Towson University welcomed the following new faculty in fall 2022.
New Faculty
- College of Business & Economics
- College of Education
- College of Fine Arts & Communication
- College of Health Professions
- College of Liberal Arts
- Fisher College of Science & Mathematics
- Cook Library
College of Business and Economics
Department of Accounting
Kyungeun Kwon (Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Kerry
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kerry Kwon earned her Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2022. Kwon’s primary research interests involve the information content of firm disclosures and how key market participants such as institutional owners and financial analysts affect the information environment in the capital market. She is passionate about teaching and was awarded the outstanding doctoral student teaching award at VCU in 2020.
Department of Business Analytics and Technology Management
Xiaorui Zhu (Ph.D., Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati)
Assistant Professor
Xiaorui Zhu obtained his Ph.D. in business analytics from the Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati in 2022. He has a master's degree in finance from Penn State University. His research interests include high-dimensional statistical inference, machine learning, risk management, empirical finance and creativity in open online education.
Department of Economics
Chris Marilyn Boyd Leon (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Chris Boyd
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Chris Marilyn Boyd Leon received her Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in the summer of 2022. Prior to her graduate studies she was a researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos in her home country of Peru. Her research focuses on how farmers in Latin America respond to price risk. She has published in the Annual Review of Resource Economics with a recent paper forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Her current research uses field experiments to better understand how Mexican coffee farmers respond to price risk.
Department of Finance
Ashley Plack O’Donnell (MBA, University of Baltimore)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ashley Plack O’Donnell’s research interests are at the intersection of writing, business and technology. She presented “Literature Disseminating Literature: Algorithms and Accountability” at the 2022 American Comparative Literature Association Annual Convention and chaired the “National Writing Panel” session at the 2022 North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR)/British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) Joint Conference. Her teaching interests include writing for business and marketing. She has taught previously in Towson University’s Department of Marketing, and spoken at industry and academic conferences, including Inbound, Digital Summit DC and the Northeast Modern Language Association Convention.
Christine E. Yates (M.S., Towson University)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
As a senior proposal writer for an Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), Christine Yates has supported winning proposals with the United States Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, and the United States Department of Agriculture, among others. From 2018–2020, she served as a writing fellow for Towson University's Writing Proficiency Program, the CBE Lab. Her teaching interests focus on workplace communication, such as resumes, cover letters and interviews.
Department of Management
Nishant Kathuria (Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas)
Assistant Professor
The overall goal of Nishant Kathuria’s research is to help firms become socially responsible and mitigate socioeconomic inequalities in society. Kathuria has published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Management Studies and Management and Organization Review and has also published book chapters and a case study in distinguished outlets. He views teaching as an opportunity to inculcate intellectual curiosity in students and help students emerge as responsible business leaders. Kathuria’s industrial experience allows him to bring insights from both real-world business and academia to enrich students’ learning experience.
Department of Marketing
Vanecia Fluelling (Ph.D. Management Information Systems, Morgan State University)
Professor of Practice
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Vanecia Fluelling’s research interests include influencer marketing, e-marketing and business intelligence. She has presented her work at a number of local conferences including the Eastern Academy of Management Conference. Fluelling’s teaching interests include marketing intelligence, principles of marketing and internet marketing. As a professor of practice, Fluelling will work closely with faculty, students and staff to promote the discipline of marketing through professional service.
Eunice Kim (Ph.D. Marketing, Yale School of Management, Yale University 2010)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Eunice Kim obtained her Ph.D. in marketing from the Yale School of Management in 2010. Kim is an active researcher in the areas of judgment and decision making, mental representation and consumer well-being. Her paper “Muscling My Way to My Positive Future: Physical Exertion of Strength and Preference for Risk” was recently published in the Asia Marketing Journal. Kim’s teaching interests include consumer behavior and advertising. Kim has presented her work at more than a dozen invited presentations and talks and has served as a reviewer for the top quantitative marketing journals including the Journal of Marketing Research and Management Science.
YiChun Miriam Liu (Ph.D. Marketing, Graduate Institute of International Business, National Taiwan University
2019)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Miriam
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Miriam Liu is an active researcher in the areas of consumer decision making, complex products and menu choice. Her paper “Non-linear Pricing Effects in Conjoint Analysis” was recently accepted at Quantitative Marketing and Economics. Liu’s teaching interests include marketing analytics and principles of marketing. Liu obtained her Ph.D. in marketing from the graduate Institute of International Business at National Taiwan University in 2019 and recently completed a post-doc at The Ohio State University, working under one of the top marketing modelers in academia.
College of Education
Department of Early Childhood Education
Rebecca Huber
Lecturer
Preferred Name: Becky
Becky Huber received a B.S. in early childhood education from Towson University and a M.Ed. in early childhood education from Concordia University. She taught pre-K through third grade for 31 years in Anne Arundel Public Schools. Huber has experience teaching all subject areas and has mentored several interns from Towson University. She is currently a member of the Maryland State Early Childhood Action Committee. She is excited to bring her many years of experience to Towson University.
Ann McLaughlin
Lecturer
Ann McLaughlin received a B.S. in elementary education and a M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Towson University. Ann received her Administration Certification in 2019 from McDaniel College. She has taught kindergarten for 16 years in Baltimore City Schools and Howard County Public Schools. McLaughlin has experience teaching all subject areas, was an instructional team leader for 5 years, and has mentored several interns from Towson University. Her years in the classroom within diverse settings and leadership experiences have given her the skills to excel in her position as a supervisor for Towson University.
Zachary Price (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Zachary Price’s research focus is on understanding parental, child and educator relationships as mechanisms for improving teaching practices and parenting. He has a specific interest in how these teaching practices affect those working with infants and toddlers. He is currently working on papers looking at gender differences in the early childhood workforce, and Head Start and Early Head Start educators’ beliefs around racial socialization and discrimination in their teaching practices. Price is the co-PI of the Educare DC Local Evaluation Project (PI – Brenda Jones-Harden) as part of the Educare National Evaluation Project. Price has taught numerous classes on various aspects of child development and early childhood practice and is currently supervising student interns in the field.
