The nine schools that make up Emory University have big plans for the 2024-25 academic year, from welcoming new faculty to introducing new programs and initiatives. Here’s a roundup of incoming class stats and other things to come, as listed by each school.
Candler School of Theology
Incoming class: Candler welcomes 158 students from 27 states and seven countries.
New dean: Candler begins the new academic year with new leadership: Jonathan Strom, professor of church history, will be installed as Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler during Fall Convocation on Thursday, Aug. 29.
New faculty: Joining the faculty are Geordan Hammond, acting associate professor of Methodist and Wesleyan studies; Soren Hessler, assistant professor in the practice of leadership and administration; Mark Jordan, Dean’s Professor of Christian Ethics; Jennifer Quigley, assistant professor of New Testament; and Dhruv Raj Nagar, Bhagawan Arnath Post-Doctoral Fellow in Jain Studies. Brian Blount, president emeritus of Union Presbyterian Seminary, will serve as the 2024-25 Alonzo L. McDonald Chair in the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture.
New endowed chair: Anthony Briggman will be installed on Thursday, Aug. 29, as the inaugural Dr. Andrew J. and Georgia L. Ekonomou Distinguished Associate Professor of Patristic Theology, Candler’s newest named professorship.
Noteworthy event: Candler’s Pitts Theology Library will host its annual Morgan Forum on Thursday, Sept. 19, centered around the English Bible’s history and ongoing significance to the church and world. The main event will be a screening of the documentary film “1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture,” which traces the origins of the anti-LGBTQIA+ movement among Christians to a significant biblical translation choice made in 1946. A panel discussion featuring the film’s director will follow.
Learn more at the Candler School of Theology website.
Emory College of Arts and Sciences
Incoming class: Emory College welcomes a stellar, high-achieving first-year class of 1,448 students. Almost 20% of the class identifies as first-generation students.
New faculty: Fifty new faculty members will join the Emory College ranks this fall. The diverse and highly accomplished cohort represents ambitious hiring across the sciences, humanities and arts.
Building community: The Emory College Communities Project, successfully piloted last spring, continues this fall. Spearheaded by Dean Barbara Krauthamer and Divisional Dean of Arts Kevin Karnes, the project supports grassroots efforts by students, faculty and staff to gather for conversations around complex issues facing our world today. Several small-group, moderated discussions around select campus events are also being planned.
New lecture series: As part of the College’s ongoing efforts to build an inclusive community, the inaugural Dean’s Distinguished Lecture will take place Thursday, Oct. 10, with Pearl Dowe, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Political Science and African American Studies. She will discuss her most recent book, “The Radical Imagination of Black Women: Ambition, Politics, and Power.” This new lecture series aims to bring in prominent scholars to address timely topics and, in conjunction with the College Communities Project, give students the opportunity for in-depth interaction and discussion with speakers.
Building career pathways: Career and Professional Development in the Pathways Center will offer three career treks during spring and fall breaks for students to travel to cities around the country to network with alumni and learn more about opportunities in different industries. The treks will visit Miami, New York and San Francisco this year.
Learn more at the Emory College website.
Goizueta Business School
Incoming classes: Goizueta welcomed more than 900 students for the new academic year. The new class included nearly 400 students and 70 exchange students in our BBA program and approximately 545 graduate students in our MBA programs and specialized master’s degrees. Across programs, Goizueta celebrated a record number of veterans and service members joining as students at our school.
Launching inaugural programs: Goizueta launched the first incoming class for our Master in Management program, designed for recent graduates with a non-business major who are looking to level up their undergraduate degree with business knowledge and skills, and our Master in Business for Veterans program, which supports the transition of active-duty military members and veterans from service to a successful civilian career in business.
New faculty: Goizueta welcomes new faculty members Tucker Richard Balch, professor in the practice and research of finance; Jake Jo, assistant professor in the practice of organization and management; Brian Jonghwan Lee, assistant professor of finance; and Dionne Nickerson, assistant professor of marketing.
Elevating business and careers: Ranked #6 in the U.S. by Financial Times, Emory Executive Education continues to evolve its programs and courses to reflect the evolving needs of businesses and professionals. This fall, it is launching three new online certificates centered on Business and Digital Transformation, Analytics and AI. Existing and new short courses cover topics such as AI in business, change management, negotiations, design thinking and more. Connect to discuss significant discounts for Emory alumni and employees.
Learn more at the Goizueta Business School website.
Laney Graduate School
Incoming class: The James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies welcomed 486 new students, with 80% of students pursuing PhDs and 20% seeking master’s degrees. The diverse incoming class includes students from 31 states across the U.S. and 43 countries. All LGS students were invited to a fun and engaging LGS welcome picnic designed to build community among other activities.
