Congratulations to Newly Promoted Social Science Lecturers and Research Professors!
Boston University has recently announced the promotion of 14 faculty members on the Charles River Campus to the rank of master lecturer, 22 to senior lecturer, four to clinical associate professor, and one each to research associate professor and professor of the practice. Read on to meet the social scientists and CISS partners who were recently promoted.
College of Arts & Sciences
Brett DiBenedictis, Psychological & Brain Sciences, teaches courses that cover the foundational links between brain and behavior. He teaches multiple sections of Physiological Psychology and Drugs and Behavior and has been recognized for his expertise on the role of drugs and hormones in modulating brain and behavior. He also supervises undergraduate directed study students and students undertaking honors projects. He has been promoted to senior lecturer.
Stacey Gelsheimer, Economics, specializes in teaching undergraduate empirical courses, often with students writing original econometric research papers. She has won the department teaching award, served as a Learn from Anywhere coach, helped develop new empirical courses, and led the department in several capacities on issues of teaching and writing. She also developed and teaches the online introductory macroeconomics course offered through the summer program. She has been promoted to senior lecturer.
Sarah Miller, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, is a sociologist and CISS affiliate whose research focuses on gender, sexuality, education, and new media. Her current book project, The Tolerance Generation: Growing Up Online in an Anti-Bullying Era, explores how intersectional inequalities and digital cultures shape young people’s experiences with bullying. Her work has been published in Gender & Society, Sexualities, and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and been funded by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation among others. She is the director of undergraduate studies for the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. She has been promoted to senior lecturer.
Masanao Yajima, Mathematics & Statistics, is currently director of consulting for the MS in Statistical Practice and a member of the Probability and Statistics Research Group. He works to answer data science questions in both academic and industry settings and his research interests include multivariate analysis, hierarchical models, statistical computing, missing data imputation, network modeling, metagenomics, bioinformatics, machine learning, and big data. He has been promoted to professor of the practice.
College of General Studies
Shawn Lynch, Social Sciences, teaches 20th century US political history, modern British history, western history, the Reagan Revolution and the era of neo-liberalism, and constitutionalism, with research interests including free speech in times of crisis and the impact of the Cold War on US political institutions. He has been an active member of the Boston-London faculty and served as an advisor of the World Affairs Forum, BU Votes, and Better Elections Now. This past year, he published a social sciences textbook, The Last Days of the Enlightenment: Commentaries on the End of an Age, along with two volumes of science fiction. He has been promoted to senior lecturer.
Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
Shelley Brown, Health Sciences, is an expert in global mental health, maternal mental health, HIV/AIDS-related mental health, trauma, and the trans-disciplinary domain of global health policy and governance. As a social health scientist, she’s devoted her career to addressing the mental health challenges, human rights, and health/healthcare inequities facing marginalized, underserved, and vulnerable populations worldwide. She has presented her work nationally and internationally and published in prominent global public health journals. Since 2017, she has served as the inaugural director of Sargent College’s International Service Learning Program. She has been promoted to clinical associate professor.
School of Theology
Daryl Ireland, focuses his scholarship on Christianity in East Asia. He specializes in popular Christian movements in China and has published two award-winning books on the topic: John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man (2020) and the edited volume, Visions of Salvation: Chinese Christian Posters in an Age of Revolution (2023). He has received multiple grants, including funding from the Association for Asian Studies, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities for his pioneering work on two digital humanities projects, “Chinese Christian Posters” and the “China Historical Christian Database.” He has been promoted to research associate professor.
Please join us in congratulating these talented faculty members on their promotions. Through their commitment to their work, their students, and their respective fields of study, they – and you – continue to exemplify the very best Boston University has to offer as a laboratory for discovery and training ground for future leaders.