Meet The Staff
Ms. Erika Smith
Director of the Transitional Year Program
Since 2004, Erika Smith has served as the Director of the Transitional Year Program. Ms. Smith holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University, where she matriculated as a Posse scholar, an EdM in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Policy at Brandeis University. On the program's staff since 2000, Ms. Smith has also held posts as the TYP Program Coordinator, and as a math instructor in the program.
Mr. Timothy Hickey
Quantitative Reasoning Instructor
Tim Hickey received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Brandeis and an M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago. He is a professor of Computer Science as well as the chair of the department. He is also the chair of the Internet Studies program and a member of the Film Studies program faculty. Professor Hickey’s research interests include interval arithmetic, computer supported learning, and Scientific Visualization and his Brandeis courses include Introduction to Computers and Introduction to 3-D Animation. He has been teaching at Brandeis since 1984. Professor Hickey has been an instruction for the TYP since 1992.
Ms. Lauren Ellis Holm
Writing Instructor
Lauren Ellis Holm received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Boston in English and anthropology and her master’s in English and American literature from Boston College. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English and American Literature at Brandeis. She has served as a teaching fellow in the department of English and American Literature, a tutor in the ESL program, and the Assistant Director of University Writing here at Brandeis. Ms. Holm has taught courses such as Staging the Novel: Reading and Writing Adaptations and Detective Fiction: Murder, Motive, Evidence.
Ms. Tzvetomira Kaltcheva
Writing Instructor
Tzvetomira Kaltcheva received her bachelor’s degree in international relations and Asian studies from Mount Holyoke College. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in politics from Brandeis. She has been an ESL tutor and a teaching assistant for courses about international relations.
Ms. Mary Lambo
Quantitative Reasoning Instructor
Mary Lambo received her bachelor’s degree in applied psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Brandeis. She has served as a teaching assistant for General Biology and for Principles of Neuroscience. Ms. Lambo also served as a math tutor in the TYP prior to becoming an instructor.
Ms. Ashley Rondini
Social Science Instructor
Ashley Rondini received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Clark University, with minors in women's studies, race and ethnic relations, and communication. She received master's degrees in women's studies from the University of Sussex and in social policy with a concentration in policies and programs related to assets and inequalities from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Heller School's joint program in Sociology and Social Policy. Ms. Rondini has taught courses such as Order and Change in Society and Race, Power and Intergroup Relations through the sociology department at Brandeis. She has been an instructor for the TYP since 2006. She is also the mentor for Brandeis Posses 7 and 10.
Ms. Tracey Seier
Science Instructor
Tracey Seier received her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University and her Master’s degree in Biology from Yale University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biology at Brandeis, studying DNA replication in the lab of Professor Susan Lovett. Tracey has been a teaching assistant and tutor at Yale and at Brandeis. Tracey enjoys acting in local community theaters. Ms. Seier has been an instructor for the TYP since Spring of 2008.
Mr. Jiong Yang
Quantitative Reasoning Instructor
Jiong Yang received his bachelor’s degree in applied psychology from Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, China. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in psychology from Brandeis, with a thesis on “Gender-Related Traits and Loneliness: The Role of Self-Esteem.” He has served as an elementary school tutor and as a high school psychology teacher.