>
USD Logo MySanDiego | Libraries | Bookstore | Find People | A to Z Index | Resources | Jobs
 Prospective Students | Current Students | Alumni | Faculty & Employees | Visitors | International
About USD Admissions Academics News and Events Administration Athletics Giving

University Experts


 

Speakers Bureau

Public Relations


This directory lists the expertise of University of San Diego faculty and administrators who are both able and willing to comment on issues and topics in the news. The directory, a service for reporters, editors and producers, is updated monthly.
Ronald Shaheen Arts - Opera profile

rshaheen@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 7653

Opera

Sally Yard Arts - History profile

syard@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 4512

Art and Art History

Yard has written extensively about art since the Second World War. Her work on the relationship of art and its publics includes the book Christo: Oceanfront (Princeton University Press), Sitings (Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, 1986), as well as essays in Robert Irwin (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Rizzoli, 1993) and Museum as Muse (Museum of Modern Art, New York and Abrams, 1999). She has also written on postwar painting: Francis Bacon: A Retrospective (The Trust for Museum Exhibitions and Abrams, 1999), Cy Twombly (C&M Arts, 1994), and Willem de Kooning (Poligrafa and Rizzoli, 1997). She has curated and co-curated an array of exhibitions, among them "The Shadow of the Bomb" (Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1984);" Garden Projects Giverny" (Musée d’Art Americain, Giverny, France, 2000);" inSite97: Public Space in Private Time" (San Diego/Tijuana, 1997); and" inSite2000: fugitive spaces" (San Diego/Tijuana, 2000-01). Yard is curator of Conversations, inSite_05, and is at work on a book with Robert Irwin, as well as a series of essays on the paintings and drawings of Willem de Kooning.
Elaine Elliott Community - Service profile

elliott@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4798

Community service, social justice, USD contributions to the San Diego community
Director of USD’s Center for Community Service-Learning. Community/University Partnership development: Developed partners for USD service-learning program, and participated in research on sustainable partnerships. Service-learning: Seven years experience in developing programs, and extensive knowledge of theory and practice.
Pat Libby Community - Nonprofit profile

plibby@sandiego.edu

(619) 282-8875

Nonprofit issues

Libby developed and directs the Nonprofit Leadership and Management Program in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences. She is co-director of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research at USD. Libby has worked as a CEO, board member, and consultant to nonprofits for more than 25 years, specializing in community economic development. She taught Nonprofit Management for eight years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and was a lecturer at San Diego State University where she taught courses in both Nonprofit Management and Business Ethics. Her consulting work is principally in the area of organizational development, strategic planning, and evaluation. She holds a Master's degree in Urban Planning from M.I.T.
Luby Liao Computer - Linux profile

liao@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4021

Web, Database applications, Linux

University of San Diego math and computer science Professor since 1983.




Alan Gin Economics - Local, Real Estate, Asian profile

agin@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4883

Economics and local economy

Associate professor of Economics, Professor Gin is one of the affiliated faculty members of the University of San Diego's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. His other research interests include local public finance, urban transportation, and the economy of San Diego. On the latter subject, he is best known for developing and publishing the University of San Diego’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County, a monthly report on the outlook for the local economy. Professor Gin’s insights on the local economy have made him a popular source for interviews, and he has given nearly 800 interviews to local and national media sources. For his work on forecasting the local economy, he has been named to the San Diego Business Journal's "Who's Who" list.

In addition to studying the local economy, Professor Gin also has an interest in the business environment of Asia in general and of greater China in particular. He taught in the university’s Summer Study Abroad Programs in Hong Kong and Beijing/Shanghai, and has traveled extensively in the region.

Lea Hubbard Education - Reform profile

lhubbard@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-7818

School reform

Lea Hubbard teaches in the Foundations area of the Department of Learning and Teaching in the School of Education . Her work focuses on educational inequities, as they exist across ethnicity, class and gender. She has co-authored several books and written articles on the academic achievement of minority students, gender and education, educational leadership and school reform. Her latest book, Extending Educational Reform: From one school to many , explores what happens when school reform “goes to scale.” Her work illustrates the importance of the social construction of education in understanding achievement outcomes, policy and practice. Hubbard is currently writing a book on her study of the San Diego City School reform. The Spencer Foundation, the Department of Education (OERI), the Broad Foundation, and the Ford Foundation have funded Hubbard's recent research and evaluation projects.
Athena Perrakis Education - Gender Imbalance profile

athena@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-8896

Gender imbalance in education
Professor Perrakis comes to USD from the University of Southern California where she was part of a research team awarded two million dollars from the Department of Education to study transfer and retention among urban community college students in Los Angeles. Her research interests include student retention and leadership development, and the leadership philosophies of college and university presidents.
Cynthia Villis Education profile

cynvillas@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4686

Gender imbalances in education, 1st-generation college prep & admissions, programs of the USD Institute of College Initiatives: first generation, low-income student preparation for and transition to college, TRiO programs, leadership training, community outreach collaborative programs (education and community, especially with regard to science, math, and technology), Rotary, student profiles and stories ( with the student's permission).

