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Northwestern University

Meet the Weinberg College Advisers

Rosemary Bush

Rosemary Bush

E-mail: rosemary.bush@northwestern.edu

Rosemary Bush is a Weinberg College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her research focuses on how plants and their environments have shaped one another through Earth’s history, developing proxy tools using living plants and then reconstructing plant ecology and paleoclimate from fossils from a variety of different places and times. As an instructor, she enjoys teaching topics in paleobiology and environmental science. Her interests generally lie at the intersection of ecology and history, and spare time is usually spent keeping up with the permaculture and native species gardens around her 100-year-old Chicago bungalow. She received her BA in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her MS in Plant Biology and Conservation and PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Northwestern.

Brady Clark

Brady Clark

E-mail: bzack@northwestern.edu

Brady Clark is a Weinberg College Adviser and Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Linguistics. He received a B.A. in linguistics from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University. Since joining the Northwestern University faculty in 2004, he has taught courses on syntax, meaning, historical linguistics, and the origin and evolution of language. His publications cover topics such as intonational meaning, the history of English syntax, the application of game theory to problems in several areas of linguistics, and theories of language evolution. Currently his primary areas of teaching and research interest are semantics and pragmatics.

Jaime Dominguez

Jaime Dominguez

E-mail: j-dominguez@northwestern.edu

Jaime Dominguez is College Adviser and Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Political Science. A native of California, he received his BA from the University of California at San Diego and his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007. His research interests include race and ethnicity, urban and Latino and minority politics. Professor Dominguez has taught at the University of Chicago, UIC, and DePaul University. In 2003 and 2004, he taught at Northwestern in the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies. He is one of the principal architect’s of the Chicago Democracy Project (CDP), a thirty-year (1975-2005) online political database that provides citizens, community groups, and religious organizations with information on campaign finance, electoral outcomes, government contracts, minority appointments and levels of public employment for the City of Chicago. In addition, the CDP also provides links to demographic, economic, and other demographic information of interest to the public. Professor Dominguez is currently working on a second grant to expand the CDP to twenty five major cities as well as a pilot project that examines the state of Latino politics in Chicago. Of particular interest is how Latino heterogeneity and population growth is redefining traditional political and race relations between blacks and whites. He is author of “Illinois Latinos and the 2004 Elections: The Waiting Game Continues,” in de la Garza and DeSipio’s Latinos and the 2004 Elections (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007).

Sheila Donohue

Sheila Donohue

E-mail: spdonohue@northwestern.edu

Sheila Donohue, Professor of Instruction in English and College Adviser, joined the Northwestern University faculty in 1998. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the Randall Jarrell Fellow and served as poetry editor and production manager for The Greensboro Review, one of the nation’s oldest literary magazines. Following a two-year Wallace Stegner Writing Fellowship at Stanford University, she was named the Jones Lecturer in Poetry and for several years taught creative writing to Stanford undergraduates. She currently teaches primarily fiction and poetry in the undergraduate creative writing program, as well as in the School of Professional Studies’ undergraduate and graduate programs. A recipient of an Academy of American Poets prize and several nominations for a Pushcart Prize, Donohue’s fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including Michigan Quarterly Review, Seneca Review, Poetry Magazine, Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, The New England Review, TriQuarterly, and Epoch. She has traveled to 16 European Union countries and Great Britain, 3 former Eastern Bloc nations, 2 Asian countries, and Oaxaca, Mexico. A native of western Massachusetts, she now lives in Chicago.

Alyssa Garcia

Alyssa Garcia

E-mail: alyssadgarcia@northwestern.edu
Dr. Garcia is a Weinberg College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Gender and Sexuality Studies. She received her BA in Cross-Cultural Psychology from Brown University and earned her PhD in Anthropology from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her teaching and research interests include Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Ethnic-Latina/o Studies, Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, Feminist Ethnography, and Applied Anthropology. Dr. Garcia’s research examines the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in Cuba through an analysis of discourses of sex-work and the body. Her manuscript, “Moral Discourses, Regulated Bodies: Sex, the State, and Subjectivity in Cuba,” is a historically grounded ethnography that traces chronologically the public supervision and state regulation of black female bodies in Cuba. 
Myrna García

Myrna García

E-mail: myrna.garcia@northwestern.edu

Myrna García is a Weinberg College Adviser and an Associate Professor of Instruction in Latinx Studies. García holds a doctorate in ethnic studies from the University of California, San Diego, and a master’s degree in education from Fordham University. She studied Latin American Studies as a first-generation college student at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. García teaches courses on topics including Latinx Chicago, im/migration, and knowledge production. In 2021, García received the Daniel I. Linzer Award for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity. Moreover, she has a rich record of community engagement.  García has collaborated with Mudlark Theater to create curriculum and programming for Latinx youth. She is currently on the advisory committee for the Aquí en Chicago project at the Chicago History Museum. She thoroughly enjoys teaching, advising, and mentoring students.

