The Board of Trustees approved the promotion of 16 assistant professors to the position of associate professor with tenure at its January meeting. The professors granted tenure are: Zaid Adhami, Religion; Cecilia Aldarondo, Art; Alice Bradley, Geosciences; Anthony Carrasquillo, Chemistry; Graham Giovanetti, Physics; Katie Hart, Chemistry; Mark Hopkins, Computer Science; Anne Jaskot ’08, Astronomy; Catherine Kealhofer, Physics; David Loehlin, Biology; Samuel McCauley, Computer Science; Shaoyang Ning, Statistics; Sophie Saint-Just, French; Pallavi Sen, Art; Shikha Singh, Computer Science; and Matthew Tokeshi, Political Science. Their new positions go into effect July 1.
The process of achieving tenure at the College generally takes seven years, though most faculty were given the option to pause their tenure clock for a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. After an assistant professor has taught for three years at the College, the Committee on Appointments and Promotions (CAP) considers whether they should be retained for a second term of up to four years. At the end of a second term, CAP makes provisional tenure decisions, which, according to the Faculty Handbook, are based on student feedback, peer reviews, committee members’ impressions from class visits, and the quality of the candidate’s scholarly research. The Board of Trustees then approves CAP’s decisions.
Cecilia Aldarondo – Art
Aldarondo released her first film, Memories of a Penitent Heart, in 2016. The film, a documentary about the tension in Aldarondo’s family following her uncle’s death from AIDS, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival with four sold-out screenings before being presented at over 30 other festivals around the globe, and earned several awards. “I moved to New York, and decided that instead of going on the academic job market, like all of my other grad school friends were doing, that I was gonna make a movie on my own,” she said.
Katie Hart – Chemistry
Though Hart initially intended to study English as an undergraduate at Haverford College and pursue a career in journalism, she discovered a passion for science after taking general chemistry courses. Hart said she was especially drawn to biochemistry due to its collaborative nature. “I think I do my best work in team settings,” she said. “I found that to be more appealing than [when] I saw [that] my friends who were in humanities majors tended to do their work independently.”
Shika Singh – Computer Science
Before teaching at the College, Singh earned a bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics and computing from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and a doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University.
After earning her doctorate, Singh received a job offer from a financial consulting company, but ultimately decided to decline the offer and began lecturing at Wellesley College. “I didn’t feel like [the firm] was necessarily somewhere I could thrive,” she said. “I really like the intellectual atmosphere of college… and school environments.”
Sam McCauley – Computer Science
After completing his bachelor’s in computer science at Tufts University, he attended Stony Brook University for his doctorate. Before coming to Williams, he taught at Wellesley College, where Singh, his wife, was on the pre-tenure track before the couple relocated to Williamstown.
McCauley said that CSCI 136 is his favorite class to teach. “You meet a huge chunk of the students that are going through the major that year,” he said. “It’s at a point … where people are still very new to computer science… [But] it’s not the absolute first stuff.”
Graham Giovanetti – Physics & Astronomy
Giovanetti began his career working at a startup company involved in remote chemical sensing and optical character recognition. “I went and got a job in industry and I always thought back to the research I was doing as an undergraduate … as being way more fun than the stuff I was doing at this company,” he said.
He said he was especially attracted to the College because of its equal emphasis on research and teaching. “I liked the fact that teaching was valued, but at the same time, all the people in the physics department were pursuing meaningful and impactful research and involving undergraduates in that research in a really serious way,” he said.
Alice Bradley – Geosciences
At the College, Bradley said she is appreciative of her the opportunity to work closely with undergraduate students in research, and educate students who she believes will make a difference in the future. “The relationships with students are just one of the true joys of teaching at Williams,” she said.
“I feel like, as a climate scientist, some of the most good I will do for the world is teaching Williams economics and political science majors about climate,” she added.
David Loehlin – Biology
Loehlin is a geneticist who specializes in evolution and molecular genetics. He majored in environmental studies as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago before earning a doctorate in biology from the University of Rochester. “It surprised me how much of an intellectual component there is [in biology],” he said.
