In recognition of their teaching, scholarship and service, Willamette University has granted tenure and promotion to associate professor for six faculty members. The promotions will take effect at the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year.
To achieve tenure, faculty members must demonstrate superior teaching, professional development and outstanding service to their institution, profession or community. They are eligible for tenure after having worked at the university for a probationary period, typically six years.
The new tenured faculty members:
David Altman
A physics professor, Altman has earned several research grants from funding sources, including the National Science Foundation and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. He’s served as a club advisor to Willamette Robotics and Games Unplugged! and has presented two talks to the Salem community through Science Pub. He has an article in press in PLoS One related to research he conducted on muscle fibers.
Haiyan Cheng
Cheng, a computer science professor, supports student research through her National Science Foundation grant, Willamette’s Science Collaborative Research Program (SCRP) and Liberal Arts Research Collaboration (LARC). Through these programs, selected undergraduate students work directly with faculty in scientific computing on a nine-week summer research project. Cheng is also active in promoting computing focused interdisciplinary learning and research across campus through project-based curriculum design and collaborations with peer faculty members.
Emma Coddington
As a teacher-scholar, Coddington uses neuroscience research as a platform to develop students’ intellectual, cultural and emotional competencies while building their practical skill sets. She earned a five-year, $575,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her work and five other competitive external grants to help build and run her lab. She’s also involved in the president’s work group, which is striving to increase campus safety by revising sexual assault and harassment policies.
Jonneke Koomen
A politics professor, Koomen teaches classes on human rights, African politics and transnational feminist politics. She is currently writing a book on genocide survivors’ testimonies at international courts — which is supported by a grant from the American Association of University Women. She is also committed to supporting first-generation college students.
Raechelle Mascarenhas
An economics professor, Mascarenhas played an active role in revising the department’s curriculum. She’s a diversity advisor and currently advises Namaste, a South African student group. She is also a reviewer for several academic publications.
Huike Wen
Wen is a professor for the Japanese and Chinese department. She has authored articles in both English and Chinese, including two articles in the leading journals in her field and a 2013 book about Chinese television history in the 1980s. She also serves as a mentor for the departments of Japanese and Chinese, Film Studies, International Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.