Students will see some new faces in Cornell College classrooms this fall.
The college is welcoming seven new faculty members to the Hilltop for the 2017-2018 school year, who will teach everything from religion to engineering and more.
Cynthia Bradley is the new lecturer in business analytics for the Department of Economics and Business. She has over 25 years of professional experience in business intelligence, information technology, and program management. Bradley has held executive positions at major enterprises such as GoDaddy, TaxAct, and MCI. Her courses will include Data Visualization, Business Analytics I, and Analytics Case Seminar. She holds an M.S. in business intelligence and analytics from St. Joseph’s University, and a B.A. in accounting from the University of Northern Iowa.
Jill Davis is a visiting Fellow within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She specializes in culture, bodies, and identity, with a research focus on drag kings and queens in the U.S. Davis will teach courses on gender, sexuality, identity, and families. She holds the Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota. Most recently, Davis was a visiting assistant professor in gender, women’s & sexuality studies at the University of Iowa.
Chris Hoklotubbe has been hired as a tenure-track assistant professor for the Department of Religion. He will teach courses in New Testament, the History of Christianity, and Comparative Religion, with attention given to the intersection of religion, politics, ethics, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. His book, “Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire” (Baylor University Press, 2017), brings together his research interests in early Christianity, Greco-Roman archaeology, ancient philosophy, and critical theory. Most recently, Hoklotubbe was a postdoctoral faculty Fellow in Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in California. He holds the Th.D. and M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Niloofar Kamran is the newest tenure-track assistant professor for the Department of Physics and Engineering. She will teach introductory physics and engineering courses, as well as upper-level courses in engineering, such as Fluid Dynamics, Heat Transfer, and Signals and Systems. Her research focuses on controlling complex systems, with applications in control of satellites and of fluid flow of fuel in a rocket thruster. Kamran earned her Ph.D. in engineering physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She holds an M.S. in aerospace engineering from Shahid Beheshti University, Iran; and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Guilan University, Iran.
LaTanya McQueen has been hired as the Robert P. Dana Emerging Writer Fellow for the Cornell Center for the Literary Arts. The Dana Fellow teaches two courses, assists with the administration of the Center for the Literary Arts, serves as an advisor for Open Field literary magazine, and works with students across campus on literary arts programming. A specialist in creative writing, world and African-American literature, and postcolonial and trauma theory, McQueen has written award-winning essays and short fiction that have appeared in several publications. Most recently, she was an instructor at the University of Missouri.
Brandi Shanata ’05 has been hired as a lecturer for the Department of Mathematics and Statistics to teach Statistical Methods. Shanata has served as an adjunct lecturer in the department prior to this. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell College and a master of science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Elmira Shekari Namin is a visiting assistant professor of finance for the Department of Economics & Business. Shekari Namin specializes in finance with interests in empirical asset pricing, market microstructure, and fixed income securities. Her courses will include Investments, Financial Accounting, Introduction to Financial Management, Asset Valuation, and Financial Management Seminar. She has industry experience as an investment advisor and credit analyst. Most recently, Shekari Namin was an instructor and teaching assistant at University of Rhode Island where she received her Ph.D. in finance. She earned her M.S. in industrial engineering from Islamic Azad University, and a B.S. in mathematics from Shahid Behesti University; both universities are in Iran.