Welcoming New CFDE Director Wesley Longhofer

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence welcomes Wesley Longhofer, associate professor of organization & management in the Goizueta Business School, as its new Senior Director and Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. He began in his new role on July 1.

A sociologist by training, Longhofer is an accomplished researcher, award-winning teacher, and active member of the Emory community. His areas of expertise and research, which have been funded by the National Science Foundation, include climate change, human rights, and social enterprise. His popular class, Business and Society, is the main reason he was once voted one of the Best 40 under 40 Best Professors by Poets & Quants.

For more than five years, he has served as the executive academic director of Goizueta's Business & Society Institute, an academic research center that addresses complex challenges facing people and the planet through academic discovery and purposeful action. He has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Sociology of Emory College of Arts and Sciences and has also worked closely with the Global Health Institute, Center for Ethics, and Campus Life.

Longhofer said he was drawn to the CFDE position because he wants to help all faculty at Emory live a meaningful academic life. “We invite students in our classrooms to ask big questions and engage in critical thought so that they can enter the world prepared to lead with courage and integrity. Our research tackles thorny questions about some of the grandest challenges of our time with the faith that the accumulation of scientific knowledge can be transformational. With the CFDE, I hope to support faculty across Emory, regardless of title, rank or department, as they search for meaning and purpose in their own scholarship and teaching.”

Emory College professor Kali Gross wins 2025 PEN America Literary Award

PEN America recently awarded Vengence Feminism: The Power of Black Women's Fury in Lawless Times by Kali Gross, National Endowment for the Humanities Professor and chair of African American studies, as one of thirteen winners of its 2025 literary awards.

Gross took home the PEN Open Book Award, granted for an “exceptional book-length work of any literary genre by an author of color.” Subtitled “The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times,” Gross’s book features overlooked narratives of Black women who had to fight against discrimination, abuse and racial injustice.

Gross has taught several courses at Emory that deal with themes discussed in the book. This fall, she is teaching the undergraduate course “The Other Salem,” which focuses on the historical experiences of Black women and capital punishment in the U.S., beginning with untold stories of Black women burned at the stake.

Emory Undergraduates on Faculty

Emory is setting me up for success because of the faculty here and the way they invest in our students. . . . Professors at Emory just seem to really care about you. . . . They're interested in what you're interested in and try to cultivate your skills and talents. 

-- Various Emory Undergraduates, "Emory University: Achieving More Together." August 21, 2025

CFDE Opportunities Coming up

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence has deadlines coming up for three opportunities this fall.  

Book Proposal Working Group - Register by August 29

Faculty at any career stage are invited to participate in a semester-long, six-session, interactive working group designed to support the development of an effective book proposal. Led by publishing experts, the working group will offer insider perspective on how to appeal to acquisitions editors and avoid red flags. Participants will be guided through a structured program of drafting, feedback, and revision ultimately resulting in a full proposal tailored for their preferred publisher.

For more information on the Book Proposal Writing Group, please visit this webpage.

Academic Learning Communities - Apply by August 30

The CFDE is calling for participants for two Fall 2025 Academic Learning Communities:

• "Beyond Crisis": Toward Frameworks of Liberatory Education, convened by Vani Kannan, Emory Writing Program, Marina Magloire, Department of English, and Julia Tulke, Institute for the Liberal Arts. This ALC serves as a space to discuss a range of liberatory education frameworks, including critical and abolitionist university studies, counter-hegemonic work within institutions of higher education, popular education models for literacy and community organizing, and educational third-spaces. Together, we will read and discuss a range of texts and engage with guest speakers that include grassroots educators in the U.S. south, moving beyond the current rhetoric of “the university in crisis” to understand ourselves as part of longer genealogies of struggle. 
• "Ungrading": The Nuts and Bolts of Centering Student Agency in the Classroom, convened by Megan G. Massa, Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology and Christine Ristaino, French & Italian. This academic learning community seeks to engage instructors, from ungrading novices to skilled ungraders, interested in exploring options for ungrading practices with the aim of developing actionable steps to incorporate alternative grading strategies into their course(s).

For more information on the Academic Learning Communities, please visit this webpage. 

