New Faculty
Fenice B. Boyd is a professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction. A first-generation college graduate from Warrenton, North Carolina, Boyd began her career as a music teacher before earning a master’s degree in reading education from North Carolina A&T State University and a PhD in curriculum, teaching and educational policy from Michigan State University. Her research centers on adolescent literacy in underserved communities, with recent projects including a National Science Foundation grant focused on culturally sustaining STEM pedagogy in Gullah Geechee communities, and a National Endowment for the Arts–funded study on the role of arts and creative writing in supporting urban youth. Boyd’s work is driven by a deep interest in understanding how young people learn and experience school.
Christopher P. Brown is a professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction and the associate dean for teacher education. Brown is a former preschool, kindergarten and first-grade teacher who worked in Title I schools. Before joining UB, he spent 21 years at the University of Texas at Austin in the Departments of Educational Leadership and Policy and Curriculum and Instruction. Brown’s research, supported by the Spencer Foundation multiple times, employs a range of qualitative research methods to understand the impact of policymakers’ reforms on those working across the field of early childhood education. Much of his work investigates the impact of such policies on teacher education and early elementary classrooms in public schools.
Ryan Creps is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. A native of Grinnell, Iowa, Creps earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Grinnell College, a master’s degree in higher education from Providence College and a PhD in higher education from Boston College. He began his career as a college admission officer and later worked as a college counselor. These experiences continue to inform his research on postsecondary enrollment trends, college admission practices and the policies that shape access to higher education. Creps is particularly interested in promoting fairness and opportunity in the admission process.
Rubén A. González, proudly from Greenfield, California, is an assistant professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction. González began his career as a high school English and English language development teacher in Sacramento, California. As first-generation college student, he earned a PhD in race, inequality, and language in education from Stanford University. His research examines how students and teachers of color develop and enact critical sociopolitical disposition in classroom, school and broader community settings. González’s work has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation.
Phoebe Ho is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Ho earned a BA in history and Chinese from UCLA, an MA in international education policy analysis from Stanford University and a PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. With an interdisciplinary background, Ho’s research examines how racial and ethnic minority and immigrant families experience and navigate the U.S. educational system, and how these experiences shape long-term outcomes for their children. She is passionate about education as a lens for understanding broader societal issues and advocating for equity across diverse communities.
Yilang Zhao is an assistant professor of educational data science in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology. Originally from Hangzhou, China, Zhao earned a bachelor’s degree in internet of things engineering from Wuhan University of Technology, a master’s degree in media and information from Michigan State University, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He completed postdoctoral work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he focused on community-based data science education and computational research methods. Zhao’s research explores educational data science, both through developing new research methods and designing accessible programs to teach youth data literacy.