To help introduce new members of the university's faculty to the Cornell community, the Cornell Chronicle is publishing brief new-faculty profiles through December.

Angenent

Besharov

Brashears

Brooks

Byfield

Chafetz

Colb

Colvin

Cornwell

Cosley

Davies

Dichtel

Dorf

Dreyer-Lude

Feathers

Fennie

Foster

Fromme

Fussell

Gao

Glass

Gómez

Humphreys

Kim

King

Kreps

Kushnir

Ley

Loeckenhoff

Lujan

McDermid

Niederdeppe

Pepinsky

Richardson

Rickard

Smolka

Thomas

Mukund

Weatherspoon

Woodard

Yan

Largus Angenent, associate professor, biological and environmental engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: The Angenent Lab studies the bioconversion of organic wastes into energy with conventional bioprocessing methods and modern molecular biology techniques.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, Washington University in St. Louis, 2002-08.
Academic background: B.S., environmental sciences, Wageningen University, Netherlands, 1992; M.S., environmental technology, Wageningen University, 1994; Ph.D., environmental engineering, Iowa State University, 1998.
Last book read: "Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux" by John G. Neihardt
In his own time: Playing with Miles and working on the house.

Marya Besharov, assistant professor, organizational behavior
College: ILR School
Academic focus: Mission-driven organizations, hybrid organizational forms, control systems in organizations.
Previous position: Graduate student (this is my first academic job).
Academic background: Ph.D., organizational behavior and sociology, Harvard University, 2008; M.A., sociology, Harvard University, 2005; M.B.A., Stanford University Graduate School of Business, 2002; B.A., Harvard University, 1996.
Last book read: "House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton.
In her own time: Spending time with family, doing yoga, playing violin and exploring Ithaca Farmers Market.

Matthew Brashears, assistant professor, sociology
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Social network analysis; diffusion of ideas and information; social decision making; social psychology; gender.
Previous position: Ph.D. candidate, University of Arizona.
Academic background: B.A., psychology, B.A., sociology, Emory University, 2000; M.A., sociology, University of Arizona, 2003; Ph.D., sociology, University of Arizona, 2008.
Last book read: "The Devil in Dover" by Lauri Lebo.
In his own time: Rock climbing, running, hiking, camping.

Nancy Brooks, visiting assistant professor, city and regional planning
College: Architecture, Art and Planning
Academic focus: Urban economics and local economic development.
Previous positions: Faculty member in economics at the University of Vermont.
Academic background: B.A., economics, College of William and Mary, 1985; Ph.D., economics, University of Pennsylvania, 1995.
Last book read: "The Race Between Education and Technology" by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz.
In her own time: "I spend time with my husband and two daughters, aged 8 and 10. I enjoy trying new recipes that use locally grown ingredients."

Judith A. Byfield, associate professor, Africana studies and Research Center
College: African Studies and Research Center
Academic focus: African history; women's social and economic history; colonialism; Caribbean history; labor history; material culture.
Previous position: Associate professor of history, Dartmouth College.
Academic background: B.A., Dartmouth College, 1980; M. A., Columbia University, 1983, M.Phil., Columbia University, 1984; Ph.D., Columbia University, 1993
Last book read: "Out of Place" by Edward Said.
In her own time: Swimming, photography, guitar lessons.

Josh Chafetz, assistant professor, law
College: Law School
Academic focus: Constitutional law and history (British and American), with a focus on the constitutional rules of legislative procedure.
Previous position: Law clerk, Hon. Guido Calabresi, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2007-08.
Academic background: B.A., philosophy and ethics, politics and economics, Yale, 2001; D.Phil., politics, Oxford, 2004; J.D., Yale, 2007.
Last book read: "The Long Parliament of Charles II" by Annabel Patterson.
In his own time: Reading, visiting zoos and museums.

