About Faculty Affairs
Mission
The Office of Faculty Affairs works closely with university leadership and faculty members across the university to advance and promote their important work. In collaboration with colleagues in the schools, Faculty Affairs strives to ensure the continued excellence of Johns Hopkins faculty by enhancing faculty development initiatives, increasing faculty diversity, and building a strong, inclusive, and collaborative faculty community.
Ralph Etienne-Cummings
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Email: REtienne@jhu.edu
Ralph Etienne-Cummings assumed the position of Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs in July 2022. In this role, Dr. Etienne-Cummings will be a key contributor to the development and execution of the long-term vision of the Office of the Provost. Specifically, he will work closely with schools across the university to address pressing issues facing our faculty, identify opportunities to increase collaboration, increase faculty diversity, and continue efforts to improve mentorship programs for our junior faculty.
Dr. Etienne-Cummings has been a Johns Hopkins faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 1998 with a secondary appointment in Computer Science. He served as chair of the Electrical and Engineering department from 2014 to 2020.
Dr. Etienne-Cummings earned a bachelor’s in Physics from Lincoln University and a master’s and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Etienne-Cummings has published nearly 400 technical articles, books/book chapters, and patents related to his research pursuits over a career that spans more than three decades. He is the founding director of the Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his research, including the National Science Foundation’s Career and Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award and multiple JHU Discovery Awards.
A pioneer for the past three decades in mobile robotics and legged locomotion, Ralph Etienne-Cummings’ innovations have the potential to produce computers that can perform recognition tasks as effortlessly and efficiently as humans can and has developed prosthetics than can seamlessly interface with the human body to restore functionality after injury or to overcome the disease. His research focuses includes developing systems and algorithms for biologically inspired and low-power processing, biomorphic robots, closed-loop neural prosthetics, and computer integrated surgical systems and technologies.
Roland J. Thorpe Jr.
Associate Vice Provost of Faculty Diversity
Email: rthorpe@jhu.edu
Dr. Roland Thorpe has been appointed as the inaugural Associate Vice Provost of Faculty Diversity, after first being appointed as a Provost’s Fellow in AY2017-18 to help expand undergraduate research opportunities at Hopkins, and more recently, by leading initiatives to expand professional and career development opportunities for postdoctoral fellows.
While serving in this new role, Vice Provost, Dr. Thorpe will maintain his appointments as Professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health, as Deputy Director of the Program of Men’s Health Research in the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (HCHDS), and as Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research. He holds joint appointments in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and the Department of Neurology in the School of Medicine.
As a social epidemiologist and gerontologist, Roland has published more than 240 peer reviewed articles with a focus on how race, socioeconomic status, and segregation influence health and well-being for African Americans. He is the recipient of numerous awards that recognize his commitment and valuable contributions to faculty mentoring, including the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award, the inaugural 2018 NHLBI OHD PRIDE Mentoring Award, and the 2020 JHBSPH Dean’s Award of Distinction in Faculty Mentoring. Roland received his B.S. from Florida A&M University, later earning a master’s in statistics and a PhD in clinical epidemiology with a graduate minor in gerontology from Purdue University.
Heather Andersen
Senior Program Manager
Email: Heather.Andersen@jhu.edu
Heather Andersen joined the Provost’s Office Staff as the Dual Career Specialist in the Office of Faculty Affairs in October 2018.
Heather, and the Faculty Affairs Team, interacts and develops relationships with internal and external stakeholders who can assist with the employment of spouses/partners of JHU university faculty. These stakeholders include university administrators, faculty, and HR and recruitment staff as well as HR and other hiring officials at external employers.
Heather joins us from JHU Human Resources where she has served as a Talent Acquisition Consultant since June 2016. As a Talent Acquisition Consultant, Heather has provided consultative recruitment support for University Administration, the School of Education, and the finance vertical. Heather has been responsible for creating and implementing recruitment strategies to regularly present a qualified and diverse candidate pool to her hiring managers in order to meet their short and long-term recruitment goals.
As Dual Career Specialist, Heather is charged with implementing the vision of university leadership in creating and delivering a suite of offerings and programs to support dual career couples across the university. She supports the recruitment and retention of Johns Hopkins faculty and executive staff by providing career resources and employment services to their spouses/partners.
Laura Zeiler
Administrative Specialist
Email: Laura@jhu.edu
Laura Zeiler joined the Office of the Provost in March 2018 as a Senior Administrative Coordinator, dedicating high-level project and administrative support to the initiatives of the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Laura enjoyed 7 years with the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. During her tenure as Academic Program Coordinator, she worked closely with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to achieve diverse objectives throughout all phases of their institutional affiliations.
A graduate of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, Laura began her career in the non-profit sector at the Human Rights Campaign before gaining experience in higher education at George Washington University, and in the private sector at MetLife.
Jennifer M. Van Beek
Academy Manager
Email: jvanbeek@jhmi.edu
Jennifer M. Van Beek joined the Provost’s office staff as the Academy Manager in the Office of Faculty Affairs in the spring of 2022.
Jennifer began her career at Johns Hopkins University four years earlier. She helped build faculty programming specifically dedicated to senior faculty needs on the East Baltimore Campus. Jennifer helped open The Academy at Johns Hopkins, East Baltimore Campus, an office suite and administrative support for retired faculty members to continue to pursue their academic, research and clinical interests in retirement. Jennifer also helped build the School of Medicine’s Senior Faculty Transition Program and advised the School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health as they as well built senior faculty transition programs.
Jennifer’s position moved to the Provost’s Office in order to support more faculty across the campuses. Jennifer now manages both the East Baltimore and the Homewood Academies for retired faculty, as well as works on programs designed at aiding in faculty’s transition to retirement.
TreJenae Mack
Sr. Academic Programming Coordinator
Email: tmack8@jhu.edu
TreJenae Mack joined the Office of the Provost on August 1, 2022 as a Senior Academic Program Coordinator. Ms. Mack supports senior faculty and members of The Academy at Johns Hopkins as part of the Office of Faculty Affairs. Before joining the Hopkins team, Ms. Mack focused on education while also working for several organization providing key administrative assistance and leadership.
Ms. Mack earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences Degree from Coppin State University. During her time at CSU, she was active in several organizational and University initiatives. As a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., she served as the chapter’s Vice President for the 2017-2018 academic school year. In 2018 she continued to take on leadership roles and became the student-led Community Action Program (CAP) president. In May of 2022, Ms. Mack earned a Master of Science degree in Health Sciences, with a dual concentration in Health Administration and Public Health from Towson University. Ms. Mack brings a wealth of education and work experience to her position at Johns Hopkins University.
Chanell Jones
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
Email: csessio1@jhu.edu
Chanell Jones joined Office of Faculty Affairs in January 2023, bringing over a decade of extensive experience in executive support at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Chanell most recently supported several Senior Associate Deans in the Office of Faculty, School of Medicine. Prior to that, Chanell was a program administrator for the Study Coordinator Apprenticeship Program within the Institute of Clinical and Translational Research Office, providing executive support to the Director and arriving Cohorts.