Program Faculty and Staff
College Park Scholars
- Advocates for Children
- Arts
- Business, Society & the Economy
- Cultures of the Americas
- Earth, Life & Time
- Environmental Studies
- International Studies
- Life Sciences
- Media, Self & Society
- Public Leadership
- Science, Discovery & the Universe
- Science, Technology & Society
Dr. David Cooper
Faculty Director
cooperd@umd.edu
David Cooper is serving as Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and School Partnerships, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education. He also co-directs Camp Attaway, a summer camp for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. He holds a Ph.D. in special education/developmental psychology from the University of North Carolina. David's research focuses on the effectiveness of collaborative teacher preparation and on the identification and treatment of children with reading disabilities in the early grades.
Dr. Brenda Jones Harden
Program Faculty
bjharden@umd.edu
Brenda Jones Harden is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development at the University of Maryland College Park. She was trained as a social worker and psychologist, and received her Master's in Social Work degree from New York University in 1980 and her PhD in Psychology in 1996 from Yale University. She has devoted her career to practice and research relevant to children at environmental risk. Much of her work has centered on children in the child welfare system, children exposed to violence, and children prenatally exposed to drugs. She has developed and evaluated interventions for these children and their families, including a Head Start violence prevention initiative and an Early Head Start infant mental health initiative. She is particularly interested in the evaluation of home visiting and early intervention programs, and using research to inform the development of policy and practice in these arenas.
Dr. Sharon Rubinstein
Program Faculty
serubins@umd.edu
Sharon Rubinstein serves on the program faculty of the Advocates for Children program in College Park Scholars. She is a lawyer and former journalist, with a strong background in public interest advocacy, particularly for children. Until recently and for more than eight years, Sharon worked at Maryland’s Advocates for Children and Youth. At ACY she served continuously as communications director, and at various points as a registered lobbyist, and interim child welfare policy director. Sharon has a long-standing commitment to juvenile justice issues. In addition to membership on the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee, she has consulted to the ABA’s Juvenile Justice Center. She was the Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition’s communications director for many years.
Sharon spent nearly two years abroad with the University of Maryland’s European Division, taught a Law and Education seminar for the George Washington Graduate School of Education, and is currently supporting the efforts of the Public Justice Center as the Civil Right to Counsel Fellow. Sharon remains active in the ABA, and is one of the editors of the Fourth Amendment Handbook, now in its second edition. As a journalist, Sharon wrote for BusinessWeek Magazine, Newsweek International, the Baltimore Sun, Criminal Justice Magazine, and many other publications. She also wrote for CNN and CBS News, and was the producer of a local radio show, “Justice for Youth.” She serves on the board of the Megaphone Project, a video production company that promotes social justice causes.
Sharon is a former law clerk to the Honorable John Feikens, Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Michigan and is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Law School.
Mr. Jim DeGeorge
Associate Director
jmdegeorge2@comcast.net
Jim De George received his masters degree from the University of Maryland, in 1970. He has worked with children and youth of all ages for over 40 years. He served as a teacher, counselor, school principal, and university lecturer. He has been a keynote speaker and group facilitator, at numerous conferences and meetings, throughout the country. Jim has worked primarily with "At-Risk" students and families, throught his career. And, has served as a consultant to many schools and school systems. He is most interested in providing experiential learning opportunities that coincide with academic classroom instruction.
Dr. Sangeeta Ray
Faculty Director - on sabbatical during fall 2008 semester
rays@umd.edu
Dr. Sangeeta Ray earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1991. She has authored En-Gendering India: Woman and Nation in Colonial and Postcolonial Narratives (Duke, 2000) and Edition: A Companion to Postcolonial Studies (with Henry Schwarz, 2000).
Dr. Ray is the author of numerous articles and reviews in such collections and journals as Gender and Studies, Ariel, and Genders. Her prizes and awards include a NEH summer grant from Brown University in 1994; a Lilly Teaching Fellowship from 1994 to 1995; the UM Woman of Color Award in 1997, and was nominated for the Outstanding Faculty Award by the College Park Association of Parents in 1992. She has also been the director of the Asian-American Studies Certificate Program since 1997, was a founding member of the Cultural Studies Association and was the President of the organization from 2006-2008. Dr. Ray's book, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: In Other Words is forthcoming from Blackwell-Wiley in 2009. She is currently finishing up a manuscript titled An Ethics of Postcolonial Reading.
