Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs > Faculty Information & Resources > Faculty Highlights > New Faculty

New Faculty

Class of 2011

Saladin Ambar
Assistant Professor, Political Science

Saladin Ambar earned his doctorate in Political Science from Rutgers University, his Master’s degree in Political Science from The New School for Social Research, and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.  Before joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as a visiting professor at Lehigh University and Lafayette College. Ambar has presented his work at numerous conferences across the country, and his work has been published in The U.S. Political System: An Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of American Political Development. The winner of a Miller Center Fellowship Award from the University of Virginia, Ambar’s teaching and research focus on American political development, the American presidency and executive politics, American political thought, race and ethics and black political thought, political parties and elections, and public law.

Yevgeny Berdichevsky
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Yevgeny Berdichevsky earned his doctorate and master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Before coming to Lehigh, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.  He has published articles in journals such as IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Advanced Materials, and Lab on a Chip. He has presented his work at conferences across the country and holds a U.S. patent.  He is also a recipient of numerous awards and honors.  His research focuses on microfabrication technology for studying neural circuits and high-throughput neurology.

Paolo Bocchini
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Paolo Bocchini earned his doctorate in Structural Mechanics at the University of Bologna (dual advisor program with Columbia University) and his Laurea degree in Civil Engineering, also from the University of Bologna. Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as a research associate at Lehigh’s Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems Engineering Research Center. Bocchini has published articles in journals such as Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, and Structural Safety. He has presented at conferences across the globe and is the recipient of numerous awards including the “Albino Nascè” award and the “Marco Polo” award.

William Bulman
Assistant Professor, History

William Bulman earned doctorate and master’s degrees at Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis. Before coming to Lehigh, he held postdoctoral fellowships at Vanderbilt University and Yale University. Bulman has published in Past and Present and has completed a forthcoming article for the Journal of British Studies. His first book, Anglican Enlightenment, is in preparation, along with three commissioned articles.  Bulman has presented his work internationally and has received many honors and grants, including a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship and an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship. His research examines the political, religious, and cultural history of Britain and its empire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

David Casagrande
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology/Environmental Initiative

David Casagrande earned his doctorate in Ecological Anthropology from the University of Georgia, his master’s degree in Forestry and Environmental Studies and Ecology and Policy from Yale University, and his bachelor’s degree in Geography from Southern Connecticut State University. Before joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as an associate professor at Western Illinois University. Casagrande has published articles in journals such as Environmental Management, Environment and Behavior, and Human Organizations. He served as Editor-In-Chiefof the Journal of Ecological Anthropology. Casagrande is the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and grants and has presented his work at conferences across North America.

Daniel Conus
Assistant Professor, Mathematics

Daniel Conus earned his doctorate from the Institute of Mathematics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland and his master’s degree in Mathematical Sciences, also from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.  Before joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as an assistant professor at the University of Utah. Conus has published articles in journals such as the Electronic Journal of Probability and Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes. He is the recipient of various honors and awards and has presented his work at conferences across the globe. Conus’ research focuses on stochastic analysis, stochastic partial differential equations and random fields, intermittency properties of spde’s, numerical aspects of spde’s, stochastic optimization, and mathematical finance.

Dena Davis
Professor, Religion Studies

Dena Davis earned her J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law and her doctorate in Religion at the University of Iowa. Before coming to Lehigh as the Presidential Chair in Health in the Social Sciences/Humanities, she served as the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.  Davis is the author of three books and over sixty-eight articles on both biomedical ethics and legal topics.She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards and was named a Fulbright scholar in India and Israel and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Indonesia, Italy, and Sweden. She has also presented her work at workshops and conferences across the globe. A member of the NIH Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Working Group, Davis served as senior editor of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics, as legal consultant to the Committee on Bioethics at the American Academy of Pediatrics, and on the boards of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and the American Academy of Religion.

Lyndon Dominique
Assistant Professor, English

Lyndon Dominique earned his doctorate in English from Princeton University, his master’s degree, also in English, from Princeton University and Georgetown University, and his bachelor’s degree in Comparative American Studies from The University of Warwick, U.K.  Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as an assistant professor at Georgetown University. Dominique has published several articles and reviews and has a book, Imoinda’s Shade: Marriage and The African Woman in Eighteenth Century British Literature, 1759-1808, submitted to the Ohio State University Press. He has also presented at conferences across the nation.  Dominique’s teaching and research focus on critical race studies, cultural studies, the novel, drama, gender and sexuality studies, colonialism, empire and slavery, and black British literature.