While Loehlin initially pursued a job at a large university after graduate school, he cited the involvement of undergraduate students in research as a key strength of the College. “I took a chance on Williams,” he said. “I really like research and I had mostly applied to research universities, but Williams has a strong value in research and scholarship, and I saw a way to bring my work here and be able to work directly in research with students.”
Anne Jaskot ’08 – Physics & Astronomy
Professor Anne Jaskot ’08 began showing interest in Astronomy early on in her academic journey. “I think my earliest interest in astronomy probably came as a kid,” Jaskot said. “I’ve always been interested in the vastness of geologic time, which astronomy exemplifies more than any other field.”
Jaskot recieved a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics and anthropology from the College before pursuing graduate studies at the University of Michigan. It was during this time that she began considering a future as a professor. “I really enjoy teaching, and I wanted to be at a place that valued teaching and took it seriously, and where all the professors were also significantly committed to that and interested in always having these discussions about how to improve your teaching, how to come up with ideas for new classes,” she said.
Matthew Tokeshi – Political Science
Prior to teaching at the College, Tokeshi earned an bachelor’s in political science and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate in politics at Princeton University. At the College, Tokeshi teaches courses relating to racial politics, public opinion, and mass political behavior.
Tokeshi credited former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 with influencing his passion for political science. “When I was growing up in the 1990s, all of the important people in politics were white, and most were white men,” he wrote in an email to the Record. “So to see a Black man become president was unexpected and very exciting.”
Mark Hopkins – Computer Science
Hopkins studied computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, and received a doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before teaching at Williams, Hopkins was a computer science professor at Reed. Hopkins’ interests include machine learning, machine translation, automated question answering, and computational typology.
Anthony Carasquillo – Chemistry
Carasquillo majored in chemistry at Bowdoin College and received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in environmental chemistry. He teaches “ENVI 102: Introduction to Environmental Science” and “Environmental Fate of Organic Chemicals” at the College. His research aims to understand how organic aerosol particles form and evolve over time to improve predictions of their impact on human health, visibility, and global climate.
Zaid Adhami – Religion
Adhami received his bachelor’s degree in religious studies and philosophy at Stanford University and received his doctorate in religious studies from Duke University. He is currently on leave, but has taught courses such as “REL 348: Religion and Reason” and “REL 266: Spiritual But Not Religious.” Outside of lecturing, he conducts research on the “crisis of faith” in U.S Muslim communities and is involved in numerous national professional organizations including the American Academy of Religion, according to the announcement published on the College’s website.
Sophie Saint-Just – French
Saint-Just teaches courses in French language, literature, and culture at the College. She attended La Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) in France for her undergraduate studies and received her doctorate from the City University of New York (CUNY). Outside of teaching, Saint-Just conducts research and scholarship in Francophone and Creolophone Caribbean film and literature, including completing a book manuscript titled Euzhan Palcy’s Rue Cases-Nègres: A Landmark Martinican Film, and co-editing a volume titled Raoul Peck: Power, Politics and the Cinematic Imagination (Lexington Books, 2015), according to the announcement published on the College’s website.
Pallavi Sen – Art History and Studio Art
Professor Pallavi Sen is an artist working across various media — including video, prints, textiles, paintings, landscapes, and gardens. Her art work has been exhibited in galleries across the world, including in New Orleans, La., and Mexico City. At the College, she teaches courses including “ARTS 230: Drawing 2” and “ARTS 236: LINOCUTS! An Introduction to relief printing.”
Shaoyang Ning – Statistics
Ning received his bachelor’s degree in probability and statistics from Peking University, China, and his doctorate in statistics from Harvard University. His research focuses on the study and design of statistical methods for integrative data analysis. He is currently on leave, teaching “STAT 011: Statistical Methods I” at Swarthmore College.
Catherine Kealhofer – Physics
Kealhofer earned a bachelor’s in physics from Princeton University and a PhD in physics from Stanford University. She teaches “Electromagnetism and the Physics of Matter” and “Seminar in Modern Physics” . She studies ultrafast processes in condensed matter and constructed an ultrafast electron diffraction apparatus with students at the College.