Ms. Delores Phillips
Acting Faculty Director
dbp@umd.edu
Delores Phillips is a PhD Candidate in English working on her dissertation under Dr. Ray's directorship. Her work focuses on biographical cookbooks written by members of the postcolonial diaspora and compares the writers' experiences to food images in postcolonial literature. She earned her M.A. in English at College Park, along with her Critical Theory Certificate. Her teaching experience includes work for the Department of English, where she taught First Year Composition, Shakespeare, and British Literature from 1800 to present, but also includes full-time teaching positions at Morgan State University and Anne Arundel Community College. Her full-time teaching has involved the use of multimedia and service learning as integral components of classroom instruction.
Mr. Gary Ford
Assistant Director
gford@umd.edu
Mr. Harold Burgess
Faculty Director
harold@umd.edu
Harold Burgess, Assistant Professor, Lighting Design for the Department of Theatre, is a long time affiliate of the University of Maryland where he earned his Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatrical design. In addition to direction of the Arts program, he teaches lighting design, drafting, and graduate seminar courses in design. In 2005, he received the distinguished Henry C. Welcome Fellowship and a General Research Board Summer Award in 2006. As a professional lighting designer, he has worked with numerous Baltimore/Washington area theatres including: Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Rep Stage, Everyman Theatre and the African Continuum Theatre Company.
Mr. Christopher Hartten
Associate Director
harttenp@umd.edu
Christopher Hartten, Associate Director, is an alumni of the Arts Program and a current graduate student at the University of Maryland in Environmental History and Library and Information Science. He holds undergraduate degrees from the University in string bass performance and European history and has worked closely with College Park Scholars for over eight years. He has taught numerous workshops to Arts students, including: jazz history, jazz ensemble, progressive rock, cooking, and other arts delights. In addition to his work with the program, Chris performs actively in the D.C. metro area and interns as an archivist with the Library of Congress Music Division.
Business, Society & the Economy
Dr. Mark Wellman
Faculty Director
mwellman@rhsmith.umd.edu
Mark Wellman is currently a Tyser Teaching Fellow at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the director of the Business, Society & the Economy program of College Park Scholars. Dr. Wellman has received numerous outstanding awards including a faculty fellowship from the Graduate Management Admission Council Education Research Institute. His research is examining the impact of the MBA degree on career success outcomes. For his outstanding contribution to business education, he received the Alan Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence. He teaches in the area of global strategy, and organizational change. His research interests include human capital, career success, and strategic management. Dr. Wellman is a member of the Academy of Management. Before returning to the classroom in 2001, he served as the assistant dean of the MBA/MS programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business from 1990-2001. During his tenure, he was part of an ambitious effort to enhance the reputation of the MBA program. Dr. Wellman also participated in a comprehensive renewal of the MBA and oversaw the program expansion. Full-time MBA enrollment increased by more than 100 percent and part-time enrollment increased nearly 175 percent. In addition, he assisted in the opening of three off campus locations for the MBA program. Prior to arriving at Maryland in 1990, he served as the director of graduate studies in business at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Wellman holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a focus on organizational behavior and development from the George Washington University School of Business Administration. In addition, he has an undergraduate and graduate degree from Bowling Green State University.
Mrs. Claudia Donnelly
Assistant Director
cdonnelly@rhsmith.umd.edu
Claudia Donnelly holds a Masters Degree in Sports Administration from Ohio University and a Bachelors Degree in Communication from Rutgers University. She is the Assistant Director of the Business, Society & the Economy program of College Park Scholars. She fulfills various administrative roles including helping the BSE faculty coordinate activities planned for the students each semester. In addition, she coordinates the communications between the BSE program and the students within the program. Before joining the Scholars program at the University of Maryland, Mrs. Donnelly worked on the political campaign of a candidate in Montgomery County.