Shelby Hatch

Shelby Hatch

E-mail: slhatch@northwestern.edu

Shelby Hatch (she/her/hers) is a scientist focused on the intersections of chemistry, sustainability, and social justice. Shelby is a Weinberg College Adviser and an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Chemistry. She has taught a variety of undergraduate chemistry courses - introductory lab classes, first year seminars, courses for non-scientists, and a capstone laboratory course for chemistry majors - plus firesides on the chemistry of beer & the chemistry of chocolate. Her research involves environmental justice and Youth Participatory Science, which centers and involves students in the entire research process, from creation of a hypothesis through disseminating results once data has been collected and analyzed. Since 2017, she has been a lead collaborator on a National Science Foundation grant Teachers and Students Synergistic Learning Through Youth. Shelby studies the distribution of heavy metal contamination in Chicago in relation to where low socio-economic status and communities of color are located. She enjoys teaching undergraduate chemistry courses that incorporate sustainability and environmental justice into the curriculum. Shelby is also very passionate about teaching in the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP). She developed a course and compiled an open educational resource textbook for her NPEP chemistry courses, has taught at Stateville Correctional Center, and looks forward to teaching at Logan Correctional Center in the fall of 2022. She received her BA from The College of Wooster and her PhD from The University of Rochester.

Eli Kean is a Weinberg College Advisor and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Dr. Kean earned a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Higher Education Administration from the University of Missouri. Their Ph.D. is in Curriculum & Instruction from Michigan State University. Eli is the recipient of the 2018 Dissertation of the Year award from AERA Queer Studies SIG for their work on gender-expansive teaching methods. Dr. Kean's interdisciplinary interests include anti-oppressive education, gender studies, curriculum theory, activism and social change. Dr. Kean’s research is intended to help shape gendered educational practices in expansive and affirming directions. In every aspect of professional life, Dr. Kean finds great fulfillment in providing high-quality student support that centers holistic development, critical inquiry, and self-discovery. Eli’s favorite leisure time activities include nature and landscape photography, singing, and exploring the best local restaurants and coffee shops. 
Michael Maltenfort

Michael Maltenfort

E-mail: malt@northwestern.edu

Michael Maltenfort is a Weinberg College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Mathematics. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Cornell University, and his doctorate, also in mathematics, from the University of Chicago.  Following graduation, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya.  He then returned to Chicago, where he briefly taught at DePaul University and Loyola University before joining the faculty at Truman College, where he taught from 2002 to 2013.  He loves the mathematical aspects of the Rubik’s Cube and related puzzles, and he also uses his mathematical talent when calling square dances:  he has been an enthusiastic square dancer for decades and has been a square dance caller since 2002.

Zachary Nissen

Zachary Nissen

Email: zachary.nissen@northwestern.edu 
Zachary Nissen (he/him/his) is a Weinberg College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Anthropology. Dr. Nissen is trained as an Anthropological Archaeologist with a background in Gender and Sexuality Studies and a regional focus on the Maya of Central America. He received his BA in Anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and then his MA and PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern University. His research at the Ancient Maya city of Aventura, Belize has utilized archaeological investigations of ordinary people’s households to examine the relationship between inequality and urban longevity. In addition to this archaeological research, Dr. Nissen has co-organized community engagement events and worked with colleagues on the Aventura Archaeology Project to create inclusive, ethical, and collaborative research environments for students, scholars, and community stakeholders in Belize. In the classroom, Dr. Nissen takes an interdisciplinary and global approach to the study of cities, inequality, and issues pertaining to gender/sexuality throughout human history. Off campus, he can often be found with his husband and two dogs walking by the lake, reading historical fiction, or watching/discussing the most recent Drag Race episode with friends.
James O'Laughlin

James O'Laughlin

E-mail: j-olaughlin@northwestern.edu

James O'Laughlin is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Cook Family Writing Program and a WCAS College Adviser. He has been named to the Associated Student Government (ASG) Faculty Honor Roll and has received the Distinguished Teaching Award from Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies. He has taught a wide range of courses, including: first-year seminars on environmentalism and on postcolonialism and writing in Ireland; modes of writing; reading and writing fiction; reading and writing creative nonfiction; and intermediate composition. 

Andrew Rivers

Andrew Rivers

E-mail: ajrivers@northwestern.edu

Andrew Rivers is a Weinberg College Adviser and Associate Professor of Instruction in Physics and Astronomy. He received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Portland in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of New Mexico in 2000. Andrew's Ph.D. research included a large scale radio astronomy survey of the so-called "Zone of Avoidance": a large region of the sky containing few visible external galaxies due to obscuration by dust near the disk of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Looking for hidden galaxies using long wavelength radio waves which pass through the dust unobscured, Andrew discovered approximately 20 previously unknown nearby galaxies. Andrew joined the Northwestern University Physics department in 1999 and has since taught a variety of courses in physics and astronomy including the introductory physics sequence, Modern Cosmology and Ideas of Physics. In his free time, Andrew enjoys spending time with his wife Carolyn and his Pekinese puppy "Boo". Leisure activities include tinkering with Linux, attending obscure art films and reading nonfiction from diverse fields.

