PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 5, Sept. 7, 2000

New Faces 2000

Each fall, the UI campus welcomes many new faces, -from rising young talents to established authorities in their fields. A few of these new colleagues are featured here.

Photo by Bill Wiegand

JAMES DALLING, assistant professor of plant biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Education: BA in plant sciences, Oxford University; PhD in plant sciences, Cambridge University. Teaching and Research: Dalling has field work and lecturing experience in Jamaica and Panama and based on his expertise in tropical ecology is an honorary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has been sought out as a consultant for conservation-related analyses in Jamaica, has been supported by the National Science Foundation for basic community ecology research in Panama, and was the lead author on a $1 million project in international development in Panama, funded by the governments of Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the United States through the International Tropical Timber Organization. At Illinois: He will teach courses on advanced community and landscape ecology.

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CYNTHIA OLIVER, assistant professor of dance, College of Fine and Applied Arts. Education: BFA, Adelphi University; MA, New York University, Gallatin School; PhD candidate, New York University (to be completed by the end of this academic year). Experience: Oliver has danced with numerous companies and in 1995-96 received a New York Dance and Performance Award (a Bessie) for her evening-length work "Death's Door." In addition, she has many years of teaching experience. Research: Her research focuses on performance in the Caribbean, particularly the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her choreographic work -- a melange of dance, theater and the spoken word -- incorporates Caribbean themes and cultural conflicts. At Illinois: She will teach a Discovery course, "Introduction to 20th Century Dance," and an elective technique course, "Contemporary Dance of the African Diaspora." She also will be available as a choreographic adviser.

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WOJTEK CHODZKO-ZAJKO, professor and head of kinesiology, College of Applied Life Studies. Education: B.Ed., University of London; PhD, Purdue University; post-doctoral, Center for Research on Aging, Purdue University. Experience: "Professor Chodzko-Zajko is a leader in the field of kinesiology with specific emphasis in the area of aging and exercise," said Tanya M. Gallagher, dean of the college. "His writings have been published in nationally and internationally recognized journals [and he] is considered among the world leaders with respect to promoting and developing the field of aging and physical activity." Research: As a leader in the area, he established the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, the first journal focused on the scientific study of exercise and physical activity in older populations.

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PATRICK WEATHERHEAD, professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Education: BS in biology, Carleton University; MS and PhD in biology, Queen's University. Experience: "Professor Patrick Weatherhead is an internationally respected behavioral ecologist whose work on the red-winged blackbird reflects pioneering achievements in behavioral ecology," said Gary L. Rolfe, head of the department of natural resources and environmental sciences. Research: His research has focused on the areas of behavioral ecology and population biology of birds and snakes. He is widely recognized as the world's foremost expert on the behavioral ecology of the red-winged blackbird. At Illinois: Weatherhead will teach courses in behavioral ecology and conservation biology.

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LESLEA HLUSKO, assistant professor of anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Education: BA in anthropology and archaeology, University of Virginia; MA and PhD in anthropology, Pennsylvania State University. Research: "Dr. Hlusko is a biological anthropologist whose research combines the study of modern DNA with research on ancient fossils," said Janet Dixon Keller, professor and acting head of the department of anthropology. "In order to conduct her research, she travels regularly to a remote region of Ethiopia where she can examine fossils of Old World monkeys 0.5 to 6 million years old. She has also collaborated as a member of a research team working at a 4-million-year-old site in northern Kenya and has worked with 'National Geographic.' " At Illinois: She is teaching "Human Evolution II" and "Race: The Concept in Anthropology."

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ESTHER SONGIE KIM, assistant professor of theater, College of Fine and Applied Arts. Education: BA in computer science and MA in dramatic arts/theory, University of California, Santa Barbara; PhD in theater history, literature and criticism, Ohio State University. Experience: "Professor Kim is already emerging as a leading scholar of Asian American theater," said Robert Graves, acting head of the department of theater. "She is the author of the first comprehensive history of this important ethnic theater, in which she evaluates a surprisingly large number of actors, playwrights and theater companies and perceptively examines the changing agendas of the various Asian American communities." Research: Asian-American theater, multi-cultural theater, 20th century American drama. At Illinois: She is teaching "Literature of the Modern Theater" and "Asian American Theater." "She will broaden the multi-cultural dimension of the theater department," Graves said, "as well as actively participate in the growing Asian American Studies Program on campus."

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THOMAS B. GINSBURG, assistant professor of law, College of Law. Education: BA in Asian studies, JD from Boalt Hall School of Law, PhD in jurisprudence and social policy, all at the University of California, Berkeley. Experience: Ginsburg joins the UI faculty after serving stints as a legal assistant at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague, as a lecturer on the law faculty at Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and as a legal assistant at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. At Illinois: He is teaching upper-level electives on comparative Asian legal systems and Japanese law, as well as torts. He will specialize in international and comparative law, particularly as it relates to developing and developed countries in Asia, especially Japan.

