New Faculty 2006-2007

Donna Adomat (Special Education, Language, and Literacy) earned her Ed.D. in reading, writing, and literacy from the University of Pennsylvania.  In addition to teaching courses in literacy at the university level, she has over twenty years of teaching experience on the elementary, middle, and high school levels; and she has worked as a classroom teacher, special education teacher, and reading specialist in Germany, Hawaii, and elsewhere in the U.S.  She received a dual master’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University in language and literacy and special education, and an undergraduate degree in anthropology and linguistics from Bryn Mawr College.  Her research interests include early literacy, children’s literature, struggling readers and writers, and the arts and literacy.

Karen Becker-Olsen (Marketing) received her Ph.D. from Lehigh University and her master’s degree in marketing from The Pennsylvania State University.  Her research interests are in the field in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the impact of congruency on memory and processing.  Her research has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research and the International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship.  She has made presentations for the Association of Consumer Research, the Berkley Institute for Social Responsibility, the London Business School conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, and the American Marketing Association’s annual Public Policy Workshop.  Currently, she is working with the Nokia Corporation on a multi-country study evaluating the impact of various communication variables on CSR communications.  Prior to coming to TCNJ, she served as member of the marketing faculty at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Lehigh University, and Cedar Crest College.  She has taught courses in Consumer Behavior, Principles of Marketing and Marketing Communications on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Matthew Bender (History) received his B.A and M.A. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, and he recently completed his Ph.D. in African history at The Johns Hopkins University.  His research and teaching focus on modern African social and cultural history with special interest in environment, natural resources, and agriculture.  As a Fulbright-Hays Fellow, he conducted research on the history of water management on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.  He currently is working on several articles and conference papers based upon his dissertation research.  Prior to joining the TCNJ faculty, he taught as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola College in Maryland. 

Tamra J. Bireta (Psychology) earned her B.S. at the University of Florida and will receive her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, along with a minor in gerontology, from Purdue University in August, 2006.  Her research examines the memorability of different types of information, and she currently is focusing on age-related differences in patterns of memory performance.  Her research has been published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

Brett BuSha (Electrical and Computer Engineering) earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.  Following his doctoral studies, BuSha completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Dartmouth Medical School.  During his postdoctoral studies, he taught for the University System of New Hampshire.  BuSha’s current research interests include the control of the cardio-respiratory system, the application of linear and nonlinear analysis techniques to physiological signals, and the design of non-invasive measurements for the diagnosis of disease.  His work has been published in numerous scholarly journals.  BuSha brings to TCNJ extensive industrial experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields, having worked for small start-up companies as well as for an international consulting firm. 

Andrew Carver (Finance) joins TCNJ having previously worked as an Equity Research Analyst at Morningstar Inc., covering the banking sector.  Earlier in his career, he worked as an associate on the currency options desk at NationsBanc-CRT, which later became part of Bank of America.  His work experience also includes internships at AXA Rosenberg Investment Management and Eli Lilly’s decision science group.  Carver's research and teaching interests include capital budgeting, capital markets and bankruptcy law.  He graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and economics, and he earned his Ph.D. and M.S. from the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

Benny Chan (Chemistry) received his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College where his undergraduate research led to his pursuit of a career in chemistry.  He left a chemist position at Merck in West Point, PA to pursue a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, working on combinatorial discovery of fuel cell electrocatalysts.  In his post-doctoral work at Colorado State University and Los Alamos National Laboratory, he studied the typically-ignored region of the periodic table, the actinides.  His research with undergraduates will include nanotechnology, materials chemistry, and solid state chemistry.  Prior to coming to TCNJ, Chan taught at comes from Dickinson College.  

Jaqueline Weetman DaCosta (Library) joins TCNJ as the Information Literacy Librarian, bringing with her twenty years experience in British academic libraries.  Most recently, she served as an Academic Librarian and Team Manager at De Montfort University, Leicester, England, where her responsibilities included developing and teaching in the information skills program.  In addition to an undergraduate degree in medieval and modern history from University of Liverpool and a postgraduate diploma in library and information studies from Leeds Polytechnic, Ms. Weetman DaCosta recently earned an M.B.A. in educational mnagement from the University of Leicester.  She has been an active member of information literacy organizations in the U.K. and has published on faculty members’ perceptions of students’ information literacy skills. 

