This fall, 33 new faculty joined the teaching staff. Of the 33, seven are tenure track professors.
According to Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd, all hirees have met the College’s rigorous standards, including “excellence in teaching, distinction in research, the potential and evidence that someone will be an excellent teacher, and that they make important contributions to the curriculum.”
Barbara Elias, the only hire in social sciences, joined the government and legal studies department. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Elias’ research centers on counterinsurgency war policy.
“Essentially, I examine how large states like the United States coerce other countries during counterinsurgency wars,” she said.
Marcos López is an assistant Professor of Sociology. Educated at the University of California at Santa Cruz, López is teaching “Immigration and the Politics of Exclusion,” which is cross-listed with the Latin American studies department.
Emma Maggie Solberg has taken a position teaching in the English department. She received her undergraduate degree from Oxford University and her PhD from the University of Virginia. A medieval English literature specialist, her dissertation is titled “Doubting Mary: Early English Drama from N-Town to Shakespeare.” She currently teaches a seminar on representations of Islam in early Europe and a 2,000-level course on medieval British literature.
Additionally, three new faculty members joined the sciences, while one joined mathematics.
David Carlon, whose last position was at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, is an associate Professor of Biology. He will fill the recently created position of the director of the marine lab on Orr’s Island. As director, he is in charge of the lab’s administration, grant writing and the allocation of resources among faculty researchers.
Amanda Redlich is the newest member of the math department. She received her BA from the University of Chicago and her PhD from MIT. She is currently researching probabilistic combinatorics with a team at Rutgers, which is being funded by the National Science Foundation.
“I’m currently researching this extensive theorem about logic and fundamental basic statements about mathematics,” said Redlich. “It has many applications in computer science and tries to explain how things are connected.”
Athough she loves doing research, she came to Bowdoin to teach.
“I enjoy how serious the faculty are about their teaching, and how enthusiastic both the faculty and students are,” says Redlich.
Michéle LaVigne was hired to fill a position within the Department of Earth Oceanographic Science, where she was an assistant professor last year. She received her PhD from Rutgers, and her research specialties are in marine biochemistry and paleoceanography.
Erika Nyhus has joined the neuroscience and psychology department. She recently completed her postdoctorate work at Brown University. Nyhus is a specialist in neural processes that support cognitive control and memory, and is teaching Laboratory in Cognitive Neuroscience.
In addition to these tenure track hires, Bowdoin has seven visiting professors, three adjunct professors, and 10 postdoctoral fellows.
Judd emphasized that despite coming from various backgrounds and academic fields, the new faculty all shared common attributes.
“These people are really accomplished scholars who are deeply committed to undergraduate education,” said Judd.