The nine schools that make up Emory University have big plans for the 2017-18 academic year. Get the stats on their incoming classes, plus a roundup of what's on tap for this semester — from new degree programs to new leaders — as listed by each school.
Candler School of Theology
Incoming class: Candler welcomes 185 incoming students from six countries, 34 states and 30 denominations.
Faculty: Jan Love, dean of Candler since 2007, will be installed as the school’s inaugural Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean during the school’s Fall Convocation on Aug. 24. Helen Jin Kim joins the faculty as assistant professor of American religious history, and the school also welcomes six distinguished visiting professors to campus this year.
Noteworthy events: Pitts Theology Library offers two opportunities to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation: a new exhibit showcasing the library’s renowned Kessler Reformation Collection runs through Nov. 27, while the 30th annual Reformation Day at Emory will take place on Oct. 26, exploring the question, “Did the Reformation Fail?” On Oct. 11, the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, will speak in Cannon Chapel.
Candler’s Laney Legacy in Moral Leadership will sponsor a trio of events on moral injury: a Veterans Recognition worship service on Oct. 12 with guest preacher Rear Admiral Margaret Kibben, chief of chaplains of the Navy; an Oct. 13 lecture by Rita Brock, author of "Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War" (Beacon, 2013); and a symposium on moral injury on Oct. 14. Imam Abdullah Antepli, chief representative of Muslim affairs at Duke University, will lecture on multifaith understanding and engagement on Nov. 1. Popular author Lauren Winner ("Girl Meets God, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis") will be the featured speaker at the Women, Theology and Ministry’s Annual Forum on Nov. 2.
Learn more at Candler's website.
Emory College of Arts and Sciences
Incoming class: The Emory College Class of 2021 includes 1,404 students from 39 countries, and domestically, from 47 states, chosen from the largest and most competitive application pool to date.
New leadership: Michael A. Elliott, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English, officially began his tenure as the new dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences on July 1, following a national search.
Notable faculty: The College welcomes 38 new tenure- and lecture-track faculty across the arts and sciences. Included in the cohort are five professors and lecturers in the natural and social sciences, the result of a coordinated, cross-departmental cluster hire to recruit faculty who, in addition to excellent teaching and research portfolios, have a proven track record of successfully mentoring a diverse student body, especially underrepresented populations in the sciences.
New formula for chemistry: The Department of Chemistry launches a completely new curriculum for undergraduates this fall. Supported by a $1.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the new curriculum features five interdisciplinary foundational courses that give exposure to organic, inorganic and physical chemistry to students early on in their education using hands-on, collaborative instruction.
The new curriculum features direct exposure to current research and its relevancy to multiple fields within and outside of chemistry. It also includes specialty courses for upperclassmen that delve deeper into those connections in subjects ranging from nuclear chemistry in medicine to the cellular respiration that defines metabolism.
New programs: Students will have a new major in public policy offered jointly by the Department of Political Science and the Quantitative Theory and Methods program. The Department of Film and Media Studies also is offering a new concentration in documentary films and filmmaking.
Learn more at college.emory.edu
Goizueta Business School
Incoming classes: This fall, Goizueta welcomes the new Two-Year Full-Time MBA Class of 2019. Made up of 172 students, the 2019 class represents 22 different countries and 21 have membership in the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. The class also includes 11 U.S. military veterans who represent the Army, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force.
New faculty: Panagiotis (Panos) Adamopoulos, assistant professor of information systems and operations management; Tetyana Balyuk, assistant professor of finance; Ruomeng Cui, assistant professor of information systems and operations management; Christoph Herpfer, assistant professor of finance; Ozgecan Kocak, associate professor of organization and management; Daniel McCarthy, assistant professor of marketing; Karen Sedatole, professor of accounting; Jianxin (Donny) Zhao, assistant professor of accounting; Renee Dye, associate professor in the practice of organization and management; Karl Kuhnert, professor in the practice of organization and management
New program: Goizueta welcomes the inaugural class of the new master of science in business analytics degree, or MSBA. The program is specifically built for individuals who wish to speak the combined language of technology, business and data. The program produces business data scientists skilled at serving in any function, organization or field. Students will have the ability to learn through a multi-disciplinary curriculum integrating business, data and technology, as well through interactions with leading companies and executives who provide real-world, data-intensive projects.
Learn more at goizueta.emory.edu
Laney Graduate School
Incoming class: The Laney Graduate School is pleased to welcome 403 degree seeking students, representing 35 countries. More than 80 percent of the students are pursing the PhD.
