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Left to right: James Fine brings a specialty in environmental economics and Stephanie Bradley Oshita brings a focus on air quality to the environmental science department; James Bretzke, S.J., joins the theology department faculty this year.
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New Faculty Offer New Perspectives
From environmental economics to the economics of an Internet environment, USF’s new faculty hires represent a cross-section of emerging and innovative fields of study. The schools and colleges hired 31 new faculty, 22 of whom are tenure track, to begin teaching this fall.
In the College of Arts and Sciences, 23 new faculty were hired this year. Heather Hoag, who finished her doctorate at Boston University, is an African history scholar with a focus on the environment. She studies how natural resources—notably water—play into power relations between countries.
In environmental science, Stephanie Bradley Oshita, from Stanford University, focuses on air quality. She said she sought a position at USF as a way to pair her interests in environmental justice and interdisciplinary research. James Fine, from the University of California, Berkeley brings a specialty in environmental economics.
In economics, Alessandra Cassar, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, specializes in experimental economics. Cassar has tested the effect of Internet networks and other kinds of communities on the coordination of, and cooperation between, people and services. Elizabeth Katz, from St. Mary’s College, specializes in microeconomics and will teach in the graduate program in international and development economics. Alvaro Trigueros-Arguello, the chair of the economics department at the Universidad Centro Americana in El Salvador, was hired for a term appointment to teach international development economics.
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Felicia Lee will be dean of students starting Sept. 1.
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New Dean Hopes
to “Fold Students In”
Felicia Lee, USF’s new dean of students, said she is looking to help students understand how they can function as a community.
“My central job is to fold students into the center while not stripping away their individuality,” Lee said. She named integrating social opportunities for students, such as co-sponsoring activities between clubs, and giving them other ways to participate on campus, as one of the biggest responsibilities of her new office.
Lee, who starts Sept. 1, will be the first dean of students since 1966 when the position was split into separate deanships for men and women. Her job was recreated after the reorganization of student affairs, now called University Life. She is currently finishing her doctorate in higher education at the University of Southern California. Her last university position was as the director of student life at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
“It’s a very exciting time, especially given the mission of the university,” Lee said. “I’m excited to support Margaret (Higgins’) vision and the momentum of university life in impacting student retention.”
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James T. Bretzke, S.J., was hired in moral theology from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. His specialty is conscience, natural law, and moral norms. Vincent Pizzuto, from Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, was also hired in theology and specializes in Christian and Hebrew scripture.
In philosophy, Jacqueline Taylor, from Brandeis University, specializes in moral psychology, specifically attitudes people have toward one another, and will teach ethics. Ronald Sundstrom, who completed his doctorate at the University of Minnesota, specializes in philosophy of race and African American philosophy.
Other new arts and sciences hires include Juliet Spencer, from the University of Virginia, in biology, Thomas Bottger in physics, Karen Francis in exercise and sport science, David Marcotte, S.J. in psychology, Kimberly Richman and Stephanie Sears in sociology, and Jeffrey Sens in communication studies. The college also appointed art historian Paula Birnbaum and visual artist Sharon Siskin to positions in visual and performing arts, Kristen Kennedy and Zachary White in rhetoric, and Terence Parr in computer science. Gena Chandler, in the English department, is a part-time faculty appointment as part of the Irvine Scholars program.
In the School of Business and Management, two new full-time faculty were hired: Thomas Grossman, from the University of Calgary, specializes in decision sciences. Jonathan Allen, from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, specializes in information systems. Lawrence Louie, in finance, and John Miller, in economics and management, were also given appointments.
In the School of Nursing, Paulina Van, who received a bachelor of science from the school in 1975, and who does research on women who suffer pregnancy loss, was hired to teach nursing theory. In the College of Professional Studies, Richard Stackman, who comes from the University of Washington, Tacoma, was hired in organizational behavior. In the School of Law, Tim Iglesias, from Wayne State Law School in Detroit, was hired to teach land use, property, and housing law, and Michelle Travis, from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., will teach employment law.
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