Wes Heiss
Assistant Professor, Art, Architecture and Design

Wes Heiss earned his master’s degree in Architecture from Rice University and his bachelor’s degree in Arts and Architecture/Ceramics from Bennington College.  For the past several years, he has served as a professor of practice in Lehigh’s Art, Architecture & Design department and has worked for Kinecity LLC.  in the interactive multimedia design and fabrication department. Heiss is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including several Artist-in Residence positions. He has also presented his own work at solo shows across the country.

Melpomene Katakalos
Assistant Professor, Theatre

Melpomene Katakalos earned her master’s degree in Scenic Design from the University of California and her bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College. Before coming to Lehigh, she served for fifteen years as a professional scenic designer. Katakalos has designed or assisted with the design of over ninety sets. She has teaching experience in scene design from the University of California, Berkeley and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. Her teaching interests include combining the art of storytelling with a compelling environment, collaborative processes, the dynamics between collaborators, and the balance between the intellectual and the practical.

Peggy Kong
Assistant Professor, Education and Human Services

Peggy Kong earned her doctorate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at Harvard University, her master’s degrees in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy and International Education Policy also at Harvard University, and her bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies, Government, and Chinese from the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to Lehigh, she served as an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. Kong has published multiple reports and book reviews along with articles in journals such as International Journal of Educational Development and China: An International Journal. She is the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and grants. Kong’s research interests focus on comparative and international education, family-school relationships, gender issues in education, Chinese society, educational policy, globalization and education, modernization and education, and poverty and education.

Mei Li
Assistant Professor, Management

Mei Li earned her doctorate in Supply Chain Management and her master’s degree in Information Management and Agribusinesss from the Arizona State University and her bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy and International Trade from the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China. She joins the Lehigh faculty after recently completing her dissertation: “Bridge Transfer and the Outsourcing of Customer Facing Services: A Social Network Perspective.” Li’s work has been published in numerous journals such as the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, and Production and Operations Management. She has presented at conferences across North America and is the recipient of several academic awards. Her research interests include service outsourcing, self-service technology, buyer-supplier relationships in service operations, social network theory, and sustainability.

Jessecae Marsh
Assistant Professor, Psychology

Jessecae Marsh earned her doctorate and master’s degree in Cognitive Psychology from Yale University and her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Biology from Vanderbilt University.  Before joining the Lehigh faculty, she served as an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. Her work has been published in numerous journals including the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, Psychological Science, and Memory & Cognition. Marsh has presented at conferences all over the world and has received various awards and honors. Her research looks at the basic cognitive areas of causal reasoning and categorization to inform implied questions about the nature of beliefs about mental disorder categories.

Nader Motee
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics

Nader Motee received his doctorate and master’s degrees in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University, and his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.  Motee received the 2008 O. Hugo Schuck Award for Theory of the American Automatic Control Council, the Student Best Paper Award at the American Control Conference in 2007, the Joseph and Rosaline Wolf Award for Best Ph.D. Dissertation in 2008, and was a finalist for the Student Best Paper Award at several conferences. His research interests include distributed control systems with applications to power grid, autonomous vehicles, and biological systems.

James Braxton Peterson
Associate Professor, English

James Braxton Peterson earned his doctorate in English at the University of Pennsylvania, his master’s degree in English from the North Carolina State University, and his bachelor’s degree in English from Duke University. Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as an associate professor of English and Director of Africana Studies at Bucknell University. In addition to numerous essays, he has published his work in numerous edited works. He has presented at conferences across North and Central America. His teaching and research interests focus on African American Literature, Africana Studies, hip hop culture, media and politics, narrative studies, and urban studies.

Marcos Moura Pires
Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Marcos Moura Pires earned his doctorate in Chemistry from Purdue University and his bachelor’s degree, also in Chemistry, from Ithaca College. Before coming to Lehigh, he served as a NRSA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Pires has published numerous articles in journals such as Biochemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Organic Letters. He is the co-holder of two patents, the recipient of several honors and awards, and has presented his work at conferences across the country. His teaching and research interests center on chemical biology, mechanisms of clinical drug resistance, and biological targets for drug design.