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Faculty Director
tholtz@umd.edu
Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is a dinosaur paleontologist and member of the faculty in the Department of Geology. His primary research subject is the evolution and adaptations of the carnivorous dinosaurs, most especially the tyrant dinosaurs. He has also published on the effects of plate tectonics on the evolution of dinosaurs and their contemporaries, and on reconstructing the locomotion and predatory techniques of various fossil animals. For a more general audience, Dr. Holtz has written children's books on dinosaurs and was one of the primary consultants on the BBC/Discovery Channel TV series Walking with Dinosaurs.
Dr. Holtz has been with the Department of Geology since 1994, teaching classes on dinosaurs, invertebrate paleontology, and historical and environmental geology. He has received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the University Honors Program (in 1997) and the Celebrating Teachers Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (in 2003). In the Fall of 1999 he and Associate Director Merck began the College Park Scholars Earth, Life and Time Program to promote the scientific understanding of the natural historical sciences among some of UMCP's most talented students. In addition to his background in the natural historical sciences, Dr. Holtz brings to ELT his love of the best in science fiction and his knowledge of the worst in the pseudosciences.
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr.
Associate Director
jmerck@umd.edu
Dr. John W. Merck, Jr., also a vertebrate paleontologist, has been with the Geology Department since 1999. Merck works a little farther back in time and farther down the tree of evolution than Holtz, studying the evolutionary relationships among the marine reptiles of the early Mesozoic, including ichthyosaurs, nothosaurs, placodonts and plesiosaurs. He is a committed undergraduate educator, whose philosophy is that curriculum should be structured so that students receive the maximum educational benefit for their effort. Merck's teaching experience spans geological and biological subjects including physical Geology, vertebrate evolution, and comparative anatomy. He has a special affection for the ELT curriculum, the one venue in which he truly is free to emphasize the meaningful connections between concepts of natural history that are usually obscured by the artificial divisions of academic bureaucracy.
Merck's teaching is also informed by his academic and professional experience with digital information technologies, enabling him to instruct ELT students in appropriate methods of presentation, including web sites and professional quality digital graphics.
Dr. Bruce James
Faculty Director
brjames@umd.edu
Dr. James is the Director of the Environmental Science & Policy (ENSP) program and a Professor in Natural Resource Sciences who specializes in research related to the oxidation-reduction processes of natural waters and of wild, domesticated, and engineered soils. His research has been published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, the Soil Science Society of America Journal, Environmental Science and Technology, and the Journal of Soil Contamination. He has also written several invited book chapters; and contributed to work performed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Geological Service.
Dr. James teaches both graduate students and undergraduates regularly, and has won numerous awards for his scholarship, teaching, and professional contributions, including the Lilly-CTE Teaching Fellow Award (1993-1994), the College of Agriculture's Teaching Excellence Award (1996), and the university's Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award (2004-2005). Dr. James' courses include Introduction to Environmental Science; the Capstone in Environmental Science and Policy; Soil Chemistry; Crops, Soils, and Civilization; and Advanced Soil Chemistry. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Geology.
Dr. James earned his B.S. in Chemistry & Environmental Studies from Williams College; and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry from the University of Vermont. He has been at the University of Maryland since completing post-doctoral studies at Cornell University in 1986.
Dr. Wendy Whittemore
Associate Director
wwhitte@umd.edu
Dr. Whittemore is the Associate Director of the Environmental Science & Policy (ENSP) program. She is also the Director of EcoHouse, a living-learning program focused on sustainability for second and third-year resident students enrolled in all majors and programs. Dr. Whittemore came to the University of Maryland in 1983, and has held a number of positions in academic advising. Prior to ENSP, Dr. Whittemore worked in the Division of Letters and Sciences, where she developed and directed an advising program for exploratory students. In addition to working closely with students in the Environmental Studies program, Dr. Whittemore helps first- and second-year ENSP students explore and declare a concentration; and third- and fourth-year ENSP students prepare for internships, careers and graduate school. She also handles much of the academic administration in ENSP; and coordinates the co-curricular program in EcoHouse.
Dr. Whittemore earned her B.A. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; her M.S. in Ed. from Indiana University; and her Ph.D. in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland.