BARBARA WILSON, professor of speech communication, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Education: BA in journalism, MA and PhD in communication arts, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Teaching and Research: "Professor Wilson's teaching and research concern children and television," said David L. Swanson, professor and head of the department of speech communication. "She is acknowledged by leading scholars in the area to be one of the two or three best researchers in the world studying this important topic today. The focus of her work is on children's affective (emotional) responses to television content, particularly but not exclusively fear responses, and on the short-term and long-term consequences of such responses." In addition, she played a leading role in the National Television Violence Study. At Illinois: She will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in children and television, effects of mass communication and methods of content analysis of media.

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LAWRENCE R. SCHEHR, professor of French, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Education: BA in modern languages and literatures, Clark University; MA in romance languages, Ohio State University; MA and PhD in romance languages, Johns Hopkins University. Experience: "Professor Schehr comes from North Carolina State University where he was professor of French and head of the department of foreign languages and literatures," said Jean-Philippe Mathy, head of the UI French department. "He is a major player in 19th and 20th century French literary studies, an outstanding scholar of impressive breadth and productivity. His interests range from narrative theory and the teaching of civilization to critical theory and gay studies. He is the author of five books and has two more in preparation." At Illinois: He is teaching "Introduction to French Literature" and "Studies in French: 'Woman as Object; 1830-1940.' "

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RUI ZHAO, assistant professor of economics, College of Commerce and Business Administration. Education: BA in international finance, People's University of China; MA in economics, University of Toronto; PhD in economics, University of Chicago. Experience: She recently completed her PhD at the University of Chicago where she was on fellowship from 1995-1999. Her thesis considered the optimal unemployment insurance contract by creating a model. The optimal contract serves the purpose of providing proper incentives to a worker while he is employed. Research: Her research looks at game theory applications in macroeconomics, the business cycle and labor market behavior. At Illinois: Zhao will teach macroeconomics to second-year doctoral students and intermediate macroeconomics to undergraduate students.

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XIAOWEI "ROSE" LUO, assistant professor of business administration, College of Commerce and Business Administration. Education: BA in American literature and linguistics, Fudan University; MA in sociology, Maxwell School, Syracuse University; PhD in sociology, Stanford University. Research: Her research has focused primarily on understanding the factors that contributed to the creation of personal development workplace training programs. At Illinois: She will work in the area of organizational behavior. In addition to having a strong background in organizational sociology and expertise in the evolution of human resource practices, Luo is actively engaged in researching a variety of issues in international business.

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NICK GLUMAC, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, College of Engineering. Education: BS in mechanical engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara; MS in aeronautics and PhD in mechanical engineering, California Institute of Technology. Experience: "Professor Glumac received the NSF Career Award for diagnostic modeling studies in combustion synthesis environments and is among the top researchers in the area of optical diagnostics applied to reactive flows," said William R. Schowalter, dean of the College of Engineering. "He has an excellent research record and record of scholarly productivity." Research: His research accomplishments include synthesis experiments, optical diagnostics and chemical modeling of flame phenomena. In addition, he has extensive experience in laser-induced fluorescence diagnostics in reacting flows.

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CRAIG OLSON, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations Alumni Professor (first endowed position in the institute). Education: BS in business administration, University of Minnesota; MS and PhD in industrial relations, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Experience: "Craig Olson is an absolutely ideal senior faculty member in our multidisciplinary unit," said Peter Feuille, ILIR director. "He has a high degree of expertise in human resource management, industrial relations and labor economics and his research and teaching reflect his extremely wide knowledge base." Research: His wide-ranging research has included experimental studies of bargaining and neutral decision-making, the dynamics of employment growth and job creation in Midwest manufacturing and unions and the labor market." At Illinois: He is teaching "Compensation and Performance Incentives." In the spring he will teach collective bargaining.

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TOMAS MARTIN-JIMENEZ, professor of veterinary biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine. Education: DVM, University of Madrid; MS in molecular genetics and epidemiology and PhD in comparative biomedical sciences, North Carolina State University. Experience: "Dr. Martín-Jiménez is one of only 30 or so diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology in the world," said David R. Gross, professor and head of the department of veterinary biosciences. "He comes to us highly recommended by an international panel of referees and brings with him international collaborative research projects." Research: He also is one of a small handful of veterinarians involved in the study of kinetics. This discipline uses analytical epidemiology and statistical techniques to define how drugs and/or disease processes can be expected to affect a population of a particular species as opposed to a particular individual. At Illinois: He will be teaching in the two-semester pharmacology courses in the veterinary curriculum and will develop one or more graduate courses.