New Faculty 2012/2013 Profiles

Academic Enrichment

Charlene Atkins, Academic Enrichment, Assistant Professor/Math Coordinator
UCM Phone: 660-543-8586, Email Address: catkins@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: Montana State University, Bozeman (Mathematics) & UCM (Educ. Tech.)
Doctorate Degree: attending Kansas State University
Notable Accomplishments: PAEMST Missouri Finalist, Raytheon Math Hero Award
Teaching Interests: Applications of numerical analysis and mathematical modeling for conceptual learning, multiple representations in problem solving, and the strategic use of technology in math education.
Personal Interests: Instructional technologies, authentic learning, math education, and traveling.
Projects: (Capstone Project) The effects of using digital cameras in the algebra classroom.

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Mark Farris, Art & Design, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4009, E-Mail Address: farris@ucmo.edu
Bachelor's Degree: University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Master's Degree: University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Teaching Interests: Printmaking
Personal Interests: Art, travel, music, film, golf, hiking

Eric Stykel, Art & Design, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4667, Email Address: stykel@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Master's Degree: University of Minnesota - Deluth
Teaching Interests: Graphic Design and Illustration
Personal Interests: Art, hiking, graphic novels, film, photography
Projects: Illustrating books

Jennifer Mullins, Communication & Sociology, Instructor
Email Address: mullins@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Master's Degree: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Teaching Interests: Graphic Arts, Public Relations
Personal Interests: Travel, Crochet, Reading

Pamela Pitman Brown, Communication & Sociology, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4273, Email Address: pbrown@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Auburn University
Master's Degree: University of South Alabama
Doctorate Degree: Miami (OH) University
Accomplishments: Treasurer of Sigma Phi Omega National & Professional Gerontology Honor Society
Teaching Interests: Aging & Health; Sociology of Aging; Sexuality/Sexual Health Older Adults
Personal Interests: Middle-aged women & sexual health; Transitions within life course of middle-aged women.
Projects: Relationship Power and Control among Single Heterosexual Women at Midlife; Non-Traditional Female Students (40+) Charting New Frontiers in Academics; Examining Undergraduate Students, in Introductory Gerontology Courses, Attitudes & Knowledge Regarding Aging & Sexuality of Older Adults.

Tom Heapes, Communication & Sociology, Associate Professor
Email Address: heapes@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Missouri
Teaching Interests: Public relations
Personal Interests: social media impact, music, sports.

Mansoor Al-Surmi, English & Philosophy, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4739, Email Address: al-surmi@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Sanaa University
Master's Degree: Northern Arizona University
Doctorate Degree: Northern Arizona University
Notable Accomplishments: Presented at national & international conferences. Published nationally & internationally.
Teaching Interests: English linguistics and ESL methods courses
Personal Interests: Biking, hiking, and road trips.
Projects: corpus-based investigations of TV shows’ authentic representation of conversation.

Melody Niesen, English and Philosophy, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4064, #2, Email Address: niesen@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Idaho
Master's Degree: University of Idaho
Notable Accomplishments: Organizer of UI Graduate Literature Conference
Teaching Interests: Writing, composition, rhetoric.
Personal Interests: The Beats, Jack Kerouac, ecocriticism.
Projects: Stories of Nomadic Identities: Complex Elements of Class, Identity, and Space in the works of Jack Kerouac.

Rose Gubele, English and Philosophy, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4648, Email Address: gubele@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Master's Degree: Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Doctorate Degree: Washington State University, Pullman
Teaching Interests: Rhetoric and Composition, Native American Studies Courses
Personal Interests: Beadwork
Projects: Co-Editing a book on teaching American Indian texts, and working on a book on Cherokee Rhetorics.

Joshua Taft, English and Philosophy, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4532, Email Address: taft@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Colorado State University
Master's Degree: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Doctorate Degree: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Teaching Interests: Victorian literature, religious studies, poetics
Personal Interests: Music, bicycling.
Projects: Research on genre and secularization in nineteenth-century literature.

Amy Marsh, English and Philosophy, Instructor
Email Address: amarsh@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Kansas State University
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Notable Accomplishments: 8 years USAF Intelligence/Linguist
Teaching Interests: Reading and Writing
Personal Interests: Reading, my kids.

Robynn Kuhlmann, Government, International Studies, & Languages, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8307, Email Address: kuhlmann@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of San Francisco
Master's Degree: California State University, Chico
Doctorate Degree: University of New Orleans
Notable Accomplishments: Book Chapter in "Issues in Correctional Health"
Teaching Interests: State & Local Politics, Political Behavior & Institutions, Democratic Theory & Civic Inclusion.
Personal Interests: Kayaking, Hiking, Home Brew Beer..
Projects: Exploring how variations in state institutions affect political behavior.

Micah Alpaugh, History and Anthropology, Assistant Professor
Email Address: alpaugh@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Northern Arizona
Master's Degree: University of California - Irvine
Doctorate Degree: University of California - Irvine
Teaching Interests: French Revolution, European and World History

David Adams, Music, Artist in Residence
Email Address: dadams@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Missouri – Kansas City
Master's Degree: University of Missouri – Kansas City
Notable Accomplishments: Active professional career in opera and concert work.

