Day 2 Panelist Details
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
12:30 p.m. ET
Panel Discussion: Exploring Your Institutional Fit
Moderator: Dr. Colleen McLinn, Graduate School Associate Dean for Professional Development, Cornell University
Exploring Careers at Community Colleges, Liberal Arts Colleges and Master’s Granting Institutions, and Public and Private Research Universities within the U.S.
Panelists:
Dr. Wesley Francillon, Associate Professor and Academic Chair, Engineering, Cybersecurity and Industrial Technology at Suffolk County Community College
Dr. Wesley Francillon graduated from Stony Brook University, where he successfully completed his engineering bachelor’s degree. Throughout his undergraduate years, Dr. Francillon actively sought research opportunities, gaining valuable experience at Stony Brook University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. These internships, particularly the mentorship from faculty, postdocs, and graduate students, profoundly shaped his path. Driven by curiosity and insightful discussions with faculty members, he continued his academic pursuits, ultimately earning a PhD in Material Science and Engineering, a first in his family.
Dr. Francillon attributes his academic success to several key factors: enrichment programs for underrepresented communities, peer and professional mentorships, and resilience in overcoming challenges. He is a proud alumnus of programs like NSF-AGEP, NSF-LSAMP, NIH-MARC Fellowship.
With a diverse career spanning private sector work, government service, and over 15 years in higher education, Dr. Francillon brings a unique perspective to his current role as Academic Chair of the Engineering Department at Suffolk County Community College. He oversees six programs with more than 300 students. As an assistant professor at Suffolk, he mentors and empowers many first-generation students like himself, encouraging them to pursue their academic aspirations.
For two decades, Dr. Francillon has dedicated his Saturday mornings to the New York Science Technology Entry Program (STEP) program, mentoring underrepresented high school students with a passion for science. As a former STEP student, he finds immense fulfillment in guiding these future scientists.
In his personal life, Dr. Francillon enjoys spending time with his wife, Sandra, and their son, Julien. He is also an avid enthusiast of water sports and enjoys outdoor activities.
Dr. Cody Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio
Dr. Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in the UTSA Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Industrial Engineering. He serves as the Director of the Design of Actuators, Robotics, and Transducers Lab (DARTLab) where he specializes in self-powered robotics and multifunctional materials. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside and both a M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University where he was a Sloan Scholar with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He is currently a Dean’s Faculty Fellow in the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design at UTSA.
Dr. Caitlin Kane, Assistant Professor of Theatre History, Kent State University
Cornell University Ph.D. '22 in Performing and Media Arts
Dr. Caitlin Kane (they/she) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre History and Dramatic Criticism at Kent State University where they serve as the Theatre Studies area head and the chair of Kent State United Faculty Association’s LGBTQIA2S+ advocacy committee. As an artist-scholar, their research and creative practice center on feminist, queer, and trans approaches to staging history that illuminate contemporary socio-political issues. Alongside Erin Stoneking, Kane is co-editor of Dramaturgy and History: Staging the Archive (Routledge) and a forthcoming symposium in Theatre and Performance Notes and Counternotes entitled “Dramaturgical Interventions into Contested Histories.” Their scholarship has been published in Theatre Topics, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, and The Scholar as Human.
Dr. Don Sawyer III, Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Associate Professor of Sociology, Fairfield University
Dr. Don C. Sawyer III was born and raised in Harlem, New York. He is the son of two dedicated parents who saw education as a tool for generational transformation and limitless possibilities. A first-generation college student, Dr. Sawyer graduated from Hartwick College with a B.A. in Psychology in 1999. Driven to continue his education, Dr. Sawyer enrolled at Syracuse University, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2013 after earning his M.A. in Sociology in 2008 and his M.S. in Cultural Foundations of Education in 2003.Dr. Sawyer is the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT. He is also a tenured associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. He previously served as the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion and the Chief Diversity Officer at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. Dr. Sawyer teaches courses exploring race, education, criminal justice, hip-hop culture, and social research methods.With more than 20 years of higher education experience, Dr. Sawyer has worked diligently to nurture healthy relationships between academic and student affairs. He understands that collaborative partnerships create an environment conducive to the successful recruitment, retention, education, and graduation of civically engaged students. He builds on this social consensus to connect with multiple populations and help institutions address complex issues with solutions that engage and empower all campus community members.
