Published: Nov. 19, 2021 By

2022 RIO Faculty Fellows

  • Kyri Baker (Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering; RASEI)
  • Cassandra Brooks (Environmental Studies)
  • Edward Chuong (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology; BioFrontiers)
  • Josh Combes (Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering)
  • Sidney D’Mello (Computer Science, ICS)
  • Paul Hayne (Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences; LASP)
  • Mija Hubler (Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering)
  • Ben Livneh (Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering; Western Water Assessment, CIRES)
  • Rong Long (Mechanical Engineering)
  • Oana Luca (Chemistry)
  • Maureen Lynch (Mechanical Engineering; BioFrontiers)
  • Orit Peleg (Computer Science; BioFrontiers)
  • Jorge Poveda (Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering)
  • Sandra Ristovska (Media Studies)
  • Julio Sepúlveda (Geological Sciences; INSTAAR)
  • Evan Thomas (Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering; Mortenson Center)
  • Eric Vance (Applied Mathematics; LISA)

The Research & Innovation Office has announced the 2022 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort, comprised of 17 of the most promising faculty from across CU Boulder. The group reflects the diversity of expertise, research and scholarship taking place across campus. 


The RIO Faculty Fellows program supports faculty in achieving their research and innovation goals and promotes collaboration by “shrinking the campus.” The program aims to create a community of diverse, creative research leaders to help drive collaboration and innovation across the university through a series of intensive research leadership retreats and coaching.  

“This new cohort brings the number of RIO Faculty Fellows to nearly 60, and we can already see the difference these leaders are making in research and creative work across and beyond our campus,” said Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation Terri Fiez. “I am excited to welcome this next cohort and continue to develop our research and creative work leaders for campus.”

“The scholarship that these professors are engaged in represents only a fraction of the disciplines at CU Boulder. This year’s group highlights the outstanding faculty we have in our institutes across campus,” said Faculty Director Kirsten Rowell. “There is an incredible level of enthusiasm as we bounce back from the challenges of the last few years, which we’ll respond to in part by adding emphasis on collaboration dynamics and managing students and staff.”

“This year’s selection process was especially robust due to our new advisory board, which helped with recruiting and selecting this year’s cohort,” said Rowell.

The RIO Faculty Fellows program

The RIO Faculty Fellows program identifies and develops individual leadership styles of tenured and tenure-track assistant and associate professors who are poised to lead significant collaborative projects, develop vision and deliver novel and impactful scholarly work. 

The program, along with other faculty development programs like the Excellence in Leadership program, is an investment in CU Boulder faculty and in the university as a global leader in innovation and impact. 

In addition to the cohort’s first intensive three-day retreat in January, the program framework includes several more focused retreats and a variety of informal networking activities throughout the year. Applications for the next cohort will be accepted in September 2022.