The Maxwell School has appointed new chairs for the departments of anthropology, economics, history, international relations (undergraduate), political science and sociology, as well as an interim chair of social science. 

Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history, has been announced as the recipient of the Montgomery Gruber Professorship. Additionally, the O’Hanley Faculty Endowed Fund for Faculty Excellence, which serves to help recognize, reward and retain excellent teachers at the school, announced three new scholars: Azra Hromadžić, associate professor of anthropology; Natalie Koch, associate professor of geography; and Rebecca Schewe, assistant professor of sociology. 

Azra Hromadžić. professor of anthropology, oversaw the launch of the Bosnian translation of her book, Citizens of an Empty Nation, a book focused on a high school as a symbol of cultural divisiveness.

The appointment will support Cecilia Van Hollen, associate professor of anthropology at the Maxwell School, in her research on “Living with Cancer at the Crossroads: Assessing risks and seeking cures for reproductive cancers in India” and help to foster engagement with policymakers in the field of global health in Washington, D.C. 

The Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award, which honors faculty who have a significant, positive influence on graduate education at Syracuse University, was awarded to Azra Hromadžić, assistant professor of anthropology, and Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, professor of history.

Peter Castro, associate professor of anthropology, received the Unsung Hero Award at Sunday's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the Carrier Dome. His nominator writes, "Receiving an MLK Unsung Hero Award acknowledges his long-time service to African development as an applied anthropologist, particularly with regard to the management of and access to natural resources, and efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty.”

Azra Hromadžić, assistant professor of anthropology, said she plans to return to Bosnia to focus on the country’s lagging public health services for the nation’s aging.

The archeological efforts of Douglas Armstrong and his students will be on display at a new national park honoring the former slave and abolitionist.