Twenty-one new faculty join UIS for fall 2009

Twenty-one new faculty members have joined the University of Illinois Springfield for the 2009 fall semester. Five will teach in programs within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; six will teach in the College of Public Affairs and Administration; five in the College of Education and Human Services; three in the College of Business and Management; and two will teach in the library.

Atul Agarwal is an associate professor of Production Operations Management. He has an engineering background with an MBA and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Arlington. He was previously on the faculty at the Kettering University (Formerly GMI Engineering & Management Institute) in Flint, Michigan for 13 years where he served as the Director of the MS in Manufacturing Operations program for GM and Delphi corporations until July 2009. Professor Agarwal’s research interests include lean practices in manufacturing and service sectors, modeling for supply chain networks, and quality control systems for health care organizations.

Richard “Curby” Alexander, assistant professor of Teacher Education, was a public school teacher in Texas and Wyoming for eight years and served as adjunct faculty at several colleges before coming to UIS. He received his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia in 2009. Professor Alexander’s research interests include student engagement with technology and technology integration in the K-12 environment, and his research has been presented at several conferences, including the American Educational Research Association annual meeting and the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education.

Amanda Binder, visiting assistant professor/instructional services librarian, previously served as a member of the reference and instructional services team at the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Most recently, she worked as a digital archives consultant and marketing and communications freelancer for Chicago's community foundation, The Chicago Community Trust. Professor Binder has a B.A. in Sociology from Bard College in New York and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Michael Burlingame is the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton, and in 1968, he joined the History Department at Connecticut College in New London, where he taught until retiring in 2001 as the May Buckley Sadowski Professor of History Emeritus. Professor Burlingame is the author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life and The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln. In addition, he has edited numerous volumes of Lincoln primary source materials. Professor Burlingame has received the Abraham Lincoln Association Book Prize, the Lincoln Diploma of Honor from Lincoln Memorial University, Honorable Mention for the Lincoln Prize, Gettysburg College, and was inducted into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in 2009.

Tosha Cantrell-Bruce, visiting assistant professor of Public Administration, received her D.P.A. in Public Administration from University of Illinois Springfield in 2008. She joined the University of Illinois Extension in 2000 and served as a youth educator for nine years. Recently, she started her own consulting business providing needs assessments and evaluations for nonprofit organizations at the local, state and national level. She also currently serves as a content guide for GoodWorks, an online nonprofit resource center in Illinois.

Michael Cavanagh, assistant professor of Communication, comes to UIS from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he served as assistant professor and interim chair of the journalism program in the Communication Department. Professor Cavanagh earned a B.S. in Journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and an M.S. in Journalism – New Media from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. His teaching and research interests center on mass communication, journalism, new media and Web design.

Dana Thompson Dorsey, assistant professor in Educational Leadership, received her J.D. and Ph.D. in Administrative and Policy Studies in Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999 and 2007, respectively. She previously worked for the University of Virginia’s National Center for Women and Information Technology Extension Services for Undergraduate Program as the Director of Research and Consulting. Professor Thompson Dorsey’s research interests focus on education law and policy issues, especially the impact that federal legal cases and legislation may have on shaping K-12 policies. She has co-authored several technical reports for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Andrew Dzeguze, visiting assistant professor of Legal Studies, received his J.D. with honors from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1998. For eight years he was in private legal practice with a focus on intellectual property litigation. Professor Dzeguze’s research interests include various aspects of intellectual property law and government reform. His articles have appeared in such publications as the University of Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal, the John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law and the Columbia Science & Technology Law Review.

Alexis Halley, assistant professor of Public Administration, earned a D.P.A. degree from the University of Southern California in 1995. She is a founding co-director of the John C. Stennis Congressional Staff Fellows Program and the Stennis Emerging Staff Leaders Program. Dr. Halley has many publications, including co-editor and author of Who Makes Public Policy: The Struggle for Control between Congress and the Executive and co-author of “The Paradoxical Status of Planning and Time in Today’s Public Environment,” International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior.

Matthew Holden, Jr. is the Wepner Distinguished Professor of Political Science. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Northwestern University. He taught at the Wayne State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Virginia, where he was the Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Professor of Politics. Professor Holden’s work has included urban and metropolitan politics, public policy and administration, executive politics, law and politics, race and ethnic politics, regulatory policy and practice, energy politics and environmental policy.

