Promotions to Full Professor on the Charles River Campus
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
I am delighted to announce the promotion of 16 members of our Charles River Campus faculty to the rank of Full Professor at Boston University.
Through seminal scholarship, field-defining exploration, and passion for the transmission of knowledge, these exceptional faculty members have emerged as leaders, both in their respective areas of research and in their classrooms. They are merging disciplines to discover solutions to some of our most pressing challenges, producing foundational writings that help to further evolve our understanding of the world, and working to inspire a new generation of young scholars and professionals. In doing so, they help to demonstrate each day the depth and excellence of Boston University’s talented academic community. We are proud to count them as members of our faculty and pleased that they have reached this significant milestone here at BU:
Kecia Ali, CAS, Religion, specializes in Islamic law and gender, focusing on ethics, biography, and the standing and experience of women in the Islamic faith. Widely recognized as one of the leading scholars of early Islam and a frequent international speaker, she has authored five acclaimed books, including most recently an expanded edition of Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence (2016), co-authored or co-edited four other books, and published more than a dozen book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and articles for premier journals.
Sara Bachman, SSW, Social Research; SPH, Health Law, Policy & Management, specializes in health policy research and evaluation, with a focus on state and national health care coverage models and the financing of health care for children with special needs and adults with complex conditions, including HIV/AIDS, disability, and substance abuse. Published extensively in top field journals, she is interim director of the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (SSW), director of the Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice (SPH), and is PI or co-PI on five current awards concentrated on healthcare for vulnerable populations.
Alisa Bokulich, CAS, Philosophy, specializes in the philosophy of science, investigating the role of modeling in past and present scientific explanation in both physics and earth sciences. The director of the Center for the Philosophy & History of Science, she is a regularly invited conference presenter, has authored a widely-praised book, Reexamining the Quantum-Classical Relation: Beyond Reductionism and Pluralism(2008), edited three other books, and published numerous encyclopedia entries, book reviews, and more than 20 articles in major philosophical journals.
Uri Eden, CAS, Mathematics & Statistics, specializes in statistics and neuroscience, developing new statistical methods to understand the patterns of firing and network connectivity among neurons. He is recognized as a pioneer in the use of statistical theory of point-processes for modeling neuron spiking data, as well as other novel advances with implications for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and the coding of neurons in the hippocampus for task learning and position tracking. A previous NSF CAREER Award recipient, he holds seven patents and has published two textbooks, four book chapters, and dozens of articles in high-impact journals.
Sergio Fagherazzi, CAS, Earth & Environment, specializes in marine science, studying the evolution of coastal environments, including wetlands erosion, hurricane impacts on sandy beaches, tsunami effects on shorelines, and long-term effects of rising sea levels and climate change. He has published five book chapters, one edited book, and dozens of articles in top scientific journals. He is also a member of two prestigious editorial boards and has received numerous field awards, including the 2014 Augusto Ghetti Prize for scientific studies on the Venice Lagoon in Italy.
Iván Fernández-Val, CAS, Economics, specializes in econometrics, working extensively on panel data (datasets of multiple “units” observed over time), quantile models, and the use of high dimensional data, or data extracted and intersected across multiple sources and disciplines, to produce new approaches and solutions to economics-based challenges. A member of the editorial boards of five journals, he has published numerous widely-cited journal articles, has had his research taught in some of the nation’s top PhD programs, and last year received his department’s Neu Family Award for Teaching Excellence in Economics.
Prakash Ishwar, ENG, Electrical & Computer Engineering, specializes in network information theory, information-theoretic security, machine learning, and visual information processing, producing research with significant implications for data science and systems engineering. A past NSF CAREER Award recipient, he is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has received numerous NSF grants to support his research, and has published five book chapters and dozens of articles in highly-regarded engineering journals.
