Faculty Appointments: Board of Governors June 2025
Credit: Rutgers University/Roy Groething
Wanda J. Blanchett, University Professor
The Rutgers Board of Governors appointed Wanda J. Blanchett, who has served as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Learning and Teaching since 2014 and in numerous leadership roles at Rutgers over the past decade, as University Professor.
A leading expert on urban education and the disproportionate representation of students of color in special education, Blanchett served as dean of the Graduate School of Education (GSE) from 2014 to 2024. She also held posts as special advisor to the chancellor for academic affairs and equity, and interim provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
Through her GSE leadership roles, Blanchett has led the development and implementation of a GSE strategic plan, including the launch of the GSE Community School Partnership Network, as she helped bolster the school’s national reputation and implemented initiatives to increase enrollment, the board resolution noted.
University Professorships are awarded to senior faculty members by the Board of Governors upon recommendation by the president. The title is awarded to a faculty member who has made exceptional contributions in academic or administrative service or who has earned academic distinction across disciplinary lines.
Kenneth G. Miller, Board of Governors Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
The board named Kenneth G. Miller, acclaimed for his pioneering research on sea level and climate change, a Board of Governors Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Internationally recognized for his expertise in past sea levels, especially his research on carbon cycle and sea level, Miller has garnered more than 24,000 citations on his work on ancient sea level change. His funding record over the past 30 years exceeds $20 million to core the N.J. coastal plain, where he has obtained more than 25 cores that have produced seminal papers on sea level and climate change.
A veteran of nine scientific cruises, including two expeditions as the co-chief scientist of the International Ocean Discovery Program, Miller has held numerous leadership roles, been appointed to editorial boards of several leading journals, and garnered countless invitations to speak at prestigious seminars and conferences.
Currently a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick, Miller teaches a range of courses to engage students of all levels in active learning with societal relevance. He has served as chair and later as graduate program director of his department and as director of the Geology Museum.
John Keene, Board of Governors Professor of English
The board named John Keene, an award-winning prolific writer, translator, and artist in a variety of genres and formats – including nonfiction, poetry, fiction, essays, and critical work – a Board of Governors Professor of English.
Keene chaired the Department of Africana Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Newark from 2015-2016 through the 2023-2024 academic year, and served as Rutgers-Newark’s interim director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program during Spring 2025. He is recognized as among the most respected literary figures in the nation, recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and winning several fellowships and honors including the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship, the National Book Award for Poetry, a Lannan Literary Award in Fiction and a Windham-Campbell Prize in Fiction.
“It is the highest honor to receive this recognition, and I offer my thanks to the Rutgers University Board of Governors," Keene said. "I view it as a tribute to the extraordinary community of students, faculty and staff in Newark and across our three campuses, without whom I could not do the work I do."
The board cited Keene for his commitment to serving the Rutgers community and beyond, including his award-winning teaching and creation of undergraduate and graduate courses and his extensive service to the profession as a judge on creative writing panels, an editor for several literary and cultural journals, and mentor to multiple generations of writers.
Nancy Yunhwa Rao, Board of Governors Professor of Music
The board named Nancy Yunhwa Rao, widely recognized for her innovative scholarly work in merging the fields of musicology and music theory, as Board of Governors Professor of Music in the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Rao has produced award-winning research on a range of topics, including gender and music, sketch studies, music modernism, cultural fusion in music, racial representations and the music history of early Chinese Americans.
The board noted Rao’s commitment to serving the Rutgers community and beyond, including her history teaching and mentoring, her national and international invitations to teach at prestigious institutions, and her extensive service to the profession, serving on editorial boards, as editor-in-chief of the journal American Music and as chair of the Publications Committee of the American Musicological Society and the Book Publications Award Committee of the Society for Music Theory.
Norman Rasmus Swanson, James Cullen Chair in Economics
The board named Distinguished Professor Norman Rasmus Swanson, a world-class time series econometrician with important contributions in forecasting and in estimating econometric models in data-rich environments, the James Cullen Chair in Economics in the Department of Economics at the Rutgers- New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences.
An elected fellow of the International Association of Applied Econometrics, Swanson’s primary research interests include forecasting, financial econometrics, machine learning, big data and time series analysis.
Swanson has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading economics, econometrics and statistics journals, and has served in various editorial capacities for numerous scholarly journals, including Econometrica, Journal of Econometrics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, and Journal of the American Statistical Association, among others. He is a member of various professional organizations and has given numerous keynote addresses around the world. Swanson has also been a visiting scholar and consultant to various central banks in the United States and around the world, universities and inter-governmental organizations.
Ann A. O’Connell, Charles A. DeMarzo and Keith N. Lamb Endowed Chair in Educational Equity
The board named Ann A. O’Connell, internationally recognized for her leadership in the fields of educational and health research, the Charles A. DeMarzo and Keith N. Lamb Endowed Chair in Educational Equity.
A professor of educational statistics, measurement, and evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers-New Brunswick, O’Connell has over 65 peer-reviewed articles, has authored and edited multiple books and book chapters, was executive editor of the Journal of Experimental Education and served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals. She has earned a Fulbright Scholar Award and the American Educational Research Association’s Educational Statisticians’ Outstanding Service Award. Much of her work has been supported through external grants awarded by IES, NIH and other organizations, totaling more than $27 million.
O’Connell’s research interests are in multilevel and generalized linear models, the use of research evidence and evidence-based interventions, and evaluation of interventions in health and education. She is passionate about strengthening methodological capacity among applied researchers and working with her students and colleagues on evaluation of educational, health and wellness initiatives.
