Dr. Tristan Ivory, Assistant Professor of International and Comparative Labor, Cornell University

Tristan Ivory is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International and Comparative Labor in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. He received his PhD in 2015 from the Department of Sociology at Stanford University and then completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society at Indiana University before serving as an Assistant Professor of Black Studies and Sociology at the University of Missouri from 2017 to 2019.
 
Tristan Ivory's research is principally concerned with sub-Saharan African geographic, social, and economic mobility. His first research project examined sub-Saharan African migrants in Japan. More recently, he has begun a multiyear, multi-sited longitudinal interview project that will track sub-Saharan middle-class high-school and college students as they begin professional careers in order to assess whether there is a substantial correlation between international migration and better economic and social outcomes. He also is involved in a number of smaller projects aimed at assessing labor market outcomes for foreign-born individuals across a number of receiving country contexts.

Dr. Ivory's website

Dr. Katrina Overby, Assistant Professor of Communication, Rochester Institute of Technology

Dr. Katrina Overby is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). As a virtual and digital ethnographer whose research is rooted in Black feminist thought and critique, Dr. KO broadly investigates the intersections of communication, race and identity. Specifically, she explores Black digital and social media usage, online discourse by and about Black women, Black women’s epistemology and praxis in, through and out of the academy, and race and gender in sports communication. She has recently instructed Communication and Identity, Reporting on Racial Justice, and her favorite, Public Speaking. 

Some of her recent co-authored publications include “Breaking bread with storyworlding methodology: Black feminist/womanist commentary on unearthing communal lifeworlds” published in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education as well as the book chapters, “Black and Quarantined: Celebrating Black Identity during COVID-19 via Instagram” and “#BlackInTheIvory: Utilizing Twitter to Explore Black Womxn’s Experiences in the Academy.” Forthcoming, Dr. KO’s co-authored book chapter “Activist Scholar: Advocating for Change in the Streets and on the Sheets” will be published in the edited volume Freedom Teachers, Freedom Dreamers to be released in 2023. Finally, Dr. Overby was recently the keynote speaker for RIT's 6th annual Let Freedom Ring program Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Dr. Duc Pham, Assistant Professors of Life Sciences, Santa Monica College

(Cornell PhD, Biological and Biomedical Sciences)

Duc Pham is a biology instructor and an avid advocate of community college education. He currently serves as a professor of Human Anatomy and Physiology at Santa Monica College. Duc's academic journey started at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), an experience that deeply shaped his educational philosophy and commitment to inclusivity. Duc later transferred to Cornell University, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Biology and doctoral research in embryonic heart valve development.

Duc's experience as a community college student was profoundly shaped by his mentor, the late Nick Anast. Nick, an SRJC physiology instructor, taught Duc the value of service by generously paying out of his own pocket to give Duc the opportunity to work as a research assistant. To honor his mentor's passion for science and compassion for students, Duc established the Nick Anast Research Fellowship, a program designed to support SRJC students from disadvantaged backgrounds with internships at Cornell and to foster their scientific curiosity through research mentorship.

In his current role at Santa Monica College, Duc continues to uphold his belief in the transformative power of a community college education, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He knows that a community college education is not only affordable and geographically pragmatic but also a ticket to the middle class for many students. Now that he has walked through that doorway of opportunity, he feels compelled to reach back and give community college students the same chances that changed his life.

Dr. Pham's LinkedIn Profile

Dr. Steven Santana, Engineering Clinic Director, Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor, Harvey Mudd College

(Cornell PhD, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)

At Harvey Mudd, Santana is the Iris and Howard Critchell Assistant Professor and Engineering Clinic director. He focuses his professional development work in several areas, including uncovering the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles within and designing materials and methods for fabricating biomimetic tissues. Beyond his bench top work, he is active in engineering education research with a focus on the learning, identity development and belonging of students in early and late-career, project-based courses.

Dr. Kim Holloway, Vice Provost for Research Development, Northeastern University

Kim Holloway joined Northeastern University in March 2020 as the inaugural Vice Provost for Research Development, working in the Office of the Sr. Vice Provost for Research. Prior to joining Northeastern, Kim started the office of Research Development at Cornell University in 2016. Her expertise and role in supporting large center grant development efforts contributed to over $216M in sponsored funding flowing to the institution. In 2018, Kim began the first grant writing “bootcamp” at Cornell, dedicated to helping early career faculty, particularly women and under-represented minorities, obtain federal grant funding.

At Northeastern, Kim will be charged with driving strategically important areas of research at the university, particularly supporting college research priorities, the interdisciplinary research institutes and the global network of Northeastern campuses as they build out their research programs.