Department of Educational Technology and Literacy
Hoda Harati (Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instructional Design, Northern Arizona University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Hoda
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Hoda Harati was a clinical assistant professor in the department of educational technology at NAU before joining TU. She has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses in the educational technology field in person and online. Some of her research interests are online and adaptive learning; social network analysis; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the intersection of learning and technology, and emerging technologies. She has over 65 publications, conference presentations/proceedings and book chapters. She is a recipient of the DEI award for her endeavors to empower faculty to embrace anti-racism practices in their syllabus. Hoda also collaborated with a company to develop the first teacher simulations, focusing on DEI issues. The first two simulations are in the market and used in different institutes. She is currently a board member of the international division at AECT.
Suzhen Duan (Ph.D. in Learning Design and Technology, Purdue University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Suzhen
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Suzhen Duan received her Ph.D. in May of 2022. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in educational technology and computing online and in person. Her research interests focus on motivation, specifically applying one of the most widely used positive psychology interventions—Best Possible Self (BPS)—in real-world educational contexts to improve learners’ overall well-being, attitudes, academic commitment, and professional identity. She has published three first-author papers in this area and received the acceptance of another one from ACM on August 1, 2022. In teaching, she hopes to identify each learner’s uniqueness and facilitate them to be their best possible selves, which her students echoed.
Department of Elementary Education
Deneen Dixon-Payne (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Deneen Dixon-Payne's research investigates intersections of Black girlhood in education, including STEM/STEAM, gifted learners, critical media literacy, and informal spaces. Her publications include a co-authored book chapter in Power lines: Connecting with teens in urban communities through media literacy; "Keepin' it reel: Black girls film camp" [Library Association-Neal Schuman], and a journal article "Out-of-school enrichment: Pathways to STEM development for gifted Black girls" [The Urban Education Collaborative]. As a writer, scholar and educator, Dixon-Payne has over 20 years of experience in K-12 and post-secondary education. Dixon-Payne uses her years of experience to help preservice teachers implement pedagogical strategies that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.
Tamera Moore (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Tamera Moore’s research interests include critical service-learning in K-12 and urban community settings, as well as the outcomes of service-learning opportunities on preservice teachers. She presented her research at the 2022 AERA conference in San Diego. Her research contributions include peer-reviewed articles, as well as book chapters, including a chapter in Dreaming of a place called home: Local and international perspectives on education. Tamera’s teaching focus includes incorporating technology into the course content.
Ashely Wallace (ME.d.)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ashley Wallace brings seven years of experience working within the Maryland public elementary school setting, experience teaching in South America, and over a decade of experience tutoring students in both grade school and higher education. Her experience and contributions to education have won her awards including Outstanding City Educator in PGCPS, the Talented and Gifted Educator Spotlight Award, and the ACE Educator Award most recently in 2020. Her interests include understanding the whole student, promoting inclusive educational environments that support diverse learners, and developing preservice teachers to be most impactful in the field of education to support our future generations.
Department of Secondary and Middle School Education
Laura Jacobs (Ph.D., North Carolina State University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Laura Jacobs received her Ph.D. in teacher education and learning sciences with a specialization in English education from North Carolina State University. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, she taught middle school English language arts and social studies in Wake County, North Carolina. Her research examines commercially produced curricular programs for secondary English Language Arts classrooms. Jacobs’s scholarly interests include teacher education, the censorship of books and curriculum, and increasing student exposure to diverse literature. Jacobs is an active member of professional programs such as NCTE, ELATE, LRA, ATE, and AACTE.
Danielle Sutherland (Ph.D., Temple University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Danielle Sutherland’s research provides insight into how issues of equity and inclusion operate in K-12 settings and the extent to which universities and districts facilitate or hinder these efforts. She is currently researching the implementation of competency-based education in Michigan and teacher shortages in Maryland. Her work has been presented at national conferences such as the American Educational Research Association, Association of Teacher Educators, and the Association of Education Finance and Policy. Sutherland’s teaching focuses on creating inquiry-driven, student-centered classrooms. In 2020, she won the Association of Teacher Educator’s Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award.
Department of Special Education
Briella Baer Chen (Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Briella Baer Chen’s research focuses on supporting autistic individuals during postsecondary transition, primarily through the use of instructional technology and stakeholder engagement. She has published over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Preventing School Failure, and Teaching Exceptional Children. Chen was formerly an instructor at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she taught both introductory and teacher-preparation courses on special education and the universal design for learning (UDL). She is looking forward to joining the TU community!
Kara Hodgson (Master of Arts from Notre Dame of Maryland University)
Lecturer
Kara Hodgson teaches an undergraduate course in the areas of classroom management and collaboration, as well as supervises interns as they complete their capstone experience in Baltimore County Professional Development Schools. Her past experiences include general education, special education, coaching, mentoring, facilitating IEP and SST, working for the Office of Special Education as well as the Office of School Climate providing support to schools around social and emotional learning.
Tiffany Jirsa (Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University)
Lecturer
During her teaching career at Towson University, Tiffany Jirsa has taught various undergraduate courses specializing in early childhood education and curriculum. Additionally, she supervises junior- and senior-year interns in Harford County Public Schools during their infants and toddlers and pre-K student teaching placements. Prior to being employed at Towson University Jirsa worked in Baltimore County Public Schools, serving in various classroom and leadership roles. Currently, Jirsa is focused on supporting and preparing preservice teachers during their student teaching placements to ensure implementation of developmentally appropriate teaching practices in Harford County Public Schools.