Douglas Kriner, CAS, Political Science, specializes in American political institutions, military policymaking, and the dynamics produced by separation of powers. He has authored or co-authored three acclaimed books, including, most recently, Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power (2016), serves on the editorial boards of three scholarly journals, and has written numerous articles, book chapters, and presentations exploring White House-Congressional relations, the use of force, and the human costs of war. He is a past recipient of CAS’s Gitner Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Susan McGurk, SAR, Occupational Therapy, specializes in the development and evaluation of cognitive remediation or enhancement programs for those with severe mental illness, designing new interventions that can assist patients in obtaining and sustaining meaningful employment. Supported by consecutive federal grants over the last 15 years, she has completed six randomized controlled trials in typical community service settings with far-reaching implications and has delivered nearly 150 keynote addresses at national and international conferences. She has authored 11 book chapters and dozens of articles and reviews in top journals.
Fallou Ngom, CAS, Anthropology, specializes in linguistic anthropology and history, with a focus on West African languages and Islamic movements. The director of BU’s African Languages Program, he has earned international recognition for uncovering and deciphering a great corpus of “Ajami” – pre-colonial works written in African languages using modified Arabic script. He has written six books considered seminal in their field, including, most recently, Muslims beyond the Arab World: The Odyssey of Ajami and the Muridiyya (2016), along with eight book chapters and numerous articles exploring linguistic history, forensic linguistics, and Senegalese culture.
Harold Park, ENG, Mechanical Engineering, specializes in computational modeling of nanoscale mechanical properties of materials, developing and refining simulations that are at once precisely detailed and yet no longer require supercomputing capability to run. The author of more than 120 widely cited articles in high-impact engineering and scientific journals, as well as a book and six book chapters, he is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and recent recipient of John Argyris Award for Young Scientists from the International Association for Computational Mechanics.
Scott Schaus, CAS, Chemistry, specializes in organic chemistry, developing new methodologies for the production of molecules with potentially transformative impact on human health concerns. With dual focuses on chemical methodology and chemical biology/medicinal chemistry, he is now helping lead translational efforts to develop effective new drugs that target infectious diseases and specific cancer types. He has received more than 15 major federal grants from agencies to support his research, serves on several NIH and NSF study panels, and has published dozens of widely cited articles in leading journals.
Stephen Scully, CAS, Classical Studies, specializes in archaic Greek epic and didactic poetry; the history of ideas (including theories of justice and political organization); the theory, history, and practice of translation; and the transmission, reception, and tradition of classical poetry in subsequent cultures. The chair of his department and a past recipient of Choice Magazine‘s Outstanding Academic Book Award, he has authored six acclaimed books, including, most recently, Hesiod’s Theogony: From Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost (2015), 10 book chapters, and more than a dozen articles and reviews for scholarly journals.
Pamela Templer, CAS, Biology, specializes in forest ecology, developing new methods of measuring nitrogen saturation and the effects of climate change and air pollution on forest ecosystems. A past NSF CAREER Award recipient, she has authored two book chapters and dozens of widely cited and reviewed articles and papers on the impact over time of natural and human activity on nitrogen retention and the ability of forests to continue regenerating. Her efforts in the classroom were recognized in 2015 with one of BU’s highest teaching honors, the Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Richard West, CAS, Computer Science, specializes in the building of computer and advanced operating systems, with a focus on embedded and real-time computing. Supported extensively through both federal and industrial sources, he is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is leading the development of the Quest real-time operating system for multicore processors. He has published one book chapter, ten articles for top journals, and dozens of top-tier refereed conference papers. In 2015, he served as general chair of IEEE’s Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium.
Claire Wolfteich, STH, Practical Theology and Spiritual Studies, specializes in the intersecting fields of practical theology and spiritual studies and the engagement of practical theology with Catholic fields of theological discourse. Considered among the world’s leading experts in her discipline, she has served as past president of both the International Academy of Practical Theology and the Association of Practical Theology and is the current president of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. She has authored, co-authored, or edited numerous books, including, most recently, Catholic Approaches in Practical Theology: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2016), serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals, and last year won the STH Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.
Please join me in congratulating these wonderfully talented colleagues on their recent promotions and in wishing them success in their new positions. It is thanks in large part to their hard work and to yours that Boston University upholds its tradition of excellence and is on track to remain a research and teaching leader for many years to come.
Promotions to Full Professor on the Charles River Campus – 3.3.17