Introducing the Newest College of Arts & Sciences Faculty and Staff Members

Faisal Alzawaideh is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies. A specialist in Arabic pedagogy, he brings nearly two decades of teaching experience across Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern languages and cultures from Indiana University Bloomington. His research connects interactional pragmatics, second language acquisition, Arabic pedagogy, curriculum design and corpus linguistics. He has also worked on Arabic language quality in artificial intelligence.

Seok Wun (Shiilā) Au Yong is an assistant teaching professor in the Disability Studies Program and Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Au Yong earned their Ph.D. in cultural foundations of education and a Certificate of Advanced Study in women’s and gender studies from Syracuse University, as well as an MFA in film through the Fulbright Program. Their scholarship and creative work explore feminist disability studies, transnational feminism, queer theory and critical refugee studies, with particular attention to Southeast Asia.

Christopher Barr is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, where he focuses on probability and applied statistics. His background blends academia and industry. Most recently, Barr divided his time between developing and teaching graduate courses in the Department of Statistics at UCLA and leading Greenleaf Partners, a financial services firm he founded six years ago. Prior to Greenleaf, Barr was a partner at Varadero Capital, where he led investment research and focused on consumer and small business investments, and a vice president in the M&A group at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on the valuation of enterprises with complex stochastic features. Before Goldman, he was a tenure-track assistant professor at Harvard University (Kennedy School and School of Public Health), working in health policy, statistical methodology and applied probability. Prior to Harvard, Barr was a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University (School of Public Health), where he co-founded OpenIntro, an educational non-profit, and co-authored OpenIntro Statistics (openintro.org), an open-source statistics book now used around the world. He has also served on the staff of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and City Hall Los Angeles. Chris holds an MBA from Yale, a Ph.D. in statistics from UCLA, and a B.A. in economics from Berkeley.

Katy Beiner is a general project coordinator and executive assistant to the director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative. She is a recent graduate of Georgetown University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in government and Spanish. While at Georgetown, she served as president of Georgetown Students for Prison Justice, through which she taught literature classes at the Arlington County Detention Center and led advocacy and volunteer efforts on campus. She also worked as an investigative intern for the Office of the Federal Public Defender, helping compose mitigation materials for sentencing hearings and supporting diversionary efforts. As part of the 2026 Making an Exoneree cohort, she re-investigated a 1990 Florida wrongful conviction case and remains actively involved. Beiner continues her work at the Douglass Project — where she began as a summer research fellow and now serves as program associate — a nonprofit designed to change the public’s perception of the criminal justice system by becoming proximate with the humanity of incarcerated people.

Shrabanti Bhattacharya is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Chemistry. She is an inorganic chemist specializing in catalysis and reaction mechanisms. She earned her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) under the supervision of Professor Tapan Kanti Paine, where her doctoral research focused on dioxygen activation and bioinspired oxidation chemistry using nonheme iron complexes. She subsequently expanded her expertise through two postdoctoral appointments: first at the University of Mississippi with Professor Jonah W. Jurss, investigating photocatalytic CO2 reduction, and later at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Professor Alexander J. M. Miller, focusing on transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylation. Outside of the laboratory, she is an avid traveler and music enthusiast.

Ashly Boquin Contreras is a site coordinator for the Prisons and Justice Initiative, overseeing the Patuxent Institution.

Danika Campbell is the business manager for the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures.

Jordyn Cobb is a shared services administrator in the College of Arts & Sciences. She joined Georgetown after relocating to Washington, DC. A 2022 graduate of Florida State University, she previously spent a year in Germany as an au pair and later worked at FSU for two and a half years. She enjoys running, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Heather Connor is the director of student services for the M.S. in Data Science & Analytics program at Georgetown University. Connor serves as the primary contact for prospective students, current students and alumni. With a focus on student services, she manages the Student Ambassador Program, Student Mentorship Program, and DSAN Professional Development Center, as well as overseeing the fellowship and assistantship programs, student recruitment and admissions. She holds an interdisciplinary master’s degree in humanities from the University of Chicago, where she began her career in graduate student services. Prior to joining Georgetown, she worked in graduate program administration at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Arlington.

Makayla Dawkins is a reentry navigator with Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative and a Master of Social Work student at Howard University. A two-time University of Connecticut graduate, she brings experience in public health, advocacy and lived experience to advancing equity and supporting communities.

