August 28, 2000

Although the unprecedented wave of hiring in the wake of the early retirement program of three years ago has slowed, the University again welcomes a significant group of new faculty this week.

Chancellor John Petersen extended a warm welcome: "As chancellor and provost for university affairs, I would like to welcome you to the academic family at UConn.

"New faculty are critical to the continued rebirth of scholarship at a research university," he said. "I look forward to working with each of you over the ensuing years."

The new hires have been carefully selected during a tight budget year in areas that will help respond to growing undergraduate enrollment, as well as filling programmatic needs and promoting the quest for excellence, driven in some departments by a comprehensive program assessment launched several years ago.

Many of the new appointments are at the assistant professor level, helping not only to stretch the resources available but also continuing to change the age profile of the faculty, said Ross MacKinnon, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences. The college - the largest of UConn's schools and colleges and the hardest hit by the early retirement program - hired 10 new full-time faculty this year, including a couple at the regional campuses.

In most cases, the appointments are the result of an extensive search process. The academic job market varies from discipline to discipline, said MacKinnon. "In the humanities, there are many more job seekers than jobs available," he said, offering search committees the opportunity to be highly selective.

In other areas, the University faces strong competition for the best candidates. "The job market for some fields in the social and natural sciences is quite competitive, in that job seekers have other, non-academic, opportunities for employment, for example in government and the private sector," MacKinnon said.

The dean said UConn is in a strong position to attract highly qualified candidates. "There's a perception that UConn is increasing its standing and stature among research universities. Also, UConn 2000 offers clear evidence that the state supports the University, and that's exciting," he said.

"The University's goal of becoming one of the best public universities in the country attracts people," he added, "because they know they will enter a dynamic environment and be part of the process of transformation."

New faculty are:

Robin Aronson, vis. asst. prof., dramatic arts; MFA in acting Univ. of Connecticut; specialty: performance.

Thomas Barber, prof., mechanical engineering; Ph.D. New York Univ.; specialty: application of computational analyses for the investigation of fundamental fluid dynamics problems associated with aerodynamic and aeroacoustic driven flows.

J.C. Beall, asst. prof., philosophy; Ph.D. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst; specialty: philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophical logic, philosophy of logic.

Alexandra Bell, asst. prof., educational leadership; Ph.D. Univ. of Connecticut; specialty: adult learning.

Olga Bessmertny, asst. clinical prof., pharmacy practice; Pharm.D. Univ. of Florida; specialty: pediatric pharmacy.

Samuel Best, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. SUNY Stonybrook; specialty: public opinion, political behavior.

Paul Bloomfield, asst. prof., philosophy; Ph.D. Syracuse Univ.; specialty: moral philosophy, (ancient and contemporary), metaphysics.

Sarah Broome, asst. prof., finance; Ph.D. Univ. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill; specialty: health economics.

Stephen Brown, asst. prof., music theory; Ph.D. Yale Univ.; specialty: music.

Sandra Chafouleas, asst. prof., educational psychology; Ph.D. Syracuse Univ.; specialty: reading assessment and intervention, consultation.

Richard Clark, vis. asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. Univ. of Connecticut; specialty: survey research and American foreign policy.

Glenn Colby, asst. prof., military science; BS Roger Williams Univ.; specialty: public administration.

Maryann Delaney-Tuttle, lecturer, physical therapy; MS Boston Univ.; specialty: pediatric physical therapy.

Amy Donahue, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse Univ.; specialty: public management, public finance.

John Durbin, asst. prof., military science; MS Univ. of Hartford; specialty: organizational behavior.

Laura Cox Dzurec, prof. and dean, nursing; Ph.D. Case Western Reserve Univ.; specialty: psychiatric/mental health nursing, esp. depression and fatigue.

Wael Eldessouki, asst. research prof., civil & environmental engineering and Conn. Transportation Institute; Ph.D. North Carolina State Univ.; specialty: civil engineering, transportation systems.

Monty Escabi, asst. prof., electrical & computer engineering; Ph.D. Univ. of California, San Francisco; specialty: biomedical engineering.

Linda Fisher, vis. asst. prof. economics; Ph.D. Univ. of Connecticut; specialty: environmental economics.

Jon Folstad, asst. clinical prof., pharmacy practice; Pharm.D. Ohio State Univ.; specialty: internal medicine.

Anita Ilta Garey, asst. prof., family studies; Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley; specialty: sociology.

Roberto Gaxiola, vis. asst. prof., plant science; Ph.D. Ruprecht-Karls Univ.; specialty: molecular biology.

