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.

Afshari

Anderson

Corpis

Garcia-Garcia

Gu

Hinrichs

Hirano

Hirsh

Hooker

James

Ke

Mezey

Ong

Rusk

Schmit

Schwab

Siepel

Vatamaniuk

Wagner

Williamson

Ehsan Afshari, assistant professor, electrical and computer engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Application of the mathematical theory of wave propagation to novel high performance circuit design.
Previous position: Graduate research assistant, electrical engineering, California Institute of Technology.
Academic background: M.S., 2003 and Ph.D., 2006 electrical engineering, California Institute of Technology; B.S., electronics engineering, University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Last book read: "The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics" by Roger Penrose.
In his own time: Reading, hiking, and cooking.

Chrisopher J. Anderson, professor, government
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: European politics, political economy, political behavior.
Previous position: Professor of government, Syracuse University.
Academic background: Ph.D., political science, Washington University in St. Louis, 1993; M.A., political science, Virginia Tech, 1989; B.A., history and political science, University of Cologne (Germany), 1988.
Last book read: "Bangkok 8" by John Burdett.
In his own time: Spending time with family, playing and watching soccer, and playing piano.

Duane J. Corpis, assistant professor, history
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Cultural and social history of early modern Germany and Europe, religious identity formation and conversion, history of law and crime, urban history, early modern European history in global context.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, Georgia State University, 2000-06.
Academic background: Ph.D, early modern European history, New York University, 2001; A.B., history, University of Chicago, 1993.
Last book read: "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri.
In his own time: Production assistant for "Radio Diaspora," a weekly radio show on 89.3 WRFG-FM in Atlanta.

Maria Garcia-Garcia, assistant professor, molecular biology and genetics
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Studying how cellular movements are regulated during development and how they contribute to generate the shape of embryonic tissues and ultimately the adult ani-mal. Garcia-Garcia uses the mouse as a model organism, and forward genetics as her experimental approach to isolate mutations that disrupt cell migration during embryogenesis.
Previous position:Postdoctoral fellow, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1999-2006.
Academic background: Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, CBM Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain, 1999; B.S., biology, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain, 1994.
Last book read: "La historia del Rey Transparente" by Rosa Montero.
In her own time: Spending time with friends, reading, listening to music, swimming and dancing.

Zhenlong Gu, assistant professor, nutritional sciences
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Gu focuses his research on evolutionary genomics - how evolution occurs after gene duplication. For example, one of his research topics focuses on the contribution of whole genome duplication to the evolution of fermentation in yeast. Yeast is also used as a model organism to investigate the mechanism of antagonistic pleiotropy, i.e., genes functional in one condition but deleterious in other conditions.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, 2004-06.
Academic background: Ph.D., ecology and evolution, University of Chicago, 2003; B.S., biochemistry and molecular biology, Beijing University, 1998.
Last book read: "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life 1500 to the Present" by Jacques Barzun.
In his own time: Playing basketball, fishing.

T.J. Hinrichs, assistant professor, history
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Changes in healing and religious practices in Song period (960-1279 c.e.), China. Government and elite efforts to change the customs of peoples in southern China.
Previous positions: Assistant professor, Southern Connecticut State University.
Academic background: Ph.D., history and East Asian languages, Harvard University, 2003; A.M., regional studies-East Asia, Harvard, 1988; A.B., East Asian studies, Harvard, 1984.
Last book read: "Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice" by A.S. Byatt.
In her own time: Aikido.

Katsuya Hirano, assistant professor, history
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Early modern Japanese history, cultural and intellectual (1600-1890).
Previous positions: Assistant professor of history at DePaul University, Chicago, 2004-06.
Academic background: Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2004; M.A., University of Birmingham (England) 1992; B.A., Doshisha University, Japan, 1991.
Last book read: "Japan and Pan-Asianism" (in Chinese and Japanese) by Sun Yat-sen.
In his own time: Hiking, violin, calligraphy, playing with his daughter.

Elizabeth Hirsh, assistant professor, sociology
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Social stratification, gender and race inequality, employment discrimination, work and organizations, social policy.
Previous position: Instructor, research-teaching assistant, University of Washington, 2001-06.
Academic background: Ph.D., sociology, University of Washington, 2006; M.A., political science, Western Washington University, 2001; B.A., sociology, Western Washington University, 1999.
Last book read: "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer.
In her own time: Running, biking, gardening and being outdoors.

