On August 25th, the Office of Faculty Development (OFD) welcomed new faculty and librarians to campus at its annual New Faculty Orientation (NFO). Addressing them in welcoming remarks, Provost Fouad Abd-El-Khalick observed, “You are an incredibly talented and impressive group. We have very high expectations for you, and I am certain that you will exceed them as you build your career and your life as part of this remarkable institution.”
NFO was hosted in the Marriott Center, where, in addition to the Provost and other senior leaders, our newest faculty and librarians heard from offices across campus about the ongoing support available to them as they transition into their new role.
Angela de Oliveira, Associate Provost for Faculty Development, shares, “We are so pleased to welcome 90 new and visiting faculty and librarians to UMass Amherst from across the globe and many different disciplines. At New Faculty Orientation, we introduce new faculty and librarians to their community and support, and help them build connections with each other and to UMass Amherst. OFD aims to enable our newest faculty and librarians to successfully launch their teaching, scholarship, and research careers at UMass Amherst and advance UMass’ commitment to the common good.”
After the orientation, new faculty themselves attested to how valuable the day was for them, one noting that: "[It was] really wonderful to meet with the passionate people who work across the university to provide support for students, staff, and faculty."
New Faculty Orientation is the first event in a series of programming for new and early career faculty offered by OFD throughout the 2026–27 academic year. This programming aims to set new faculty up for success – connecting them with mentors, providing time and space for scholarly writing, and facilitating opportunities to connect socially. “We are excited to get to know this impressive and diverse cohort of new faculty and librarians and to support their journey here at UMass Amherst,” shares Leyla Keough-Hameed, Director of Faculty Development.
Check out the list of our new faculty and librarians with their scholarly interests and specialties below!*
2026-27 New Faculty & Librarians
Patricia Fuentes Acevedo, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies
Expertise: Elementary Mathematics Education
Brian Adler, Lecturer, School of Public Policy
Expertise: Computational Social Science
Ted Allen, Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Expertise: Applied Operations Research
Walid Akef, Assistant Professor, History of Art and Architecture
Expertise: Islamic Art and Architecture
Sophie Barnes, Assistant Professor (Clinical, Extension, or Research), Student Development
Expertise: Social and Emotional Learning, Measurement, Classroom Interventions
Luke Browne, Assistant Professor (Clinical, Extension, or Research), Environmental Conservation
Expertise: Biodiversity Conservation
Tracey Bullington, Assistant Professor, Art
Expertise: Visual Art Education
David Burt, Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Expertise: Spatial Statistics, Machine Learning
David Casali, Lecturer, Music and Dance
Expertise: K-12 Music Education
Nava Caluori, Assistant Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Expertise: Psychology of culture & religion
Ian Cavey, Visiting Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics
Expertise: Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry
Pan Chen, Assistant Professor, Resource Economics
Expertise: Environmental and Resource Economics
Yongjin Choi, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Expertise: Geotechnical Engineering, Inverse Problems, AI
Christina Cipriano, Full Professor, Student Development
Expertise: Applied Developmental Psychology
Upasana Das Adhikari, Assistant Professor, Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Expertise: Immunity, Metabolism, Mucosal Tissues
Atla DeChamplain, Lecturer, Music and Dance
Expertise: Jazz, Voice, Lyrics
Bin Deng, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Expertise: Biomedical Imaging
Jennifer Dieringer, Lecturer, Legal Studies
Expertise: Poverty Law
Yining Feng, Assistant Professor, Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
Expertise: Environmental Social Science
