School of Education welcomes eight new faculty members

School of Education welcomes eight new faculty membersMay 11, 2006Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

The School of Education has recruited a diverse group of eight new faculty members, all rising stars in their respective fields.

The school’s faculty members are known for their dedication to academic exploration and innovation and their commitment to student growth and professional development. This new class of professional educators underwrites the school’s commitment to excellence in education in the years to come.

Kalena Cortes, assistant professor, higher education–Cortes comes to the School of Education from Princeton University, where she was a postdoctoral research associate. Her fields of specialization are labor economics and the economics of education, and she has a strong background in applied econometrics and economic demography. Her research background also includes labor economics, such as immigration, income inequality and health. Her publications have appeared in the Review of Economics and Statistics and the Economics of Education Review. She completed her Ph.D. degree in economics at the University of California at Berkeley.

Keith DeRuisseau, assistant professor, exercise science–In addition to teaching courses, advising graduate students and continuing his own research, DeRuisseau will be responsible for setting up an exercise biochemistry lab in the Institute for Sensory Research on SU’s South Campus. Before coming to Syracuse, DeRuisseau was a post-doctoral associate in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology in the University of Florida’s Center for Exercise Science. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his Ph.D. degree in movement sciences from Florida State University.

Benjamin Dotger, assistant professor, teaching and leadership–Dotger recently completed his doctorate in the curriculum and instruction department at North Carolina State University. He taught for four years as an English teacher at Mt. Pleasant (North Carolina) High School before moving to Raleigh to continue his graduate education. His current research interests include teacher mentoring and novice teacher retention. He has a bachelor’s degree in English education from Elon University, a M.A. degree in English education from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.

Sharon Dotger, assistant professor, teaching and leadership/science education–Dotger received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then taught high school chemistry, physical science and earth science in North Carolina for five years. During that period, she earned a teaching certificate at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s degree in science education from Montana State University. She completed her Ph.D. in science education at North Carolina State University. Her research interests include the development of pre-service science teachers and the effective use of constructivist teaching strategies in science classrooms.

Dawn Johnson, post-doctoral instructor, higher education–Johnson’s research interests include the experiences of women of color in math, science and engineering programs, and the impact of social justice education courses on attitudes toward diversity. Her work experience includes multicultural affairs, admissions and recruitment and academic advising. She has a bachelor’s in anthropology from Bowdoin College, a master’s of education degree in student personnel administration from Springfield College and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland. She will join the School of Education faculty in January.

Gretchen Lopez, assistant professor, cultural foundations of education–Lopez’s research focuses on the social psychology of inter-group relations and social identities, multicultural education, pro-social behavior and violence prevention. She currently is the project coordinator for Syracuse University’s violence prevention project and is the project director for the inter-group dialogue research project, part of a multi-university collaboration that brings together teachers and researchers from 10 institutions of higher education to develop, implement and research inter-group dialogue courses for college students. Lopez holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Jeffrey Mangram, assistant professor, teaching and leadership–Before returning to the School of Education to complete his Ph.D, Mangram distinguished himself in the classroom as a social studies teacher, including being named a finalist for the New York State Teacher of the Year award. Mangram successfully defended his dissertation this spring in teaching and leadership, and will continue teaching in that department in the fall. Mangram holds a bacehlor’s degree in policy studies/political studies and a master’s degree in social studies education, both from SU.

Emma Suarez, assistant professor, teaching and leadership/music education–Suarez was born and raised in the Canary Islands, Spain. She holds a Level III Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training certificate and a Kodaly Certificate from the Kodaly Musical Training Institute. She has published numerous articles and contributed to “Strategies for Teaching: K-4 General Music” (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996), “Performance Standards for Music: Grades Pre K-12” (Music Educators National Conference, 1996) and “Strategies for Teaching Elementary and Middle-Level Chorus” (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997). She earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in music education from the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Conn. Her Ph.D. in music education is from the University of Toronto.