BU Wheelock Welcomes New Faculty for 2023
(Top, l-to-r) Anthony Abraham Jack, Kyle DeMeo Cook, Louise Michelle Vital; (bottom, l-to-r) Anna Lim, Christopher Cleveland, Ayse Payir
BU Wheelock Welcomes New Faculty for 2023
This fall, BU Wheelock welcomed six new full-time faculty members to our community. Their research interests include Deaf studies, educational leadership & policy studies, and applied human development.
Learn more about our new faculty and read some of their reflections on joining BU Wheelock.
Christopher Cleveland
Research assistant professor, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
Christopher Cleveland is a research assistant professor in educational leadership & policy studies. He studies the relationship between social policies and students’ academic, cognitive, and social development. He also has extensive experience collaborating with school systems, state agencies, and foundations to develop strategies and improve support for students. He’s an affiliated faculty member of the Wheelock Educational Policy Center.
“I am excited to be part of a team of students, faculty, and staff who are committed to the integration of research and practice to support all students — especially those often left out of important education policy decisions.”
Kyle DeMeo Cook
Research assistant professor, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
Kyle DeMeo Cook is a research assistant professor in the Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Department and the Center on the Ecology of Early Development. Her research focuses on early childhood policy topics, such as access to early education and care, the transition to kindergarten, and collaborations between early education and K–12. She works closely with government agencies, school districts, early education programs, and other education and social service organizations in order to design, conduct, and disseminate research that is requested by and relevant to policymakers and practitioners.
Anthony Abraham Jack
Faculty director, Newbury Center and Associate professor, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
Anthony Abraham Jack is an associate professor of higher education leadership and the inaugural faculty director of Boston University’s Newbury Center, which conducts research on the experiences of first-generation college students. His research focuses on the diversity of lower-income undergraduates, including those who enter college from low-performing, distressed local high schools and those who attend elite private schools on scholarships.
Anna Lim
Lecturer, Deaf Studies
Anna Lim is a lecturer in the Deaf Studies program, where she focuses on the intersections between Deaf identity and education, including multilingualism among Deaf people of color; the experiences of immigrant Deaf students; and diversity, oppression, and social justice in Deaf communities. Before joining BU, she taught social studies, English as a Second Language, and Japanese. Although Lim is new to BU Wheelock’s faculty, she isn’t new to the community—she is a recent graduate of the Language & Literacy Education doctoral program.
“I argue for a more transformative, nuanced, and expansive approach to education in which equity and diversity are honored—even if it means disrupting the dominant forms of pedagogy rooted in perpetuating colonialism.”
Ayse Payir
Research assistant professor, Applied Human Development
Ayse Payir, a research assistant professor in the Applied Human Development program, is a developmental psychologist who seeks to understand how young children understand the world, including their concepts of reality, their emotional development, and the ways culture influences their perceptions. Before coming to BU Wheelock, Payir was a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University’s psychology department.
Louise Michelle Vital
Senior lecturer, Higher Education Administration
A senior lecturer in the Higher Education Administration program, Michelle Vital centers her research on systemic inequalities in higher education, Haiti and other Caribbean countries, critical reflexive practice in academia, and the preparation of scholars and practitioners. Throughout her work, she examines the impact of deep-seated inequalities of power and privilege on students’ experiences. She was previously an associate professor of international higher education at Lesley University.
“I am excited to join the BU Wheelock faculty to contribute to the rich teaching in education while having the opportunity to focus on the global dimensions of higher education, which is one of the areas of my teaching and research specialty.”