Sherry Colb, professor of law
College: Law School
Academic focus: Criminal procedure investigations, evidence, reproductive rights.
Previous position: Assistant professor, 1993-95, associate professor, 1995-99, professor, 1999-2008, all at Rutgers-Newark School of Law; visiting professor, law, University of Pennsylvania, spring 2002; visiting professor, law, Columbia University 2007-08.
Academic background: A.B., psychology, Columbia College, 1988; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1991.
Last book read: "Those Who Save Us" by Jenna Blum.
In his own time: Baking and exercising her dogs.

Alexander Colvin, associate professor of collective bargaining, labor law and labor history
College: ILR School
Academic focus: Workplace dispute resolution, employment arbitration, organizational conflict resolution systems, comparative employment and labor law, workplace voice, turnover, compensation, telecommunications industry.
Previous position: Associate professor, Penn State University.
Academic background: B.S., astronomy and astrophysics, University of Toronto, 1989; J.D., University of Toronto, 1992; M.I.R., industrial relations, University of Toronto, 1995; Ph.D., industrial and labor relations, Cornell, 1999.
Last book read: "Differences that Matter: Sociology and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada" by Dan Zuberi.
In his own time: Running, fencing and sailing.

Benjamin Cornwell, assistant professor, organizational sociology
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Social network analysis; health impacts on social network position; organizational analysis; social network gerontology; social capital and inequality; social capital and capitalism.
Previous position: Postdoctoral fellow, Center on Demography and Economics of Aging, University of Chicago.
Academic background: B.A., sociology, University of Cincinnati, 2000; M.A., sociology, Ohio State University, 2001; Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2007.
Last book read: "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis.
In his own time: Walking, reading novels, spending time with my wife, playing with our dog.

Dan Cosley, assistant professor, information science
College: Computing and Information Science, and Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Human-computer interaction, studying and supporting social behavior online.
Previous position: Visiting assistant professor, Cornell Department of Communication, 2006-2008.
Academic background: Ph.D., 2006, University of Minnesota; M.S., 1999, James Madison University; B.ME. (Bachelor of music ed), 1993, Ohio State University.
Last book read: "The Art and Science of Reminiscing," ed. Barbara K. Haight and Jeffrey D. Webster; "Emotional Design" by Don Norman.
In his own time: Disc golf, biking, poker, squash, drum corps.

Carole Boyce Davies, professor, Africana studies, English and comparative literature
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: African diaspora literatures.
Previous positions: Professor, African-New World Studies and English, Florida International University; director of African-New World Studies Program.
Academic background: B.A., University of Maryland, 1972; M.A., Howard University, 1974; Ph.D., University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 1978.
Last book read: "The Blind Kingdom" by Veronique Tadjo
In her own time: I hang out and catch up with friends, read, work out, and travel to be with family, friends and colleagues in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

William Dichtel, assistant professor, chemistry and chemical biology
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Organic and materials chemistry; molecular electronics; self-assembly; the study of the interfaces between molecular chemistry and nanostructured materials.
Previous position: Postdoctoral researcher, University of California-Los Angeles and California Institute of Technology, 2005-08.
Academic background: B.S., chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000; Ph.D., chemistry University of California-Berkeley, 2005.
Last book read: "The Best and the Brightest" by David Halberstam.
In his own time: Open water swimming, outdoor cooking.

Michael C. Dorf, the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Constitutional Law
College: Law School
Academic focus: Understanding the response of the American constitutional system to the growth in transnational law; the retrofitting of 18th-century American federalism to emerging governance systems of cooperative federalism and coordinated decentralization; judicial review; constitutional theory.
Previous position: Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor, vice dean, associate professor, professor, Columbia Law School, 1995-2008; assistant professor, associate professor, Rutgers (Camden) Law School.
Academic background: A.B., physics, Harvard College, 1986; graduate study in physics, Victoria University of Wellington, 1987; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1990.
Last book read: "The Dark Side" by Jane Mayer.
In his own time: Vegan cooking for his daughters, bicycling, blogging

Melanie Dreyer-Lude, assistant professor, Theatre, Film and Dance
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: International theater, international collaboration and International Culture Lab, a theater company she started in New York City. Directs and acts in plays and translates contemporary German plays.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, head of undergraduate performance and director of M.F.A. program in performance pedagogy, University of Pittsburgh.
Academic background: B.A., theater, University of Denver; M.A., dramatic literature, Washington University, St. Louis; M.F.A., directing, Northwestern University.
Last book read: "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers.
In her own time: I garden, bike, camp, read and play with my son.

