The Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to welcome 11 new faculty members for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Hank Bamberger
Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Dance, Theatre and Arts Administration
Bamberger is an innovate choreographer, dance educator, and performance artist with over 15 years of experience. Originally from Richmond, VA, he has danced with the Paul Taylor II Dance Company and created works for the United Nations and Times Square. Bamberger's choreographic projects are known for their avant-garde aesthetics, exploring themes of identity, intimacy, and the body. He founded Bamberger Dance Projects, focusing on diversity and challenging artistic norms. A Ph.D. candidate at Coventry University, United Kingdom, he is a dedicated educator, teaching a wide range of dance forms, including modern dance, improvisation, and performance art, inspiring creativity and passion in his students.
- M.F.A. Dance/Choreography, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
- B.F.A. Dance, Modern Dance Concentration, Marymount Manhattan College, NY
Michelle Bell, Ph.D.
Assistant Band Director and Assistant Professor of Instruction, School of Music
Bell served as a graduate teaching assistant with the University of Illinois Bands and earned her Master of Music in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Minnesota, where she supported the Marching Band, University Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble. In 2018, she became a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, where she worked with the Marching Band and Concert Band, directed the Pep Band and chamber woodwind ensembles, and taught various music courses. She previously directed the Sports Band at St. Cloud State University. Michelle graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2011, commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the Army National Guard. She now holds the rank of Captain, recently returning from a deployment as a Company Commander in the Southwest Border Mission.
- D.M.A. Conducting, University of Illinois, Champagne
- M.M. Music, University of Minnesota
- B.A. Music Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Noah Fritz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of Criminal Justice Studies
Before coming to Akron, Fritz retired as the Director of the Office of Data Analytics and Strategic Initiatives (ODASI) within the Office of the Chief at the Fairfax County (VA) Police Department. He previously retired from the Tempe (AZ) Police Department in 2020 where he oversaw the Police Analytics Bureau and served on the Command Staff managing the Strategic Planning, Analysis and Research Center (SPARC). He also served as the past Crime Analysis Manager at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Fritz returned to the "field" of crime analysis after spending five years as an Assistant Professor in the Criminal Justice & Criminology Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His primary area of research is Crime Mapping, Crime Analysis and Geographic Information Systems.
- Ph.D. Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University
- M.S. Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University
- B.A. Sociology and Criminal Justice, Illinois State University
Nadeesha Jayaweera, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics
Jayaweera is an accomplished mathematician specializing in statistics. Before coming to Akron, she was a post-doctorate scholar and taught at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Her research interests include time series analysis, spatial models, asymptotic theory, and post-model selection inference. Jayaweera is deeply passionate about teaching and believes in the power of education to enhance reasoning, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
- Ph.D. Mathematics (Concentration on Statistics), Texas Tech University
- M.S. Statistics, Texas Tech University
- B.S. Mathematics (Pure Mathematics & Statistics), University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Sanaullah Khan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Khan is a medical anthropologist who joined UA after teaching at Brandeis University, where he covered topics such as medical pluralism, global health, and the intersection of medicine and religion. He is currently engaged in several lines of inquiry including ways to approach the increasing uses of complementary medicine as well as the growing experiences of chronic illness and diagnostic uncertainty. His dissertation focused on the relationship between suspicion and psychiatric care in militarized Pakistan. Additionally, he has received advanced training in the History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
- Ph.D. Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University
- Graduate Certificate in Global Health, Johns Hopkins University
- B.S. Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan
Iris Luo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice Studies
Luo’s research interests are primarily in the realm of neighborhoods and crime, crime mapping and spatial analysis, social networks, and quantitative methods. Her dissertation focused on crime changes and spatial patterns across multiple cities in the U.S., which mainly draws on social disorganization theory, routine activities theory, crime pattern theory, and urban sociology to explore how changes in neighborhood characteristics are associated with changes in crime longitudinally.
- Ph.D. Criminology, Law and Society, University of California, Irvine
- M.A. Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine
- M.A. Sociology, University of Oklahoma
- B.S. Financial Management, Tianjin University of Commerce, China
Michael McGroarty
Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Music
McGroarty is an emerging composer based in Akron. Previously, he served as Director of Choirs and Adjunct Professor of Choirs, Piano, and Vocal Studies at Hiram College. He has collaborated with notable figures like Jake Runestad, Deke Sharon, and Barnaby Smith of Voces8, and his work has been premiered in Ohio, California, and Germany. Currently, he is the principal organist at Church of Our Savior Episcopal, plays piano at Temple Israel in Fairlawn, and publishes compositions through MusicSpoke.
- M.M. Choral Conducting, University of Akron
- B.A. Music, University of Akron
Kateri Miller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, School of Music
Before coming to Akron, Miller was a Music Education Professor at Minot State University specializing in elementary music methods. Miller has been teaching children and adults for over 22 years. Her teaching experience includes elementary general music in both private and public schools. Miller’s research interest includes song teaching approaches and approaches to elementary music teaching, specifically Orff, Kodály and Dalcroze.
- Ph.D. University of Kentucky
- M.M. Bowling Green State University, Ohio
- B.M. Heidelberg University, Ohio
Alberto Moran-Vallejo, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages
Having recently finished his Ph.D., Alberto Morán-Vallejo has research interests in translation and interpreting pedagogy, language for specific purposes, health humanities, and interpreting theory and practice, with an emphasis on healthcare interpreting. His dissertation, titled Restoring Humanism to Medicine: Humanistic Healthcare at the Intersection of Health Communication and Medical Interpreting, explores the notion of empathy at the intersection of bilingual health communication and translation and interpreting theory and practice. He also works as a professional translation and terminologist from English, Italian and French into Spanish.
- Ph.D. Translation Studies, Kent State University
- M.A. Linguistics, West Virginia University
- B.A. Translation and Interpreting, University of Valladolid, Spain
- B.A. Language Mediation and Intercultural Communication, University of Milan, Italy
Nick Pollock, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences
(starts Jan 2025)
Pollock is a physical sedimentologist and volcanologist with expertise in sediment transport processes, including debris flows, pyroclastic currents, and avalanches. Before joining UA, he was an Assistant Professor at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, UT, and held positions as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bucknell University and as a faculty member at Boise State University. Pollock is dedicated to advancing understanding and interest in the geosciences through education and outreach.
- Ph.D. Geosciences, Boise State University
- M.S. Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
- B.A. Geology, Colgate University
Marybeth Poder, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English
Poder has served as a Senior Lecturer at UA since 2017 and has taught at various institutions, including Kent State University and The Ohio State University. Her research interests include the rhetorics of social change movements and the intersection of motherhood and academia.
- Ph.D. Rhetoric, Writing and Linguistics, University of Tennessee Knoxville
- M.A. English Composition, University of Akron
- B.A. English, University of Akron