Meryl Klein (Master of Arts – Leadership in Special Education: Exceptionalities, Notre Dame of
Maryland University)
Lecturer
Meryl Klein taught in Baltimore County Public Schools for seven years, teaching Inside General Education 3s and Inside General Education 4s and Kindergarten. She mentored many Towson University early childhood/special education (ECSE) graduates while teaching for Baltimore County Public Schools. Her academic interests include early intervention and coaching new and prospective teachers.
Kirsten Merashoff (Master’s in Education, Johns Hopkins University)
Lecturer
As a faculty member Kirsten Merashoff teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of curriculum and methods of instruction and educating students with disabilities as well as supervising interns in the elementary education and special education program. Before joining Towson University, Merashoff served the students and teachers of Baltimore County Public Schools as a general and special education teacher, a mentor for new teachers, an assistant principal, and most recently as a specialist in the Office of Special Education. Merashoff is a certified Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) trainer.
Kathy Naimon (Masters in Educational Leadership, George Mason University)
Lecturer
Before joining Towson University, Kathy Naimon was an adjunct faculty member at the Universities at Shady Grove, where she taught both undergraduate and graduate courses for the elementary education and special education (EESE) program, as well as the special education MAT and M.Ed. programs. Naimon brings her multiple experiences as a special education teacher and leader at all levels, working in both self-contained, resource room and inclusion classroom settings throughout her 37-year public schools' career, into the content of the courses she teaches and the experiences she shares with her students. Her areas of interest and expertise include teacher mentoring and training, working with families of students with disabilities, and IEP development.
Elizabeth Plumb (M.Ed., Early Childhood Education, Towson University)
Lecturer
Elizabeth Plumb’s areas of interest include early childhood education, special education, autism and behavior. Her experience includes teaching and administration in non-public and public-school settings, including home and community-based services. She has presented at conferences and provided professional development for school staff related to implementation of evidence-based practices, identifying practical and effective behavior supports to develop skills and individualizing instruction through data-based decision making. She will work with the teacher as leader in autism (TALA) program as well as preservice programs in the Department of Special Education.
Elizabeth Herreid Wynkoop (Masters Degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction)
Lecturer
Preferred Name: Libby
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Libby Wynkoop has been a faculty member within several department in the College of Education for several years and this year is moving into a full-time lecturer position with the Department of Special Education. She has supervised and taught multiple courses within the Special Education and Elementary Education departments and is closely involved with the College’s Educators Rising initiative, supporting high school students considering education as a career path. She brings extensive curricular and leadership expertise to the department, as she is certified/endorsed in special education, secondary mathematics, administration I and II and reading.
College of Fine Arts and Communication
Department of Dance
Caroline Rocher Barnes (B.A., St Mary's College of California)
Instructor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Caroline Rocher Barnes’ area of research interest is in the unconventional body in 21st-century ballet through the lens of racial diversity, gender interchangeability, and disruption of the ballet company's hierarchical order. She is an ABT® Certified teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 5 and is certified in the Gyrotonic® expansion system. She has researched and is developing a curriculum incorporating the Gyrokinesis® Methodology in the ballet classroom. She will receive her M.F.A. from University of Maryland, College Park in December 2022. Her teaching focus is in the areas of ballet pedagogy, contemporary ballet composition and dance on film. She comes to TU after a distinguished performing career as a professional ballet dancer in companies that have been at the forefront of artistic innovation in the field of ballet such as Dance Theatre of Harlem and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. She has taught, toured and performed nationally and internationally. Barnes worked in CAPA school in Cape Town, South Africa, re-staging the first movement of Alonzo King’s Concerto for Two Violins ballet.
Robert Kleinendorst (MFA, George Mason University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Robert Kleinendorst’s area of research interest is in revitalizing the ability of child-like play in college aged performers. Most recently he created and filmed the dance work "Pixelated" specifically aimed at waking the dancer’s imagination. His teaching focus is in the areas of modern dance technique, dance composition, and stage performance. He comes to us after an illustrious 21-year performing career as a professional dancer with the renown Paul Taylor Dance Company. This dance company has been attributed to shaping the future of American modern dance and transforming its landscape. He has taught, toured and performed throughout the U.S. and around the globe. During his tenure in the company, Kleinendorst danced 98 roles and originated 28 roles with Taylor. He has a voice degree, plays guitar, has a passion for musical theatre and often creates and records his own music for choreography and technique class.
Department of Communication Studies
Michel Harrington (M.A. Baylor University)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Michael Harrington, lecturer and director of debate, specializes in advocacy, persuasion and social protest, with an emphasis on Black resistance, hip-hop and sonic argumentation. His most recent research, titled “Quareosonics: Beyond Respectable Sonics in Hip-Hop/Rap,” utilizes a critical rhetorical and interpersonal analysis to study the contours of Quare sounds as resistance to anti-Blackness and heteronormativity. His teaching focuses on helping students find their voice to cultivate new ideas, performances, theories and/or political embodiment. He began his speech and debate career as a college novice and quickly progressed to become a top 16 debater at the National Debate Tournament.
Department of Electronic Media and Film
Lynn Patterson (DCD, University of Baltimore)
Professor of Practice
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Lynn Patterson’s teaching focus is on audio production and broadcast. Her current research interests include the intersection of STEM-focused learning and audio production and diversifying the fields of entertainment, production and engineering. She brings experience from developing training, course and program development for Baltimore City Schools, developing, teaching and leading the MSDE Interactive Media and Production program.
Adam Schwartz (MFA, Goucher College)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Adam Schwartz has a teaching focus in audio production and sound design. Schwartz’s recent works are in the fields of immersive audio and sound in virtual reality. He has worked on award winning films and nationally televised shows and commercials, including live television for clients such as NBC Universal, PBS, Sprout, A&E, Bio and History Channel. Adam produces EMF’s own Silver Screen Radio which airs weekly on WTMD radio.