New PhD program: The Laney Graduate School recently received approval for a new Environmental Studies and Society (ESS) PhD program. Through co-mentoring and experiential cross-training in applied natural and social sciences, students enrolled in the program will pursue actionable research to address environmental issues and their associated complex challenges through an integrated interdisciplinary applied perspective. Congratulations to the faculty who spearheaded this effort.
Laney joins national consortium: Laney-EDGE (Emory Diversifying Graduate Education), with support from executive leadership at Emory, has become one of the newest members of the Leadership Alliance — a national consortium of leading research and teaching colleges, universities and private industry aimed to develop underrepresented students into outstanding leaders and role models in academia, business and the public sector.
ELSP revamped: The Laney Graduate School’s English Language Support Program (ELSP) was restructured to better support international students. The program removed the global assessment requirement, allowing newly admitted LGS students who indicated on their admissions application that English is not their first language to take oral and written Emory-specific language proficiency assessments, either through referral by their individual programs or through self-selection. We are delighted to take this more student-centered approach.
New administrative office: The administrative offices of the Laney Graduate School have moved from the Administrative Building to a new location. Located at 1784 North Decatur Road, Second Floor, the new space is designed to foster collaboration and community-building and is near the new graduate and professional student housing complex. Please come visit our new space!
Learn more at the Laney Graduate School website.
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Incoming class: The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing is excited to welcome approximately 1,400 students this fall across pre- and post-licensure programs.
New faculty: The School of Nursing is thrilled to welcome 14 diverse faculty members this fall.
New alumni: The school celebrated 184 of its newest alumni during the August Graduation and Pinning Ceremony. These students graduated from the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesia (CRNA) program, the Master of Nursing Pathway to Master of Science in Nursing (MN to MSN Pathway) program and the Distance Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (DABSN) program.
New programs: The school recently launched a spring start for its Master of Nursing (MN) program to meet the needs of our population and prepare additional nurses. The MN spring start is a 15-month, full-time, campus-based program designed for second-degree students. It offers three career pathways designed to fit our student’s needs.
Faculty honors: Ten members of the Emory Nursing community will be among the distinguished nurse leaders inducted into the American Academy of Nursing 2024 Class of Fellows this October. The honorees are Glenna Brewster, Renée Byfield, Ethan Cicero, Carrie McDermott, Adrianna Nava, Quyen Phan, Courtney Pitts, David Reinhart, David Jackson Smith and Irene Yang.
Learn more at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing website.
Oxford College
Incoming class: Oxford starts this 2024-25 school year with 436 first-year students on campus. These talented students were selected from the largest and most competitive pool of applicants in the college’s history.
New leadership: This year, Oxford welcomed several new leaders, including Darleny Cepin, the new senior associate dean of campus life and chief student affairs officer, who previously served as an assistant dean for student life at Princeton University’s Mathey College. Daisja Dukes also joins Oxford from the Morehouse School of Medicine as the new director of the College’s Center for Counseling and Wellbeing.
New and promoted faculty: Oxford welcomed several new faculty members this fall. They are: Joseph Cheatle, assistant professor of English and director of the Writing and Communication Center; Tulay Dixon, assistant teaching professor of QTM and linguistics; Mary Johnson, assistant professor of art; and Kelly Murray-Stoker, assistant professor of biology.
Oxford is also proud to announce several new faculty promotions. They are: Maria (Tanya) Davis, promotion to teaching professor of Spanish; Nicholas Fesette, promotion to associate professor of theater with tenure; Devon Goss, promotion to associate professor of sociology with tenure; Alix Olson, promotion to associate professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies with tenure; Deric Shannon, promotion to professor of sociology; Salmon Shomade, promotion to professor of political science; Erin Tarver, promotion to professor of philosophy; and Daniel Walter, promotion to associate professor of German and linguistics with tenure.
New this fall: Oxford College is launching a new office called Global Oxford, which will bring together all international student programs and expanded student international travel opportunities (faculty-led, summer programs and international internships). Global Oxford will be housed in the Center for Pathways and Purpose (CPP) and will be led by Daphne Orr, who will assume the role of senior director.
Oxford College will be the site of the Emory Center for Public Scholarship and Engagement’s inaugural Ideas Festival Emory Sept. 20-22. The weekend will feature some of the most impactful and interesting scientists, musicians, writers, filmmakers and creators of our time, including Jermaine Dupri, who will be the keynote speaker. Learn more or register here.
Learn more at the Oxford College website.
Rollins School of Public Health
Incoming class: Rollins welcomes 511 students (including Humphrey Fellows) representing 41 countries and 36 states. For the 2024-25 school year, 592 Rollins students have Rollins Earn and Learn awards (a work-study program unique to Rollins).