Kim was formerly a faculty member in the department of Biomedical Sciences at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and had a federally funded research program studying the complex processes contributing to meiotic recombination in mammalian gametogenesis. She completed her PhD in human genetics with Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester, UK, and her postdoctoral studies in reproductive genomics at Cornell University (Ithaca) under the mentorship of Dr. Paula Cohen.

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Dr. Canek Phillips, Research Scientist, School of Engineering, Rice University

Canek Phillips is currently a Research Scientist with the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and Colorado State University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. His interest in engineering education came from his passion to address the need to broaden the participation of racial minorities, women, and people with disabilities in engineering. Funded through the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Program, Dr. Phillips quantitatively studied the relationships among racial, gender, and class inequity in shaping US first year engineering enrollments. Ultimately, his vision is to use engineering education research that is attentive to the implications between labor and capital on educational outcomes to further the capacity of engineering programs to enroll and graduate students who reflect the nation’s population and to teach students engineering in an inclusive manner to benefit all.

Dr. Sheila Thomas, Dean for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Interim Dean of Students, and Special Projects Advisor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University

Sheila Thomas, PhD is a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and currently serves as Dean of Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDIB) and Belonging, Interim Dean of Students, and Special Projects Advisor in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard University.  As a faculty, her lab focused on defining protein networks that controlled basic cellular processes and how deregulation of these networks contributes to cancer.  She has been actively involved in teaching and mentoring of both undergraduates and graduate students and has served in various leadership roles for one of the graduate programs at Harvard University. 

In her role as a Dean, she has overseen three areas.  As Dean of EDIB, she is responsible for overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging efforts for GSAS’s 58 programs.  Her team is committed to creating, identifying and implementing initiatives to diversify the Academy at all levels and the numerous sectors into which our graduates enter and creating an environment where all students can thrive.  She directs two summer undergraduate research programs, a post-bacc program and a summer program for high school students from the Hopi community and the Fort Peck Reservation. In her previous role as Dean of Academic Programs, her team worked closely with the Academic Dean of the Graduate School and faculty in the programs/departments to support the academic and professional development of PhD and Master’s students by working with faculty and students.  This includes overseeing initiatives to improve advising, development of new degree programs and secondary fields, projects to look at student outcomes, oversight of the fellowships and writing center and engaging partner offices to serve the professional development of our students. As Interim Dean of Students her team oversees student coaching and support services, student groups, residential life, academic and conduct policies and Title IX. 

• B.A.: Northwestern University
• Ph.D.: University of Pennsylvania
• Post-doc: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
• Email: sthomas@fas.harvard.edu

Dr. Tremayne "Trey" Waller is the director of graduate student programs in the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED) in the College of Engineering, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). Trey is responsible for devising, directing, and executing a strategic plan to ensure the success of graduate students. Trey obtained a Ph.D. in Curriculum Instruction from Virginia Tech, where he investigated the integration of engineering students in a summer bridge program. Trey served as the Associate Director in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Diversity Programs in Engineering. Additionally, he was the Lecturer and the Director of Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program in the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives (OADI).

Dr. Carlos Figueroa, Associate Professor of Politics and Public Policy, Ithaca College

Carlos Figueroa holds a dual Ph.D. in Political Science and Historical Studies from the New School for Social Research. He is an Associate professor of politics and public policy at Ithaca College (USA) who researches and writes on race, religion, and class politics, interpretative policy analysis, the politics of Quakerism, U.S. Puerto Rico affairs, the Quakerism of Bayard T. Rustin, and his work has appeared in the Journal of Public Affairs Education, Journal of Race and Policy, Political Science Quarterly, Annales: Ethics in Economic Life, Fair Observer, Common Dreams, the University of Virginia Press, Kansas University Press, and Routledge Press.  His first book, Quakers, Race, and Empire: Political Ecumenism and U.S. Insular Policy in the Early Twentieth Century (under review, University of Kansas Press), shows how and why progressive era Quakers intervened in U.S. foreign policy debates, in particular, insular policy discourses over the organizing and governance of acquired territories (Puerto Rico and the Philippines), and the struggles for self-determination, and citizenship within the context of an expanding American empire from 1898 to 1917.  Figueroa is also working on a second book Bayard T. Rustin: The Pragmatic Quaker, 1912 – 1987, that examines how and why Rustin's tacit pragmatic Quaker faith informed his political thought, organizing, and activism in the context of dealing with the various social injustices and inequalities facing working & poor people, and other marginalized groups in the U.S. and abroad during his 50-year public life.  Figueroa has recently published two chapters on Labor activist and political organizer Bayard T. Rustin in The Quaker World, C. Wess Daniels and Rhiannon Grant, Editors, 1st edition (Routledge Press, 2023).

