Accomplishments

Melinda A. Yang, assistant professor of biology, Stephanie A. Spera, associate professor of geography, environment, & sustainability, and Beth Zizzamia, spatial analysis lab GIS operations manager, along with students Flora Yi, '27, and Elliot Delroba, '24, published "The AADR Visualizer: an ArcGIS online visualizer for ancient human DNA from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource" in the Bioinformatic Advances. The AADR Visualizer is the associated tool.

Julie Pollock, associate professor of chemistry, co-hosted an episode of the National Academy of Sciences LabX's YouTube series "Chemists in the Kitchen." The episode focuses on how the humble carrot changes while cooking, creating the perfect fall soup.

Tom Shields, chair of Graduate Education and associate professor of Education and Leadership Studies, presented with Kyle Redican, director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, on the experience of digitizing the 2024 Live and Learn 2.0 report into an interactive public website. They presented during the September 26 session of the 2025 Faculty & Staff Mini Research Symposium.

Christopher von Rueden, professor of leadership studies, co-published the article "The Multi-Capital Leadership Theory: An Integrative Framework for Human Leadership Diversity" in Human Nature.

Peggy Watson, W’76, has been invited by the National Resource Center (NRC) for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes to become a member of the inaugural Osher NRC Advisory Council. The council is being created to ensure that the NRC remains closely connected to the needs and priorities of the network of Osher institutions around the country. Watson will serve a two-year term on the council.

Kristina Jean-Baptiste, doctoral intern in the Counseling and Psychological Services department, co-published “Warrior Woman: An Examination of the Relationship Between the Superwoman Schema, Emotion Regulation, and PTSD Symptoms in Africana Women” in Siyabonana: The Journal of Africana Studies.

Javier Hidalgo, professor of leadership studies and PPEL, published the chapter "Political Leadership and the Struggle for Tibet, 1950-1959" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership.

David Wilkins, professor of leadership studies, gave the keynote address at the Democracy Reform Summit: Removing Barriers to Native Political Participation, held Oct. 3 at Arizona State University. 

Head of Parsons Music Library Linda Fairtile’s critical edition of Verdi's penultimate opera, Otello, premiered at the Teatro Regio in Parma, Italy, on Sept. 26, 2025. The production runs through Oct. 19.

Alexander T. Englert, assistant professor of philosophy, published The Reality of the Ideal: A Study of Kant's Highest Good.

Margaret Tait, assistant professor of health studies, presented her research "Considering Catholic Health Care: Exploring Perceptions of Trust and Discrimination in Religiously Affiliated Health Systems" at the 2025 Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences Conference.

Laura E. Knouse, professor of psychology, published Living Well with Adult ADHD: Practical Strategies for Improving Your Daily Life.

Aurora Hermida-Ruiz, associate professor of Spanish, published "Vivir para descontarla: Maravall y el Quijote (1948-1976)" in Hispanic Review.

Margaret Tait, assistant professor of health studies, published "News media coverage of the U.S. social safety net: themes and gaps from a scoping review" in BMC Public Health.

Thad Williamson, professor of leadership studies and PPEL, published the chapter "Richmond, Virginia's 20-Year Experiment with 'Strong Mayor' Government" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership. 

Crystal Hoyt, professor of leadership studies and psychology, published the chapter "Stacey Abrams: Championing Voting Rights and Transforming American Democracy" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership. 

Peter Kaufman, professor of leadership studies, co-published with student Charlotte Tisdale, '26, the chapter "Thomas More, Chancellor" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership.

Jeremy Drummond, associate professor of art, presents his latest film, Monument at Mykonos Biennale, 37th Girona Film Festival, UFF - Underground Film Festival, and as an Official Selection at RPM25/Revolutions Per Minute Film Festival. He presented the film at XV ENCUENTRO PARA CINÉFAGOS, where it won Best Video Art Award. See the full list of screenings.

Michelle Kahn, associate professor of history, was awarded the Community-Engaged Teaching Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.

Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, & sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, was awarded the Community-Engaged Scholarship Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.

Sandy Williams IV, assistant professor of art, was awarded the Community-Engaged Scholarship Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.

Allison Brenning, teaching faculty of education, was awarded the Collaboration for Change Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.

Tammy Milby, senior teaching faculty of education, was awarded the Collaboration for Change Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.

Marcella Torres, teaching faculty of mathematics, and Shannon Jones, senior teaching faculty of biology, along with students Aamy Bakry, '24, and Emma Brashear, '27, published "Development of a mathematical model of the innate immune response to inhaled toxicants" in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.

