Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Faculty

This Fall, the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences welcomes 20 new faculty members each having experience, both inside and outside of the classroom, in a variety of fields and interests. The new faculty members are as follows:

Stephen Andon, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Humanities
Stephen Andon received his Ph.D. in Communication and M.A. in Mass Communication Studies from Florida State University. He was previously an assistant professor at Florida State College in Jacksonville. His research and teaching interests include media studies, rhetoric and culture, and sport and media.

Nelson Bass, J.D., Ph.D., instructor | Division of Humanities
Nelson Bass received his J.D. from the University of Miami and recently earned his Ph.D. in Political Science at Florida International University. His research and teaching interests include American politics and foreign policy, international relations and international political economy, as well as Cuban politics. He served as a visiting professor in the college’s Division of Humanities last year.

Juliette Kitchens, Ph.D., instructor | Division of Humanities
Juliette Kitchens recently completed her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition at Georgia State University. She also earned an M.A. in English from the University of Alabama. Her research and teaching interests include first-year composition, writing program administration, and composition theory and practice.

Ed Reardon, M.F.A., visiting professor | Division of Humanities
Ed Reardon received his M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Florida International University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Florida State University. He has served as an adjunct professor in the college’s Division of Humanities, teaching both undergraduate and graduate writing courses. Reardon also served as a tutor in the college’s Office of Academic Services.

Jeffrey Matthew Hoch, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Jeffrey Matthew Hoch received his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University in 2009. He specializes in wetlands restoration, evolutionary ecology, and community ecology of marine invertebrates. Hoch served as a post-doctoral research associate at the Southeast Environmental Research Center at Florida International University. He has published numerous research papers on marine biology and environmental science.

Raymond Holsapple, Ph.D., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Raymond Holsapple received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Texas Tech University in 2006. He served as a research mathematician in the U.S. Air Force from 2006 to 2012, and then as an adjunct faculty at Wright State University in Ohio. Holsapple has published a number of research papers and book chapters in mathematics. In 2011, he served as editor of the International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control. Holsapple is a member of American Mathematical Society.

Michelle Larrea, Ph.D., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Michelle Larrea received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Miami in 2008. From 2009 to 2011, she completed post-doctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology at Duke University. Her research focused on the roles played by two protein kinases, PKB and RSK1, in regulating the function of a key cell-cycle mediator, p27. Larrea has published various research papers in the areas of biochemistry and molecular biology. She also served as an adjunct faculty in chemistry at Miami Dade College.

Harris Lash, D.C., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Harris Lash received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Texas Chiropractic College in 1977. His coursework included a variety of human anatomy and physiology-related courses, as well as orthopedics and kinesiology. Most recently, Lash taught for Broward County Public Schools. He has also served as an adjunct faculty at Broward College and Nova Southeastern University.

Jeffrey Lyons, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Jeffrey Lyons received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Baylor University in 2010. He served as an instructor of mathematics at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, from 2010 to 2012. Lyons has taught a variety of math courses at all levels, including algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and linear algebra. He has published numerous research papers on differential and difference equations, and has presented a number of talks at professional conferences.

Julian Moorehead, Ph.D., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Julian Moorehead received his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 2012 and his M.S. in Mathematics in 2006, both from the University of Miami. He has served as an adjunct faculty at Miami Dade College. Moorehead’s research areas include algebraic and enumerative combinatorics.

Louis Nemzer, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Louis Nemzer received his Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio State University in 2007. He then served as a post-doctoral research associate at Kansas State University. As a graduate student, Nemzer studied courses in quantum mechanics, statistical physics, classical mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and condensed matter, as well as many special-topics courses, such as biophysics, computational physics, and magnetic polymers. He has published a number of research papers in the area of biophysics.

Corey Peacock, M.Ed., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Corey Peacock received his M.Ed. in Applied Exercise Science from Ashland University in 2009. He is expected to complete his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from Kent State University in September 2012. He has published various research papers on exercise science. His book manuscript, “Case Study: American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Guidelines for Persons with Parkinson’s Disease Promotes Improvements in Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness Following an Eight-Week Program,” is currently under review for publication.

Aarti Raja, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Aarti Raja received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland in 2000 and completed her post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School in 2003. As a graduate student, she studied various courses, including general biology, microbiology, biochemistry, chemistry, virology and tissue culture, immunology, bacterial pathogenesis, genetics, and bacterial metabolism. Her research papers have appeared in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, the Journal of Virology, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Robert Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Robert Smith earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Carleton University in 2009 and continued his post-doctoral research experience at Duke University. His graduate thesis was on non-self recognition in fungi and focused on a wide range of topics, including classical genetics, molecular genetics, proteomics, fungal biology, and microbiology. Additionally, his post-doctoral research focused on several topics, including infectious disease, antibiotics, microbiology, synthetic biology, systems biology, mathematical modeling, and quantitative molecular biology. Smith has published several first-author manuscripts, reviews, and book chapters.

Adam Sobczak, Ph.D., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Adam Sobczak received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland in 2003, having earned his B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry at the university as well. He served as an assistant professor at the University of Life Sciences in Poznań, before taking up a post-doctoral fellowship at Florida International University from 2006 to 2011. Sobczak has published various research papers in chemistry and has presented at national meetings and conferences.

Larry Starr, M.Ed., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Larry Starr received his M.Ed. from Ohio University with a focus on baseball strength and conditioning programs. While earning his degree, Starr served as a certified athletic trainer at the university. After graduation, Starr worked with the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins professional baseball teams for 25 years and 10 years, respectively. He also served as the director of sports medicine/athletic training at Nova Southeastern University. In addition to his professional education and practical experience in the area of athletic training, Starr has earned multiple certifications, including the strength and conditioning coach certification.

Emily Tarsis, Ph.D., visiting professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Emily Tarsis received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Duke University in 2010. She served as a post-doctoral associate at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida. Tarsis has published a number of research papers in chemistry and has presented at national meetings and conferences.

Michael VanHilst, Ph.D., associate professor | Division of Math, Science, and Technology
Michael VanHilst received both his Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Washington in 1997 and 1992, respectively. He has served as an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University and has extensive experience in computer-software development and security. VanHilst has published numerous research papers and book chapters in computer science and engineering, and received a patent on “meaning token dictionary for automatic speech recognition.”

Robert Sparrow Jones, M.F.A., assistant professor | Division of Performing and Visual Arts
Robert Sparrow Jones received his B.F.A. from Kutztown University and his M.F.A. from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He was artist-in-residence at the Museum of Glass, the Frye Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and the Vermont Studio Center, as well as awarded a fellowship at Can Serrat in Spain. Jones’s work has been reviewed in Oxford American, Athens Food & Culture, Gutter, Seattle, and Baltimore magazines. His work also appears in the book New American Paintings and has been exhibited from New York City to Hong Kong.

Timothy Razza, Psy.D., assistant professor | Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Timothy Razza earned his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in 2004. Following his graduation, Razza completed a post-doctoral training placement at the Institute for Child and Family Health in Miami, where he was responsible for a mental health day-treatment program for elementary, middle, and high school children with severe emotional disturbances. Following his post-doctoral training, Razza remained at the institute, serving in various positions including clinical program coordinator, clinical supervisor, and director of their APA-approved internship program. Razza’s clinical interests include psychological assessment, evidence-based treatment of anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders in children and adolescents, and assessment of suicide in children and adolescents.