Dr. Judy K. Sakaki welcomes Sonoma State University faculty, staff and students back to campus for her first semester as president at the university's Convocation ceremony, Monday, Aug. 22, 9-11:30 a.m. in Weill Hall at the Green Music Center. The university welcomes 18 new tenure-track faculty, as well as six visiting faculty, for the 2016-17 school year. The student body for the fall 2016 semester is shaping up to be similar to fall 2015, which saw 9,400 students enter Sonoma State. Classes begin August 23.
Convocation 2016 Schedule
Monday, Aug. 22, Weill Hall, Green Music Center
8:30 a.m.
Refreshments and socializing
9:00
Welcome, Dr. Ben Ford, Chair of the Faculty
9:05 - 9:35
Dr. Judy Sakaki, President of the University
9:35 - 9:45
Presentation of the Excellence in Teaching Awards
9:45 - 10:00
Dr. Jeronima (Jeri) Echeverria, Interim Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs
10:00 - 10:30
Faculty showcase featuring: Jesse Bengson, Felicia Kalker, Owen Anfinson, Shannon Benine, Armand Gilinsky/Sandra Newton, Rhianna Casesa
10:30 - 10:35
Ms. Emily Hinton, President, Associated Students
10:35 - 10:40
Ms. Katie Musick, Staff Representative to the Senate
10:40 - 11:00
Dr. Elaine Newman, Chapter President, California Faculty Association
11:00 - 11:30
Dr. Ben Ford, Chair of the Faculty
New tenure-track faculty:
Lisa Bentley
Department: Biology
Education: Ph.D Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University
Specialty: Plant ecophysiology, community ecology and ecosystem ecology
Tammy Brunk
Department: Nursing
Education: DNP, Colorado Mesa University
Specialty: Teenage sexual health and best strategies for implementing reproductive life choices in practice
Martha Byrne
Department: Mathematics
Education: Ph.D Mathematics, University of New Mexico
Specialty: Math Education
Sergio Canavati
Department: Business Administration
Education: Ph.D Economics and Entrepreneurship & Innovation, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Specialty: Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial cognition, corporate financialization, and corporate social responsibility
Emily Clark
Department: Spanish
Education: Ph.D Hispanic Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Specialty: Latin American Literature: late colonial period and the independence era in the 19th century
Mark Gondree
Department: Computer Science
Education: Ph.D Computer Science, UC Davis
Specialty: Security, cryptography, and computer security education
Brendan Hamel-Bissell
Department: Engineering
Education: Ph.D Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Specialty: Fiber optics
Aja LaDuke
Department: Literacy Studies and Elementary Education
Education: Ph.D Curriculum and Instruction, University of Connecticut
Specialty: Literacy education, multicultural education, intersections of language, literacy, culture & identity in education, critical literacy
Thomas Limbert
Department: Music
Education: Ph.D Music Composition, Duke University
Specialty: Composer, music technologist, percussionist
Ayumi Nagase
Department: Early Childhood Studies
Education: Ph.D Cognition & Development, UC Berkeley
Specialty: Cross cultural differences on parenting and child socialization, especially how to promote social and emotion development for young children of diverse background
Bogdan Negru
Department: Chemistry
Education: Ph.D Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Specialty: The development of new nanoparticle substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with improved chemical selectivity through the use of metal-organic frameworks
Wendy Ostroff
Department: Hutchins
Education: Ph.D Cognitive & Developmental Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University
Specialty: Cognitive and developmental psychology
Rita Premo
Department: Library, Scholarly Communications and Science Librarian
Education: MS Information Sciences, University of Tennessee
Specialty: Access to information, media and science literacy, and scholarly publishing
Jordan Rose
Department: Nursing
Education: DNP, Northern California Consortium
Specialty: How technology can support health and education
Benjamin Smith
Department: Human Development
Education: Ph.D Comparative Human Development & Linguistics, University of Chicago
Specialty: Linguistic and cultural anthropology, the processes through which children come to be more fully social and cultural beings -- especially the role that language plays in these processes, the languages and cultures of the Peruvian Andes
Anastasia Tosouni
Department: Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies
Education: Ph.D Criminology, Law & Society, UC Irvine
Specialty: Gender violence, inequalities, social/restorative justice
Thomas Whitley
Department: Anthropology
Education: Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Pittsburg
Specialty: Cultural resource management and the spatial modeling of past human behavior
Krista Wolcott
Department: Nursing
Education: Ph.D Nursing, UC San Francisco
Specialty: Nursing med/surg, geriatrics, palliative care, ethics
Visiting Professors
Andriana Foiles Sifuentes
Department: Anthropology Education: Ph.D Cultural Anthropology, University of Massachusetts
Ramya Ghosh
Department: Economics
Education: Ph.D Economics, Claremont Graduate University
Specialty: International finance; research in international capital flows, link between exchange rate and monetary policies, and regulatory framework of foreign investments and trade in emerging markets
Brooke Lober
Department: Women's and Gender Studies
Education: Ph.D Gender & Women's Studies, University of Arizona
Josefa Pace
Department: English
Education: Ph.D Literacy Studies, Hofstra University
Specialty: Writing and digital rhetoric on culture, identity, and gender
Michael Suarez
Department: Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education
Education: Ph.D Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice, University of Colorado at Boulder
Karna Wong
Department: Environmental Studies and Planning
Education: Ph.D Urban Planning, UC Los Angeles
Specialty: Affordable housing, community development, social and environmental justice