Faculty Mentors
Faculty Mentors are selected by the Department of Campus Inclusion and Community and the Provost's Office to provide academic and social support to the Posse Scholars.
New Posse mentor Marcelo Vinces, Ph.D. is our new mentor for Posse 12!
Marcelo Vinces is a Weinberg College Academic Adviser and an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Molecular Biosciences. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University and his doctorate in molecular microbiology from Tufts University. He completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard University and KU Leuven in Belgium, followed by a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at the National Science Foundation. Previous to Northwestern, Marcelo worked at Oberlin College as the inaugural director of their Center for Learning, Education and Research in the Sciences. He currently serves in the leadership team for Northwestern’s HHMI-funded Inclusive Teaching project and is a faculty adviser for student groups including NU-SACNAS, GoSTEM, and Advancing the Undocumented Community (AUC). An immigrant from Ecuador who grew up in New York City, Marcelo is a lifelong bilingual speaker of both Spanish and English. Besides science research and education, his other love is languages, enjoying conversation in Spanish, French, Dutch, and German, has taken courses in Portuguese and Quechua, and is currently in the process of learning Ukrainian.
Academic Year Support
For the students' first two years, the mentor meets weekly with the Posse as a group for two hours. Additionally, they meet with each member individually every other week. These sessions support the students' academic success and engagement with the University community.
In the Spring, the Faculty Mentor and Posse staff attend the PossePlus Retreat with the students.
Mentors prepare for the incoming Posse class by attending a three-day session at the Posse Foundation headquarters in New York, a three-day summer retreat with the Posse group and Posse staff in Los Angeles, and a three-day session at the Posse LA site.
Nominations for Campus Mentors
Campus Inclusion & Community accepts all nominations for faculty mentors. Please email inclusion@northwestern.edu with any inquiries.