(L-to-r) Yasuko Kanno, Melissa Holt, and Kimberly Howard

Faculty & Staff News

Three Faculty Members Promoted to Full Professor

Three BU Wheelock faculty members were recently promoted to full professor. Kimberly Howard, Melissa Holt, and Yasuko Kanno represent the Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development and Language & Literacy Education programs at BU Wheelock.

Melissa Holt, Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development

Melissa Holt is a counseling psychologist whose work focuses on the experiences of adolescents who have been discriminated against due to their identity characteristics and on risk and protective factors for gender diverse youth. Internationally recognized as one of the leading authorities on school safety research, she co-directs the BU Wheelock Social Adjustment & Bullying Prevention Lab. She is also the director of Boston University’s Kilachand Honors College. She has received numerous awards, including a Leadership Award from the American Education Research Association, and is a Fellow of American Psychological Association.

Kimberly Howard, Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development

Kimberly Howard is a counseling psychologist who is recognized internationally for her work studying the career development of children and youth, including career interests in nontraditional fields. Co-director of the BU Wheelock Center for Future Readiness, she has received funding from both federal agencies and foundations, such as the National Science Foundation. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the BU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and served as chair of the Boston University Faculty Council.

Yasuko Kanno, Language & Literacy Education

Yasuko Kanno is an applied linguist focusing on the educational opportunities of multilingual students classified as English learners. An ethnographer by training, Kanno conducts in-depth case studies of high school English learners’ access to college and their schools’ influences; she has also engaged in secondary data analysis of the state and impact of inequitable education for English learners. She has received funding from several foundations, including the William T. Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. Kanno is the author of several books and journal articles, including English Learners’ Access to Postsecondary Education: Neither College nor Career Ready (Multilingual Matters, 2021).