Welcoming the new GSAA board members and officers
Nine new members joined the Graduate School Alumni Association (GSAA) board this summer. Each will serve a three-year term starting on July 1, 2026. They bring diverse professional expertise including drug development and biotech, pediatric medicine, teaching, global strategy, and artificial intelligence, and represent scholarly fields ranging from genetics to history.
In addition to the new members, five current members were named officers to the board.
New members include:
- Mark Choate ’95, ’02 PhD (History)
- Steve Corcelli, Jr. ’02 PhD (Chemistry)
- Jonathan Dörnhofer ’20 MA (African Studies)
- Zehao Dou ’25 PhD (Statistics and Data Science)
- John Gonzalez ’25 PhD (Pathology and Molecular Medicine)
- Wendy Xiao Herman ’17 PhD (Neuroscience), ’18 MD
- Joseph Hernandez ’23 MS (Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Biostatistics)
- Ning Lin ’04 PhD (Electrical Engineering)
- Traci Mansfield ’98 PhD (Genetics)
New officers include:
- Chair: Alicia Ellis ’04 MA, ’09 PhD (Germanic Languages and Literatures)
- Vice chair: Shayna Liberman ’14 MA (Anthropology)
- Executive officer: Marisa Dolled-Filhart ’05 PhD (Genetics)
- Executive officer: Kitty Koo-Tse ’01 MS (Psychology)
- Executive officer: Brooke Rosenzweig ’10 PhD (Chemistry)
Applications are due February 1 for terms starting the following academic year. Learn more about the work of the GSAA board.
Read more about the new members and officers below.
Mark Choate ’95, ’02 PhD (History)
Mark I. Choate is an international historian with an emphasis on contemporary Europe, Africa, and the United States. He has been a professor at Brigham Young University since 2001 and published the award-winning “Emigrant Nation: The Making of Italy Abroad” (Harvard, 2008). Mark enlisted as a private in the Army National Guard while a Yale undergraduate and retired as a colonel in 2024 after serving in Afghanistan, Germany, Korea, Sudan, Central African Republic, and Chad.
Steve Corcelli, Jr. ’02 PhD (Chemistry)
Steve Corcelli is the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame. A former Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Dean, Department Chair, and Chair of the American Chemical Society’s Graduate Education Advisory Board, he has advanced graduate student mentoring and well-being initiatives at Notre Dame and beyond.
Marisa Dolled-Filhart ’05 PhD (Genetics)
Marisa Dolled-Filhart (Executive Officer, GSAA Board) is an experienced drug development and precision medicine leader, currently a Global Team Lead for early oncology drug development programs at a mid-sized pharma company. Marisa has expertise spanning from early development through commercialization for multiple oncology programs in global pharma companies, with roles spanning portfolio leadership, early and late-stage development, precision medicine, project management, regulatory, medical affairs, and commercial, along with prior biotech and CRO roles. Marisa holds a BA from Cornell University and an MPhil and PhD in Genetics from Yale University.
Jonathan Dörnhofer ’20 MA (African Studies)
Jonathan Dörnhofer is Director for Africa at McLarty Associates, a strategic advisory firm in DC. His professional focus is on trade and investment in Africa. Throughout his career and his time at Yale, he has focused heavily on mentorship and career development support for students and young graduates, particularly those interested in international affairs. He is excited to continue this work with the GSAAB and Yale, and to build a stronger alumni community in DC!
Zehao Dou ’25 PhD (Statistics and Data Science)
Zehao Dou is currently a member of technical staff at OpenAI. Dou has wide research interests including statistics, generative AI and LLM, and aims to design efficient and provable algorithms, to deepen the statistical understanding, and to provide new perspective for practical machine learning problems.
Alicia Ellis ’04 MA, ’09 PhD (Germanic Languages and Literatures)
Alicia E. Ellis (Chair, GSAA Board) is Associate Professor of German and chair of the African American Studies Department at Colby College . She completed her undergraduate education at Amherst College as a double major in German Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies. Ellis is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges German Studies and the Black diaspora. She is co-editor of the journal Feminist German Studies and a fellow in Leading with Humanity, an AAC&U/Mellon-sponsored initiative for humanities-grounded academic leadership.