Department of Mass Communication
Rauf Arif (Ph. D. Mass Communication, University of Iowa)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Rauf
Preferred Pronoun: he/him/his
Rauf Arif studies social media and digital social movements in the context of cross-cultural media practices. Arif has recently published a book: Movements for Change: How Individuals, Social Media, and Al Jazeera Are Changing Pakistan, Egypt, and Tunisia (Peter Lang Publishing), and is a co-PI on an NSF grant. His teaching expertise includes international journalism, digital social movements, and contemporary issues in international communication technology. His students have earned numerous recognitions in research and creative activities in the journalism field.
Yuanwei Lyu (ABD in Communication, University of Alabama)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Yuanwei
Preferred Pronoun: she/her/hers
Yuanwei Lyu’s research interests include corporate social responsibility and advocacy, crisis communication and organization’s engagement on social media. Her work has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals, including Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Journal of Media Business Studies, and International Journal of Advertising. Her teaching areas include international public relations, crisis management and public relations campaigns.
Michelle Nicolosi (Ph. D. in Communication and Media Studies, University of Oregon)
Lecturer
Preferred name: Michelle
Preferred pronoun: she/her/hers
Michelle Nicolosi’s research examines newspaper journalists' evolving professional values in response to video work. She is a co-author on an upcoming report examining the state of Oregon's journalism landscape. She worked as a newspaper reporter and newsroom manager for more than 30 years. Nicolosi teaches reporting and writing.
Christopher Vardeman (Ph.D. Strategic Communication, University of Colorado Boulder)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Chris
Preferred Pronoun: he/him/his
Christopher Vardeman is an assistant professor whose research focuses on media effects and emerging forms of digital advertising. In addition to defending his dissertation last spring, he has recently published articles in Journal of Media Ethics and Journal of Marketing Communications. His areas of teaching expertise are research methodology and media ethics. At the University of Colorado Boulder, he was the first student in his doctoral program to develop and deliver an original course and is a recipient of the Gerald C. Bean Memorial Scholarship.
Department of Music
Joseph Gotoff (DMA, New England Conservatory of Music)
Assistant Professor of Music
Joseph Gotoff received his DMA in cello performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. Gotoff’s research focuses on the Beethoven’s articulations and interpretation of the composer’s string quartet manuscripts. A sought-after chamber musician, Gotoff’s reputation as an intense and compelling communicator has brought wide acclaim both in the United States and abroad. He has founded a number of chamber ensembles including Petrucci String Quartet and released his debut album “The Voice of the Cello” to critical acclaim.
Department of Theatre Arts
Danielle Drakes (MFA, The Catholic University of America)
Assistant Professor
Danielle A. Drakes is a multifaceted theatre professional with extensive experience in performance, directing and arts administration. Drakes has dedicated her career to using theatre as a tool for envisioning a more empathetic and equitable society. She has directed “She Kills Monsters” at UMBC, the regional premiere of “Kill Move Paradise” at Rep Stage (MD) and the world premiere of “Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem” at Theater Alliance (DC), earning her a Helen Hayes Award nomination for outstanding direction. Additional professional credits include Theater Alliance, The Kennedy Center, and originating the role of Elizabeth Keckley in Ford's Theatre's Washington Post-award-winning “History on Foot.” Currently, Drakes is splitting her time between the stage and the classroom as a professor at George Washington University, UMBC and Towson University. Drakes is an Artist of the Spirit-certified Life, Energetic and Spiritual Coach and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She received her B.A. in theatre from Goucher College and M.F.A. in acting from The Catholic University of America.
College of Health Professions
Department of Health Sciences
Caitlin A. Ceryes (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of
Environmental Health and Engineering)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
A registered nurse with extensive experience in clinical and public health, Caitlin Ceryes recently completed a doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. Ceryes brings research and practice expertise in occupational and environmental health with focuses on equity and sustainability to TU. Ceryes’ research has been published in several refereed publications, including her recent work exploring COVID-19-related occupational challenges facing U.S. food supply chain workers. Ceryes is thrilled to join TU and contribute to the university's public health research, community outreach and teaching efforts.
Laurarose Dunn-O'Farrell (MPAS, Towson University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Laurarose Dunn-O'Farrell earned a second master's degree in physician assistant (PA) studies from Towson University in 2016. She has expertise in behavioral health across the lifespan and an initiative to expand and modernize its integration within health care education and clinical practice program operations, with primary foci on PA student education and leadership. With diverse training, education and dual licensure as a PA and a counselor, she became the first PA in the state of Maryland authorized by the Board of Physicians to perform psychiatric evaluations (2018) and later, to conduct synchronous telemental health appointments (2019). Prior to COVID-19, she co-founded, developed and provided direct oversight for a Maryland-based telemental health program. She partners with and has served on advisory committees for local and national organizations in promotion and advocacy of patient care, practitioner and employee wellness, and cross-disciplinary training. She transitioned from a predominantly direct patient care role and, in March 2022, began serving at TU as PA program faculty. She joins the emerging Faculty Fellowship Program Physician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA) to concurrently advance her initiatives at TU and the community at large.
Laura Girling (Ph.D., University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Assistant Professor
Laura Girling’s research focuses on the social dimensions of Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently principal investigator of three NIH-funded protocols including awards that center on bioethical research inclusion of persons with Alzheimer’s, as well as COVID-19’s impact on the well-being of community-dwelling persons with dementia. Her research team is committed to improving supports and structures that allow persons with neurocognitive disorders to remain independent for extended periods post-diagnosis. As a gerontologist, her teaching interests broadly focus on aging. Girling mentors both graduate and undergraduate scholars, serving as co-sponsor on students’ National Service Awards (NIH) as well as advisor on various thesis and dissertation committees.