Moira Fitzgerald, Librarian
Expertise: Libraries, Special Collections
Violet Fox, Librarian
Expertise: Classification and Metadata Ethics
Liz Gray, Lecturer, Office of the Provost / Academic Affairs
Expertise: Community-Engaged Learning
Jaeyong Han, Assistant Professor, Resource Economics
Expertise: Environmental and Public Economics
Thomas Hinkel, Lecturer, Political Science
Expertise: Political Economy of Armed Conflict
Bashima Islam, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Expertise: Ubiquitous Computing and Artificial Intelligence
Jonathan Jackson, Lecturer, Astronomy
Expertise: Exoplanet Astronomy
Aruna Jayasena, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Expertise: Secure Computing Architectures
Kemp Jernigan, Assistant Professor, Music and Dance
Expertise: Classical Music (Oboe)
William Johnston-Rutledge, Lecturer, Art
Expertise: Animation, Comics, Birdwatching
Merve Keskin, Lecturer, Data Analytics and Computational Social Science
Expertise: Social Science Methods
Kira Lawrence, Full Professor (Clinical, Extension, or Research), Environmental Conservation
Expertise: Clean Energy
Benjamin Leinfelder, Lecturer, Environmental Conservation
Expertise: Architectural Design/Build
Emily Leue, Lecturer, Theater
Expertise: Theater Technical Direction
Peize Liu, Lecturer, Mathematics and Statistics
Expertise: Algebraic Geometry
Fredrick Walter Lorenz, Assistant Professor, History
Expertise: Middle Eastern History
Julian Lustig-Gonzalez, Lecturer, University Without Walls
Expertise: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Commercialization
Mix Mann, Assistant Professor, Afro-American Studies
Expertise: Black Queer History
Luis Márquez, Full Professor (Clinical, Extension, or Research), Stockbridge School of Agriculture
Expertise: Plant-Microbe Interactions
Michael McCarthy, Assistant Professor (Clinical, Extension, or Research), Student Development
Expertise: Inclusion and Social-Emotional Development
Irene Morse, Lecturer, Data Analytics and Computational Social Science
Expertise: Transnational authoritarianism
Eleanore O'Neil, Assistant Professor, Veterinary Sciences
Expertise: Embryonic Gonad Development
Jamie Parnes, Assistant Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Expertise: Drugs, LGBTQ+ Health
Jay Patruno, Lecturer, Nutrition
Expertise: Nutrition Professional Practice
Mary Pickering, Lecturer, Biology
Expertise: Molecular Cell Biology
Kalie Pierce, Assistant Professor, Economics
Expertise: Education, Stratification, Discrimination
Lydia Reader, Lecturer, Data Analytics and Computational Social Science
Expertise: Modeling, Systems Science
Zachary Riedel, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Expertise: Solid-State Materials Chemistry
Sayantan Sarkar, Lecturer, Mathematics and Statistics
Expertise: Applied Mathematics
Xiaojing Shi, Lecturer, Stockbridge School of Agriculture
Expertise: Botany, Fungi, Fungicide Resistance
Avilash Singh Yadav, Assistant Professor, Biology
Expertise: Plant Developmental Biology
Donna Spraggon, Lecturer, Resource Economics
Expertise: Quantitative Analysis, Program Evaluation
Matt Stata, Assistant Professor, Biology
Expertise: Evolutionary Biology, Plant Physiology, Bioinformatics
Anne Elise Stratton, Assistant Professor, Stockbridge School of Agriculture
Expertise: Sustainable Food Systems
Sierra Trudel, Assistant Professor, Student Development
Expertise: School Psychology, Character Strengths, Assessment
Lena Warnke, Lecturer, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Expertise: Psycholinguistics, Communication, Language
Brian Whyte, Lecturer, Biology
Expertise: Ant Sociobiology
Wenjing Xu, Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation
Expertise: Wildlife Movement Ecology
Jinwei Zhang, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Expertise: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Beichen Zhang, Lecturer, Finance
Expertise: AI, Finance, FinTech
Haoxin Zhou, Assistant Professor, Physics
Expertise: Quantum Materials and Devices
*Please note that this list only represents new faculty and librarians who have opted into sharing their names publicly. If you are a new faculty member or librarian and would like to have your name added to this list, please email @email