Dr. Figueroa's website

Dr. Chelsea Mikael Frazier, Assistant Professor of African American Literature & Culture, Literatures in English, Cornell University

Chelsea Mikael Frazier, PhD is a Black feminist ecocritic—writing, researching, and teaching at the intersection of Black feminist theory and environmental thought. Across a diverse array of platforms, all of Dr. Frazier’s work is geared toward creating paths toward harmonial Worlds that no longer rely on the harm of Black people, the destruction of our environment, or the exploitation of femininity to keep spinning.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

In 2019, she founded Ask An Amazon, an educational hub where she designs educational tools, curates community gatherings, gives lectures, and provides consulting services meant to help students, professionals, and organizations with their intellectual and creative development. She also sits on the Cornell University Department of Literatures in English faculty where she teaches students and trains emergent scholars in the fields of African American Literature and Culture, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and the Environmental Humanities.

Dr. Frazier is currently at work on her first book manuscript which is a culmination of a years-long ecocritical investigation of contemporary Black women artists, writers, and activists. In her analyses, she illuminates the cultural histories and creative contributions of Black women who’ve carved-out a rich and transformative practice of ecological ethics alternative to the “environmentalisms” that are readily legible in Western society.

Dr. Frazier earned her Ph.D in the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern University. Additionally, she earned her Master of Arts from the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern, her Master of Arts from the American Studies program at Purdue University, and her Bachelor of Arts from the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College.

As an award-winning interdisciplinary researcher, Dr. Frazier's scholarship spans the fields of Black feminist literature and theory, visual culture, ecocriticism and the broader environmental humanities, political theory, science and technology studies, and Afrofuturism. Her work has been generously supported by the Northwestern University Presidential Society of Fellows, the Science in Human Culture program at Northwestern University, the Buffett Institute for Global Studies, the Social Science Research Council, the Alumni Association of Barnard College, the Purdue University Lynn Fellowship, and the Mellon Mays Fellowship program.

Dr. Frazier's website

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Dr. Ann Pelligrini, Professor of Performance Studies and Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University (NYU)

Ann Pellegrini is Professor of Performance Studies & Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. They are the author/co-author of four books: Performance Anxieties: Staging Psychoanalysis, Staging Race (Routledge, 1997); Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance, co-authored with Janet R. Jakobsen (NYU Press, 2003); “You Can Tell Just By Looking” and 20 Other Myths about LGBT Life and People, co-authored with Michael Bronski and Michael Amico (Beacon Press, 2013); and Gender Without Identity, co-authored with Avgi Saketopoulou (Unconscious in Translation Press, 2023). Pellegrini has also co-edited two anthologies and is founding co-editor of the “Sexual Cultures” series at NYU Press.

Dr. Pelligrini's website

Dr. Ana Maria Porras, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida

Dr. Ana Maria Porras is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, where she leads the Tissue-Microbe Interactions lab. Her group engineers in vitro models of disease to study human-microbe interactions in the contexts of the microbiome, global health, and infectious disease. Prior to arriving in Florida, Dr. Porras was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University and an American Heart Association Predoctoral fellow at UW-Madison, where she obtained her Ph.D. She is also the co-founder of the “Latinx in Biomedical Engineering” community, a science artist, and an expert on inclusive multilingual science communication. When she isn’t doing all that, she loves to read, dance, travel, watch tv, hang out with family and friends, bake, and, above all, eat ice cream.

Dr. Porras' website

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Dr. Gabriel Zayas-Cabán, Jane R. and Jack G. Mandula Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gabriel is the Jane R. and Jack G. Mandula Assistant Professor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also holds an affiliate appointment with the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine in the School of Medicine and Public Health. His research is in operations research with an emphasis on healthcare delivery, stochastic modeling and optimization, and causal inference. His recent focus is on emergency department admission decisions and care transitions. He also has some recent work on evaluating the impact of diverting non-violent offenders to substance use disorder treatment. Before coming to Wisconsin, Gabriel was a President's Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan and completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University's Center for Applied Mathematics, advised by Professor Mark E. Lewis. He received his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of South Florida. 

Dr. Zayas-Cabán's website 

Dr. Frances Zhu, Assistant Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii

Frances (Frankie) Zhu earned her B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca in 2014 and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell in 2019.  Dr. Zhu was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow. Since 2020, she has been an assistant research professor with the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at University of Hawaii, specializing in machine learning, dynamics, systems, and controls engineering. She is also an executive board member for Mahina Aerospace LLC, an associate director for the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, and graduate cooperating faculty with the following departments: information and computer sciences, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and earth science.

Dr. Zhu's website

Dr. Zhu's blog