WASHINGTON – The Howard University Office of Faculty Development in the Office of the Provost hosted a virtual ceremony to honor those faculty who were recently promoted to full professor or awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor. A total of 44 faculty honorees participated from the College of Arts and Sciences, Cathy Hughes School of Communications, School of Business, School of Law, College of Medicine, School of Education, College of Nursing and Allied Sciences, and the College of Engineering and Architecture.

“The promotion to full professor and associate professor with tenure are significant milestones in the arc of a faculty career. It demonstrates a high level of achievement in teaching, scholarship, research, academic service and leadership at the University, within the faculty member’s field of expertise, and, in some cases, nationally and internationally,” said Okianer Christian Dark, Esq., associate provost for faculty development. “These faculty achievements are also an important way for the University to communicate both internally and externally that our faculty is strengthened by an excellently credentialled, scholarly and service-oriented group of faculty such as our honorees at this event.”

Fifteen faculty were promoted to full professor and 29 were promoted to associate professor with tenure. The faculty promoted have showcased their educational leadership and their expertise in news media and scholarly publications.

Several of the professors shared their sentiments on this special moment in their higher education careers.

“I'm excited about my promotion to associate professor at the illustrious Howard University. I look forward to making a deeper contribution to the field of dance research and teaching, and I am thrilled about creating more pathways that highlight the history and the indispensable place that dance holds in the African Diaspora and the world,” said Ofosuwa M. Abiola, Ph.D., associate professor of history, interim chair of the Department of Theatre Arts.

“I am excited about being promoted at Howard University. I am looking forward to continuing to pursue excellence at Howard and expanding the possibilities for students in economics who desire to further diversify the field,” said Omari H. Swinton, Ph.D., professor of economics.

“I am humbled and excited about my journey at Howard University, especially in the ‘flagship’ College of Arts and Sciences. Within Africana studies, I look forward to building on the 1968 student demands for a Black university, a ‘university oriented to the reality’ of the Black experience,” said Amy Yeboah, associate professor of Africana studies.

“It has been a great honor to receive tenure and promotion from the Mecca. Also, as the director of graduate studies for the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies, I will continue to serve this great institution with excellence in teaching, research and service to ensure our graduate students thrive too,” said Wei Sun, Ph.D., professor and director of graduate studies for the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies.

“It is exciting to receive tenure and promotion to the position of associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. I look forward to continuing my research and teaching at the Howard University, both of which are expressions of my enthusiasm for physics, and my curiosity to understand the world around us at the most fundamental level,” said Pratibha Dev, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and astronomy.

Below is the full list of those promoted to full professor:

College of Arts and Sciences:

Denise Hart, MFA

Eleanor King, Ph.D.

Katharine Gurski, Ph.D.

Marc Singer, Ph.D.

Omari Swinton, Ph.D.

Terri Adams, Ph.D.

Todd Drumm, Ph.D., (posthumously)

College of Medicine:

Celia Maxwell, MD

Clairmont Griffith, MD

Qiyi Tang, M.D., Ph.D.

Yayin Fang, Ph.D.



College of Engineering and Architecture:

Claudia Marin, Ph.D.

Danda Rawat, Ph.D.



School of Education

Dawn Williams, Ph.D.

Kmt G. Shockley, Ph.D.

 

Below is the full list of those promoted to associate professor with tenure:

School of Law

Matthew Bruckner, J.D.

College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences

Patricia Talbert, Ph.D.

College of Engineering and Architecture

Hassan Salmani, Ph.D.

Tao Wei, Ph.D.

Cathy Hughes School of Communications

Jami Ramberan, MFA

Natalie Hopkinson, Ph.D.

Shameka Stanford, Ph.D.

Wei Sun, Ph.D.

College of Medicine

Marina Jerebtsova, Ph.D.

Muneer Abbas, Ph.D.

Sima Tarzami, Ph.D.

Sulman Rahmat, Ph.D.

Syed Khundmiri, Ph.D.

School of Business

Anupam Kumar Ph.D.

Efua Obeng, Ph.D.

College of Arts and Sciences

Amy Yeboah, Ph.D.

Bahiyyah Muhammad, Ph.D.

Christopher Gunderson, Ph.D.

Gerald Daniels, Ph.D.

Joshua Myers, Ph.D.

Kay Wright-Lewis Ph.D.

Keneshia Grant, Ph.D.

Niambi Carter Ph.D.

Ofosuwa Abiola, Ph.D.

Pratibha Dev, Ph.D.

Royce Zackery, MA

Thomas Searles, Ph.D.

Yolonda Wilson, Ph.D.

Zhun Xu, Ph.D.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.