After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and his PhD from Harvard University, Michael Hughes has chosen the University of Missouri–St. Louis to make his classroom debut as assistant professor of biology. He studies circadian rhythms in fruit flies and mice to understand how the nervous system regulates several behavior and physiology outputs.

Joyman Lee, a historian of modern China, will also join the university from an Ivy League school. Lee, who is wrapping up a PhD in history at Yale University, is a visiting professor of history at UMSL. Lee will teach courses on East Asian history, and he recently authored an article on China’s unlikely bridge to Lusophone countries for the History News Network.

Sha-Lai L. Williams also was in the news recently for being inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at the annual Bouchet Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education at Yale University. Williams, who just completed her doctoral degree at Washington University in St. Louis, joins UMSL as an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at UMSL. She was a licensed clinical social worker for more than 10 years and a supervisor to provisionally licensed clinical social workers in North Carolina for three years before she decided to return to the classroom.

Hughes, Lee and Williams are among more than 35 new faculty members joining UMSL for the 2013-14 academic year. The newcomers took part last week in the annual New Faculty Orientation organized by the Center for Teaching and Learning. The two-day event introduced new faculty to the ins-and-outs of the campus including a tour, informational sessions on University Libraries, informational technology and classroom resources, meetings with students, staff and administrators and an introduction to employee benefits.

Other new faculty include:

Margaret Berry, College of Nursing

Maryann Bozzette, College of Nursing

Ben Bythell, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences

Bettina Casad, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences

James Craig, Military and Veterans Studies

Elaine Doherty, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of Arts and Sciences

Perry Drake, Marketing Area, College of Business Administration and School of Professional and Continuing Studies

Kate Dwiggins, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences

Rochelle Elva, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, College of Arts and Sciences

Max Gillman, Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences

Jodi Heaps, Missouri Institute of Mental Health

Michelle Hendricks, Missouri Institute of Mental Health

Charles Hoffman, College of Business Administration

Dan Isom, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of Arts and Sciences

Jee Young Joo, College of Nursing

Min Ju, Marketing Area, College of Busienss Administration

Ambrose (Trey) Kidd III, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences

Matthew Kimbrell, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences

Seonah Lee, College of Nursing

Angela Lilly, College of Nursing

Patrick McNeil, Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts and Communication

Jennifer Medina, Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies, College of Fine Arts and Communication

Bill Mendelsohn, Charter Schools, College of Education

Jean M.K. Miller, College of Fine Arts and Communication

Keith Miller, Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education

Nathan Muchhala, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences

Lauren Obermark, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences

Steven Phipps, Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies, College of Fine Arts and Communication

Kathyrn Records, College of Nursing

Ann Taylor, Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education

Ann Torrusio, Pierre Laclede Honors College

Stephanie Van Stee, Department of Communication, College of Fine Arts and Communication

Jennifer He Wen, Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration

Yuefeng Wu, Department of Mathematics  and Computer Science, College of Arts and Sciences

Rick Zimmerman, College of Nursing