UW Trustees Approve Personnel Items

The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees recently approved the following personnel items.

Administrative Appointments

Office of Academic Affairs

James Ahern as associate vice provost for graduate education. He received a B.A. (1991) from Beloit College, an M.A. (1993) from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. (1998) in anthropology from the University of Michigan. Ahern has been a faculty member at UW since 2000 and head of the Department of Anthropology since 2014.

Honors College

Dean’s Office

Donal Skinner as dean. He received a B.S. (1987) in zoology and computer science from Rhodes University, a B.S. (1988) in physiology from the University of Witwatersrand, and a Ph.D. (1994) in biology (neuroendocrinology) from the University of Cambridge. Skinner has been a faculty member at UW since 2002 and head of the Department of Zoology and Physiology since 2013.

Faculty Appointments

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Botany

Daniel Laughlin as associate professor with tenure. He received a B.S. (1999) in biology from Calvin College, an M.S. in ecology from Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. (2009) in forest science from Northern Arizona University. Laughlin has been an associate professor at the University of Waikato in New Zealand since 2016.  

Department of Chemistry

Michael Taylor as assistant professor. He received a B.S. (2006) in biochemistry from Salisbury University and a Ph.D. (2013) in organic chemistry from the University of Delaware. Taylor has been a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge since 2012.

Department of English

Nancy Small as assistant professor. She received a B.A. (1992) in English and psychology and an M.A. (1994) in English, both from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. (2014) in rhetoric and technical communication from Texas Tech University. Small has been an instructional associate professor at Texas A&M University since 2013.

Department of Music

Tiger Robison as assistant professor. He received a Bachelor of Music (2005) from the University of Hartford, an M.S. (2012) in music education from Central Connecticut State University, and a Ph.D. (2016) in music education from the University of Hartford. Robison has been a visiting professor at the University of Maryland since 2016.

College of Business

Department of Accounting and Finance

Mackenzie Festa as assistant professor. He received a B.S. (2010) in business administration, a Master of Professional Accountancy (2013), and a Ph.D. in business administration in accounting, all from West Virginia University.

College of Education

School of Counseling, Leadership, Advocacy and Design

W. Reed Scull as associate professor. He received a B.S. (1983) in finance from St. Louis University, an M.A. (1989) in political science from the University of Nevada-Reno, and an Ed.D. (1994) in higher education administration from the University of Arizona. Scull has been the associate dean of the Outreach School at UW since 2008.

Richard Carter as assistant professor. He received a B.S. (2010) in special education from Western Carolina University, and an M.S.E. (2012) in special education and a Ph.D., both from the University of Kansas. Carter was a teacher of exceptional children at the Carteret County Public Schools from 2012-13.

School of Teacher Education

Richard Kitchen as professor with tenure. He will serve as the Wyoming Excellence Chair in Mathematics Education. He received a B.A. (1984) in mathematics from the University of Colorado-Denver, an M.A. (1990) in mathematics from the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. (1996) in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kitchen has been chair of the Morgridge College of Education Kennedy Institute at the University of Denver since 2012.

Gabriel Swarts as assistant professor. He received a B.A. (2003) in integrated social studies education from Baldwin-Wallace College, and an M.A. (2006) in history and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, both from Kent State University. Swarts has been a teacher at Hudson High School since 2010.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Department of Computer Science

Lars Kotthoff as assistant professor. He received a Ph.D. (2012) in computer science from the University of St. Andrews. Kotthoff has been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia since 2015.

Chao Lan as assistant professor. He received a B.Eng. (2008) in electrical information engineering and an M.Eng. in pattern recognition and intelligent system, both from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications; and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Kansas.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

S. Maysam Mousaviraad as assistant professor. He received a B.S. (2002) and an M.S. (2004) in mechanical engineering, both from Sharif University of Technology; and a Ph.D. (2010) in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa. Mousaviraad has been an assistant research scientist at the University of Iowa since 2011.

College of Health Sciences

Division of Communication Disorders

Breanna Krueger as assistant professor. She received a B.A. (2007) in Spanish language and literature from UW; and an M.A. (2011) in linguistics, an M.A. (2014) in communicative sciences and disorders, and a Ph.D. (2017), all from the University of Kansas.

Division of Social Work

Travis Labrum as assistant professor. He received a B.S. (2004) in gender studies and psychology, and an MSW (2007), both from the University of Utah; and a Ph.D. (2017) in social welfare from the University of Pennsylvania. Labrum was an instructor at Rutgers University in 2017.

Academic Professional Appointments

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Criminal Justice

Daniel Fetsco as assistant lecturer. He received a B.A. (1995) in political science from UW, a J.D. (1998) from the University of Denver, and an M.A. (2013) in criminal justice from Arizona State University. Fetsco has been the executive director of the State of Wyoming, Board of Parole since 2014.

College of Health Sciences

School of Pharmacy

Charlie P. Cruz as assistant lecturer. He received a B.S. (1998) in medical technology from Lorma College, an M.A. (2003) in science education from Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, and a Ph.D. (2014) in management from Saint Louis College. Cruz has been a lecturer at Shaqra University since 2010.

Changes in Appointments

Administrators

Academic Affairs

Anne Alexander’s title has changed from associate vice president to associate vice provost for undergraduate education.

Tami Benham-Deal’s title has changed from associate vice president to vice provost.

Kyle Moore’s title has changed from associate vice president to associate vice provost for enrollment management.

College of Arts and Sciences

Dean’s Office

Teena Gabrielson will serve as associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Faculty

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Roger Coupal ends his appointment as department head and continues as a tenured professor in the department.

Benjamin Rashford will serve as department head.

College of Arts and Sciences

American Indian Studies Program

Christopher “Caskey” Russell ends his appointment as department head and continues as a tenured associate professor in the Department of English.

Department of Communication and Journalism

Tracey Patton ends her appointment as director and continues as a tenured professor in the department.

Department of English

Kelly Ann Kinney will serve as department head.

Peter Parolin ends his appointment as department head and continues as a tenured associate professor in the department.

Latina/o Studies

Cecilia Aragon ends her appointment as director of Latina/o Studies and continues as a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice

Jacquelyn Bridgeman will serve as interim director.

School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies

Stephanie Anderson will serve as director.

College of Business

Department of Economics

Jason Shogren will serve as department chair.

College of Education

School of Counseling, Leadership, Advocacy and Design

Suzanne Young will serve as director and will continue as associate dean in the College of Education.

School of Teacher Education

Leslie Rush will serve as director and will continue as associate dean in the College of Education.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Department of Atmospheric Science

Bart Geerts will serve as department head.

College of Law

James Delaney ends his appointment as associate dean and continues as a tenured professor in the college.