CSUF Welcomes New Faculty for 2025-26 Academic Year

Hesam Abedini

assistant professor of music Education: Ph.D. integrated composition, improvisation and technology, UC Irvine

Research Interests: Composition, computer music, intercultural music, improvisation

Jordan Chase

assistant professor of art Education: MFA, sequential art, Savannah College of Art and Design

Research Interests: Storyboards, animatics, graphic novels, comics, fantasy and magic as narrative metaphor; diversity and community

Nery Lemus

assistant professor of art Education: MFA, fine arts, California Institute of the Arts; BFA, fine arts, Art Center College of Design

Research Interests: Division, stereotypes and immigration in art; poetics of empowerment and self-determination of marginalized communities

Kenneth McGrath

assistant professor of music Education: M.M. performance and literature, University of Rochester; B.A. music-percussion performance, UCLA

Research Interests: Music performance

Hunter Moody

assistant professor of theatre and dance Education: MFA, drama-sound design, UC Irvine; BFA, theatre arts-design/technology; A.A. liberal arts, Arkansas State University

Research Interests: Intersections of acoustic ecology, soundscape preservation and sonic artistry; development of knowledge and creative applications for sound in virtual spaces; psychological impact of sound on memory and mood; emergent theories in psychoacoustics and auditory neurobiology; audio technology and programming in live production

Hassan Syed

assistant professor of theatre and dance Education: MFA, dance, Temple University; B.A. dance, Georgian Court University

Research Interests: Dance, art, mindfulness, choreography, hip-hop

Anthony Bald

assistant professor of economics Education: Ph.D. public policy, Harvard University; B.A. economics, Pomona College

Research Interests: Labor economics, health economics, economic history

Nour El Shamy^*

assistant professor of information systems and decision sciences Education: Ph.D. information systems, McMaster University

Research Interests: Decision-making, user experience, neuro-information systems, aging

Farnaz Ghashami

assistant professor of information systems and decision sciences Education: Ph.D. operations and business analytics, M.S. economics and computer science, Drexel University

Research Interests: Artificial intelligence, trust, morality, technology adoption

Mikyoung Lim

assistant professor of marketing Education: Ph.D. marketing, University of South Florida; MBA, marketing, Sogang University; BBA, business administration, Kyungpook National University

Research Interests: Digital consumer behavior, socioeconomic status/identity, immersive retail, social media engagement, AI-powered marketing strategies

David (Scott) Taylor

assistant professor of management Education: Ph.D. business strategy/entrepreneurship, University of Washington; MBA, University of Utah; B.S. business management, Brigham Young University

Research Interests: Entrepreneurship, innovation, social entrepreneurship, traditionally underserved entrepreneurs, certifications — organic, fair trade, non-GMO

Sid Yamalakonda

assistant professor of management Education: Ph.D. supply chain management, Auburn University

Research Interests: Social welfare, digital platforms

Maria Felicitas Baruch Blanco

assistant professor of communications Education: Ph.D. communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst; M.A. broadcast journalism, Emerson College; B.A. social communication, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana

Research Interests: Digital platforms, global communication, audience studies, media industry studies, alternative journalism, community journalism

Felipe Vara De Rey

assistant professor of cinema and television arts Education: MFA, film production, New York University; B.A. political science, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Research Interests: Cinematography, directing, writing, narrative storytelling, documentary filmmaking, political communication, social movements

Ceciley Zhang

assistant professor of human communication studies Education: Ph.D. communication, UC Santa Barbara

Research Interests: Digital media, human-AI interaction

Charles Flowers

assistant professor of elementary and bilingual education Education: Ph.D. human development and family science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; M.Ed. elementary education, Lipscomb University; M.Ed. educational leadership, Trevecca Nazarene University; B.S. interdisciplinary studies in education and science, Tennessee State University

Research Interests: Intersection of early childhood education, human development and learning sciences; exploring how teacher-child interactions support the learning and development of Black and Latine children; and advancing equity-centered teaching practices in early childhood mathematics and computer science education

Jeong-Yeon Park

assistant professor of elementary and bilingual education Education: Ph.D. curriculum, instruction and teacher education, Michigan State University; M.Ed. educational administration, B.Ed. elementary education, Gongju National University of Education

Research Interests: Early childhood, elementary education and teacher education; transmigrant and multilingual students and teachers; exploring how de-/anti-colonial frameworks can foster more equitable, relational and unoppressive educational spaces

Mario Worlds

assistant professor of literacy and reading education Education: Ph.D. language and literacy education, University of Florida

Research Interests: Literacy education, literacy and incarceration

Annie Ji

assistant professor of computer science Education: Ph.D. computer science, Georgia State University

Research Interests: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining

ASM Rizvi

assistant professor of computer science Education: Ph.D. computer science, USC; M.S. computer science, B.S. computer science, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Research Interests: Networking, security, internet measurement

Karla Hill

assistant professor of nursing Education: DNP, Cal State Fullerton; MSN, nursing, Georgetown University; BSN, nursing, Wright State University