Mark Lashley (MBA, Loyola University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Same as above
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Mark Lashley received his associate’s degree in PA studies from Essex Community College (ECC) in 1984 and his bachelor’s degree in biology at UMBC in 1981. He began his teaching career as an adjunct professor in the PA program at ECC in 1993. He has served as a clinical assistant professor in the TU physician assistant studies program since November 2021. Lashley has worked in emergency medicine at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital for the past 37 years. He holds specialty certification in emergency medicine and is a past president of the Maryland Academy of Physician Assistants.
Kristin Schuller (Ph.D., University of South Carolina)
Associate Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kristin Schuller earned her Ph.D. and master’s degree in health administration from the University of South Carolina. Schuller completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at Texas A&M’s Health Sciences Center before teaching for two years at the University of North Dakota. She spent seven years teaching and conducting research at Ohio University in the Department of Social and Public Health and served as chair of the department for a year. Her research focuses on initiatives and policies aimed at improving the quality of care delivered in healthcare organizations and access to mental health services for rural and underserved populations.
Joyce Weil (Ph.D., Fordham University)
Associate Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Joyce Weil’s research interests are the meaning of place, aging and the lifecourse, and research methodology. Her Person-Place Fit Measure for Older Adults, published in The Gerontologist, led to her upcoming book and planned federal grant application. She has 30 publications, three books and numerous conference presentations. Her teaching interest is gerontology’s intersectionality with health and social sciences along all research designs. She mentors internationally and serves on doctoral committees. Awards recognize her peer teaching, excellence in scholarship in community-based research and partner-building, innovative research, and ethics in teaching. She is a board member of several journals and associate editor for the Journal of Women & Aging.
Department of Kinesiology
Samuel M. Clevenger (Ph.D., University of Maryland)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Samuel Clevenger recently published the research article: "Regenerating the ‘Stock’ of the Empire: Biopower and Physical Culture in English Garden City Planning Discourse, 1898-1903" in the International Journal of the History of Sport. His teaching interests include the history and sociocultural study of sport and physical culture. He is the 2019 recipient of British Society for Sport History's Early Career Researcher Grant.
Donal Howley (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Trained at the University of Limerick and practiced as a high school physical education and English teacher in Ireland and the U.S., Donal Howley teaches and conducts research across K-12 and higher education settings nationally and internationally. He has 12 peer-reviewed publications and has conducted five international and 22 national conference presentations. Howley’s areas of research interest include physical education, physical activity and youth sport, curriculum and pedagogy, social and emotional learning, student/youth voice and qualitative research. He is the recipient of the Mary Channing Coleman Scholarship Award 2022, Pearl Berlin Graduate Student Writing Award 2021, and the Kate R. Barrett Student Professional Development Award 2021.
Elizabeth Bell (Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park)
Instructor
Preferred Name: Liz
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Liz Bell’s current research focuses on determining how features of movement affect human health and the long-term risk for chronic diseases. She has recently focused on modeling the consequences of pregnancy on knee joint loading and future knee health. She has over 10 years of experience in the biomechanics field. Previously, as a biomedical engineer for the Department of Defense, she examined how prosthetic devices can improve walking mechanics over advanced terrain. As a teacher Bell aims to help students succeed no matter what their background is and motivate them to use inquiry to keep learning throughout their own career.
Gary McChalicher (Ed.D, CSCS)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Gary McChalicher has 20 years of experience in sports administration and fitness and wellness leadership. He has worked as a director of athletics, a curriculum leader for health and physical education, and a sports performance coach for scholastic and collegiate athletes. McChalicher has worked as an instructor for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator Association and the American Sport Education Program. He has presented on the development of athlete leadership and team cohesion for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and recently contributed to the chapter pertaining to planning and assessment in the NSCA's Guide to High School Strength and Conditioning. Finally, he is the chairman of the NSCA's High School Professional Development Group.
Department of Nursing
Alison Pirie (DNP, Johns Hopkins University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Alison Pirie is interested in research on breastfeeding education and stress management techniques for nursing students, and nursing care for neurodiverse children. Her teaching interests include adult health and pediatric nursing. She worked for nine years on the infant/toddler unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her final DNP project was titled “Implementation of an Online Breastfeeding Education Module among Nurse Practitioner Students.”
Claudeth Jeffrey (DNP, Walden University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Claudeth Jeffrey has been practicing as an RN for over 17 years and currently works as a clinical nurse II in the emergency room of the University of Maryland Medical System’s National Capital Regional Hospital. Her teaching interests include adult health and gerontological nursing. She is a certified nurse educator and a certified gerontological nurse. Before beginning at TU, Jeffrey taught at Prince George's Community College for nine years starting as adjunct faculty and progressing to assistant and associate professor.
Goma Thapaliya (DNP, Johns Hopkins University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Goma Thapaliya has worked as registered nurse in perioperative nursing, medical-surgical nursing, gastroenterology, and inpatient children psychiatric services. Her research interests include social determinants of health, and the overall health and well-being of immigrant populations. She is interested in teaching gerontological nursing, and adult health nursing. Her doctoral project looked at sudden infant death syndrome and safe sleep practice in prenatal education. It focused on addressing the language barriers and health literacy needs of pregnant Hispanic women living in an underserved area of Baltimore city.
Melanie Horning (PhD, University of Delaware)
Assistant Professor
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Melanie Horning has more than 15 years of RN experience on adult medical surgical units. She is interested in teaching on nursing for older adults and end-of-life. The focus of her research is on end-of-life conversations and decision making in families. She has published and presented on symptom progression on people with advanced Parkinson’s disease and family communications at the end of life.
Nana Omole (MSN, Notre Dame of Maryland University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Nana Omole has over 20 years of RN experience in labor and delivery and maternal health nursing. She has worked as a simulation lab and clinical instructor for both the University of Maryland and TU. Her teaching interests focus on maternal and child health nursing.