David Feathers, assistant professor, design and environmental analysis
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Human factors and ergonomics, environmental accessibility.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access, 2006-08; research assistant professor.
Academic background: B.A. and M.A., anthropology, 1997 and 1999, respectively; M.S., industrial engineering, 2002; Ph.D., industrial and systems engineering, 2006, all from SUNY Buffalo.
Last book read: "Geometrical Dynamics of Complex Systems: A Unified Modeling Approach to Physics, Control, Biomechanics, Neurodynamics and Psycho-Socio-Economical Dynamics" by V.G. Ivancevic and T.T. Ivancevic
In his own time: Spending time with family and friends, running, hiking, playing piano and guitar.

Craig Fennie, assistant professor, applied and engineering physics
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Materials physics and the idea of using nothing other than the laws of quantum mechanics (and intuition) to design real materials that have the properties you want them to have.
Previous position: Nicholas Metropolis Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, Argonne National Lab, 2006-08; reseasrch engineer, US Nanocorp Inc., 1997-2001.
Academic background: B.S., 1993, and M.S., 1996, both in electrical engineering, Villanova University; Ph.D., physics, Rutgers University, 2006.
Last book read: "The Holy Qur'an" translated by Abdullah Yusaf Ali.
In his own time: "('Own' time, what's that?) Losing oneself in such things as Wong Kar-Wai, Leonard Cohen, Passing Strange ..."

Jeremy Foster, assistant professor, landscape architecture
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Architectural, landscape and urban design; history and theory of landscapes, cities and built environments; role of socio-spatial practices and ideologies in shaping urban form; relationship between visual culture geographical imagination; urban geographies of displacement (i.e., colonization, migration and diaspora) with special interest in South Africa.
Previous positions: Visiting assistant professor, architecture and planning, Cornell, 2003-08; visiting assistant professor in landscape architecture, Virginia Polytechnic University, 2001-02.
Academic background: B.Arch., University of Cape Town, 1981; M.A., landscape architecture, University of Pennsylvania, 1984; Ph.D., cultural and historical geography, University of London, 1998.
Last book read: "The Exploded View" by Ivan Vladislavic.
In his own time: Reading, running, swimming, cooking, classical music, exploring cultural landscapes.

Chris Fromme, assistant professor, molecular biology and genetics
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Understanding how proteins and membranes are moved around within cells.
Previous Position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of California-Berkeley, 2004-08.
Academic background: B.A. biology, Cornell, 1999; Ph.D. biochemistry, Harvard University, 2004.
Last book read: "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan.
In his own time: Family, hiking, camping and skiing.

Susan Fussell, associate professor, commmunication
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Understanding the dynamics of human communication and collaboration, both face-to-face and via computer-mediated communication technologies; designing new technologies to support remote collaboration.
Previous position: Associate research professor, research scientist, system scientist, Human Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 1997-2008; research scientist, Bell Communications Research, 1995-97.
Academic background: B.S., psychology, sociology, Tufts University, 1981; M.S., social psychology, Columbia University, 1983; Ph.D., social and cognitive psychology, Columbia University, 1990.
Last book read: "What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency and Design" by Peter-Paul Verbeek.
In her own time: Cooking, gardening and reading.

Yingxin Gao, assistant professor, mechanical and aerospace engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Gao's research focuses on biomechanics of musculoskeletal soft tissues and biomechanics of the shoulder joint.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral research associate, University of Michigan, 2007-08.
Academic background: B.S., power engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, 1999; M.S., mechanical engineering, University of Delaware, 2003; Ph.D., mechanical engineering, University of Michigan, 200.
Last book read: "At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator" by Kathy Barker.
In her own time: Playing with her baby girl.

