Diversity Fellows

Dianey Leal is a first-year graduate student at The Bush School of Government and Public Service, where she is currently pursuing her master’s in public service and administration. Through this program, she seeks to understand the capabilities required for effective and ethical management in higher education. She currently serves as one of the project leads for the school’s Public Service Organization and seats as a non-voting member for Twin City Mission, a nonprofit organization that works collectively to meet the needs of homeless individuals and families. She is also a member of the Diversity Committee under the Student Government Association. Dianey graduated from St. Edward’s University in 2015 with a double major in political science and English writing and rhetoric. This semester she will serve as a Leadership for Diversity Fellow with the Center of Disability and Development at Texas A&M University, where she will be researching policies on disability-related issues.

Jesse entered the Biochemistry and Biophysics graduate program at Texas A&M in 2013. He joined Dr. Ryland Young’s lab to study how viruses of bacteria (bacteriophages) lyse (destroy) bacterial cells. Jesse became a Ph.D. candidate in 2014 and completed his teaching and coursework requirement in spring 2015. In addition to teaching at Texas A&M, Jesse has mentored four undergraduate researchers. As Jesse completes his Ph.D. project, he has sought additional professional development activities: Jesse is a member of the CIRTL-TAR fellows program. This program is designed for graduate students who wish to develop a project that will improve teaching outcomes. CIRTL-TAR fellows manage the project with the same research skills and experimental rigor used in their graduate studies. In spring 2016, Jesse began the CDD Graduate Fellows program and is working with Dr. Meagan Sumbera, Dr. Dalun Zhang and Dr. Laura Stough on his fellows training and research projects related to helping people with disabilities.