Dr. Ranalda Tsosie, Director of Environmental Science Program and Assistant Professor of Earth & Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Dr. Tsosie is an Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Director of the Environmental Science Program at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Her current research interests are leading an Indigenous Science interdisciplinary research lab focused on supporting climate change impacts, human exposures to anthropogenic contaminants, Indigenous food sovereignty, and water resource management and policy in Indigenous populations, Indigenous data stewardship, developing methods for community-based water challenge research and resilience; and supporting pathways for students interested in research in areas that make an impact, create change in their communities and solving grand environmental challenges. Dr. Tsosie completed a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a subject emphasis in the fields of Chemistry, Geosciences, and Environmental Science/Studies from the University of Montana. Her graduate research brought together Diné and Western scientific perspectives to address water contamination in her home community of Tółikan, AZ, and the surrounding communities. She has experience working within Indigenous communities, implementing and practicing Indigenous Research Methodologies. In her free time, she enjoys beading, sewing, practicing traditional Diné arts, and baking.
Resources:
- See more information about institutional types from the Carnegie Classification of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education
2:00 p.m. ET
Fireside Chat: Navigating a Rapidly Changing Academy as an Early Career Faculty Member
Moderator: Sara Xayarath Hernández, Graduate School Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement, Cornell University
Discussants:
Dr. Avery August, Deputy Provost and Professor of Immunology, Cornell University
Avery August is the Deputy Provost, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, and Professor of Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2023, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and in 2016, was inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. His research addresses the mechanisms that regulate the development of inflammation in diseases such as allergy and lung inflammatory diseases, as well as development of T cell subsets and memory.
Deputy Provost August received his B.S. in medical technology from the California State University at Los Angeles and his Ph.D. from Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University.
As Deputy Provost, his responsibilities include promotion and tenure and oversight of the Provost’s Office of Faculty Development and Diversity which provides a wide range of programing for faculty development and diversity, support and training for department chairs and associate deans, and faculty hiring strategies. Deputy Provost August convenes the Academic Diversity Council, which includes The Center for TeachingInnovation, The Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble, the Center for Dialogue & Pluralism, the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity, and the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement.
Deputy Provost August serves as the Provost’s liaison for the Faculty Committee on Program Review and the Board of Trustees’ Committee on Academic Affairs. He is also a Presidential Advisor on Diversity and Equity, advising the President of the university and his cabinet, and the Provost’s council, on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Deputy Provost August joined the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Cornell in 2010 as Professor of Immunology and Chair of the department. He has taught and conducted research on topics related to immunology. His research addresses the mechanisms that regulate the development of inflammation in diseases such as allergy and lung inflammatory diseases, as well as development of T cell subsets and memory. He was previously appointed Vice Provost for Academic Affairs in 2018 and began his appointment as Deputy Provost in 2022.
Dr. Sherilynn Black, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education, Duke University
Sherilynn Black is the associate vice provost for faculty advancement, providing leadership in many areas of faculty advancement including support for pre-tenure and mid-career faculty, professional development for tenure and non-tenure system faculty and mentoring. She also leads initiatives to promote equitable systemic changes at the institutional and national levels. Dr. Black is an assistant professor of the practice of medical education and engages in social neuroscience research to better understand how race and other forms of difference influence organizational structures, with particular focus on academia as a model. She also examines the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote equity in the academy. She has long-standing expertise in creating interventions to increase representation and equity among faculty and students across disciplines and leads work nationally to catalyze systemic change in academia.
Dr. Black previously served as the founding director of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity for the Duke University School of Medicine and was also a principal investigator of the NIH-IMSD funded Duke Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) Program. She sits on several institutional advisory boards and holds a number of national appointments and roles relating to faculty development and advancement with the NIH, HHMI, AAMC, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the Society for Neuroscience. She served on the Advisory Committee of the Director of the NIH (Working Group on Diversity) and is currently appointed as an ad-hoc member of NIGMS Council at NIH. She also serves as co-chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Mentorship, Professional Development and Well-Being and is the newly appointed co-chair of the IvyPlus Faculty Advancement Network and National Institute.
