Weiser Professional Development Fellows

Feruza Abdurakhimova
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Fall 2026 

Feruza Abdurakhimova (PhD Philological Sciences) is an Associate Professor at Fergana State University, Uzbekistan, where she develops curricula, mentors students, and actively publishes research in international journals. She specializes in linguistics, with a focus on the linguocultural and semantic features of word formation in English and Uzbek languages.  Abdurakhimova has participated in numerous prestigious international professional programs and conferences, including internships in Malaysia, TESOL certification courses, and initiatives supported by the U.S. Embassy, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She has completed the UNDP Women Entrepreneurs Support Program, participated in the Entrepreneurship and Mentorship Program for Women implemented in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, and engaged in the WeEmpower initiative supporting women’s leadership. She is currently involved in strategic planning and development efforts focused on empowering women’s entrepreneurship and leadership across the Fergana Valley. 

U-M Faculty Partner: John Branch, Clinical Associate Professor of Business Administration, Ross Business School

Angela Kamyanets
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Fall 2026 

Angela Kamyanets (PhD Translation Studies) is an Associate Professor of Translation Studies at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine. In this role, she specializes in teaching practical translation and intercultural communication. Kamyanets has authored numerous articles on journalistic translation and co-authored the monograph Intertextual Irony and Translation. Her current research interests include the cultural and ideological aspects of journalistic translation, as well as the integration of cross-cultural studies into university curricula in Ukraine. In 2023-24, she served as a non-residential visiting scholar at Indiana University Bloomington. During 2024-2025, she was a Fellow at the Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study (VUIAS), a project of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study Berlin). In addition to her academic work, Kamyanets is a professional translator.

U-M Faculty Partner: David Porter, Professor of English and Comparative Literature

Patricia Kordiakova
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Fall 2026 

Patricia Kordiakova is an experienced Slovak TV news reporter and anchor and a lecturer at the Faculty of Media at Pan-European University in Bratislava. She is co-founder of "Novinarky," a civic association that supports and connects female journalists in Slovakia and advocates for equal working conditions.

U-M Faculty Partner: Yvette Granata, Assistant Professor of Film, Television, and Media

Irakli Petriashvili
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Fall 2026

Irakli Petriashvili (Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Tbilisi) is an anti-corruption researcher and public sector auditing expert whose work focuses on strengthening accountability and transparency through innovative institutional reforms and technologies. His research explores how artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics can enhance the capacity and resilience of public institutions — particularly Supreme Audit Institutions — to detect fraud, manage corruption risks, and improve governance outcomes. His work bridges scholarship, technology, and governance, advancing new approaches to integrity systems and oversight in public finance. Petriashvili has conducted research and collaborative projects with leading academic, tech, and policy institutions, including IBM, Google, the Centre for the Study of Corruption at the University of Sussex, and the Transparency and Governance Center at Rutgers University–Newark. At U-M, he will pursue the research project “From Fragmentation to Unity: Designing a Unified Anti-Corruption AI Framework for the U.S. Federal Government.” 

U-M Faculty Partners: David Hess, Everett E. Berg Professor of Business Administration; Professor of Business Law; Area Chair of Business Law, Ross Business School; Norman Bishara, Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Ross Business School