UALR Welcomes 25 New Faculty for Fall

UALR faculty welcome 25 new members this fall, including seven new nursing instructors in the growing program that is addressing one of Arkansas’ most profound health care needs. Enrollment in UALR’s Department of Nursing is expected to break enrollment records this semester. The new faculty also include an international expert on the American civil rights movement and a chemical engineer whose research explores neural control systems for the treatment of epilepsy. Dr. Keith Bush, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a master of computer science degree, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Colorado State University. He also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at McGill University in the Reasoning and Learning Lab. Dr. John Kirk, a former professor at the University of London and author of “Beyond Little Rock: The Origins and Legacies of the Central High Crisis,” joins UALR as the Donaghey Professor of History and chair of the department. He is the author of several books on the American civil rights movement, including “Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas,” and “Martin Luther King, Jr.” He also edited a collection on King and the civil rights movement. The seven new nursing faculty members associate professors Amber Matthews, and Frances Sparti and assistant professors and instructors Matthew Gifford, Jeff Carmack, Mary Carmack, Jill Hasley, and Anne Strang. Expansion of the nursing faculty follows the announcement this summer that the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation in Fayetteville expanded its commitment to the UALR Nursing Program with a $2 million endowment gift to perpetuate the Walker Nursing Scholarship Program. The Walker Scholars Endowment, created with a $1 million gift in 2008, will expand the number of full scholarships awarded to nursing students to 10 and will create a new endowment scholarship fund for students pursuing a bachelor or science in nursing degree. The new UALR faculty also include: Jason J. Delaney, assistant professor of economics, received his Ph.D. in economics from Georgia State University. His main teaching and research interests are in public finance and urban economics.

Erin Finzer, an Arkansas native, received her Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Kansas. She specializes in Latin American poetry and enjoys taking a cultural studies approach to both teaching and research. Shannon C. Henderson, assistant professor of education, earned a Ph.D. at Auburn and did post-doctoral work at Ohio State. She taught at Purdue before joining UALR’s Ph.D. program in reading. Jill M. Jascha, assistant professor of library and information science. Doug Keaton, visiting professor of philosophy, who received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati, has produced peer-reviewed publications in the European Journal of Philosophy and Philosophia, as well as conference papers at the American Philosophical Association and the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Kris McAbee, assistant professor of English, specializes in Medieval and Renaissance studies and the digital humanities. She comes to UALR from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she held a postdoctoral position as the Assistant Director of the English Broadside Ballad Archive. She is excited to serve as the next Director of UALR’s Shakespeare Scene Festival. Michael “Clay” Posey, assistant professor of management, earned his Ph.D. from Louisiana Tech and focused his research in information assurance generally and behavioral information security — the study of all human influences on organizational information protection. Tatiana Roitman, visiting artist and instructor, has had her performance of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” on the album “Nocturne-American concertos of the Jazz Age.” As recipient of the Peggy Rockefeller Memorial Fellowship at Tanglewood, she worked with James Levine, Dawn Upshaw, Yo-Yo Ma, Charles Rosen, and Claude Frank. She holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Minnesota. Charles E. Romney, assistant professor of history and coordinator of the Masters of Arts in Public History. Previously on faculty at California’s Whittier College, Romney’s work on documentary films has been screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Johanna Thomas, assistant professor of social work, earned a master’s degree in social work from Louisiana Sate University, where she is completing her Ph.D. in social work. Her interests are in treating early truancy through the use of an evidence-based intensive case management program. Dr. Otmar Varela received a Ph.D. with a concentration on organizational behavior and a master’s degree in international business from Tulane University; an MBA from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid, Spain; and a bachelor’s degree in political and legal sciences from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. His research focus involves the analysis of performance of individuals and groups and how these entities’ performances vary across cultures. James “Jay” Williams, BSW field coordinator in the School of Social Work, earned a bachelor of arts in psychology and a master of social work from UALR. He has worked in the mental health field and joins the faculty following his work at the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute. Richard E. Woolridge, assistant professor of management, holds 20 years experience in domestic and international industry management as an entrepreneur, international business owner, manager, consultant, teacher, mentor, software developer, software architect, project leader, and innovator. His focus is on the information systems that support the industries and functional areas with extensive architectural, technical, and operational leadership across a broad spectrum of applications. He earned a Ph.D. and a master’s degree at the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in information systems from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mengjun Xie, assistant professor of computer science, earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the College of William and Mary. His research interests are network and information security. Shucheng Yu, assistant professor of computer science, earned a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute prior to working in the private sector as a software engineer. His research interests include network and system security, secure data sharing with attribute-based cryptography, and applied cryptography.