APSA congratulates the following APSA Diversity and Inclusion Program Alumni for their recent accomplishments and updates. The list of accomplishments and updates includes news on academic program admittances; dissertation defenses; academic, administrative and non-academic job appointments; publications; promotions and other professional updates. To learn more about APSA Diversity and Inclusion Programs visit us online at https://apsanet.org/DIVERSITY/Diversity-and-Inclusion-Programs

Viviana Abreu-Hernandez (DFP 1995) became President of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center as of August 1, 2024.

Steven Bradford (DFP 2025-26), PhD candidate at American University, received the 2025 David L. Boren Fellowship from the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the US Department of Defense. They were also awarded the 2025 School of International Service Summer Methods Training Award from American University and the 2024-2025 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Fellowship from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Kevin Bustamante (DFP 2021), Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Notre Dame, graduated from the University of Notre Dame and defended their dissertation in August 2024. The title of their dissertation was, “Competition, Collusion, and Inclusion: Racial Equality in Elite International Clubs.” They will be a Hennessy Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation in fall 2025. They have also published an article in Security Studies called, “Waltz With Me: Structural Realism and Structural Racism in International Politics.”

Jason Casellas (DFP 2000, FLS 2004), associate professor at the University of Houston, was promoted to full professor effective fall 2025.

Curtis Edmonds (DFP 2022-23), PhD candidate at Syracuse University, accepted a visiting assistant professor position at Dickinson College starting this fall.

Raychel Gadson (DFP 2021-22), PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University, recently published an article in Law and Society.

Aura Gonzalez (DFP 2021-22), PhD candidate at Cornell University, wrote a research paper, “Legacies of Forced Migration: Evidence from the 1947 Partition of South Asia,” that won the Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper by a Graduate Student Award at MPSA. They also successfully defended their prospectus and became a PhD candidate.

Devin Green (RBSI 2022, DFP 2023-24), PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, won the National Sciences Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Angela Danso Gyane (DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at the University of Missouri-Columbia, won the Robert N. Epsten Scholarship in International Studies from the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation.

Marzia Hussaini (DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at Michigan State University, received their master’s degree in American politics from Michigan State University in May 2025.

Rikio Inouye (DFP 2019-20), PhD candidate at Princeton University, received the Prize Fellowship in Social Sciences for 2025-26. Their piece, “Preserve, Pressure, Protect, and Peel: The US-China Rivalry and the Politics of Vaccine Provision” won Best Paper in the Foreign Policy Section at APSA 2024, and is now R&R’d at ISQ.

Isabelle Jensen (DFP 2023-24), PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, received their master’s degree and was awarded the Applied Social Issues Internship grant from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).

Kennedy Lighty (DFP 2025-26), PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a graduate of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with highest honors, BA in political science.

Brianna Mack (RBSI 2011, MFP 2012-13) was promoted to associate professor of Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Silky Malik (DFP 2022-23), PhD candidate at the University of Houston, was appointed as a trustee to the board of the Harris County Department of Education and will be running for re-election in 2026.

Blessyn Marcelle (RBSI 2022), graduate of Temple University, is working as an executive assistant at Fannie Mae.

Hope Martinez (FLS 2024, DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at Georgia State University, has completed her MA in political science and defended her dissertation prospectus, becoming a PhD candidate in Georgia State University’s doctoral program of political science. She has published a solo-authored article in Social Science Quarterly about the effects of incarceration on the political beliefs of women and people of color. This summer, Hope will move back home to Colorado and continue the field work for her dissertation with Indigenous communities in Colorado and New Mexico.

Claudette Medina (DFP 2024-25), graduate student at the University of Central Florida, was accepted to University of Colorado, Boulder’s political science PhD program and will begin this fall. They were also offered a position as a lab fellow in the Barney Ford Lab for Civic Thought and Engagement. They attended two conferences, including the Florida Political Science Association’s 2025 Annual Conference in St. Petersburg to present their paper, “Sex Work and Women: A Comparative Analysis Between the US and Mexico.” They also attended the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies in Mexico City to present their paper of the same name.

Leonardo Moraveg (DFP 2023-24), MA student at the University of Chicago, will complete their MA in international relations through the Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago on June 7, 2025.

Jeremiah Muhammad (DFP 2020-21), PhD candidate at the University of Tennessee, published their first article with Leah Christiani, PhD, titled, “Pandering Politics? Examining the Effect of Positive, Explicit Racial Appeals on Support for Political Candidates” in the Dubois Review. They ask if endorsements from Black elites effectively mitigate perceptions of pandering by White politicians, as well as what distinguishes genuine outreach from pandering in the eyes of Black voters? They find that everything is seen as pandering regardless of endorsements— but that doesn’t mean that endorsements + positive appeals can’t increase favorability.

José Pérez (DFP 2022), PhD candidate at the Ohio State University, was recently named assistant professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus.

Sofia Rosales (DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at Michigan State University, qualified to graduate for a master of arts in political science, which they walked for on May 2nd, 2025. They presented at their first professional conference (SPSA), and was named a recipient of the Julian Samora Research Institute scholarship. They are now looking forward to their third year at MSU, which is when they plan to take comp exams and write their third-year paper.

Tye Rush (MFP 2017-18), Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Diego, accepted a position as an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis.

Sevastian Sanchez (RBSI 2023), MA student at Columbia University, was admitted as a dual master’s (MA-MIA) student to Columbia’s Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), master of International Affairs. This semester, they will complete the QMSS component before they take on SIPA this coming fall.

Mar Galvez Seminario (RBSI 2020), PhD candidate at Stony Brook University, published a co-authored piece in the Journal of Adolescent Health titled, “Exploring Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Abortion Disclosure and Adolescents’ Experiences Navigating Colorado’s Parental Notification Law.”

Michaela Shelton (RBSI 2020), alumna of Pomona College, is pleased to share that they have been awarded the Fulbright/University of Bristol Award to pursue an MA in Black Humanities for the 2025-26 academic year. Their proposed dissertation is titled “From Roots to Rights: Negotiating Beauty, Identity, and Democracy in Black Hair Salons.” At this time, they are seeking supplemental funding opportunities to support their research and living expenses abroad.

Hailey Stepp (DFP 2025-26), PhD candidate at the University of Arizona, has accepted the SGPP Early Career Summer Research Fellowship from the University of Arizona.

Cayleb Stives (DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at University of Colorado, Boulder, published the article, “Follow the Court: Examining Judicial Homestyle Through Extrajudicial Communications on State Court Twitter” in the Research Handbook on Judicial Politics with Dr. Todd Curry. They also published “Neuroscience” in the Encyclopedia of Political Communication with Dr. Melissa Baker and Olivia Neufield. They were a 2025 Fellow for the Colorado Diversity Initiative (CDI), a fellow for the American Political Research Lab (APRL), and a fellow for the Barney Ford Lab at CU Boulder. Additionally, they became a graduate student associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science’s Institutional Development Program, as well as a racial justice and policy liaison for the Graduates in Political Science (GIPS) program at CU Boulder.

Juan Tellez (DFP 2013-14) earned tenure and was promoted to associate professor at the University of California, Davis beginning July 1, 2025.

Angie Torres-Beltran (RBSI 2017, MFP 2018-19, FLS 2023), Postdoctoral Fellow at Michigan State University, will be joining the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona as an assistant professor in fall 2025.

Taylor Vincent (DFP 2021-22), PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, will be graduating from Maryland and becoming a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University.

Mychala Walker (DFP 2024-25), PhD candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park, received their Master of Arts in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park on December 18, 2024. ■