August 27, 2001

As the first group of new students began arriving on campus last week, a cadre of new faculty members also were embarking on a new chapter in their lives.

"I welcome you all to an exciting institution at an exciting time," Chancellor John D. Petersen told new faculty during a day of orientation Thursday.

He said the University's physical transformation is being accompanied by an intellectual rejuvenation that includes bringing in "new people who will help us as we move toward our goal of being in the top 25 research universities."

Petersen said that despite some budgetary constraints during the past year, the University went ahead and recruited a significant number of outstanding new faculty members.

He said it has been necessary to hire some faculty in response to the increased undergraduate enrollment. "We are trying to fill faculty positions and get ourselves staffed to the appropriate level, but we will not rush in and sacrifice quality just to meet enrollments. Some of the enrollment increase will be handled by adjuncts."

In addition to emphasizing excellence, diversity continues to be an important factor in recruitment, Petersen said. "We have made a number of gains in that respect," he said. "For example, we have hired three women as faculty members in engineering."

At the same time as ensuring that there are appropriate numbers of faculty in the University's various programs, Petersen said, this year the University will also undertake some targeted hiring of faculty in areas of priority, including the Center for Regenerative Biology, fuel cell research, marine sciences, human rights and business.

"We will continue trying to bring the best people we can to the institution, to help educate our students and help build our scholarly reputation."

Elizabeth Omara-Otunnu

This year's new faculty members at Storrs, the regional campuses, and the Schools of Law and Social Work are:

James Ackley, asst. prof., music; MM The Cleveland Institute of Music; specialty: trumpet studies and performance.

Michael Ahearne, asst. prof., marketing; Ph.D. Indiana Univ.; specialty: marketing.

Michael Alfano, asst. prof.-in-residence, education; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: special education, teacher education.

Rodney Allen, asst. prof., continuing studies; Ph.D. Southern Illinois Univ.; specialty: occupational health.

Pamir Alpay, asst. prof., metallurgy & materials engineering; Ph.D., Univ. of Maryland; specialty: ferroelectric thin films, multilayer heterostructures.

Vicky Arnold, assoc. prof., accounting; Ph.D. Univ. of Arkansas; specialty: accounting information systems.

Alexandru Asandei, asst. prof., chemistry; Ph.D. Case Western Reserve Univ.; specialty: chemistry of polymers.

Lisa Aultman-Hall, assoc. prof., civil-environmental engineering; Ph.D. McMaster Univ., Canada; specialty: transportation.

Peter Baldwin, asst. prof., history; Ph.D. Brown Univ.; specialty: American urban and social history.

Tathagata Banerjee, visiting assoc. prof., statistics; Ph.D. Univ. of Calcutta; specialty: non-parametric inference, generalized linear models, measurement error models.

Bethany Berger, research prof., law; JD Yale Univ.; specialty: Indian law.

Mary Bernstein, asst. prof., sociology; Ph.D. New York Univ.; specialty: social movements, sexuality, inequality.

Gayle Bessenoff, asst. prof., psychology, Stamford campus; Ph.D. Northwestern Univ.; specialty: stereotyping and prejudice, social stigma.

James Bridgeman, assoc. prof., mathematics; MA Yale Univ.; specialty: actuarial science.

Jacqueline Campbell, asst. prof., history; Ph.D. Duke Univ.; specialty: 19th-century U.S. history.

Ming-Hui Chen, assoc. prof., statistics; Ph.D. Purdue University; specialty: Bayesian statistical methodology, Bayesian computation, survival analysis.

Donna Clemmens, asst. prof., nursing; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: community health.

Robert Colbert, asst. prof., educational psychology; Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison; specialty: counseling psychology.

James Cole, assoc. prof., molecular & cell biology; Ph.D. Univ. of California-Berkeley; specialty: biophysical chemistry; thermodynamics of macromolecular interactions; analytical ultracentrifugation; mechanism of HIV entry.

Gregory Colòn Semenza, asst. prof., English; Ph.D. Pennsylvania State Univ.; specialty: Renaissance British literature.

Kirstie Cope-Farrar, asst. prof., communication sciences; Ph.D. (anticipated 2001) Univ. of California-Santa Barbara; specialty: media and representations of sex. Start date: January 2002.

