Columbian College welcomed 12 new full-time faculty members this year, bringing the total number of full-time scholars to 494. Each of these academics adds skills and expertise that enhance the college’s strengths in disciplines across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Sergio Almécija, Department of Anthropology, holds a PhD in biological anthropology from the University of Barcelona. His research focuses on the skeletal adaptations defining different stages of great ape and human evolution. He was a research instructor with the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University and a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow with the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Adrian Archer, Department of Philosophy, earned his PhD in philosophy from Columbia University. His areas of expertise include the philosophy of the mind, action theory, moral psychology and epistemology. Prior to coming to GW, he was an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Claire Besson, Department of Chemistry, received her PhD in chemistry from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. Her research focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of new magnetic complexes, and their applications for the emerging field of molecular quantum computing. She performed her post-doctoral research on metal complexes for molecular spintronics with the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. She was also a visiting scientist at Emory University.
Paul M. Gedo, Professional Psychology Program, holds a PhD in behavioral sciences from the University of Chicago. His clinical interests include psychoanalysis; child, adolescent and adult psychotherapy; psychological testing, especially Rorschach analysis; issues of technique with dissociative patients; and working with severely disturbed adolescents. Since 1989, he has maintained a private practice, seeing children, adolescents and adults for psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and psychological evaluations.
Leon Grayfer, Department of Biological Sciences, holds a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Alberta, where he also received his Bachelor of Science in Immunology and Infection. He has conducted extensive research on immune and antiviral defenses among amphibians and goldfish. Before joining GW, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
Chryssa Kouveliotou, Department of Physics, received her PhD in astrophysics from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. A NASA senior scientist and a National Academy of Sciences member, she is among the world’s leading experts on gamma-ray bursts. She has also conducted extensive research on various astronomical phenomena, including black holes and neutron stars. In 2012, she was named one of Time Magazine's 25 most influential people in space.
Arnaud Martin, Department of Biological Sciences, holds a PhD in biological sciences from the University of California-Irvine. His research interests focus on evolutionary genetics, specifically butterflies, the ways their DNA codes for shapes and how biodiversity emerges from the altering of genetic information. He conducted his post-doctoral research at Cornell University and the University of California-Berkeley.
Stephen Mitroff, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, earned his PhD in psychology from Harvard University. His research projects, which combine basic science and translational applications to advance both academic theory and real-world practices, have been funded by the U.S. Army, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, DARPA, NIH and Nike. Prior to coming to GW, he was an associate professor of psychology at Duke University.
John W. Philbeck, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, holds a PhD in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A world-renowned vision scientist, his research investigates the psychological and neural processes underlying how we use vision to determine location and how we remain oriented while moving. His most recent post was as a professor of psychology at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
Jordan S. Potash, Art Therapy Program, received his PhD in social work and social administration from the University of Hong Kong and his MA in art therapy from GW. He is a registered and board certified art therapist, registered expressive arts therapist and a licensed creative arts therapist. He is primarily interested in the applications of art and art therapy in community development and social change. He has chaired the American Art Therapy Association’s Ethics Committee and Multicultural Committee and served as an editor for its journal Art Therapy.
Alexander J. van der Horst, Department of Physics, earned his PhD in astrophysics from the University of Amsterdam. His areas of expertise include high-energy astrophysics, gamma-ray bursts, magnetars, x-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, radio astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy and multiwavelength modeling. He has served as a visiting scientist with the Universities Space Research Association and was a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Vanessa Wills, Department of Philosophy, received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarship focuses on moral, social, and political philosophy; 19th century German philosophy (especially Karl Marx); and the philosophy of race. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Humboldt University of Berlin and an assistant professor of philosophy at St. Joseph’s University.