Tenure-Track Faculty

This fall, 18 new members of the faculty have been hired in tenure-track positions:

Josep Alba-Salas, assistant professor in the modern languages and literatures department(Spanish), earned his Ph.D. in linguistics from Cornell University. The recipient of many research fellowships and awards, he has taught at the University of South Carolina and the University of Trieste, Italy.

Christina Ballantine, assistant professor in the mathematics and computer science department, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Canada. Specializing in number theory, forms and representation theory, buildings and combinatorics, she has taught at Dartmouth College, Bowdoin College, the University of Wyoming and the University of Toronto, Canada.

Robert M. Bellin, assistant professor in the biology department, earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Iowa State University. He recently finished his postdoctoral research fellowship at Children's Hospital in Boston where he incorporated into his research techniques such as cDNA cloning and sequencing, confocal microscopy, live cell imaging and protein purification.

James Bryant, assistant professor in the sociology and anthropology department, earned his Ph.D. from Brown University. Previously, he worked as a consultant for Times2 Incorporated, an educational program in Providence, R.I., the Providence Housing Authority, the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the Providence Plan Housing Corporation. He has taught at Brown University and Rhode Island College. Bryant is an expert on the sociology of culture, race and ethnicity.

David N. Claman, assistant professor in the music department, earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University. The recipient of numerous awards and grants, he has performed in the United States and in India. He previously taught at Colorado College, Princeton University and the University of Madras, India.

Christine A. Coch, assistant professor in the English department, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Specializing in 16th- and 17th-century English poetry and prose, Shakespeare and English Renaissance drama, medieval English literature, and early English women writers, she has taught at the University of Chicago and DePaul University.

Mary A. Conley, assistant professor in the history department, earned her Ph.D. from Boston College. The recipient of many fellowships and honors, she has taught at Boston College, Emory University and, most recently, Marquette University.

Joseph J. DeStefano, assistant professor in the mathematics and computer science department, earned his Ph.D. from Dartmouth College. Previously, he was employed as a scientist at BBN Corp. in Cambridge, Mass., and as vice president, research and development at MadeToOrder.com in Framingham, Mass.

Joshua R. Farrell '94, Thomas E. D'Ambra Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the chemistry department, earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. A contributor to numerous publications, he has recently completed his NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sarah Grunstein, of the music department, is currently completing her D.M.A. at the City University of New York. She earned her master of music degree from Juilliard. Grunstein made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1984. She has performed in Austria, Hungary, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy and her homeland, Australia. She has taught in colleges and universities throughout the United States and in Australia. An expert on performance practices of the 18th- and 19th-centuries, she has a strong interest in how to perform what is not written on the musical score.

Ibrahim Kalin, assistant professor in the religious studies department, earned his Ph.D. from George Washington University. Specializing in Islamic studies, he has taught at Mary Washington College and George Washington University.

Sarah McGrath, assistant professor in the philosophy department, earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Specializing in metaphysics and ethics, she is also knowledgeable in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of biology, the history of modern philosophy, epistemology and feminist philosophy.

Victoria C. Plaut, assistant professor in the psychology department, earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University. The recipient of numerous grants and awards, she has focused her research on the cultural models of diversity, cultural sources of well-being and cultural variations of self.

Kevin J. Quinn, assistant professor in the chemistry department, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Chemical Society's Organic Division. He joins us having completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Pennsylvania.

B. Jeffrey Reno, assistant professor in the political science department, earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. His research and teaching interests include the role of political discourse in urban policy, the idea of the "Leisured Class" and its impact on civil society and the nature of "public" and "private" and its impact on policy and discourse. He has served as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan and as a visiting instructor at Michigan State University.

Cristi Rinklin, assistant professor in the visual arts department, earned her M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Specializing in painting and drawing, she has served as a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and has taught at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, the College of Visual Art, St. Paul, Minn., and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her work has appeared in exhibitions throughout the country.

William V. Sobczak, assistant professor in the biology department, earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Author of numerous publications, his research interests include energy flow through aquatic ecosystems, ecosystem restoration and conservation and ecology and biogeochemistry of groundwaters. Previously, he worked as a postdoctoral associate in the water resources division at the U.S. Geological Survey.

Shelby Therese Weitzel, Brake-Smith Assistant Professor in Social Philosophy and Ethics in the philosophy department, earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The recipient of many awards, she has taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Utah.