Megan Gildersleeve (MSN, Notre Dame of Maryland University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred pronouns: she/her/hers
Megan Gildersleeve’s clinical background is in adult critical care and her teaching interests focus on critical care and pathophysiology for nurses. She is particularly interested in assisting with the development of resiliency skills among nursing students. Gildersleeve’s role on faculty will include managing the clinical placements of all TU nursing students.
Susan Hammond (DNP, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Susan Hammond has been a nurse for 18 years in the hospital setting. Most recently she was the nursing assistant director for the emergency department in the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. During this time, she helped to redesign the nursing care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and served on the incident/command team during a prolonged cyberattack. Hammond is interested in teaching adult health nursing and leadership in nursing. Her doctoral work is published in the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, Model & Guidelines, 4th Edition.
Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science
Allysin E. Bridges-German (OTD, Thomas Jefferson University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Allysin or Ally
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Allysin Bridges-German began her teaching career with TU last semester as a visiting lecturer. She has been practicing occupational therapy with an array of patients and diagnoses for over 20 years. In the last decade, Bridges-German has focused her work on the older adult population, specifically around aging in place, developing age-friendly communities, and fall prevention. She has published and presented nationally on these topics and looks forward to continuing the exploration of the same with her new colleagues.
Elizabeth Gonsell (M.S., Elizabethtown College)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Betsy
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Betsy Gosnell is a clinical assistant professor focusing on student clinical education within the clinical environment. Gosnell primarily leads programming within the Occupational Therapy Center at the Institute of Well-Being. She provides interdisciplinary education for fieldwork students within a preschool program in collaboration with the Speech and Language Center, individual services to children, and social programming devoted to health and wellness for individuals post head injury or stroke. Betsy’s areas of interest are within pediatrics and fieldwork education.
Daniel Hollern (M.S., Towson University)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Dan
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Dan Hollern is the director of the Occupational Therapy Center and has a half-time appointment as clinical assistant faculty. Hollern has been a practicing clinician for 14 years at the University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopedic Institute (UMROI), specializing in spinal cord injury rehab and orthopedics. While at UMROI, he served as the senior occupational therapist on the Spinal Cord Injury Unit, chair of the Patient Safe Handling Committee, and the occupational therapy student fieldwork coordinator. Hollern presented on spinal cord injury rehab and assistive technology at a Maryland-based conference sponsored by the Paralyzed Veterans Association. His areas of interest include adult physical rehabilitation and assistive technology.
Ashley Lankford (ScD, Towson University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ashley Lankford’s areas of research include school-based practices, assistive technology, and students with disabilities. Lankford graduated from Towson University with an Sc.D. degree in May, and her dissertation was entitled "The Experience of School-Age Assistive Technology Users and their Families during Emergency Remote Instruction and the Impact on Classroom Engagement." She has nine years of experience as an occupational therapist in a local school district and held a lead role in the related services and the assistive technology teams. She has presented at the American Occupational Therapy Association and the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference. Lankford currently serves as a member of the Maryland State Steering Committee for Occupational and Physical Therapy School Based Programs and was awarded the Sarah Burton Visionary Leadership Award in 2016.
Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Kelly Coburn (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: they/them/their‘s
Kelly Coburn’s research interests are in autism, augmentative and alternative communication, neurodiversity, and gender diversity. They have expertise in qualitative and mixed-methods research, and they recently completed a post-doctoral research fellowship as a visiting scientist at the University of Alabama. Their teaching and clinical interests are similarly in autism across the lifespan and augmentative and alternative communication, and they come to TU with hands-on clinical experience with a variety of populations.
Shameka Stewart (Ph.D.)
Associate Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Shameka Stewart’s research interests relate child language disorders and the confluence and impact of cognitive and communication disorders on the school-to-confinement pipeline, involvement with the criminal justice system, law enforcement interaction, and criminal recidivism in youth placed at-risk for delinquency and crime. She has a special focus on Black and Brown youth from under-resourced areas. She is the only forensic speech-language pathologist in the country and has created innovative social and juvenile justice courses for graduate students, as well as workshops for law enforcement, legal professionals, and clinicians.
Danika Pfeiffer (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Danika Pfeiffer’s research interests are in emergent literacy, interprofessional education and practice, language development and disorders and high-quality professional development. She has published more than a dozen papers in her areas of interest, and they recently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University in the of Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Her teaching and clinical interests align with her research interests, and she is invested in student success at TU.
Julie Norin (Au.D.)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Julie Norin has interest and expertise in adult and pediatric diagnostics, hearing aids, counseling in audiology, and aural rehabilitation. She has spent over a dozen years building and applying her clinical experience in the field of audiology, including as the Director of Audiology at the Hearing and Speech Agency in Baltimore. She enjoys mentoring and teaching in her areas of expertise and previously served as an adjunct faculty member in the department.
Patti Caudill (M.S.)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Patti Caudill has interest and expertise in craniofacial disorders, motor speech disorders, velopharyngeal dysfunction and dysphagia throughout the lifespan with special interest in pediatric feeding-swallowing. She additionally has expertise in clinical diagnostics, instrumental assessment of swallowing and voice disorders, and interprofessional team care. She most recently served as the speech pathology coordinator at GBMC’s head and neck center where she developed programs and supervised clinicians. She brings vast clinical experience to her future work at TU.
College of Liberal Arts
Department of English
Joseph Davis (Lecturer Master of Science, Professional Writing at Towson University)
Area of Expertise: English Composition
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Recognizing the need to keep and maintain the attention of students, Joseph Davis approaches teaching first-year composition as a form of performance, using stage presence, eye contact and humor to keep them engaged. In addition to teaching, he served as a writer for The Final Edition Radio Hour, a podcast briefly affiliated with the National Lampoon. During his tenure, he contributed 75 sketches that made it to air. In addition, he also maintained the show’s SoundCloud page, providing additional written content. Joseph’s writing interests include fiction, essays about contemporary culture and sketch comedy. He lives in Essex, Maryland, with his feline life partner, Misty.
