The Bass Society of Fellows was established at Duke University in North Carolina in 1996 through a $10 million donation from Anne T. and Robert Bass. The program supports faculty who demonstrate excellence in research and undergraduate teaching. Fellows hold a named professorship for five years and retain lifetime membership in the society.
This year, nine Duke faculty members were named Bass Professors. Five of these appointments went to women.
Jessilyn Dunn was appointed the Theodore Kennedy Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Dunn is a groundbreaking scholar in “wearable” technologies. She joined the Duke faculty in 2018. Professor Dunn is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she majored in biomedical engineering. She holds a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Maria Gorlatova was named the Sternberg Family Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She works with wearable augmented reality technologies and their novel applications, such as assisting with neurosurgery. Dr. Gorlatova holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Ottawa in Canada. She earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Columbia University.
Lauren Ginsberg is the Kiser Family Associate Professor of Classical Studies. Dr. Ginsberg is a nationally recognized scholar of Roman history and ancient civilization. She is the author of Staging Memory, Staging Strife: Empire and Civil War in the Octavia (Oxford University Press, 2016). Professor Ginsberg holds a Ph.D. from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Kimberly Lamm was named the Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies. Her scholarship brings together Anglophone literature, contemporary art, visual culture, and feminist theory. She is the author of Addressing the Other Woman: Textual Correspondences in Feminist Art and Writing (Manchester University Press, 2018). Dr. Lamm earned her Ph.D. at the University of Washington.
Candis Watts Smith is the Robert O. Keohane Professor of Political Science. Her scholarship highlights the role of race and ethnicity in shaping the American political landscape. She joined the faculty in 2021 after teaching at Pennsylvania State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Williams College in Massachusetts. Dr. Smith is the author of She holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in political science from Duke University.