Teresa Gilliams, Ph.D. of St. Paul, Minn., has joined Albright as assistant professor of English. Her area of expertise is African-American literature. Prior to joining Albright, Gilliams was an adjunct professor at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa., and at the Community College of Philadelphia. She has also taught at Bowie State University in Bowie, Md., and at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., where she was presented with an Outstanding Faculty Award in 2002. She received her Ph.D. in English from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Richard Hamwi, Ph.D. of Erie, Pa., has been appointed assistant professor of art. Since 1999, he has taught courses in drawing, watercolor painting, elementary and secondary art education, and art appreciation at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. Last summer he also taught high school students at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. He has exhibited in both solo and group shows across the country and has work in several permanent collections, including the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. He received his Ph.D. in art education from The Pennsylvania State University.

Aaron David Hoffman, Ph.D. of Falls Church, Va., has joined Albright as visiting assistant professor of political science. Most recently he served as assistant to the chair of the department of art at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where he was also an instructor in the Metropolitan College. His teaching and research fields include contemporary social and political theory, history of political theory, theory/public policy relations, American government, American political thought and American presidency. Hoffman received his Ph.D. in political theory and American government from The Catholic University.

Victor Forte, Ph.D. of Hadden Heights, N.J., has joined Albright as visiting assistant professor of religion. Forte previously taught at Temple University while pursuing his Ph.D. in religion. He also served as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University during the 2003-04 year. His areas of concentration include Japanese Buddhism, philosophy of Nishida Kitaro, post-modern continental philosophy and Taoism.

Irene Langran, Ph.D. of Upper Darby, Pa., has joined Albright as visiting assistant professor of political science. Prior to joining Albright, Langran served as director of donor relations at Carelift International in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. She has also served as a consultant in the Democracy Program of The Carter Center, executive director of the Women’s International Campaign and associate director in the Center for Peace and Justice Education at Villanova University. Her teaching experience includes serving as an adjunct professor at Villanova and the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, where she received her Ph.D. in political science.

Eunjee Shin, Ph.D. of State College, Pa., has joined Albright as assistant professor in mathematics. She served as a postdoctoral scholar in the department of mathematics at The Pennsylvania State University since 2001 and has published several papers in publications such as the European Journal of Applied Mathematics and the Journal of Electronic Materials. Shin’s research interests include applied mathematics with expertise in partial differential equations; numerical analysis, finite element analysis; application of non-linear coupled field solvers to physical and engineering systems; and mathematical programming in the UNIX environment. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Mary Lois White, Ph.D. of Gainesville, Fla., will serve as assistant professor of economics. She has been an instructor in the department of economics and geography at the University of North Florida since 2002 and has served as a research associate for the Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, Institute for Science and Public Affairs, Florida State University, and for Econometrics Consulting, Inc. In 2000, she was awarded the Irwin & Peggy Sobel Award for Academic Achievement for the best academic record among graduate students admitted to a Ph.D. candidacy. White received her Ph.D. from The Florida State University.

Chenyang Xiao, Ph.D. of Pullman, Wash., joins Albright as assistant professor of sociology. Xiao previously served as an instructor in sociology at Washington State University while he earned a Ph.D. in sociology. He co-published an article, “Politics and Environment in America: Partisan and Ideological Cleavages in Public Support for Environmentalism” in the journal Environmental Politics. Xiao’s areas of interest include environmental sociology and research methods/statistics.

Michael Gasper, Ph.D. of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been appointed assistant professor of history. His area of expertise is the history of the Islamic World. Gasper previously served as an adjunct professor at York College in N.Y. and as an instructor at New York University. He has published an article, “Abdallah Nadim, Islamic Reform, and ‘Ignorant’ Peasants: State-Building in Egypt?” in volume three of the Yearbook of the Sociology of Islam. Gasper’s knowledge of languages includes modern standard Arabic, Egyptian colloquial, Levantine dialects, French and Italian. He received his Ph.D. in history and Middle East studies from New York University.