Biographical Information for New Faculty Members | 2010-11
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
William Stadler, Visiting Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice
Ph.D., University of Cincinnati; MS and BA, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Professor Stadler received his B.A. in Political Science in 2000 and M.S. in Criminal Justice &
Criminology in 2005 from UMKC. He served as an adjunct professor and undergraduate internship coordinator for the Criminal Justice Department at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Stadler has also worked closely with a local social service agency in Cincinnati, conducting research related to offender assessment and treatment. His research interests include offender risk/needs assessment and classification, correctional and community rehabilitation, gender-responsivity, correctional policy, crime theory, and white-collar crime.
Pearlie Johnson, Visiting Assistant Professor, Black Studies
Ph.D., University of Missouri – Kansas City; MS, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Pearl M. Johnson has an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (2008), with a specialization in African and African American studies. Johnson’s approach to research and teaching is interdisciplinary, drawing upon a number of theories and methodologies from Black Studies, Sociology, Women’s Studies, and Art History. Johnson joins the University of Missouri-Kansas City as Visiting Assistant Professor of Black Studies. She will teach “Global Systems and the Origins of Black American Culture and Institutions”, and Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations in Africana Studies”.
Massimiliano Vitiello, Visiting Assistant Professor, History
Ph.D., University of Missina, Italy; MA, University of Rome
Professor Vitiello completed his doctorate at the University degli Studi Messina in 2001, and was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Munster from 2004 to 2006. He earned the License in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, Canada, where he was a Research Fellow from 2006 to 2010. His research field is Late Antiquity with special focus on the Western Roman Empire. He is the author of several articles and also two books. His most recent works on Ostrogothic Italy and its relationship with Constantinope have appeared in refereed journals in France, Germany & Belgium.
Paul Schroeder, Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 2010; MA University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 2008; BA Roosevelt University, 2002
Paul J. Schroeder completed his B.S. with honors in Psychology at Roosevelt University and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research focuses on the cognitive processes involved reading and memory and how these abilities change with healthy aging. Last May, he was awarded the Association for Psychological Science’s RiSE-UP research award for his work with the elderly. On the pedagogical end of the spectrum, Dr. Schroeder has taught introductory and advanced undergraduate Psychology courses, completed two university-based teaching certificate programs, and has coauthored articles about research and graduate school for psychology majors. He is looking forward to working with the students and faculty at UMKC as a visiting assistant professor in Psychology and is very pleased to be back in his home state of Missouri.
Joan McDowd, Professor, Psychology
Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1986; MA, University of Toronto, 1982; BA, Washington University – St. Louis, 1980
Dr. McDowd’s research interests are in attention and executive function in aging. She is recognized nationally for her work in attention in typical aging, and has expanded that work to include age-related neurological deficits such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Of particular interest is the relation between performance on measures of attention and functional outcome. This relationship has significant practical implications deserving of further research, both in terms of the content of rehabilitation programs (e.g., working to improve attentional function may also improve functional outcome) and the way rehabilitation programs are delivered (e.g., preferably in the absence of distraction).
Ian Besse, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2010; MS, University of Iowa, 2006; BA – Grinnell College, 2000
Dr. Besse’s area of research is broadly mathematical biology, but with particular emphasis on the mathematical modeling of cardiac cells and neurons; modeling the electrophysiology of these cell types and uses these models to assist experimental scientists with their investigations of the underlying biophysics. He has a background in teaching secondary level both domestically and overseas, directed a college mathematics tutoring center, served as a teaching assistant, and worked as an adjunct mathematics instructor at a community college.
Thomas Fisher, Assistant Professor, Mathematics
Ph.D., Clemson University, 2009; MS, Clemson University, 2006; BS, University of Maryland Baltimore, 2003
Dr. Fisher’s research focuses on multivariate analysis and time-series analysis with applications in modern science; including genetics and economics. Some of his work will appear in the Journal of Multivariate Analysis. He has been a teacher of record for the past five years and has taught a number of mathematics and statistics courses. In the 2005-2006 academic year, he received the department’s award for outstanding graduate teaching.
SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Xiaolan Yao, Assistant Professor
Ph. D. in Physical Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, August, 2004
M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, June, 1998
B. S. in Organic Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, June, 1994 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, August, 2004-2010.
