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Initiative aimed at attracting promising scholars
Contacts: Noro Andriamanalina, Graduate School, (612) 626-4546
Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/27/2007) — The University of Minnesota Graduate School today announced the recipients of the newly established University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Fellowship for the 2007-08 academic year. This fellowship is a university-wide initiative designed to attract promising scholars with potential to pursue future faculty positions at the University of Minnesota and other top research universities.
“This fellowship is intended to recruit the best and the brightest future faculty by bringing promising scholars here early to consider a career at the University of Minnesota,” said Provost Thomas Sullivan. “We are excited to have the opportunity to prepare a new generation of faculty committed to interdisciplinary work, contributing to diverse perspectives and pursuing community-engaged scholarship.”
The fellows are Zenzele Isoke, Patina Mendez and Ludwin Molina. The following is more information about the new fellows.
• Zenzele Isoke, a doctoral candidate in women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University, will hold dual appointments in the U of M departments of gender, women and sexuality studies, and political science. Her research interest is to explore and enrich theoretical formulations developed in black feminist social theory through empirical investigations of U.S. black women’s political agency.
• Patina Mendez, who received a doctoral degree in environmental science, policy and management from the University of California, Berkeley, will hold an appointment in the U of M’s department of entomology. Her research focuses on variability in biological and ecological attributes of collected individuals across a family of caddisflies (aquatic insects closely related to moths and butterflies), using a phylogeny, or hypothesis of evolutionary history that will be constructed for the 73 species in the group.
• Ludwin Molina who is doctoral candidate in social psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, will hold dual appointments in the departments of psychology and political science. His research focuses on inter-group relations, with an emphasis on how social identities and group-based power asymmetries influence prejudice. He will be a member of the Center for the Study of Political Psychology (CSPP), a nationally ranked center jointly sponsored by the hosting departments.
The three fellows were selected from a competitive pool of 143 candidates representing 70 institutions throughout the United States and Europe.
The purpose of the fellowship is to advance the intellectual agenda and enhance the cultural diversity of the university community.The fellowship particularly seeks to identify scholars whose research and scholarly interests reflect one or a combination of the following priorities: (1) scholarship that contributes to the understanding of diversity in its multiple forms; (2) strong interest in interdisciplinary research and scholarship or creative work; and (3) engagement in partnerships with communities outside of the academy.
The fellow selection process involved 55 U of M departments and programs across seven collegiate units that assisted in identifying the top candidates. The fellows were selected based on evidence of outstanding academic and scholarly achievements, strong potential for success in pursuing a tenure-track position at a research institution and the level of commitment from sponsoring University of Minnesota departments or units to provide research funding and faculty mentors.
Each fellow will receive an annual stipend of $45,000 plus benefits and will pursue scholarly research, teach one course, participate in monthly professional development seminars and engage in mentoring relationships with faculty. The fellowship may be renewable for a second year. For more information on the fellowship see: www.grad.umn.edu/postdocfellowship/