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Cornell Academic Leadership Series

The Provost’s Office of Faculty Development and Diversity hosts the Cornell Academic Leadership Series for tenured faculty holding leadership positions, such as chairs and associate deans, and those aspiring to advance into leadership positions.

Meeting several times a semester, the Academic Leadership Series gives participants opportunities to engage with university leaders discussing such topics as strategic planning, funding a university enterprise, career pathways, and managing conflict. Each session is designed with an action-learning pedagogy.

Participants are nominated by their deans and may self-nominate with their chair and dean’s approval. Nominations for the 2025-26 academic year will be available in March 2025.

Listed below are participating faculty:

2024 Cohort

Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Jeff Niederdeppe, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development; Co-Director, Cornell Center for Health Equity, and Professor of Communication, Department of Communication, CALS

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Lori Leonard, Chair and Professor, Department of Global Development
Drew Margolin, Associate Professor, Department of Communication

College of Arts and Sciences
Christy Goodale, Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor in Environmental Science, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Deborah Starr, Chair and Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies

Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
Thorsten Joachims, Associate Dean for Research, and Jacob Gould Schurman Professor, Department of Computer Science
Fred Schneider, Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science
Eva Tardos, Chair and Jacob Gould Schurman Professor, Department of Computer Science

College of Engineering
Christopher A. Alabi, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Ilana Brito, Associate Professor, Mong Family Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Biomedical Engineering, Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Jonathan Butcher, Professor, Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Chris Schaffer, Professor, Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Zhiting Tian,  Associate Professor, Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
David P. Williamson, Professor, School of Operations Research and Information Engineering and Information Science

College of Human Ecology
Angela Odoms-Young, Associate Professor, Division of Nutritional Science, College of Human Ecology; Director, Food and Nutrition Education in Communities Program; and Director, New York State Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program

ILR School
Shannon Gleeson, Edmund Ezra Day Professor of Labor Relations, Law and History, and Chair, Department of Global Labor and Work, and Professor, Brooks School of Public Policy

SC Johnson College of Business
Suzanne Shu, John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and Dean of Faculty and Research

College of Veterinary Medicine
Paula Cohen, Professor of Genetics; Director, Center for Reproductive Genomics and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education
Diego Diehl, Associate Professor in Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Science, and Director, Animal Health Diagnostic Center

 

 

2023 Cohort

Brooks School of Public Policy
Kelly MusickSenior Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Public Policy and Sociology

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Robin Dando, Associate Professor of Mycology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology Section
Lee Humphreys, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication
Siu Sylvia Lee, Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Corrie Moreau, Martha N. and John C. Mosser Professor of Arthropod Biosystematics and Biodiversity
Linda Nicholson, Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Havs and James M. Clark Director, Office of Undergraduate Biology
Gregory Peck, Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Sustainable Fruit Horticulture Section
Jocelyn Rose, Professor and Director, School of Integrative Plant Science

College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Paul Ramirez Jonas, Professor and Chair, Department of Art

College of Arts and Sciences
Gustavo A. Fores-Macias, Associate Vice Provost for International Affairs, and Professor of Government and Public Policy
Chiara Formichi, Associate Professor and H. Stanley Krusen Professor of World Religions, Department of Asian Studies
Courtney Roby, Associate Professor, Department of Classics
Kim Weeden, Jan Rock Zubrow ’77 Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Director, Center for the Study of Inequality

Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
Alexandra Silva, Professor, Department of Computer Science

College of Engineering
Jeffrey Varner, Professor, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

College of Human Ecology
Yasser Gowayed, Lau Family Professor and Chair, Department of Human Centered Design

College of Veterinary Medicine
Renata Ivanek, Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
Praveen Sethupathy, Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Alexander J. Travis, Chair, Department of Public & Ecosystem Health; Director, Master of Public Health Program, and Professor of Reproductive Biology

SC Johnson College of Business
Li Chen, Breazzano Family Term Professor of Management, Area chair and Professor of Operations, Technology, and Information Management

2021-2022 Cohort

College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Caroline O’Donnell, Edgar A. Tafel Associate Professor of Architecture and Chair, Department of Architecture