Department of Geography and Environmental Planning
Michael J. Allen (PhD, Kent State University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Rank: Assistant Professor
Michael Allen’s research interests stand at the intersection of climate-health issues and focus on the fields of bioclimatology, climate change, environmental equity, and geographic education. His seasonal climate change research appeared in National Geographic, and in 2019, he coordinated a community heat mapping campaign in Norfolk, Virginia, to better understand vulnerability and help inform stakeholders about heat mitigation strategies within the local community. Allen’s teaching experience broadly focuses on physical geography, developing courses in climatology, environmental hazards, communicating climate science, and meteorology at his prior institution. Secretary and treasurer of the International Society of Biometeorology, Allen was recently awarded a U.S. Fulbright Scholars Award to explore climate literacy and heat-health issues in Serbia.
Department of History
Victoria L. McAlister (Ph.D., University of Dublin, Trinity College)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Vicky
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Vicky McAlister’s research focuses on the impact of medieval settlement on the landscape and environment of Ireland. She is the principal investigator of “Human-Environment Exchanges in the Landscapes of Medieval Ireland,” a project that uses drone technology and GIS mapping to locate and investigate Irish rural medieval settlements. She is also the author of The Irish Tower House: Society, Economy and Environment c. 1300-1650 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019). At TU she will be offering the first courses in digital humanities in CLA.
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Allison Tyler (MA, Gallaudet University)
Lecturer
Preferred name: Ali
Preferred pronoun: she/her/hers
Ali Tyler’s recent publications include poetry in the spring 2008 edition of Brushfire Literary Arts Journal and she assisted in preparation of Dr H-Dirksen L. Bauman’s Reframing the Future of Deaf Education: From Hearing Loss to Deaf-Gain.
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Patrick Roney (Ph.D., Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Comparative Literature)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Patrick Roney taught philosophy for more than 20 years at Koç University in Istanbul as an assistant and associate professor where he was awarded several times for teaching excellence and successfully co-directed several master’s and Ph.D. candidates. He has also served as a regular board member of the Association for Philosophy and Literature and the International Philosophical Seminar which is held every summer in Italy. Roney has done most of his research in aesthetics and the philosophy of art, and in continental philosophy along with a study of several traditions in both modernism and postmodernism in the field of literature.
Department of Political Science
Jonathan Hensley (Ph.D., Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park; Doctor of
Jurisprudence, University of Tennessee)
Assistant Professor
Jonathan Hensley studies the politics of the American judicial system. His current research interests focus on the intersection of law, politics, and religion, and particularly the legal activities of religious interest groups. Before entering academia, he practiced law, and strives to combine practical and academic knowledge of the legal system in his teaching. His recent publications include the forthcoming article “Amicus Curiae Briefs and the Competing Legal Agendas of White Protestants in the United States, 1969-2020,” with Paul McCartney, in Politics and Religion, and “Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project” in Combating Terrorism in the 21st Century: American Laws, Strategies, and Agencies.
Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
Department of Biological Sciences
Alice Besterman (Ph.D, University of Virginia)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Alice Besterman is a coastal and estuarine ecologist studying the effects of global change. As a postdoctoral scientist, she designed, funded and launched a large-scale, long-term experiment testing a climate adaptation technique in salt marshes. In her teaching and mentorship, she emphasizes observational and analytical skills in ecology, with the goal of preparing students for careers in ecology, conservation, and natural resource management. Her work in coastal ecology has resulted in multiple journal articles, conference and public presentations, and mentorship of thirteen students who have gone on to graduate school and careers in ecological fields.
Daniel Caetano (Ph.D., University of Idaho)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Daniel Caetano works with macroevolution and comparative methods developing new statistical approaches to study how traits evolve on long time scales. Recent research introduced a novel model to detect hidden variation in diversification rates accounting for the effect of geographic distribution (published in Evolution), adapted methods from bioinformatics for animal behavior studies (published in American Naturalist), and examined changes in the structure of evolutionary correlation among complex traits (published in Systematic Biology). Caetano teaches courses in ecology, evolution and bioinformatics, aiming to create highly collaborative environments and provide active learning experiences while linking concepts to real life problems
Philip Clark (M.S., University of Maryland, College Park)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Philip Clark studies factors that affect population characteristics and diversity of various microbial communities as well as microbe-driven outbreaks of diarrheal diseases in developing nations, such as Haiti and South Sudan. Recent research includes investigations into the impact of COVID-19 on the human gut microbiome. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. with Dr. Rita Colwell and Dr. Anwar Huq at the University of Maryland, College Park. His teaching focuses on general microbiology, introductory biology and genomics.
Erin Harberts (Ph.D., University of Maryland Medical School)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Erin Harberts’ research investigates how changes and diversity in structure of microbial ligands affect downstream immune responses. During her post-doctoral fellowship she identified a vaccine adjuvant derived from bacteria that is currently under development for use in clinical trials. She has recently authored a pair of papers that were published in Infection and Immunity describing distinct structural requirements for activation of intra- and extra-cellular innate immune responses. Harberts will teach immunology and facilitate student research in both the classroom and laboratory. Her students have successfully obtained funding for projects, scholarships and awards for outstanding presentations.
Sarah Longo (Ph.D., University of California, Davis)
Assitant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Sarah Longo conducts integrative research at the intersection of evolution, ecology, and biomechanics to investigate how animals work and how function evolves. Recently, she published in Currently Biology on the ultrafast claw snaps of a tiny amphipod crustacean, and she has also worked on seahorses and pistol shrimp. In her teaching and mentorship, Longo focuses on encouraging students to experience the integrative nature of biology firsthand. She has taught evolution and ecology classes at TU, and she was a member of the TU REP program to develop a course-based research experience to reimagine a traditional comparative anatomy class.
