Welcome New Faculty and Staff, Farewell Retirees
Thirteen new faculty and two new staff members joined the college this year, while the School of Education bid a fond farewell to two long-time professors: Mike Ruef and Shirley Magnusson. The new staff members are Laura Wilson, an academic advisor, and Amber Vogt, an administrative assistant in the Mathematics Department. Meet the new faculty below.
Chemistry and Biochemistry Department
Javin Oza
B.S., Biochemistry, 2004 and Ph.D., Molecular Biology, 2012, UC Santa Barbara
Postdoctoral research: Northwestern University, 2012-16
Research interests: the application of biochemical principles toward the engineering of biological systems.
Erik Sapper
B.S., Chemistry and M.S., Polymers and Coating Science, Cal Poly, 2007; Ph.D., Coatings and Polymeric Materials, North Dakota State University, 2013
Coatings engineer, Boeing, 2010-16
Research interests: using math, statistics, models, and machine learning to design new coatings and polymeric materials
Sandra Ward
B.S., Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2007; Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Calgary, 2012;
Postdoctoral research: University of Geneva, 2013-14
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Puget Sound, 2014-16
David Zigler
B.S., Chemistry, Eastern Illinois University, 2003; Ph.D., Chemistry, Virginia Polytechnic, 2008
Postdoctoral research: UC Santa Barbara, 2008-10; University of North Carolina, 2011-12 and 2013-16
Research interests: molecular electronic excited states decomposing to release caged therapeutic molecules; initiating electron transfer reactions with biomolecules and at semiconductor interfaces
Kinesiology Department
Cory Greever
B.S., Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010; M.S., Exercise Physiology, James Madison University, 2012; Ph.D., Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2016
Research interests: the physiological underpinnings driving the relationships among physical activity, sleep and cognitive function
Sarah Keadle
B.S., Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest, 2006; M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2011), Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; M.P.H., Quantitative Methods, Harvard, 2013
Postdoctoral: National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, 2012-16
Research interests: the relationship between sitting and cancer risk
Physics
Matt Beekman
B.S., Physics and Mathematics (2003), M.S., Physics (2006), and Ph.D., Applied Physics (2009), University of South Florida.
Postdoctoral research: University of Oregon, 2009-11
Assistant Professor of Physics, Oregon Institute of Technology, 2011-16
Research interests: science and technology of advanced materials, including new materials for solid state energy conversion; novel solid state synthetic routes.
Louise Edwards
B.Sc., Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Canada, 2001; M.Sc., Astronomy, Saint Mary’s University, Canada, 2003; Ph.D., Physics, Universite Laval December, Canada, 2007 Postdoctoral research: Trent University, Canada, 2008; Cal Tech, 2008-11
Assistant Professor, Mount Allison University, Canada, 2011-12; Adjunct Professor, Saint Mary’s University, 2011-14, Lecturer and Research Scientist, Yale University, 2012-16
Research interests: formation and evolution of brightest cluster galaxies; galaxies in cluster cores and in filaments
Stamatis Vokos
StamatisB.Sc., Theoretical Physics, University of Kent, UK, 1984; M.A. (1985) and Ph.D. (1990), Physics, UC Berkeley.
Postdoctoral research: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1986-90; Argonne National Lab, 1990-92, University of Washington, 1992-97
Assistant Professor, University of Washington, 1997-2002; Seattle Pacific University, 2002-16
Research interests: how students learn physics; what aspects of learning systems enhance student learning
Statistics Department
Prince Afriyie
B.S., Mathematics, Northern Kentucky University, 2008; M.A., Mathematics, Ball State University, 2011; Ph.D., Statistics, Temple University, 2016
Research interests: developing new methodologies for testing multiple hypotheses simultaneously
Anelise Sabbag
AneliseBachelor of Statistics, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009; M.A. (2013) and Ph.D. (2016), Statistics Education, University of Minnesota
Research interests: statistics education and educational measurement
School of Education
Oscar Navarro
B.A., Sociology (2005), M.Ed., Education (2007), and Ph.D., Education, 2016, UCLA
Research interests: social justice teaching and the experience of students of color in secondary schools
Daniel Almeida
A.B., Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, 2002; M.A., Higher Education Administration, Boston College, 2005; Ph.D., Urban Education Policy, University of Southern California, 2016
Research interests: success of first generation students
