Meet the New Faculty

Derek Avery, assistant professor, management
PhD, Rice University
Dr. Avery has taught at St. Joseph’s University and Rice University. While at St. Joseph’s, he received the Award for Excellence in Teaching of Adult Learners and the Faculty Merit Award for Research. His research into such areas as the role of race in management has appeared in numerous professional and scholarly journals. Dr. Avery has served as a consultant for several organizations in Louisiana and Texas.

Daniel-Dennis Bubb, assistant professor, physics
Ph.D., New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Bubb most recently served as an assistant professor of physics at Seton Hall University and as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. He earned the highly competitive national American Society of Engineering Postdoctoral Fellowship based on his original research proposal. The author or co-author of numerous articles in scientific journals, his research focuses in the area of laser-material interactions.

Shin-yi Chao, assistant professor, religion
PhD, University of British Columbia
An expert in Asian religions and social history with a focus on China and Japan, Dr. Chao has taught at the Tajen Institute of Technology in Taiwan and Washington University in St. Louis. She is considered to be an emerging leader in Daoist studies.

Elizabeth Demaray, assistant professor, art
MFA, University of California at Berkeley
Prof. Demaray has taught at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, the California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco State University, and the University of California at Berkeley. Her work has been spotlighted during the 2003 Aldrich Emerging Artist Award Show in Connecticut as well as at galleries across the nation. She specializes in sculpture, ceramics, drawing, and digital media.

Sean Duffy, assistant professor, psychology
PhD, University of Chicago
Dr. Duffy’s research focuses on cultural differences in cognition, reasoning in infants and young children, and the role of categories in reconstructive memories in children and adults. His work has appeared in numerous professional and scholarly publications. Dr. Duffy most recently served as a research fellow at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

Lauren Grodstein, assistant professor, English
MFA, Columbia University
Prof. Grodstein is the author of several books and short stories, including the novels Girls Dinner Club (HarperCollins, 2005) and “Reproduction is the Flaw of Love” (Dial Press, 2004); the latter was selected as a “Breakout Book” by Amazon.com, an “Original Voices” selection by Borders Books, and a Book of the Month selection in the United Kingdom. She has taught creative writing and/or composition at the University of California at Los Angeles, Columbia University, and The Cooper Union in New York City.

Jenny Kehl, assistant professor, political science
PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder
Dr. Kehl most recently taught courses in Comparative Politics and African Politics at the College of William and Mary. She has received numerous teaching awards and research grants, including the Roy R. Charles Research Grant and the University of Colorado’s Teaching Excellence Award. Her research into global development, political economy, and foreign investment has appeared in several noteworthy scholarly journals.

Aman McLeod, assistant professor, political science
PhD/JD, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Dr. McLeod has taught at the University of Michigan and the Higher School for Humanities and Economics (Poland). He served as an assistant to the United Nations International Law Commission in Switzerland and, in his capacity as an attorney, assisted the law firm Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC, on regulatory matters concerning the merger of Cingular and AT&T. His research examines issues of public law and jurisprudence.

Jamie McNutt, assistant professor, finance
PhD, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
A scholar in the areas of corporate finance, corporate governance, and financial institutions and their regulation, Dr. McNutt is an ad hoc reviewer with the Journal of Banking and Finance and the Review of Financial Economics. His current research addresses issues in the banking industry.

Ronaldo Parente, assistant professor, management
PhD, Temple University
Dr. Parente has taught at Salisbury University and Temple University. He designed and coordinated the first graduate international finance management program for the Universidade Estadual Ceara in Brazil. As a professional consultant, he has worked with organizations in the United States, Bulgaria, and Brazil; as a researcher, he is affiliated with MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Program. He previously served as director of international affairs for the Brazilian state of Ceara.

Andrew Shankman, assistant professor, history
PhD, Princeton University
Dr. Shankman is the author of the book “Crucible of American Democracy: The Struggle to Fuse Egalitarianism and Capitalism in Jeffersonian Pennsylvania” (University Press of Kansas, 2004), a History Book Club Selection, as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. He previously taught at Northeastern Illinois University, Princeton University, and The College of New Jersey.

Damon Smith, assistant professor, law
JD, Harvard Law School
Prof. Smith’s research concentrates in the areas of land use and zoning, community and economic development, and the use of eminent domain. His recent service as an associate with the law firm Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC, allows Prof. Smith to share with students his unique perspectives on legal practice and theory.

Shankar Sundaresan, assistant professor, management
PhD, University of Rochester
Dr. Sundaresan has taught at Penn State and served as a software consultant for Dana Software Research Corporation and Larsen and Toubro Ltd. His research interests include managing IT resources, pricing IT products/services, and automated database design. In 2003, he received the highly prestigious IBM Faculty Award. Dr. Sundaresan’s research regularly appears in professional and scholarly journals.

Elizabeth Vanderven, assistant professor, history
PhD, University of California at Los Angeles
Dr. Vanderven’s research focuses on such varied topics as modern and late imperial China, East Asia, rural society, citizenship, and women and gender. She has taught at the University of California at Riverside and Reed College. Her research appears in the “Encyclopedia of Modern Asia” (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002), and is presented regularly at conferences around the world.