Deb Aikat is an associate professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. His work theorizes the role of digital media in the global sphere and his research ranges across media.

Jay Aikat is vice dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Data Science and Society since July 2022. She is also a research professor in the department of computer science at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her research interests include computer networking, experimental methods in networking research and education, data science education and outreach, measurement and modeling of internet traffic, internet traffic generation, cloud security, cloud computing, wireless networks, congestion control and active queue management.

Travis Albritton is a clinical associate professor and associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the School of Social Work. He currently chairs the School of Social Work’s Diversity Committee and serves on the University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. His research interests include educational equity in K-12 education, academic achievement among Black males, and closing educational opportunity gaps for children of all ages.

Emily Boehm is an educational developer and evolutionary biologist working with faculty members to bring active and inclusive learning methods to their classrooms. She leads the CFE’s initiatives for faculty new to UNC.

Carissa Byrne Hessick is the Anne Shea Ransdell and William Garland “Buck” Ransdell, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she also serves as the Director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project. Her teaching and research interests include criminal law, the structure of the criminal justice system, criminal sentencing and child pornography crimes. Hessick is the author of multiple law review articles, essays and op eds on plea bargaining, prosecutors, Sixth Amendment sentencing rights and criminal statutes. Her work has appeared in the California Law Review, the Cornell Law Review, the L.A. Times, the UCLA Law Review and the Virginia Law Review, among others. She founded the Prosecutors and Politics Project in 2018 and also currently serves as the Reporter for the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Sentencing Standards Task Force. Hessick received her B.A. from Columbia University. While obtaining her undergraduate degree, she won the 1999 American Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship. Hessick is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and winner of the Potter Stewart Prize for the Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals. After graduating from law school, Hessick clerked for Judge Barbara S. Jones on the Southern District of New York and for Judge A. Raymond Randolph on the D.C. Circuit. She also worked as a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City. Before joining the faculty at Carolina Law, Hessick taught on the faculties at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. She also spent two years as a Climenko Fellow at Harvard Law School

Maria Carnovale studies under what conditions technology maximizes well-being without negatively impacting individuals and communities and how policies can foster this process. She has written about the social and ethical implications of digital platforms, digital contact tracing, and more recently smart sanitation, among other topics.

Graham Clay is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy, specializing in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and early modern philosophy.

Claude Clegg is the Lyle V. Jones Distinguished Professor, with a joint appointment in the Departments of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies and History. Professor Clegg’s work focuses on the African diaspora of the Atlantic world, exploring the ways in which people of African descent have created and imagined communities and identities outside Africa. He teaches courses in African American history and U.S. history, with particular emphasis on the themes of migration, diaspora, nationalism, and social mobilization.

Christopher “Chris” Clemens is Provost and Chief Academic Officer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has a passion for collaborating and building great things with others. Clemens came to UNC in 1998 from Caltech, where he was a Sherman Fairchild Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy. Previously he was a NASA Hubble Fellow at Iowa State University and received his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin (1994) and a Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics from the University of Oklahoma (1985). He is a dedicated mentor of graduate students and in 2012 received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring. He leads an active research program in stellar astrophysics, exoplanetary astronomy, and astronomical instrumentation. He led a research team of graduate and undergraduate students to build the facility spectrograph for the 4.1 meter SOAR telescope in Chile, which is operated by UNC in collaboration with national and international partners. Recently, his research team has been using the spectrograph to measure the elemental abundances of exoplanetary debris that falls onto compact stellar remnants known as white dwarf stars. His graduate students were the first to detect and measure Lithium abundances in 10 Billion year old exoplanetary material, providing a new way to trace the cosmological history of that element, which is one of only three formed in the Big Bang.

Alanna Coombes is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC Chapel Hill. Alanna teaches at the intersection of planning and communication. Her specific interests include: downtown development; transportation and autonomous vehicles; and the interaction of urban planning policy, city politics and public affairs.

Allison De Marco is an adjunct faculty at the School of Social Work and an advanced research scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Her research focuses on racial equity, poverty, neighborhood effects, work and family, and well-being for residents of rural communities. She examines issues of economic transitions and family work conditions and their effects on families in rural communities.

Victoria “Tori” Smith Ekstrand is an associate professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, where she teaches courses on media law. Her research explores conflicts between copyright law and the First Amendment, particularly as they arise in journalism and social media. Her work is often grounded in critical legal theory, in which she examines the impact of law and policy on culture and media production.