Yi-Sz Lin, assistant professor of Geographic Information System (GIS) and environmental planning, currently directs the GIS Laboratory in the Department of Environmental Studies at UIS. He received his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Sciences from Texas A&M University in 2009. He has a B.S. in Architecture and a M.S. in Construction Science. Professor Yi-Sz’s interests include environmental hazard management, GIS applications in environmental planning and hazard management, and statistical/planning methods. He is certified in GIS, Remote Sensing and Environmental Hazard Management by Texas A&M University.

Shoon Lio, assistant professor of Sociology/Anthropology, received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside in 2008. Shoon’s research interest is in how the boundaries of American citizenship is constituted by racial projects such as the formation of collective memory and the construction of moral panics over racialized “others.” He is also interested in social theory, social psychology, political sociology, social movements, race/ethnicity and the sociology of citizenship.

Stefano Longo will be joining the Department of Environmental Studies at UIS as an assistant professor. He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Oregon in 2009. His research areas include environmental sociology and political economy, concentrating on the global agri-food system. He has published research in professional journals such as Rural Sociology and Human Ecology Review, and his current research project examines the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, focusing on the modern socio-ecological transformations in Sicily.

Janice Marsaglia, clinical instructor of Mathematical Sciences, has been teaching math for the last 25 years at the secondary level, where she was department chair and a trained mentor. She received her B.A. in Mathematical Sciences in 1984 and her M.A. in Mathematical Sciences in 1998, both from UIS. Since then, she has taught as a math adjunct for Lincoln Land Community College, Blackburn College and UIS.

Peggy Mayfield, visiting instructor of Human Services, received her M.A. in Human Development Counseling from UIS in 1996. After four years as Supervisor of Foster Care Services at Catholic Services, she entered private practice in 2000 as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. She joined the faculty at UIS in 1998, serving as adjunct for Human Development Counseling and recently teaching for both Teacher Education and Human Services. She currently serves as Director of Accreditation Documentation for the College of Education and Human Services.

Michael J. Murphy, assistant professor of Women and Gender Studies, received his master’s and doctoral degrees in Art History (with a Certificate in Women and Gender Studies) from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught for several years in the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. He specializes in U.S. visual and material culture from 1780-1920, and the history and theory of genders and sexualities.

Stephen Owusu-Ansah, associate professor of Accountancy, taught eight years at the University of Texas-Pan American, and four years at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia before coming to UIS. He received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Middlesex University (U.K.) in 1998. Dr. Owusu-Ansah serves on the editorial boards of The African Finance Journal (South Africa) and Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies (U.K.), and he also frequently serves as an ad-hoc reviewer of many scholarly journals.

Dr. Jenene Case Pease joins UIS as an assistant professor of Human Services, and she will be teaching courses in the child and family studies concentration. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Human Development in 1992 from Mississippi University for Women, a Master of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Mississippi College in 1994, and a Ph.D. in Family, Child, and Consumer Sciences in 2000. Before joining the faculty at UIS, Dr. Case Pease worked as the clinical coordinator at Florida State University’s Office of Employee Assistance Services, and she taught as a visiting lecturer in the FSU College of Social Work. Dr. Case Pease has been a Certified Employee Assistance Professional since 2006, and she is also a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Kate Sheridan, assistant professor of Social Work, received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work from The University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1993, her Master of Social Work from The University of Alabama in 2000, and is expected to be awarded the Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. Most recently, she has served as Program Manager in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work. Professor Sheridan’s research interests include developing an understanding of the familial context of methamphetamine misuse and production in rural Illinois with an emphasis on effects on child development.

Natalie Tagge, visiting assistant professor/instructional services librarian, was the State Virtual Reference Coordinator at the Illinois State Library prior to joining UIS. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Occidental College and her M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Tagge’s professional interests include web 2.0 applications to the library, library usability and the library’s position as community space. She has done numerous presentations and workshops at state and national library conferences and public, academic and school libraries on integrating virtual reference into a library’s services and the sustainability of library programs after grant funding ends.

Jorge Villegas, assistant professor of Business Administration, received his Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002 and previously served on the faculty at the University of Florida. Professor Villegas has received research awards from organizations like the American Academy of Advertising as well as participated as a member of research teams sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Eric Friedheim Foundation. His professional service includes participation in NIMH’s sponsored conference on Stigma and Mass Media, consultant for a grant funded by the National Cancer Institute, and reviewer for journals like Marketing Theory.