BLOCH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Xiajun Amy Pan, Assistant Professor of Operations Management
PhD, University of Texas at Austin; MS, National University of Singapore; BS, Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), China. Areas of specialization & interests: supply chain management, assortment planning, operations-marketing interface, operations management, logistics and inventory management, statistics, and management information systems.
Leigh Salzsieder, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
PhD, University of South Carolina, MBA, University of Kansas, B.A., Drury University, Springfield, Mo.
Richard Arend, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
PhD, University of British Columbia, Canada; MBA, York University, Canada; BASc, University of Toronto, Canada. Areas of specialization & interests: strategic management (DCV, RBV, alliances, rents); entrepreneurship (new venture creation and growth, innovation); competitive and cooperative business strategies; corporate strategy.
Sunny Li Sun, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
PhD, University of Texas at Dallas, Master of Philosophy (M. Phil.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; BA, Remin University of China, Beijing, China. Areas of specialization & interests: new venture creation and financing, business model, entrepreneurial firm growth, internationalization, and corporate governance.
H. Dennis Park, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.; MBA, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; BA, University of Wisconsin at Madison. Areas of specialization & interests: Venture capital and corporate venture capital, resource acquisition strategy of technology-based ventures, governance of new ventures, individual differences in making investment decisions.
Rong Ma, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management
PhD, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.; MBA, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; BA, Xi’an Foreign Languages University, Xi’an, China. Areas of specialization & interests: strategic management, international business, recruiting across cultures.
Hyun Seung “H.S.” Jin, Associate Professor of Marketing
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; MA, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea; BA, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea. Areas of specialization & interests: advertising, journalism and public relations, mass communication, branding, consumer behavior.
SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING
ZhiQiang Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
ZhiQiang Chen, completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Structural Engineering at the University of California in San Diego. Following his terminal degree, he pursued postdoctoral studies as a postdoctoral researcher for the Department of Structural Engineering at the University of California-San Diego. His research interests include: (1) computational simulation and performance-based design methods for structural systems considering soil-structure interaction; (2) remote and nondestructive infrastructure imaging methods for post-disaster damage assessment, urban building information modeling, and structural condition monitoring.
CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC AND DANCE
Robert Bode, Neevel Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Bode received his doctorate in Choral Conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was Head of Choral/Vocal Studies and a Professor of Music at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where was on the faculty since 1986. In 2009, Bode received the Chorus America’s prestigious Margaret Hillis Award. In 2000, he was named the first recipient of the Alma Meisnest Endowed Chair in the Humanities and Fine Arts at Whitman College. Prior to attending the Cincinnati Conservatory, Dr. Bode won a conducting scholarship to the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, where he studied Opera Conducting with Fiora Contino.
Dan Thomas, Instructor, Jazz Studies
Dan Thomas is a dedicated performer and educator residing in Kansas City, Mo. He hails from Canada and has been in the United States since 1993. Prior to his move to Kansas City, he was a regular on the West Coast jazz scene. Besides being a busy performer, Thomas teaches applied jazz studies, jazz improvisation, jazz history, jazz pedagogy, jazz combo and the 11:00 big band at the University of Missouri-Kansas City alongside the iconic jazz saxophonist Bobby Watson. Thomas has served as a woodwind and jazz studies specialist, instrumental music instructor as well as vocal music instructor in the public school systems in the state of Washington, Missouri and Kansas. He has served on the faculty at Penn Valley Community College and Rockhurst University.
SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY
Vincent Lutterbie, Clinical Assistant Professor, Oral Pathology, Radiology & Medicine
Dr. Lutterbie attended undergraduate school at University of Missouri – Columbia earning B.A. degrees in anthropology and biology. He then obtained his dental degree from UMKC School of Dentistry in 1980. He has served as Dental Chief for the last 22 years at the Marshall Habilitation Center working with developmentally disabled individuals. His new responsibilities include the development, growth, care delivery, and management of the Special Patient Care Clinic treating medically compromised patients.
James Rokos, Assistant Professor, Oral Pathology, Radiology & Medicine
Dr. Rokos attended undergraduate school at Duke University in Durham, NC earning a B.S. in Zoology, Cum Laude; he then earned his dental degree with distinction in 1990 from University of NC, Chapel Hill. Recently he completed an Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology residency at the University of NC and is Board eligible.
