Case Western Reserve University is proud to welcome its newest cohort of accomplished faculty members across our schools and colleges. From pioneering breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and quantum gravity to advancing suicide prevention, pediatric surgery, and sustainable energy, these distinguished scholars, researchers, and practitioners bring a wealth of expertise and innovation to our community. Many are returning to CWRU as proud alumni, while others join us from prestigious institutions and industry leadership across the globe.
Read on to learn more about our new faculty members, their groundbreaking research, and what they look forward to exploring in Cleveland.
Morgan Frank, PhD
Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Design and Innovation, Weatherhead School of Management
Frank most recently worked as an assistant professor at University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized in how technology impacts careers, education and economic resilience. This semester, he will instruct students at Weatherhead School of Management in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Aside from his main research, Frank has concurrent projects looking into the careers of fossil fuel workers transitioning into the green energy sector, examining the factors that shape international “brain drain” when migrants fail to return home after education abroad, and a new project looking into how the composition of research groups shapes the early careers of academics.
Lindsey Godwin, PhD (GRS ’08, organizational behavior)
Professor, Organizational Behavior, Covia–David L. Cooperrider Professor of Appreciative Inquiry, Weatherhead School of Management
After earning her PhD in Organizational Behavior from Weatherhead School of Management. Godwin is returning to campus after serving as the Robert P. Stiller Endowed Chair of Management in the Stiller School of Business and Academic Director of the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, a global hub for the Appreciative Inquiry community of practice. She will be teaching leadership and organizational change courses across Weatherhead’s many programs, with an emphasis on experiential learning and practice. In addition to her academic work, Godwin has published two children’s books designed to foster curiosity and question-asking in early childhood.
Alison Athey, PhD, (GRS ’16, ’20, psychology)
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences
Athey returns to Case Western Reserve University as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences after serving as a behavioral scientist at RAND and a therapist at the Bipolar Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Athey leads the new Sentinel Lab for Crisis Response and Recovery, where her research advances suicide and overdose prevention, with a particular focus on supporting caregivers and families affected by life-threatening crises and loss. At CWRU, she'll work on projects studying the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline while teaching undergraduate and graduate courses. Outside of work, she's enjoying rediscovering Cleveland alongside her rescue dog, Yoko—a Cleveland native adopted from City Dogs.
Ying Liang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences
Liang previously served as an assistant research professor at Duke University before joining the Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics at CWRU. Her research focuses on developing numerical algorithms and mathematical theory for reconstructing images and recovering information from indirect or noisy measurements. She also develops machine-learning and data-driven methods for solving problems arising in the physical sciences. Liang is excited to collaborate with researchers across campus and with partners including Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals while teaching courses in scientific computing, numerical analysis and machine learning. In her free time, she enjoys watercolor painting, reading novels and traveling.
Natalie Briggs, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Briggs brings experience from Intel Corporation, where she worked with scientists and engineers to develop materials for the next generation of computer chips. Now an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry, Briggs studies ultra-thin materials that could power future technologies, from advanced sensors to electronics. She plans to develop new methods for working with materials at the atomic scale while helping students connect classroom science to the technologies they use every day. When she's not in the lab, Briggs enjoys exploring the outdoors and looks forward to discovering Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Great Lakes region.
Thomas Sawyer, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences
Sawyer spent the past five years teaching at University of Chicago Center for Writing before joining CWRU as an assistant professor in the Department of English. This semester, he's teaching courses on English literature before 1800 and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, with plans to expand his offerings to topics ranging from medieval manuscripts to board games as literature. Sawyer is also beginning his second book project on the influence of Anglo-Latin poetry on Middle English poetry. Away from campus, he enjoys hiking, camping, rock climbing and seeking out great single-origin coffee.
Joshua Basseches, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
Basseches arrived at CWRU after teaching public policy and environmental studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. His research examines how energy and climate policies are shaped in the United States, with a particular focus on the role of investor-owned utilities. This semester, Basseches will teach an introduction to U.S. politics, and in the future will teach courses on interest groups and lobbying, state politics, public policy-making and U.S. energy and climate policy. He especially enjoys mentoring students and is looking forward to spending time on Lake Erie as a competitive sailor.