College of Education

Libby Dierking, Elementary and Early Childhood Education
UCM Phone: 660-543-8414, Email Address: dierking@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Notable Accomplishments: Retired from 32 years teaching, MU Mentor, received Excellence in Teaching award for R-7 Lee's Summit district, Who's Who Among Teachers.
Teaching Interests: Communication Arts, Social Studies
Personal Interests: Traveling, golfing, reading, fishing.
Projects: Importance of mentor teachers collaborating with protege' instructors.

Crystal Hardwick, Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4567, Email Address: hardwick@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Missouri - Columbia
Master's Degree: University of Missouri – Columbia
Doctorate Degree: University of Missouri - Kansas City, May 2014
Notable Accomplishments: Grant recipient: Blue Valley Education Foundation
Teaching Interests: Urban Education and Foundations of Literacy
Personal Interests: Long Distance Running, Biking, and Family
Projects: Gender perceptions of urban males and effect on literacy achievement scores.

Deborah Orr, Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8725, Email Address: dorr@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Doctorate Degree: University of Missouri
Notable Accomplishments: Public educator for 32 years including 6 years as Superintendent of Schools, Member of Missouri/Kansas Superintendents' Forum
Teaching Interests: Collaborative learning, peer teaching, instructional technology
Personal Interests: Travel, gardening.

College of Health, Science, and Technology

Daryl Goad, Biology and Earth Science, Assistant Professor
Email Address: goad@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Sam Houston State University
Master's Degree: Sam Houston State University
Doctorate Degree: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Teaching Interests: Cell and Molecular Biology, Cell Signaling, and Scientific Imaging
Personal Interests: Transport of macro-molecules through the nuclear pore complex. Using uni-cellular eukaryotic organisms and fluorescently labeled protein complexes.

Jay Steinkruger, Chemistry, Assistant Professor
Bachelor's Degree: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Doctorate Degree: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Teaching Interests: General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry
Research Interests: Synthetic Methodology Development, Chemical Synthesis of Peptides and Proteins, DNA and RNA Conformational Analysis

Charles Windisch, Chemistry, Professor
Email Address: windisch@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: St. Joseph’s University
Doctorate Degree: Brown University
Notable Accomplishments: 25 years as Scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA. 20 years teaching part-time at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
Teaching Interests: Physical chemistry including thermodynamics, kinetics and quantum mechanics, general and introductory chemistry.
Projects: Molecular spectroscopy, electrochemistry of thin film inorganic compounds. Structure/properties relationships in materials. Surface interactions. Corrosion. Fuel cells. Chemical sensors.

Andrea Carter, Chemistry, Instructor
Email Address: acarter@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: currently pursuing master’s degree
Teaching Interests: Introductory and general chemistry.
Personal Interests: Crossfitting, Cooking, gardening, developing homemade household items.

Kimberly Gray, Design & Drafting Technology, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8826, Email Address: gray@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri (May 2013)
Notable Accomplishments: Green Belt certification 2004, ADDA certified 2011, Graduate Assistantship 2011-2012
Teaching Interests: Computer Aided Drafting & Design; AutoCAD, Inventor, Solid Works, Microstation.
Personal Interests: Home Remodeling, Woodworking, Sewing, Reading.

Joseph Berletic, Electronics Technology, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4281, Email Address: berletic@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University  
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Notable Accomplishments: 26 years USAF Aircraft Electrical/Environmental Systems Craftsman; Spent 4 years as instructor in career field & 3 years as a Training Detachment Chief.
Teaching Interests: Electronics, electrical, mechanical.
Personal Interests: Golf, reading, family activities.

Jiaofei Zhong, Mathematics & Computer Science, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8858, Email Address: zhong@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Renmin University of China, Beijing
Master's Degree: University of Texas at Dallas, TX
Doctorate Degree: University of Texas at Dallas, TX
Notable Accomplishments: Publicity Chair and OCS Co-Chair of Several International Conferences
Teaching Interests: Software Engineering, Computer Networks, Programming Languages, Database, and Theory of Computation
Personal Interests: Data Engineering and Data Management, Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing, Information Retrieval and Data Mining.
Projects: Wireless Data Broadcasting System.

William McGalliard, Mathematics & Computer Science, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8792, Email Address: mcgalliard@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Appalachian State University
Master's Degree: North Carolina State University
Doctorate Degree: University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Teaching Interests: Mathematics Education, Mathematics, and Statistics
Personal Interests: Statistics Education, Mathematical Learning in adults and children.
Projects: Understanding how students use sample space construction to inform their understandings of probability and distribution, How students separate their internal understandings from their external actions.

Vidal Olivares (Vida), Mathematics and Computer Science (Math Ed), Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8721, Email Address: olivares@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Wesleyan College, Macon, GA
Master's Degree: Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Doctorate Degree: Mercer University, Macon, GA
Notable Accomplishments: Co-authored a book chapter in both The New Politics of the Textbook vol. 1 and vol. 2.
Teaching Interests: Mathematics education, social justice
Personal Interests: motivation, persistence, first-generation college students.
Projects: Exploring the ways student self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics converge or diverge from their parents' self-efficacy beliefs.

