'Life-Changing Teaching'
Ohio Wesleyan Welcomes Three New Assistant Professors for 2025-2026 Academic Year
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University welcomes three tenure-track professors this fall, committed to helping OWU students achieve their career and life goals and complete their college degrees.
Over the past five years, OWU's new faculty have been hired in an innovative "cohort model," built around the university's commitment to flexibility, interdisciplinarity, and connection.
"Ohio Wesleyan's new assistant professors join a university known for its life-changing teaching," said Provost Karlyn Crowley, Ph.D. "They invite students into self-discovery by sharing cutting-edge knowledge creatively and engaging students who graduate and go on to meaningful work that changes the world. I am thrilled to welcome them to our transformative OWU community."
Ohio Wesleyan's new assistant professors and their departments and backgrounds are:
Mehwish Abbasi, M.Sc. – Mathematics & Computer Science
Abbasi joined Ohio Wesleyan to teach Data Analytics in 2024 and becomes a tenure-track professor and director of the OWU Data Analytics Program this fall. She has over eight years of experience teaching at post-secondary institutions. Abbasi has been nominated for multiple teaching excellence awards and earned the President of Pakistan's Award for Academic Excellence. In addition to teaching, she serves as a Tech Mentor with AnitaB.org and is a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, advocating for girls' education. Abbasi holds Master of Science degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Karachi and in Computer Science from McMaster University, as well as a MicroMaster degree in Data Science from the University of California.
Carolina Barbosa, Ph.D. – Environment & Sustainability
Barbosa is a freshwater researcher enthusiastic about water quality modeling and management. Her research centers on using a watershed and systems approach to address ongoing and future challenges in water resources due to climate warming, urban sprawl, and agricultural expansion. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Environmental and Earth Sciences and mentored students at the University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, and Sao Paulo State University. She earned her Master's degree in Environmental Technology and Water Resources from the University of Brasilia and her doctorate in Hydraulic Engineering and Sanitation from the University of Sao Paulo.
Benjamin Douglas, Ph.D. – Psychology
Douglas researches social norms: how they form, dissipate, and affect human behavior. He primarily uses field experiments to observe how manipulations of social norms affect real-world behavior, particularly in the context of pro-environmental actions. In a secondary line of research, Douglas also studies data collection procedures for human-subjects research with an emphasis on how to collect high-quality data from in-person and online samples. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College and his Master of Science and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Read about academics at Ohio Wesleyan at owu.edu/academics and about enrolling at owu.edu/admission.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature experience, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at owu.edu/experts or learn more at owu.edu.