in 2007. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Australian Research Council, and the American Chemical Society. He is the lead or co-author of 32 peer-reviewed publications, he has published 32 conference abstracts as well as invited commentaries in three journals, and he has delivered ten invited conference talks. His B.A. is from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. is from Yale University.
 

Newly Promoted Faculty

The following faculty have been promoted to Professor, effective July 1, 2011:

Wai Kiu (Billy) Chan, Professor of Mathematics, has taught at Wesleyan since 1999. He specializes in number theory, in particular of quadratic forms and related areas such as lattices in Euclidean spaces, modular forms, and linear algebraic groups. He is the author of 27 papers, has delivered 20 invited addresses and 27 seminar presentations; organized six conferences and meetings including the Second International Conference of the Algebraic Arithmetic Theory of Quadratic Forms (Chile, 2007) for which he also served as editor of the proceedings, and he has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. He earned a B.Sc. and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

Demetrius Eudell, Professor of History, has taught at Wesleyan since 2001. He is a specialist in intellectual history, African American and Caribbean history, race theory, and historiography, and his research focuses on how discourses of race have been foundational to modernity. He is the author of The Political Languages of Emancipation in the British Caribbean and the U.S. South (University of North Carolina Press, 2002), co-editor of Sylvia Winter: A Transculturalist Rethinking Modernity, special issue of the Journal of West Indian Literature (Nov. 2001), author of 15 articles, essays, and reviews, and has given more than 30 invited talks and conference presentations. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, conducted post-baccalaureate study at the University of Dakar, Senegal, and earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Lori Gruen, Professor of Philosophy, has taught at Wesleyan since 2000. She specializes in practical ethics, environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, and social and political philosophy. She is the author of Ethics and Animals (Cambridge, 2011), co-author with Peter Singer of Animal Liberation: A Graphic Guide (Camden Press, 1987), co-editor of these books: with Laura Grabel and Peter Singer, of Stem Cell Research: The Ethical Issues (Routledge, 2007); with George Panichas, of Sex, Morality, and the Law (Routledge, 1997); with Dale Jamieson, of Reflecting on Nature: Readings in Environmental Philosophy (Oxford, 1994; second edition, 2011); and author of 27 articles and book chapters. She received her B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado.

Ethan Kleinberg, Professor of History and Letters, has taught at Wesleyan since 2001. He is an intellectual historian who works in fields of critical theory, literature, philosophy, and historiography. He is the author of Generation Existential: Heidegger's Philosophy in France, 1927-1961 (Cornell, 2005), 10 articles and essays, and has delivered more than 25 presentations. He serves as associate editor of History and Theory, and has received numerous awards and fellowships including the Journal of the History of Ideas Morris D. Forkosch prize for the best book in intellectual history published in 2005. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Magda Teter, Professor of History and Jeremy Zwelling Professor of Jewish Studies, came to Wesleyan in 2000. She specializes in early modern religious and cultural history, with emphasis on Jewish-Christian relations in eastern Europe, and cultural transmission among Jews and Christians across Europe in the early modern period. She serves as director of Wesleyan's Jewish and Israel Studies Certificate. She is the author of Sinners on Trial: Jews and Sacrilege after the Reformation (Harvard, 2011), Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland: A Beleaguered Church in the Post-Reformation Era (Cambridge, 2006) which was awarded the Jewish Studies Publication Prize by the Koret Foundation, co-editor of Polin: Social and Cultural Boundaries in Early Modern Poland, vol. 22 (Oxford: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2009), is the author of 15 articles, and has delivered 40 conference papers and invited talks. Her work has been supported by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture,  YIVO Institute, and the Yad Ha-Nadiv Foundation (Israel), among others. In 2002, she was a Harry Starr Fellow in Jewish Studies at Harvard University, and in 2007-2008, an Emeline Bigelow Conland Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies also at Harvard University.  She serves on the editorial boards of Polin, the Sixteenth Century Journal, the AJS Review, and is co-founder and editor of the Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History (earlymodern.org). She received an M.A. from the School of Oriental Studies at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Elizabeth Willis, Professor of English and Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, has taught at Wesleyan since 2002. She is a poet and a scholar of poetry. Her critical writing on poetry and visual culture focuses on the intersections of public and private life, the effects of political and technological developments on aesthetic production, and the relation of poets to their sources. Her books of poetry include Address (Wesleyan, 2011), Meteoric Flowers (Wesleyan 2006), Turneresque (Burning Deck, 2003), and The Human Abstract (Penguin 1995). She is editor of Radical Vernacular: Lorine Niedecker and the Poetics of Place (University of Iowa Press, 2008), is the author of more than 25 critical essays and reviews, has given more than 30 conference presentations, and has been invited to give more than 120 poetry readings. Her work has received awards and fellowships from the National Poetry Series, the Walter Thayer Foundation, the Howard Foundation, and the California Council for the Arts, along with residencies at Brown University, the MacDowell Colony, and the Centre Internationale de Poesie in Marseille.  She holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
 

