Jonaya Kemper has joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz as an assistant professor of arts and design, games and playable media. An interdisciplinary artist, activist, educator, designer, writer, and games scholar, Kemper examines play as a means of liberation for people of marginalized identities. Her work covers all aspects of games, including video, table top, board games, and live action games.
Kemper is a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts and the Gallatin Graduate School at New York University.
Dyann Margolis has joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Law as an assistant professor of practice and associate dean for academic success. For the past three years, she has been an administrator with the college, serving as assistant dean for academic success and bar preparation programs. Earlier, she was assistant dean for academic and bar success at the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina.
Margolis holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Miami University in Ohio and a juris doctorate from Cleveland State University.
Bronwyn Bjorkman is slated to join the Princeton University faculty in January as an associate professor of linguistics. A specialist in syntax, she most recently taught at Queen’s University in Ontario as an associate professor. Earlier, she was a lecturer at Northeastern University in Boston.
Dr. Bjorkman received her bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal and her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lydia Goehr is the new chair of the department of philosophy at Columbia University. She currently holds the title of Fred and Fannie Mack Professor of Humanities. As a scholar, she studies the philosophy of music, aesthetics, critical theory, the philosophy of history, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophy. Her most recent book is David Lean: Filmmaker and Philosopher (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025).
Dr. Goehr holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University in England.
Raven Edwards has joined the faculty at Sweet Briar College in Virginia as an assistant professor of biology. She comes to the Virginia-based women’s college from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she was a graduate teaching assistant, researcher, and lab instructor. Her research centers on aquaculture techniques for sea urchins.
Dr. Edwards earned her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and Ph.D. all from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Anne Alexander has been granted the title of Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Missouri. The designation is the university’s highest faculty academic rank. A faculty member since 2012, she serves as teaching professor and director of legal analysis, research, and communication in the School of Law. Before transitioning to academia, she was a litigation associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago.
Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in elementary education from Indiana University. She earned her juris doctorate from the University of Missouri.
Claire Aguda is slated to join the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty in the spring as an assistant professor of politics and humanities in the seminary’s Boyce College. Her scholarship centers on the conservative intellectual movement, higher education, and cultural renewal initiatives.
Aguda holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and English and a master’s degree in education from Florida State University. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in humanities at Faulkner University in Alabama.
Jessica Back has been appointed director of research cores in the division of research and innovation at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She currently serves as an assistant professor of oncology in the university’s School of Medicine and director of the Microscopy, Imaging, and Cytometry Resources Core. Her background includes nearly two decades of experience in imaging and cytometry.
Dr. Back holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Ohio Northern University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Wayne State University.