Ms. Nicole Wynands
Assistant Director
nwynands@umd.edu
Nicole Wynands is a graduate student in the Urban Studies & Planning program with a specialty in Land Use and
Environmental Planning. She graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Germany with a Bachelor of
Arts in International Political Management. Ms. Wynands spent a semester at the Indian Institute of Technology
Madras in South India, where she participated in the international Tsunami relief and rehabilitation effort in
affected fishing villages along the coast of Tamil Nadu. After returning from India, she worked at the
Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Washington, DC. Her most recent work experience includes a research and
administrative assistantship at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen, and work at the City and Transportation
Planning Office Kaulen in Aachen, Germany, where she focused on non-motorized transportation planning. Ms.
Wynands has volunteered for several causes including local and national election campaigns in the United States,
Friends of the Earth, AIESEC, the German Red Cross, and has tutored international students in Bremen. She is
interested in promoting growth management and green urbanism in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. James Glass
Faculty Director
jglass1@umd.edu
James M. Glass received his PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970. He is the recipient of the University's Distinguished Scholar Teacher Award (2002-2003), and in 2004 the Outstanding Faculty in the State of Maryland Award, given by the Maryland Association for Higher Education. He is the author of six books and dozens of articles and book chapters. His most recent research has been into the Holocaust; his book 'life unworthy of life': Racial Phobia and Mass Murder in Hitler's Germany, (1997), analyzed the psychological dynamics behind Germany's genocide of the Jews, particularly the links between the German professions and the moral and ethical acceptance of mass murder. His most recent book (2004): Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust: Moral Uses of Violence and Will examines the forces behind Jewish resistance to the German assault and their collaborators; it includes extensive interviews with resistance survivors, and a discussion of critical ethical issues that arise from resistance assumptions and perspectives. Professor Glass has taught and published in the areas of political psychology, international ethics, political theory and philosophy; he has been invited to deliver numerous lectures on his research both nationally and abroad.
Ms. Javiera Alarcon
Teaching Assistant
jalarcon@gvpt.umd.edu
Javiera Alarcon is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park with a B.A. in Government and Politics, and Criminology and Criminal Justice. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Government and Politics with a concentration in Comparative Politics. Her undergraduate honors thesis related the limitations of freedom of speech found in the current U.S. War on Terror in comparison to Chile's War on Communism during Augusto Pinochet's military regime. Having studied abroad in Chile for the Spring 2005 Semester, she has had the opportunity to visit other bordering South American countries, such as Bolivia and Argentina. Latin American politics is a primary interest of hers, but she also shares a curiosity for other areas of the world.
Mr. Tony Marcum
Teaching Assistant
amarcum@gvpt.umd.edu
Tony Marcum is a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wright State University in 2003 and his Master of Arts in Political Science from Purdue University in 2005. His research interests focus on System and Structural Theories of International Relations, Realist approaches to International Politics, the Philosophy of Science, National and International Security, War and Conflict, Foreign Policy, and Methodology. His current project is an examination of the causes of preemption in the international state system.
Mr. Mike McDonald
Teaching Assistant
mmcdonald@gvpt.umd.edu
Mike McDonald is a graduate student working towards his Ph.D. in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Davidson College in 2003, and his research interests focus on Cooperation, Negotiation, and Bargaining, International Political Economy, American Foreign Policy, Trade Policy, and Formal & Game Theory.
Dr. Lee Hellman
Faculty Director
Dr. Lee Hellman, a Professor of Entomology, is actively involved in both teaching and research. Lee teaches several undergraduate courses such as Insects (ENTN 100), Beekeeping (ENTN 111), and introduction to Entomology (ENTN 205). In addition, Lee teaches three graduate courses in Entomology. One of Lee's research interests is the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs for agriculture within the state of Maryland as well as urban landscapes. This research focuses on insect biological control utilizing insect pathogens, parasites, predators and cultural control methods as a substitute for pesticides. Some of the strategies studied in this project have been the use of turfgrass symbionts called "Enophytic Fungi" and the "New Biotech" transgenic corn plants. These corn plants produce a bacterial mycotoxin which is safe to man but deadly to certain insect pests. Another research project Lee is working on is the study of North and South American aquatic hydrochid or water beetles. This project is in conjunction with the Smithsonian Museum. Lee's research has taken him to Africa, South America, New Guinea, Indonesia, China, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Despite his busy schedule Lee still finds time to enjoy canoeing, white water rafting, fishing, lily ponds, and log cabin building in West Virginia.
