Six Women Promoted to Associate Professor and Granted Tenure at Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University, the highly rated liberal arts college in Middletown, Connecticut, has announced the promotion of eight faculty members to associate professor, effective July 1. The eight faculty members were also granted tenure. Six of the eight promotions went to women.

Kathleen Birney was promoted to associate professor of classical studies. Her research focuses on the interactions and cultural exchanges between ancient Greece and the Near East. Dr. Birney is a graduate of Yale University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Ruth Johnson was appointed associate professor of biology. Her work is concerned with understanding the molecular mechanisms that coordinate the development of epithelial issues. Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England.

Melanie Khamis was named an associate professor of economics. Dr. Khamis joined the faculty at Wesleyan in 2011 and conducts research on labor market outcomes in the United States, Germany and Argentina. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a master’s degree at the University of Warwick in England.

Marguerite Nguyen will be an associate professor of English. She is the author of America’s Vietnam: The Longue Duree of U.S. Literature and Empire (Temple University Press, 2018). Dr. Nguyen is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sasha Rudensky was promoted to associate professor of art. She is a photographer who explores the production and interpretation of cultural identity in the former Soviet Union. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Rudensky earned a master of fine arts degree at Yale University.

Victoria Smolkin was appointed associate professor of East Asian studies. She is the author of the forthcomingbook, A Sacred Space Is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism (Princeton University Press, 2018). Dr. Smolkin is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.