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Farewell, Professors Nash and Watkins-Hayes!

August 3, 2020

The end of the 2019-20 academic year marked a bittersweet moment for the AfAm community, as two beloved professors announced they were leaving Northwestern University for exciting new career opportunities.

Associate Professor of African American Studies and Gender & Sexuality Studies Jen Nash, who arrived at Northwestern in 2016, will be joining the faculty at Duke University, where she has been named the Jean Fox O’Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies.

Professor of African American Studies and Sociology Celeste Watkins-Hayes, who has been a member of the department since 2002 and was also an Associate Vice President in the university’s Office for Research, will hold a prestigious Collegiate Professorship at the University of Michigan. She will have an appointment in the sociology department and the Ford School of Public Policy, and will also have the opportunity to create a center or major initiative within the Ford School.

Professors Nash and Watkins-Hayes will undoubtedly continue to accomplish great things in their new academic homes. We congratulate them and wish them the absolute best!