Jennifer Glass, professor, policy analysis and management
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Work and family life, gender stratification, organizations and mental health. She is currently researching the effects of family-responsive policies on mothers' earnings.
Previous position: Professor, sociology and women's studies, University of Iowa, 1994-08; assistant and associate professor, sociology, University of Notre Dame, 1985-94.
Academic background:B.S., social science, New College of Florida, 1977; Ph.D., sociology, University of Wisconsin, 1983.
Last book read: Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides; "Atonement" by Ian McEwan and "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri.
In her own time: Biking, gardening, travel, piano.

Miguel I. Gómez, assistant professor, applied economics and management
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Marketing, economics of the food system, applied industrial organization, quantitative analysis.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, University of Illinois, 2007-08; research associate, Food Industry Management Program, Cornell, 2001-06.
Academic background: B.S., industrial engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, 1990; M.S., 1995, and Ph.D., 1999, both in agricultural and consumer economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Last book read: "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.
In his own time: Swimming and jogging, and "I hope to find time to learn playing the guitar."

Lee Humphreys, assistant professor, communication
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Social uses and effects of communication technology, impression management and social relationships via new media and role of communication technology in public spaces.
Previous position: Associate lecturer, communication arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007-08.
Academic background: B.S., communication, Cornell, 2000; M.A. and Ph.D., both in communication, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 2003 and 2007, respectively.
Last book read: "Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany" by Bill Buford
In her own time: Cooking, playing sports and watching TV ("I do study media after all!").

Eun-Ah Kim, assistant professor, physics
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Condensed matter theory, in particular theory of correlated quantum materials exhibiting emergent collective phenomena. Topics of interest include unconventional superconductivity, quantum Hall effect, topological phases and nanoscale/mesoscopic physics.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics, 2005-08.
Academic background: B.Sc., physics, 1998, and M.Sc., 2000, physics, both from Seoul National University; Ph.D., physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005.
Last book read: "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
In her own time: "I love to cook, to bake and to share good food with friends and family."

Michael King, associate professor, biomedical engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: The adhesion of circulating cells in the context of blood clotting, inflammation and cancer.
Previous position: Assistant/associate professor, University of Rochester, 2002-08; postdoctoral fellow, University of Pennsylvania, 1999-2002.
Academic background: B.S., chemical engineering, University of Rochester, 1995; Ph.D., chemical engineering, University of Notre Dame, 1999.
Last book read: "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris.
In his own time: Enjoying family and the great outdoors, and learning photography.

Sarah Kreps, assistant professor, government
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: International conflict and cooperation; laws of war; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and great power politics.
Previous positions: Research associate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, 2007-08.
Academic background: B.A., Harvard University, environmental science and public policy, 1998; M.Sc., Oxford University, international environmental change, 1999; Ph.D., Georgetown University, government/international relations, 2007.
Last book read: "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
In her own time: Travel.

Tamar Kishnir, assistant professor, human development
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: How people acquire causal knowledge from experience. Specifically, how both adults and young children use different types of evidence to learn causal structure, what happens when sources of evidence conflict and how new information interacts with prior knowledge.
Previous position: Postdoctoral fellow developmental psychology, University of Michigan, 2005-08.
Academic background: B.A., psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, 1996; M.A., statistics, 2004, and Ph.D., cognitive psychology, 2005, both at University of California-Berkley.
Last book read: "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl. "I'm afraid all I've been reading for myself is textbooks on cognitive development these days."
In her own time: "Spending time with my family, playing and listening to music, running, yoga, traveling and baking cookies."