The following faculty have been promoted to Adjunct Professor:

Drew Black, Adjunct Professor of Physical Education, came to Wesleyan in 1998. He is the head coach of wrestling, and head strength and conditioning coach. His wrestling team has a record of 44-24-2 in the past four years; the record in this 2010-11 season was 16-3-1, making his one of Wesleyan's most successful teams. He was named New England Wrestling Conference coach of the year for 2009-10, and won their excellence in leadership award in 2005. He holds a B.S. from Syracuse University and an M.A. from Kent State University.

Octavio Flores, Adjunct Professor of Romance Languages, came to Wesleyan in 1997. He specializes in teaching the Spanish language and language pedagogy, and has served as section head in Spanish. His B.A. and M.A. are from the University of the Americas, Mexico; his Ph.D. is from the University of Pittsburgh.

Jay Hoggard, Adjunct Professor of Music, has been teaching at Wesleyan since 1991. He is a vibraphonist and composer who specializes in jazz, directs the jazz orchestra, and serves as the commencement music director.  His discography includes 19 recordings, he has composed 17 commissioned works, is composer of 80 pieces, has collaborated on 48 recordings, and is in high demand as a performer. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Wesleyan University.

Christopher Potter, Adjunct Professor of Physical Education, came to Wesleyan in 2003. He is men's ice hockey coach and co-head golf coach. His hockey team has qualified for the NESCAC playoffs three times in the last five seasons, and he was named conference coach of the year in 2007. He holds a B.S. and an M.A. from the University of Connecticut.

John Raba, Adjunct Professor of Physical Education, has been at Wesleyan since 1996.  He is head coach of men's lacrosse, teaches strength training, and serves as athletics recruiting coordinator. Over the past four years, the men's lacrosse team has a win-loss record of 51-20, and in 2006 and 2007 the team finished third in the nation. John has been named NESCAC coach of the year twice, and New England coach of the year five times. He holds a B.S. and an M. Ed. from the University of New Haven.

Joseph Reilly, Adjunct Professor of Physical Education, has been at Wesleyan since 2007. He is the head men's basketball coach, serves as intercollegiate athletic scheduling coordinator, and co-coordinates the Wesleyan A+ athletic advantage program. He holds a B.A. from Trinity College and an M.B.A. from the University of Rhode Island.

The following faculty have been promoted to Adjunct Associate Professor:

Marcela Oteiza, Adjunct Associate Professor of Theater, came to Wesleyan in 2004. She specializes in scenic design, and her work has been featured in more than 20 live productions, one film, and 11 visual art installations/exhibits. She holds two B.F.A degrees from the University of Chile, and an M.F.A from the California Institute of the Arts.

Etsuko Takahashi, Adjunct Associate Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures, has been teaching at Wesleyan since 2003. She specializes in teaching the Japanese language and foreign language pedagogy, and has served as the Japanese Language Program Coordinator since 2004.  She has 20 publications and conference presentations. Her B.A. and M.A. are from the University of Iowa, and her Ph.D. is from the University of Pittsburgh.

 Mid-year Promotions

Newly Tenured Faculty

The Wesleyan University Board of Trustees affirmed promotion to Associate Professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2011, for these members of the faculty:

Tsampikos Kottos, Associate Professor of Physics, joined the Wesleyan faculty in 2005 as assistant professor.  He held appointments at the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, Germany; the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel; the Institute Nazionale di Ottica in Italy; the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser in Greece; and the University of Crete in Greece.

He is a theoretical physicist who works in the general area of wave transport in complex systems with emphasis on quantum chaos and mesoscopic physics.  His studies have relevance to a wide variety of phenomena apparent in optics, atomic and molecular physics, and the mesoscopic size electronic devices.  He has contributed to the development of fundamental tools for the field of mesoscopic physics and quantum chaos, the most cited of which is the devising of "quantum graphs" as an analytical tool.  A number of his theoretical predictions have been confirmed by experimentalists, and his work has influenced other researchers in the fields of phase transitions, transport studies, and unusual optical effects in synthetic meta-materials.

He is author or coauthor of 73 peer-reviewed publications, has active grants from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, the German National Science Foundation, the Max-Planck Institute, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and was the recipient of the 2006 International Pnevmatikos Award for outstanding research in Nonlinear Physics, Mathematical Physics, or Nonlinear Disordered Systems. 