Annual symposium: From Oct. 1-3, the Laney Graduate School will convene the annual STEM Research and Career Symposium. The STEM Symposium brings faculty advisers and nearly 100 students from diverse backgrounds to the Emory campus for two days of shared research presentations and for networking, mentoring and recruitment. The keynote speakers for this year are Leslie Caromile, a professor at the Center for Vascular Biology at the University of Connecticut Health Center, and Kenneth Gibbs Jr., a program analyst in the Office of Program Planning, Analysis and Evaluation at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
New programming: The Laney Graduate School has received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to expand professional competencies and integrate public scholarship into humanities doctoral training, as well as graduate teaching and research endeavors. Programming in the “Mellon Humanities PhD Interventions Project” will include curriculum development grants for faculty; student intervention grants to support student engagement and exploration of public scholarship, innovative teaching and career pathways; and campus events to share and reflect on innovation activities. Programming will get underway in the 2017-18 academic year.
Learn more at gs.emory.edu
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Incoming and returning classes: The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing welcomes a competitive group of nurse leaders and schools to its community that includes 167 new BSN students and 273 returning BSN students, who hail from 39 states and 9 countries. There are 233 new students enrolled in the school's MSN program, 49 percent of whom earned their BSN degrees from Emory. There are 30 students enrolled in the PhD program and 45 students enrolled in the DNP program.
The School of Nursing recently earned designation as a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence in Nursing Education. Emory is one of only 16 schools selected for the honor this year.
New faculty: Susan Brasher, assistant professor, clinical track, Glenna Brewster, assistant research professor; Ann-Marie Brown, assistant clinical professor; Michael Conti, assistant director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program; Alexis Dunn, assistant professor, research track; Laura Kimble, assistant dean for clinical advancement; Rebecca Mitchell, visiting assistant professor; Patricia Moreland, assistant clinical professor; Victoria Pak, assistant professor; Kelly Wiltse Nicely, director, DNP, Nurse Anesthesia; Tim Porter-O’Grady, professor, clinical track; Roy Simpson, assistant dean for technology management; Lisa Thompson, associate professor; and Paula Tucker, assistant clinical professor.
Faculty honors: Nursing faculty Elizabeth Downes, professor; Dorothy Jordan, assistant clinical professor; Lisa Thompson, associate professor; and adjunct faculty Barbara Tomczyk, senior nurse scientist, CDC; and Sharon Vanairsdale, program director, Serious Communicable Diseases Unit, Emory University Hospital, were selected as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Fellows represent 36 percent the School of Nursing’s full-time faculty and 81 percent of tenured faculty.
New programs: This fall, the School of Nursing welcomes its first cohort of students in its Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Nurse Anesthesia track. The 36-month Nurse Anesthesia program prepares students with theoretical knowledge and clinical experience to ensure patient safety and comfort across the continuum of care – from pre-operative assessment through recovery. Students also gain a foundation in business, leadership and practice skills to expand their practice after graduation through the School of Nursing’s established DNP Health Systems Leadership program. Emory’s Nurse Anesthesia program is the first doctoral-level Nurse Anesthesia program in Georgia.
Learn more at nursing.emory.edu
Oxford College
Incoming class: Oxford welcomes 482 first-year students, who are drawn from 41 states, the District of Columbia, two U.S. territories and 21 foreign countries. Thirty-eight percent of the entering class applied through the Early Decision process. Total enrollment is 990, and this is the most highly credentialed entering class as well as student body in Oxford’s history.
Senior associate dean: Danielle Miller begins the year as senior associate dean of finance, operations, and information technology. Prior to coming to Oxford in July she was director of finance and strategic initiatives at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.
New faculty: Melissa Hage, assistant professor of environmental science; Michael Martin, lecturer in biology and environmental science; Pablo Palomino, assistant professor of Latin American Caribbean studies; Gwendolynne Collins Reid, assistant professor of English and director of the writing program; and Teresa Romano, assistant professor of economics.
Pierce Hall redevelopment: Construction continues on Pierce Hall, built in 1962. When the building opens in January 2018, it will be updated with 21st-century classrooms, art studio, social-science lab, offices, and spaces for faculty/student interaction and multi-discipline collaboration.
Learn more at oxford.emory.edu
Rollins School of Public Health
Incoming class: Rollins welcomes 588 MPH and MSPH students from 29 countries and 42 states.
New faculty: James V. Lavery has been named the inaugural Hilton Chair in Global Health Ethics at the Hubert Department of Global Health as well as a faculty fellow of the Emory Center for Ethics. Lavery, who began his tenure in November 2016, provides leadership in public health ethics across the university and serves as a resource to Emory's partners in the global health community.