Holly HK Didi-Ogren (Modern Languages) began her academic career in East Asian studies, earning a B.A. in Japanese studies from Earlham College and an M.A. in East Asian languages and cultures from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She then went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology, with a focus on linguistic anthropology, from the University of Texas at Austin.  Her dissertation on the negotiation of role and status through an analysis of rural Japanese women’s face-to-face linguistic interactions continues to inform her research interests and scholarly output.  Didi-Ogren has been teaching Japanese language and Japan-related courses since 1995, first as a graduate student and then as a full-time faculty member.  Didi-Ogren joins TCNJ from the faculty of St. Olaf College in Minnesota. 

Wayne Heisler (Music) received his Ph.D. from Princeton University with the dissertation “‘Freedom from the earth’s gravity’:  The Ballet Collaborations of Richard Strauss.”  He has taught at Princeton University and on a temporary basis at TCNJ and now begins a tenure-track appointment as Coordinator of Historical and Cultural Studies in the Department of Music.  Heisler is working on a study of Richard Strauss that examines the composer’s relationship to Modernism in European dance and music.  Heisler’s research interests embrace interdisciplinary inquiry and include American musical theater and popular musics of the last decades.  He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, including the American Musicological Society, Society of Dance History Scholars, and the International Musicological Society.  His published work appears in The Musical Quarterly, Opera Quarterly: Performance + History + Theory, and ECHO: a music-centered journal.  Heisler has received grants from the Germanistic Society of America and the German-American Fulbright Commission to fund residency at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. Prior to doctoral study at Princeton, he received a B.A. from DePaul University where he studied piano with Dmitry Paperno, and a M.MN at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Leona A. Harris (Mathematics  and Statistics) specializes in mathematical biology and brings strong teaching and research experiences to TCNJ.  Harris attended Spelman College where she participated in the Scholars in Mathematics at Spelman Program.  She graduated with a B.S. in mathematics and earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in applied mathematics from North Carolina State University.  After completing her postdoctoral work at the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she joined the faculty at Bennett College.  Harris presented the MAA-NAM David Blackwell Lecture on her work in Mathematical  Biology at the 2005 Mathfest in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  This past summer, she returned to the EPA to work with scientists in the National Center for Computational Toxicology on her research involving the development and utilization of mathematical models that describe the fate of a toxic chemical in the body following some sort of external exposure to the chemical (e.g., inhalation, ingestion). 

David Holleran (Criminology and Justice Studies) earned his B.S. at Trenton State College (TCNJ) and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Prior to joining the faculty at TCNJ, he was a member of the Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University.  His research interests include the effects of race/ethnicity on criminal justice processing, prosecutorial discretion in sexual assault cases, and evaluation research.  He is a registered consultant with the United States Department of Justice.  He is completing work on a research grant funded by the American Statistical Association and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  

Michael Horst (Mechanical Engineering) received his Ph.D., master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.  His dissertation focused on analyzing the mechanisms responsible for initiating scour at the base of bridge piers.  He conducted post-doctoral studies at Villanova University where he investigated and continues to research storm-water management topics, specifically best management practices.  He has several publications and proceedings relating to applied hydraulic and hydrologic methods used in water resources analysis.  Horst also brings to TCNJ a strong working relationship with local consulting firms as well as state and federal agencies for which he teaches continuing education short courses.  He stays active in the engineering community as a consultant and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Kevin H. Michels (Business Law) has interests that include business law, ethics, corporate governance and leadership.  Michels is the author of New Jersey Attorney Ethics, a comprehensive treatise on the law of lawyering in New Jersey, now in its eighth edition, which has been cited in the published decisions of state and federal courts in New Jersey.  Prior to joining the faculty at TCNJ, Michels was a director of Michels and Hockenjos, P.C., where he represented clients on a range of corporation, business law and intellectual-property issues, and served as expert witness, consultant, counsel and lectured widely on matters involving attorney ethics and liability.  Michels received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College and his law degree from Rutgers Law School-Newark, where he was Research Editor of the Rutgers Law Review.  He served as law clerk to Justice Robert L. Clifford, New Jersey Supreme Court and on the New Jersey Supreme Court Commission on the Rules of Professional Conduct, which advised the Court on the 2004 revision of the attorney-ethics rules.  