Shweta Ware, assistant professor of computer science, and Laura Knouse, professor of psychology, along with Kritim Rijal, ‘25 published "SmartADHDMonitor: A Novel Approach to Automatic ADHD Monitoring Through Smartphone App Usage Data" in the proceedings of the 2025 IEEE 49th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC). Ware presented the paper at the conference.

Julian Hayter, professor of leadership studies, received the Community-Engaged Teaching Award from the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond.

Jessican Flanigan, professor of leadership studies and PPEL, published the chapter "Ehren Watada and Selective Conscientious Objection" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership.

Michael C. Leopold, professor and Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Chair of Chemistry, along with students Charlie Sheppard, '26, Joyce Stern, '26, Arielle Vinnikov, '27, Holly Wemple, '25, and Ben Edelman, '27, published “Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Analysis of Xylazine within Fouling-Resistant and Nanomaterial-Enhanced Modified Electrode Sensors" in the journal Sensors. This latest publication continues the group's work in developing sensors for the fast, on-site detection of common "date rape" drugs that may be found in adulterated beverages.

Olubukola Olayiwola, visiting assistant professor of anthropology, published “’Having Experience of What to Do to Succeed’: Unsettling Neoliberalism Through the Lived Experiences of Microcredit Trader-Borrowers in Ibadan” in Economic Anthropology.

Yucong Jiang, assistant professor of computer science, published “Performance Precision: a Software Prototype for Computer-assisted Annotation and Analysis of Music Performance” in the proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC). Jiang presented the paper at the conference which had the theme Curiosity, Play, Innovation – A 50th Anniversary Celebration of Creativity in Music, Science and Technology.

Jennifer Bowie, professor of political science, along with Kaitlyn O'Leary, '23, published "Jones v. Hendrix on Habeas Corpus” in SCOTUS 2023 Major Decisions and Developments of the US Supreme Court.

Yucong Jiang, assistant professor of computer science, published “Piano Precision: Advancing Music Performance Analysis by Integrating User-correctable Audio-to-score Alignment” in the proceedings of Sound and Music Computing (SMC).

David Wilkins, professor of leadership studies, published the chapter "The Determined Ones: The Collaborative Leadership of Hank Adams, Vine Deloria, Jr., and Billy Frank, Jr." in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership. 

Julian Hayter, professor of leadership studies, published the chapter "Give Us the Ballot: The Ratification of the Voting Rights Act of 1965" in the edited volume Case Studies in Political Leadership. 

David Wilkins, professor of leadership studies, received the University of Richmond's Distinguished Educator Award at Colloquy.

Christopher Von Rueden, professor of leadership studies, received the University of Richmond's Distinguished Scholarship Award at Colloquy.

Agnieszka Szymańska, associate professor of art history, has been awarded membership to the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the world's foremost centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry.  Szymańska is an expert on the architecture and painted decoration of late antique and medieval monasteries in the Mediterranean. Learn more.

Nigel James, assistant professor of health studies, published “Tackling the (un)affordability of medicines for cardiometabolic risk factors worldwide: a call to action” in BMJ Global Health.

Courtney Blondino, assistant professor of health studies, published “Generational Differences in Tobacco Use Patterns: Results from Wave 6 (2021) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (United States)” in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs with students Fernanda Moya Quezada, ‘26, and Caitlyn Hall, ‘26.

Jerry Clemmer, executive director of campus business services, received the National Association of College Auxiliary Services’ Cornerstones of the Profession Award. Honorees demonstrated extraordinary leadership, lasting impact on their institutions, and significant contributions to NACAS over a lifetime of service.

Isaac Skromne, associate professor of biology, published “A cell fate mapping simulation laboratory to increase undergraduate students’ understanding of early developmental processes in frog, zebrafish, and tunicate embryos” in the Journal of Microbiology and Biological Education.

Laura Fitrer, GC’16, has been named to Leadership Metro Richmond (LMR)’s flagship program, Leadership Quest, as a member of the class of 2026. Each year, LMR welcomes a diverse group of community leaders into Leadership Quest. This ten-month experience equips participants with the tools to drive lasting change in the greater Richmond region.

Crystal Hoyt, professor of leadership studies and psychology, co-published the article "Loneliness mindsets: A new measurement approach and implications for predicting wellbeing" in Behavioral Sciences. 

Tom Shields, chair of graduate education and associate professor of education and leadership studies, moderated a rare meeting of the Richmond Public Schools Board and the Richmond City Council, including Superintendent Jason Kamras and Mayor Danny Avula. This was the first meeting of the two leadership groups since 2022.

Jeremy Drummond, associate professor of art, received the Best Avant Garde Film award at the Mesa International Film Festival for his film Monument. The film was also featured in “Zombies, ghosts, videogames: 10 highlights from St Moritz Art Film Festival” in Dazed.