Mike Godard, Nutrition & Kinesiology, Professor and Chair
UCM Phone: 660-543-4256, Email Address: godard@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Castleton State College
Master's Degree: Adelphi University
Doctorate Degree: Ball State University

Cathy McGraw, Nutrition & Kinesiology, Instructor
Email Address: cmcgraw@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Notable Accomplishments: STARR Teacher, Teacher of the Year- Holden R 3
Teaching Interests: Sexuality Education
Personal Interests: Sewing, travel.

Hyeyeon Hwang, Psychological Science, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8911, Email Address: hhwang@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea
Master's Degree: Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Doctorate Degree: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Teaching Interests: Social Psych, Research Analysis & Design, I/O Psychology, General Psych
Personal Interests: Pro-environmental motivation and behavior, Self-priming theory, negative social emotion on social cognition, the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Steven Hicks, Safety Sciences, Assistant Professor
Email Address: shicks@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Teaching Interests: Industrial Hygiene, Industrial Safety
Personal Interests: Industrial ventilation, toxicology, risk assessment.
Keli Geisendorfer, School of Technology - Fashion, Instructor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8955, Email Address: kgeisendorfer@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri

Doug Koch, School of Technology, Associate Professor, Chair
UCM Phone: 660-543-4439, Email Address: Koch@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Wyoming
Master's Degree: Ball State University
Doctorate Degree: Virginia Tech

Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies

Raymond E. Cain, Jr., Aviation, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8217, Email Address: cain@ucmo.edu
Associate Degree: Long Beach (CA) City College
Bachelor's Degree: California State University, Los Angeles
Master's Degree: California State University, Los Angeles
Doctorate Degree: University of Missouri-Columbia
Notable Accomplishments: Served as Dean of Aviation at Florida Memorial University and Campus Academic Dean at Westwood College; Licensed Pilot for 38 years (Commercial Pilot Certificate with Multiengine and Instrument Ratings and Ground Instructor Certificate with Advanced and Instrument Ratings); Received numerous awards for participation with various school districts and served as the President of the Hialeah (Florida) High School Advisory Board; Served as Secretary to both the University Aviation Association and the Greater Miami Aviation Association; Have served as a Consulting Editor for the International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies (IJAAS) since 2006.
Teaching Interests: Graduate-Level Aviation Safety courses; Graduate-Level Human Factors in Aviation courses; Courses in Research Design
Projects: Currently authoring the Safety Management System (SMS) for the Department of Aviation; Building a research agenda centered upon Situation Awareness and its relationship to other psychological constructs.
Personal Interests: Train Spotting; Model Railroading; Pleasure Flying; Aircraft Spotting; World Travel; Fishing; Camping; Reading; Meditation.

Cheryl Needham-Rives, Communication Disorders & Social Work, Instructor
Email Address: crives@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Teaching Interests: Speech-Language Pathology

Jon Talebreza-May, Communication Disorders & Social Work, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4369, Email Address: talebrezamay@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: New Mexico Highlands University
Master's Degree: New Mexico Highlands University
Teaching Interests: Social Work practice and research
Personal Interests: Men's issues, race and ethnicity in clinical practice, immigration policy.
Projects: Dissertation focused on race, ethnicity, and colonialism in psychotherapy.

Benjamin Gibbs, Criminal Justice, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-2494, Email Address: gibbs@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Ohio University
Master's Degree: Wright State University
Doctorate Degree: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Notable Accomplishments: Served seven years as an adult probation officer with the Montgomery County (Ohio) Adult Probation Department.
Teaching Interests: Community-based Corrections; International/Transnational Criminal Justice.
Projects: Enhanced supervision techniques in drug courts, and sanctioning patterns.

Laurian Lytle, Economics, Finance & Marketing, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-4165, Email Address: lytle@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: Bethany College
Master's Degree: University of Kansas
Doctorate Degree: University of Kansas
Notable Accomplishments: Spent 16 years as an equity analyst (stock analyst) on financial stocks (banks, investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers, credit card companies, REITs, etc) for investment managers. I am Director of the CFA Institute Research Challenge - Kansas City, which is an annual educational initiative that promotes best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring by investment professionals and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills. Have served on the Boards of the Iowa CFA Society and the Kansas City CFA Society and am currently President of the Kansas City CFA Society. Traveled with Up With People.
Teaching Interests: Security Analysis, Investments, Courses covering CFA curriculum materials and Financial Institutions
Personal Interests: Contemporary Christian Music (sing and play keyboards and directed/led contemporary worship for 23 years), Swimming, Gardening/Landscaping, Reading, Cooking, Golf. Projects: "The Influence of Management Guidance on Analyst Estimates and Stock Performance for Retail Firms" with Arthur Young and Elaine Jones.

Matthew Houseworth, Management, Assistant Professor
UCM Phone: 660-543-8496, Email Address: houseworth@ucmo.edu
Bachelor’s Degree: University of Central Missouri
Master's Degree: University of Central Missouri
Teaching Interests: Business Communication,Professional