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Update:

All CHS websites are under review after the issuance of the "Dear Colleague" letter from the U.S. Department of Education and the Notice of Civil Rights Term and Condition of Award from the National Institutes of Health.

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Meet Our New Faculty

The College of Humanities and Sciences is full of talented faculty—an amazing group of educators, academics and researchers. We invite you to meet our newest faculty members for the 2025-26 academic year. Their disciplines and backgrounds are varied, and we have no doubt they will make their mark on the College, VCU and beyond.

Chemistry

Weiping Song

Weiping Guo, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry

Guo, a chemistry educator with 20 years of college and high school teaching experience, is passionate about engaging students through active learning.

Farah Radwan

Farah Radwan, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry

A higher education leader with 15+ years of experience in teaching and academic administration, Radwan is dedicated to fostering resilience, growth and purposeful leadership.

English

Edgar Kunz

Edgar Kunz

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of English

An award-winning poet and author of "Fixer" and "Tap Out," Kunz's work has appeared in major literary outlets including The New Yorker and The Atlantic.

Devon Walker-Figueroa

Devon Walker-Figueroa

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of English

Walker-Figueroa is author of "Lazarus Species" and the award-winning "Philomath," with poetry and short stories appearing in The New York Review of Books, The Nation, Poetry, and more.

Forensic Science

Jake Olesen

Jake Olesen, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Forensic Science

Olesen is a former FBI special agent and cybersecurity expert with over two decades of experience in digital forensics and national security.

Amanda Hale

Amanda Hale, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Forensic Science

Hale, a forensic anthropologist with international board certification, specializes in the identification of U.S. service members from past conflicts.

Kinesiology and Health Science

Matthew Babcock

Matthew Babcock, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences

Babcock is an applied physiology researcher with degrees in exercise science and physiology, a postdoctoral fellowship in aging studies, and a passion for endurance sports and the outdoors.

Jiaxi Wu

Jiaxi Wu, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Science

Wu is a health communication researcher exploring how digital media influences health behaviors to advance equity and public health outcomes.

Political Science

Alexandria Davis

Alexandria Davis, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Political Science

Davis is a political scientist specializing in race, ethnicity, political psychology and voting behavior in the United States.

Hollie Mann

Hollie Sue Mann, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Department of Political Science

Mann is a political theorist and educator with a diverse background spanning theater, yoga philosophy and over a decade of university teaching.

Robertson School of Communication

Jin Chen

Jin Chen, Ph.D.

Job title: Assistant Professor
Affiliation: Robertson School of Communication

Chen is a communication scholar researching media effects, health communication and emerging technologies, with publications in top peer-reviewed journals.

World Studies

Asli Akkaya

Asli Akkaya, Ph.D.

Job title: Associate Professor
Affiliation: World Studies

As a linguistic and sociocultural anthropologist, Akkaya studies the intersections of morality, health, religion and politics through multidisciplinary methods.