Ruby Lal, professor in the department of Middle Eastern and South Asian studies at Emory University in Atlanta, has been named the 2027 Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South in the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress. An acclaimed historian of India, Dr. Lal centers her scholarship on restoring erased female figures and their histories, particularly from the Mughal Empire. During her appointment at the Library of Congress, she will conduct research for her seventh book, The Genius of Mughals: A Magisterial History of the Taj Mahal.
Dr. Lal holds a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in history from the University of Dehli in India. She received a Ph.D. in modern history from the University of Oxford.
Cynthia Rayner is a new assistant professor of social innovation and social entrepreneurship in the department of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College in Nashville. As a scholar, Dr. Rayner studies how organizations, governments, businesses, and communities can work together to influence social systems. Most recently, she researched case studies of social entrepreneurship and innovation across the Global South at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Dr. Rayner is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she majored in English literature. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Ph.D. in management and organizational theory from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.
Siwei Cheng has joined the faculty of Princeton University as an associate professor of sociology. Dr. Cheng comes to her new role from New York University, where she has taught since 2016. Earlier, she was an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her scholarship focuses on social stratification and social demography.
A graduate of Peking University in China, Dr. Cheng holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Wendy Parker has been appointed chair of the department of philosophy at Virginia Tech. Dr. Parker first joined the department as a professor in August 2020, and she holds affiliate appointments with the Global Change Center and the Center for Ecosystem Forecasting. Her research centers on climate science and meteorology, with a particular focus on how scientists develop and evaluate evidence related to global climate change and its causes.
Dr. Parker is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, where she double-majored in philosophy and meteorology. She holds a master’s degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in history and the philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Vicky Mogollón Montagne has joined the Boston University faculty as an assistant professor of music and musicology. As an ethnomusicologist, Dr. Mogollón Montagne explores spirituality, violence, and affect in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on Venezuela and its diaspora. Her recent work focuses on notions of (in)humanity and intensity in contemporary religious contexts, and popular digital music scenes in Caracas, Venezuela.
Dr. Mogollón Montagne is a graduate of the University of Denver, where she majored in music. She holds a master’s degree in advanced musical studies from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Texas at Austin.