To the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Community:
I am honored to announce that, at their meeting on May 3, 2025, the Board of Trustees formally and enthusiastically approved two resolutions: that the faculty members listed immediately below be granted continuous tenure and be promoted to the rank of associate professor, and that the associate professor in the following list be promoted to full professor. These promotions will all take effect July 1, 2025. A third resolution to grant an endowed chair was also approved during the meeting. I am including in this announcement the professional biographies of each promoted faculty member and the new endowed chair. They offer a nice sense of this new tenure cohort’s many and varied accomplishments.
Promotions to Associate Professor with Continuous Tenure
Paul Harnik, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geosciences (BA Oberlin College; PhD University of Chicago)
Paul Harnik came to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 2020 from Franklin & Marshall College where he was an Associate Professor of Geosciences, following postdoctoral appointments at Stanford University and Duke University. His area of specialty is paleobiology where he uses a combination of fieldwork, specimen-based study, statistical analysis, and modeling to investigate questions related to the causes and consequences of extinction and anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. His research focus is on marine ecosystems, with recent work in the northern Gulf of Mexico and urbanized marine ecosystems near Hong Kong. Through support from the Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute, he is contributing to a collaborative project on determining the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on calcifying marine organisms. He has published widely in leading journals including recent articles in Paleobiology, Annual Review of Marine Science, Continental Shelf Research, Radiocarbon, Marine Micropaleontology, and Anthropocene. A subset of the papers include undergraduate student coauthors. His research accomplishments have been recognized with a National Science Foundation CAREER grant and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Paul teaches courses in geology including Sustainable Earth, Paleontology of Marine Life, Conservation Paleobiology, and a cross-listed, team-taught class on Evolution of Form and Function in Biomineralizing Marine Animals. He also teaches a Core Sciences class on The Anthropocene. Paul presently serves on the Faculty Committee on Affirmative Action Oversight, Committee on ALANA Affairs, and the Environmental Studies Program Steering Committee. He played a key role in developing the NASC Division STARS program that pairs first-year students from under-resourced high schools with a faculty research mentor.
Anne Perring, Assistant Professor of Chemistry (ScB Brown University; PhD University of California-Berkeley)
Anne Perring joined the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ faculty in 2018. Before coming to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, she served as a Research Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado. Her current research looks at the impact that primary aerosol can have on cloud formation and the hydrological cycle, as well as human, animal, and plant health. Anne teaches general chemistry courses, as well as Environmental Chemistry, Practical Quantitative Analysis and Instrumental Methods. Anne’s scholarship is broadly important to the atmospheric chemistry community, provides a great educational opportunity for ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students, and dramatically boosts the national profile of the Chemistry Department. She has held several positions in professional organizations, and has served as a panel member and proposal reviewer for numerous programs. Her articles have appeared in several journals including Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, and Environmental Science and Technology Journal. Her service to the University includes her exemplary chairing of the Sustainability Council and serving as interim (and incoming) director of the Alumni Memorial Scholars Program.
Osvaldo Sandoval-Leon, Assistant Professor of Spanish (BA, MA California State University, Fullerton; PhD Michigan State University)
Osvaldo Sandoval Leon joined the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ faculty in 2019 after teaching at Michigan State University. His co-edited volume, Partera de la historia: violencia en literatura, performance y medios audiovisuales en Latinoamérica, appeared in 2022, and his articles have appeared in journals such as Cuadernos literarios, Cuadernos del CILHA: Centro de Literatura Hispanoamericana, and the Journal of Gender and Sexuality Studies. Osvaldo’s courses include Latin American Women Dramatists, Core Communities: Mexico, Intermediate Spanish, Language and Literature and Postdictatorial Transatlantic Theater. His dossier reveals him to be a deeply committed teacher who clearly articulates sound expectations for each of his classes and devises the necessary steps and tools for his students to reach their highest potential. Osvaldo revived ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society and his leadership of this organization has earned him national recognition. His university service includes serving as Latin American Studies Coordinator, as a member of the Africana and Latin American Studies Steering Committee, and the ALANA Affairs Committee.