Giles Hooker, assistant professor, biological statistics and computational biology
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Hooker's research focuses on functional data analysis - a new area of statistics in which the units of observation are functions. His main focus is in applying func-tional data analysis to develop statistical methods for data that arise from dynamical systems.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, McGill University, 2004-06.
Academic background: Ph.D., 2004, and M.S., 2002, both in statistics at Stanford University; B.A., 1998, and B.S., mathematics, 1999, both at Australian National University.
Last book read: "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes.
In his own time: Playing the viola, bushwalking and cross-country skiing.

Doug L. James, associate professor, computer science (with an affiliation with the Program of Computer Graphics)
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Computer algorithms for numerical simulation of physical systems, especially deformable ones, with an emphasis on real-time and interactive applications involving multi-sensory feedback. Major research areas include computer graphics and animation, haptic force-feedback rendering, real-time acoustic simulation, computational mechanics, virtual medicine, and immersive virtual environments.
Previous position: Assistant professor, Robotics Institute and Department of Computer Science, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002-06.
Academic background: Ph.D. and M.Sc., both in mathematics, University of British Columbia, 2001 and 1997, respectively; B.Sc., applied mathematics, University of Western Ontario, 1995.
Last book read: "The Worst Jobs in History: Two Thousand Years of Miserable Employment" by Tony Robinson and David Willcock.
In his own time: Enjoying family, exploring the outdoors and daydreaming about the complexity of the natural world.

Ailong Ke, assistant professor, molecular biology and genetics
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Ke's research focuses on the structure and function of RNA and RNA-protein complexes using biochemical and biophysical approaches.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral research associate, University of California-Berkeley, 2002-05.
Academic background: Ph.D., biophysics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2002; B.S., biology, University of Science and Technology, China, 1995.
Last book read: "The RNA World" (third edition), edited by Ray Gesteland, Tom Cech and John Atkins.
In his own time: Soccer and gardening.

Jason Mezey, assistant professor, biological statistics and computational biology
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Quantitative genomics, statistical genetics, association mapping and quantitative trait loci (QTLs), genetic network and pathway modeling, analysis of microarrays.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral research associate, Center for Population Biology and Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, 2003-05; postdoctoral research associate, Florida State University, 2000-03.
Academic background: M.S., Ph.D., ecology and evolutionary biology, Yale University, 2000; B.A., biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1994.
Last book read: "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.
In his own time: Triathlons.

Anthony Ong, assistant professor, human development
College: Human Ecology
Academic focus: Ong's research centers on identifying and describing the multiple pathways through which converging behavioral, psychological and sociocultural processes contribute to resilience across the life course to understand how certain individuals show maintenance, recovery of or even improvement in well-being over time, despite adversity. Specific areas of interest include positive health, social connectedness, ethnic minority mental health and developmental methodology.
Previous positions: Research assistant professor, psychology, University of Notre Dame, 2005-06; Postdoctoral fellow, psychology, University of Notre Dame, 2002-05.
Academic background: Ph.D., 2002, and M.A., 1998, both in psychology, University of Southern California; B.A., psychology, California State University-Los Angeles, 1995.
Last book read: "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
In his own time: Tennis, biking, napping.

Bruce Rusk, assistant professor, Chinese literature
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Culture of Ming Dynasty China (1368-1644); histories of authenticity, forgery and authorship; nexus of material and textual culture; comparative philology.
Previous position: Mellon Humanities Fellow, Department of Asian Languages, Stanford University.
Academic background: Ph.D., history, University of California-Los Angeles, 2004; B.A., history, University of British Columbia, 1996.
Last book read: "The Big Con" by David Maurer.
In his own time: Gardening (mainly for food but also flowers and houseplants), hiking, camping, canoeing.