Mabel Salas, Clinical Assistant Professor, Periodontics Department
Dr. Salas earned her dental degree from San Marcos University Lima, Peru in 2001 and completed her residency in Periodontology and also earned a Master of Science degree in 2009 at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry – Columbus.
John Stone, Clinical Assistant Professor, General Dentistry
Dr. Stone attended Wichita State for his undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in biology and in 1980 obtained his dental degree from UMKC School of Dentistry. Since then, he has been in private practice and active in dental professional organizations.
Yesim Tunkuc, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry
In 1996, Dr. Tunkuc earned her dental degree from Istanbul University in Turkey. She then went on to earn a Certificate for International Advanced Study in Prosthodontics in 2003 and a Master of Science in Clinical Research in 2005 at NY University College of Dentistry in New York City and that same year earned a Certificate in Advanced Education in Prosthodontics.
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Monika Shealey, Associate Dean for Teacher Education
Prior to arriving at UMKC, Dr. Shealey was an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Florida International University. Dr. Shealey has also held academic appointments at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the University of South Florida. Dr. Shealey’s research interests include examining the intersection of urban and special education, specifically the impact of school reform on special education in urban settings and the experiences of African Americans in special education. Dr. Shealey is a member-at-large of the Board of Directors of the Council for Exceptional Children, editorial board member of Remedial and Special Education, Publications Chair for the Teacher Education Division (TED) of CEC and past Co-Program Chair for the Research Focus on Black Education (RFBE) Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
Ellen Lavelle, Associate Research Professor
Ellen Lavelle is an educational researcher whose focus is on learning and teaching in medical education. She has held faculty positions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of South Dakota, and Southern Illinois University where she also served as Director of Faculty Development. She has presented papers and published articles on topics such as college student learning, student writing skills, and teaching in tertiary education. Recent publications include “Residents’ Perspectives on Professionalism” in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, and a featured article in MedEdPortal, “Assessment in Medical Education: Focus on Professionalism.” Her interests include qualitative research, program evaluation, and learning and teaching processes.
Denise Wiedemann, Program Services Coordinator
Denise Wiedemann joins the School of Education as Program Coordinator for Project CAUSE. She brings a variety of administrative experiences in school administration, most recently serving the Kansas City, Missouri School District as Chief Academic Officer. She has previously coordinated all aspects of school improvement, fulfilling requirements for No Child Left Behind, for the Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation.
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Marie A. Thompson, Librarian II, Dental Librarian
Marie Thompson is the new Dental Librarian in charge of the overall administration of the Dental Library, providing the leadership for the provision of information services and materials for the students and faculty of the School of Dentistry. Ms. Thompson holds an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Missouri and BA in English from UMKC. In addition to graduate studies in Exercise Physiology from the University of Kansas, she completed a four year certificate program in Education for Ministry, School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
Scott A. Curtis, Librarian II, Reference Librarian
Scott Curtis is the new Librarian for Science and Engineering, in the UMKC University Libraries at Miller Nichols Library. Mr. Curtis serves as liaison for UMKC departments of Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematics, and Physics and the School of Computer Science and Engineering. He is the liaison to the Linda Hall Library and coordinator of disability services in the Miller Nichols Library, including the training of Reference personnel on universal access technology.
Mr. Curtis holds an MLS from Emporia State University, MS in Engineering Management (Manufacturing Management) from The George Washington University, and BS in Physics from the University of Pittsburgh with graduate studies in Physics at Indiana University.
SCHOOL OF NURSING
Eduardo L.M. deAbreu, Visiting Assistant Professor
Dr. Abreu comes to UMKC as a Visiting Assistant Professor from Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he was a fellow in the Orthopedic Nanotechnology Lab. He received his D.Eng from Cleveland State University. Dr. Abreu is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Biomedical Engineering Online.
Renee Endicott, Clinical Instructor
Renee Endicott is a UMKC alum and has been a faculty member at UMKC since 2009 teaching in the graduate nurse practitioner program. She has practiced as a family nurse practitioner for the past four years with an emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention.
Kara Flowers, Clinical Instructor
Kara Flowers joined the UMKC faculty part time in 2008 then full time in 2009 teaching in the undergraduate BSN program for the School of Nursing. She is a graduate of Graceland University and has over 18 years of registered nurse experience. She has spent the past several years in clinical practice as a lactation consultant.
