Faculty

Tom Böttger is from Berlin, Germany and is first and foremost a teacher. He enjoys teaching the large introductory physics courses as well as hands-on courses like Electronics and Digital Electronics.In his research he studies optical, dynamical, and magnetic properties of solids, specifically optical materials doped with rare earth ions. This work is centered on understanding the fundamental material physics at the microscopic scale, but also geared towards the development of optical materials...

Professor Karen Bouwer enjoys teaching all levels of French and Francophone language, culture and literature as well as classes on African literature and film. Her research interests include Francophone African literature, African cinema and gender. Her book Gender and Decolonization in the Congo: The Legacy of Patrice Lumumba was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2010.

Professor Rachel Brahinsky teaches in the Urban and Public Affairs graduate program, the undergraduate Urban Studies program, and the Politics Department. She earned a PhD in geography from UC Berkeley, where she focused on the human and social geography of cities, with an emphasis on the politics of race and place. Her research and teaching center around the challenges of race and inequality in the context of rapidly changing American cities, with a longtime focus on the San Francisco Bay Area...

David is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco. His research interests are natural language processing, machine learning, and databases — specifically on the personal and cultural/demographic information transmitted during speech and typing. This research may lead to more accurate speech recognition systems. Prior to joining USF, David was a research assistant in the Speech Lab at Queens College and an instructor at Hunter College. He has previously worked for the City of...

Christopher Brooks is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at USF, with a joint appointment in the Department of Engineering. He joined USF in 2002 after completing a PhD in computer science at the University of Michigan. He also holds an MS in computer science from San Francisco State University, and a BA and JBA in English and journalism, respectively, from the University of Wisconsin. From 2010-2019, Professor Brooks served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences...

Brandon R Brown pursued doctoral training in superconductivity and low-temperature physics, with postdoctoral work in science communication. Once at the University of San Francisco, he shifted his research focus to sensory biophysics. He and his collaborators and students explored the electric and magnetic sensory abilities of a variety of creatures. Brandon served as associate dean for sciences, during which time the university completed planning stages for the Lo Schiavo Center for Science...

Carolyn Brown received her PhD in English from the University of California–Davis. Her specialization is Shakespeare and Renaissance / Early Modern literature, from a feminist, psychoanalytic, historicist, and /or political perspective. She has published in several anthologies on Shakespeare and the following journals: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900; Texas Studies in Literature and Language; Studies in Philology; American Imago; Literature and Psychology; Clio: A Journal of Literature...

Mayo Buenafe-Ze is a bilingual immigrant and multi-ethnic indigenous Filipina who has lived most of her life between the Philippines and California. She is a scholar/educator/researcher, food and cultural events experience curator, and community organizer who aims to decolonize education and support youth leadership and development. Since 2007, she has been in research and academia in the Philippines, Netherlands, and the U.S. She has done ethnographic studies with the Ifugao peoples from the...

Sarah Burgess is an Associate Professor in Communication Studies, Gender and Sexualities Studies, and Critical Diversity Studies. Working at the intersections of rhetorical theory, political theory, legal theory, philosophy, and gender and sexualities studies, she examines the rhetorical contours of recognition in order to understand the possibilities and limits of justice. She recently edited a special issue of Philosophy & Rhetoric that brought together authors from several disciplines to...

John Callaway received his PhD in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University in 1994. Prior to his position at USF, John was the Associate Director of the Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory (PERL) at San Diego State University. At USF, Professor teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory environmental science, applied ecology, wetlands, and restoration ecology. His research expertise is in wetland restoration, specifically wetland plant ecology and...