Kittrell Decator is a site coordinator for Georgetown University’s Prison and Justice Initiative, overseeing the Prison Scholars Program at DC Jail. He manages on-site operations and provides direct support to students and faculty while facilitating collaboration among Georgetown, PJI, DC Jail and the Department of Corrections’ Education Division.

Abigail Dommer is the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Georgetown. A computational biophysical chemist, her research focuses on multiscale modeling of biological aerosols and airborne pathogens, with applications to human health and climate.

Ashton Pemapanik Dunkley is an assistant professor of Black and Indigenous studies in Georgetown University’s Department of Black Studies and American Studies Program. An Afro-Indigenous feminist historian, her research draws on Black and Indigenous feminist theories and historical methods to examine public memory and recognition of Indigenous communities in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Iuliana Ene is an assistant professor in Georgetown University’s Department of Biology. Her research investigates how fungal pathogens adapt to the human host and antifungal treatment, with a focus on the diversity that allows some cells to persist under stress. Her work aims to identify vulnerabilities that could inform better antifungal therapies. Before joining Georgetown, she led a research group at Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Peter Fanone is an assistant teaching professor and interim program director of theater and performance studies at Georgetown. A multi-hyphenate theater artist, educator and executive producer, he is a Georgetown alumnus and holds an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater, with additional training at Yale and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Marcia Fanti Negri is an assistant teaching professor of the Department of Portuguese and Spanish. She holds dual Ph.D.s in linguistics from the Federal University of São Carlos and literary, cultural and linguistic studies from the University of Miami. Her research focuses on applied linguistics, contemporary Brazilian women’s writing, migration and Lusophone cultural studies.

Sachindra Gamage, also known as Sachi Gamage, is an assistant research professor in the Johnson Biosignatures Lab through the Department of Biology. Her work bridges analytical chemistry, microfluidics, cancer diagnostics and astrobiology. Her current research focuses on developing sensitive analytical methods to detect molecular biosignatures in extreme terrestrial environments — serving as crucial analogs for ocean worlds like Enceladus. Before coming to Georgetown, she developed analytical chemistry approaches for planetary life-detection missions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Her doctoral research focused on creating microfluidic and nanofluidic technologies for liquid biopsy analysis, including the isolation and detection of extracellular vesicles, viruses and other subcellular biomarkers. She is particularly interested in advancing technologies that can support both biomedical diagnostics on Earth and future life-detection missions beyond Earth.

Katherine Gunter is chief of staff in the College of Arts & Sciences. She has worked in higher education for over twenty years, most of that time supporting academic planning and operations at McDonough School of Business. She is an avid reader and lifelong learner.

Akira Horiguchi is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, specializing in the development of Bayesian methodology. Originally from Maryland, he has lived in the Midwest, South and West Coast over the past decade before returning to the DMV. He enjoys spicy food and being an uncle.

Said Reza Huseini is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of History, specializing in Persianate and Islamic history. His research focuses on the connected histories of Central Asia and North India and examines political, intellectual and cultural exchange across the Persianate world. His first book, The Arab Conquests of Bactria: Local Power Politics and Arab Domination, 651–750 CE, is forthcoming with Edinburgh University Press in 2027. He earned his Ph.D. at Leiden University and has held research positions at the University of Cambridge and Princeton University.

Fatima Jafar is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of English and a poet and teacher from Pakistan. She was a 2024–2026 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University and received her MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. Her work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2025, The Kenyon Review and The Yale Review. She is a 2026 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow with the Poetry Foundation.

Mia Johnson is the exhibitions and public engagement manager for the Georgetown University Art Galleries in the Department of Art and Art History. She has experience at the Blanton Museum of Art, Mexic-Arte Museum, Harry Ransom Center, Neill-Cochran House Museum and Visual Arts Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where she co-curated The Modern Cowboy. She holds a B.A. in art history and Plan II Honors from UT Austin and an M.A. in art and museum studies from Georgetown University.

Oren Kessler is the Aaron and Cecile Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor in the Department of Government. His book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict, won the Sami Rohr Prize, was named a Wall Street Journal book of the year and has been translated into several languages, including Arabic and Hebrew.

Maryam Kohram is an assistant professor in Georgetown University’s Departments of Physics and Biology. Her research investigates the physical mechanisms underlying cellular aging and cancer progression, with a focus on how cellular variability and interactions with the microenvironment influence growth, division and invasion.

