WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 7, 2010 – Williams College has announced the promotion of seven faculty to full professorships: Monique Deveaux, political science; William Gentry, economics; Peter Pedroni, economics; Marlene Sandstrom, psychology; Lara Shore-Sheppard, economics; Thomas Smith, chemistry; and Safa Zaki, psychology.

Monique Deveaux

Deveaux's research interests center around contemporary liberal and democratic political theory. She is the author of "Gender and Justice in Multicultural Liberal States" and "Cultural Pluralism and Dilemmas of Justice," which focus on the ways cultural differences are and are not accommodated by democracy. Her work has been published in numerous academic journals, including Political Theory, Political Studies, and Social Theory and Practice. Deveaux’s course offerings include Multiculturalism and Political Theory; Sex, Gender, and Political Theory; and Theorizing Global Justice. She received her B.A. from McGill University and her Ph.D. from Cambridge University.

William Gentry

Gentry's areas of specialization include public finance, the economic effects of taxation, and corporate finance. His work has been widely published in journals such as the Journal of the American Tax Association, Innovation Policy and the Economy, Journal of Public Economics, and Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy. He teaches courses on Public Finance, Corporate Finance, Microeconomics, and the Economics of Risk. He has taught at Duke University and the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University and was a faculty research fellow at the Bureau of Economic Research. He received his S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Peter Pedroni

Pedroni's research focuses on panel time series econometrics and international macroeconomics.  His work has appeared in various journals such as Econometric Theory, The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Applied Econometrics, Advances in Econometrics and other journals specializing in methodological and empirical advances.  He teaches courses at Williams on Macroeconomics, International Monetary Economics and Empirical Methods in Macroeconomics, and also regularly teaches courses for staff economists at the International Monetary Fund in Washington.  He has previously taught at Indiana, Cornell and Rice Universities as well as Boston College. Pedroni received his B.A. from Miami University in Ohio and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Marlene Sandstrom

Sandstrom is a clinical psychologist whose research interests inclue childhood peer relationships and adjustment, coping processes in responses to negative peer treatment, and aggression in the school environment. Her work has appeared in publications such as Child Development, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, Social Development, and the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. In 2009, Sandstrom was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to study bullying and bystander behavior in schools.  She teaches courses on Childhood Peer Relations and Clinical Issues, and Psychological Disorders. Sandstrom received her B.A. from Yale University and her Ph.D. from Duke University.

Lara Shore-Sheppard

Shore-Sheppard's broad research interests include health economics, labor economics, poverty and welfare policy, and wage distribution. Her work has been published in numerous edited volumes, papers and proceedings, and peer reviewed journals, including The Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Health Economics, The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, and Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. She teaches Empirical Methods in Political Economy, Poverty and Public Policy, Advanced Statistics and Econometrics, the Economics of Health and Health Care, and an interdisciplinary course in public health.  She is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and taught at the University of Pittsburgh before coming to Williams.  Shore-Sheppard received her B.A. from Amherst College and her Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Thomas Smith

Smith's research interests focus on organic synthesis, particularly strategies for increasing the efficiency of organic synthesis. These new methods enable the assembly of biologically interesting molecules such as potential anti-cancer drugs. His work has been published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, Organic Letters, and the Journal of Chemical Education. Smith teaches Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, and a course for non-chemistry majors called Fighting Disease: The Evolution and Operation of Human Medicines. Smith's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Chemical Society.  He was awarded the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2009. Smith received his B.A. from Williams College and his Ph.D. from Stanford University and did his postdoctoral work at Harvard University.

Safa Zaki 

Zaki is a cognitive psychologist whose areas of expertise include concepts and categories, recognition memory, cognitive neuroscience explanations of categorization processes, mathematical models of categorization, and face recognition. Her work has appeared in publications such as Memory and Cognition, Psychological Science, and Cognitive Psychology. She teaches courses such as Cognitive Psychology; Concepts: Mind, Brain, and Culture; and Great Debates in Cognition. Zaki received her B.A. from the American University in Cairo and her Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

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Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.

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News: Laura Corona