Ruth Ley, assistant professor, microbiology
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Microbial ecology of the human and mammalian gut.
Previous position: Research assistant professor, 2007-08; instructor, 2005-07; postdoctoral researcher, 2004-05, Center for Genome Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine; postdoctoral researcher, University of Colorado-Boulder, 2001-04.
Academic background: B.A., integrative biology, University of California-Berkeley, 1992; Ph.D., environmental, population and organismal biology, University of Colorado-Boulder, 2001.
Last book read: "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett.
In her own time: Reading, walks, clay sculpture.

Corinna Loeckenhoff, the Lois and Mell Tukma Assistant Professor in Human Ecology
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Age differences in personality and emotional experiences and their influence on mental and physical health across the life span.
Previous position: Research fellow, National Institute on Aging, 2006-08; psychologist, National Institute on Aging, 2004-06.
Academic background: Diploma in psychology, University of Marburg, Germany, 1999; M.A., 2001, and Ph.D., 2004, both in personality psychology, Stanford University.
Last book read: "This Is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin.
In her own time: "Playing with my toddler and sculpting in clay."

Maria E. Lujan, assistant professor, nutritional sciences
College: Agricultural and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Role of nutrition, metabolism and body composition in ovarian follicle development, ovulation, and fertility in women; ultrasonographic endocrine and cellular markers of impaired fertility in obesity; determinants of chronic disease (e.g., atherosclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, cancer, depression) in women with menstrual cycle irregularities.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Saskatchewan, 2005-08.
Academic background: B.Sc.H., life sciences, 1998; M.Sc., physiology, 2001; Ph.D., physiology, 2004, all at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
Last book read: "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
In her own time: Soccer, aerobics, squash, yoga, photography, traveling, shopping online, watching Hockey Night in Canada and cheering on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Joann McDermid, assistant professor, nutritional sciences
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Role of nutrition in infection, particularly HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral associate, University of East Anglia (Norwich, England), 2000-01; assistant professor, mathematics, Boise State University, 2001-06; associate professor, mathematics, Boise State University, 2006-07.
Academic background: B.S., foods and nutrition, University of Alberta, 1990; M.S., human nutrition and dietetics, McGill University, 1995; Dip.Epid., epidemiology and biostatistics, McGill University, 1997; Ph.D., epidemiology and population health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2007.
Last book read: "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.
In her own time: "Enjoying time with my husband and our son."

Jeff Niederdeppe, assistant professor, communication
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Understanding the role that mass media plays in shaping health-related behaviors (quitting smoking, eating nutritious diet) and creating healthy environments through policy change.
Previous position: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society scholar, University of Wisconsin, 2006-08.
Academic background:B.A., communication, University of Arizona, 1999; M.A., communication, 2001, and Ph.D., 2006, both in communication, University of Pennsylvania.
Last book read: "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth.
In his own time: Playing basketball, playing the piano and traveling.

Thomas Pepinsky, assistant professor, government
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Comparative and international political economy, authoritarianism, financial politics, modern Southeast Asia, political Islam.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, University of Colorado-Boulder.
Academic background: A.B., linguistics and international relations, Brown University, 2001; M.A. and Ph.D., political science, Yale University, 2002 and 2007.
Last book read:"The Feast of the Goat" by Mario Vargas Llosa.
In his own time: Cooking, playing guitar (acoustic and bass).

Riché Richardson, associate professor, Africana Studies and Research Center
Academic focus: Black studies, African American and American literature, Southern studies, critical theory, cultural studies, masculinities and femininities, the body, pedagogy, and the history and philosophy of technology.
Academic background: B.A., English, Spelman College, 1993; Ph.D., American literature, and Certificate in African and African American Studies, Duke University, 1998..
Previous positions: University of California, Davis (1998-2008).
Last book read: "Telling Histories: Black Women Historians in the Ivory Tower."
In her own time: Making mixed-media appliquŽ art quilts; collecting Southern folk art; spending time with family and friends; shopping; watching films; attending church; and going to the spa.