Susanna Monseau (Management) is an attorney qualified in the state of New York and in England.  After completion of her legal education in England, she worked in litigation in a major commercial law firm in London.  Her international legal experience has included practicing with large commercial law firms in Philadelphia and London as well as with an international patent practice in Princeton.  Her primary area of expertise is intellectual property law, particularly trademark, trade secret, and copyright litigation.  She has taught a variety of legal and regulatory environment courses, including legal environment of business, contracts, international business law and interdisciplinary offerings in intellectual property law.  Monseau’s research interests relate to the law and policy issues involved in the use of technology and the globalization of the world economy.  She has produced instructional teaching cases to develop students as successful business leaders by exposing them to real-life dilemmas facing managers in an increasingly global and highly technological world.  Two of her case studies have won national awards. Yahoo!, Hate Groups, Censorship and the Internet, co-authored with a former student, was published in the Case Research Journal and awarded the Curtis E. Tate award for the best case published in this journal. ‘So Many Countries, So Many Laws’: Yahoo!, Legal Uncertainty and the Internet, won the 2003 Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) annual award for the best international case.

Sudhir Nayak (Biology) uses classical and molecular genetic approaches to address the etiology of fundamental biological processes using the nematode C. elegans as a model system.  He earned his B.A from the University of Delaware focusing on science education at the secondary and post-secondary levels and his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania characterizing genes involved in mouse germ cell development.  Prior to coming to TCNJ, Nayak’s did post-doctoral work at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis focusing on understanding the evolution of self-fertility in nematodes at the molecular level.  While at Washington University, he co-developed a genomics course in the Department of Genetics.  Nayak has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals, and has made significant presentations at the state, regional, and national levels.  His current research interests include the development and maintenance of germline polarity.

Steve O’Brien (Technological Studies) received his Ph.D. and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University.  His dissertation focused on novel designs for optoelectronic semiconductor devices.  He received bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics from Western Washington University.  He has over 40 publications and approximately 20 patents.  O'Brien has extensive industrial experience, having worked for Bell Laboratories, Spectra Diode Laboratories and Lucent Technologies.  He co-founded T-Networks Inc., a company focused on high speed, low chirp electro-absorption modulators.  O'Brien has taught mathematics as an adjunct faculty member at several local colleges and also worked for the MSPGP (Math and Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia), an NSF-funded organization with a mission to recruit more science and math teachers.  At TCNJ, he wants to use his background in engineering and education to help create a focus on needed k-12 pre-engineering programs in public schools. 

Manish Paliwal (Mechanical Engineering) received his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale while working for the NSF sponsored Center for Advanced Friction Studies; his master's in applied mechanics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India; and his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from JNV University, India. Before coming to TCNJ, he was taught at SIU’s School of Medicine.  His research areas include orthopaedic biomechanics, experimental and computational mechanics, and friction and material science.  He has numerous journal and conference publications related to his research.  Paliwal brings to TCNJ a significant industrial experience, having held positions within Reliance Industries Limited, India, a Fortune 500 company.  He also serves as the editor of the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's (ASME) Dynamic Systems and Control Division's Newsletter and has been organizing and chairing sessions at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exposition.

Byron R. Parizek (Physics) received a B.S. in physics as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geosciences from The Pennsylvania State University.  He was a G. Comer Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow at The Pennsylvania State University.  Trained as a glaciologist, he has research interests relating to physical processes in the Earth sciences.  These include cryospheric dynamics, thermomechanical numerical modeling of ice sheets, cryospheric-oceanic-atmospheric interactions (paleo, modern, and projected future), ice sheets and neotectonics, subglacial and ice-surface hydrology, and the projected impacts of global warming on ice-sheet dynamics and eustatic sea level.  In addition to glaciological studies, Parizek also has many years of experience in hydrogeology.  

