Meet ASU’s first-ever cohort of presidential scholars

The Graduate College is pleased to welcome the inaugural cohort of Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows and Presidential Graduate Assistants to ASU. 

Launched as part of the LIFT Initiative — ASU's commitment to Black students, faculty and staff, and other underrepresented groups and individuals — the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship and Graduate Assistantship programs, administered by the Graduate College, were created to diversify the ASU faculty, award graduate students from underrepresented communities research and teaching assistantships and support ASU’s ongoing efforts to develop and advance a culture of belonging and excellence. 

An acronym for Listen, Invest, Facilitate and Teach, LIFT is elevating conversations around the importance and significance of this transformation for the lived experiences of ASU’s Black students, faculty and staff. 

“The Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship and Presidential Graduate Assistantship programs help ASU accelerate meaningful change by bringing talented, diverse students and postdocs to the university,” said Elizabeth A. Wentz, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College. “Our new scholars are advancing research that will help ASU contribute to a national agenda for social justice, a goal of the LIFT Initiative.”

ASU established the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to create a pathway to tenure-track positions at ASU for scholars from underrepresented communities. Four new fellows joined ASU this year. 

Also established this year, the Presidential Graduate Assistant program is a merit-based award created to support the recruitment, professional development and faculty mentoring of doctoral students in all fields whose research, teaching and service will contribute to advancing the ASU Charter. There are 22 graduate students in the Presidential Graduate Assistant 2021–22 cohort.

The Graduate College is preparing the call for proposals to go out to ASU academic units for the 2022–23 presidential postdoctoral fellowships and graduate assistantships.

Meet the 2021-22 Presidential Scholars

 

Gloria Appiah Nsiah Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering	DeAndre Augustus The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Theodore Beatty Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts	Kevin Brown Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
Jamie Casseus The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Vidya Chandrasekhar Krishnan Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering	Xavier Celaya The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Brittany Doss College of Integrative Arts and Sciences
Miracle Freckleton The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Kelsie Herzer Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering	Ashlee Lambert The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Kenneth Mims Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
Miguel Monzon Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts	Aurora Munoz Casarrubias The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Pauline Nalumansi College of Global Futures	Eucharia Nwabichie Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation
Diego Olivo The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Alejandro Olvera The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Crestcencia Ortiz-Barnett Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts	Antonia Primus Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation
Talia Saeid The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences	Isaiah Woodson Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows

Dominic Bednar College of Global Futures

Emmanuel Salifu Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Juwan Bennett Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions

Krystlelynn Caraballo Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions