Lesley welcomes new faculty

With each new year comes a new class of students and faculty. Among three schools, we welcomed eight new professors, from Mindfulness Studies and Creative Writing to Drama Therapy and Film Studies.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences welcomes two new program directors along with several faculty members.

In the spring, long-time Professor Danielle Legros Georges became the director of our MFA in Creative Writing program after a year serving as interim director. An award-winning writer, Georges served as Boston’s second poet laureate from 2015 to 2019 and is the author of several books.

This summer we welcomed Professor Andrew Olendzki as the new director of Mindfulness Studies. An acclaimed Buddhist scholar and teacher, Olendzki was the executive director of the Insight Meditation Society and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies before coming to Lesley.

Assistant Professor Laura Wood is a registered drama therapist whose work has focused on eating disorders, trauma, grief and recovery. She co-created the CoActive Therapeutic Theater Model and is engaged in ongoing research and collaboration with communities of people with eating disorders, substance use and aphasia.

Assistant Professor of Counseling and Psychology Dominique Malebranche’s work shows a commitment to dismantling relational and structural violence through the study of race, class, gender and the psychology of culture and oppression. Malbranche’s experiences as a first-generation Haitian-American lend a critical lens to her teaching, practice and scholarship.

College of Art and Design

Award-winning visual media artist and educator Ingrid Stobbe is the latest addition to the College of Art and Design faculty. As an assistant professor, Stobbe brings her expertise in filmmaking, storytelling, photography, fine art, and design, which focuses on questions of self-identity, feminism and perception.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Lesley welcomes two new assistant professors to psychology and applied therapies. Formerly an adjunct faculty member, Lauren Leone is an artist, board-certified art therapist, and licensed mental health counselor whose research focuses on the interplay of art therapy with social justice.

Jason Frydman is a registered drama therapist and licensed creative arts therapist who has provided trauma-informed therapeutic services for children, adults and families. His research includes the relationship between trauma and creativity.

Previously in our Graduate School of Education, Associate Professor Yihsing (Yvonne) Liu-Constant moved to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences this year. An experienced early childhood educator, she has taught in Taiwan and the United States and is fluent in both English and Mandarin.

Assistant Professor Elyssa Miller brings almost two decades of teaching mathematics to her new position. Formerly a high school teacher and educator at Boston University and Assumption College, Miller’s recent work focuses on mathematics education for bilingual learners.