Candidates for Faculty Senate 2023-2024

Becci Akin, Professor and PhD Program Director, School of Social Welfare

Dr. Becci Akin is Professor and PhD Program Director at the School of Social Welfare. Her research focuses on understanding successful implementation and effective and equitable interventions for families involved in child welfare. Dr. Akin collaborates with public agencies and private, community-based organizations on a variety of efforts to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions that aim to transform systems and improve outcomes for children, families, and communities. She has served as principal/co-principal investigator on multiple externally-funded studies, totaling over $40 million. Dr. Akin has published over 55 works in peer-reviewed journals and books, and presented over 150 papers at national and international conferences.

Mugur Geana, Director/Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Mugur V. Geana, MD, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of strategic communication at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas; he is also the Director of the Center for Excellence in Health Communication to Underserved Populations.

Dr. Geana earned his MD from the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, and his Ph.D. in Journalism/Health Communication from the University of Missouri – Columbia. From 2014 to 2019, Dr. Geana was the Health Communication Research Shared Resource Director at the University of Kansas Cancer Center. In 2007 he founded the Experimental Research Media Laboratory at the KU School of Journalism and Mass Communications, promoting the use of psychophysiology in mass media research. Dr. Geana researches the identification and development of health communication strategies and messages to address health disparities, barriers and facilitators for communication about cancer and cancer clinical trials, and the use of novel communication technologies to increase the accessibility and impact of health messages. Dr. Geana’s research has been presented at national and international conferences and published in top health communication journals. He is the recipient of the prestigious Baskett-Mosse National Research Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, as well as other research and service awards and citations. Dr. Geana is one of the founding members of the KU International Faculty and Staff Council and an active member of the KU DIAB Campus Council.

Matt Jacobson, Professor, Film and Media Studies, School of the Arts, CLAS

Matt Jacobson has been teaching film and video production for the Department of Film and Media Studies at KU since 1999. For the last twenty-three years, he has worked as Director of Photography with his primary creative research partner, Academy-Award-winning writer and director Kevin Willmott, on a dozen major narrative and documentary projects. His creative research demonstrates his strong interest in making films about social justice and equality and examining race and gender issues in America. He plans to bring that focus to his work on the Faculty Senate, where he has previously served from 2009-2012 and from 2018-2021.

Lorin Maletsky, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering

Dr. Lorin Maletsky joined the faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department in 2000 after finishing his doctorate at Purdue University. His research area is orthopedic biomechanics and his funding has come primarily from industry. Dr. Maletsky is currently a Full Professor and has served as Associate Chair in the Mechanical Engineering Department and as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the School of Engineering. He is also part of the BioEngineering faculty and has served in various positions for that program. He has just completed serving a three-year term on the KU Core Committee representing Engineering.

Brendan Mattingly, Program Director, School of Professional Studies

Brendan Mattingly has been a non-tenure track faculty member with KU for over ten years. His research and teaching interests focus on molecular, cellular, micro, and developmental biology. Brendan’s current positions include the program director for the Bachelor of Science in Applied Biological Sciences and program director for the post-Baccalaureate certificate in Health Sciences both within the School of Professional Studies. His primary responsibilities center around teaching and supporting undergraduate students, particularly transfer and non-traditional students, as well as mentoring and sponsoring undergraduate research. He earned both his undergraduate degree (B.S. Biology) and graduate degree (Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology) from the University of Kansas.

Cambrey Nguyen, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy

Cambrey Nguyen joined the KU School of Pharmacy in March 2016 as a Clinical Assistant Professor.  Dr. Nguyen has previously served on Faculty Senate and has been on the University Libraries Committee and Faculty Compensation Committee.  She is dedicated to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion through her research, practice, and as a member of the University of Kansas Provost Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and the American Academy of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Advisory panel.

Samantha Bishop Simmons, Assistant Librarian, Libraries

Samantha Bishop Simmons, MA, MLS, is the Humanities Librarian at the University of Kansas. Her research interests include digital humanities, open publishing practices, collective action, and the ways these issues these intersect with critical librarianship. Her academic background is in English literature, but she has worked broadly across humanities disciplines through collaboration and research while at KU.

Joe Walden, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Business

Joe Walden has been at the University of Kansas since January 2009 as an instructor for supply chain management, logistics management, decision making, operations management and statistics. He has served on the Academic Policy and Procedures Committee for the past 6 years and is currently the chair of that committee. He has also served on the Academic Program Coordinating Committee. In addition, he holds two degrees from KU – a MS in Engineering Management and an EdD in Curriculum and Teaching.