Cynthia Villis, Ph.D.,is director of the Institute of College Initiatives (ICI) for the University of San Diego.

As director of the Institute, Villis proposed a TRiO Upward Bound program for USD that was initially funded in 1999 by the US Department of Education ($880K). Developed by Villas and her staff, USD UB helps to keep 50 first generation, low-income Kearny High school students in school and bound for college. In May 2003 USD UB graduated its first cohort of seniors: 24 of 25 are currently enrolled in college. In June 2003 the program received its second four-year award from the US Department of Education ($968K); all 15 seniors graduating in May 2004 are currently enrolled in college. USD UB has 17 seniors college-bound in 2005. Cynthia is director of USD Upward Bound.

Cynthia has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, with a predoctoral internship at Ohio State. She completed Harvard University's Management Development Program and The Foundation Center's Grantsmanship sequence. Licensed as a psychologist in California and Texas, she has been listed in the National Register of Psychologists. While director of Training for the Texas Tech University Counseling Center, she led that predoctoral internship training program to APA-accreditation (1983), and has served as adjunct faculty for 5 universities.

Leonard Perry Engineering - Six Sigma profile

laperry@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 7558

Process improvement and quality; Six Sigma, design of experiments, Statistical Process Control (SPC), probability and statistics, lean enterprise.
Leonard A. Perry, Ph. D, is an assistant professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of San Diego . He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering in the area of Quality Improvement at Arizona State University . His research interests are in the area of system improvement via quality improvement methods especially in the area of applied statistics, statistical process control, and design of experiments. Perry consults, instructs, and collaborates on quality improvement projects with representatives from biotech, health care, defense, and traditional manufacturing institutions. He has been an instructor for the Six Sigma Black belt training at the Six Sigma Institute for three years. He is a UCSD Certified Six-Sigma Master Black-Belt and an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer.
Larry Hinman Ethics profile

hinman@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4787

Ethical issues

Lawrence Hinman, Ph.D., is director of the Values Institute and professor of Philosophy at the University of San Diego, where he has been teaching since 1975. Hinman is the author of two widely-used texts in ethics, Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory and Contemporary Moral Issues. He also publishes op-ed pieces in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune. His award-winning web site Ethics Updates receives over 10,000 visitors a day.
Matt Zwolinski Ethics - Business, Law profile

mzwolinski@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4094

Ethical issues

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Matt Zwolinski’s specializes in political philosophy and ethics, especially business ethics. His ongoing research concerns the intersection of ethics, law and economics, especially those questions relating to individual liberty. He has published on the ethics of sweatshops, price gouging and libertarian political philosophy.


Ali Gheissari History - Middle East, Religion profile

alig@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-7845

Iran, Iraq, Middle East history and religion

Ali Gheissari, Ph.D., is a visiting associate professor with joint appointments in the departments of History and Theology & Religious Studies. Gheissari studied at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Tehran University, then went on to Essex University for graduate work on the sociology of knowledge focusing on Continental philosophy and Critical Theory. He completed his doctoral work on intellectual history at the Faculty of Oriental Studies and at St Antony's College, Oxford University.

His teaching interests include Middle East history, topics in modern European intellectual history, topics in comparative civilizations, and theories of historiography.

Dee Aker International - Women, Conflict profile

daker@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-2358

Women's roles in international peacemaking.Nepal, democratization processes, child soldiers, human trafficking
Dee Aker, Ph.D., director of the Women PeaceMakers Program, has facilitated dialogues among individuals working to end conflict and in developing gender inclusive post-conflict programs at national and international levels in Central America, Africa, and Asia. She has trained women in leadership and media skills and documented the role of individual women as survivors and pioneers in a number of societies around the world.
Yvette Fontaine International - Immigration, Education profile
Director of the Office of International Services