Deborah Rosenberg

Deborah Rosenberg

Phone: 847-491-8916
Office Location:
 1908 Sheridan
E-mail: deborah-rosenberg@northwestern.edu

Deborah Rosenberg is a College Adviser and Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She received her BA from Wesleyan University with majors in English and Spanish. Deborah earned her PhD in 2004 from the University of Chicago, where she wrote a dissertation on the role of the picaresque novel in Spanish national identity formation. She joined Northwestern in 2005 and has taught many courses in the department, including language courses at various levels and first-year seminars on Spanish and Latin American literature. In her free time, Deborah likes to travel and try out restaurants around Chicago with her family.

Fay Rosner

Fay Rosner

E-mail: f-rosner@northwestern.edu

Fay is a College Adviser and Associate Professor of Instruction in French, teaching second-year language courses, the French writing workshop, and a freshman seminar on Proust and the arts. She also serves as a Faculty Fellow in the College of Community and Cultural Studies. Before completing her PhD in French at the University of Chicago, she directed the Office of Career Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Fay holds a B.A. in French and B.S. in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana. She enjoys going to chamber music concerts at Northwestern and singing in the Northwestern Music Academy chorus.

Bill Savage

Bill Savage

E-mail: b-savage@northwestern.edu

Besides his work as a College Adviser, Bill Savage is Professor of Instruction in the Department of English.  His research currently focuses on Chicago literature, history, and culture, ranging from writers like Nelson Algren to the deeper political significance of hot dog stands. His latest book project was an annotated edition of George Ade’s The Old-Time Saloon.  He has published book reviews, op ed essays, and other writing in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, Crain’s Chicago Business and many other publications with “Chicago” on their mast-head, and he chronicled the 2016 Cubs World Series Championship season for ESPN.com. He won the Distinguished Teaching Award from Northwestern's School for Professional Studies in 2004, and has been named to the Associated Student Government Faculty Honor Roll several times, including in 2020 for his “The Chicago Way” course.  He also works as a Series Editor for Chicago: Visions + Revisions, a series of new non-fiction books about Chicago from the University of Chicago Press.  He is a lifelong resident of Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. “Chicago” is his favorite word.

Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth Smith

E-mail: eliz.smith@northwestern.edu

Elizabeth Smith is a College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Anthropology Department. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991 with a double major in Anthropology and Comparative Literature and a certificate in African Studies. While working at the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo for three years, she began an MA in Anthropology. She went on to receive her MA (1999) and PhD (2006) in Sociocultural Anthropology from New York University. Prior to coming to Northwestern, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California-Berkeley (2006) an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont (2006-13). Professor Smith’s research and publications address the roles of race, ethnicity, and gender in nostalgia about Nubians in Egyptian popular culture. She has written about race and media images of Nubians, peoples’ identification with archaeological sites in nostalgia for Nubia, and how photographs of Nubia circulate in Egypt and globally.  More recently, she began research on the use of induced lactation in orphan fostering in Egypt. Professor Smith is an improvisational fiber artist and restores vintage sewing machines.

Marcelo Vinces

Marcelo Vinces

E-mail: marcelo.vinces@northwestern.edu

Marcelo Vinces is a Weinberg College Adviser and Associate Professor of Instruction in Molecular Biosciences. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University, and his doctorate in molecular microbiology from Tufts University. He did his postdoctoral training at Harvard University and KU Leuven in Belgium, followed by a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at the National Science Foundation. Previous to Northwestern, which he joined in 2018, Marcelo worked at Oberlin College. His research background is in the molecular biology of fungi and evolution of gene expression. He has worked on a variety of topics related to STEM education including teaching and assessing quantitative reasoning skills, community outreach, broadening participation of historically underrepresented minorities, and public policy. He is an active member of SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicano and Native Americans in the Sciences), and besides science research and education, his other love is languages, enjoying conversation in Spanish, French, German, Dutch and learning more when he can. Marcelo was born in Ecuador, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and now calls Chicago home.

Robert Ward

Robert Ward

E-mail: robert.ward@northwestern.edu
Dr. Robert Anthony Ward is a Weinberg College Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction in both the Cook Family Writing Program and the African American Studies Department.  His educational journey began in Detroit, Michigan where he attended the nationally recognized Cass Technical High School, which eventually led him to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  There he earned both his M.A. and PhD in Educational Policy Organization and Leadership.  Dr. Ward’s research focuses on the relationship between race and the free market and their intersectionality with educational policy and reform.  The methodological tools he utilizes include qualitative inquiry, critical race theory as a theoretical framework, case study, and document analysis.  Deeply devoted to his love of teaching, Dr. Ward has a significant interest in the processes of racialization and how they materialize in classroom learning.  Dr. Ward devotes much of his time to developing life-long learners that use pedagogy to critically challenge mechanisms of inequality.
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