Welcome new faculty

Christopher Anderson, assistant professor of business, comes to KU from the University of Missouri where he was an assistant professor and won the faculty research award in 1997. He was named best professor by the MU MBA Association in 1999. Anderson earned his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and his master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Iowa. Previously, Anderson was a financial analyst in Brazil, a visiting assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University and a visiting research professor in Ecuador. He has research interests in corporate and international finance, and contracting and governance.

David L. Andrews, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, comes to KU from the University of Arkansas, where he facilitated the merger of the computer science and computer engineering programs and served as chair of the combined department. He earned his doctorate from Syracuse University, where he was a lecturer and adjunct professor, and his master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Missouri. He has worked as a senior systems engineer and research engineer for General Electric. Andrews has co-authored three books.

Steven M. Barlow, professor and chair of speech-language-hearing, comes to KU from Syracuse University, where he was professor and chair of communication sciences and disorders. He earned his doctoral, master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He has been associate editor of the Journal of Speech and Hearing Research and has published a textbook on clinical speech physiology. Barlow has developed a number of applications used in clinical speech physiology, including speech aerodynamics, electrophysiology of trigeminal and facial cranial nerves, and high-speed measures of orofacial motor control in infants, children and adults with communication disorders.

Elizabeth Egbert Berghout, university carillonneur and assistant professor of carillon and organ, holds degrees from Brigham Young University and KU, where she is completing a doctorate in organ performance. She has studied carillon with Albert Gerken and organ with Michael Bauer and James Higdon. Berghout became a member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 1999. She has performed at the House of Parliament, Ottawa, Ontario, L'Oratoire Saint-Joseph, Montreal, Quebec, and the 2000 World Carillon Congress. Since 1995 she has been a guest organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, where she regularly performs in the recital series.

Cindy L. Berrie, assistant professor of chemistry, worked as a postdoctoral research associate the University of Colorado, studying semiconductor growth by molecular beam epitaxy and semiconductor quantum dots. She earned her doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and her bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska.

Sondra Gayle Beverly, assistant professor of social welfare, worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her doctoral and master's degrees. Her research interests include material hardship, especially in the context of welfare reform; financial services for low-income individuals; the well-being of working poor families; and the evaluation of a national Individual Development Account policy demonstration. She received a master's degree in economics from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a bachelor's degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University.

George Bittlingmayer, Wagnon distinguished professor of finance, earned his doctoral and master's degrees in economics from the University of Chicago. He previously taught at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Michigan. He also worked as a research fellow at the International Institute of Management in Berlin and as a visiting economist at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Corporate Finance and Economic Inquiry. His research has focused on mergers, stock market volatility, and the effect of government policies on financial markets and business activity.

Debra Blumenthal, assistant professor of history, earned her doctoral and master's degrees in history from the University of Toronto and her bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow for the Center for the Study of Cultures at Rice University. Her teaching interests include religious, economic and cultural interaction in the Mediterranean world; medieval and early-modern Europe; medieval and early-modern Spain; Islamic history; the Crusades; comparative slavery; and gender in medieval and early modern society.

Ann M. Brill, associate professor of journalism, comes to KU from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she was an assistant professor and research director for the Digital Missourian Online Newspaper Project. She earned a doctorate in mass communication from the University of Minnesota, a master's degree in journalism from Marquette University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin. Brill has research and teaching interests in new technology implementation and implications, media law, copy editing, reporting, multiculturalism, children's use of mass media, and online advertising. She is director of the Dow Jones Online Editing Workshop and was named outstanding faculty member by the University of Missouri Panhellenic Council.

Karl Brooks, assistant professor of history and of environmental studies, received his doctorate in history in May from KU. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University. He was a history instructor at Boise State University and Northwest Nazarene College. He served as an Idaho state senator for six years, becoming a ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee and the Local Government and Taxation Committee.

Chung-Hoon Peter Chun, assistant professor of music and dance, is completing his doctorate from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he earned master's and bachelor's degrees in viola performance. He has extensive recital, chamber music and orchestral experience, performing internationally with distinguished performers and under renowned conductors. Chun has extensive conducting experience and training in arts administration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the Lehner String Quartet, in residence at the International Musical Arts Institute.

Cynthia M. Colwell, assistant professor of music and dance, comes to KU from the University of Arizona where she was an adjunct assistant professor of music education. She received her doctorate in music education from Louisiana State University, her master's degree in music therapy from Florida State University, and her bachelor's of music education from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Colwell developed the initial music therapy program for the Institute for Developmental Disabilities in Assonet, Mass.

