The following are among the new faculty members at the University. Others will be introduced periodically in this space.
Elizabeth Borgwardt, J.D., Ph.D., joins the Department of History in Arts & Sciences as associate professor. The holder of both a doctorate in history from Stanford University (2002) and a juris doctorate from Harvard University (1990), she spent the 2006-07 academic year as a visiting scholar at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard. From 2002-06, she was assistant professor and then associate professor of history at the University of Utah. Her teaching and research focus on the international dimensions to U.S. history, the history of human rights regimes and endeavors, international relations and comparative constitutional history. She received a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship for research and teaching at the University of Heidelberg that will begin in spring 2008.
Daniel Bornstein, Ph.D., joins the Department of History in Arts & Sciences as the Stella K. Darrow Professor of Catholic Studies with a joint appointment in religious studies. His research focuses on religious life in late-medieval and Renaissance Italy, on varieties of religious practice, the role of women in Catholic institutions and, more broadly, on religion and civic culture. A recipient of a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1985, he spent three years at the University of Michigan’s Society of Fellows and three years at the University of California, San Diego, before joining the history department at Texas A&M University as assistant professor in 1989. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure at Texas A&M in 1994 and to full professor in 1999.
Gerrit De Geest, J.D., Ph.D., joins the School of Law as professor. He earned a juris doctorate in 1983, an educational master’s degree in 1986 and a doctorate in 1993, all from Ghent University. Before joining the faculty, De Geest was a professor of law and economics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Past president of the European Association of Law and Economics, he is a member of the European Group on an Integrated Contract Law and of the Economic Impact Group of the Common Principles of European Contract Law. De Geest has published numerous books and articles in the fields of economic analysis of contract law, tort law and comparative law.
Michael Lewis, Ph.D., joins the Olin Business School as assistant professor of marketing. Lewis focuses his research on sports marketing, customer relationship management, revenue management and nonlinear and dynamic pricing. He earned his doctorate from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he won the MSI Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Award. Lewis also spent three years working for Northwest Airlines, and he taught at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business Administration before coming to the University.
Anne Newman, Ph.D., joins the Department of Education in Arts & Sciences as assistant professor. She earned her doctorate from Stanford University in 2007 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago. Her teaching and research interests lie at the intersection of political theory and education policy analysis, where she applies contemporary theories of justice and democracy to consider the ethical dimensions of policy issues. She is especially interested in the relationship between educational opportunity and political equality and the role of rights discourse and political activism in advancing education reform in urban communities.
Juan B. Peña, Ph.D., joins the George Warren Brown School of Social Work as assistant professor. He earned a master’s degree in social work at New York University and a doctorate in social work from Columbia University. Before joining the University, Peña served as a senior instructor and postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Peña’s professional interests focus on Hispanic adolescents, prevention of risk behaviors in adolescents and acculturation/immigration generation status.
Philip Sewell, Ph.D., joins the Performing Arts Department and the Program in Film and Media Studies in Arts & Sciences as assistant professor. He earned his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in communication arts-media and cultural studies in 2007, his master’s at the University of Texas at Austin in 1996 and his bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1993. For the past year, he has been a lecturer at the University in film and media studies, where he has taught courses on the history of electronic media, media cultures and race and ethnicity on American television. His research focuses on the history of the concept of “quality” as it was used toward various ends in the early development of television in the United States.
John Turci-Escobar, Ph.D., joins the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences as assistant professor. He earned a doctorate from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. From 2004-07, he was assistant professor of music theory at the University of Georgia. His primary field of research is the late Italian madrigal. Secondary areas of interest include 19th-century chromaticism, classical form, the music of Astor Piazzolla and broader issues in music and meaning. He has presented his work at regional and national conferences and is currently writing a series of articles on the music of Carlo Gesualdo. He also is preparing a book on chromaticism in the late 16th-century madrigal.