Emma Lane is an administrative coordinator supporting Georgetown University’s Arabic and Islamic Studies and East Asian Languages & Cultures departments. A 2022 graduate of the University of Mississippi with a B.A. in international studies and Arabic, she joined Georgetown after two years as project coordinator for Arabic Flagship at the University of Mississippi. She previously completed the Arabic Flagship Capstone year in Morocco and the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Fellowship in Amman, Jordan.

Ana Leal Cervantes is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Biology. Her research interests focus on understanding how cells access the information encoded in their DNA and how this influences the balance between tissue regeneration and cancer. Her doctoral work investigated transcriptional regulation in stem cells, while her postdoctoral research centered on splicing dysregulation in leukemia. In addition to her research, Leal Cervantes is deeply passionate about science communication and innovative science education. Leal Cervantes earned her Ph.D. in stem cell biology from the University of Cambridge.

Susan Lim is the senior associate dean for graduate programs in the Dean’s Office.

Victor Lugo is an experimental machinist in the Department of Physics’ machine shop.

Rahma Maccarone is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She is a scholar of Hispanic and Atlantic studies specializing in the intersections of race, religion, slavery and the African diaspora in the Atlantic world. She earned her Ph.D. in Hispanic literature and cultural studies from Georgetown University, where her research examines the intellectual and literary traditions of West African Muslims enslaved in the Americas and the role of Islamic epistemologies in shaping Black Atlantic histories.

Laura Ariadne Martin is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Philosophy. Her research and teaching focus on social, political and feminist philosophy. Previously, she taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University.

Zohreh Mirsharif is an assistant teaching professor in the Persian Studies Program.

Alvion Mitchell is an administrative coordinator in the Departments of Economics and Linguistics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and brings experience in academic advising and mathematics education. She is passionate about supporting students and contributing to effective, student-centered higher education.

Rev. Bruce Morrill, S.J., is a visiting professor and Jesuit chair in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He is visiting from Vanderbilt University, where he holds the Edward A. Malloy Chair in Roman Catholic Studies in the Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion.

Anne Musica is the program manager for graduate academic affairs in the College of Arts & Sciences, supporting academic policies and procedures for master’s and Ph.D. programs. A double Hoya, Musica has worked at Georgetown since 2014 and previously served as program manager for GSAS interdisciplinary graduate programs.

Rev. Bryan Norton, S.J., is an assistant professor in the Department of Classics and a Jesuit priest. He earned his Ph.D. in classics from Washington University in St. Louis. His research on archaic Greek verse explores how epic and lyric poets respond to the problem of death through the construction of memory.

Lucy Sheehan is an assistant teaching professor and assistant director of Georgetown’s Bachelor of Liberal Arts program within the Prisons and Justice Initiative.

Corinne Stephenson-Johnson is a visiting assistant teaching professor in the Department of Economics.

Ashley Stowe is the outreach and engagement manager for the M.S. in Data Science & Analytics program at Georgetown University. She supports the program by managing all student and alumni events and maintaining our alumni network, as well as developing and managing all program communications channels, the program website and outreach efforts. She holds a B.A. in theater from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where directing plays helped her develop a knack for managing people and events. Before joining Georgetown, she worked for several performing arts non-profits, most recently with Blumenthal Performing Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Keicy Tolbert is the managing director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative.

Adrian Vladu is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science working on optimization and algorithms. His research draws on connections across mathematics to design faster algorithms for mathematical programming and graph optimization and to develop new principled methods for machine learning.

Allison Rae Ward-Seidel is an assistant teaching professor for the Program on Education, Inquiry and Justice. She earned her Ph.D. in education psychology from the University of Virginia as an Institute of Education Sciences Fellow. Before coming to Georgetown, she was a public school educator in Northwest Arkansas and later supported K–12 schools in New York City in implementing and evaluating restorative justice and equitable discipline practices.

Kathleen “Kate” Woodsome is the Royden B. Davis, S.J. Visiting Professor of Communication, Culture & Technology. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founder and managing director of Invisible Threads Lab, her work explores the relationships among brain health, human capacity, democratic health, collective trauma and information environments in the age of AI.

Rev. Thomas Worcester, S.J. is a teaching professor in the Catholic Studies Program. He holds a B.A. in French from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in history from Cambridge University. He has held faculty positions at the College of the Holy Cross, Regis College Toronto and Fordham University. A native of Burlington, Vermont, he is a member of the Society of Jesus.