Megan Fitzmaurice is a teaching assistant professor for the College of Arts and Sciences Communication. Area of Study: Rhetorical Studies, Public Memory, Social Movements, Nonprofit Communication. Her research focuses on ways that activist groups persuade communities to rethink their commemorative landscape.

Luca Flabbi is an associate professor in the UNC Department of Economics. Dr. Flabbi is an applied microeconomist and econometrician with expertise in labor/population economics and in applied econometric methods.

Deborah R. Gerhardt joined the Carolina Law faculty in 2009 and serves as the Reef C. Ivey II Excellence Fund Term Professor of Law. She specializes in intellectual property law, with a particular focus on the intersection of law and creativity.

Donna Gilleskie is a professor in the Economics Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned B.A.s in Economics and Mathematics from UNC in 1989, an M.A. in 1992, and her Ph.D., 1994, in economics from the University of Minnesota. Donna's research focuses on the health, health insurance decisions, and medical and non-medical care utilization of individuals and how these behaviors impact employment and education decisions and subsequent health over time. Donna was awarded the international Health Economics Association’s Kenneth Arrow Award for the best published paper on health economics in 1998, Econometrica, 1998. She received the Faculty-to-Graduate Student Mentoring Award from the Carolina Women’s Leadership Council in 2014 and a University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction in 2019. She served as President of the Southern Economic Association in 2019 and is currently serving as chair of the Economics Department.

William D. Goldsmith is a 20th-century U.S. historian with specialties in the history of political economy, African American history, the history of the U.S. South, and the history of education. Broadly, he is interested in how policy and institutions exacerbate and ameliorate historical inequalities.

Joy Goodwin was previously chaired the MFA screenwriting programs at UNCSA and Western Colorado University. She is currently the Director of the Writing for the Stage & Screen Minor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she is Professor of the Practice.

Kurt Gray is a professor in psychology and neuroscience, director of the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding. He is also an adjunct associate professor in organizational behavior at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he teaches about organizational ethics and team processes. Professor Gray researches how we perceive the minds of others and make moral judgments.

Suzanne Gulledge is a clinical professor in the School of Education. She specializes in curriculum and instruction, experiential and global education and ethics and education.

Rory Hanlon joined UNC in 2023 as a teaching assistant professor in the Program for Public Discourse and the Department of Philosophy. He focuses on Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy—in particular, ancient philosophers’ (especially Aristotle’s) conceptions of mind, soul, and life. He also examines the influences of these conceptions throughout the history of philosophy, and their relevance for contemporary philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and moral psychology.

Fabian Heitsch is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy whose research interests range around astrophysical gas dynamics, or “IXM-physics”, where X stands for the letters (S,G,C). Currently, he and his students are working on models of the formation of molecular clouds and stars, the role of high velocity clouds for Galactic evolution, how to translate simulation results to the observational plane, and on some plasma-physics.

Marc Hetherington is a Raymond H. Dawson Distinguished Bicentennial Professor of Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. His focus is on the American electorate and the polarization of public opinion.

Rachel Hynes is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Dramatic Arts at UNC, Chapel Hill with an expertise in innovative new works and ensemble creation. She teaches Theatre of the Word; her teaching approach balances rigor, mindfulness and play.

Osamudia James joined the UNC School of Law faculty in 2021. Her writing and teaching interests include education law, race and the law, administrative law, and torts. James is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, and popular press commentary exploring the interaction of law and identity in the context of public education. Her work has appeared in the NYU Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, and the Minnesota Law Review, among others, as well as in the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post.

Matthew Kotzen is an associate professor and department chair in the Department of Philosophy.  He has research interests in epistemology, philosophy of science, and related topics in philosophy of mind and language.

Lloyd Kramer is a professor in the Department of History and Directory of Carolina Public Humanities. His interests focus on Modern European History with an emphasis on nineteenth century France. He is particularly interested in historical processes that shape cultural identities, including the experiences of cross-cultural exchange and the emergence of modern nationalism. 

Jennifer Larson is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Her teaching and research interests include African-American literature (especially African American drama), film studies (especially race in contemporary cinema), American literature, and composition (especially writing in/about law).

Innovative educator wanting to improve people’s lives through high-impact education using creative, evidence-based, and innovative instruction, curriculum, leadership, and professional development.

