The Graduate School with the support of the Provost’s Office and in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Honors College is pleased to announce the 2021-2022 Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows. Each fellow was nominated by their department for fellowship, and the final fellows were selected in a competitive process including review by the Graduate School, the Honors College, and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Honors College Postdoctoral Fellow
Becca Cassady, PhD English
Honors College Postdoctoral Fellow
“I’ve loved my time working with honors students in the HRC, and I’m excited to continue to work with them in the classroom. I look forward to gaining invaluable experience, stretching myself with new content and teaching methods, and learning from and collaborating with the faculty in the Honors College.”
The School of Education Postdoctoral Fellow
Jeff Strietzel, PhD Higher Education Leadership
School of Education Postdoctoral Fellow
“I am thrilled to both join Baylor—whose faculty have greatly influenced my thinking and development as a scholar—and to teach a topic that has intrigued me since I was a youth. I am grateful to the leaders of the Graduate School and the department of Educational Leadership for this opportunity, and I look forward to teaching and learning alongside my students this year as a Postdoctoral Fellow.”
The College of Arts and Sciences Postdoctoral Fellows
Olantunde (Patrick) Olademehin, PhD Chemistry
College of Arts & Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow
“The Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship is an exciting opportunity to work with committed faculty members to positively impact the lives of Baylor students, and I hope to relish every moment of it.”
Keighley Reisenauer, PhD Biology
College of Arts & Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow
“I am eager, as a postdoctoral teaching fellow, to gain formal teaching skills, while leveraging my own expertise to bring exciting and much-needed support to my department.”
Nicholas Norman-Krause, PhD Religion
College of Arts & Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow
“I love introducing undergraduate students to the richness of Christian scripture, history, and theology. I am excited to continue teaching and working with students as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow.”
The English Department Postdoctoral Fellows
Ben Rawlins, PhD English
English Department Postdoctoral Fellow
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Baylor students over the last few years, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue teaching at Baylor.”
Holly Spofford, PhD English
English Department Postdoctoral Fellow
“My years at Baylor have formed me as a teacher, scholar, and Christian, and I am delighted by this chance to continue learning from and investing in its vibrant community.”
Luke Mitchell, PhD English
English Department Postdoctoral Fellow
“I have really enjoyed teaching both composition and literature at Baylor the last few years and am grateful for the opportunity to continue in the classroom here.”
The Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship program allows our most recent PhD graduates to compete for a limited number of one-year teaching fellowships. The 10-month fellowship includes a salary of $40,000, continued access to Graduate School travel funds, additional mentoring through the Conyers Scholars or Ramm Scholars programs, inclusion in the Graduate School Mock Interviews and professional development training, and the same health benefits as Baylor faculty. These fellows will benefit from a year of postdoctoral job security (especially significant during the COVID-19 pandemic) and accrual of significant teaching experience that will strengthen fellows’ future competitiveness on the academic job market.
In addition to being good for students, the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship programs is also good for Baylor. It aligns us more closely with R1 institutions like Notre Dame, provides a powerful recruiting tool for top doctoral students, incentives graduation for our doctoral students by providing a fully funded transitional year, and provides academic departments a deeper pool of well-trained instructors for undergraduate courses. The application cycle for 2022-2023 will open in November 2022.
Congratulations to the 2021-2022 Fellows!
Please find more about the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship Program on our website here: https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/index.php?id=964281