Our Team

Abbas Benmamoun.

Abbas Benmamoun

Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement

Abbas Benmamoun is the vice provost for faculty advancement, a position responsible for providing intellectual leadership, guidance and oversight of university-wide strategies and programs to enhance faculty excellence. He oversees faculty and leadership development programs, including programs to recruit and hire outstanding and diverse faculty, and partner with schools, departments, and centers to enhance faculty success at Duke and promote an inclusive and equitable learning, research, and work environment.

Prior to joining Duke, Dr. Benmamoun served as vice provost for faculty affairs and academic policies at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He additionally served in different leadership roles at the University of Illinois, including as acting director of the Center of Middle Eastern and Asian Studies, head of the Department of Linguistics, director of the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics, and Associate Provost for Faculty Development.

A native of Morocco, Benmamoun earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, his master’s degree from University College London, and his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Benmamoun’s research focuses on the comparative syntax and morphology of natural language and on heritage languages, particularly on issues of language maintenance and loss within immigrant communities. He is the author of “The Feature Structure of Functional Categories”, co-author of “The Syntax of Arabic”, and co-editor of the “Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics.”

Administrative Assistant: Jan Carico
Pronouns: he/him/his

 
Sherilynn J. Black

Sherilynn J. Black

Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement

Sherilynn Black is the associate vice provost for faculty advancement, providing leadership in many areas of faculty advancement including support for pre-tenure and midcareer faculty, professional development for nontenure system faculty, and mentoring. She also leads initiatives to increase diversity among the faculty ranks. Dr. Black is an assistant professor of the practice of medical education and engages in social neuroscience research on the effectiveness of interventions to promote diversity and equity in academia. She has expertise in creating interventions to increase representation and equity among faculty and students across disciplines, and leads work nationally to catalyze systemic change in academia.

Dr. Black previously served as the founding director of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity for the Duke University School of Medicine and was also a principal investigator of the NIH-IMSD funded Duke Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) Program. She holds several national appointments relating to faculty development and advancement with the NIH, HHMI, AAMC, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the Society for Neuroscience. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (Working Group on Diversity) and has won a number of distinctions, including the Samuel Debois Cook Society Award, the Deans Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award. She was named one of Cell‘s ‘Most Inspiring Black Scientists in America’. Dr. Black earned her B.S. in psychology and biology with highest honors at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. She earned her Ph.D. in neurobiology at Duke University and completed additional studies in educational statistics and intervention assessment in the School of Education at UNC–Chapel Hill.

Administrative Assistant: Jan Carico
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Craig Henriquez

Craig Henriquez

Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement

Professor Craig Henriquez, Department of Biomedical Engineering, joined the Office for Faculty Advancement as associate vice provost in August 2022. He will provide leadership in the area of faculty advancement and leadership development. Working with individuals and units across Duke, he will guide and coordinate policies and practices, improve governance at the unit level, support faculty and unit leaders, promote and lead equity and inclusive excellence efforts. Further, he will work to develop new initiatives to support emeritus faculty and leverage their experience and expertise to strengthen faculty growth and mentoring.
 
A long-standing member of the Duke community, Craig received his BSE in biomedical engineering and electrical engineering from Duke in 1981 and his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Duke in 1988, the same year he joined the faculty. His research involves the development and use of large-scale computational models to study the flow of electrical current in excitable tissues, such as the heart and brain, in the development of new device and cell-based therapies.
 
Craig teaches courses to both undergraduate and graduate students in biomedical engineering. He received a Bass Professorship (a recognition of his expertise in combining excellence in research and undergraduate teaching) in both 2001 and 2013, and the Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009.  
 
Over the past 34 years, Craig has been a member of numerous university committees and has held several leadership positions. He was elected chair of Duke University’s Academic Council and served from 2009-2011. He was chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2011-2014. In 2011, he was also named the inaugural chair of the Bass Society of Fellows. Craig served as chair of the Engineering Faculty Council, which advises the dean on strategic planning and is charged with assessing and approving curriculum changes at the school level, from 2005-2006 and again from 2018-2021. Recently, he chaired the Faculty Compensation Committee and the Search Committee for the Dean of the Graduate School.

Administrative Assistant: Jan Carico
Pronouns: he/him/his

 
Shana Lassiter

Shana Lassiter

Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement

Shana Lassiter serves as assistant vice provost in the Office for Faculty Advancement (OFA), leading the planning, delivery and assessment of OFA’s robust suite of initiatives.

Dr. Lassiter has enjoyed a multifaceted career in higher education administration, including roles in both public and private universities, driven by a commitment to fostering vibrant, inclusive environments in the academy. She first joined the Duke community as assistant dean for academic and student affairs at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Previously, she was assistant provost in Columbia University’s faculty advancement office, providing stewardship and programmatic support for the university’s faculty diversity and inclusion portfolio. Dr. Lassiter has also served in leadership and advisory roles in health professions and STEM education at the City University of New York and Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine, with a keen focus on supporting students from historically underrepresented groups.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Lassiter earned her Ed.D. in health education from Columbia University’s Teachers College; M.A. in clinical and community psychology from Georgia State University; and B.S. in psychobiology from Binghamton University (State University of New York).

Administrative Assistant: Jan Carico
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Sarah Dwyer

Sarah Dwyer

Director of Communications

In support of the provost’s strategic priorities, Sarah leads a collaborative approach to communications for the Office for Faculty Advancement as well as the Office for Interdisciplinary Studies and its Bass Connections program. She partners with colleagues in these offices as well as faculty, staff and students across the university to illustrate and share Duke’s inclusive excellence in research and education.