John González ’25 PhD (Pathology and Molecular Medicine)
John T. González earned his doctorate from Yale in 2025, studying liver aging, metabolism, and regeneration. Before graduate school, he trained at MIT in RNA therapeutics, SQZ Biotechnologies in immunotherapy, and the University of Vermont in cancer signaling. He served five years in the Yale Graduate Student Assembly, including his final year as vice chair, and continues to be committed to mentoring excellence and stronger alumni-student ties.
Wendy Xiao Herman ’17 PhD (Neuroscience), ’18 MD
Wendy Xiao Herman is a practicing pediatric neurologist in the Boston area specializing in autism, neurodevelopment, and fetal and neonatal neurology. She is an advocate for neurodiversity and neuro-affirming care. During her time as a graduate student at Yale, she was an active member of the Graduate Student Assembly, ultimately serving as Chair. She is excited about the opportunity to remain connected with both graduate students and alumni as a member of the Graduate School Alumni Association Board.
Joseph Hernandez ’23 MS (Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Biostatistics)
Joseph Hernandez is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder with more than two decades of experience building companies across healthcare, biotechnology, medical technology, and artificial intelligence. He has founded and led more than 12 companies, six of which became publicly listed, raising significant capital to advance scientific innovation and commercialization. A graduate of the University of Florida, Yale University, and the University of Oxford, Hernandez has focused on translating scientific discovery into real-world impact through entrepreneurship and strategic investment. Joseph is committed to expanding access to education, advancing biomedical research, and fostering innovation through philanthropy and civic leadership.
Kitty Koo-Tse ’01 MS (Psychology)
Kitty Koo-Tse (Executive Officer, GSAA Board) is an Executive Director in Commercial & Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, where she leads business strategy and key initiatives. She previously held senior roles at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, with expertise in capital markets, electronic trading, risk management, and product management.
Shayna Liberman ’14 MA (Anthropology)
Shayna Liberman (Vice Chair, GSAA Board) has deep and diverse professional experience spanning biology research, nonprofit management, early-stage startup marketing leadership, and Fortune 100 corporate strategy. She currently leads Global Strategy for Nike Sportswear. Shayna received a dual bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan in Biopsychology and Biological Anthropology in 2010, and a master’s from Yale in Biological Anthropology in 2014. She is motivated by the board’s work to build a sustainable system of career support for graduate students who are contemplating a wide variety of career trajectories.
Traci Mansfield ’98 PhD (Genetics)
Traci Mansfield has held a range of positions in drug development at major pharmaceutical companies including Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Currently, she serves as Vice President of R&D at CSL Behring, where she oversees the plasma immunoglobulin drug portfolio. She lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, and they have three adult children. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, reading, choral singing, and volunteering.
Ning Lin ’04 PhD (Electrical Engineering)
Nick Lin is an Executive Committee Member and Global Head of Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) at GuoTai HaiTong Securities International in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s largest investment banks. With over 20 years of global experience, Lin’s expertise spans sales and trading, investment, and strategic business management. Before, he served as Managing Director for Cantor Fitzgerald, ABN AMRO, and HSBC in New York.
Brooke Rosenzweig ’10 PhD (Chemistry)
Brooke Rosenzweig (Executive Officer, GSAA Board) has spent 25 years supporting mission-driven organizations in science, technology, and medicine. She founded Foundation Advisors, LLC in 2016, providing strategic advising and executive search to foundations, family offices, and nonprofits, and has collaborated with more than 100 funders. She serves on the membership committee of the Health Research Alliance, a body of 110 biomedical research funders. Previously she was Senior Advisor to the CEO at the Helmsley Charitable Trust, where she founded and led a $10 million annual program funding research infrastructure, and founding operational head of the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute at Mount Sinai.