Featured Alumni
Where are they now?
“50% of our NextProf Nexus alums have continued on academic career paths and 30% have secured faculty positions—and that’s very impressive.”
— Lola Eniola-Adefeso, Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education, Vennema Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering; University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, and NextProf leader.
Sasha Cai Lesher-Pérez
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
The NextProf workshop provided an excellent forum to gain insight on pursuing an academic career, from the application and interview process to the resources available on the path towards a junior faculty position. NextProf helped refine my early stage interactions which undoubtedly created critical positive impacts during my academic job search.
Linda Tseng
Assistant Professor, Colgate University
“I am currently an assistant professor at Colgate University, a private liberal arts university. NextProf helped me think about the application process in a new way: I am not alone and we are all in this together! NextProf also taught me to be more proactive and open-minded about opportunities.”
Brandon Pitts
Assistant Professor, Purdue University
“The NextProf workshop is really a one-stop-shop for the knowledge you need to prepare to become a faculty member. This program eliminated much of the uncertainty I had about pursuing an academic career and moved my interest level from 70% to 95%. It helped me to better understand the life of a professor and the resources available to aspiring and junior faculty, and provided me with a guide to prepare for the application process. NextProf also enabled me to ‘make colleagues,’ many of whom I am still in contact with today as we navigate tenure-track positions together.”
Sara Shashaani
Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University
“The NextProf program played a crucial role in the realization that an academic career is in fact what I would passionately like to pursue. And now, a year and a half into my faculty position, I appreciate that the introductions of this workshop to the ebbs and flows of pre-tenure life, and different ways its well-known challenges could be addressed were quite relevant and illuminating.”