Kottos earned his undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Crete in Greece.


Ulrich Plass, Associate Professor of German Studies, joined the Wesleyan faculty in 2004 as assistant professor. 

He is a specialist in German literature, literary criticism, and critical theory, with a particular focus on the works of the German philosopher Theodor Adorno.  He is author of two books: Franz Kafka (Vienna: Böhlau, 2009) and Language and History in Theodor W. Adorno's Notes to Literature (New York and London: Routledge, 2007); has edited two journals' special issues: Adorno and America, special issue of Telos (no. 149, Winter 2009) and Die Einrichtung der Literatur, special issue of Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie (December 2010; Arne Höcker, co-editor); and is author of more than 20 articles, reviews, and translations. He has delivered more than 20 invited lectures and conference presentations, and organized five conferences, including the symposium Adorno and America at Wesleyan in November 2009, which he developed into the special issue of Telos.

Plass conducted his undergraduate studies at the University of Hamburg, Germany; his M.A. is from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and his Ph.D. from New York University.


Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Associate Professor of Religion, joined the Wesleyan faculty in 2006 as assistant professor. Previously, she taught in the core curriculum program at Columbia University.

She is a philosopher of religion whose scope of research includes projects in the history of ideas (e.g., the genealogy of wonder), contemporary debates (e.g., Anglicans and debates on sexuality), and the conceptual links between religious thought-structures and science (e.g. "dark energy and multiverse cosmologies"). She is author of the book Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), which traces the status of thaumazein or wonder in the Western tradition from Antiquity through to continental philosophy. Her current book project, Worlds without End: Cosmology and Multiplicity, is under contract with Columbia University Press.  She has published nine articles in refereed journals and four book chapters. She has delivered 25 invited lectures and conference presentations, serves on the executive committee of the North American Association for the Study of Religion, serves on the editorial board of Modern Theology, and is on the steering committee of the philosophy of religion section of the American Academy of Religion.

Rubenstein earned her B.A. from Williams College, an M.Phil. from Cambridge University's Emmanuel College, and an M.A., M.Phil, and Ph.D. from Columbia University.


Sarah Wiliarty, Associate Professor of Government, came to Wesleyan in 2002 as assistant professor.

She works in the field of comparative politics, with a primary focus on Germany and a special interest in gender and politics. Her book, The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany: Bringing Women to the Party (New York, Columbia University Press, 2010), studies party structure in Germany with a focus on conservative women and their role in shaping center-right party politics and policy formation, rethinking the relationship between normative democratic theory and empirical studies of party organization while establishing the foundation for analysis of the female executive and the rise of Angela Merkel to the German chancellorship.  She is author of nine articles, book chapters, and book reviews; co-editor of a special issue of German Politics and Society on "How Culture Matters: Culture and Social Change in the Federal Republic of Germany" (Summer 2002); and co-editor of The Transformation of Postwar Germany: Democracy, Prosperity and Nationhood, co-edited with John Brady and Beverly Crawford (University of Michigan Press, 1999). She has delivered more than 25 invited lectures and conference presentations.

Wiliarty earned her B.A. from Harvard University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.


Endowed Professorships

The following faculty have been appointed to endowed professorships:

Richard Adelstein, Professor of Economics, has been appointed Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics.  He specializes in the economics of law, American economic history, history of economic thought, and institutional economics. He is author of more than 30 articles, and serves as the North American representative and correspondent to the European Association of Law and Economics and the editorial advisory board, New Criminal Law Review. He received the Wesleyan University Award for Teaching Excellence in its first year of existence, in May 1993. His service to Wesleyan has been substantial, including as chair of the Economics Department, the College of Social Studies, and many rotations as a member of the Educational Policy Committee, the trustees' committee on finance, and the faculty committee on rights and responsibilities, as well as on many other University committees and task forces. He has advised 70 honors theses.

The Woodhouse/SYSCO Chair in Economics was established in May of 2002 with a gift from the SYSCO Corporation to honor John Woodhouse '53 P'79.


Gary Yohe, Professor of Economics, has been appointed Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies. He is the author of more than 100 articles and three books.  Most of his work has focused attention on the mitigation and adaptation/impacts sides of the climate issue.  He is a senior member of the IPCC that was awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.  Yohe is also a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change and the standing Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change of the National Academy of Sciences.  He served on the Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change Adaptation Panel for the National Academy of Sciences' initiative on America's Climate Choices and on the National Research Council Committee on Stabilization Targets for Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentrations.  He has recently accepted the responsibility of co-editing Climatic Change.

The Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair in the College of the Environment was established in August of 2010 with a gift from the Huffington Foundation.