Ms. Becky Zonies
Assistant Director
rzonies@umd.edu
Becky is a Terp-for-Life! She completed both her Bachelors Degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences and her Masters Degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland. During graduate school, Becky was a Graduate Assistant for the Department of Resident life and was responsible for planning and implementing the "Overnight Stay Program" to introduce prospective student to the University. After graduation, Becky became the Internship Coordinator at the University Career Center where she was responsible for guiding students through their internship search. She assisted them as they identified areas of interest, searched for opportunities, crafted resumes, wrote cover letters, interviewed, and obtained excellent internship experiences. She also worked closely with employers who recruit and hire University of Maryland students.
During the Spring 2006 semester, Becky took time away from her role as Internship Coordinator to be a Resident Director on a Semester at Sea voyage. Becky traveled around the world on a ship with 750 college students and visited 10 ports of call along the way. Countries on the voyage included Brazil, South Africa, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China...just to name a few. Becky is excited to be the Assistant Director for the College Park Scholars - Life Sciences Program, and she looks forward to many more years at Maryland. Go Terps!
Dr. Kalyani Chadha
Faculty Director
kchadha@umd.edu
As a teacher and a researcher, Kalyani Chadha has focused on analyzing trends in international communication as well as television programming and its impact on society. The recipient of a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Maryland, College Park, she has published articles in several communication conferences, journals and books. She joined the Media, Self and Society program in 2000, and was recently appointed the program's director. She is presently working on a book project that examines the consumption of Hindi films by young Indian Americans. Prior to coming to the United States in 1992, she worked as a journalist in India.
Mr. Ken Joseph
Associate Director
kajoseph@umd.edu
He is the Associate Director of the Media, Self & Society program, where he serves in advising and administrative roles. And as the Admissions Coordinator, he helps to facilitate the Scholars admissions process. Ken earned bachelor's degrees in both Journalism and Political Science from Penn State in 1991. Although he is fanatical in his devotion to his alma mater, Ken has come to love the University of Maryland. In his spare time, Ken is an avid reader of works he describes as "junk -- novels with little or no redeeming social value."
Dr. David Crocker
Faculty Director
dcrocker@umd.edu
David A. Crocker is Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, USA. He specializes in sociopolitical philosophy, international development ethics, transitional justice, democracy and democratization, and the ethics of consumption. In the School's M.A. and Ph.D. development program, he teaches courses on ethics, development, foreign aid, democracy, and human rights. Crocker taught philosophy for twenty-five years at Colorado State University. He was a visiting professor at the University of Munich, twice a Fulbright Scholar the University of Costa Rica, and held the UNESCO Chair in Development at the University of Valencia (Spain). Currently an officer of the Human Development and Capability Association, he was founder and former president of the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA). In the spring of 2007, he was named director of the undergraduate College Park Scholars-Public Leadership living-learning-service program.
Among his publications are Praxis and Democratic Socialism ; editor (with Toby Linden), Ethics of Consumption: The Good Life, Justice, and Global Stewardship ; Florecimiento humano y desarrollo internacional: La nueva etica de capacidades humanas ; editor (with Jesus Conill) ¿Republicanismo y educacion civica: Mas alla del liberalismo? , and Ethics of Global Development: Agency, Capability, and Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). He is working on a book whose working title is Reckoning with Past Wrongs: Ends, Means, and Cases.
Ms. Stacy J. Kosko
Associate Director
sjkosko@umd.edu
Stacy Kosko joined the University of Maryland from The Advocacy Project (AP), a DC-based human rights organization with which she consulted for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict and People Building Peace and worked as AP's Outreach and Fellowship Coordinator before becoming Deputy Director in 2006. She also spent a summer working for AP at the Dzeno Association, AP's Roma partner in the Czech Republic. Before graduating from Georgetown University with an MS in Foreign Service and a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies, Stacy was a research assistant at the Institute for the Study of International Migration and interned at the Center for Democracy and the Third Sector. She has also taught in Brazil and in an urban night school in Massachusetts. She graduated as valedictorian from Syracuse University in 2000 with BAs in Television/Radio/Film, English and Textual Studies, and French. She is now starting her PhD in Public Policy with a concentration in international development and a special interest in human rights and international education policy.