yvette@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4678

International education and immigration issues

Shaun P. Martin Legal profile

smartin@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 2347

Variety of legal issues

Professor Martin served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a general editor of Harvard University's Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law with Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Oliver in Los Angeles before coming to USD in 1995. Professor Martin teaches civil procedure and professional ethics. He writes in the areas of civil procedure, criminal law and professional responsibility. Among his publications are “Intracorporate Conspiracies” Stanford Law Review, “Rationalizing the Irrational: The Treatment of Untenable Federal Civil Jury Verdicts” Creighton Law Review, and (with Professor Fred Zacharias) “Coaching Witnesses” Kentucky Law Journal. He was co-recipient of the 1999 Thorsnes Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Richard A. Paul Legal - Labor profile

rpaul@paulplevin.com

(619) 744-3640

Labor law

Rich Paul has been one of Southern California's leading management employment lawyers for over 25 years. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Paul joined the Gray Cary firm and became a partner and chair of that firm's Employment Law Group. In 1998, Rich formed his own firm, Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton, to continue focussing on management side employment law issues for California employers. Their clients include UCSD, UC Irvine, San Diego State University, Qualcomm, Ericsson, ScrippsHealth, SAIC and many others.

Paul is a frequent presenter and lecturer on employment law topics throughout California and the West. He is also an adjunct professor of employment law at the USD School of Law and a regular lecturer and trainer at UCSD. He was recently named one of only eight Editorial Review Board members for the California Employment Law Letters, the only San Diegan ever to be selected for that honor. He has also been named annually since 1986 as among "The Best Lawyers in America."

Jorge A. Vargas Legal - Mexico profile

mexlaw@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 4816

In English and Spanish: Mexican law, immigration law and problems, history of Mexico, maquiladoras and US investment in MX; San Diego history, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Sebastian Vizcaino, Fray Antonio de la Ascensión, diplomacy and legal aspects pertaining to the US-MX border.
Professor Vargas teaches, writes and lectures in the areas of international law, Mexican law, comparative law and law of the sea. Prior to joining USD in 1983, he taught at National Autonomous University of Mexico, Iberoamericana and Anahuac Universities in Mexico City, where he published 10 books in Spanish while also serving as legal counsel to several agencies of the Mexican government. Recently, Professor Vargas authored the book El Archipielago del Norte (FCE Mexico) in Spanish and served as general coordinator, co-author, and editor of the fourvolume collective work Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors (West Group). Professor Vargas has been a Fulbright Fellow in the U.S.-Mexican Border Lectureship Program, a visiting professor at Stanford University, a visiting research fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego, a visitor to the University of British Columbia's Japanese Law Center, and a visiting scholar and lecturer at New York University School of Law.
Bethami Dobkin Media - Gender issues, Critcism profile
bdobkin@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-2979


Gender issues, terrorism, media criticism, entertainment and television news, media and politics

Beth Dobkin, Ph.D., joined the department of Communication Studies in 1990, after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is a former fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the American Council on Education, and has won research and teaching awards from both the University of San Diego and the National Communication Association. Her primary research area is media and conflict, including television news coverage of terrorism, political violence, and gender.
David Sullivan Media - Politics profile

sully@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 4193

Media issues, political ads, women in politics

David Sullivan, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Communication Studies at USD, teaching courses in communication theory and research, mediated communication, and media criticism. His research areas include mediated politics, news, and sports. A former newspaper reporter and editor, he has served as faculty adviser to USD's undergraduate newspaper since he arrived at USD in 1992. He earned his BA and MA degrees at the University of Hartford and received his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts.

Patrick Drinan Politics - California, Foreign Policy, Academic profile

pdrinan@SanDiego.edu

(619) 260-4545

U.S. & California politics, U.S. foreign policy, academic
integrity
Patrick Drinan, Ph.D., joined the USD faculty in 1981 as chair of the Political Science department. He served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 2006. His research specialties are Russian/Soviet politics and international relations theory. Drinan has been active in grant development and grant administration in areas such as internationalization, cultural diversity, and ethics across the curriculum. Drinan has been on the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council of San Diego since the mid-1980's and has served as its president. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Academic Integrity and was president in 1998. His publications most recently have been on academic integrity.
Carl Luna Politics - San Diego, California profile

cluna@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-7979

San Diego and California politics. Political weblog "Political Lunacy"

