{"id":157,"date":"2025-10-22T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/?page_id=157"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:49:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:49:20","slug":"meet-the-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/about\/meet-the-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full-Time Staff<\/h2>\n

Maureen O'Rourke, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"\"Maureen O\u2019Rourke<\/a> is Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Dean Emerita, Michaels Faculty Research Scholar, and Professor of Law in the School of Law. She is the senior officer of the University responsible to the Provost for matters involving faculty, and oversees faculty recruitment, appointment, and compensation, as well as the promotion and tenure process for the Charles River Campus. She works closely with the Provost on faculty policies, including those that support the University\u2019s commitment to faculty diversity, professional development, and work-life balance, and represents the Provost in discussions with schools, colleges, and University-wide groups on issues concerning the faculty. She also supervises the University\u2019s Equal Opportunity Office.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Vincent L. Stephens, Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Success<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vin<\/span>c<\/span>ent L. Stephens (he\/him\/his) <\/span>serves as the Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Success and leads BU Faculty Development. Stephens is a seasoned leader and academic administrator who served as <\/span>the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Arts & Sciences<\/span> (2021\u201325)<\/span>. In this role <\/span>he advanced CAS\u2019s strategic <\/span>priorities through launching <\/span>faculty development initiatives related to mentoring, inclusive pedagogy, and curricular advancement, <\/span>coordinating <\/span>professional development <\/span>for staff <\/span>and <\/span>providing <\/span>student engagement<\/span> opportunities<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>Stephens<\/span> completed his PhD in American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park<\/span> and <\/span>is the author of 2025\u2019s\u202f <\/span><\/span>Broads, Sisters, Exes: Feminist Millennial Television <\/span><\/span><\/em>\u202f(Wayne State University Press) and 2019\u2019s\u202f <\/span><\/span>Rocking the Closet: How Little Richard, Johnnie Ray, Liberace, and Johnny Mathis Queered Pop Music<\/em>\u202f <\/span><\/span>(University of Illinois Press), and co-editor of 2017\u2019s\u202f <\/span><\/span>Post Racial America? An Interdisciplinary Study <\/em>\u202f<\/span><\/span>(Bucknell University Press). His essays on popular culture have appeared in various peer-reviewed journals, anthologies, and encyclopedias<\/span>.\u00a0 He<\/span> has <\/span>also <\/span>written about inclusive pedagogy (<\/span><\/span>Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Spirituality<\/em>)<\/span><\/span>, peer mentoring (<\/span><\/span>The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching<\/span><\/span><\/em>), and high impact educational practices\u202f(<\/span><\/span>National Forensic Journal<\/span><\/span><\/em>).<\/span> <\/span>Previously <\/span>the Director of the Popel Shaw Center for Race and Ethnicity at Dickinson College (2015\u201321) and Director of Multicultural Student Services (2011\u201315) at Bucknell University,<\/span> <\/span>he has presented at national conferences hosted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), National Conference on Race & Ethnicity (NCORE), and Peer Mentoring Institute. Previously, he held leadership roles in the Pennsylvania Association of Liaisons and Officers of Multicultural Affairs (PALOMA) and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (PA-NAME). He is a Lecturer in the College of Fine Arts (CFA), and has also taught at multiple institutions, most recently as a Contributing Faculty member in the Department of Music at Dickinson College (Fall 2018\u2013Fall 2020).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gracie Schufreider, Faculty Actions Coordinator<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"\"As Faculty Actions Coordinator, Gracie Schufreider (she\/her\/hers) works with the offices of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development.\u00a0 Before moving into higher ed, she worked in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, with roles in international film sales, administration, and creative development.\u00a0 She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University and a BA in Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Naveen Inim, Senior Digital Communications Manager<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Naveen<\/span>\u00a0Inim<\/span> (she\/her\/hers) is the Senior Digital Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost. She previously worked as the Senior Communications Manager for BU Diversity & Inclusion, supporting communications efforts at all the units under Community & Inclusion. As a former student at BU, <\/span>Naveen<\/span>\u00a0worked on communications teams for Boston University Libraries and The Newbury Center.\u00a0<\/span>Naveen<\/span> returned to BU in Spring 2024 after working as the Social Media Content Specialist on the central administration communications team at the University of Southern California. <\/span>Naveen<\/span> received a BA in Psychology and BS in Film & Television as well as a MFA in Film & Television Studies from Boston University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Faculty Fellows<\/h2>\n

Margarita Guillory, Fellow for Faculty in Humanities and Social Sciences<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"MargaritaProfessor Margarita Guillory (she\/her\/hers) has taught at BU since 2018 and is a nationally recognized expert in the study of African American and Africana religious traditions. In addition to authoring\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Africana Religion in the Digital Age<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(Routledge) and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Spiritual and Social Transformation in African American Spiritual Churches: More Than Conjurers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>(Routledge), she serves on the editorial boards of numerous academic journals and is<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>active<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>member\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the American Academy of Religion\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and Society for the Study of Black Religion<\/span>, among others<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Her prior experience serving as associate director for the BU Center for the Humanities (<\/span>2023-25), a s<\/span>teering\u00a0<\/span><\/span>c<\/span>ommittee\u00a0<\/span><\/span>member\u00a0<\/span><\/span>for the Center for Innovation in Social Sciences (<\/span>2021-23<\/span>),\u00a0<\/span><\/span>director of undergraduate studies in the department of religion (2019-20), as well as her current role as director of AABDS<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>inform her passion for helping faculty colleagues develop as scholars and educators.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As a Faculty\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Fellow<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>she will prioritize collaboration and building bridges with colleagues across fields of study<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Indara Suarez, Fellow for Faculty in STEM<\/h4>
<\/p>\n

\"IndaraThe Department of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Energy and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the National Science Foundation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are among the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>prominent\u00a0<\/span><\/span>organizations that have recognized the innovative scholarship of Professor Indara Suarez (she\/her\/hers)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2013<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>who specializes in high-energy particle physics<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and is a researcher affiliated with the renowned CMS Collaboration at CERN.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Alongside her scholarly\u00a0<\/span><\/span>achievements<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>she has prioritized mentoring new generations of physicists and making STEM fields more inclusive<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for scientists from historically underrepresented groups<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>She has partnered with\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and the Associate Provost of Graduate Affairs to improve graduate student recruitment at BU,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>served on the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>College of Arts & Sciences\u00a0<\/span><\/span>(<\/span>CAS<\/span>)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Program Committees (2021-25), and partnered with BU\u2019s chapter of the Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) on various initiatives.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>In\u00a0<\/span><\/span>2023<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>CAS recognized Suarez as one of the inaugural recipients of the annual CAS IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, Leadership) Award for her commitment to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>inclusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>A<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Faculty<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Fellow<\/span>, she hopes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to develop interdisciplinary faculty learning communities, create accessible resources and programming for faculty, and expand support structures for historically underrepresented faculty in STEM.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Full-Time Staff Faculty Fellows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12480,"featured_media":0,"parent":31,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":649,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/157\/revisions\/649"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}