Ms. Jennifer Littlefield
Assistant Director
jnlittle@umd.edu
Jennifer Littlefield is currently a Ph.D. student in The School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland focusing on leadership and nonprofits. Prior to coming to Maryland, she served as the Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership Advancement in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. In this role Jennifer assisted with all areas of the Institute including working with their two undergraduate leadership programs, planning and coordinating a study abroad program to Tanzania Africa, and working with various corporate and community partners of the ILA. Prior to working at the Institute, she served as the Development Director for UGA's School of Social Work and College of Education. Before working at UGA Jennifer held the role of Development Director at The Shelter and Advocacy Center for Abused Children in Augusta Georgia. Jennifer holds both a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Science, Discovery & the Universe
Dr. Stephen White
Faculty Co-Director
white@astro.umd.edu
Stephen White has been an astronomy researcher on campus and a resident in the local community for almost 20 years, since leaving graduate school in Australia. His main scientific interest is the Sun and the range of physical processes that occur in its atmosphere and in other stars like the Sun. To study these topics he mostly uses radio telescopes at different locations around he world, including the University's own shared facility in California. Like many Australians he is fanatical about sports, including the Terps soccer teams, and he has a personal interest in the College Park tornado.
Dr. Alan Peel
Faculty Co-Director
apeel@umd.edu
Alan Peel is a research associate and lecturer here at UM in the Astronomy Department, studying the dynamics of galaxies and galaxy clusters and determining what that can tell us about cosmology. He spent a "gap year" between degrees as an Environmental Scientist in Berkeley, California, doing field work for site remediation which somehow lasted seven years. After a PhD in physics (cosmology) at UC Davis, he spent two years at Cambridge working in Stephen Hawking's group on modeling galaxy cluster velocities. Married with three kids (two daughters growing up too fast and a very short, hairy son who looks remarkably like a beagle), Alan's other interests include, classical music, homebrewing, performing in the Revels, fencing and convincing people that anyone can learn physics.
Dr. Paul Romani
Program Associate
paul.romani@nasa.gov
Paul Romani teaches the freshmen colloquium for SDU and has coordinated companion programs with the Maryland Science Center and Global Climate Modeling. With degrees from the University of Michigan in both Astronomy and Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. Romani currently works at NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Most of his recent research work involves atmospheric chemistry and cloud physics in the atmospheres of the outer, or giant, planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Currently he is focused on the infrared spectrometer on the NASA-ESA Cassini mission to the Saturn system both in uplink operations and science analysis. Another of his many interests is the cross-cultural and historical study of astronomy, and science in general.
Dr. Neal Miller
Program Associate
nmiller@pha.jhu.edu
Neal Miller taught a freshman colloquium with SDU from 2003 through 2007, and is returning to teach the sophomore colloquium. He is an active researcher in astronomy, using radio emission to locate interesting galaxies and then studying their properties at optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray wavelengths. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his doctorate from New Mexico State University. In his life outside of academics, he serves as the personal assistant to an extremely energetic four-year old and three lazy cats.
Ms. Stephanie Smith
Assistant Director
steph1@umd.edu
Stephanie Smith is pursuing a master's degree in Education with an emphasis on College Student Personnel. She received her bachelor~@~Ys degree in Special Education from Temple University, which is located in her hometown, Philadelphia. Stephanie enjoys reading, watching soap operas, and engaging in physical activities. Stephanie is excited to work with the Science, Discovery, and Universe program because the position is extremely student-centered. She hopes to become a student affairs practitioner after she completes her degree.
Mr. Matthew Zagursky
Program Webmaster and Computer Practicum Instructor
mzagursk@umd.edu
Matthew Zagursky is a senior pursuing a Physical Sciences & Physics double major. A former SDU student himself, Matthew now instructs the sophomore web design and online communications course. He has eight years of web programming under his belt, and for the past two years, Matthew has been the webmaster of SDU's website and will continue to be for the coming terms. He is also an active undergraduate researcher in the Astronomy Department with two separate projects: mass modeling of galaxies and exploring Mercury's exosphere. In his free time, Matthew enjoys video games, watching TV, and going out with friends.