Noelle Coppola, visiting asst. prof., music; MA Univ. of Rochester, Eastman School of Music; specialty: music theory.

Antonia Cordero, asst. prof., social work; DSW City Univ. of New York; specialty: Puerto Rican studies in social work.

Karen Cornetto, visiting instructor, communication sciences; Ph.D. (anticipated 2001) Univ. of Texas-Austin; specialty: interpersonal communication, Internet communication.

Michael Coyne, asst. prof., educational psychology; Ph.D. Univ. of Oregon; specialty: special education.

Laura Dickinson, assoc. prof., law; JD Yale Univ.; specialty: international human rights, First Amendment, immigration law, constitutional law.

Col. Mario DiPrimo, prof., aerospace studies; MS Auburn Univ.; specialty: foreign area studies, Latin America.

Andrey Dobrinin, asst. prof., physics; Ph.D. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, USSR; specialty: chemical physics, soft-condensed matter physics.

Timothy Dowding, assoc. prof.-in-residence, operations & information management; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: information management technology.

Robert Dubil, instructor-in-residence, finance; MBA UConn; specialty: finance.

David Dzurec Jr., asst. prof. in residence, nutritional sciences; Ph.D. Cornell; specialty: food safety, food product development.

Anke Finger, asst. prof., modern & classical languages; Ph.D. Brandeis Univ.; specialty: German modernism, second language acquisition; comparative literature.

Robert Fisher, prof. and director of Tri-Campus urban studies program; Ph.D. New York Univ.; specialty: urban studies.

Marcia Gethin-Jones, asst. prof., continuing studies; MA New York Univ.; specialty: English as a second language.

Martha Humphries Ginn, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. (anticipated 2001) Univ. of South Carolina; specialty: political science methodology.

Timothy Golden, instructor-in-residence, management; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: impact of technology on business organizations and their members.

Dina Goldin, asst. prof., computer science & engineering; Ph.D. Brown Univ.; specialty: computer science.

Mileidis Gort, asst. prof., curriculum & instruction; Ed.D. Boston Univ.; specialty: bilingual education.

Patricia Grace-Farfaglia, visiting instructor, communication sciences; MBA Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; specialty: health communication, web design, organizational communication.

David Grant, assoc. prof., pharmaceutical sciences; Ph.D. Michigan State Univ.; specialty: environmental toxicology, entomology.

Nora Henry, visiting asst. prof., modern & classical languages; Ph.D. Univ. of Southern California; specialty: German literature, culture, film.

Virginia Hettinger, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. Emory Univ.; specialty: political science.

Britt Holmén, asst. prof., civil & environmental engineering; Ph.D. MIT; specialty: contaminant fate and transport.

Chun-Hsi Huang, asst. prof., computer science & engineering; Ph.D. SUNY-Buffalo; specialty: parallel and distributed computing.

John Jensen, asst. prof., history; Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon Univ.; specialty: maritime history.

Bruce Kay, asst. prof., psychology; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: movement coordination, dynamical systems theory, time-series analysis.

Ray Kehrhahn, visiting lecturer, finance; MBA UConn; specialty: real estate.

Gregory Kneidel, asst. prof., English, Hartford campus; Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago; specialty: Renaissance British literature.

Vicki Knoblauch, prof., economics; Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; specialty: microeconomic theory.

William Kraemer, director of research, Neag School of Education; Ph.D. Univ. of Wyoming; specialty: kinesiology.

VK Kumar, prof., marketing; Ph.D. Univ. of Texas; specialty: database marketing.

Ho-uk Lee, asst. prof., management; Ph.D. Texas A&M Univ.; specialty: strategic management, international strategy, entrepreneurship.

Maria-Teresa Lepeley, asst. prof.-in-residence and director, Institute of Public Service International; M.A. economics, M.S. higher education administration, Univ. of Miami; specialty: management, globalization, total quality management, entrepreneurship.

Peter Letsou, visiting prof., law; J.D. Univ. of Chicago; specialty: corporate law.

Christopher Lewis, lecturer-in-residence, finance; M.A. UConn; specialty: risk management.

Vicki Magley, asst. prof., psychology; Ph.D. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; specialty: sexual harassment and incivility in the workplace, women and work, group decision-making.