Melinda Gould, Clinical Instructor
Melinda Gould joined the School of Nursing in 2009 to teach in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She obtained her MSN, Nurse Midwifery in 2004 from the University of Utah. Her specialty area is in women’s health and has spent the past several years in clinical practice as a nurse-midwife.
William David LaFevers, Clinical Instructor
Dr. William David LaFevers is a 2009 graduate of the UMKC School of Nursing DNP program. He was hired in August 2010 to instruct students in the graduate MSN and DNP programs. Dr. LaFevers has 19 years of experience as a registered nurse and 11 years as a family nurse practitioner in a rural health care setting.
Tho Nguyen, Clinical Instructor
Tho Nguyen graduated from the University of Kansas Medical Center as a registered nurse in 2002. She joined the UMKC faculty part time in 2007 and full time in January 2010 to instruct students in the prelicensure BSN program.
Ginny Nyberg, Clinical Instructor
Ginny Nyberg joined the faculty at UMKC School of Nursing in 2009. She has nine years of registered nurse experience with an emphasis in pediatrics. Ms. Nyberg is a graduate of Webster University and teaches in the undergraduate BSN program.
Carol Schmer, Clinical Instructor
Dr. Carol Schmer is a 2010 graduate of the UMKC School of Nursing PhD program. She joined the faculty at UMKC School of Nursing in 2009 teaching in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International and Lambda Phi and a recipient of the Preparing Future Faculty Scholarship at UMKC.
Janice Smith, Clinical Instructor
Janice Smith is a 2006 graduate of the MSN program as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from Kansas University Medical Center. She joined the UMKC faculty part-time in February 2010 then full time this fall teaching in the pre-licensure BSN program. Ms. Smith has over 30 years of experience as a registered nurse and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International and Phi Kappa Phi International Honor Society.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY
Russell B. Melchert, Dean and Professor, School of Pharmacy
Russell B. Melchert, Ph.D., became dean of the School of Pharmacy on July 1, 2010. Prior to joining UMKC, he was the chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Dr. Melchert earned a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacology/Toxicology), both at the University of Oklahoma. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin.
David Phillips, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration
David Phillips, Pharm.D., joins the School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in the satellite doctor of pharmacy program on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. His clinical practice is in inpatient internal medicine at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia. Dr. Phillips received his degree from the Raabe College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University, and completed a pharmacy practice residency at Grandview Medical Center and Ohio Northern University in Dayton, Ohio.
Mark Patterson, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Mark Patterson, Ph.D., joins the Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in the area of social and administrative health sciences. Dr. Patterson earned his doctorate in pharmaceutical policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy, a Masters of Public Health with an emphasis in chronic disease epidemiology at Yale University, and a bachelor of arts in neuroscience at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Dr. Patterson also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Clinical Genetics and Economics, Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, and served as a pre-doctoral research fellow with the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education. Before coming to UMKC, he was a health policy analyst at the Research Triangle Institute in Durham, North Carolina.
Kelly Cochran, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Kelly Cochran, Pharm.D., joins the School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in the satellite doctor of pharmacy program on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her clinical practice sites are at the University Hospital and the Fairview and Woodrail Internal Medicine Clinics in Columbia. Dr. Cochran earned her degree at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She completed a PGY-1 residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, and a PGY-2 residency in ambulatory care at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and Medical Center.
Lauren Odum, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Lauren Odum, Pharm.D., joins the School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in the satellite doctor of pharmacy program on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her clinical practice site is in the Ambulatory Care Clinics at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia. She graduated from the UMKC School of Pharmacy, and completed a residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Odum came to UMKC from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Louis, where she was a clinical pharmacist in the area of ambulatory care.
Daniel Aistrope, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Daniel Aistrope, Pharm.D., joins the School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in the satellite doctor of pharmacy program on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. His clinical practice sites are at the University Hospital and the Fairview and Woodrail Internal Medicine Clinics in Columbia. Dr. Aistrope earned his degree at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and completed a pharmaceutical care leadership residency with the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
Areas of specialization & interests: Behavioral aspects and implications of preparing and using fair value measurements; compensation; earnings management.
