Eight College of Arts and Sciences faculty have been appointed as new department chairs or school directors of their units for the coming academic year.

Philip Armstrong, professor in the Department of Comparative Studies, was named chair of the department, effective June 1 through June 30, 2024. Armstrong has been widely published in the areas of contemporary visual arts and contemporary political theory. He has been a professor within the department since 2002 and earned his PhD in art history from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Eugenia Costa-Giomi, professor in the School of Music, was appointed the school’s interim director, effective July 1 through June 30, 2021. Costa-Giomi, a professor of music education, studies music perception and cognition in children and the nonmusical benefits of musical instruction.

Nadine George-Graves, professor of dance and theatre, was appointed chair of the Department of Dance, effective July 1 through June 30, 2024. George-Graves, whose research incorporates African American studies, gender studies, performance studies, and theater and dance history, has been a professor in the Departments of Dance and Theatre since 2018. She earned her PhD in theater and drama from Northwestern University.

Igor Jouline, the Rod Sharp Professor of Microbiology, was appointed interim chair of the Department of Microbiology, effective July 1 through June 30, 2021. Jouline has held his endowed professorship since 2018, was named fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019 and earned his PhD in microbiology from Saint Petersburg State University.

Laura Lisbon, professor of art, was appointed chair of the Department of Art, effective June 15 through June 30, 2024. Lisbon exhibits paintings nationally and internationally, and her research examines issues related to the limits of painting linked to social and perceptual structures of knowing. She has been an Ohio State faculty member since 1992 and earned her MFA from Syracuse University.

Scott Levi, professor and chair of the Department of History, was appointed interim chair of the Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures, effective July 1 through June 30, 2021. Levi, a historian who focuses on early-modern central Asia’s socioeconomic history, was appointed chair of the Department of History in 2018. He earned his PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Michael Poirier, professor in the Department of Physics, was appointed chair of the department, effective July 1 through June 30, 2024. Poirier’s research focuses on the biophysics of chromosome organization and gene regulation. He has been a member of the department’s faculty since 2006 and earned his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Andrew Shelton, professor in the Department of History of Art, was appointed interim chair of the Department of Theatre, effective July 1 through June 30, 2021. Shelton is a historian who studies European art from the 18th and 19th centuries. He has been a faculty member of the Department of History of Art since 1999 and served as the department’s chair from 2005 to 2013. He earned his PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts and New York University.