Carl Luna, Ph.D., is a lecturer on American government, comparative politics, and international political economy for the department. He received his Ph.D. from the American University, Washington D.C. and his B.A. in political science, history and philosophy from the University of San Diego. His research interests include social evolution and change, Russian politics and issues of contemporary and historical economic globalization. As a Senior Fulbright scholar (1999-2000) in the Russian Federation, he lectured on American politics and political economy at Nizhniy Novgorod State University. In addition to teaching and research, he is a recurrent political commentator for KPBS radio and television and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Pete Peterson Politics - Military profile

polsciprof@sbcglobal.net

(619) 260-4600 x8798

Political science, military and terror issues
Pete Peterson, Ph.D.,lectures on international politics for the department of Political Science. He has a diploma from the Naval War College (College of Continuing Education), and degrees from Stanford (B.A., Political Science), Georgetown (M.A. Government), the Defense Intelligence College (M.S. in Strategic Intelligence), and the University of Hawaii (Ph.D., Political Science). He retired from the Marine Corps, where his assignments included the Pentagon, Desert Storm, and with the 1st Marine Division. He was for several years the Government and Politics editor for WebGuide magazine, and contributed a chapter on "Democracy and Security in the Post-Cold War Era" to Asia-Pacific Security: the Economics-Politics Nexus. He has taught college courses on Introduction to Politics Science, and the American Political System. His interests are in global politics and democracy, as well as national security and intelligence matters.
David Shirk Politics - Mexican, U.S. Relations profile

dshirk@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-2315

Mexican politics, U.S.-Mexican relations and policy issues (including border security, rule of law, human trafficking).
David Shirk, Ph.D., is director of the TransBorder Institute (TBI) and assistant professor in the department of Political Science at the University of San Diego (USD). Shirk is an expert on Mexican politics, U.S.-Mexican relations, and a variety of policy issues along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Michael Williams Politics - United States, South Africa profile

jmwilliams@SanDiego.edu

(619) 260- 4012

American politics and government, South Africa

Mike Williams, Ph.D., received his B.A. from the University of San Diego, his J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He teaches African politics, comparative politics, American politics, and urban politics.  He also offers an intersession course on American politics in Washington, D.C. and is the faculty advisor for the Model United Nations program and the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society.  His current research focuses on democratization at the local level in South Africa.
Louis A. Galuppo Real Estate - Economics profile

lgaluppo@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4183

Residential real estate, the outlook for real estate,

economic activity, and interest rates.

Director, Residential Real Estate, of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego. Mr. Galuppo teaches legal aspects of real estate in the School of Business Administration at USD since 1998. He has been involved in the real estate industry since 1975 either as a builder, real estate or mortgage broker, developer, or attorney. Currently, Mr. Galuppo also practices law, emphasizing both transactions and litigation matters relating to real estate, real estate finance, construction, development, environmental and land use for Galuppo & Lacagnina, A Professional Corporation. He actively speaks and writes on issues affecting the real estate community and is involved in several real estate industry trade associations as a member and director, such as IREM, BIA, CCIM, NAIOP, NSDAR and SDAR.
Mark J. Riedy Real Estate - Economics profile

mriedy@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 4872

residential real estate, the outlook for real estate, economic activity, and interest rates.
Mark J. Riedy, Ph.D., became the Ernest W. Hahn Professor of Real Estate Finance and executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego in 1993. Previously, Riedy served as president and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of Community Bankers and was president, Chief Operating Officer, and a director of the Federal National Mortgage Association. Riedy has held a variety of positions within the real estate finance industry, including executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and vice president and director of Research for PMI, a private mortgage insurance company. He was also a consultant, served as Senior Staff Economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and taught at the University of Colorado. He currently serves on several corporate and civic boards of directors. Riedy earned his Ph.D. in business economics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He has been listed in Who's Who in America since 1982.
John Fendrick Religion - Papal profile

syard@sandiego.edu

(619) 260- 7872

Spanish speaker on papal issues

John Fendrick, Ph.D., is the coordinator of the Classical Languages Program. He received his Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Southern California.

He has taught classical and modern languages on both the prep school and college levels since 1967. He teaches both Greek and Latin during the regular semester as well as Spanish and German in USD's summer study abroad programs.

His research interests include Latin poetry (Ovid), ecclesiastical Latin, biblical Greek, and classical mythology.

Evelyn Kirkley Religion - History profile

ekirkley@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-4131

Religious history

Evelyn Kirkley, Ph.D., specializes in the religious history of the United States from the pre-colonial era to the present. Her work includes Native American, African American, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and sectarian religious communities as well as cultural and civil religion. Her area of concentration is the late nineteenth century, particularly issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality among non-mainstream religious groups.
Terry McGoldrick Religion - Ethics profile

tmcgoldrick@sandiego.edu

(619) 260-7696

Catholic moral issues, the church and social justice, Christian ethics

The Experts Directory is maintained by the Office of Public Affairs .
Please send comments, additions or corrections to news@sandiego.edu

Media Contact Information

Office of Media Relations
Phone: (619) 260-4659
Fax: (619) 260-6820

Office of Public Affairs
Phone: (619) 260-4681
Fax: (619) 260-4200

University Information
(619) 260-4600