Daniel Tober, Assistant Professor of Classics (BA Brown University; MPhil Corpus Christi College, AM Harvard University; PhD Princeton University)
Daniel Tober joined the tenure stream faculty at ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 2018. Before arriving, he served as a lecturer at Fordham University, and as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities and Humanistic Studies at Bryn Mawr College. At ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, Daniel has offered a broad suite of courses including ones on Plato’s Symposium, Euripides’ Medea, and Homer’s Odyssey, on Roman Oratory, Greek Tragedy, and Ancient Rome, as well an FSEM on Alexander the Great and a co-taught extended study on Freedom, Tyranny, and Philosophy in ancient Greece and Italy. In all his courses, Daniel fosters an environment where students are eager to participate and learn from one another. He sets high expectations which challenge his students and ignite their own passion for the subjects they are studying. He lists his research interests as Greek and Roman historiography, local historiography, Achaemenid Persia, and Alexander the Great and the Alexander Romance. Daniel’s articles have appeared in Classical Quarterly and Historia. His book chapters have appeared in Identities in Antiquity; Cultures of Resistance in the Hellenistic East; and the Oxford Classical Dictionary, to name a few. Daniel’s service includes membership on the Academic Affairs Board, the Advisory and Planning Committee, the Faculty Affairs Committee, and the Faculty Development Council.
Promotion to Full Professor
Mark Stern, Associate Professor of Educational Studies (BS Pennsylvania State University; MA Teachers College, Columbia University; PhD Syracuse University)
Mark Stern began his career at ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in 2010 as a visiting assistant professor. He moved to the tenure stream in 2012 and was promoted to associate professor with continuous tenure in 2017. He is currently serving as Academic Director of the Office of Undergraduate Studies Scholars Program. Mark’s pedagogy is marked by his success in teaching critical thinking skills, his care and compassion for students of diverse backgrounds, and his embrace of alternative and experiential forms of education. His classes ask students to question their assumptions, challenge accepted wisdom about how the world works, and come to their own conclusions after weighing multiple perspectives. Many students describe a transformation in the way that they view the world after taking Mark’s classes. Mark’s articles have appeared in Food, Culture and Society, Journal of Curriculum Pedagogy, Equity and Excellence in Education, and Feminist Formations, among others. He is also the author of several book chapters and has served as co-editor of special edition journals. Mark's specialties include urban studies, American studies, social theory and continental philosophy. He is a past chairperson of the Department of Educational Studies and recently directed the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Santa Fe study group.
Endowed Chair Appointments
Aaron Robertson, Professor of Mathematics, will be appointed as the Charles G. Hetherington Professor of Mathematics effective July 1, 2025
(BS University of Michigan; PhD Temple University)
Charles G. Hetherington Professor of Mathematics
Awarded to an outstanding faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, the endowment from which this professorship originated was established in 1976 through a generous bequest made available from Charles G. Hetherington 1916.
Aaron Robertson joined the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ faculty in July 1999 after obtaining his PhD in mathematics on a topic that earned him much recognition: Ramsey Theory of Integers. Later in 2003 he published a textbook under the same title, which is used widely. He is very active professionally; publishing prolifically in mathematics journals, and giving invited talks at numerous conferences and institutions. He is also the managing editor of Integers, a professional journal in mathematics. He has managed to involve students in his research and to publish with them. In the classroom he is no less of an accomplished professional. His students comment on the clarity of his lectures, and have nominated him for professor of the year on many occasions. Robertson has also been active in service to the institution: serving in many committees, and helping the Mathematics Department renovate its curriculum and facilities.
Please join me in congratulating all of these highly accomplished colleagues who, together, have made significant contributions to our academic curriculum and intellectual community, as well as to their respective scholarly communities. Their promotions and recognitions are well-deserved.
With best regards,
Lesleigh R. Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Mark S. Siegel University Professor in Religion and Jewish Studies