Sianne Ngai has been named the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the department of English language and literature at the University of Chicago. She joined the faculty at the university in 2017 after teaching at Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles. Her most recent book is Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form (Harvard University Press, 2020).
Professor Ngai is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Charmaine Royal, was named the Robert O. Keohane Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University. Dr. Royal holds appointments in biology, global health, and family medicine & community health. She also directs the Duke Center on Genomics, Race, Identity, Difference and the Duke Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation.
Dr. Royal obtained her bachelor’s degree in microbiology, a master’s degree in genetic counseling, and a doctorate in human genetics, all from Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Dina Katabi is the inaugural Thuan (1990) and Nicole Pham Professor in the department of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work focuses on computer networks, wireless sensing, applied machine learning, and digital health. She joined the faculty in 2003.
Dr. Katabi earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Damascus in Syria. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT.
Nancy Wagner is the first President James P. Tressel Endowed Chair in Leadership at Youngstown State University in Ohio. She is the director of the Centofanti School of Nursing at the university. Dr. Wagner has taught at Youngstown State since 1995.
Dr. Wagner is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and a doctor of nursing practice degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.