Career Development Professorships

Overview

Each year, Boston University recognizes a handful of talented junior educators emerging as future leaders within their respective fields through the award of Career Development Professorships. Made possible by the generous support of distinguished donors, alumni, and BU’s Office of Technology Development, these professorships highlight the caliber, potential, and continued vitality of Boston University’s diverse faculty.

Awards, nominating procedures, and selection vary based on the professorship and the unit administering the honor.  All awards are three years in length and include support for the recipients’ salaries and/or research and scholarly work.

Current Career Development Professors

2024-2027

Shibulal Family Career Development Professor

Brian Cleary

Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Sciences, Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences

Brian Cleary’s research in computational biology applies algorithmic learning and experimental lab methods to better understand molecular, cellular, and tissue processes, including gene expression – work with potential to address fundamental problems associated with human disease. He holds additional appointments in the Departments of Biology and Biomedical Engineering and has been supported by substantial grants from the National Institutes of Health and BU’s Kilachand Fund for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering. He received his PhD in computational and systems biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds a BS in biology and in business, economics, and management from California Institute of Technology.

Peter J. Levine Career Development Professorship

Tianyu Wang

Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computing Engineering, College of Engineering

Tianyu Wang combines physics-inspired computing, biomedical optics, and AI to develop faster, more efficient photonic-based computing and sensing technologies capable of delivering highly detailed deep-tissue imaging, including of the human brain. He holds a patent and recently received a major grant from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative to support his research with quantum-inspired light sources. He received a PhD in applied and engineering physics and a BS in biological engineering from Cornell University, where he also completed his postdoctoral work.

Wetherill-Bloom Career Development Professor in the Humanities

Catalina Rodriguez

Assistant Professor of Romance Studies, College of Arts & Sciences

Catalina Rodríguez is a scholar of Latin American literature and culture from the 19^th century forward, whose writings focus on gender and sexuality studies, women’s literature, theories of authorship, ecofeminism, and queer literature. She has published multiple book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and reviews and is at work on her first book, Writing Like a Woman: Gendered Pseudonyms in Nineteenth Century. She holds a PhD in Spanish and Portuguese from Northwestern University and a BA in Hispanic and Latin literature from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.

East Asia Studies Career Development Professor

Daigengna Duoer

Assistant Professor of Religion, College of Arts & Sciences

Daigengna Duoer is a historian who explores religion and politics at the intersection of the Chinese, Japanese, and Russian empires, with particular focus on transnational Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism in the 20^th century. Her research has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Association for Asian Studies, and the Mongolia Foundation, and she is at work on a forthcoming book, Buddhism Beyond the Nation and the Empire: Transnational Buddhists in Modern East and Inner Asia. She holds a PhD in religious studies from University of California, Santa Barbara and a MA and HBA in Buddhist studies from University of Toronto.

Innovation Career Development Professor

Joseph Derosa

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Joseph Derosa is forging new ground at the interface of metal catalysis and organic synthesis, leveraging voltage-controlled electrolysis as a tool with great translational potential in the development of new drugs and chemical processes. He has published 23 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals including Nature and the Journal of the American Chemical Society and, prior to joining BU, received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship. He holds a PhD in chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute and a BS in biochemistry from the Macaulay Honors College at the City College of New York.

2023-2026

Peter Paul Career Development Professor

Philipp Mews

Assistant Professor of Physiology & Biophysics, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Philipp Mews studies metabolic and epigenetic processes that underlie brain plasticity, working to develop novel therapeutic strategies for treating neuropsychiatric disorders, including PTSD and substance abuse. He received his PhD in cell and molecular biology and a BS in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a BS in biology from Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

Reidy Family Career Development Professor

Leroy Gonsalves

Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations, Questrom School of Business

Leroy Gonsalves uses qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate how technological change affects the future of work – in particular, how management practices including remote work, activity-based offices, and algorithmic valuation change employees’ experience of autonomy and their meaning of work. He holds a PhD in organizational behavior from Harvard Business School, AM and MA degrees in sociology from Harvard University and the University of Toronto, respectively, and a bachelor’s in business administration from York University in Toronto.