Priscilla Erickson, assistant professor of biology, along with Weston Gray, post baccalaureate research assistant, published “Field Sampling of Zaprionus indianus in the Eastern United States in 2023-2024” in microPublication Biology.

Priscilla Erickson, assistant professor of biology, along with Weston Gray and Logan M Rakes, post baccalaureate research assistants, and students Christine Cole, ’24, Ansleigh Gunter, ’24, Guanting He, ’26, Samantha Morgan, ’23, Camille R Walsh-Antzak, ’24, and Jillian A Yates, ’24, published “Rapid Wing Size Evolution in African Fig Flies (Zaprionus Indianus) Following Temperate Colonization” in Evolution.

Emma Goldman, associate professor of chemistry, and Raymond N. Dominey, associate professor of chemistry, along with students Will Carrick, '21, Emily Kluball, '12, Kaleigh Hall, '12, Bret Adams, '05, and Adam Greenblatt, '05, published "Stereoselective Synthesis of Unsymmetrical 3,3-Diarylpropenals by a Suzuki-Miyaura Reaction of (Z)-3-Aryl-3-chloropropenal Intermediates" in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry.

Priscilla Erickson, assistant professor of biology, along with Alexandra Stellwagen, ’26, and Ansleigh Gunter, ’24 published “Limited population structure but signals of recent selection in introduced African Fig Fly (Zaprionus indianus) in North America” in G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics.

Miles Johnson, associate professor of chemistry, received the 2025 Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Matthew Oware, Irving May Professor of Human Relations, received the 2025 Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Monti Datta, associate professor of political science, received the 2025 Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Sandra Joireman, Weinstein Chair of International Studies, received the 2025 Distinguished Scholarship Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Carol Parish, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Professor of Chemistry, received the 2025 Distinguished Scholarship Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Jenny Pribble, professor of political science and global studies, received the 2025 Distinguished Scholarship Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Jennifer Cable, professor of music, received the 2025 Distinguished Faculty Service Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Michelle Hamm, professor of chemistry, received the 2025 Distinguished Faculty Service Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Matthew Lowder, associate professor of psychology, published "Comparing Sustained Attention Performance across Laboratory-Based versus Web-Based Settings" in Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics.

Rick Mayes, professor of health policy, published "Inside the Meteoric Rise in Medicare Advantage" in Health Affairs. 

Monti Datta, associate professor of political science, received the Bonnor Foundation Spirit of Ubuntu Award, given to individuals who embody the spirit of community engagement.

Emmy Weldon, assistant professor of theatre & dance, received the Bonnor Foundation Spirit of Ubuntu Award, given to individuals who embody the spirit of community engagement.

Mary Finley-Brook, professor of geography, received the Bonnor Foundation From Action to Impact Award for excellence in teaching.

Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, & sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, received the Bonner Foundation Engaged Scholar Award, given to scholars who have made significant contributions to the field.

Karina Vázquez, senior teaching faculty and director of community-based learning for Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies, received the Bonner Foundation Engaged Scholar Award, given to scholars who have made significant contributions to the field.

Monti Datta, associate professor of political science, received the APSA Distinguished Teaching Award, honoring outstanding contributions to undergraduate and graduate teaching of political science at two- and four-year institutions. The American Political Science Association (APSA) presents the award annually.

Dr. Tom Shields, chair of the SPCS graduate education program and associate professor of education and leadership studies, received the Distinguished Faculty Service Award for the School of Professional and Continuing Studies during University of Richmond Colloquy on Wednesday, August 20.

Eisen, J. (2025) Impacts of Recent US Supreme Court Administrative Law Jurisprudence on The Electricity Wholesale Markets, OGEL Energy Law Journal, 1.

Agnieszka Szymańska, associate professor of art history, presented "Sailing the Desert Seas: Images of Ships in Monastic Spaces of Late Antique Egypt," at the Byzantine Studies Symposium.

Agnieszka Szymańska, associate professor of art history, published “Painted Plaster” in City and Cemetery: Excavations at Kourion’s Amathous Gate Cemetery, Cyprus: The Excavations of Danielle A. Parks, vol. 2: Human Skeletal Remains, Ecofacts, and Artifacts and “Deposition and Dumping in Area A” and “The Cist Tombs” in City and Cemetery: Excavations at Kourion’s Amathous Gate Cemetery, Cyprus: The Excavations of Danielle A. Parks, vol. 1: Context, Analysis, and Conclusions.

Associate Professor of Art Jeremy Drummond’s film Monument, has been named an Official Selection by Brooklyn Film Festival, Digerati Experimental Media Festival, St. Moritz Art Film Festival, Umbria Underground Film Festival, TerraLenta International Environmental Documentary Film Festival, Experimental Brasil Film Festival, Mesa International Film Festival, Beaufort Film Festival and Santa Cruz Film Festival.