Timothy Quigley
Assistant Professor, Management

Timothy Quigley earned his doctorate and master’s degree in Business Administration and his bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science from the Pennsylvania State University. Quigley joins the Lehigh faculty following the completion of his dissertation: “Increased CEO Influence or Romanticization? Shifts in Managerial Discretion and the Perception of CEO influence. 1950-2009.” Quigley has presented his work at conferences across the United States and is the recipient of numerous awards. His research falls in the field of strategic management with a focus on top executives and their impact on organizational outcomes, as well as the causes and outcomes of CEO succession.

Amber Rice
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Amber Rice earned her doctorate in Biology from the University of North Carolina and her bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster.  Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, she served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at the Uppsala University in Sweden. Rice is the author of many articles in journals such as Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and Molecular Ecology Resources. She is the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and research grants. Rice has presented her work at conferences across the globe. Rice’s research looks at the unfolding of speciation, particularly the importance of species interactions and selection in driving this process.

Naomi Rothman
Assistant Professor, Management

Naomi Rothman earned her doctorate in Organizational Behavior from the Stern School of Business, New York University and her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California at Davis. Prior to coming to Lehigh, Rothman served as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois. She has had her work published in several edited works, including Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Negotiation & Groups, Voice and Silence in Organizations, and Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Affect & Groups. Rothman has presented at conferences across North America and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Her research focuses on the social consequences of emotions in the work place, power, negotiations, and justice.

Ajai Singh
Professor, Perella Department of Finance

Ajai Singh earned his doctorate from the University of Iowa and his M.B.A. from the University of Delhi.  Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty as the Bolton-Perella Endowed Chair, he served as a professor at Case Western Reserve University.  Singh is the author of numerous articles in journals such as the Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Banking & Finance. He is the recipient of many awards and honors, most recently the Teaching Excellence Award from Case Western Reserve University, and has presented his work at conferences around the world.  Singh’s research focuses on corporate finance, including the impact on firm value of capital acquisition decisions, IPOs and Seasoned Equity Offers, and the role of investment bankers and venture capitalists.

Damien Thévenin
Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Damien Thévenin earned his doctorate in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Delaware, his master’s degree in Biology and Biotechnology from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Toulouse, France, and his bachelor’s degree from the University Paul Sabatier, also in Toulouse, France.  Before coming to Lehigh, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University.  Thévenin has published numerous articles in journals such as Methods in Molecular Biology, Chemistry & Biology, and Protein Science, and he has presented his work at numerous conferences and symposiums. His research focuses on helix-helix interactions in membranes and how they modulate the activity and signaling of integral membrane proteins.

Cameron Braxton Wesson
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology

Cameron Braxton Wesson earned his doctorate and master’s degree in Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his two bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Architectural Studies & Environmental Design at Auburn University. Before joining the Lehigh faculty as the Lucy G. Moses Distinguished Professor in Anthropology, he served as an associate professor and Chair at the University of Vermont. Wesson is the author or co-editor of three books and has published many articles in journals such as Native South, Archaeologies, World Archaeology, International Journal of Historical Archaeology, and the Journal of Alabama Archaeology. He is the recipient of numerous awards, honors, and grants and has presented his work at conferences across the globe.

Chao Zhou
Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Chao Zhou earned his doctorate in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Peking University in Beijing, China. Prior to coming to Lehigh, he served as a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zhou has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Cancer Research, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Optics Letters, Optics Express and Journal of Biomedical Optics. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the National Institute of Health Pathway to Independence Award, he has presented his work at conferences and invited talks across the United States.

Luis Zuluaga
Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Luis Zuluaga earned his doctorate in Operations Research and master’s degree in Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, another master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and his bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics, also from the University of Los Andes.  Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, he served as an associate professor at the University of New Brunswick. Zuluaga has authored multiple articles in journals such as Qualitative Finance, North American Actuarial Journal, and Variance. The recipient of numerous awards, honors, and grants, he has served as a consultant to companies across the globe.  Zuluaga’s research looks at developing solution schemes and effective algorithms for problems involving optimization over polynomials; especially those arising from integer programming, probability, and finance applications.