Union College welcomes 16 new faculty members this fall for the 2026-27 academic year. They are:
ANTHROPOLOGY:
Suzanne Barber, assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from California State University, East Bay; M.A. from Western Kentucky University; Ph.D. from Indiana University
Research/teaching interests: Human-animal relationships and multispecies anthropology
Muhammad Saad Lakhani, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.S. from Shaheed Zulfika Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology; M.A. from University of Warwick; Ph.D. from Stanford University
Research/teaching interests: Recognition, value and political struggle; Subalternity, popular culture and populism
BIOLOGY:
Sheena Dass, assistant professor (starting in winter 2027)
Degrees: B.S. from University of Delhi, India; M.S. from All India Institute of Medical Sciences; Ph.D. from Institute for Advanced Biosciences
Research/teaching interests: Molecular biology, infectious disease and parasitology
CHEMISTRY:
Richard Booth, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.S. from the University of Leeds; M.S. from the University of York; Ph.D. from the University of Bristol
Research/teaching interests: Artificial biology, protocells, origins of life and systems chemistry
CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING:
Ruili He, assistant professor
Degrees: B.E. and M.S. from Tongji University; Ph.D. from Missouri University of Science and Technology
Research/teaching interests: Structural and bridge engineering, reinforced and prestressed concrete design, experimental and computational modeling
Tyler Waterman, assistant professor
Degrees: B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D. from Duke University
Research/teaching interests: Earth systems science, land-atmosphere interactions, spatial data and environmental engineering
ECONOMICS:
August Bruno, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from Hobart and William Smith Colleges; M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research/teaching interests: Applied microeconomics, child development, human capital and labor economics
GEOSCIENCES:
Samantha Bombard, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.S. from SUNY Potsdam; M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research/teaching interests: Micropaleontology, paleoecology, stable isotope geochemistry and sedimentology
HISTORY:
Spencer Beswick, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from Tufts University; M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University
Research/teaching interests: American anarchism in the late 20th century; intersections of race, gender, feminism, queer politics, labor punk culture and anti-fascism with radical movements.
Emma Young, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. from New York University
Research/teaching interests: Modern Brazil, urban environmental history, history of water, spatial history, race and nationalisms
MODERN LANGUAGES:
Emma Rossby, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from Carleton College; M.A. and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University
Research/teaching interests: Comics studies, visual and museum studies, contemporary Francophone cultures and literatures, Postcolonial and critical race theories, queer theories, digital and public humanities
PSYCHOLOGY:
Jason Haberman, associate professor
Degrees: B.A. from Colgate University; M.A. and Ph.D. from University of California at Davis
Research/teaching interests: Visual perception, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience,
James Norton, assistant professor
Degrees: B.S. from University of Florida; M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Illinois
Research/teaching interests: Brain-computer interfaces, innovation and engineering design
Allie Spiekerman, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from Willamette University; M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Missouri
Research/teaching interests: Adolescent social and emotional development, particularly in the role of friendships and peer relationships in adolescent well-being
RELIGIOUS STUDIES:
Lillian McCabe, assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from Davidson College; Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School; Ph.D. from Yale University
Research/teaching interests: Islam and Islamic intellectual history, gender and sexuality, comparative religion
SPANISH & HISPANIC STUDIES:
Ricardo Estremera, lecturer
Degrees: B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University at Albany
Research/teaching interests: Sociolinguistics and language variation; second language acquisition; language and dialect contact in the diaspora
Jordi Vargas Barahona, visiting assistant professor
Degrees: B.A. from the Universidad de la Salle; M.A. from the University of Arkansas; Ph.D. from Arizona State University
Research/teaching interests: Spanish conversation and composition; Latin American society