Bob Spires, associate professor of education, has been recognized for leading a workshop for educators at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The recognition is posted in an institutional news brief and Facebook post.

Black Women with Eating Disorders: Clinical Treatment Considerations (W. W. Norton & Company), co-authored by Charlynn Small, assistant director of health promotion, was reviewed and featured in The Eating Disorder Journal.

Brittany Nelson, associate professor of photography and extended media, opened the solo exhibition To Leave is to Return at Quartz Studio at the EXPOSED Torino Foto Festival in Italy.

Brittany Nelson, associate professor of photography and extended media, was named an artist to watch by Art in America, who selected 20 “New Talent” artists from around the world, working in all mediums. In publishing the announcement, Art News also featured one of Nelson’s photographs as a collectable print.

Jeremy Drummond, associate professor of art, will presents Monument, at Rhizome DC, a nonprofit community arts space dedicated to promoting creativity as a force for personal empowerment and community engagement. 

Tianyuan Xu, assistant professor of mathematics & statistics, is a recipient of the AMS-Simons Research Enhancement Grants for Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) Faculty. The grant supports Xu’s research in combinatorial representation theory.

Stephanie Spera, associate professor of geography, environment, & sustainability, and David Salisbury, associate professor of geography, environment, & sustainability, published “Transboundary Road-Building in the Southwestern Amazon” in the Journal of Latin American Geography.

Sandra F. Joireman, Weinstein Chair of International Studies, published “In the Shadow of the Dragon: Chinese soft power in Central Asia” in International Affairs.

Kathryn Jacobsen, William E. Cooper Distinguished University Chair and professor of health studies, published “Hepatitis B (HBsAg) prevalence among obstetric patients in Caluquembe, Angola, 2023–2024” in the journal PLoS One.

Colleen Carpenter-Swanson, assistant professor of Biology, along with students, Audrey Breckenridge, '25, Sanskriti Basnyat, '26, and Eva Fitch, '25, published “Validating the antiseizure effects of vitexin and related flavone glycosides in zebrafish” in Frontiers in Pharmacology.

Daniel L. Hocutt, marketing web manager and SPCS adjunct liberal arts professor, has co-authored a chapter titled “Give Yourself a Break: Juggling Rugrats, Experiencing Regrets, and Cultivating Compassionate Community” in an edited collection titled Parenting while PhDing published by Rutgers University Press.

David Giancaspro, associate professor of Spanish, published "Lost and found? Shifts in Heritage Speakers' Processing of Mood Morphology Over the Course of a Semester Abroad" in Languages.

Aaryn Robbins, assistant professor of psychology, published “The Pictures by Category and Similarity (PiCS) database: A multidimensional scaling database of 1200 images across 20 categories” in Behavior Research Methods.

Tianyuan Xu, assistant professor of mathematics & statistics, published "Orthogonal roots, Macdonald representations, and quasiparabolic sets" in Forum of Mathematics.

Elizabeth Baughan, associate professor of classics and archaeology, presented “Concrete Gravemarkers as Regional Cultural Heritage” at the Association for Gravestone Studies Conference and Annual Meeting.

Elizabeth Baughan, associate professor of classics and archaeology, published "Contextualizing Reuse: Marble Furniture Tops in the J. Henry Brown Monuments Order Books" in AGS Quarterly: Bulletin of the Association for Gravestone Studies.

Chiles Wade Downey, professor of chemistry and Clarence E. Denoon Jr. Chair in Natural Sciences, along with students Katie Marchione, ‘25 and Karmen Smith, ‘25, published “One-pot enol silane formation-alkylation reactions of ketones promoted by trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate: Direct access to β,β-diarylated ketones and related compounds” in Tetrahedron Letters.

Jonathan Dattelbaum, professor of chemistry, published "Isolation and Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Alcaligenes and Chromobacterium Strains with Antimicrobial Activity Against ESKAPE Pathogen Relatives" in Journal of Genomics along with Hannah Lwin, ’25.

Bob Spires, associate professor of education, has edited and introduced a special issue of The Urban Review on the Continued Impact of Neoliberalism on Urban Education. The special issue is being published in two parts. Part one, including Spires’ introduction, is now available.

Patrick Martin, assistant professor of computer science, presented “On the Design and Implementation of a Live Human-Robot Coding Platform for Contemporary Dance Performances” at the International Conference on Live Coding.

Jamelle S. Wilson, dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, has been re-elected to the board of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) as board secretary. She joined the VECF board in 2020.