Pulteney Street Survey

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PULTENEY STREET SURVEY - FALL 2018

Academic Prowess

In 2018, the Board of Trustees approved tenure and promotion for 14 faculty members.

Jeffrey Blankenship

Jeffrey Blankenship (Art and Architecture), who joined the faculty in 2011, publishes in the fields of cultural landscape studies and design history within the broader context of 20thcentury intellectual history. He holds a B.S. in landscape architecture from the University of Kentucky and a master’s in landscape architecture, a master’s in regional planning and a Ph.D. in cultural geography, all from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Kristen Brubaker

Kristen Brubaker (Environmental Studies) conducts research using spatial data to improve understanding of soil, terrain and land use legacy impacts on forested landscapes. She joined the faculty in 2012 after receiving a B.S. and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University and a M.S. from Mississippi State University.

Bradley Cosentino

Bradley Cosentino’s (Biology) research explores the ecological and evolutionary responses of wildlife to environmental change. The author of "Evolutionary response to global change" in the journal Ecology and Evolution, Cosentino joined the HWS faculty in 2012 after earning a B.A. from Augustana College (IL) and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.

Matthew Crow

Matthew Crow’s (History) teaching and research explores colonial and revolutionary U.S. history and American intellectual history. The author of Thomas Jefferson, Legal History, and the Art of Recollection, he joined the HWS faculty in 2012, after earning his B.A. from University of California, San Diego and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ileana Dumitriu

Ileana Dumitriu (Physics) joined the faculty in 2012. Her research focuses on atom-light interaction investigating electrons’ behavior at the quantum level by using synchrotron radiation at Berkeley National Lab. Her on-campus research includes collaborative projects on water quality using drones reflectance spectroscopy and undergraduate student projects such as NASA RockSat-C/X. She holds a B.S. in physics from Babes-Bolyai University, a B.S. in civil engineering from Technical University Romania, and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University.

Emily Fisher

Emily Fisher’s (Psychology) research focuses on stereotyping and prejudice, social capital and community engagement, political psychology and consumer behavior. Fisher earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, before joining the HWS faculty in 2011.

Daniel Graham

Daniel Graham (Psychology), who specializes in the field of sensory and perceptual psychology, performs experimental, theoretical and computational research related to visual processing and neural network communication. A member of the faculty since 2012, Graham earned his B.A. in physics from Middlebury College and his M.S. in physics and Ph.D. in psychology from Cornell University.

Yan Hao

Yan Hao (Mathematics and Computer Science) Hao, who joined the Colleges in 2012, teaches a range of courses in mathematics, spanning algebra and calculus, probability and statistics. As an applied mathematician, she explores probability and stochastic processes in her research, which has been published in European Physics Journal Nonlinear Biomedical Physics, Mathematical Biosciences and PLoS ONE. She earned a B.S. from Tsinghua University in China, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary.

Jessica Hayes-Conroy

Jessica Hayes-Conroy (Women’s Studies), whose research focuses on alternative food activism, nutrition intervention and social difference, is the author of Savoring Alternative Food: School Gardens, Healthy Eating, and Visceral Difference. She joined the faculty in 2011 with a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, an M.A. from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

Alla Ivanchikova

Alla Ivanchikova (English) teaches literary theory and global literature, which intersects with her research into displacement, border-crossing and globalization. Ivanchikova, who joined the faculty in 2012, holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her book, Imagining Afghanistan After 9/11 is under contract with Purdue University Press.

Lisa Patti

Lisa Patti (Media and Society), who joined the faculty in 2011, holds B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. As a teacher and scholar, she focuses on the contemporary translation and distribution of global media. She is coeditor of The Multilingual Screen: New Perspectives on Cinema and Linguistic Difference and coauthor of Film Studies: A Global Introduction.

Joseph Rusinko

Joseph Rusinko (Mathematics and Computer Science), who joined the department in 2015, holds a B.S. from Davidson College and Ph.D. from University of Georgia. Focusing primarily on algebraic, geometric and combinatorial approaches to modeling evolution, Rusinko is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award for Beginning Faculty from the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America.

Kristin Slade

Kristin Slade (Chemistry) has extensive research experience in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology. Before joining the HWS faculty in 2011, she earned her B.S. from the University of Richmond and her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Courtney Wells

Courtney Wells (French and Francophone Studies), who joined the faculty in 2012, holds a B.A. from the University of Dallas, and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University. His teaching and research interests span medieval lyric poetry, the oral and written transmission of medieval texts, Renaissance, and contemporary Catalan and Occitan culture.

Earning Emeritus/a Status:

In honor of their long service at Hobart and William Smith, the Colleges have named the following retiring faculty members Professors Emeritus/a. Emeritus/a status recognizes faculty service of 15 or more years and contributions to teaching, scholarship, community service and the leadership of the Colleges.

Eugen Baer

Eugen Baer P’95, P’97 (Philosophy), former Dean of Hobart College, retired this spring after nearly 50 years of service to HWS. In addition to his teaching and leadership, Baer holds more than 100 bylines in academia. He earned his licentiate degree in theology from the University of Freiburg, a biblical baccalaureate degree from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and his doctorate in philosophy from Yale University. The Hobart Class of 2007 inducted him as an Honorary member on the eve of their Commencement.

Elisabeth Lyon

Elisabeth Lyon (English) has served the Colleges since 1988. She earned her bachelor of arts at University of California, Berkeley, her master’s at NYU, and returned to Berkeley for her Ph.D. She developed feature film projects for Bona Fide Productions, including scripts for the films Election, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and The Wood. Lyon was a co-founder and co-editor of the feminist film theory journal Camera Obscura.

D. Brooks McKinney

D. Brooks McKinney (Geoscience), a member of the faculty since 1984, has spearheaded the creation of field experiences across the country for HWS students. He earned his bachelor of science from Beloit College and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. In his honor, the Colleges established the Geoscience Field Study Fund, which supports scholarships for students conducting hands-on research in geoscience.

Susanne McNally

Susanne McNally (History), former dean of William Smith College, joined the faculty in 1972 teaching in a variety of interdisciplinary programs including women’s studies, Russian area studies, Asian studies and environmental studies. She has served as the Dean of William Smith College, in the Provost’s Office and on the Committees on Standards and Academic Affairs. McNally earned her bachelor’s from Douglass College, her master’s from Claremont, and her Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton.

Edgar Paiewonsky-Conde

Edgar Paiewonsky-Conde (Spanish and Hispanic Studies) joined the faculty in 1987. His scholarship includes critical articles of lasting influence on the Spanish Renaissance and the narrative of contemporary Latin America. Paiewonsky-Conde’s verbal poetry, both the traditional and a minimalist mode, has appeared in North American anthologies and Latin American publications. His ”eye poems,“ a visual poetry project decades in the making, has recently appeared in print and electronically. In 2015, he received the faculty prize for teaching. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. from New York University.

John Vaughn

John Vaughn P’08 (Mathematics and Computer Science) has played a key role in furthering the study of technological advancement through his robotics courses and leading the HWS Robotics club since joining the faculty in 1985. He was also an instructor in the Colleges’ Second Chances Program, which gives incarcerated individuals the opportunity to take college courses. Vaughn earned his B.S. from the University of Houston, M.S. from the St. Louis University and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.