Dear colleagues:
I am delighted to announce the 2025-26 cohort for the University of Illinois System OpEd Project/Public Voices Fellowship in its seventh year. The fellowship is a unique opportunity led by The OpEd Project. The program is part of a national initiative to help faculty amplify their expertise in ways that can contribute to public conversations about pressing issues.
The 20 faculty members in this cohort will attend four sessions during the 2025-26 academic year and will be paired with a journalism mentor who provides one-on-one editing and coaching. Fellows will publish two or more op-ed pieces during the program.
Please join me in congratulating the following faculty who were selected for the 2025-26 program:
Chicago
- Veerasathpurush Allareddy, professor and department head of orthodontics, College of Dentistry
- Daylan Dufelmeier, director, Office of Community Engagement and Neighborhood Health Partnerships
- Giamila Fantuzzi, professor and associate head, department of kinesiology and nutrition, College of Applied Health Sciences
- Jeni Hebert-Beirne, professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Springfield
- Akash Belsare, assistant professor, department of English and modern languages
Urbana-Champaign
- Luvell Anderson, professor, department of philosophy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Lauren Aronson, clinical professor, director of Immigration Law Clinic, College of Law
- Jose Atiles, assistant professor, department of sociology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Maria Bonn, associate professor and director, master of science in library and information science, School of Information Sciences
- Yulanda Curtis, clinical professor, College of Law
- Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson, associate professor, department of philosophy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Rachel Hoopsick, assistant professor, department of health and kinesiology, College of Applied Health Sciences
- Kathryn Huff, associate professor, department of nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering, and director of advanced reactors and fuel cycles group, The Grainger College of Engineering
- Fatima Husain, professor, department of speech and hearing science, and associate dean, College of Applied Health Sciences
- Martin Persson, assistant professor, department of accountancy, Gies College of Business
- Mary Phillips, associate professor, department of African American studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Koustuv Saha, assistant professor, department of computer science, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science
- Bobby Smith II, associate professor, department of African American studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Haileleol Tibebu, assistant professor, School of Information Sciences
- Travis Wagner, assistant professor, School of Information Sciences
Thank you to all who participated in the process, either as nominators or as candidates. We are fortunate to be part of a community with so many dedicated faculty who are interested in furthering their skills, as well as making their voices heard.
This is an outstanding and enriching experience for participants, and I strongly encourage faculty to apply for the Public Voices Fellowship program in future years.
Sincerely,
Nicholas P. Jones
Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs