Meet the New Faculty and Staff

Welcome new faculty and staff in the College of Arts and Sciences!

Sheridan Davenport
Assistant Professor, Art

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Sheridan Davenport received her BA in Art from Xavier University in 2020. As a recipient of the McAuley Art Scholarship, she majored in Graphic Design with a minor in Advertising. While at Xavier, Sheridan won second place in the first-ever National Conference of Undergraduate Research Art Competition in 2019. As a result, her woodcut, ‘Her Double Consciousness’, is now a part of the Kennesaw State University art collection. She also competed on the Xavier Track & Field team and holds the school record in the indoor 4x400m relay. Sheridan joined the Xavier University Department of Art in 2023 as an adjunct professor teaching graphic design. She is currently the Graphic Design Lead and Art Director at Rooted Creative Agency.

 

Tyler Imfeld, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Tyler Imfeld is a proud alumnus of Xavier (Class of 2013) who went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, specializing in the use of genetic and genomic tools to study the evolution of songbird biodiversity in the Americas. He taught at a peer Jesuit university for the last 5 years before moving back home to Cincinnati to join Xavier's Department of Biology as a faculty member. Dr. Imfeld teaches a mix of lecture, lab, and field courses to students from their first to their last semesters, and his research with students uses the ornithology collections at natural history museums as priceless resources of data, teaching, and wonder.

Fun fact: In addition to studying birds professionally, he is a huge birder. His personal goal is to spot 200 species of birds in the state of Ohio before applying for tenure; he is currently at 186.

 

Alexander Murray, Ph.D.
Teaching Professor, Communication

Alex Murray earned his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He also holds a M.S. from Ohio University and a B.S. from Kent State University. Before coming to Xavier University to serve as the Director and Teaching Professor for the Instructional Design and Development graduate degree program, he held various administrative and teaching roles at both the university and community-college levels. He has also worked in various corporate instructional design, training, and consulting roles where he devised online learning plans and performance development strategies for broad workplace audiences. Alex also enjoys various music genres and has played the bass guitar since he was a young boy.

 

Mandy Powers, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Powers is a proud alum from the Biology department at Xavier. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Cincinnati and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Genetics at Harvard Medical School. She teaches courses across disciplines in Biology including Genetics and Neuroscience. The Powers lab uses quantitative and molecular genetic approaches to work towards understanding how genetic alterations can modify developmental processes to produce unique phenotypes in animals in response to environmental pressures. For example, the lab uses the blind Mexican cavefish as an evolutionary model system to investigate the genetic basis of morphological variation as adaptations to the extreme cave environment. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Powers is enthusiastic about scientific outreach and designs events with local Cincinnati schools.

 

Sebastian Antezana Quiroga, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Classics and Modern Languages

Sebastián Antezana Quiroga is an affiliate faculty member of the Classic and Modern Languages Department at Xavier University, and an International Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Hispanic Studies and at the Cogut Institute for the Humanities at Brown University. He received a PhD in Romance Studies from Cornell University in 2019 and worked as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at Syracuse University and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at Dickinson College. His book project, Migrant Afterlives: Spectral Narratives of Greater Mexico and Greater Bolivia, focuses on migrant communities in contemporary literature and film from the Mexican and Bolivian cultural spectrums, on the ways in which these communities are strategically associated with specters and other afterlife figures, and on how this association reflects the disjointing, spectral logic of different variants of the national model (like the transnational, the multinational, and the postnational) operating at unison. He has published several academic articles and book chapters and is the author of three books of fiction. In Fall 2025 he will begin a tenure-track position of Assistant Professor of Spanish at Xavier University.

 

Garrett Smith, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Garrett Smith’s work sits at the intersection of HCI and privacy. He is finalizing his PhD in Computer Science at Brigham Young University, where he also earned an MS in Computer Science; he also holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University. His research examines how people experience privacy incidents, especially secondary harms, and designs user-centered interventions.

Fun Fact: Despite growing up in the deserts of landlocked Wyoming, Garrett has a passion for the ocean. He is a certified scuba diver and freediver, and hopes to one day sail across the Pacific Ocean.

 

Jeremiah Stevens, Ph.D.
Teaching Professor, Chemistry

Jeremiah E. Stevens received his B.S. in chemistry from Wright State University (Dayton, OH) and his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from The Ohio State University, where he worked under the guidance of Prof. Christine M. Thomas. Following his graduate work, Jeremiah served as the postdoctoral scholar in the X-ray Crystallography Facility at The Ohio State University, working under the direction of Dr. Curtis E. Moore. Prior to joining the faculty at Xavier, he worked as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

 

Faith Fegley
CAS College Operations Coordinator
English, Philosophy, PPP

Faith serves as a College Operations Coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences, assisting the departments of English and Philosophy and the Philosophy, Politics, and the Public (PPP) program. Faith earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Trine University, and will begin her M.H. in Rhetoric and Composition through Tiffin University in 2026. Her background is largely in higher education and marketing, and she is passionate about accessibility in higher education for all individuals. Outside of the office, Faith enjoys writing poetry, reading, exercising as a form of self-love, and finding new ways to annoy her fiancé and cat.

 

Pablo Velaz Feraud
CAS College Operations Coordinator
Classics and Modern Languages, Theology, Study Abroad

I’m from Guayaquil, Ecuador. I’ve lived in 4 states in the US and visited 11 countries. Next up, Korea/Japan 2027!

Hobbies: Soccer, basketball, football, music, concerts, traveling, dancing, cooking and grilling, spending time with family and friends.

In another life, reincarnated and untamed, I’d be living loud as a rockstar… or I’d tell stories as a movie director.

• M.A. Spanish Literature. University of Arkansas at Fayetteville 2015
• A.S. Computer Information Systems. Nicolet Area Technical College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin 2005

 

Caressa Miles
CAS College Operations Coordinator
Art, Political Science, RIGS
Art Gallery Director

Caressa Layne Miles serves in the role of College Operations Coordinator. She administratively supports the Departments of Art, Political Science, and Race, Intersectionality, Gender and Sociology (RIGS). Caressa also serves in the capacity of Art Gallery Director. She obtained her Bachelor of Art degree from Ball State University in 2020. Caressa’s background is in gallery administration, and she has extensive experience in the curation of multi-disciplinary visual art exhibitions. She is also an interdisciplinary artist and a published writer and poet.

 

Olivia Wakefield
CAS College Operations Coordinator
Music, Theatre, Music Series

Olivia Wakefield is a Xavier alumna who serves as the College Operations Coordinator supporting Xavier’s Department of Music and Theatre and the Xavier University Music Series. Passionate about fostering accessible and inclusive arts experiences, she is currently building a career at the intersection of education, performance, and organizational support.

Before returning to Xavier as an Operations Coordinator, she taught middle school choir and general music in the Northwest Local School District. She remains active as a collaborative pianist, and her highlights have included performances with the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir at both the Ohio State Fair and the Ohio Statehouse, and performing at the Ohio Music Association Education Professional Development Conference.

 

Elizabeth Gilligan
CAS Deans’ Office Operations Coordinator
Xavier Expeditions, First Year Seminar, E/RS

Elizabeth comes to Xavier with six years of experience in administrative support. She brings a strong focus on service, organization, and team collaboration. In her new role, she enjoys serving students, faculty and staff alike as part of the Xavier community. Outside of work, Elizabeth enjoys trying new recipes, playing shuffleboard, spending time with family and biking around her neighborhood of Norwood.