Yvonne Elias-Moussa, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, has been an associate faculty member at the KU School of Pharmacy. She received her doctorate from Creighton University, where she was a Merck Student Research Fellow. Elias-Moussa completed pre-pharmacy studies in biological sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso and Baylor University. Her pharmacy practice residency was with Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. She recently worked as an oncology clinical specialist at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.

Michael S. Engel, assistant professor of entomology, returns to KU where he earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and cell biology. He earned his doctorate in entomology from Cornell University. During his undergraduate years at KU, he was a research assistant and received the outstanding senior research award in the division of biological sciences. Most recently he was a research scientist for the division of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His field experience includes expeditions in Hawaii, Panama and Israel.

Frank M. Farmer, associate professor of English, founded and coordinated the master's concentration in rhetoric and composition at East Carolina University, where he was an associate professor of English. He earned a doctorate in rhetoric and composition and a master's degree in English from the University of Louisville, where he was a graduate teaching assistant. He was recognized at both institutions as a positive influence on freshman retention. Farmer earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Indiana University.

Michael S. Finger, assistant professor of psychology, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, with an emphasis in psychometric methods. He earned his bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Central Florida, and was a graduate instructor and guest lecturer in the department of psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Ken Fischer, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has research interests in upper extremity biomechanics, general orthopaedic biomechanics and bone biomechanics. He earned doctoral and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University. He was an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the departments of orthopaedic surgery, mechanical engineering and bioengineering. Previously, he was a mechanical engineer for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle.

Sherry Fowler, assistant professor of art history, earned a doctorate in art history from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she specialized in Japanese Buddhist art with a minor in Indian art history. She received a master's degree from the University of Washington and a bachelor's degree from California State University in Long Beach. Fowler recently was an assistant professor at Lewis & Clark College. She was an instructor at the University of California at Irvine and the University of Southern California and was an English instructor in Kyoto, Japan.
William Fuerst joins KU as dean of business and Henry D. Price professor of business. Most recently he was an associate dean and professor at the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business at Texas A&M University, where he received a distinguished teaching award and a Partners in Learning Award of Excellence. While at Texas A&M, he was director of the Center for the Management of Information Systems and president of the local chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma. He earned a doctorate from Texas Tech University, a master's degree from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor's degree from Knox College. Areas of research include emerging information technology, management information systems, information resource management and systems analysis and design.

Richard C. Fyffe, assistant dean for scholarly communication at the University Libraries, comes to KU from the University of Connecticut where he earned master's and bachelor's degrees in philosophy. He also earned a master's degree from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston. He was a senior fellow and visiting scholar at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He was head of collections services for the University of Connecticut Libraries and library director at Essex Institute in Salem, Mass.

Mike Hall, assistant professor of music and dance, comes to KU from Eastern Michigan University, where he taught applied low brass, directed the jazz ensemble program and performed as principal trombone in the Galliard Brass Ensemble and the Ann Arbor Symphony. He earned a doctorate in trombone performance from the University of Minnesota, a master's degree in trombone performance from the University of Arizona and a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Hall is literature reviews editor for the International Trombone Association Journal. He won first place in the Tucson Jazz Society Soloist Competition and is a three-time winner of the Eau Claire Jazz Festival Combo Competition.

Scott Harding, assistant professor of social welfare, has research interests that include poverty, welfare reform, homelessness, and social welfare policy and its effect on African-Americans and low-income populations. He earned a doctorate from the University of Washington, where he taught courses such as Social Policy and Economic Security, Poverty in America, and Cultural Diversity and Justice. He received master's and bachelor's degrees from California State University at Sacramento.

Helen Hartnett, assistant professor of social welfare, comes to KU from Ohio State University, where she earned her doctorate with a dissertation on "The places created for homeless people: regions of acceptance or rejection?" She earned master's degrees in women's studies and social work and a bachelor's degree in Spanish, all from Ohio State University. Hartnett was a research assistant and graduate teaching associate at the College of Social Work at Ohio State, where she was elected Graduate Teaching Associate of the Year.

Christopher Anderson

Elizabeth Berghout

George Bittlingmayer

Debra Blumenthal

Karl Brooks

Chug-Hoon Peter Chun

Cynthia Colwell

Ken Fischer

Sherry Fowler

William Fuerst

Mike Hall