Endowed professorships and fellowships are made possible through the vision and generosity of private donors who partner with Texas A&M University to advance academic excellence. These prestigious positions honor faculty whose teaching, research and service have made a significant impact, while also providing them with vital resources to expand their work.
By investing in endowed positions through the Texas A&M Foundation, donors help attract and retain world-class scholars who mentor students, lead innovation and elevate the College of Arts and Sciences’ reputation on a global scale.
The following faculty members have been awarded endowed appointments in recognition of their exceptional contributions and potential for continued achievement.
Dr. Andrew Barr
Al Chalk Endowed Professorship in Economics
Dr. Andrew Barr’s research focuses on understanding the role of financial and informational factors in college decisions and related labor market outcomes of non-traditional students. He is a research affiliate with CESifo, a global, independent research network of prominent economists that work to advance international scientific knowledge exchange about economics and economic policy. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation and the American Educational Research Association. Barr holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree in economics from the University of Virginia.
Dr. Jessica Bernard
Ella McFadden Endowed Professorship in Liberal Arts
Dr. Jessica Bernard, director of the Lifespan Cognitive and Motor Neuroimaging Laboratory, seeks to understand how the cerebellum contributes to both motor and cognitive behavior and how it changes with age. The goal of her research is to better characterize cerebellar changes over time with age in conjunction with understanding how the cerebellum interacts with the rest of the brain. She also investigates contributions of the cerebellum to psychosis and the development of psychotic disorders. Bernard earned a bachelor’s degree in biological psychology from Tufts University, a master’s in psychology from the University of Michigan and her doctorate at the University of Michigan, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado- Boulder.
Dr. Anirban Bhattacharya
Patricia R. Smith and Dr. William B. Smith Faculty Fellowship for Statistics
Dr. Anirban Bhattacharya’s research focuses on methodological, computational and theoretical aspects of modern Bayesian statistics and probabilistic machine learning. His exploration of the interdisciplinary nature of statistics, combined with opportunities to collaborate with domain experts, has led him to uncover challenging foundational questions rooted in real-world applications—and to develop rigorous mathematical solutions in response. Bhattacharya completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and a Ph.D. in statistics from Duke University.
Dr. Daniel Conway
Thomas F. Mayo Professorship in Liberal Arts
Dr. Daniel Conway, professor of philosophy and humanities, is also an affiliate professor of religious studies and film studies, and courtesy professor in the Texas A&M School of Law and the Bush School of Government and Public Service. A former department head, he serves the university as co-director of philosophy for Children Texas, liaison to the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs, and Member in Residence (and Past President) of the local chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Conway has lectured and published widely on topics in post-Kantian European philosophy, American philosophy, political theory, aesthetics (especially film and literature), critical theory, ethics, religion and genocide studies. He has published 18 books and more than 150 articles in scholarly journals and edited collections. In 2014 he was named an Honorary Life Member of the Friedrich Nietzsche Society.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and economics from Tulane University and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California, San Diego. He has held faculty appointments at Stanford University, Harvard University, Penn State University and, since 2006, Texas A&M University.
Dr. Regina Mills
Elton Lewis Faculty Fellowship in Liberal Arts
Dr. Regina Marie Mills, an assistant professor of Latinx and U.S. multi-ethnic literature in the Department of English, is also a member of the core faculty in the Latina/o and Mexican American Studies program. Her research focuses on Latinx, AfroLatinx and African diaspora literature and media, particularly life writing studies, refugee literature and critical game studies.
Her first book, Invisibility and Influence: A Literary History of AfroLatinidades (University of Texas Press, 2024) was published as part of the “Latinx: The Future Is Now” series. Her research is published or forthcoming in journals and collections such as Latino Studies, The Black Scholar, Western Folklore, The Lion & the Unicorn, Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies, The Routledge Companion to Latinx Life Writing, and Latinx Literature and Critical Futurities, 1992-2020 (Cambridge UP), among others.
Her second book project, Gaming Latinidad: Latinx Narrative, Representation, and Experimentation in Games, bring together scholarship in Latinx studies and critical game studies.
Mills is a 2024-27 Arts & Humanities Fellow and was a 2023-24 Glasscock Faculty Fellow. She earned a Master of Education in secondary English education. Her passion for teaching has been honored through the Montague-CTE Scholar Award.
Dr. Roger Reese
Ralph R. Thomas Class of 1921 Endowed Professorship in Liberal Arts
Dr. Roger Reese specializes in Soviet social history, the social history of the Imperial and Russian Soviet militaries, and issues that span the divide between Russian and Soviet military history. He has written seven books on the Russian and Soviet military and won the Moncado Prize from the Society for Military History for an outstanding article in military history and the Tomlinson Book Prize from the World War One Historical Association for his book on the Russian Imperial Army.