College of Art and Sciences
Dan Barbash, Professor and Chair, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Tara Holm, Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics
Tamara Loos, Professor and Chair, Department of HIstory

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Sahara Byrne, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Strategic Programs, and Professor, Department of Communication
Carmen Moraru, Professor and Chair, Department of Food Science

Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
David Bindel, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Associate Professor, Department of Computer Sciences

College of Engineering
Lena F. Kourkoutis, Associate Professor, School of Applied and Engineering Physics, and Rebecca Q. and James C. Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow
Sarah Hormozi, Associate Professor, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
José F. Martinez, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Academic Affairs, and Lee Teng-hui Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Chris Xu, IBM Professor of Engineering and Director, School of Applied Engineering and Physics

SC Johnson College of Business
Glenn Dowell, Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Shanjun Li, Kenneth L. Robinson Professor of Applied Economics and Public Policy;Director of the Graduate Studies Program, Faculty Co-Director of the Cornell Institute for China Economic Research

Cornell Tech
Matthew D’Amore, Associate Dean for Professional Programs, and Professor of Practice, Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School
Mukti Khaire, Girish and Jaidev Reddy Professor of the Practice
Moor Naaman, Professor of Information Science, and Associate Dean for Technical Progams

2019-2020 Cohort

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Lee Humphreys, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Gavin Sacks, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Food Science
Christine Smart, Professor and Director, School of Integrative Plant Science
Jennifer Thaler, Professor, Department of Entomology

College of Art, Architecture and Planning
Victoria Beard, Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, and Associate Dean for Research
Neema Kudva, Associate Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning

College of Arts and Sciences
Austin Bunn, Associate Professor, Department ofPerforming and Media Arts

College of Engineering
Claudia Fischbach-Teschl, Professor, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Yong L. Joo, BP Amoco/H. Laurance Fuller Professor, Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Lois Pollack, Professor ad Director, School of Applied Engineering and Physics

College of Human Ecology
Marianella Casasola, Professor, Department of Human Development
Maria Fitzpatrick, Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, and Director, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs
Saurabh Mehta, Associate Professor, Division of Nutritional Science
Christopher Wildeman, Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Management and Associate Vice Provost for the Social Sciences

Industrial and Labor Relations School
Diane Burton, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Human Resource Studies

SC Johnson College of Business
Vicki Bogan, Associate Professor, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Vrinda Kadiya, Nicolas H. Noyes Professor of Management

Cornell University Library
Tamar Evangelistia-Dougherty, Associate University Librarian
Danianne Mizzy, Associate University Librarian

College of Veterinary Medicine
Jodi Korich, Associate Clinical Professor in Clinical Sciences
Paul Soloway, Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Bettina Wagner, Professor and Chair, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences

 

2018-2019 Cohort

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Lindsay Anderson, Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering
Parfait Enondou-Enyegue, Professor and Chair, Department of Development Sociology
Rich Stedman, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Natural Resources

Architecture, Art and Planning
Maria Park, Associate Professor, Department of Art

Arts and Sciences
Brian Crane, Chair, Department of Chemistry
Melissa Ferguson, Chair, Department of Psychology
Katie Kinzler, Department of Psychology
Sturt Manning, Chair, Department of Classics

Engineering
Mark Lewis, Associate Dean for Diversity and Faculty Development
Marjolein van der Meulen, Director, Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering
Mark Campbell, Director, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Graduate School
Susan Daniel, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Lara Estroff, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Human Ecology
Qi Wang, Chair, Department of Human Development
Ying Hua, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis

ILR School
Alex Colvin, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Diversity and Faculty Development
Linda Barrington, Associate Dean for Outreach and Sponsored Research, and Senior Extension Associate

Johnson College of Business
Todd Schmit, Acting Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion
Pam Moulton, School of Hotel Administration
Alex Susskind, School of Hotel Administration

Veterinary Medicine
Meg Thompson, Associate Dean for Clinical Operations, and Director, Cornell University Hospital for Animals
Alex Travis, Associate Dean for International Programs and Public Health
Daryl Nydam, Director, Quality Milk Production Service, Animal Health Diagnostic Center