Robert Magnusson, prof. and dept. head, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Ph.D. Georgia Tech; specialty: photonics.

Robert McCarthy, prof. and dept. head, pharmacy practice; Ph.D. Northeastern Univ.; specialty: health policy, biomedical ethics.

Kumar Mehta, asst. prof., operations & information management; ABD Univ. of Illinois; specialty: management information systems.

Claire Michaels, research prof., psychology; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: experimental psychology.

Frank Musiek, prof. and director of auditory research, communication sciences; Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University, Ohio; specialty: psychoacoustics, central auditory processing, audiologic assessment.

Jennifer Nadeau, asst. prof., animal science; Ph.D. Univ. of Tennessee; specialty: equine science.

Nancy Naples, assoc. prof., sociology & women's studies; Ph.D. City Univ. of New York; specialty: global economic restructuring, social regulation, citizenship; women's community activism, political economy of gender.

Abdou Ndoye, research assistant, marketing, continuing studies; Ph.D. UConn; adult learning, educational research.

Linda Neelly, asst. prof., music; Ph.D. Eastman School of Music; specialty: music education.

David Novak, asst. prof., operations & information management; ABD Virginia Tech; specialty: management information systems.

Manuel Nunez, asst. prof., operations & information management; Ph.D. MIT; specialty: operations.

Lloyd Nurick, instructor-in-residence, finance; BA Union College; specialty: government.

Terry Osborn, asst. prof., curriculum & instruction; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: second language education, social and cultural foundations of education.

Richard Parnas, assoc. prof., chemical engineering; Ph.D. Univ. of California, Los Angeles; specialty: composite processing, polymers at interfaces, transport phenomena.

Mark Peczuh, asst. prof., chemistry; Ph.D. Yale Univ.; specialty: organic synthesis.

Janet Pritchard, asst. prof., art & art history; MFA, Univ. of New Mexico; specialty: studio art, photography.

Steven Rackliffe, extension instructor, plant science; M.Sc. Univ. of Massachusetts; specialty: turfgrass science.

1st Lt. Neil Radulski, asst. prof., aerospace studies; BS U.S. Air Force Academy; specialty: Latin America.

Mark Robbins, asst. prof., political science, Tri-Campus; Ph.D. Syracuse Univ.; specialty: public administration.

Constance Rock, asst. prof., music; MM Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln; specialty: vocal performance.

Maria Rubio, asst. prof., physiology & neurobiology; MD/Ph.D. Univ. of Alicante, Spain; specialty: neuroscience.

Eugene Salorio, assoc. prof.-in-residence, management; DBA, Harvard Univ.; specialty: business political behavior/strategy, foreign direct investment, agribusiness.

Evelyn Simien, asst. prof., political science; Ph.D. (anticipated 2001) Purdue Univ.; specialty: political science.

Zeki Simsek, asst. prof., management; Ph.D. UConn; specialty: strategy, inter-organizational networks, top management teams, knowledge view of the organization.

Barbara Smith, visiting asst. prof., journalism; M.S Boston Univ.; specialty: cameras in courtrooms, access to government.

Capt. Yvonne Sorokin, asst. prof., aerospace studies; BS U.S. Air Force Academy; specialty: aerospace studies.

Steve Sutton, prof., accounting; Ph.D. Univ. of Missouri; specialty: accounting information systems.

Debera Thomas, assoc. prof., nursing; DNS, State Univ. of New York, Buffalo; specialty: adult health, liver transplants.

Judith Thorpe, prof. and dept. head, art & art history; MFA Univ. of Colorado, Boulder; specialty: photography.

Randall Walkonis, asst. prof., physiology & neurobiology; Ph.D. Mayo Graduate School of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, N.Y.; specialty: molecular neuroscience.

Michael Wallace, prof. and dept. head, sociology; Ph.D. Indiana University; specialty: work and labor markets, social inequality.

Christopher Wilder, asst. prof., linguistics; Ph.D. Univ. College London; specialty: linguistics.

This list, which is based on information supplied to the Department of Human Resources by individuals and departments, was as complete as possible at the time of going to press. If there are additional new faculty members who were not included, please contact the Editor at (860) 486-3530 and we will publish the information in a future edition.