University of California
President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Current President's Postdoctoral Fellows 2011-2012
Arts & Humanities
Education: B.A., University of Florida, Interdisciplinary Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, Cultural Studies
Dissertation: Going Stealth: Transgender Bodies and U.S. Surveillance Practices
Thesis Advisor: Caren Kaplan, Professor of Women and Gender Studies, University of California, Davis
Research Topic: Transgender bodies, national security, and prosthetic surveillance technologies
Mentor: David Serlin, Professor of Communication, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Communication, University of California, San Diego
Education: B.A., American Studies in Gender and Ethnicity, Political Science, University of Southern California; Ph.D., Politics, Designated Emphasis in Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dissertation: The Prison of Democracy: US Legal Culture and the Idea of Leavenworth Penitentiary
Thesis Advisor: Gina Dent, Professor of Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, and Legal Studies, University of California, San Cruz
Research Topic: The Prison and the Citizen: Limits of Democratic Punishment
Mentor: Kelly Lytle Hernández, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Education: B.A., History and Latin American Studies, Brown University; Ph.D., History, University of California, Irvine
Dissertation: Spinning the Bottle: Ethnic Mexicans and Alcohol in Prohibition-Era Los Angeles
Thesis Advisor: Vicki L. Ruiz, Professor of History and Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine
Research Topic: John Barleycorn in the Borderlands: Alcohol, Migration, and Daily Life at the US/Mexican Border, 1900-1940
Mentor: Luis Alvarez, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, San Diego
Education: B.A., History and English Literature, Simon Fraser University; M.A., History and Politics, Texas A&M University, Kingsville; Ph.D., History, University of California, San Diego
Dissertation: Understanding Elián: The Politics of Childhood in Havana and Miami, 1959-1962
Thesis Advisor: Luis Alvarez, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego
Research Topic: The Cold War politics of Cuban- and Mexican-American struggles for bilingual education, 1960s-1980s
Mentor: Raúl Fernandez, Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Chicano/Latino Studies Program, University of California, Irvine
Education: B.A., Political Science and Asian American Studies, University of California, Irvine; M.A., Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego; Ph.D., Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
Dissertation: Suspended Futures: On The Vietnamization of History and the Memory in the 21st Century
Thesis Advisor: Yen Le Espiritu, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
Research Topic: The Early History of Techno – Orientalism and American Empire
Mentor: Jodi Kim, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Riverside
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, English and Ethnic Studies; M.F.A., Mills College, Creative Writing; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: From Bikinis to Burqas: Race-ing the Cultures of America’s Orientalisms, 1979-2008.
Thesis Advisor: Elaine Kim, Professor of Asian American and Comparative Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: “Black Ahmadiyyat”: Global Blackness and South Asian Diaspora in a Multiracial Model of America’s Islam
Mentor: Eric Porter, Professor of American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Education: B.A., Women’s and Gender Studies, Columbia University; Ph.D., History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dissertation: History Before Black History: Black Studies, Historical Discourse, and the Limits of Institutionalization
Thesis Advisor: Angela Y. Davis, Professor of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Topic: Disciplining Black Studies: History, Institutionalization and the Question of the Human
Mentor: Ula Taylor, Professor of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.A., University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Spanish, French, and International Relations; M.A., New York University, Linguistics; Ph.D., New York University, Linguistics
Dissertation: Language Contact and Regional Variation in African American English: A Study of Southeast Georgia
Thesis Advisor: Renée Blake, Professor of Linguistics, New York University
Research Topic: New Directions in Research on African American English and Atlantic Creoles: Sociolinguistics and the Tense-Mood-Aspect System
Mentor: Mary Bucholtz, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.M., Music Education, Central Washington University; M.A., Music, University of Nevada, Reno; Ph.D., Musicology, University of California, Los Angeles
Dissertation: The Politics of Inuit Musical Modernities in Alaska
Thesis Advisor: Olivia Bloechl, Professor of Musicology, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Sounding Pathways of Self-Determination: Contemporary Scenes of Yup’ik Musical Life in Alaska
Mentor: Jocelyne Guilbault, Professor of Music, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Music, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.A., Oberlin College, Sociology; M.A., University of Texas at Austin, History; Ph.D., University of Michigan, History
Dissertation: National Borders, Neighborhood Boundaries: Gender, Space and Border Formation in Chinese and Mexican Los Angeles, 1870s-1930s
Thesis Advisors: Philip Deloria, Professor of History and American Studies, University of Michigan; and Maria Montoya, Professor of History, University of Michigan
Research Topic: Gender, work and racial segregation; U.S. Empire and border formation; the spatialization of culture in local and global contexts
