College of Arts & Sciences faculty honored with esteemed professorships, highlighting preeminence

The College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to share the following distinguished faculty members who were awarded endowed professorships set to begin in the 2026-2027 academic year. Their commitment to outstanding teaching and mentorship, innovative research and scholarship, and dedicated service reflects the very best of the liberal arts and sciences. 

John and Audrey Leslie Professorship  

Zach Conrad, associate professor of health sciences, has been named the John and Audrey Leslie Term Distinguished Associate Professor. Since joining the Department of Health Sciences in 2019, Conrad has committed himself to the teacher-scholar model, blending high-impact interdisciplinary research with a profound commitment to student mentorship and public service. Conrad’s research resides at the vital intersection of food security, environmental sustainability, and health equity. His work develops sophisticated tools that allow policymakers and clinicians to navigate the trade-offs between healthy eating and planetary health. A hallmark of his scholarship is the $600,000 community-based project he leads, which partners with Indigenous tribes across Virginia to develop software for local, sustainable food production. This initiative not only addresses food sovereignty for over 30,000 people but also provides William & Mary students with impactful opportunities to engage in community-based participatory research.  

University Professorship for Research Excellence 

Nicole Santiago, professor of art, has been awarded the University Professorship for Research Excellence. Since joining the Department of Art and Art History in 2006, Santiago has established herself as a preeminent figure in contemporary figurative painting. Her work has earned her national acclaim and made her an indispensable asset to the artistic legacy of William & Mary. She is being honored with the professorship for her prolific exhibition record, her technical mastery, and her ability to translate a rigorous private practice into a public-facing academic resource. Her excellence is evidenced by an extraordinary record of over 100 exhibitions, including prestigious solo shows at the First Street Gallery in New York City. Her work has been recognized by the National Academy of Design and featured in prominent publications such as International Artist Magazine and The Huffington Post. Santiago’s commitment to the arts community is further demonstrated by her frequent service as a juror for regional exhibitions and her curation of shows at the Andrews Gallery, which bring contemporary artistic dialogues to the Williamsburg community. 

University Professorship for Excellence in Teaching 

Paulina Carrión, Hispanic Language House advisor and teaching professor of Hispanic Studies, has been named a University Professor for Excellence in Teaching. Since joining the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures, Carrión has established herself as a visionary leader in applied learning and high impact pedagogy. As the director of the Hispanic Studies Language Program since 2013, she has not only shaped the linguistic proficiency of thousands of students but has also pioneered programs that take language education out of the classroom and into the communities where it is needed most. Since 2018, Carrión has recruited, trained, and placed student volunteers to serve as medical interpreters for migrant workers. Under her guidance, students navigate complex, high-pressure clinical environments, gaining an invaluable perspective on healthcare equity while providing a vital service to a vulnerable population. Her background as a medical interpreter and speech therapist in Ecuador informs her holistic approach to communication, ensuring that her students graduate not just with fluency, but with the cultural competence and empathy required of global citizens. 

Class of 2029 Professorship 

Sibel Zandi-Sayek, associate professor of art history and distinguished member of the Department of Art History since 2002, has been awarded the Class of 2029 Professorship. Trained as both an architect and an art historian, Zandi-Sayek challenges her students to see architecture as a dynamic reflection of aesthetic, social, and political history. She is a master of the classroom at every level, from engaging first-year students in her course Art & the Politics of Memory to guiding seniors through the intensive Senior Research Colloquium. Her innovative course offerings — such as Architecture & Spatial Justice and Cities in the Modern Middle East — demonstrate her ability to connect historical inquiry with urgent contemporary issues. Her unique background in city planning allows her to train students to think both artistically and practically, preparing them for distinguished careers in architecture, urban geography, and historic preservation. Most notably, one of her former students designed Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved at William & Mary, a poignant testament to the enduring influence of her instruction and guidance. 

Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professors

Aaron Griffith, associate professor of philosophy, exemplifies the highest ideals of the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professorship. Since joining the Department of Philosophy in 2015, Griffith has established himself as a nationally and internationally respected philosopher whose scholarship bridges rigorous metaphysical inquiry with urgent contemporary questions surrounding race, truth, and social reality. He is the author of the recently published “Truth and Social Reality: A Metaphysical Inquiry” with Oxford University Press, in addition to more than two dozen articles and book chapters appearing in many of the discipline’s most selective journals, including Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Philosophical Studies, and Synthese. His work has significantly shaped contemporary discussions of truthmaking, social construction, and racial ontology, and his scholarship has been cited widely across the field, including multiple entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Equally impressive is Griffith’s reputation as a gifted and deeply committed teacher. He has developed innovative courses including Philosophy of Race and Feminist Metaphysics, expanding and diversifying the curriculum in meaningful and lasting ways.  

Brianna Nofil, associate professor of history, has established an exceptional national reputation since joining the Department of History in 2020 through groundbreaking scholarship on immigration, policing, and the history of the American carceral state. Her work exemplifies the public impact, intellectual rigor, and commitment to teaching that define the ideals of the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professorship. Nofil’s first monograph, “The Migrant’s Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration,” published by Princeton University Press in 2024, has already transformed the field of immigration history. The book has earned extraordinary recognition, including the Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Ellis W. Hawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians, as well as the Theodore Saloutos Book Award and First Book Award from the Immigration & Ethnic History Society. Her scholarship has also resonated powerfully beyond academia, earning media recognition from The New Yorker, NPR, Time, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Financial Times. 

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professorships

Jennifer Bickham Mendez, chair and professor of sociology, has established herself as an exemplary scholar-teacher whose career brilliantly integrates cutting-edge ethnographic research, deeply immersive pedagogy, and impactful civic leadership. As a qualitative sociologist and ethnographer, Mendez explores how marginalized populations navigate global and national systems of power in local contexts. Her prize-winning first book, "From the Revolution to the Maquiladoras," alongside two co-edited anthologies and 15 peer-reviewed articles, have shaped the fields of Latin American, border, and immigration studies. Mendez’s professional model is defined by a creative blend of scholarship and hands-on, high-impact learning. In 2009, she co-founded W&M’s Border Studies program, dedicating a decade to guiding students through transformational "study away" trips on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. Through the Aprendiendo Juntos (Learning Together) initiative, she mobilized over 100 undergraduate student-tutors to support English learners in local schools while simultaneously conducting critical community-engaged research alongside local families. Her work perfectly embodies the Kenan Trust’s dedication to educational excellence, community engagement, and public purpose. 

Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green, professor of theatre and Africana studies and University Professor of Teaching Excellence, is a distinguished scholar-artist, visionary administrative leader, and transformative educator, embodying the highest ideals of educational excellence, leadership, and public purpose championed by the Kenan Charitable Trust. Her pioneering research at the intersections of Africanist dramaturgy, African cosmology, and Black feminist theory has broken new ground in the field. Cultivating "good hearing" (illutí) in her students, she utilizes critical pedagogy to explore the moral and ethical dimensions of theatre-making. As an inaugural Provost Faculty Fellow, she designed and facilitated Momentum to Full to support mid-career faculty pathways. She is the founder and director of the university-wide Art & Science Exchange, an initiative utilizing Africanist epistemologies to bridge the arts and sciences. Her global scholarly impact is cemented by invitations to share her research in Uganda and Kenya, alongside her service as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Black Theatre Review — the definitive peer-reviewed journal for the theatrical traditions of the African diaspora.