Williams School Welcomes Nine New Faculty Members
The Williams School announces five new tenure-track faculty and four visiting appointments for the 2015-16 academic year.
The following faculty members have been appointed to tenure-track roles:
Elicia Cowins, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Cowins received her Ph.D. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was previously a visiting assistant professor at Georgia State University. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she worked in financial reporting for various publishing, media and software development companies in the southeast United States and is a CPA (inactive) licensed in the state of Illinois. She holds a B.S. in accounting from Florida A&M University and a M.Acc. from Florida State University.
Stuart Gray, Assistant Professor of Politics
Gray is a political theorist who studies the history of political thought, Greek and Indian political theory and cross-cultural political thought. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and was a post-doctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University. Gray reads and translates ancient Greek and Sanskrit and is at work on a book, “Ancient Political Thought in Comparative Perspective: Distinction and Stewardship in Greece and India.”
Chris Handy, Assistant Professor of Economics
Handy joined the university in 2013 as a visiting assistant professor and has taught courses in poverty and inequality, microeconomics, macroeconomics and applied statistics. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from Cornell University and his B.A. from Vanderbilt University. He is currently researching the volatility of workers’ earnings over time and the intergenerational persistence of schooling and earnings.
Stephen Lind, Assistant Professor of Business
Lind came to Washington and Lee University in 2013 as a visiting assistant professor. He earned his Ph.D. with distinction from Clemson University’s transdisciplinary doctoral program in rhetorics, communication and information design. Lind’s research focuses on the intersection of religion and the entertainment industry and his upcoming book, “A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz,” will be released this November.
Colin Reid, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Reid earned his Ph.D. in 2011 from the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee and was previously an assistant professor at Northeastern University. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., he worked for PwC in Dallas, Texas. Reid is a licensed CPA and received B.B.A. and M.Acc. degrees from Baylor University.
The following faculty members have been appointed on a visiting basis:
Steve Bragaw, Visiting Professor of Politics
Bragaw comes to W&L as a visitor from Sweet Briar College where he was a professor of American politics and chair of the Department of Government and International Affairs. He has taught courses in public policy, American political and legal development, social movements and the law, as well as American politics and popular culture. Bragaw studies the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in negotiating the boundaries of power and authority. He earned a master’s and Ph.D. in government from the University of Virginia and has a M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Kip Pirkle, John and Barbara Glynn Family Visiting Professor of Business Administration
Pirkle returns to W&L after previously teaching in the Department of Business Administration from 1989-2008. His tenure included a seven-year term as department head. In addition to teaching at W&L, Pirkle has taught at Furman University, Old Dominion University, the University of Georgia and the University of Iowa. He has also run a successful consulting practice, specializing in the management of quality, financial forecasting and valuation. He earned his Ph.D. in management from Clemson University after earning an accounting degree and M.B.A. from the University of Georgia.
Tom Williams, Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics
Williams earned his Ph.D. at The Johns Hopkins University where he was a James Hart Fellow. Prior to pursuing his doctoral degree, he was a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He teaches and researches geopolitics, international relations and civil war, and his most recent work focuses on the global patterns of civil war. He earned a B.S. from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Julie Youngman, Visiting Assistant Professor of Business Law & Adjunct Professor of Law
Youngman has practiced law for 20 years. Before joining the Williams School, she was a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At the SELC, her work focused on the protection of water quality, water quantity and coastal resources in the southeastern United States. Prior to joining the SELC, Youngman worked in private practice, most recently as a partner at Ellis & Winters LLP where she practiced commercial litigation. Youngman earned her J.D. from Duke University Law School and a M.A. from the Duke University School of the Environment.