Dr. Black has won several distinctions for her work, including the Samuel DuBois Cook Society award, the Duke University Equity, Diversity and Inclusion award, the Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, the Duke University Centennial Trailblazer distinction, and was named as a Cell Press Top 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America and a Principal Facilitator for the national Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). She earned her B.S. in Psychology and Biology with highest honors at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. She earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology at Duke University and completed additional studies in educational statistics and intervention assessment in the School of Education at UNC–Chapel Hill.
Dr. Dean Lacey, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Government, Dartmouth University
Dean Lacey is the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Government. As the Vice Provost, he coordinates university-wide faculty programs and initiatives, such as the Councils of the General Faculty, the Academic Clusters Initiative, and various Fellowship Programs, working with key stakeholders to enhance educational facilities and support faculty scholars. Vice Provost Lacey actively engages with external organizations, including the New England Network on Faculty Affairs (NENFA), the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network (FAN), and NCFDD, demonstrating Dartmouth's commitment to staying informed about best practices and trends.
In spearheading faculty development programs for career and leadership opportunities, Vice Provost Lacey encourages and coordinates nominations for faculty awards, showcasing a commitment to recognizing and celebrating faculty achievements. Collaborating with deans and relevant offices, the he facilitates positive outcomes, maintains policy coherence, and contributes to fostering a cohesive faculty community. He chairs committees, represents the Provost on faculty matters, and actively support Dartmouth's commitment to dual-career recruitment for faculty.
Vice Provost Lacey’s research focuses on American and comparative politics, particularly elections, public opinion, and lawmaking. He has published articles on economic sanctions in international relations, third party candidates in elections, economic voting, referendums and initiatives, and divided government. His current research includes projects on complexity in public opinion and the relationship between federal spending and elections. Most of Vice Provost Lacey’s work is based on experiments, quantitative methods, survey research, or game theory. He earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia and M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University.
Resources:
- Dartmouth Provost’s Fellowship Program
- NCFDD resources (may be available through an institutional membership such as Cornell’s)
3:30 p.m. ET
Concurrent Panels: Establishing Your Scholarship and Research Agenda as a New Faculty Member
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Disciplines
Moderator: Dr. Colleen McLinn, Graduate School Associate Dean for Professional Development, Cornell University
Panelists:
Dr. Ryan Buyco, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Cornell University Ph.D. '19, Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture
Dr. Ryan Buyco is a travel writer and an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. His work focuses on travel writing as a decolonial practice, especially as it is informed by Filipinx engagements with settler colonialism and Indigeneity in the Pacific. This work has taken him across the ocean, to Okinawa, Hawai‘i, and the Philippines, where he continues to learn how shared histories of colonization connect many islands in the Pacific together. He is currently working on two projects. The first is Island Under the Sun: Filipino American Detours in Okinawa, which blends modern travelogue with a reflection of Asian settler colonial critique in what is often referred to as “Japan’s Hawai‘i.” His second project, The Weight of Culture is a collection of travel essays about Filipinx masculinity through his experiences learning the ancestral sport of Polynesian rock lifting. In addition to these projects, Ryan is one of the core organizers of the recently formed Filipinx Travel Writers Collective, a group dedicated to fostering critical dialogue about the genre among Filipino writers. His work has been published or is forthcoming in the Critical Ethnic Studies Journal, Amerasia, Verge: Studies in Global Asias, and Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies, among others.
