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The Dartmouth
July 18, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

College hires 19 new professors, aims to expand curriculum

Nineteen new professors teaching in 13 different departments will bring their unique experiences and depth of knowledge to Dartmouth this year.

Several professors, many of them young, were hired with the aim of expanding the curriculum.

Film studies professor Mark Williams said he was hired to increase the number of courses in television studies. Since earning his undergraduate degree in film studies, he has held a visiting teaching position with University of California at Santa Barbara and also taught at Northwestern University.

Daniela Rus, a professor in the computer science department is trying to implement a robotics course as part of her assignment from the College.

As a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, she worked "on the problem of [having] a team of independently controlled robots to do something useful in the real world, like moving furniture." Rus said her research was featured on the season premiere of the Discovery Channel's "Beyond 2000" last Thursday.

Carol Goldburg, who joined the environmental studies department, said she is filling a new position in the department devoted to the discipline of economics.

She said the position "allows our department not only to continue its research in the pure sciences but also to analyze environmental policies. If one wants to be involved with policy making, they need to have economists full time."

Goldburg attended Carnegie Mellon University where she earned a B.S. in mathematics, an M.S. in applied history and social sciences, and an M.S. in political economy. She said she expects to receive her Ph.D. in political economy from the university soon. She comes to Dartmouth straight from teaching at Carnegie Melon's business school.

Sandeep Prasada, a specialist in cognitive psychology, is a new professor in the psychology department. He earned his undergraduate degree from McGill University, his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has done post doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania.

Prasada said he is interested in how people learn, particularly an individual's acquisition of language and language processing.

Todd Heatherton, another new professor in the psychology department, is researching "diet failure, obesity and eating disorders." He said his research focuses on self-control.

"I am interested in how people try to control various aspects of their behavior as well as how they lose control," Heatherton said. "I also study emotional experiences, such as guilt, anxiety, and self-esteem."

Heatherton earned his B.S. in psychology from the University of Calgary and his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He spent the past four years as an assistant professor at Harvard University.

Ann Clark, another new professor, is also doing research with applications to student lives. She has been added as a permanent professor in the psychology department, after being a visiting professor for four years.

Clark's research focuses on the effect of anabolic steroids on the brain and the behavior of the abuser. In addition to her research, Clark said she enjoys the "one-on-one interaction with undergraduates."

"It is very rewarding to see someone master a concept -- to see the light bulb go off over someone's head," Clark said.

Andrew Samwick, an addition to the economics department, said students can improve a professor's research. "Students sometimes have a good perspective that helps with research. They ask why over and over until you are forced to answer it," he said

Samwick's research has been in the "link between income uncertainty and household saving, as well as, on the economic consequences of pensions and Social Security for saving and retirement behavior," he said.

Another new economics professor, Matthew Slaughter, a recent graduate from MIT, said he chose to teach because "teaching and doing research is fun."

He said his decision to teach at Dartmouth was based on the school's strength in international economics. He specializes in international trade and multinational corporations.

Joining the Spanish and Portuguese department is Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, a specialist in 19th century Spanish literature and modern Caribbean cultural history, "with a strong training in literary, feminist and cultural theories, and an increasing interest in the development of the new field of gay and lesbian studies," she said.

Currently, Lugo-Ortiz is working on a project with the Rockefeller Foundation, based at the University of Houston called "Recovering the Hispanic Literary Heritage in the U.S."

Lugo-Ortiz earned her B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. She taught for several years at Northwestern University before coming to Dartmouth.

The government department added Gordon Silverstein to its staff this term. Silverstein earned his undergraduate degree in government from Cornell.

After graduating he worked for The Wall Street Journal in New York and Hong Kong before returning to Harvard to earn his Ph.D. and teach for one year. Silverstein was a visiting professor at Dartmouth three years ago. He also taught at Rice University for two years.

John Danskin is a new member of the College's computer science department. He earned his undergraduate degree from University of California at Santa Clara and his graduate degree form Princeton.

Danskin said he is investigating ways to compress computer information for easier transmission across phone lines. "Phone lines are too slow. I'm trying to compress [the information] so it won't take up too much room on the phone lines," he said.

Barbara Will is a new addition to the English department. She did her undergraduate work at Yale University, earned her M.A. in English from Brynn Mawr College and a Ph.D. from Duke University in literature. Will spent her last four years teaching in the English department for the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Joining the philosophy department is Ann Bumpus, who did her undergraduate work at Union College and is finishing her graduate studies at MIT. She has worked at Dartmouth before as a visiting professor.

Another new professor in the philosophy department is Ernest Sosa. Sosa earned his undergraduate degree from Brown University and completed his graduate work at Princeton, where he was a teaching assistant.

Sosa said he was attracted to Dartmouth because, "it is very important to me to have colleagues with whom I can have good philosophical interaction and have interesting and interested students." He said Dartmouth offers both.

Xiang Feng joins the earth science department with a specialization in global warming, climate change and environmental geology.

Other new professors -- James Loehlin (Drama), Frances Marie Ufkes (Geography), and Robert Pape, Jr. (Government) -- could not be reached for comment.