Lucy Gilson, asst. prof., department of management; Ph.D. Georgia Institute of Technology; specialty: justice, diversity, and creativity in groups and organizations.

Joseph Golec, assoc. prof., finance; Ph.D. Washington Univ.; specialty: economics.

Kristin Haskins, asst. prof., art & art history; MS Rhode Island School of Design; specialty: graphic design.

Gary Hendrickson, instructor-in-residence, CITI - operations & information management; BA Charter Oak State College; specialty: network administration.

Kristin Hughes, vis. asst. prof., art & art history; MFA Virginia Commonwealth Univ.; specialty: visual communication.

Jennifer James, asst. clinical prof., pharmacy practice; Pharm.D. Virginia Commonwealth Univ.; specialty: community pharmacy.

Derek Johnson, vis. instructor, economics, Hartford campus; specialty: law and economics.

Nell Jessup Newton, dean, law; JD Univ. of California - Hastings Law School.

Hyun-Seung Jin, vis. asst. prof., Stamford campus - communication sciences; Ph.D. Univ. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill; specialty: information processing of news and advertising.

Donald Leu, prof., endowed chair; Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley; specialty: literacy and technology.

Jacqueline Loss, asst. prof., modern & classical languages; Ph.D. Univ. of Texas, Austin; specialty: Latin American literature (late 19th century to present)

Susan Lucas, vis. asst. prof., geography; Ph.D. Wilfrid Laurier Univ.; specialty: urban geography.

Earl MacDonald, director of jazz studies, music; MS Rutgers Univ.; specialty: jazz performance, composition, and arranging.

Brian Massey, vis. instructor, communication sciences; Ph.D. Florida State Univ.; specialty: mass media.

Ludo Max, vis. asst. prof., communication sciences; Ph.D. Kent State Univ.; specialty: communication disorders, speech-language pathology.

Joanne Miller, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. Ohio State Univ.; specialty: political psychology, political behavior.

Thomas Miller, prof., dept. head, health promotion & allied health sciences and applied health sciences; Ph.D. SUNY, Buffalo; specialty: psychology.

James Moor, asst. prof., finance, Waterbury campus; Ph.D. Wayne State Univ.; specialty: economics.

Galina Mott, asst prof., marketing; Ph.D. USSR Academy of Science; specialty: economics.

Kristine Nowak, asst. prof., communication sciences; Ph.D. Michigan State Univ.; specialty: communication sciences.

John Peterson, vis. instructor, communication sciences; Ph.D. Rutgers Univ.; specialty: mass communication.

Michael Redemske, instructor-in-residence, accounting; MS DePaul Univ.; specialty: tax.

Mitchell Robinson, asst. prof., music education; Ph.D. Eastman School of Music; specialty: music education.

Kerry Ann Rockquemore, asst. prof., family studies; Ph.D. Univ. of Notre Dame; specialty: sociology.

Andrew Scheil, vis. asst. prof. English, Hartford campus; Ph.D. Univ. of Toronto; specialty: medieval literature.

James Sfiridis, vis. assoc. prof.-in-residence, finance; Ph.D. Univ. of Connecticut; specialty: finance.

Brett Steinberg, asst. prof., psychology; Ph.D. Univ. of S. Carolina; specialty: clinical psychology.

Karen Teitel, vis. prof., accounting; Ph.D. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst; specialty: financial accounting and reporting.

Alex Yung-Chin Tung, asst. prof., operations & information management; Ph.D. Univ. of Kentucky; specialty: management of information systems.

Marcel Utz, asst. prof., physics/Institute of Materials Science; Ph.D. ETH, Zurich, Switzerland; specialty: materials research.

Harry van der Hulst, prof., linguistics; Ph.D. Leiden Univ.; specialty: linguistics.

David Woods, prof. and dean, fine arts; Ph.D. Northwestern Univ.; specialty: music education, psychology of music learning, performance.

Kathryn Yeaton, asst. prof.-in-residence, accounting; Ph.D. Univ. of South Florida; specialty: accounting.

Edvin Yegir, asst. prof., art and art history; MFA Yale Univ.; specialty: graphic design.

Theodore Yungelas, asst. dean, fine arts; BS Iowa State Univ.; specialty: elementary education.

Yanyun Zhao, asst. prof., nutritional sciences; Ph.D. Louisiana State Univ.; specialty: food engineering, food processing and preservation.

This list, which is based on information from individuals and departments, was as complete as possible at the time of going to press. If there are additional new faculty members who should have been included, please contact the Editor at (860) 486-3530 and we will publish the information in a future issue.

Elizabeth Omara-Otunnu