Bradley J. Rickard, assistant professor, applied economics and management
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Horticultural marketing and food policy, particularly economic issues facing horticultural markets in New York and elsewhere, with the goal of better understanding the economic implications of food safety measures, food labels, nutrition and health information, and trade liberalization for Villanova University; Ph.D., physics, stakeholders in specialty crop markets.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, California Polytechnic State University, 2003-08.
Academic background: B.Comm., agricutural business, University of Guelph, 1996; M.Sc., agricultural economics, University of Guelph, 1998; Ph.D., agricultural and resource economics, University of California-Davis, 2003.
Last book read: "Montana 1948: A Movel" by Larry Watson.
In his own time: Soccer, surfing, hockey and cooking.

Marcus Smolka, assistant professor, molecular biology and genetics
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Understanding how cells respond to DNA damage and how dysfunctions in this cellular response may lead to cancer.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at University of California-San Diego, 2003-08; visiting fellow, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, 2000-01.
Academic background:B.S., biological sciences, 1996 and Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, 2002, both at the State University of Campinas, Brazil.
Last book read: "O Dono do Mar" by Jose Sarney.
In his own time: Tennis and jazz.

Chantal Thomas, professor, law
College:Law School
Academic focus: The relationship between international law, political economy and social justice; international trade and economic development; comparative development law with a focus on the Middle East, Northern Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Previous position: Professor, University of Minnesota Law School, 2006-07; associate professor and professor, Fordham Law School, 1996-2006.
Academic background:B.A., political science, McGill University, 1992; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1995.
Last book read: "Courting Justice: Judicial Enforcement of Social and Economic Rights in the Developing World," edited by Varun Gauri and Daniel M. Brinks.
In her own time: Guitar, flute; practicing Arabic, Spanish and French.

Mukund Vengalattore, assistant professor, physics
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Laser cooling and trapping of atomic gases; studies of quantum fluids at nanoKelvin temperatures. Many-body physics and quantum engineering of correlated phases of matter using ultracold atoms.
Previous position: Postdoctoral research associate, University of California-Berkeley, 2005-08.
Academic background: B.S., physics and electrical engineering, 1999, and Ph.D., physics, 2005, both at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Last book read: "The Trouble with Physics" by Lee Smolin.
In his own time: Hiking, tennis, basketball.

Hakim Weatherspoon, assistant professor, computer science
College: Engineering/CIS
Academic focus: Fault-tolerance, reliability, security and performance of Internet-scale systems such as a large distributed storage system that keeps data reliably without requiring that members of the system be able to completely trust each other.
Previous positions: Research associate, Department of Computer Science, Cornell.
Academic background: B.S., computer engineering, University of Washington, 1999; Ph.D., computer science, University of California-Berkeley, 2006.
Last book read: "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" by Barack Obama.
In his own time: Family man, dad, husband, camping, board games, putting Legos together.

Dawn Woodard, assistant professor, operations research and information engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Bayesian statistics applied to problems in medicine and the environment, as well as foundational work on the computational complexity of algorithms used in statistics.
Previous position: : Has continually contracted for statistical software companies developing software for Bayesian analysis.
Academic background: B.S., mathematical and computational sciences, Stanford University, 2001; Ph.D., statistics, Duke University, 2007.
Last book read: "In terms of my free-time reading, 'Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories,' Agatha Christie."
In her own time: Playing electric bass, running.

Haiping H. Yan, professor, theatre and cross-cultural studies, Theatre, Film and Dance
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Twentieth-century Chinese dramatic literature and social history; women writers and revolutions of modern China; modern European drama and critical theory; transnational studies of theater, visual culture, and urban thought; global cities and multilingual performance studies.
Previous position: Professor of critical studies, the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television.
Academic background: B.A., Chinese literature and intellectual history, Fudan University, 1982; M.A.and Ph.D., modern European drama and critical theory, Cornell, 1987 and 1990.
Last book read: "The Century" by Alain Badiou. Films: "The Rising of Great Powers," CCTV documentary; "My Dream," a film on the All China Special Artists' Performing Company.
In her own time: Singing, playing music, swimming, literary writing.