College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

By Dave Larsen

The University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences appointed three endowed chairs, including a pair of husband-and-wife geneticists, in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in teaching, scholarship and mentoring students.

The College’s new endowed chairs — Amit Singh, Madhuri Kango-Singh and Jamie Small — begin their appointments Aug. 16. They will be installed along with their counterparts from the Schools of Business Administration and Engineering at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, in a ceremony at Kennedy Union’s Boll Theatre.

“I am looking forward to the leadership and programming that Amit, Madhuri and Jamie will bring to their respective positions,” said College Dean Danielle Poe. “The endowed chair position provides a unique opportunity for faculty to use their expertise in service to a wider audience. These endowed chairs have resources to plan events and programs that deepen the community's engagement with the natural sciences and the social sciences.”

Roesch Chair in the Social Sciences

Small, associate professor of sociology, was appointed the sixth Raymond A. Roesch, S.M. Chair in the Social Sciences. She succeeds Leslie Picca, whose work as Roesch Chair centered on the critical importance of social science research on diversity, equity and inclusion at UD and in the Miami Valley region. Picca’s efforts included the Undesign the Redline exhibit and three Imagining Community symposia in collaboration with the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community.

Established in 2002 to recognize the importance of the social sciences to education and scientific research on the human condition, the Roesch Chair provides leadership in establishing the social sciences within the curriculum and the broader intellectual life of the University. The position was named to honor Fr. Raymond Roesch ’36, who served as UD’s 16th president from 1959 to 1979.

Small was director of UD’s Women’s and Gender Studies program from 2022 to 2024. She served as a gender-based violence advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2020 to 2022 through a Science and Technology Policy fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this role, she managed U.S. foreign assistance grants and contracts, and she provided technical expertise on gender equity and violence prevention to a variety of stakeholders, including the National Security Council and grassroots community activists around the world. In addition, she was a lead architect of the recent update to the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally.

As Roesch Chair, Small hopes to illuminate how the social sciences — including methodologies, research findings and ways of thinking — can help to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Her work will focus on the intersection of gender, science, human rights and democracy. 

“Success would be mobilizing a cohort of University of Dayton students, faculty and staff to deepen their engagement with the social sciences in service of their personal curiosity and making our world a better place,” she said.

Schuellein Chair in the Biological Sciences

Kango-Singh, professor of biology, was appointed the fourth Schuellein Chair in the Biological Sciences. She succeeds Ryan McEwan, who partnered with regional organizations to scientifically test methods for restoring regional ecosystems, while providing experiential learning opportunities to numerous UD undergraduates.

Appointment to the Schuellein Chair recognizes outstanding accomplishments and contributions of faculty in their respective fields, with particular emphasis on excellence in mentoring students through research. The position was named to honor Robert J. Schuellein ’44, who helped establish the UD Department of Biology’s graduate program and mentored many of the program’s first graduates.

Kango-Singh, who served as director of UD’s graduate program in biology from 2019 to 2024, has mentored eight graduate and more than 50 undergraduate students to date. Her lab uses fruit flies to study mechanisms involved in growth regulation specifically through the Hippo pathway and the impact of disruption of these mechanisms on development and diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Kango-Singh is the recipient of the 2023 George B. Noland Award for Research from the UD chapter of Sigma Xi. Previous research in her lab was funded by Knights Templar Eye Foundation, subaward on a National Cancer Institute grant, the UD STEM Catalyst award and Hanley Sustainability Institute planning grant.

Current research in her lab is funded through the National Institutes of Health, University of Dayton funds and Schuellein Endowed Chair funds. She and her collaborator and husband, Amit Singh, also received two $300,000 research supplements from NIH to develop new research infrastructure and training opportunities for postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate researchers.

As Schuellein Chair, Kango-Singh plans to devise new experiential learning and professional development opportunities for postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and to increase participation of women and other minorities in experiential learning opportunities.

“I have worked to promote women in science throughout my academic career,” Kango-Singh said. “I have trained graduate and undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds. I will continue to train and mentor students from all backgrounds and encourage participation of women and other minorities in experiential learning opportunities in ongoing research projects in my lab.”

Mann Chair in the Sciences

Singh, professor of biology, was appointed the sixth Leonard A. Mann, S.M. Chair in the Sciences. He succeeds Umesh Haritashya, whose tenure as Mann Chair was distinguished by a commitment to science, human rights and sustainability. Haritashya’s efforts included developing innovative multidisciplinary undergraduate courses and fostering external partnerships to apply scientific methods in assessing human rights violations.

Appointment to the Mann Chair recognizes outstanding accomplishments in and contributions to scholarship in the sciences. The position is named in honor of Brother Leonard A. Mann, S. M., former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of physics.

Singh served as the Schuellein Chair from 2018 to 2021 and as director of UD’s graduate program in biology from 2013 to 2018. Singh is recipient of the 2022 George B. Noland Research Award from the UD chapter of Sigma Xi and the 2022 Faculty Alumni Award for scholarship. His research focuses on early eye development and early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. 

Singh and his collaborator and wife, Madhuri Kango-Singh, are currently studying the genetic machinery involved in regulating how an eye is formed at the cellular level under a five-year, $1.65 million grant awarded in 2021 from the National Institutes of Health. His previous eye development research, funded under a $485,000 NIH grant awarded in 2017, focused on how genes regulate the process of transforming a single layer of cells into a three-dimensional organ.

As Mann Chair, Singh plans to develop new opportunities for interdisciplinary research among faculty and staff in the natural sciences and other units, including the University of Dayton Research Institute. He also plans to initiate efforts to procure new and improved science and engineering research instrumentation.

“These cutting-edge research instruments will not only enhance our research footprint and productivity but will also increase exposure of our student researchers to these higher-end instruments to improve their prospects for new jobs as well as opportunities in higher education,” Singh said.

Top photo (left to right): Madhuri Kango-Singh, Jamie Small and Amit Singh