Rothenberg is a molecular immunologist whose research explains how blood stem cells develop into T-cells in the immune system. Her research reveals how networks of genes, regulatory proteins and cellular signals work together, often at the level of individual cells, to guide critical developmental decisions that shape immune function. Her research has provided a unifying framework for understanding how cells make stable developmental choices within complex biological systems. 

Voraakohm is a landscape architect who uses urban design as a tool to restore ecological function, empower communities and create equitable, climate-resilient cities. Her signature “porous city” approach in Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park integrates a constructed wetland, rain garden and million-gallon retention system to provide public green space while mitigating seasonal flooding in some of Bangkok’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. Her work illustrates how thoughtful landscape design can deliver both ecological resilience and social benefits. 

Voraakohm is one of six new professors-at-large with 2026-32 terms. The others: 

Jeff Chang (social sciences), an American journalist and music critic, writes about hip-hop’s cultural and political evolution. His book, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation,” won the American Book Award in 2005. In 2008, he gave the keynote address for the Cornell Hip Hop Collection opening. 

Greg Graffin, Ph.D. ’03, (humanities, life sciences) co-founded the punk band Bad Religion in 1980, and champions free thinking and challenging norms. He has lectured on ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell and has written several books that examine the intersections of scientific reasoning, religious belief, artistic expression and identity. He combines evolutionary research with interdisciplinary inquiry and public outreach through music. 

Agricultural ecologist David Lobell (life sciences) has done pioneering work that has shaped our understanding of how climate change impacts crop production and global food security. He is the Benjamin M. Page Professor at Stanford University in the Department of Earth System Science and directs the Center on Food Security and the Environment. 

Somini Sengupta (social sciences) has been the New York Times’ international climate correspondent for more than 30 years. She writes about climate change, human migration and political conflict, with storytelling focused on people impacted by these forces. In 2023, she won the National Press Club Award for newsletter journalism for her “Climate Forward” series. 

Historian and theorist Dorceta Taylor (social sciences) focuses on justice‑centered environmental research. Her scholarship reconceptualizes environmentalism as a power-saturated social formation shaped by race, class, gender and privilege. She integrates academic analysis with community-based mobilization, illuminating the lived realities of marginalized communities. She is the Wangari Maathai Professor of Environmental Justice at Yale University. 

Twice during their six-year terms, A.D. White Professors-at-Large visit campus for about a week while classes are in session to interact with students and faculty to enliven the intellectual and cultural life of the campus and community. 

Previous A.D. White Professors-at-Large include Pulitzer-Prize winner Toni Morrison, M.A. ’55; Nobel laureate and geneticist Barbara McClintock, B.S. ’23, M.A. ’25, Ph.D. ’27; primatologist Jane Goodall; writer and actor John Cleese; and jazz musician and educator Wynton Marsalis.