Growing Faculty Excellence

February 20, 2023

Fenaba Addo, associate professor of public policy.

Even though Bill ’85 and Beth Hobbs established the S. Huntington Hobbs Jr. Endowment Fund for Faculty Excellence in the University’s last campaign, Carolina First, they continue to give annually to grow the endowment. Bill Hobbs, former chair of the Arts and Sciences Foundation Board of Directors, and his wife, Beth, have supported more than 30 outstanding faculty in the College through their faculty excellence fund.

Recently, it supported Fenaba Addo, associate professor of public policy, whose research focuses on union formation and economic strain as a social determinant of health and well-being, as well as debt and wealth inequality. Her work highlights the systemic barriers Black
American women and men face in attaining economic security for their families. Most recently, Addo released her co-authored book, A Dream Defaulted: The Student Loan Crisis Among Black Borrowers. The book explores why rising student debt is both a cause and consequence of social inequality in the United States. As a professor, Addo teaches the lecture course “Policy Innovation and Analysis” and the first-year seminar “Debates in Public Policy and Racial Inequality.”

“The S. Huntington Hobbs Jr. Endowment Fund for Faculty Excellence provides me with the resources to pursue my research goal,” said Addo, who was able to purchase books, attend conferences to present works in progress and procure software to conduct statistical analyses.