Dr. Jenny Mann, Professor and Chair of English, New York University
Dr. Jenny C. Mann is Professor and Chair of the English Department at NYU. Prior to coming to NYU, Mann taught at Cornell University, where she served as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Literatures in English. Mann is the author of two books: Outlaw Rhetoric: Figuring Vernacular Eloquence in Shakespeare's England (Cornell UP 2012) and The Trials of Orpheus: Poetry, Science, and the Early Modern Sublime (Princeton UP 2021). Her forthcoming book is titled The Forms of Utopia: Paradox, Labyrinth, and Recursion in the Renaissance. In addition to her academic and scholarly work, Mann has pursued public humanities engagement in collaboration with the Public Shakespeare Initiative at the Public Theater in New York. Mann has also received grants from the Mellon Foundation and the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Dr. Tamara Mose, Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College
Dr. Tamara Mose is a Full Professor in the Department of Sociology at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Born of Trinidadian parents, she was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario Canada and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her three children. Tamara is passionate about teaching and being a witness to the goals achieved by her students. In 2016, she published her third book entitled The Playdate: Parents, Children, and The New Expectations of Play. Tamara teaches Qualitative Research Methods, Race and Ethnicity, Classical and Contemporary Social Theory, Urban Caribbean Diaspora and Senior Seminar where students conduct original research. During the 2020-21 year, Tamara Mose was the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the American Sociological Association based in D.C. Her current research includes work on Food & Sex and Carnival Loans.
Dr. Christopher Seiji Berardino, Assistant Professor of English, University of California, Riverside
Cornell University Ph.D. '21, English Literature
Dr. Christopher Seiji Berardino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at UC Riverside. Prior to his appointment, he was a UCR Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow from 2021 to 2023. Berardino received his Ph.D. in English Literature from Cornell University. His monograph-in-progress, Multitude Modernism: “Democratic Epiphany” in Asian American and African American Interwar Literature, maps the ways in which Modernists of color leverage textual experimentation to express collective potentiality and interracial solidarity. His secondary area of focus is centered around the cultural production of Japanese American Incarceration. A descendant of internees, Berardino hopes to bring renewed attention to this oft-forgotten period of history by theorizing a “poetics of interment,” considering how the literature dealing with this historical event might constitute a sub-genre of Asian American literature. In addition to his scholarship, Berardino is also a creative writer. He received his MFA in Fiction from Cornell University in 2018. His short story, “Dog Bait,” is the winner of the Breakwater Review’s 2021 Fiction Contest. His novel, Infamy, is loosely based on his family’s experiences in the American concentration camps and is represented by Zeynep Sen of Worldlink Inc. When not teaching or writing, he spends his weekdays spoiling his dog Ajax and weekends surfing with his wife, Hannah.
Dr. Dylan Stevenson, Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington
Cornell Ph.D. '23, City and Regional Planning
Dr. Dylan Stevenson (Prairie Band Potawatomi descent) is an Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle. His research examines the relationships among Indigenous Planning, Historic Preservation, and Environmental Planning. More specifically, he’s interested in the concept of restoration and how it informs our collective responses to climate change, land ethics, and Indigenous cultural revitalization and resurgence. As the field of planning continues to develop approaches that enable urban and rural communities to live more sustainably and ecologically in the face of climate impacts, it needs to centralize Indigenous epistemologies and worldviews to foster better relationships with the land while promoting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination as part of this process. Some of his previous research has explored how governments (Federal, State, and Tribal) normalize cultural values within their water planning activities and has published work analyzing diversity, equity, and inclusion within planning educational programs. His current work focuses on the role of intangible cultural heritage (language, cultural practices, etc.) within environmental and indigenous planning practices. Dylan holds an Associate degree in Liberal Arts from De Anza College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Planning from the University of Southern California, and a Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Disciplines
Moderators: Sara Xayarath Hernández, Graduate School Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement, Cornell University, and Christine Holmes, Director of Postdoctoral Studies
Panelists:
Dr. Christian Aponte-Rivera, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Stony Brook University
Cornell University Ph.D. ’17, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Christian Aponte-Rivera is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez and Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Cornell University. He was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University, after which he joined Stony Brook University as an IDEA Fellow. His research focuses on using scattering experiments, simulations and theory of soft materials to answer fundamental questions with applications in neurodegenerative disease pathology, nanomaterial design, and energy. His work has been recognized through awards such as the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator award and as a Nanoscale 2025 Emerging Investigator.