Todd Schmit, assistant professor, applied economics and management
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Schmit's research interests center on agricultural marketing activities and agribusiness management issues to improve firm decision-making ability and the estimation of firm and producer economic welfare effects. His recent research has focused on the economic impacts and marketing strategies of commodity promotion and branded merchandising at both the household and aggregate market levels, with particular emphasis in the dairy industry.
Previous position: Research associate, Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and Management, 2003-06; Research support specialist and graduate teaching assistant in applied economics and management, 1993-2003.
Academic background: Ph.D., 2003, and M.S., 1994, both in applied economics and management at Cornell; B.S., agricultural business, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 1990.
Last book read: "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman.
In his own time: Fishing, hunting, running.

Keith Schwab, associate professor, physics
College: Arts and Sciences
Academic focus: Quantum behavior in nano-electro-mechanical devices at ultra-low temperatures.
Previous position: Senior physicist at the National Security Agency, 2000-06; Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar, Caltech, 1996-2000.
Academic background:Ph.D., physics, University of California-Berkeley, 1996; B.A., physics, University of Chicago, 1990.
Last book read: "Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping" by Patrick Radden Keefe.
In his own time: Traveling, hiking, reading/studying about intelligence/security issues.

Adam Siepel, assistant professor, biological statistics and computational biology
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Siepel's research interests lie in the area where statistics, computer science, evolutionary biology and genomics meet. His main focus is developing computational methods for the identification of functional elements in eukaryotic (primarily mammalian) genomes, based on comparative sequence data. His aim is to model and analyze the evolution and the function of ge-nomic sequences simultaneously, so that evolution sheds light on function, and function sheds light on evolution.
Previous positions: Bioinformatics programmer, then software development group leader, then acting director of information technology, National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, NM, 1996-2001; Graduate research assistant, HIV Database, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1994-96.
Academic background: Ph.D., computer science, University of California-Santa Cruz, 2005; M.S., computer science, University of New Mexico, 2001; B.S., agriculture and biological engineering, Cornell, 1994.
Last book read: "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.
In his own time: Bicycling, hiking and playing with his kids.

Olena K. Vatamaniuk, assistant professor, crop and soil sciences
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Vatamaniuk studies common and unique mechanisms utilized by living organisms to accommodate toxic heavy metals (e.g. copper, zinc, cadmium, mercury and lead) encountered in the environment. Utilizing three model organisms, plants, yeast and the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, she studies transport systems responsible for maintaining cellular concentration of heavy metals below toxic limits, deciphers which tissues and subcellular compartments are involved in detoxification and analyzes distinctive features of proteome response to heavy metal stress.
Previous positions: Research associate, genetics, University of Pennsylvania, 2004-05; research associate, 2002-04, and postdoctoral researcher, 1997-2002, Plant Science Institute, University of Pennsylvania; assistant professor, plant physiology, biology, Lvov State University, Lvov, Ukraine, 1995-97.
Academic background: Ph.D., plant physiology, Kiev State University, Kiev, Ukraine,1995; B.Sc., botany, Lviv State University, 1992.
Last book read: "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept" by Paulo Coelho.
In her own time: Playing with her son, reading and exercising.

Aaron B. Wagner, assistant professor, electrical and computer engineering
College: Engineering
Academic focus: Information theory, communication networks and data compression.
Previous position: Postdoctoral research associate, Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Academic background: Ph.D., electrical engineering and computer sciences, University of California-Berkeley, 2005.
Last book read: "The Man Who Once Was Whizzer White: A Portrait of Justice Byron R. White" by Dennis J. Hutchinson.
In his own time: "I enjoy spending time with my wife, Jasmine, and renovating our 1930-era home. I am also an (amateur!) observer of the U.S. Supreme Court."

Scott Williamson, assistant professor, biological statistics and computational biology
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Academic focus: Williamson's main research focus involves developing statistical methods for inferring the history of demographic changes and natural selection in populations using genetic data. He also is interested in applying these methods to explore the history of population size changes, migration, subdivision and natural selection in human populations; the history of domestication in rice; and the relationship between adaptive evolution and progression to AIDS in HIV populations within infected patients.
Previous position: Postdoctoral associate, Department of Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, Cornell, 2003-06.
Academic background: Ph.D., ecology and evolutionary biology, 2003; B.S., biology, 1997; B.S. mathematics, 1997; all at the University of Kansas.
Last book read: "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan.
In his own time: Playing with/caring for two young daughters; also woodworking, bicycle riding and restoring old furniture.