New Faculty Titles for Five Women at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York

Colgate University in Hamilton, New York has announced promotions for three women faculty members. In addition, two women have been appointed to named professorships.

April Baptiste was promoted to associate professor of environmental studies. She was also granted tenure. Dr. Baptiste joined the Colgate faculty in 2009.

Dr. Baptiste is a native of Trinidad and Tobago. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and holds a Ph.D. from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry of the State University of New York.

Lesleigh Cushing was named the Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Associate Professor in Jewish Studies. She is the director of the Jewish studies program at the university. Dr. Cushing is the author of Sustaining Fictions: Intertextuality, Midrash, Translation, and the Literary Afterlife of the Bible (Bloomsbury, 2008).

Dr. Cushing is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Boston University.

Yukari Hirata was promoted to professor of East Asian languages and literatures. Previously, she was an associate professor of Japanese at Colgate.

Dr. Hirata holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tsukuba University in Japan. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

Alice Nakhimovsky was named Distinguished Chair in Jewish Studies and professor of Jewish studies and Russian and Eurasian studies. Her most recent book, which she co-authored, is Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl: Yiddish Letter Manuals from Russia and America (Indiana University Press, 2014).

Dr. Nakhimovsky holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Cornell University.

Nicole Simpson was promoted to professor of economics. She also serves as associate dean of the faculty for international initiatives. Dr. Simpson joined the faculty at Colgate in 2001.

Dr. Simpson is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Iowa.