Mentor: Vicki Ruiz, Professor of History and Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, Irvine
Education: B.A., Oberlin College, Women’s Studies and Latin American Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies
Dissertation: Remembering Trauma in a Time of War: The Psycho-Affective Economies of Neoliberalism and the Radical Imagination of Dissent
Thesis Advisors: Neferti X. M. Tadiar, Professor of Women’s Studies, Columbia University; and Angela Y. Davis, Professor Emeritus of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Topic: Neoliberal Captivities: Pisagua Prison, (Post)dictatorial Violence and the Globalizing Unfreedoms of the ‘Free World’
Mentor: Michael Lazzara, Professor of Spanish and Cultural Studies, University of California, Davis
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Spanish, University of California, Davis
Life Sciences
Annette Angus
Education: B.S., California State University, Northridge, Microbiology; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Microbiology
Dissertation: The Secret Life of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Opportunistic Intracellular Pathogenesis
Thesis Advisor: Susanne Fleiszig, Professor of Microbiology, Optometry, Infectious Diseases and Immunity, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Molecular and Genetic Analysis of Plant-Microbe Interactions: Studies of Burkholderia symbioses
Mentor: Ann M. Hirsch, Professor of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Education: B.S., Microbiology, University of California, Santa Barbara; Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dissertation: A novel role for the transcription elongation factor NusA in DNA repair/damage tolerance pathways in Escherichia coli
Thesis Advisor: Graham C. Walker, Research Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Topic: Regulation of polyploidy during the circadian cycle in cyanobacteria
Mentors: Susan S. Golden, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Joseph Pogliano, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego
Corey Harwell
Education: B.S., Tennessee State University, Chemistry; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Neuroscience
Dissertation: Regulation of cpg15 Expression during Single Whisker Experience in the Barrel Cortex of Adult Mice
Thesis Advisor: Elly Nedivi, Associate Professor of Neurobiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Topic: Identifying the Source and Function of Sonic Hedgehog Ligand in the Adult Neurogenic Niche
Mentor: Arnold Kriegstein, Professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Education: B.S., Microbiology, University of Texas, Arlington; Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dissertation: Host-Based Mechanisms of Ribavirin Resistance: Implications in Treatment Response of Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Thesis Advisor: Julie Pfeiffer, Professor of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Research Topic: Examination of FcgR utilization during secondary dengue virus infection
Mentor: Eva Harris, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Public Health: Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University; M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Dissertation: Sleep dynamics and seizure control in a mesoscale cortical model
Thesis Advisor: Andrew Szeri, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Analysis of human epileptic networks for targeted surgical resection
Mentor: Dario Ringach, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
Becky Marquez
Education: B.S., University of California, Davis, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior; Ph.D., Cornell University, Physiology
Dissertation: Signaling Components Regulating Activation and Hyperactivation of Sperm Motility
Thesis Advisor: Susan Suarez, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Research Topic: Obesity, Diabetes, and Recurrent Breast Cancer
Mentor: John Pierce, Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego
Mathematics, Engineering & Physical Sciences
Education: B.S., Physics and Mathematics, University of Oregon; M.A., Physics, University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Dissertation: Physics and Applications of Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Nanoscaled Systems
Thesis Advisor: Alex Zettl, Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Nanoelectronics and Nanomechanics of One and Two-dimensional Systems
Mentor: Andrew Cleland, Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., Harvard University, History and Science; Ph.D., Stanford University, Physics
Dissertation: Transition-Edge Sensor Imaging Arrays for Astrophysics Applications
Thesis Advisor: Blas Cabrera, Professor of Physics, Stanford University
Research Topic: Science and Technology for Simultaneous Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation
Mentor: Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Professor of Applied Ocean Sciences, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Education: B.S., Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; M.S., Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
Dissertation: Electrocatalysis in Solid Acid Fuel Cells
Thesis Advisor: Sossina M. Haile, Professor of Materials Science and of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
Research Topic: In-situ studies of catalysts for photoelectrochemistry
Mentor: Alexis T. Bell, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.S., University of Texas at El Paso, Chemistry; Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, Chemistry
Dissertation: Expanding f Element Chemistry: Reactivity of Yttrium, Lanthanide, and Actinide metal Complexes with Diazoalkane Derivatives and Guanidinates