CFDE Faculty Writing Retreats - Apply by September 2

The CFDE is calling for applications for three faculty writing retreats in the 2025-26 academic year. These non-residential retreats will be held near the main campus at the Miller Ward Alumni House and will be two full days (9 am to 5 pm) each. All regular, full-time faculty members are invited to apply.

For more information on the Faculty Writing Retreats, please visit this webpage.

Letian Dou, Paul & Phyllis Fireman Professor of Chemistry

Letian Dou is currently the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Professor of Chemistry at Emory. From 2017 to 2025, he was Charles Davidson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry (by courtesy) at Purdue University. He obtained his B.S. in chemistry from Peking University in 2009 working with Xinhua Wan, and his Ph.D. from UCLA materials science in 2014 working with Yang Yang (co-advised by Fred Wudl at UCSB in 2013). From 2014 to 2017, he was a postdoctoral fellow working with Peidong Yang at the Department of Chemistry, University of California-Berkeley and Materials Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research interests include the synthesis of novel polymers (single crystals, recyclable materials), organic-inorganic hybrid semiconductor materials, nano materials, and related optoelectronic properties and device applications. He has published more than120 papers with more than 28,000 citations (H index = 60 as of June 2025).

Monday, August 25                           

At 3 p.m. online, Emory HR presents a webinar titled "Grocery Savvy: Mastering Smart Shopping." For more information, please visit this webpage.   

Tuesday, August 26                         

At noon on McDonough Field, the Emory Office of Sustainability Initiatives and Plastic Free Emory present a Student Sustainability Showcase, during which all are invited to learn about sustainability efforts on campus and meet student organizations. For more information, please visit this webpage.   

At 12:30 p.m. at the Health Sciences Research Building II room N600 and on Zoom, the Aflac Research Conference presents Chris Porter, professor, Department of Pediatrics, Emory, and Staci Denise Arnold,associate professor of pediatrics, Emory. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

At 1 p.m. at Convocation Hall, room 208, Emory College presents ECAS New Faculty Orientation. For more information, please visit this webpage.

At 4:30 p.m. at the James B. Williams Medical Education Building auditorium 110, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine present a public forum titled "Transforming the Culture of Caregiving: A National Strategy to Support Health Professions Faculty and Trainees." For more information, please visit this webpage.

Wednesday, August 27

At 7 a.m. at Emory St. Joseph's Hospital, Emory HR presents a Well-Being Expo. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

Running through December 20, the Schatten Gallery (Woodruff Library, third floor) presents "Striking Characters: Typewriters, Literary Worlds, and the Art of Tim Youd." For more information, please visit this webpage. 

At 10:30 a.m. on Zoom, the Academic Production Team presents a Video Production Team Drop-In. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

At noon on Zoom, the Climate and Health Actionable Research and Translation Webinar Series presents Amy Sharma. executive director, Science for Georgia, who will give a talk titled "Science in Action: Crafting Clear Messages for Broader Impact." For more information, please visit this webpage.

Thursday, August 28

At 11:30 a.m. on the Quad, Emory College's Pathways Center presents a Block Party, featuring complimentary lunch, networking opportunities, and faculty headshots for website updates. For more information, please visit this webpage.  

Friday, August 29 

At 1 p.m. at the Carlos Museum, the Carlos Museum Student Studio and Emory's Indian Cultural Association present Caricatures and Connections, a drop-in event during which participants may have their caricatures drawn alongside a museum object. For more information, please visit this webpage. 

At 4 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Dance Studio, the Emory Dance Department presents the Emory Dance Program Information Session. For more information, please visit this webpage.

Saturday, August 30

No events currently scheduled.  

Sunday, August 31 

At 2 p.m. at the Carlos Museum Rotunda, the Carlos Museum presents Sunday Public Tour, a drop-in docent-led tour. For more information, please visit this webpage.

Monday, September 1

Labor Day. University closed.

ThoughtWork: Emerging Knowledge and News in Emory's Intellectual Community

Monday, August 25, 2025, Volume 26, Issue 1

ThoughtWork is a publication of the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, which is supported by the Office of the Provost. This electronic newsletter list is moderated; replies are not automatically forwarded to the list of recipients. Please email aadam02@emory.edu with comments and calendar submissions. Calendar submissions are due 5:00pm the Wednesday before the week of the event. Dates and details of events on calendar are subject to change; please confirm with organizers before you attend.

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