Sixteen faculty members from across the university have been selected, out of 135 applicants, for the inaugural cohort for the Provost's Fellows for Public Engagement. The fellows will take part in a yearlong program designed to build their public engagement skills across a range of media platforms and audiences.
The newly created fellowship responds to the Ten for One goal to strengthen the university's capacity to communicate discoveries to the world and become a preeminent source of academic expertise in service to society. Through tailored training and engagement opportunities, fellows will become skilled in providing expert media commentary, proficient at adapting their message to various audiences and stakeholders, able to identify emerging topics of broad interest, and equipped to craft compelling narratives.
"Since our university's earliest days, we have embraced the charge to bring the benefits of discovery to the world," said JHU President Ron Daniels. "With this new fellowship program, we will further expand our capacity to be a trusted source of reliable facts and data and communicate in new and impactful ways insights that serve the public good."
The incoming cohort includes faculty members from all ranks and from each of the university's nine academic divisions. Applications were reviewed by a faculty advisory committee, as well as staff from the Office of the Provost and University Communications. Fellows were selected based on scholarly excellence, demonstrated commitment to public engagement, and innovative ideas for improving public understanding of their field.
The fellowship will begin in January 2025 with a retreat, with additional training opportunities and activities throughout the year. This effort is led by the Office of the Provost, with support from colleagues in University Communications, the Hopkins Bloomberg Center, the Office of Federal Strategy, and other entities.
"We are delighted by the enthusiastic response from faculty across the university," said Provost Ray Jayawardhana. "The caliber of applications reflects a profound commitment among our colleagues to bridging the gap between groundbreaking research and its relevance for society. I am pleased to support these faculty members as they connect with new audiences, extending the reach of their scholarship and building confidence in evidence-based approaches."
The 2025 Provost's Fellows for Public Engagement are:
- Annette C. Anderson, Deputy Director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Schools and assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Education Studies at the School of Education
- Narges Bajoghli, assistant professor of Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies
- Francesco Bianchi, Louis J. Maccini Professor of Economics at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Emily Boss, professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the School of Medicine
- Michele Decker, Bloomberg Professor of American Health in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Yury Dvorkin, associate professor of Civil and Systems Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering
- Jordan Green, professor of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Medicine
- Shima Hamidi, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Richard Johnson, assistant professor and Interim Chair of Jazz at the Peabody Institute
- Michael Luca, professor of Marketing, Economics, Management and Organization at the Carey Business School
- Paul Nestadt, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Medicine with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Yi-Ping Ong, associate professor of Comparative Thought and Literature at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Emily Riehl, professor of Mathematics at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Karen Sfanos, associate professor of Pathology at the School of Medicine
- Cecilia Tomori, associate professor of Nursing at the School of Nursing
- Mathias Unberath, John C. Malone Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Whiting School of Engineering
Posted in University News
