While each June marks the retirement or departure of several Middlesex faculty and staff members as they move on to new ventures, every September brings new colleagues to the School, revitalizing the community with different ideas, approaches, and experiences.
Peter Sullivan has returned to New England to teach both math and economics. Previously an assistant professor of economics at the University of Puget Sound, he is graduate of Noble and Greenough School and the University of New Hampshire, where he earned his B.A, M.A., and Ph.D. in economics.
Teaching math part time is Cynara Wu, a principal research engineer with Systems and Technology Research. Cynara is a graduate of MIT – where she earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science – and she was a head teaching assistant there before serving as an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University.
The Humanities Division welcomed both new and familiar faces this fall. C.J. Miller returns to teach classics, having joined the faculty last spring. A Ph.D. candidate in classics with the University of Cincinnati, he is a graduate of Greens Farms Academy who holds a B.A. in classical and medieval studies from Bates College and an M.A. in classics from Boston College.
Born and raised in Spain, Helena Talaya-Manso earned her B.A. in education at the Complutense University of Madrid and holds an M.A. in art history from the University of Valencia and a Ph.D. in Hispanic studies from the University of Houston. Since 1998, Helena has taught both Spanish and French to students at all levels; most recently, she taught intermediate and AP Spanish courses at the Emma Willard School.
Ariana Kelly comes to Middlesex from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where she taught English for 11 years. A graduate of Deerfield Academy, she earned a B.A. in literature at Yale University and an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction at Bennington Writing Seminars. Ariana is the author of Phone Booth and is currently finishing a memoir.
Emily Mercurio is a poet, editor, and educator who has taught creative writing and academic composition at Cornell University and Education Unlimited at Yale University. A graduate of Watkinson School, Emily earned a B.A. in English and women’s and gender studies at Wheaton College and an M.F.A. at Cornell.
For the past decade, Andrew Warren has taught graduate and undergraduate literature courses at Harvard University as well as at Harvard’s Summer School and Extension School. After serving as an assistant professor, a freshman advisor, and the director of undergraduate studies for Harvard’s Department of English, Andy was appointed the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities, an honor he held for five years. He received his B.A. in philosophy from Dartmouth College and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Irvine.
Mike Taylor ’11 returns to his alma mater to teach English part time. After graduating from Middlesex, Mike earned a B.A. in classics and English at Stanford University. He has since taught English and social studies at Lydian Academy in Palo Alto, California, and served as a composition instructor at Florida State University, where he is finishing an M.F.A. in creative writing.
Connecting with alumni like Mike is the focus of Stewardship Coordinator Erica Sahin, who began working with the Middlesex Alumni Office last winter. With over 20 years of marketing experience, Erica was previously the director of marketing for Radius Ensemble, an award-winning classical music ensemble based in Cambridge, and she held marketing and public relations roles at Forrester Research in Cambridge. A graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, she earned her B.A. in political science at Bucknell University.
The 2020-2021 academic year may begin as no other has before, with students attending classes in-person and remotely; yet, with such dynamic, seasoned professionals joining the School’s veteran faculty, Middlesex is ready for another strong start.