Select honors: K.M. Venkat Narayan has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Narayan, Ruth and O.C. Hubert Professor of Global Health in the Hubert Department of Global Health and director of the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center at the Rollins School of Public Health, is one of the world’s leading researchers on type 2 diabetes. Karen Levy, associate professor of environmental health, was selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as a 2017-2018 Public Engagement Fellow. Felipe Lobelo, associate professor of global health, was appointed to the board of directors for Action For Healthy Kids, which works with schools to fight the national epidemic of childhood obesity and poor health. Dabney Evans, associate professor of global health, has been appointed interim director of the Laney Graduate School’s Institute for Developing Nations (IDN). Established in 2006, IDN connects research and academic programs at Emory and The Carter Center’s Peace and Health programs. Evans was also just awarded the 2017 American Public Health Association Mid-Career Award in International Health. Limin Peng, professor of biostatistics, has been selected as the American Public Health Association 2017 Mortimer Spiegelman Award recipient. This top award is given to junior biostatisticians in the United States for their contributions to the statistics and biostatistics community.
Notable awards: The HERCULES Exposome Research Center based in the Rollins School of Public Health has received a $7.5 million renewal in funding for the next five years from the National Institutes of Health. Gary W. Miller is the director of HERCULES and Asa Griggs Candler Professor and associate dean for research at the Rollins School of Public Health.
Learn more at sph.emory.edu
School of Law
Incoming class: Emory Law welcomes new students from more than 32 states, the District of Columbia, 29 countries and 249 prior institutions to its Juris Doctor, Juris Master, Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degree programs.
Interim dean: Judson Graves, Emory Law Class of 1975 alumnus and longtime partner with the international law firm Alston & Bird, was appointed interim dean, effective Aug. 1.
New programs: The Juris Master (JM) program, which provides legal training for working professionals, now offers an online course of study in health care law, policy and regulation, and in business law and regulation. The first students have enrolled for the fall 2017 semester. Emory Law is also taking applications for an online master of laws (LLM) program in the same concentrations, for spring 2018 enrollment.
School honor: Emory Law has received the American Bar Association’s National Achievement Award for Diversity, Law Student Division, for a spring 2017 Diversity Day “Real Talk with an Attorney” event, organized by student leaders of the Houses program.
Select faculty honors: Polly J. Price, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law and professor of global health, has been named one of 35 recipients of the 2017 Andrew Carnegie fellowship. Chaired positions have been approved for the following Emory Law faculty members: Richard Freer, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law; Michael Kang, Thomas Simmons Professor of Law; Jonathan Nash, Robert Howell Hall Professor of Law; Teemu Ruskola, Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law; Sue Payne, William & Jane Carney Professor of Transactional Law & Practice.
Learn more at law.emory.edu
School of Medicine
Incoming class: The incoming MD class has 138 first-year students: 60 percent women and 70 percent nontraditional (one or more years out of college prior to medical school). They come to Emory from 63 different undergraduate institutions, 30 different states and 16 different countries outside the U.S.
School stats: The SOM has 575 students total and trains 1,266 residents and fellows in 104 accredited programs. The school has 93 MD/PhD students. There are 509 students across five allied health programs: physical therapy, physician assistant, anesthesiologist assistant, genetic counseling and medical imaging. The school has 2,581 full-time faculty and 790 volunteer faculty.
Taking the lead: The School of Medicine welcomes Erin Mitchell Richeson as the new director for Organizational Equity and Inclusion. She will serve as a key partner to the School’s Executive Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, leading comprehensive efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion across all missions within the School of Medicine. A service learning component has been added to the MD Program curriculum, spearheaded by Dr. Mary Jo Lechowicz. Led by Dr. Mary Dolan, the EmoryDOCS (Development of Careers and Specialty Choice) program has launched, designed to advise and assist medical students about career decision-making, career exploration, choosing a specialty, and getting into residency. David Stephens, vice president for research in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and chair of the Department of Medicine, is interim dean of the School of Medicine. W. Robert Taylor, director of the Division of Cardiology, is interim chair of the Department of Medicine. Camille Vaughan is section chief of Emory Geriatrics and Gerontology.
Education, evaluation and events: MD students are entering their third year of longitudinal quality improvement and patient safety education developed and implemented with grant support from the American Medical Association. The Office of Graduate Medical Education will initiate a learning environment evaluation process at every partner hospital, modeled after the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Clinical Learning Environment Review process. The Department of Medicine will host free, public discussions on the opioid epidemic, proton therapy, and colon cancer screening.
Learn more at med.emory.edu