Campus Faculty Association

Co-President: Kate Clancy is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. A scholar both of feminist science and feminist science & technology studies, her work encompasses sexual harassment, environmental stressors, and reproductive health. Clancy was named to the Nature 10 in 2013 and has won several awards for her publicly engaged research. She has testified in front of Congress, consulted on two House bills, and served on multiple expert consensus committees as well as the NASEM Action Collaborative to Address Sexual Harassment.

Clancy has written two books for the public: Period: The Real Story of Menstruation (Princeton University Press, 2023), and the forthcoming Pregnancy Interrupted: The Science and Stories of How Pregnancies Really End (Princeton University Press, 2026).

Co-President: Augustus (Gus) Wood is a scholar of African American History of the Urban South with an interdisciplinary focus on political economy, intra-racial class struggle, working class social movements, and gentrification in modern urban regions. He also centralizes the role of labor struggles in anti-Black working-class racial oppression and the development of internal neo-colonialism. His other research includes Black Power in Southern Cities, Black Marxism in History, and Black Radicalism in labor social movements.

Vice President: Pollyanna Rhee is an assistant professor of landscape architecture in the College of Fine and Applied Arts and is very excited for the opportunity to represent faculty through the Campus Faculty Association. She believes strongly in the necessity of faculty voices across ranks and departments in shaping the direction of the university and its priorities for the public good. In particular, she is committed to upholding the principles of academic freedom in research, teaching, and other activities, and to ensuring greater equity across colleges and departments on campus in matters of labor and resources. She is very grateful for the opportunity to serve the faculty through the CFA.

Treasurer: Josue (David) Cisneros is associate professor in the department of Communication and affiliate faculty in the department of Latina/o Studies, the Unit for Criticism, and the Centers for Writing Studies and Latin and Caribbean Studies. David’s research and teaching focus on the communication strategies of grassroots social movements, especially immigrant rights and racial justice movements. He has previously served as president of CFA and is particularly excited about helping build faculty power and protect our campus community in these precarious times!

Member-at-Large (Campus Labor Coalition Representative): Jon Hale is a professor of education and educational history. His research examines the histories of student activism and the intersections of race and education policy. Jon has published five authored and co-edited books, including his award-winning book, The Freedom Schools. Hale’s research has also been featured in outlets including TIME, C-SPAN, The Atlantic, The American Scholar, and The Washington Post. His organizing is broadly connected to community based justice-centered education initiatives including the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools and the Quality Education Project. At UIUC, Jon is actively involved with the University Senate and the Campus Faculty Association (CFA).

Member-at-Large (Communications Director): Gabriela Garcia is assistant professor in the English department and teaches in the creative writing program. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of the novel Of Women and Salt. Prior to academia, she worked various media jobs and was an organizing director at Change.org, UltraViolet, and Presente. org, focused on feminist and migrant rights work, including extensive communications and digital organizing experience.

Member-at-Large (STEM):  Brendan Harley is a Professor in the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering as well as Program Leader in the Cancer Center at Illinois and faculty affiliate of the Dept. of Bioengineering and the Carl Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. His research group develops tissue engineering technologies for musculoskeletal regeneration, stem cell biomanufacturing, as well as to investigate endometrial pathologies and invasive brain cancer. He is excited to contribute to the share mission of the CFA.

Member-at-Large (Organizing):  Melissa Ocepek is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Sciences. Her research draws on ethnographic methods and institutional ethnography to explore how individuals use information throughout their everyday lives. She is a new member of CFA with previous experience as a Steward in the NTFC. Her goals are to focus on developing new organizers and growing our membership.

Member-at-Large (Pre-Tenure Faculty): Matthew Taves is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences. Matt’s research focuses on stress hormone signaling and how this controls immunity in various diseases, particularly cancer. Matt joined the CFA shortly after coming to Illinois in 2024, and hopes to use his experience as an international faculty member to advocate for other international faculty, students, and staff.