Ralph Russell (Music) received his doctorate in composition from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied with Emma Lou Diemer and Peter Racine Fricker. His works includes Essay for Orchestra, Jazz Sketches for Piano, Two Pieces for Solo Flute, Spiritual Journey (flute and piano) and For Steppers Only (jazz ensemble).  Russell’s compositions have been performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and at the College Music Society Composers Concert, The Iowa Composers Forum Concert, and Northern Kentucky University.  He has taught jazz history, African American music, music theory and jazz arranging and composition at Grinnell College, Northern Kentucky University, and Occidental College.  

Jess Row (English) received his B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Michigan.  He is the author of The Train to Lo Wu, a collection of short stories published by the Dial Press and is presently completing a novel also under contract with Dial.  His fiction has appeared in many literary journals and twice in The Best American Short Stories (2001 and 2003), and he is a regular contributor of nonfiction to the online news magazine Slate.  He has received a Whiting Writers Award, a Pushcart Prize, and an NEA fellowship in fiction. The Train to Lo Wu was a finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize and shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award.  He was a Yale-China teaching fellow in Hong Kong from 1997 to 1999, and since then has taught at the University of Michigan, the College of Mount Saint Vincent, and most recently at Montclair State University.  A student of Zen meditation, he is also an ordained dharma teacher at the Chogye International Zen Center of New York.

John Ruscio (Psychology) received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Brandeis University.  Prior to joining the faculty at TCNJ, he was a member of the faculty at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.  His research and teaching interests include statistical methods, judgment and decision making, distinguishing science and pseudoscience, and the classification of mental disorders.  He has published three dozen peer-reviewed articles and scholarly books and is collaborating on a number of additional projects.  He currently serves as a consulting editor at the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and an associate editor at The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice. 

Andrea Salgian (Computer Science) holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Rochester and a B.S. degree from the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania.  Her research focuses on computer vision, image processing, biometrics and artificial intelligence. She has numerous journal and conference publications related to her research.  Salgian also brings to TCNJ industrial experience, having worked as a senior systems engineer at Equinox Corporation in New York.  During 2005-2006 she taught at TCNJ on a temporary basis and now enters a tenure-track position.   

Miriam Segura-Totten (Biology) is a cell biologist who uses molecular biology and biochemical approaches to study the structure and function of the vertebrate nucleus.  She comes to TCNJ after having taught at Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Segura-Totten holds an A.B. in molecular biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  She has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and recently received funding from the National Institutes of Health to further her research interests with the help of undergraduate students. 

Marie Tumolo (Management) holds a Ph.D. in executive management from Claremont Graduate University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has a B.S. in accounting from St. Joseph’s University.  Tumolo has taught strategic management and organizational behavior courses at Salisbury University, Temple University, and California State University, Fullerton.  Her primary research interests are in human capital, inter-organizational relationships, and strategy implementation.  She co-authored Leveraging the New Human Capital, which was awarded the 2005 Outstanding Book of the Year by the Academy of Human Resource Development.  For over twenty years Tumulo worked with companies to improve strategic, operating and financial performance, focusing on the effective management of people, processes and technology.  She has worked as a management consultant with Gemini Consulting and Bearing Point (formerly KMPG LLP), been a vice president with Merrill Lynch & Co., a Certified Public Accountant, and an independent advisor to business executives.  Her clients include Fortune 50, middle market, and closely held companies in a variety of industries. 

Karen Chang Yan (Mechanical Engineering) received her Ph.D. and master's degrees from Drexel University and her bachelor's degree from University of Science and Technology of China, all in mechanical engineering.  Her current research interests include biomaterials, composite materials, biological tissues, and scaffold-guided tissue engineering.  Yan brings to TCNJ significant industrial experience, having held research and development positions within Materials Sciences Corporation, Panasonic Co. Japan, and Panda Electronics Co. Her research work has been published in several journals and conference proceedings.