Before joining the Duke community in 2015, Sarah worked at global health nonprofit IntraHealth International in Chapel Hill, NC, where she managed communications for the organization’s largest project and interacted with project offices in 23 countries.

Prior to moving to Durham from New York City, Sarah was the acting director of development at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the director of development at Studio in a School and the assistant to the director of the Harvard University Art Museums. She has an M.A. in international studies from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a B.A. in art history from Vassar College.

Focus Areas: Communications Strategy, Website, News, @DukeFacultyAdv
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Maria Wisdom.

Maria LaMonaca Wisdom

Director of Faculty Mentoring and Coaching Programs

As an associate certified coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Maria Wisdom is committed to helping Duke faculty flourish as researchers, educators, mentors and leaders. She offers semester-long 1:1 and group coaching programs for both early and midcareer faculty, from all disciplines and all schools at Duke. She also serves as a resource for faculty and department leaders on issues related to mentoring, especially the mentorship of doctoral students and early-career researchers.

In addition to her faculty coaching programs, Dr. Wisdom directs the university-wide Peer Mentoring Program for First-Year Ph.D. Students and the Ph.D. Transitions Group Coaching Program (for Ph.D. students beyond the first semester).

Dr. Wisdom holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Indiana University. She was an assistant/associate professor of English at Columbia College in South Carolina for over a decade, before stepping into the role of executive director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. A former scholar of Victorian literature, Dr. Wisdom now writes about mentorship, coaching and faculty life. Her reflections on these topics show up occasionally in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Currently, she is also writing a book, “What the Best Mentors Do: A Guide for the Academy and Beyond,” forthcoming from Princeton University Press.

Focus Areas: Faculty Coaching, Mentoring
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Jennifer Goins

Jennifer A. Goins

Senior Program Coordinator

Jennifer Goins is a senior program coordinator in the Office for Faculty Advancement. She provides leadership for programs and the planning, coordination and execution of special projects and events. Additionally, Jennifer is the coordinator of the Provost Forum, a campus-wide event organized by the Office of the Provost. She values building community and relationships within the work environment. 

Prior to joining the Office for Faculty Advancement, Jennifer was the director of graduate studies assistant and administrative assistant to the chair in the Department of Immunology in the Duke School of Medicine. During her 14 years she wore many hats; however, her main responsibilities included management of the doctoral program, administrative support in appointment, promotion and tenure activities, and leadership in diversity and inclusion. Her notable Duke achievement is the 2016 Blue Ribbon Diversity Award for university and health system employees, conferred for her blog chronicling her experience entering the race conversation.

Jennifer is a graduate of Elon University, having earned a B.A. in sociology and minor in business administration. Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her three daughters doing arts and crafts, playing in the woods and traveling as a family. Her favorite parts of the day are sunrises and sunsets while walking her 55-pound Goldendoodle.

Focus Areas: National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), Faculty Success Program (FSP), OFA Seed Grants, Equitable Hiring Practices Workshops, Teaching for Equity Fellows, Sullivan Award
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Maggie Elliott

Maggie Elliott

Senior Program Coordinator

Maggie Elliott is a senior program coordinator in the Office for Faculty Advancement. She assists in the direct planning, coordination, budgeting and execution of a variety of programmatic activities and communications. Additionally, she acts as a liaison with internal and external constituents across the institution to further faculty and leadership development activities. She is passionate about how the values of diversity, equity and inclusion interact with social structures in both the workplace and overall community.

Prior to joining the Office for Faculty Advancement, Maggie worked for the Office of Research aiding in the development and implementation of office communication, support for program activities, tracking of event and office expenses, maintenance of program budgets and administrative assistance to leadership.

She received her B.A. in 2009 for history and political science at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Maggie’s hobbies include cooking, watching anime and hiking.

Focus Areas: Newsletter, Duke COMPASS Toolkit, Website, Faculty Advancement and Success (FAS) Workshop Series, Leading an Academic Unit at Duke (LAUD) Workshop Series, New Faculty Orientation, Newly Tenured Faculty Celebration and Leadership Retreat
Pronouns: she/her/hers

 
Jan Carico

Jan Carico

Administrative Assistant

Jan Carico is the administrative assistant for the Office for Faculty Advancement. She serves as the point person for the office’s day-to-day operations, coordinates travel, tracks expenses and manages calendars for Vice Provost Abbas Benmamoun, Associate Vice Provost Sherilynn Black and Assistant Vice Provost Shana Lassiter.

Prior to joining the Office for Faculty Advancement, Jan worked in the Center for Child & Family Policy, the Center for Genomic and Computational Biology and the Department of Immunology, where her skills enabled her to contribute to a variety of projects, including event coordination, student recruitment and a seminar series, all the while providing administrative support to a tenured professor running a full research lab.

Jan earned her B.S. in business administration and accounting with honors from Roosevelt University. In her free time, she is most known for being an avid treasure hunter. Jan thrives on upcycling discarded and broken furniture by transforming them into new heirloom pieces. She also has a love for abandoned animals and currently shares her home with her dogs, Loki and Gilly, and three cats, Poppy, Lexi and Mr. K.

Focus Areas: Administrative Assistance to Leadership, Office Hours, Advisory Committees
Pronouns: she/her/hers