Dr. Betsy Mendelsohn
Faculty Director
bmendel@umd.edu
Betsy Mendelsohn is a historian of environment and technology who taught STS at the University of Virginia before becoming an instructor in the Scholars STS Program in 2004. She succeeded Prof. James Duncan as Director of this program and the University STS Certificate Program in June, 2007. Dr. Mendelsohn is an active participant in the Society for the History of Technology and the American Society for Environmental History, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer for the University of Maryland History Department. She has published essays on the historical importance of technology to environmental quality and the history of American environmental law. She earned a B.A. in history from Yale University (1983) and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1999). Dr. Mendelsohn's research focuses on the incorporation of science into the resolution of legal conflicts about sharing resources such as water, air, public roads, and ecological health.
Mr. William Evans
Instructor
William_C_Evans@mcpsmd.org
William C. Evans has taught choral music and been Music Department Chair at Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland since 1979. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Clarion University in Pennsylvania and a Master of Music in Voice from The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Bill directs three choral groups at Sherwood: Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, and Freshman Chorus. He teaches the popular Electronic Music and Recording Studio Techniques class. Bill has been Musical Director, Technical Supervisor and Creative Writer for Sherwood High School's original musical production "Rock 'n' Roll Revival," now in its 37th year. Bill has served as a choral adjudicator for the Annapolis Music Festival for fourteen years, as well as festivals in Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Bill is a Acting Director of the Music Technology Lab at the University of Maryland - College Park, where he teaches Music Technology. During spring 2003 he was a part-time faculty member and guest conductor of the Towson University Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He has also been a guest lecturer for the Music Department at the Catholic University of America.
Mr. Evans has received numerous honors and awards over the years, including the University of Maryland Outstanding Teachers Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (2004), Sherwood PTSA Educator of the Year (2006) and (2000), Maryland State Computer Educator of the Year from the Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association (1991), Outstanding Contribution to the Community (1989) and the Outstanding Contribution to Youth Award (1987) from the Greater Olney Civic Association.
Ms. Sabrina Liao
Instructor
sabrinaliao@gmail.com
For years, Sabrina Liao has been working as a creative director in a new media agency in Asia. Her clients include Coca-Cola Asia, Estee Lauder, HSBC and more. Her work and projects have won numerous awards including the prestigious "Click Award" in Asia between 2000-2002.
Sabrina holds a Master of Arts in Multimedia and Music from New York University (NY, USA) and a Bachelor of Education from University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). She has also chaired at many international conferences such as CHI 2000-2003 (Computer Human Interaction), IDC2004 (International Design and Children) and CC2007 (Creativity & Cognition). She has published 5 computer books in Chinese, teaching people to use multimedia tools such as Flash, Photoshop and Dreamweaver in a creative and innovative way.
J. Rosser Matthews
Instructor
jrmatt3@umd.edu
Rosser Matthews graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1985 as a mathematics and philosophy double major. Subsequently, he earned a Master's and Ph.D. degree from Duke University where his research focus was on the history of science and medicine. He has taught a wide variety of courses in the history of science, history of medicine, STS, and general history survey courses at a number of institutions - including North Carolina State University, Duke University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the College of William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, and the STS program at Virginia Tech. This semester, in addition to being an instructor in the STS program at the University of Maryland, he is also an instructor in the George Washington University History Department.
His research focuses on the history of statistical reasoning as a way to illustrate the role of chance, uncertainty, and risk in both the scientific and public policy arenas. One product of this research was a book on the historical emergence of the clinical trial in contemporary medicine, which was published in 1995 by Princeton University Press under the title Quantification and the Quest for Medical Certainty. Since completing that project, Matthews has acquired additional expertise in the areas of contemporary public policy and public health analysis. He is particularly interested in using an "STS perspective" to analyze the reception of epidemiological studies in the legal and policy arenas. This research interest has resulted in a publication on the role of medical practice guidelines in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law and a 13-month appointment at the National Institutes of Health where he was a DeWitt Stetten Jr. Memorial Fellow in the History of Biomedical Sciences and Technology in 2001-2002. At present, Matthews is a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University where he is collaborating with Alan I. Faden, a member of the medical school faculty, on a book that will use history as a way to illustrate the problems confronting contemporary American medicine.