Research Interests: Women’s health and disparities

Youngjoon Kim

assistant professor of kinesiology Education: Ph.D. kinesiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; M.S. sport pedagogy, Seoul National University; B.S. elementary physical education, Seoul National University of Education

Research Interests: Teacher motivation, psychological well-being, workplace experience

Tommy Minkler

assistant professor of kinesiology Education: Ph.D. sport, exercise and performance psychology; M.A. clinical mental health counseling, West Virginia University

Research Interests: Mindfulness, self-compassion, resilience, athlete mental health

Laila Shad

assistant professor of nursing Education: DNP, midwifery, UCLA

Research Interests: Trauma-informed pelvic examinations, maternal health care disparities, LGBTQ+ inequities in obstetrics and gynecology

Katrina Waldhauser

assistant professor of kinesiology Education: Ph.D. kinesiology, University of British Columbia

Research Interests: Sport and exercise psychology, group dynamics

Frankie Bauer

assistant professor of history Education: Ph.D. American studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.A. history, Western Carolina University; B.A. history, Middle Georgia State University; A.A. history, Georgia Military College

Research Interests: Cherokee studies, Intertribal diplomacy, Native nation-building

John Burnett

assistant professor of politics, administration and justice Education: Ph.D. political science, UC Riverside; M.A. politics, The Catholic University of America; B.A. political science, California Baptist University

Research Interests: Political behavior; Indigenous politics; tribal, state and federal relations

Vanessa Calderon

assistant professor of psychology Education: Ph.D. clinical psychology, MPH, USC; B.A. psychology, Yale University

Research Interests: Latine mental health, mental health inequities, pathways to care, early psychosis, treatment engagement, family systems

Sarah Chavez

assistant professor of psychology Education: Postdoctoral fellow, substance use, Brown University Center for Alcohol Addiction Studies; Ph.D. interdisciplinary research on substance use, UC San Diego; M.A. clinical psychology, Cal State Northridge; B.A. psychology, University of Redlands

Research Interests: Etiology of substance use and mental health outcomes; substance use intervention research among Latinx populations and college students; institutional belongingness on substance use and mental health outcomes among college students

Hossein Karimi

assistant professor of psychology Education: Ph.D. experimental psychology, UC Davis

Research Interests: Language processing, memory, aging

Jessica Lee

assistant professor of politics, administration and justice Education: Ph.D. political science, UCLA

Research Interests: Asian American politics, immigration policy, political behavior, civic engagement

Jewel Lee

assistant professor of psychology Education: Ph.D., M.A. psychology-positive organizational psychology, Claremont Graduate University; M.S. organizational dynamics-organizational consulting and executive coaching, University of Pennsylvania; MBA, marketing, Yonsei University; B.A. education, Ewha Womans University

Research Interests: Career crafting and well-being of marginalized workers, scale development and validation, positive psychology interventions

Justin Lund^*

assistant professor of anthropology Education: Ph.D., M.A. molecular anthropology and microbiome research, University of Oklahoma; B.S. human evolution and social change, Arizona State University

Research Interests: Bioethics, molecular anthropology, Indigenous genomics, archaeogenomics, community-based participatory research, Indigenous methodologies

Anne Reid

assistant professor of history Education: Ph.D., M.A. U.S. and Latin American history, USC; MLIS, San José State University; B.A. studio art, Cal State LA

Research Interests: Histories of gender, medical history, Spanish North American borderlands

Steven Tran

assistant professor of psychology Education: Ph.D. cell and systems biology-neuroscience, B.Sc. biology and psychology, University of Toronto

Research Interests: Neuroscience, biology, genetics, sleep research, alcohol addiction research

Rachel Riter

senior assistant librarian Education: MLIS, San José State University

Research Interests: Information literacy

Anna Holmquist

assistant professor of biological science Education: Ph.D. environmental science, UC Berkeley; B.S. zoology/entomology, North Carolina State University

Research Interests: Interaction of ecology and evolution in shaping arthropod biodiversity across scales; historical formation of biodiversity; modern-day biodiversity response to global change; using molecular approaches to more rapidly classify and study unknown biodiversity

Stratis Karantanellis

assistant professor of geological sciences Education: Ph.D. landslide hazard modeling, B.Sc. engineering geologist, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; M.Sc. geo-information science and remote sensing, University of Twente

Research Interests: Applied urban geology; artificial intelligence and machine learning for disaster management; landslide risk modeling for early warning systems; eco-friendly materials to create sustainable art installations

Lara Kassab

assistant professor of mathematics Education: Ph.D. mathematics, Colorado State University

Research Interests: Applied mathematics, data science, machine learning

Eleftherios Lambros

assistant professor of physics Education: Ph.D. chemistry, UC San Diego; B.S. mathematics, B.S. biochemistry and molecular biology, UC Irvine

Research Interests: Chemical physics, chemical theory and computation, quantum information