Claire Zukowski, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
Zukowski joins Case Western Reserve University as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics after serving as an assistant professor at University of Minnesota Duluth. Her research focuses on quantum gravity—the physics needed to understand phenomena deep inside black holes and in the moments immediately following the Big Bang. At CWRU, she'll continue developing more realistic models of quantum gravity while bringing active-learning approaches to teaching undergraduate quantum mechanics. Outside the classroom and lab, Zukowski is the proud owner of two cats, who may make an appearance in her physics problem sets.
Wenjian Gan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine
Gan moved to the United States 14 years ago after growing up in China. Now an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, his research investigates the fundamental drivers of cancer, specifically focusing on how protein arginine methylation hijacks cell signaling and epigenetic mechanisms to promote tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. Gan also loves to cook because it reminds him of a science experiment: “I follow a recipe once, tweak the variables the second time, and eventually create my own original dishes to share with my family!”
Mohammad Nazim, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine
Nazim’s research focuses on the intersection of RNA and chromatin biology, particularly how alternative RNA processing influences gene regulation and chromatin function, and how disruptions in those processes contribute to human diseases such as neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer. Nazim grew up in Bangladesh and later spent several years in Japan for his graduate studies before moving to the U.S. for postdoctoral training at UCLA. Outside the lab, he enjoys spending time exploring Cleveland with his wife and two boys.
Jacob Witten, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, School of Medicine
Witten comes to Cleveland to conduct research on gene therapy as an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences after living in upstate New York, Los Angeles and Boston. On the side, Witten writes and has an article coming out in Works in Progress, a magazine of new and underrated ideas to improve the world in areas such as economic growth, technology, policy, medical research, energy, and more.
Osama Alkhateeb, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering, Case School of Engineering
Alkhateeb joins the Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering as an associate professor after seven years on the faculty at the University of Akron. His research focuses on computational electromagnetics, developing advanced methods for solving complex electromagnetic problems. In addition to teaching core undergraduate courses in circuits, electronics and electromagnetics, Alkhateeb looks forward to mentoring students and contributing to the department's curriculum. Much of his time outside work is spent with his wife, Tala, and their two daughters, Eleen and Naya.
Emily Jensen, PhD (CWR ’18)
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Data Sciences, Case School of Engineering
Jensen is returning to their alma mater as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Data Sciences after teaching at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Jensen researches intelligent tutoring systems, combining computer science, psychology and education, and scaling theories of learning from the classroom to reach more students through educational technology tools. Their teaching and research at CWRU will focus on computer science education, helping students build both technical skills and the confidence to tackle new challenges. Jensen is especially passionate about introducing students to computing and helping them discover a love for the field.
Paul Bermudez, DMD, MD (DEN ’15, MED ’18)
Assistant Professor, Residency Program Director, School of Dental Medicine
Bermudez joined the School of Dental Medicine’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery as assistant professor and residency program director. He returns to Case Western Reserve University after serving as the pediatric craniomaxillofacial surgeon at Detroit’s Henry Ford St. John Children’s Hospital and oral and maxillofacial surgeon and residency program director at Henry Ford Warren Hospital. Bermudez’s research areas of interest are pediatric craniomaxillofacial surgery, orthognathic surgery, surgical education and global surgery.
David Selvaraj, PhD (GRS ’16, medical physiology; MGT ’21; GRS ’26, clinical translational science)
Assistant Professor, Community Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine
Selvaraj’s areas of expertise include using electronic health records to integrate medical and dental healthcare as well as minimally invasive management of tooth and bone decay. Selvaraj looks forward to starting his independent research program which will integrate oral health into primary care delivery and leverages real-world data systems for evaluation.
Candace Mori, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing
Mori is the chief nursing officer at the MetroHealth system and is excited to build upon the partnership between MetroHealth and Case Western Reserve to produce stronger nurses, healthier communities, meaningful research and innovative models of care. In addition to her time at MetroHealth, Mori has held leadership positions at Wooster Community Hospital and was an assistant professor at University of Akron, her alma mater. She has numerous publications in orthopedics and bariatric nursing and is passionate about advancing nursing practice. Outside of work, Mori enjoys all things sports and outdoors and can often be found hiking, running or playing softball and volleyball.
