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Chancellor Ringeisen and Provost Cheney welcome Margot Duley, new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Margot Duley is the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a professor of History and Women’s Studies.

Duley comes to UIS from Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, where she had been interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Women’s Studies program.

She earned the B.A. in history and biology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the M.A. in South Asian history at Duke University, and the Ph.D. in South Asian and British imperial history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Margo Duley, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, welcomes these new faculty members:

John Barker, assistant professor of Philosophy, was previously a lecturer and teaching assistant at Princeton University and a lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh.

His areas of specialization include the philosophy of language, logic, and metaphysics.  Barker earned the B.A. in philosophy, cum laude, from Yale University and the M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton.

Thomas Bartl is instructor/director of Forensics and Oral Communication. Before coming to UIS he was assistant director of forensics in the Honors College and a teaching assistant in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. He is active in the National Communication Association and has presented several papers at the organization’s national conventions. His areas of teaching range from principles of communication and public speaking to communication research design and political debates. Bartl earned the B.A. in speech and theater arts at Winona State University, Minnesota; the M.A. in communication, theater, and education at South Dakota State University; and the Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma.

Sviatoslav Braynov, assistant professor of Computer Science, comes to UIS from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Previously he was a research associate in the Department of Computer Science at Washington University in St. Louis and assistant professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. His teaching and research are focused on topics of e-commerce and security and artificial intelligence. He is widely published in professional journals and other refereed publications and has made presentations at a number of conferences in this country and abroad. Braynov earned the M.S. in mathematics and computer science at the University of Sofia, pursued graduate studies in economics at the University of Delaware, and earned the Ph.D. in computer science at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Keith Burton is assistant professor of Psychology. Before coming to UIS he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona, Tucson, where his duties included implementing grants, recruiting subjects, constructing experiments, and analyzing statistics. Before that, he served an internship in psychology with the university’s Medical Center, where he was responsible for conducting neuropsychological evaluations of adult and pediatric patients and assessments and neuropsychological screenings of organ transplant candidates. He has also served as a research assistant in the Neuroscience Institute at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.  Burton earned the B.A. at Northwestern University and the M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Arizona.

Kamau Kemayo, assistant professor of African-American Studies, comes to UIS from James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was assistant professor of English and special program writing instructor with the African-American Male Academy.  He previously served as assistant professor of African-American studies at Western Illinois University and also taught at Harris-Stowe State Teachers College, St. Louis University, and the University of California at Santa Cruz and Los Angeles. Kemayo’s teaching interests have focused on major black writers, psychological perspectives of African-American literature, and the psychology of race and education. He earned the B.A. in psychology and African and Afro-American studies from Stanford University, the M.A. in Afro-American studies from UCLA, and the Ph.D. in American studies from St. Louis University.

Lionel Kimble is assistant professor of African-American Studies. He comes to UIS from Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he was visiting assistant professor of history. He was previously assistant to the director of the African-American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago and he has taught at Richard Daley College and Robert Morris College, both in Chicago, and at the University of Iowa. Kimble’s teaching and research fields include U.S., African-American, and American social history, as well as 19th century European social and intellectual history. His professional affiliations include the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association, and the Labor and Working Class History Association. He earned the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., all in history, at the University of Iowa.

Amy McEuen, assistant professor of Biology, was previously visiting assistant professor and post-doctoral research fellow in the Biology Department at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where she taught courses in field sampling and experimental design. Her areas of specialization include forest and landscape ecology, biometrics, ecological sustainability, and conservation biology.  She earned the B.A. in biochemistry and humanities from the University of California, Berkeley, and the M.S. in wildlife ecology and the Ph.D. in forest ecology and conservation biology from the University of Michigan.

Cindy Nimchuk is assistant professor of History. She comes to UIS from Stanford University, where she was a teaching fellow in humanities focusing on ancient empires and a co-instructor in the Special Languages Program focusing on Old Persian language and history. Her research interests include ancient civilizations and cultures, especially in the Middle and Near East, and she has worked as site supervisor at an archaeological excavation in Turkey. Her language facilities include Akkadian, Greek, Latin, Old Persian, and Aramaic. She earned the B.A. in Latin and classical history and archaeology from the University of Calgary, the M.A. in classical studies from the University of Ottawa, and the doctorate in ancient studies from the University of Toronto.

Michael Searcy is assistant professor of Communication. He comes to UIS from the University of Iowa, where he was an affiliated researcher at the Community Based Resource Center, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, as well as a teaching assistant and adjunct instructor. Searcy has also taught at Monmouth College, Kaplan College, and St. Ambrose University. He also has extensive experience in sales and marketing. His teaching and research interests include rhetoric and public speaking, nonverbal communication, and research methods. His professional memberships include the National Communication Association, International Association for Relationship Researchers, and the American Society of Trial Consultants. Searcy earned the B.A. in English and M.A.R. in Communication from St. Louis University, and the M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa.