Teaching in classrooms, studios, science labs and lecture halls this semester are 25 new faculty members who will in the future be eligible for permanent appointments as tenured faculty. Selected by committees through national searches, the new tenure-track faculty represent 13 disciplines and were drawn from 17 states and two Canadian provinces.
New teachers in the business administration department include:
Shazad Mohammed, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Mohammed previously taught marketing at the Ryder
College of Business Administration at Florida International University, Miami. He earned his doctorate in marketing from Florida International University and won the 2005 Fordham University Doctoral Dissertation Competition in Pricing. Research by Dr. Mohammed focuses on buyer and seller perspectives, including price perceptions, online consumer transactions and complaint behavior.
Tai Yi, assistant professor. Dr. Yi previously taught corporate finance, investments and accounting at the University of Sioux Falls, S.D. His doctorate in finance was earned at Temple University. He conducts research that examines risk and returns in equity, currency markets and international mutual funds. Dr. Yi also served as an investment/finance committee member of the University of Sioux Falls Foundation, whose assets total $17 million.
Ninah Shah, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Shah previously taught at the School of Business at The College of New Jersey and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Shah received her doctorate, with a specialization in organization theory, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
New teachers in the communication department include:
Gang Han, assistant professor. Mr. Han previously served as a teaching assistant and research assistant at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, where he is a doctoral candidate. He also taught at the Journalism School at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. In 2006, he was a winner in the Research and Creative Project Grant Competition at Syracuse. Current research includes the political and social effects of mediated communications and the role mass media plays in electoral and non-electoral political engagement.
Tracy Marafiote, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Marafiote previously taught at the University of Utah, where she earned her doctorate in communication. Academic interests include intercultural/cultural diversity issues, critical and cultural theories, identity and human interaction, environmental communication and critical and qualitative research.
New teachers in the curriculum and instruction area of the School of Education include:
Gregory Bynum, assistant professor. Mr. Bynum previously taught in educational studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz and also at the Bronx Arts Ensemble, Bronx. He developed education modules for the Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum in New York City. Mr. Bynum is a doctoral candidate in philosophy and education at Teachers College of Columbia University.
Maria Miller, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Miller previously served as a course content consultant at SUNY Buffalo, an assistant school principal in Florida, and middle school science teacher in Florida and Virginia. She holds a professional educator’s certificate that encompasses grades 6 through 12 biology, pre-kindergarten through 12 school principal, gifted endorsement, and middle grades endorsement. Dr. Miller earned her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida.
New teachers in the English department include:
En-Shu Robin Liao, Ed.D., assistant professor. Dr. Liao was a postdoctoral fellow in arts and humanities at Teachers College of Columbia University, and previously taught at Columbia. She also taught English as a foreign language and English literature at Kiev Technology University, Ukraine. Her doctorate in teaching of English and English education was received at Columbia. Areas of interest include multicultural education/multicultural theories in the United States, multicultural literature and internationalization of cultural studies.
Birger Vanwesenbeeck, Ph.D., assistant professor. Prior to becoming an assistant professor of American Literature at Université Laval in Québec, Dr. Vanwesenbeeck taught at SUNY Buffalo. He also taught high school English and Dutch in Belgium. His doctorate in comparative literature was awarded at SUNY Buffalo. Dr. Vanwesenbeeck is fluent in three languages and has speaking and/or reading proficiencies in three others.
Emily VanDette, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. VanDette has served as an instructor and graduate assistant in the English Department at The Pennsylvania State University. Her specializations encompass pre-20th century American literature and culture and women’s literature. Her doctorate in English was earned at The Pennsylvania State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and minor in philosophy from SUNY Fredonia in 1998.
New teachers in the history department include:
Steve Fabian, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Fabian previously taught history at Brock University, Ontario, Canada, and was a teaching assistant/tutorial leader at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. His doctorate in African history was received at Dalhousie University. Dr. Fabian’s research encompasses African urban history and the development of identity.
Zhao Ma, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Ma was a dean’s teaching fellow and teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and also taught at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He earned his doctorate in modern Chinese history from Johns Hopkins University. His graduate studies examined domestic life, law, gender and politics in 20th century China.
The new faculty appointment in language, learning and leadership is Xiaoning Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor. Prior to joining SUNY Fredonia, Dr. Chen was an instructor and worked on several graduate research projects at Purdue University, where her doctorate in language and literacy was awarded. Dr. Chen has also taught at two universities in China. Teaching interests include literacy and language education, teaching English as a new language and multicultural education.
A new faculty appointment in the modern languages and literature department is Juan De Urda, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Urda previously taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where his doctorate in Spanish literature was awarded. Dr. Urda also has a law degree from the University of Granada. His research explores 20th century Spanish literature, transatlantic connections between Spanish and Latin American literature and Hispanic culture through different cultural and social manifestations.
New teachers in the School of Music include:
Composer Robert Deemer, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Deemer previously taught at Oklahoma City University, the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas. His doctorate in musical arts in composition was received from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Deemer also holds a Performer’s Certificate in conducting and certificate of advanced studies in scoring for motion pictures and television. He was artistic director of music and composer-in-residence for the American Repertory Ensemble, a cutting-edge, non-profit ensemble of virtuoso musicians and world-class dancers dedicated to creating new models for concert experiences. Dr. Deemer has also scored 30 independent, documentary and student films.
Bassoonist Laura Koepke, assistant professor. Ms. Koepke previously taught bassoon at New York University, Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, Manhattan School of Music and Western Connecticut State University. She received an artist’s diploma from Yale University School of Music. She has been a freelance member of seven orchestras, including the New York City Opera Orchestra and Brooklyn Philharmonic, and was a chamber music coach with the New York Youth Symphony.
Music theorist Gordon Root, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Root previously taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He received the Outstanding Educator Award in 2004 and the Roger Chapman Prize in Music Theory, in 2002 and 2005, both from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he was awarded a doctorate in music theory.
The new faculty appointment in the philosophy department is Andrew Cullison, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Cullison previously taught at West Virginia University and the University of Rochester. His doctorate was received from the University of Rochester. He is a specialist in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics and philosophy of language.
A new teacher in the physics department is Justin Conroy, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Conroy has taught at SUNY Fredonia as a visiting assistant professor since 2005. Dr. Conroy earned his doctorate from the College of William and Mary. He served as a teaching assistant at William and Mary prior to joining SUNY Fredonia.
New teachers in the political science department include:
Olga Bogatyrenko, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Bogatyrenko was a graduate fellow at the University of California Washington Center in Washington, D.C., and teaching assistant at University of California at Davis. She earned her doctorate in political science-international relations from U.C. Davis. Her teaching expertise includes international relations and security, terrorism and counterterrorism and violent non-state actors.
Alexander Caviedes, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. has taught at Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash., and the University of Wisconsin at Madison and also conducted research at Free University Berlin and European University Institute in Italy. His doctorate was awarded from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Caviedes also holds a Master of European Law from the University of the Saarland, Germany, and law degree from the University Of Florida Law School. He has written articles that address immigration policy in Europe and the role of language in nation-building within the European Union.
The new faculty appointment in the psychology department is Suthakaran Veerasamy, Ph.D., assistant professor. Before joining SUNY Fredonia, Dr. Veerasamy taught at William Penn University, Oskaloosa, Iowa, the University of Maryland, University of Notre Dame, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland, and has also served as a group counselor, family/couples therapist and dream interpretation counselor.
New teachers in the sociology and anthropology department include:
Brian Masciadrelli, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Masciadrelli was a graduate teaching assistant and graduate research assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and also taught at the University of Maine, Orono. His doctorate in human and community development was awarded from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A licensed independent clinical social worker in Massachusetts, Dr. Masciadrelli has also supervised early intervention programs and worked as an outpatient psychotherapist.
James Sobol, Ph.D., assistant professor. Dr. Sobol previously taught at Hilbert College, Hamburg, and at the School of Criminal Justice at SUNY Albany. Dr. Sobol has conducted research at both SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo. His doctorate in criminal justice was awarded from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at SUNY Albany. Dr. Sobol’s areas of specialization include administration of criminal justice, nature of crime, research methods and criminal courts.
A new faculty appointment in the theater and dance department is Samantha Kenney, assistant professor. Ms. Kenney previously taught dance at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She was a teaching fellow at Smith College, Northampton, Mass., and has been affiliated with the Amherst Ballet Theatre Company and New England Dance Conservatory. Her master of fine arts degree was received from Smith College.
New faculty appointments in the visual arts and new media department include:
Philip Hastings, assistant professor. Mr. Hastings previously taught at Kenyon College and the University of Virginia. His master of fine arts degree was awarded from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. While there, he oversaw all aspects of the Big Muddy Film Festival, an international film festival. Mr. Hastings has worked in a variety of media, including film, video, digital imaging and sculpture.
Hide Sadohara, assistant professor. Mr. Sadohara previously taught at Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada, Mr. Sadohara also managed a school shop at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and taught ceramics at Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia. His master of fine arts degree in ceramics was received from Kent State University. Mr. Sadohara was named the National Council on Education for Ceramics Arts Emerging Artist in 2004 and received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 2005.