David R. Dalton Career Development Professor

Minjung Son

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Minjung Son is an expert in energy production and transfer and utilizes ultrafast optical spectroscopy and microscopy to better understand the photophysical mechanisms governing energy and charge flow in molecular, materials, and biological systems. She received her PhD in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry from Yonsei University in South Korea. She completed her postdoctoral research at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Global Business Career Development Professorship

Luis Ballesteros

Assistant Professor of Strategy & Innovation, Questrom School of Business

Luis Ballesteros studies the impact of systemic shocks (social and environmental) on the decision making and corporate success of international businesses, and particularly the innovations and resulting efficiency gains and social value – including philanthropy – created in the aftermath of such disruptions. He holds a PhD in applied economics and management from The Wharton School, a master’s degree in international development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and bachelor’s degrees in business and economics from Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico.

Innovation Career Development Professor

Sabrina Neuman

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences

Sabrina Neuman has helped pioneer the concept of “robomorphic computing,” designing special-purpose hardware and accelerators for robotic processing tasks to achieve far quicker performance than off-the-shelf solutions – technology with potential to improve human well-being, including in assisted living and elder care settings. She earned her PhD and master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also received a bachelor’s degree in electrical science and engineering.

2022-2025

Peter Paul Career Development Professor

Jean-Pierre Roussarie

Assistant Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Jean-Pierre Roussarie studies the molecular mechanisms that lead to early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease – specifically a vulnerable cell type in the entorhinal cortex – using cutting-edge genomics methods to identify novel therapeutic targets for disease-modifying drugs. He received his PhD and master’s in virology at the Pasteur Institute and his bachelor’s in engineering at École Polytechnique, both in Paris. He completed his postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University in New York.

Moorman-Simon Career Development Professors

Ngozi Okidegbe

Associate Professor of Law, School of Law
Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Sciences, Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences

Ngozi Okidegbe’s research bridges legal scholarship and data science, examining how the use of predictive technologies (like algorithms) in the criminal justice system for pre-trial detention, bail, and sentencing determinations adversely impacts racially marginalized communities. She holds law degrees from Columbia Law School and McGill School of Law and a bachelor’s in history from Concordia University in Montreal.

Erica Pratt

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Erica Pratt combines engineering, chemical biology, and oncology with the emerging field of liquid biopsy to develop novel, minimally invasive methods for detecting, characterizing, and ultimately treating multiple forms of cancer. She earned her PhD and master’s in biomedical engineering from Cornell University and her bachelor’s in mechanical and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She completed her postdoctoral training at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Christine Slaughter

Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of Arts & Sciences

Christine Slaughter examines African American political participation in the United States utilizing approaches from political science, psychology, and public health to better understand how economic inequality, gender, and resilience influence the frequency and substance of black political engagement and behavior. She received her PhD and master’s in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and her bachelor’s in political science and comparative women’s studies from Spelman College.

Cecile Kaplan Dalton Career Development Professor

Heidi Meyer

Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences

Heidi Meyer uses novel behavioral and neurobiological techniques to better understand the mechanisms underpinning the regulation of emotions – specifically, how early life experiences shape distinctive features of the adult brain and impact the expression of fear or safety-related behaviors. She holds a PhD in psychological and brain sciences from Dartmouth College and a bachelor’s in neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She completed her postdoctoral training at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Isabel Anderson Career Development Professor

Tesary Lin

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Questrom School of Business

Tesary Lin is a quantitative marketing scholar who uses data science and digital analytics tools to study how consumers value privacy and whether their valuation is affected by how firms may use the data they collect. She received her PhD in quantitative marketing from the University of Chicago and holds a master’s in economics from Tsinghua University and a bachelor’s in economics from Nankai University, both in China.

Ralph Edwards Career Development Professor

Daniel Dempsey

Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Daniel Dempsey employs a variety of approaches (including chemical, semi-synthetic, biophysical, and cellular) to investigate the properties and regulation of proteins involved in cell signaling, epigenetics, and gene regulation – research with potential to produce new therapies for the treatment of cancer. He holds a PhD in chemistry/biochemistry from the University of South Florida, and a master’s and bachelor’s in chemistry from the State University of New York at Oswego. He completed his postdoctoral training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

East Asia Studies Career Development Professor

Rui Hua

Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts & Sciences

A historian of modern China and Japan, Rui Hua studies the origins of the modern legal system in 20^th century China, focusing on the role of peasants and migrants in the codification of rules, rights, and regulations, with particular emphasis on debates over land use and property rights. He holds a PhD and master’s in history and East Asian languages from Harvard University, a master’s in history from the University of British Columbia, and a bachelor’s in history from Peking University.

Past Awardees