New programs: Starting this fall, Rollins is offering a fully online, part-time Master of Public Health in four subject areas. Prospective students can also apply for the Doctor of Public Health program, which will enroll its first cohort across two specializations for fall 2025. For students not seeking a degree, this summer marked the launch of the Rollins Health Education Institute, a new continuing education initiative offering short courses for public health professionals.
Scientific innovation: The Climate and Health Indicator Dashboard for Georgia launched this summer to track the impacts of extreme weather and climate change on human health throughout the state. This is part of a larger focus on climate and health across the school, including the expanding activities of the Climate and Health Actionable Research and Translation Center, established last fall. Rollins researchers are also innovating in outbreak analysis through the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analytics and Training Hub, an innovation partner with CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics.
Expanding communications: In August, Rollins launched “Health Wanted,” a new podcast and radio show produced in partnership with WABE. Host Laurel Bristow — a research scientist and infectious diseases expert leading social media science communication at Rollins — talks to experts, delivers essential public health headlines and demystifies the science behind trending topics.
Learn more at the Rollins School of Public Health website.
School of Law
Incoming class: Emory Law welcomes new students from 35 states plus the District of Columbia and 15 countries to pursue JD, LLM, MCL and JM degrees.
New faculty: Emory Law welcomes several faculty during the fall semester. Jessica Roberts is a professor of law in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science at Emory University School of Law. She specializes in the legal and ethical issues related to genetics and other emerging health technologies, disability rights and antidiscrimination law. Dave Fagundes is a professor of law who writes and teaches about property, including copyright, real estate and wills and trusts. Matt Roessing is an assistant professor of practice who, prior to joining the Emory Law faculty, taught business, real estate and international trade law at business schools, first at Georgia College and State University, then University of Georgia. Chelsea Harris serves as an assistant professor of practice teaching Introduction to Legal Analysis, Research, and Communication and Introduction to Legal Advocacy.
Key upcoming events:
Learn more at the School of Law website.
School of Medicine
Incoming students: On July 22, 150 students matriculated to the MD program. The incoming students are 61% women, with 86% non-traditional students (meaning they have been out of college for a year or more). Of these, 28 received other graduate degrees prior to medical school; 57 claim Georgia as home and 24 were born outside the U.S. Their average age is 24.
The Physician Assistant program Class of 2026 began July 29 with 57 students selected from a pool of nearly 1,300 applicants. They have an average of 4,200 hours of health care experience prior to Emory, 42% identify as racial or ethnic minority and 81% are women.
On June 3, the Doctor of Physical Therapy program welcomed 63 students in the class of 2027. The new class is 77% women, and students come from 22 U.S. states and four countries including China, Chile, Mexico and India. The DPT program was recently ranked no. 4 in the country according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 Best Graduate Schools.
Two students from the Anesthesiologist Assistant Program class of 2024 were selected as finalists to present posters on medically challenging cases at the Georgia Society of Anesthesiologists Summer Meeting in July. Students of the class of 2025 completed their skills labs in neuraxial blocks and central line placement. On Aug. 19, we welcomed 40 students to the Class of 2026.
The Genetic Counseling Training Program welcomes 12 incoming students and 12 returning students. The incoming class has the highest number of Georgia residents in the program history and represents three different countries.
The Medical Imaging program welcomes eight students in the Class of 2026. Additionally, applications open Sept. 1 for 2025 enrollment in the Bachelor of Medical Science “Bridge” Program (RT- BMSc). Contact Kimberly Cross at [email protected] for details.
Incoming residents and fellows: This summer, the SOM welcomed 468 new residents and fellows across 119 ACGME-accredited training programs. This outstanding group of residents and fellows will join their colleagues in providing essential services for our community while obtaining exemplary medical training.
New centers: As part of a continued effort to transform education in the School of Medicine, we have launched a new Center for Humanizing Innovations in Medical Education (CHIME). The center will focus on meeting the evolving needs of faculty, staff, learners and patients through learning sciences, innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Experts in learning sciences, educational/faculty development, instructional technology and medical education will work together to prepare our people to become compassionate, competent and forward-thinking leaders who will be equipped to innovate in the rapidly changing health care and education landscape.
New leadership: After five years as department chair, Drew Patterson has stepped down and Anne Marie McKenzie-Brown, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, will serve as interim department chair. Ravi Rajani, professor of surgery, stepped into the role of executive associate dean for Emory at Grady on June 1, 2024. Carlos del Rio, will become the Department of Medicine chair beginning Sept. 1. Solomon F. Ofori-Acquah will arrive in Georgia in September and will have a joint faculty appointment at Emory University and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) as the Calvin Smyre GRA Eminent Scholar Chair. In this role he will lead the Georgia Solve Sickle Cell Initiative, coordinated by the Georgia Research Alliance in partnership with Emory, MSM and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Learn more at the School of Medicine website.
Photos by Kay Hinton and Sarah Woods, Emory Photo/Video.