Jon Lepofsky is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at UNC. He earned his BA in Metropolitan Studies from New York University and his PhD in Geography at UNC, along with a Graduate Certificate in Cultural Studies. His empirical and theoretical work on urban economic geography and community development has been published in a range of journals, including Community Development Journal, Ethics, Place & Environment, Health & Place, Journal of Environmental Studies & Sciences, Urban Affairs Review, and Urban Studies. He has also authored entries for the Encyclopedia of Human Geography and the Encyclopedia of Geography. Such work has examined urban citizenship and the politics of community. In addition to teaching at UNC, Jon has taught at Duke University, and, for over a decade, he taught at a Quaker P-12 school. While there, he established and taught interdisciplinary, service-based curricula across the humanities and social sciences. He also served in multiple administrative roles, including as the lead for curriculum development, diversity, inclusion & equity, community relations, and restorative justice. He was also the founding Academic Director of the Duke Neuro Camp and has presented internationally on teaching neuroethics. His career as an educator began just after he graduated high school, when he helped found and taught at The City School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Hilary Lithgow specializes in Victorian and early Modernist British literature, as well as the literature of war from World War I to today. She is especially interested in the role of story-telling in making sense of human experience and the effects of impersonality and trauma on literary style.

Christian Lundberg is an associate professor in communication and Co-Director of the University Program in Cultural Studies. His teaching and research interests include theories of the public and public discourse, public speaking, rhetorical theory, debate and deliberation, critical theory, and Cultural Studies. Dr. Lundberg also teaches the First Year Seminar “Think, Speak, Argue,” which focuses on debate and public speaking skills as pedagogical tools and as critical components of democratic life. Professor Lundberg’s current research focuses on theories of the public as a social and discursive form, and on the animating principles for public discourses and identities. In addition, he has written a number of pieces that unpack forms of discourse constituting specific publics, with special attention to the intersection between public and religious discourse in Islam and Evangelical Christianity. At the level of specific practices of public discourse and pedagogy, his work focuses on rhetorical theory, and on debate and public speaking as critical democratic forms.

Doug MacKay is an associate professor in the Department of Public Policy. Dr. MacKay’s research and teaching interests concern questions at the intersection of justice and public policy. He is currently working on projects concerning the justice of economic inequality – both domestic and global; the ethics of immigration policy; priority setting in health care; the ethics of international clinical research; and justice in the division of responsibilities within federal systems of government.

Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD RD, is the Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Medicine, and chair of the Department of Nutrition, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has focused her career on diabetes, including the epidemiology and natural history of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adults. Her research addresses the many ways in which nutrition can impact on the risk for development of diabetes, and on the risk of complications of either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Studies have typically included culturally and regionally diverse populations. Dr. Mayer-Davis’ primary focus now is on type 1 diabetes in youth and young adults, with a focus on overall diabetes self-management and on energy balance and weight management for individuals with type 1 diabetes. Dr. Mayer-Davis is Principal Investigator for the Carolina site of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, and she serves as the national co-chairperson for this large multi-center study.

Kevin McGuire is a professor in the Department of Political science who teaches courses on the U.S. Supreme Court and American constitutional law. His current research interests include the effect of the Court’s institutional arrangements on the Court’s policymaking, the impact of public opinion on the Court, and the measurement and modeling of judicial outcomes. 

Aimee McHale is an assistant professor in the Public Health Leadership Program and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. She is an attorney and public health professional with expertise in health policy and special interests in health equity, social justice, and the health needs of vulnerable populations, including in the LGBT community. 

Mark McNeilly is a professor of the practice of marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. He teaches in the areas of marketing and organizational behavior in both the MBA and online MBA@UNC programs. McNeilly served as a global marketing executive and has several years of experience with both IBM and Lenovo in the IT industry. His business background includes branding, strategy, marketing, market intelligence, management, manufacturing and personnel.

