Welcome New Faculty for 2023-24

08/25/2023

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The Buchtel College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to welcome eight new faculty members for the 2023-24 academic year.

Yilin Liu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry

Before joining UA, Liu held the position of research assistant professor at Marquette University. Her research focus on the study of structure function relationships in heme proteins, using principally resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopy as an effective probe of the heme and its immediate surroundings, in both terminal and intermediate states of enzymatic reactions. This will be accomplished using several innovative approaches, involving the virtually unique combination of cryoradiolysis and the innovative “nano-disc” sampling technology. 

  • Ph.D. Biochemistry and Biophysics, Marquette University
  • B.S. Analytical Chemistry, Liaoning University 

Maeve Marino, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Anthropology

Marino is an archaeologist who has been an adjunct professor at UA since 2021. She is the executive director of the Stewards of Historical Preservation, a non-profit whose mission is to preserve the cultural resources of northeast Ohio. She was the field manager for the Everett Knoll Complex project, an archeological district in Peninsula, Ohio, associated with the prehistoric Hopewell culture.

  • M.A. Anthropology, Ball State University
  • B.A. Anthropology, University of Akron

Leah Michalos

Assistant Professor of Practice,

Department of Dance, Theatre and Arts Administration

An Ohio native, Michalos brings with her 15 years of arts administration experience as producing/managing director of The Directors Company, an award-winning not-for-profit theatre company in New York, NY. She also has her own consulting firm where she oversees the business operations of both commercial and nonprofit theatre, music, art, and dance companies.

  • M.B.A. Louisiana State University
  • M.F.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • B.A. English, The Ohio State University

Chelsea Miller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology

Miller finished her 2-year NSF postdoctoral fellowship at Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio, before joining UA. Her research interests include global change biology, species interactions, phenology, spring ephemerals, chemical ecology, and distribution​ modeling.

  • Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • M.S. Intercollegiate Graduate Statistics Program, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • B.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Central Arkansas

Naglaa Mohamed, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Education (Wayne)

Mohamed was working in the Toledo Public Schools as a licensed intervention specialist and as an adjunct professor at Franklin University before starting at UA. Through her published works, she employed the Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework and interpretive lens, passionately advocating for and illuminating the needs of minority students as a vital facet of social justice. Mohamed is deeply devoted to closing the gap between minority students and their peers, with a strong commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in education.

  • Ph.D. Curriculum & Instruction, University of Toledo
  • Special Education Licensure Program, University of Toledo
  • M.B.A. International Business Administration, École Supérieure Libre des Sciences Commerciales Appliquées, France
  • M.S. Chemistry, Cairo University
  • B.S. Chemistry, Cairo University

Elena Popa, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Anthropology

Popa has been a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology since 2020 before her new role. Her research and teaching interests include migration and displacement; state and citizenship; identity, race/ethnicity, and class; gender; post-socialist transformations; Romani studies; global studies; ethnographic methods; anthropological theory; Europe, European Union, Romania, and France. 

  • Ph.D. Cultural Anthropology, Indiana University
  • M.A. Anthropology, Indiana University
  • M.A. Cultural Anthropology and Folklore, University of Bucharest
  • B.A. Romanian Language and Literature, University of Bucharest

Rose Siuta, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

Siuta comes to UA from the Department of Psychological and Brain Science at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses largely on discrimination and diversity-related issues in the workplace from a feminist perspective, with specific interests in sexual harassment, self-esteem, body-related stigmatization, and the effects on occupational health and well-being. 

  • Ph.D. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Texas A&M University
  • M.A. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus
  • B.A. Psychology, Bard College

Ashley Wain, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Biology

Wain is both an alumna and an adjunct professor at UA. She earned her Ph.D. in Integrated Biosciences with a research focus on metazoan evolution from a protozoan ancestor.

  • Ph.D. Integrated Bioscience, University of Akron
  • M.S. Secondary Education, University of Akron
  • M.S. Biology, University of Akron
  • B.S. Integrated Life Sciences, Kent State University