Seven Faculty Members Appointed to Endowed Bass Connections Professorships
Through the generosity of donors and the Bass Connections Challenge Fund, we are pleased to announce seven newly appointed named faculty professorships that range across three Duke schools.
Bass Connections professorships recognize faculty whose scholarship and teaching align with the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the program, while also recognizing the wider engagement and contributions of Duke schools to this university-wide effort. Individuals receiving Bass Connections professorships hold them for an initial term of up to seven years, with the possibility of renewal.
Over the past five years, Bass Connections has partnered with Duke schools and donors to create 13 faculty professorships, many of which align with one of the five Bass Connections themes. As the program continues to grow and evolve, we are grateful for the enduring commitment of our donors, whose support has inspired and strengthened our educational and research impacts and those of faculty leaders.
Newly appointed Bass Connections professorships include:
Elika Bergelson, Crandall Family Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
School: Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Bass Connections theme: Education & Human Development
Bergelson’s research investigates the interplay of processes during language acquisition, including how word learning relates to social and cognitive development during the first two years of life. She is a member of the faculty steering committee for ABC Thrive, a Bass Connections initiative that promotes research around early childhood development, and a recipient of an ABC Thrive interdisciplinary seed grant to study language acquisition in young children with impaired vision and hearing.
Staci Bilbo, Haley Family Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
School: Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Bass Connections theme: Brain & Society
Bilbo’s research seeks to understand the role of the immune system during brain development, including how early life events shape health throughout the entire lifespan. Bilbo is returning to Duke as the Haley Family Professor in July 2019 after three years at Harvard University. While previously at Duke, Bilbo co-led two Bass Connections teams that investigated the impact of maternal health on brain development and the early-life origins of health disparities.
Anna Gassman-Pines, WLF Bass Connections Associate Professor of Public Policy
School: Sanford School of Public Policy
Bass Connections theme: Unaffiliated
The theme leader for Education & Human Development, Anna Gassman-Pines has co-led three Bass Connections teams. Most recently, Gassman-Pines co-led a team investigating federal spending on American children. Her research focuses on low-wage work, family life and the effects of welfare and employment policy on child and maternal well-being in low-income families.
Amanda Randles, Alfred Winborne Mordecai and Victoria Stover Mordecai Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
School: Pratt School of Engineering
Bass Connections theme: Unaffiliated
Randles’ research on biomedical simulation, system modeling and high performance computing focuses on the development of new computational tools that can provide insight into the development of human diseases. In 2017, Randles was named an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35, which recognizes exceptional young innovators whose work has the potential to transform the world. She is a member of the Bass Connections Faculty Advisory Council.
Steve Sexton, Mark and Lynne Florian Assistant Professor of Public Policy
School: Sanford School of Public Policy
Bass Connections theme: Energy & Environment
Sexton’s research focuses on energy industry organization and energy policy, as well as environmental and transportation policy, particularly as they pertain to carbon emissions reductions. He is a faculty fellow of the Duke University Energy Initiative, where he leads the Energy Initiative Doctoral Student Fellows program.
Stacy Tantum, Bell-Rhodes Associate Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering
School: Pratt School of Engineering
Bass Connections theme: Information, Society & Culture
Tantum’s research investigates statistical signal processing and its applications to remote sensing and ocean acoustics. She leads the expansion of Pratt’s Introduction to Data & Decision Sciences course. Piloted in 2017, this “data lab” course will soon be a requirement for sophomores studying engineering and will give students early experience engaging in the application of data to real-world challenges while working on collaborative, interdisciplinary teams.
Vahid Tarokh, Rhodes Family Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
School: Pratt School of Engineering
Bass Connections theme: Information, Society & Culture
Tarokh joined Duke in January 2018 from Harvard University. His research focuses on communications and signal processing, and he helped invent the space-time codes that provide signal redundancy during data transmission (now used in most cellular phones). Tarokh also has developed foundational approaches to cognitive radios and distributed communication techniques currently deployed to share valuable spectral resources. He is a faculty affiliate of the Information Initiative at Duke (iiD), which is home to the Information, Society & Culture theme.
Previous recipients of Bass Connections professorships include Lori Bennear and David Boyd. In June 2017, Bennear was named the Grainger Associate Professor of Energy and Economics Policy by the Nicholas School of the Environment. Bennear is the theme leader for the Energy & Environment theme and has co-led five Bass Connections teams.
In July 2017, Boyd was named the Hymowitz Professor of the Practice of Global Health. Boyd co-leads the Global Health theme and has served as a faculty director of the Duke Global Health Institute’s Student Research Training Program in Guatemala.
Learn More
- Learn how faculty can get involved in Bass Connections and check out reflections from faculty on their experiences.
- Review the Bass Connections 2017-2018 Annual Report.
- Browse stories from students on their Bass Connections experience.
Images: Top row: Elika Bergelson, Staci Bilbo, Vahid Tarokh, Amanda Randles; Bottom row: Steve Sexton, Stacy Tantum, Anna Gassman-Pines