Three Assumption Professors Granted Tenure in Spring 2025 Semester 

The following faculty members were awarded tenure: 

John Bell, Assistant Professor, History 

John Bell, Ph.D., has been granted tenure. Bell, who has served on the faculty since 2019, is a social and cultural historian of the United States, specializing in race, education, and the Black freedom struggle. He is the author of Degrees of Equality: Abolitionist Colleges and the Politics of Race, published by LSU Press. Bell received his bachelor’s degree in religious studies and history from the College of William and Mary. He received both his M.A. in history and Ph.D. in American studies from Harvard University. 

Nicolas Lessios, Assistant Professor, Biology

Nicolas Lessios, Ph.D., has been granted tenure. Lessios, who has served on the faculty since 2019, is a neuroscientist whose scholarship and research focusing on light perception in small organisms. He has made thirteen conference presentations over the course of his career, with twelve of those including student researchers. Lessios received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University in 2009 and his Ph.D. in biology from Arizona State University in 2016. 

Lee Trepanier, Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 

Lee Trepanier, Ph.D., has been granted tenure. Trepanier, who has served as Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since 2024, is a political theorist with expertise on political philosopher Eric Voegelin, politics and literature, democracy and education, religion and politics, and other topics. Trepanier received his bachelor’s degree in political science and English from Marquette University in 1995. He received his M.A in political science in 2000 and his Ph.D. in political science in 2001, both from Louisiana State University.