Mark McNeilly is a professor of the practice of marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. He teaches in the areas of marketing and organizational behavior in both the MBA and online MBA@UNC programs. McNeilly served as a global marketing executive and has several years of experience with both IBM and Lenovo in the IT industry. His business background includes branding, strategy, marketing, market intelligence, management, manufacturing and personnel. McNeilly has authored three books with Oxford University Press, one of which is George Washington and the Art of Business: Leadership Principles of America’s First Commander-in-Chief. He has presented his views on strategy and marketing to corporations; businesspeople in the United States, Europe and Asia; as well as the U.S. Air Force Command and Staff College. He has discussed his ideas on strategy on the BBC, C-SPAN, CNBC’s “Power Lunch” and other TV and radio programs. McNeilly appeared on a History Channel Special on Sun Tzu’s “Art of War.” He has been an expert blogger for Fast Company magazine. McNeilly received his MBA with honors from the University of Minnesota and his BS in finance from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

Hugo Méndez is an Assistant Professor in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, specializing in the New Testament and its early reception He has sustained research interests in the Gospel and Epistles of John and the reception of biblical texts, figures, and images in late antiquity.

Hugo Méndez is an associate professor for the Department of Religious Studies. His research explores how early Christians received and made usable pasts of biblical texts, images, and figures through the first five centuries CE.

Michael Morgan is an associate professor in the Department of History. He specializes in modern international and global history, teaching courses on the history of diplomacy and international politics, the Cold War, and the history of human rights. 

Markus Nevil is a teaching assistant in the Biology department.

Jason M. Roberts is a Professor specializing in American political institutions, with an emphasis on the U.S. Congress. His research interests include parties and procedures in the U.S. Congress and congressional election.

Tim Ryan is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. His research interests relate to public opinion, political behavior, and political psychology.

Keith Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovations in the School of Education. His research focuses on improvisational group performance, and he applies rigorous quantitative methods to the analysis of moment-to-moment interactional dynamics in creative groups. In his current research, Sawyer is studying how teaching and learning are organized in professional schools of art and design, with the goal of identifying a core set of features that can be used to design more effective learning environments.

Jessica Speed Wiley teaches classes with the hopes that – together with students – we can make theory “go” in our everyday lives and communities. Her hope, always, is that students experience the classes she teaches as creative, critical communities of practice – and that they’re able to find points of intersection between their everyday lives and future aspirations and communication theory and research.

Jeff Spinner-Halev teaches political theory in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is the Kenan Eminent Professor of Political Ethics. His research focuses on the tensions that arise within contemporary liberal and democratic theory, and between theory and practice.

Lindsey Smith Taillie is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition. She is a nutrition epidemiologist whose work focuses on evaluating food policy efforts in the US and globally, and how these influence disparities in diet and obesity. Her work uses a combination of randomized controlled trials and natural experimental studies using large datasets on food purchases and intake to evaluate and inform food policy to prevent obesity.

Lance Thurlow is an assistant professor in the Adams School of Dentistry. He is interested in defining the metabolic basis for bacterial virulence potential and understanding the metabolic reprogramming of innate immune cells required to prevent infection. He is also interested in how metabolic dynamics change during infections in populations at high risk for infection, such as individuals with diabetes.

Emma Tzioumis is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and a Research Scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Her research includes the dual burden of malnutrition, complementary feeding practices, and maternal experiences in the perinatal period.

Michael Vazquez is a teaching Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UNC-Chapel Hill and he also serve as Director of Outreach at the Parr Center for Ethics. His primary area of specialization is Ancient Greek & Roman philosophy.

Dr. Waltman’s research examines the diverse functions of hate speech in multiple contexts. His research addresses the ways that hate is used to pursue a variety of social and personal goals, including the promotion of hate crime, ethnoviolence, and the maintenance of White privilege. Dr. Waltman’s teaching interests include Persuasion, Communication and Social Memory, Theories of Interpersonal Communication, and Hate Speech.

Kristin Wilson is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Her research interests include strategy in regulated industries, financial services regulation, competitive strategy, business-government relations, and strategy and the institutional environment.

Molly Worthen is an associate professor of history at UNC and a freelance journalist. She received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Her research focuses on North American religious and intellectual history. Her first book, The Man On Whom Nothing Was Lost, is a behind-the-scenes study of American diplomacy and higher education told through the lens of biography. Her current book project focuses on the history of charisma in America.Her most recent book, Apostles of Reason, examines American evangelical intellectual life since 1945, especially the internal conflicts among different evangelical subcultures. Worthen teaches courses on North American religious and intellectual culture and global Christianity, and she won the 2017 Tanner Award for Teaching Excellence. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and has written about religion and politics for The New Yorker, Slate, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, and other publications.

Courtney Wright is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Management and Corporate Communication and serves as the director of the Business Communication Center at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. She specializes in areas involving leadership and intercultural communication.