Cal State Fullerton » Inside Online » Spotlight

Leigh T. Barton
Assistant professor of educational leadership
Ph.D. educational leadership and foundations, University of New Orleans
M.Ed. University of New Orleans
B.S.Ed. Worcester State College
Areas of certification: Elementary grades, kindergarten, reading specialist, principal, parish or city supervisor of instruction, school superintendent, Level A program evaluator, educational technology leader
Research interests: direct leadership behaviors that impact student achievement, instructional leadership and achievement gaps

Gerard Beenen
Assistant professor of management
Ph.D. and M.S. organizational behavior and theory, Carnegie Mellon University
MBA, Northwestern University
M.A. theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
B.A. religion, Southern California College
Research interests: tension between learning and performance

Mohammad R. Bhuiyan
Assistant professor of economics
Ph.D. economics, Queens University, Canada
M.A. economics, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
M.S.S. economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
B.S.S. economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Research interests: macroeconomics, monetary policy, open economy macroeconomics, international finance, time series econometrics, asset pricing

Sharon V. Chappell
Assistant professor of elementary and bilingual education
Ph.D. curriculum and instruction, Arizona State University
M.A. art education, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
B.A. English and women’s studies, UC Berkeley
Credentials: elementary education teaching credential, cross-cultural, language and academic development certification, supplementary authorizations in English as a Second Language and language arts, advanced language certificate in Spanish
Research interests: intersections of community arts practice, youth and schooling, participatory action research with immigrant and language minority youth, representations of youth in children’s literature and popular culture, social justice in schools and curriculum for pre-service teachers
Language spoken other than English: Spanish

Minerva S. Chávez
Assistant professor of secondary education
Ph.D. and M.S. curriculum and instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A. liberal arts, Hampshire College
Research interests: understanding and identifying how education functions to shape or alter the identities of first generation college students
Language spoken other than English: Spanish

Steven Chen
Assistant professor of marketing
Ph.D. management, UC Irvine
B.A. studio arts, UC Irvine
Research interests: design and marketing strategy, consumer identity projects, information technology and user experiences

Randol Contreras
Assistant professor of sociology
Ph.D. sociology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
B.A. sociology, City College, The City University of New York
Research interests: illegal drug markets, ethnography, urban race and class inequalities

Debra L. Cote
Assistant professor of special education
Ph.D. M.Ed. and B.S. special education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Research interests: problem solving, choice-making, self-determination and technology

Rebecca L. Cross
Assistant professor of nursing
Ph.D nursing, UCLA
M.S.N. UCLA
B.S.N. University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: evaluating the efficacy of nurse-led counseling and education with people suffering from heart disease and the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on depression

Yingying Dong
Assistant professor of economics
Ph.D. and M.A. economics, Boston College
M.A. applied economics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
B.S. finance, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
Research interests: applied microeconomics, econometrics, labor, health, education

Lisa Eiler
Associate professor of accounting
Ph.D. accounting and MAcc, University of Oregon
B.S. accounting, St. Catherine University
Research interests: taxes, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, disclosure and governance

Emily Erickson
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. mass communications, University of Alabama
M.A. journalism, University of Alabama
B.A. political science, Linfield College
Research interests: freedom of information and media economics

Nicholas S. Henning
Assistant professor of secondary education
Ph.D. and M.Ed. education, UCLA
B.A. history, Pomona College
Credential: CLAD Professional Clear Teaching Credential, UCLA
Research interests: multicultural education, K-12 teacher education, teacher induction and retention in urban schools, teacher collaboration, social justice teaching and education, social studies education, cultural-historical activity theory, transformational resistance theory, social and political context of urban schools, effective teaching methods for diverse classrooms, theories and methods of language acquisition, sociocultural learning theory, issues of race, class and linguistic diversity, critical pedagogy, teacher inquiry and action research

Erica J. Howell
Assistant professor of special education
Ph.D. candidate, education, UC Riverside
M.S. special education, Cal State Fullerton
B.A. psychology, Cal State Fullerton
Research Interests: student-teacher-relationships for children with autism spectrum disorder, social training for individuals on the autism spectrum, transition for individuals with disabilities, the impact of disability on the family system

Jidong Huang
Assistant professor of electrical engineering
Ph.D. electrical engineering, Ohio University
M.S. computer engineering and applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
B.S. educational technology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan
Research interest: navigation

Yi (Jenny) Jiang
Associate professor of finance
Ph.D. finance, University of Iowa
M.A. economics, City University of New York
B.A. finance and investment, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Research Interests: Executive compensation, corporate governance, initial public offerings, secondary equity offerings, capital structure, and investment

Vita L. Jones
Assistant professor of special education
Ph.D. M.Ed. and B.S. special education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Research interests: issues related to diversity and resiliency of youth

Deovina N. Jordan
Associate professor of nursing
Ph.D. nursing and MSN, UCLA
M.D. University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Philippines
M.P.H. Loma Linda University
BSN, University of Perpetual Help Rizal, Philippines
Research interests: self-care and co-morbidities of first generation Filipinos with diabetes

Hyunjoo Kim
Assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
Ph.D. and M.S. civil engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
B.S. architectural engineering, Seoul National University
Certification: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Research interests: bulding information modeling technology, sustainable construction, energy efficient building design