Dr. Julia Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Cornell University
Dr. Julia Finkelstein is Associate Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell and in the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is the Director of the Maternal and Child Nutrition Program and serves as co-Director of the Cornell Joan Klein Jacobs Center for Precision Nutrition and Health and Director of the Associate Cochrane Center at Cornell. Dr. Finkelstein is the Program Director of the NICHD-funded Maternal and Child Nutrition Training Grant, the longest standing training program devoted to maternal and child nutrition in the country. She co-leads the clinical core for the NIH Center for Point of Care Diagnostics for Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer (PORTENT), and is adjunct faculty at St. John's Research Institute, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences in India.
Dr. Finkelstein is an epidemiologist with expertise in one-carbon metabolism, preconception nutrition, and maternal and child health, and the design of randomized trials and cohort studies in high-risk obstetric and pediatric populations in clinical and community settings. Her laboratory focuses on one-carbon metabolism in women’s health across the lifespan – to develop interventions and clinical and World Health Organization guidelines to improve the health of women and children.
Dr. Finkelstein received her Bachelor of Science from McGill University in Montréal, Canada, Master of Public Health degree from Brown University, and Master and Doctor of Science degrees in Epidemiology and Nutrition from Harvard University. Her research has been internationally recognized with awards including a National Institutes of Health technology accelerator challenge prize for innovative global health diagnostics, the SUNY Chancellor Award for scholarship and creative activities, and International Life Sciences Institute Award for leadership in nutrition. Dr. Finkelstein was elected Chair of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) B-vitamins and One-Carbon Metabolism and was awarded the inaugural American Society for Nutrition Foundation-Novo Nordisk Foundation Henrik Dam Award for Scientific Discovery in Nutrition, for outstanding research contributions to the understanding of micronutrients, nutritional status, and metabolism.
Dr. Swanne Gordon, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
Understanding how organisms evolve in response to changing environments is fundamental to developing an effective response to our current biodiversity crisis. For example, some introduced species are often initially restricted in their new environments, but then abruptly proliferate to become invasive pests. This change may be caused by the ability of the invader to quickly evolve new adaptations after establishment. Research in our lab uses a multidisciplinary approach, including a combination of field, laboratory, mathematical, and behavioral experiments to study the selective forces maintaining diversity in four main areas: 1) rapid evolution of guppies to novel environments; 2) warning color polymorphism; 3) urban ecology; and 4) the role of behavior in eco-evolutionary dynamics. In each topic, much of our research focuses specifically on the interplay between natural and sexual selection in driving many of our studied traits. A major focus of our lab also involves outreach to increase diversity in STEMM, to decolonize research and academic arenas, and to provide a safe and inclusive space where everyone feels welcome to pursue and be passionate about evo-ecological research.
Dr. Eugene Law, Assistant Professor of Weed Ecology, The Ohio State University
Cornell University Ph.D. ’21, Soil and Crop Sciences
Dr. Eugene Law is an Assistant Professor of Weed Ecology in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at the Ohio State University. Prior to joining OSU he completed a NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship developing precision integrated weed management practices and technologies at the University of Delaware and the USDA-ARS Sustainable Cropping Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. He earned his PhD from the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University where his research focused on the perennial grain crops Kernza intermediate wheatgrass and ACE-1 perennial cereal rye. His research, teaching, and extension program focuses on enhancing the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability of agroecosystems, particularly with regard to weed management, by integrating ecological principles with cropping systems management. His work emphasizes participatory research with farmers and other stakeholders to solve on-farm challenges, utilizing computer vision and other sensor-based platforms for automating data collection for on-farm agroecosystem research.
Dr. Sarah Lower, Associate Professor of Biology, Bucknell University
Former Cornell University Postdoc
Dr. Sarah Lower is an Associate Professor of Biology at Bucknell University where she studies fireflies. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at Amherst College, a PhD in Genetics at the University of Georgia, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University co-mentored by Drs. Dan Barbash and Andy Clark prior to her current position. Sarah enjoys sharing the wonder of fireflies with a wide audience, including writing for Scientific American, answering questions on NPR's Science Friday, and consulting for documentaries such as David Attenborough's Life that Glows and Netflix's Night on Earth. She balances her workload with competitive barbershop singing, baking enormous cookies, and exploring nature with her husband and five year-old daughter.