2019-2020 Career Development Professorship Awardees
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Each year, Boston University has the pleasure of recognizing a number of talented junior faculty who are emerging as future leaders within their respective fields with the awarding of Career Development Professorships.
Presented to promising junior faculty who have been at BU for less than two years and who have held no prior professorships, these awards are made possible through the generous support of BU Trustees Peter Paul, Ruth Moorman and her husband Sheldon Simon, and Richard Reidy and his wife Minda; the estates of BU School of Medicine alumnus Ralph Edwards and Isabel and Larz Anderson; and two donors who wish to remain anonymous.
The awards highlight the caliber, potential, and continued vitality of Boston University’s dynamic faculty and include a three-year, non-renewable stipend designed to support research, scholarship, and creative work, as well as a portion of the recipients’ salaries. Nominations are submitted by the academic deans, and awardees are selected by the Office of the Provost.
- The Peter Paul Career Development Professorship this year recognizes a faculty member in the School of Medicine.
- The Moorman-Simon Interdisciplinary Career Development Professorship is awarded to faculty members who currently hold appointments in multiple schools and colleges or have the potential for a second appointment in the future.
- The Reidy Family Career Development Professorship this year is given to faculty members in the Questrom School of Business.
- The Ralph Edwards Career Development Professorship is focused specifically within the School of Medicine.
- The Isabel Anderson Career Development Professorship supports the scholarship of a faculty member in the Questrom School of Business.
- The East Asia Studies Career Development Professorship, supported by a BU alumnus based in Taiwan, recognizes assistant professors in the College of Arts & Sciences, the Pardee School of Global Studies, the College of Communication, the College of Fine Arts, and the Questrom School of Business whose research is specific to East Asia, particularly China and Taiwan.
- The University Provost’s Career Development Professorship, sponsored through an anonymous gift, provides the opportunity for the Provost to select its annual focus. This year’s Provost’s award advances the participation and success of women in the natural sciences and computational and data sciences.
This year’s Career Development Professorship recipients have been recognized for their extraordinary accomplishments in their areas of study, their passion for the creation and transmission of new knowledge, their efforts to enhance the student experience, and for their potential to develop into outstanding faculty members. I am delighted to announce that this year’s Career Development Professors are:
Peter Paul Career Development Professorship
Florian Douam
Assistant Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine
Florian Douam’s translational research at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory investigates human immune responses to emerging viruses, including viral hepatitis, AIDS, Dengue fever, and yellow fever, to aid in the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics. He received his doctorate in molecular virology and master’s degree in biological sciences from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in Lyon, France, and his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Université François Rabelais in Tours, France.
Moorman-Simon Interdisciplinary Career Development Professorship
Chandramouli Chandrasekaran
Assistant Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences
Chandramouli Chandrasekaran uses electrophysiological, behavioral, and computational techniques to better understand how the primate brain makes decisions based on sensory input and guides limb movement – findings with wide implications for treating human patient populations. He received his doctorate in psychology and neuroscience and master’s degree in psychology from Princeton University, a master’s degree in neural and behavioral sciences from University of Tübingen in Germany, and his bachelor’s degree in information technology from University of Madras in India.
Heba Gowayed
Assistant Professor of Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences
Heba Gowayed researches the dynamics of immigration and refugee resettlement, examining how low-income people – particularly of Muslim and Arab origin – traverse social services, immigration laws, and their associated bureaucracies, while grappling with gender and racial inequalities. She holds a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology from Princeton University, a master’s degree in sociology from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from American University in Cairo.
Reidy Family Career Development Professorship
Robert Metcalfe
Assistant Professor of Markets, Public Policy & Law, Questrom School of Business
Robert Metcalfe employs field experiments to understand human behavior and measure welfare in consumer markets and within large organizations, particularly in the presence of market imperfections and externalities, producing data with potential to help solve pressing managerial problems. He received his doctorate in economics from Imperial College London, his master’s degree from London School of Economics, and his bachelor’s degree from University of Wales, Swansea.
Ralph Edwards Career Development Professorship
Dennis Jones
Assistant Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
Dennis Jones’s research focuses on the immune-evasion mechanisms cancer cells use to persist in lymph nodes and spread to distant organs and works to identify strategies and molecular targets to enhance anti-tumor immunity and prevent metastasis. He received his doctorate in immunobiology from Yale University and his bachelor’s degree in biology from Morehouse College. He completed his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Isabel Anderson Career Development Professorship
Sanaz Mobasseri
Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations, Questrom School of Business
Sanaz Mobasseri uses field experimental and computational methods to study the role of gender, race, and culture in shaping employee experiences in the workforce and labor market outcomes. She holds a doctorate in management of organizations and a master’s degree in public policy from University of California, Berkeley, and received her bachelor’s degree in finance from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
East Asia Studies Career Development Professorship
Anne Feng
Assistant Professor of Chinese Art, College of Arts & Sciences
Anne Feng is a historian of Chinese art, with specialties in Buddhist art and architecture, Silk Road visual and material cultures, sacred space and ritual art, and mural painting practices. Recent research has examined images of water and waterscapes on the painted cave walls at Dunhuang in western China from the Tang dynasty. She holds a doctorate in art history from University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in art history from New York University.
University Provost’s Career Development Professorship
Derry Wijaya
Assistant Professor of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Derry Wijaya is an expert in machine learning, computational linguistics, and natural language processing, developing new algorithms and approaches to machine learning that improve the translation of less-annotated languages – particularly in automating the linguistic analysis of verbs. She received her doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from National University of Singapore. She completed her postdoctoral training at University of Pennsylvania.
Please join me in congratulating these talented junior faculty for their achievements and in wishing them continued success in their teaching and research at Boston University in the years ahead.
2019–2020 Career Development Professorship Awardees – 9.17.19