Kristin J. Kleinjans
Assistant professor of economics
Ph.D. economics, University of Pittsburgh
M.S. economics (Diplom-Volkswirtin), Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany
Research interests: public economics, the economics of health and aging, labor economics, and development economics in Latin America

Myungjung (MJ) Kwon
Assistant Professor of politics, administration and justice
Ph.D. public administration and policy, Florida State University
B.A. public administration, Kangwon National University
Research interests: urban policy and management

Anne Lemnitzer
Assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
Ph.D. structural engineering, UCLA
M.S. civil engineering, UCLA
B.S. structural engineering, University of Applied Sciences Leipzig, Germany
Research interests: bridge engineering
Languages spoken other than English: German and French

Hung-Yuan (Richard) Lu
Associate professor of accounting
Ph.D. accounting, University of Florida
MAcc, Ohio State University, Columbus
B.S. applied mathematics, National Chung-Hsing University
Research interests: disclosure of information related to financial statements

Pradeep S. Nair
Assistant professor of computer engineering
Ph.D. electrical engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio
M.S. electrical engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio
B.S. electronics and communication engineering, Gulbarga University, India
Research interests: power/performance tradeoffs in the nanoscale domain, leakage power reduction in digital systems, computer performance analysis and evaluation, low power FPGAs, low power biomedical systems

Stephen B. Neufeld
Assistant professor of history
Ph.D. Latin American history, University of Arizona, Tucson
M.A. Latin American history, University of British Columbia
B.A. history and sociology, University of Calgary
Research interests: gender, masculinity and culture in Mexico
Language spoken other than English: Spanish

Nga Nguyen
Assistant professor of anthropology
Ph.D. ecology and evolutionary biology, Princeton University
B.A. anthropology and biology, Columbia University
Research interests: animal behavioral endocrinology, social behavior, development and reproduction

Sang June Oh
Assistant Professor of mechanical engineering
Ph.D., M.Phil., M.S. and B.S. mechanical engineering, Columbia University
Research interests: control systems, assistive technology, biomedical engineering, and aeronautical/aerospace applications
Languages spoken other than English: Korean and Japanese

Huiran Pan
Assistant professor of economics
Ph.D. economics, UC Davis
M.A. economics, UC Davis
B.A. economics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Research interests: Open economy macroeconomics, international finance, monetary economics, applied econometrics

Sojung C. Park
Assistant professor of finance
Ph.D. and M.S. insurance and risk management, University of Pennsylvania
M.S. and B.S. industrial engineering, Seoul National University in Korea
Research interests:insurance markets, catastrophic risk, empirical asset pricing, behavior finance

Shaun M. Pichler
Assistant professor of management
Ph.D. human resource management, Michigan State University
M.S. human resource management, Loyola University, Chicago
B.A. psychology, Michigan State University
Research interests: performance management and appraisal, gender and diversity, high-performance work systems, international human resource management

Elizabeth G. Pillsworth
Assistant professor of anthropology
Ph.D. evolutionary anthropology, UCLA
M.A. Latin American studies, University of New Mexico
B.A. anthropology and literary journalism, Hampshire College
Research interests: evolution of human mating strategies, long-term mate choice, women’s sexual strategies, Shuar culture (Amazonian Ecuador) and life history theory

Danielle Popp Assistant professor of psychology
Ph.D. and M.A. social psychology, University of Connecticut
B.A. psychology and communication studies, The College of New Jersey
Research interests: applied quantitative methods, dyadic data analysis, stigma, gender, social influence

Thomas V. Schwarz
Professor of management and Rick Muth Endowed Chair in Family Business
D.B.A., M.B.A. and B.S., finance, Florida State University
Entrepreneurial experience: founded new businesses in distance learning and strategic planning

Jason M. Shepard
Assistant professor of communications
Ph.D. mass communications, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. journalism and mass communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S. education, Pace University, New York
B.S. journalism and political science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research interests: media law and policy, news-gathering rights and freedom of information

Barry A. Spiering
Assistant professor of kinesiology
Ph.D. exercise science, University of Connecticut
M.S. exercise physiology, Ithaca College
B.S. business finance, Linfield College

Hala K. Swearingen
Assistant professor of art
M.F.A. visual arts, Art Institute of Boston
B.F.A. illustration, Brigham Young University
Painting media: oil, acrylic, watercolor and pen and ink
Research interests: children's book illustration and fine art

Isho Tama-Sweet
Associate professor of accounting
Ph.D. accounting, University of Oregon
M.B.A. UC Davis
B.A. American studies, Cornell University
Research interests: narrative disclosure, compensation, financial reporting

Michele M. Wood
Assistant professor of health science
Ph.D. community health sciences, UCLA
M.S. community psychology, Cal State Long Beach
B.A. psychology, UC Irvine
Research interests: HIV/AIDS risk among high-risk populations, disaster preparedness, aging and program evaluation

Kevin A. Wortman
Assistant professor of computer science
Ph.D. and M.S. information and computer science, UC Irvine
B.S. computer science, mathematics, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Research interests: design and analysis of algorithms, computational geometry, graph drawing

Joshua S. Yang
Assistant professor of health science
Ph.D. and M.P.H. community health sciences, UCLA
B.S. physiological sciences, UCLA
Research interests: tobacco control, chronic disease prevention, international development, international migration, health policy

In addition to tenure-track professors, an assistant librarian — Colleen E. Greene — also joins the campus. Green received her master's degree in library science from San Jose State and her bachelor's degree in history from Cal State Fullerton.