Faculty Appointments & Leaves 2026-2027

New, Continuing, and Reappointed Faculty

Oluwafunmilayo Akinpelu
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
B.S., Obafemi Awolowo University; M.A., Central European University; Ph.D., University of Alabama
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

William S. Andrews
Visiting Instructor of Psychology
B.A., Middle Tennessee State University; B.S.., University of Tennessee, Knoxville; B.A., M.B.A., A.B.D., University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

Anke Arnaud
Visiting Professor of Marketing
B.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.; University of Central Florida
Term Reappointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Aditya Bhattacharjee
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
B.A., M.A., McGill University; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Tenure-Track Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Layne H. Bradley
Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics
B.S., University of Georgia; M.S., Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D., University of Georgia
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

Tyler Brock
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S., Piedmont University; M.S., Southeastern Louisiana University; Ph.D., University of Mississippi
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Molly McCully Brown
Associate Professor of English & Creative Writing
A.A., Bard College at Simon’s Rock; B.A., Stanford University; M.F.A., University of Mississippi
Tenure-Track Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Susan Buckingham
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
B.A., The College of Wooster; M.S., Ph.D., University of Vermont
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Daniel Burnfin
Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy
B.A., M.A., M.Phil., Catholic University of Leuven; M.A., University of Heidelberg; Ph.D., University of Chicago
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Jamie Capuzza
Visiting Professor of American Studies, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Rhetoric
B.A., Mount Union College; M.A., Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Term Appointment, Academic Years 2024-2025 - 2027-2028

Daniel Clay Carter
Teaching Assistant Professor of Earth & Environmental Science
B.S., Middle Tennessee State University; Ph.D., University of Tennessee
Term Reappointment, Academic Years 2024-2025 - 2026-2027

Juan Carlos Castillo
Associate Professor of Spanish
B.A., Universidad de Deusto; M.A., University of Iowa; M.A., University of Iowa; Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park
Tenured Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Alix Ehlers
Postdoctoral Fellow in Mineral Physics
B.A., B.S., University of Vermont; Ph.D., Virginia Tech
Term Appointment, August 2026 - July 2028

Maria Falikman
Teaching Professor of Psychology
B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Lomonosov Moscow State University
Non-Tenure-Track Reappointment, Academic Years 2026-2027 - 2028-2029

Terri D. Fisher
Teaching Professor of Psychology
B.A., Wake Forest University; M.A., The University of Georgia; Ph.D., The University of Georgia
Term Reappointment, Academic Years 2025-2026 - 2027-2028

Rob Griswold
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
B.A., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Term Reappointment, Fall 2026

Alexis Hagestad
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Photography, and Video
B.F.A., Savannah College of Art & Design; M.F.A., University of Arizona, exp. 2026
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Stephen Hancock
Visiting Instructor of Physics
B.S., University of the South; B.S., M.S., Washington University in St. Louis
Term Reappointment, Academic Years 2026-2027 - 2028-2029

J. Garrett Heatherly
Visiting Instructor of Psychology
B.A., The University of the South; M.A., A.B.D., Spalding University
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Abigail Hedley
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art
B.F.A., University of Northern Iowa; M.F.A., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

Linxian Huang
Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics
B.S., Guangxi University; M.S., Middle Tennessee State University (Ph.D. expected May 2023)
Term Appointment, Academic Years 2025-2026 - 2027-2028

Solbi Kim
Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics
B.A., M.A., Ewha Woman’s University; Ph.D., University of Georgia
Term Appointment, 8/1/2026 - 2027

Charlie Kirchen
Visiting Instructor of Music
B.A., Northwestern University; M.A., University of Chicago; M.A., Columbia University
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Patten Mahler
Associate Professor of Economics & Finance
B.S., Davidson College; M.A., Duke University; M.S., Indiana University; Ph.D., University of Virginia
Tenured Conversion, Academic Year 2026-2027

Alessia Martini
Assistant Professor of Italian
B.A., Università di Pisa; M.A., Universià per Stranieri de Siena; M.A., Florida Atlantic University; Ph.D., UNC Chapel Hill
Tenure-Track Conversion, Academic Year 2026-2027

Brian McCray
Visiting Assistant Professor of Earth & Environmental Systems
B.A., University of Virginia; M.A., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

C. Meaks Meaker
Visiting Assistant Professor of English & Creative Writing
B.A., Knox College; M.F.A., University of Iowa
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Rachel Misheff
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music
B.M., Eastern Kentucky University; M.M., Samford University; D.M.A., University of South Carolina
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Alejandro Mylonas-Leegstra
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
B.A., University of La Laguna; M.A., Complutense University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Term Reappointment, Academic Years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027

Eileen O’Connor
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
B.A., Harvard University; M.A., New York University; Ph.D., University College, Cork
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

Elizabeth Quinn-Stine
Visiting Instructor of Mathematics
B.A., Brown University; M.S., University of Washington; M.S., University Tennessee-Chattanooga
Term Appointment, Fall 2026

Christopher Saint Jean
Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics
B.A., City University of New York; M.A., Ph.D., Rutgers University
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Leo Seballos
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
B.S., Loyola Marymount University, Ph.D., University of California
Term Appointment, Academic Years 2026-2027 - 2028-2029

Merri Siegfried
Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance
B.A., Middle Tennessee State University; M.F.A., Jacksonville State University
Term Appointment, Spring 2027

Heidi Siegrist
Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference Director and Visiting Assistant Professor of English
B.A., University of Chicago; M.F.A., University of the South; M.A., Ph.D, University of Virginia
Term Reappointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Helen Stapleton
Visiting Instructor of French
B.A., The University of the South; M.S., Georgia State University
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Richard Tate
Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology
A.A., Mt. Hood Community College; B.S., Humboldt State University; Ph.D., University of Florida
Term Reappointment, Fall 2026

Bryan Walker
Visiting Instructor of Mathematics
B.S., The University of the South; M.S., The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Term Appointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

W. Grady Wells
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S., Tennessee Technological University; M.S., Murray State University; Ph.D., Tennessee Technological University
Term Reappointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Cameron World
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S., Ph.D., University of Queensland
Term Reappointment, Academic Year 2026-2027

Prakash Wright
Teaching Professor of Music
Bachelor of Arts, McDaniel College; Master of Arts, University of North Texas
Term Reappointment, 2026-2027 - 2028-2029

Lu Yi
Assistant Professor of Finance
B.S., M.S., Simon Fraser University; Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Tenure-Track Appointment, 2026-2027

Eric J. Zinn
Instructor of Accounting
B.A., University of the South; J.D., L.L.M., University of Florida; M.S., M.B.A., University of Colorado, Denver
Term Reappointment, 2026-2027 - 2028-2029

Research Appointments

Doug Durig 

Sherry Hamby 

Linda Mayes

Shana Minkin 

Sarah Sherwood 

C. Ken Smith 

Craig Stubblebine, emeritus

Faculty Not Returning

Autumn Averitt

Molly Brookfield

Elise Chapman

Durell Cooper

Shuler Hopkins

Sam Johnson

Youngwha Kim

Pradip Malde

Luis Mendez

Tiffany Momon

Steve Raulston

Giovanni F. Román-Torres

Merisa Bahar Sahin

Elizabeth Teeter

Wanda Yang Temko

Jane Millar Tully

Li-Chun Richard Tung

Jim Whiteside

Faculty Appointments and Leaves from previous years can be found here.