Wilbur Ryan (Ph.D., Florida State University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Name: Will Ryan
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Will Ryan is interested in the evolution of life cycle diversity and the role of environmental variation in the lives of marine invertebrates. He has recently published work on the influence of clonality on the population structure of a globally invasive sea anemone and collaborative review of mating system diversity in marine invertebrates. He teaches general zoology and marine biology, where he shares his passion for understanding the mechanisms underpinning the diversity of life with students. He is also the founder of an award-winning educational animation team which illustrates core biological concepts with rollicking sound and color.
Cheryl Warren (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine)
Clinical Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Cheryl Warren’s main interest is incorporating authentic research experiences for undergraduates into all levels of the biology curriculum. Warren will be teaching introductory biology for majors and Molecular Biology Laboratory, a CURE course where students have the opportunity to discover new small proteins in the bacterium E. coli. Her current research aims to confirm and publish students’ results from the Molecular Biology CURE. She is a research mentor in the Bridges to Baccalaureate Summer Internship Program and in 2021 she was recognized as an Outstanding Lecturer by TU’s Fisher College of Science and Mathematics.
Department of Chemistry
Martha Essandoh (Ph.D. Chemistry, Oklahoma State University)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Martha Essandoh has expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, specifically related to antimicrobial and sensor compounds. She has published two papers on this work. Essandoh previously served as a graduate teaching assistant and will teach courses in introductory chemistry and organic chemistry at Towson University.
Brian Wartell (Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology)
Lecturer
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Brian Wartell has expertise in environmental science and environmental chemistry, specifically related to bioremediation of contaminated locations. He has published six papers on this work. Wartell has previously taught middle school science and introductory science courses at a local community college and will teach courses in environmental and introductory chemistry at Towson University.
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Yifan Guo (Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University)
Assistant Professor
Preferred Pronouns: he/his/him
Yifan Guo’s current research interests are security and privacy issues in intelligent learning systems and their applications on the internet of things (IoT), cyber-physical systems (CPS), wireless communications and smart health. He has published more than 20 papers in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. His teaching focuses are fundamental algorithms design and deep learning applications. Also, he has served on the program committee for numerous top-ranked conferences, like AAAI, GLOBECOM, ALLDATA, etc.
Wassila Lalouani (PhD., University of Maryland Baltimore County)
Assistant Professor
Wassila Lalouani’s teaching interests include networking, cybersecurity and machine learning. Her research interests span the areas of machine learning, cybersecurity, cyber physical systems, telehealth, IoT and network privacy. Her academic work contributed to several NSFs and NIH proposals. Selected publications include “Countering Modeling Attacks in PUF-based IoT Security Solutions” in the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Computing Systems and "A Robust Distributed Intrusion Detection System for Collusive Attacks on Edge of Things," in the IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference.
Cook Library
Songyao Chen (MLIS, the University of Pittsburgh)
Data Science Librarian
Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Songyao Chen “Samuel” provides services and supports for faculty and students covering the phases of the data lifecycle, from plan, collect, assure, describe, preserve, discover to integrate and analyze, both for research projects and courses. His research interests focus on the awareness of the data services provided by the library among the faculty in a research institution or a university. He has presented research on awareness of data services at the Southeast Data Librarian Symposium 2020. Additionally, he is the liaison librarian for the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and Department of Business Analytics and Technology Management.
Christina Taylor Gibson (Ph.D./MLIS, University of Maryland)
Performing Arts Librarian, Librarian I
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Christina Taylor Gibson’s current research focuses on optimizing the library experience for performance-focused students. She is the co-curator of an exhibit in the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on composer Edward MacDowell, editor of “Selections from Mabel Dodge Luhan’s Whirling around Mexico” in Scholarly Editing (2022), and author of “Identity and the Neoclassical Ideal in Martha Graham’s and Carlos Chávez's Dark Meadow” in 20th Century Music (2021). Her teaching cultivates critical thinking with an emphasis on primary and secondary sources. Gibson serves as the Music Library Association’s archivist.
Soo-yeon Hwang (Ph.D., Rutgers University)
Assessment and Analytics Librarian, Librarian II
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Soo-yeon Hwang’s research interests include time use with information, everyday use and social implications of information and communication technology, library technology, information system design, usability and user experience, and library assessment. Recent research projects include library chatbot adoption and use, library eBook use by graduate students and faculty, and university branding and color accessibility assessment. She is also a regular contributor to the Tech Talk column in Informed Librarian Online.
Hong Li (Ph.D., University of Missouri – Columbia, English Education)
Electronic Resources & Discovery Librarian, Librarian II
Preferred Name: Li
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
Hong Li’s research interests include electronic resources management advocacy, open access resources in discovery, and collection analysis. Li has presented and published extensively; her most recent article, entitled “OpenAthens Implementation: A Two-phased Move at our Library”, appeared in Serials Review, August 11, 2022. As an assistant professor at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) she received several faculty development grants; served as peer reviewer on three academic journals; and administered the library’s integrated library system while chairing the Technical Services Department.
Allison Jennings-Roche (MLIS, University of Maryland)
Research and Instruction Librarian
Allison Jennings-Roche is the Library Instruction Coordinator and a Research and Instruction Librarian. Her research interests include information policy, advocacy, and human rights, critical information literacy, and inclusive leadership. Jennings-Roche is a Ph.D. student in information studies at the University of Maryland and is a member of the Information Policy and Access Center. She has a B.A. in political science and English literature, an M.A. in legal and ethical studies, an MLIS specializing in diversity and inclusion, and a graduate certificate in organizational leadership. Jennings-Roche has a professional background in higher education, libraries and undergraduate teaching.