Thesis Advisor: William J. Evans, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
Research Topic: Metal-Organic Frameworks for CO2 Capture
Mentor: Jeffrey R. Long, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; M.S.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dissertation: Techniques for Battery Health Conscious Power Management via Electrochemical Modeling and Optimal Control
Thesis Advisors: Jeffrey L. Stein, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Hosam K. Fathy, Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Research Topic: PDE Control and Estimation Techniques for Advanced Battery Management Systems
Mentor: Professor Miroslav Krstic, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego
Social Sciences
Education: B.S., Social Science Education, Grambling State University; Ph.D., Education, University of California, Berkeley
Dissertation: Fanon’s Children: The Black Panther Party and the Rise of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles
Thesis Advisor: Daniel Perlstein, Professor of Education, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Fanon's Children: The Military Defeat of the Black Panther Party and the Rise of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles
Mentor: Ramon Grosfoguel, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.A., University of Southern California, Cinema-Television; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology
Dissertation: Morphophonological Practice: An Ethnographic Study of Grammar and Discourse in Three American English Stuttering Speech Communities
Thesis Advisor: William F. Hanks, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Sociolinguistic variation and moral discourse in American English Stuttering Speech Communities
Mentor: Mary Bucholtz, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., International Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.A., Political Science, University of Chicago; Ph.D., Political Science, University of Chicago
Dissertation: Making Democracy Work from Abroad: Remittances, Hometown Associations and Migrant–State Coproduction of Public Goods in Mexico
Thesis Advisor: Steven Wilkinson, Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Research Topic: Migrant Bi-national Civic and Political Engagement in Sending and Host Societies
Mentor: Roger Waldinger, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Education: B.A, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., Politics and International Relations, University of Southern California
Dissertation: Transnational (After)Life: Migrant Transnationalism and Engagement in U.S. and Mexican Politics
Thesis Advisor: Ricardo Ramírez, Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California
Research Topic: Migrant Transnationalism and Political Engagement in the U.S. and Mexico
Mentor: Jonathan Fox, Professor of Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Latin American & Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Education: B.A., Universidad de Buenos Aires, Architecture; M.A., Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Urban Management; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, City and Regional Planning
Dissertation: Urban Restructuring and International Mega-Events: The Rise and Fall of the Barcelona Model
Thesis Advisor: Manuel Castells, Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Urban Design, Public Space and Citizenship in Latino Communities in California
Mentor: Michael Rios, Professor of Environmental Design, University of California, Davis
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Design, University of California, Davis
Education: B.A., Stanford University, Linguistics; M.A., San Francisco State University, Education, M.A., Stanford University, Political Science; Ph.D., Stanford University, Education
Dissertation: Class Action: Community Mobilization, Race, and the Politics of Student Assignment in San Francisco
Thesis Advisor: Leah Gordon, Professor of Education, Stanford University
Research Topic: Community advocacy and the racial politics of school assignment.
Mentor: Janelle Scott, Professor of Education and African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.A., Western Michigan University, English/Secondary Education; M.S., National University, School Counseling; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Education
Dissertation: Holla If You Hear Me; Giving Voice to Those We Have Missed: A Qualitative Examination of Black Middle Class Parent Engagement in Public Secondary Schools
Thesis Advisor: Tyrone Howard, Professor of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: The engagement and involvement practices of Black parents
Mentor: Carolyn Murray, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
Education: B.A., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; M.PH., Public Health, University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dissertation: The Health Consequences of Asian Immigrant Integration
Thesis Advisor: Arline T. Geronimus, Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research Topic: Underemployment and Health among Foreign Born
Mentor: Gilbert Gee, Professor of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Khanum Shaikh
Education: B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Economics; M.A., University of Oregon, Eugene, International Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Women’s Studies
Dissertation: New Expressions of Religiosity: A Transnational Study of Al-Huda International
Thesis Advisors: Sondra Hale, Professor of Anthropology and Women’s Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Contemporary Pakistani Women’s Religious-Based Activism- Reconfiguring Secularity in Public and Private Spaces
Mentor: Nancy Gallagher, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara