Honors Faculty
The University Honors College faculty represent academic departments from throughout the university. The Honors faculty include many of New Mexico State University's most distinguished teachers and researchers.
Jason Ackleson Assistant Professor, Government and Associate Dean of the Honors College
Dr. Ackleson is the National Scholarships Coordinator. He teaches courses in international relations, comparative politics, and political science. He directs the university’s Model United Nations program and teaches honors courses in scholarship preparation. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, he publishes on questions of security, borders, and globalization. His publications include articles in Political Geography, Journal of Borderland Studies, and The Social Science Journal.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~jackleso/
Email: jackleso@nmsu.edu
Rani T. Alexander Associate Professor, Anthropology
Dr. Alexander is an archaeologist with field experience in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula, Honduras, and the American Southwest. Her research interests include prehistoric complex societies of Mesoamerica, the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Yucatán peninsula, native resistance and rebellions, colonial ethnohistory and political economy, quantitative analysis, and fauna analysis.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~anthro/rani_alexander.htm
Email: raalexan@nmsu.edu
Josefina (Lolina) Alvarez Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Alvarez is a professor of mathematics. She is the author of over forty research papers and nine monographs on the areas of harmonic and functional analysis. Her writings on teaching have appeared in articles, book chapters, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She is a member of the editorial board and a contributing editor of Matematicalia (http://www.matematicalia.net), the electronic journal for general audiences published by the Spanish Mathematical Society. Dr. Alvarez received the El Paso Energy Foundation Faculty Achievement Award in 1998, in recognition of her teaching of mathematics appreciation to non-science majors. She was the recipient of the first Manasse Chair Award in the College of Arts and Sciences, in 2001.
Website: http://www.math.nmsu.edu/~jalvarez/personal.html
Email: jalvarez@nmsu.edu
Jeffrey Amato Associate Professor, Geological Sciences
Dr. Amato is a structural geologist studying the formation and deformation of mountains and continents. His research includes projects in northern Alaska, eastern Russia, Mexico, and New Mexico. Currently he and his students are investigating the earliest history of the southwest United States by analyzing the ages of rocks using U-Pb isotopes. In 2004 he received the New Mexico State University Research Council Award for Exceptional Achievements in Creative Scholarly Activity.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~geology/amato
Email: amato@nmsu.edu
Nancy Baker Professor and Department Head, Government
Dr. Baker's research focuses on the law and the American presidency. She is the author of two scholarly books on the office of the U.S. attorney general, including General Ashcroft: Attorney at War (2006), which examines the impact of domestic anti-terrorism policies on the constitutional system and presidential power. Dr. Baker has won two departmental, six university-wide, and three national teaching awards, including the Westhafer Award for Teaching Excellence, the highest faculty award given by New Mexico State University.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~govdept/faculty/Baker/Baker.htm
Email: nbaker@nmsu.edu
Lisa Bond-Maupin Associate Professor, Criminal Justice
Dr. Bond-Maupin teaches courses about crime, delinquency, violence, law and society.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~crimjust/
Jamie Bronstein Associate Professor, History
Dr. Bronstein teaches American social and cultural history. Her current research deals with the impact of the Industrial Revolution on working people in nineteenth-century Britain and the United States.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~histdept/
Email: jbronste@nmsu.edu
Gregory Butler Associate Professor, Government
Dr. Butler teaches in the areas of political theory and American government. His current research interests include nineteenth-century American political thought and the role of religion and morality in contemporary liberal thought and practice.
Email: gbutler@nmsu.edu
Lowell Catlett Regents Professor, Agricultural Economics and Interim Dean, College of Agriculture and Home Economics
Dr. Catlett has extensive publications, teaching and public speaking experience concerning science and technology. His interests include the application and impacts of scientific advancement and new technology on society. He won the Roush Award for excellence in teaching in 1984 and 1988, and received the Westhafer Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1990-91.
Website: http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/
Email: lcatlett@nmsu.edu
Timothy Cleveland Professor and Department Head, Philosophy
Dr. Cleveland's research and teaching areas include the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and logic. He won the Roush Award for excellence in teaching in 2003.
Email: tclevela@nmsu.edu
Nina Compton Professor Emerita, Finance
Compton is an attorney and an associate professor in the Department of Finance. Her areas of research interest are discrimination in the work place and medical malpractice. She has received the Roush Award for excellence in teaching.
Website: http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~fire/Compton/compton.htm
Email: ncompton@nmsu.edu
Joseph Denk College Assistant Professor, English
(bio coming)
Email: jdenk@nmsu.edu
William Eamon Regents Professor of History and Dean of the Honors College
A specialist in the history of science and medicine and the Italian Renaissance, Dr. Eamon is the author of Science and the Secrets of Nature and more that fifty articles on the history of early modern science and Renaissance history. He teaches an honors course on the history of the relations between science and religion. He currently holds the S. P. and Margaret Manasse Chair in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Website: http://honors.nmsu.edu/weamon
Email: weamon@nmsu.edu
Lizbeth Ellis Associate Professor and Department Head, Finance
Professor Ellis is an attorney and an associate professor in the Department of Finance. Her research interests include alternative dispute resolution and health care law.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/database/experts/EllisLizbeth1140372.html
Email: lellis@nmsu.edu
Michael Ellis Professor Emeritus, Economics
Dr. Ellis's major areas of publication and research include Navajo tribal economic development and the economics of health and medical are.
Website: http://cbae.nmsu.edu/MainPage/Acdm_Rsrch/Fctly_Profiles/Profiles/Ellis_Michael.shtml
Email: mellis@nmsu.edu
Constance L. Falk Professor, Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business
Dr. Falk is a professor in agricultural economics and has lived and worked in Central America. Her research interests focus on rural economic development, sustainable organic agriculture, and agricultural cooperatives.
Website: http://spectre.nmsu.edu/dept/academic.html?i=270&s=sub#Constance%20L.%20Falk
Email: cfalk@nmsu.edu
Julie Fitzsimmons College Assistant Professor, Art
Professor Fitzsimmons has a broad area of current research interests ranging from her original specialty of 19th century art to issues pertinent to the 20th century to classical studies.
Website: http://artdepartment.nmsu.edu/faculty/fitzsimmons.cfm
Email: jfitzsim@nmsu.edu
Claude Fouillade Associate Professor, Languages and Linguistics
Dr. Fouillade teaches French in the Department of Languages and Linguistics. He has a long-standing interest in the study of film.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~langling/Staff/fouillade.html
Email: cfouilla@nmsu.edu
Mai Gehrke Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Gehrke's research and teaching interests are in the ares of logic and mathematical foundations.
Website: http://www.math.nmsu.edu/mgehrke/mgehrke.html
Katherine Giles Professor, Geological Sciences
Dr. Giles is a professor in Geological Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding the evolution of sedimentary basin by studying the sedimentary rocks and fossils they contain.
Frank Gilpin College Assistant Professor, Dance
Mr. Gilpin, whose professional name is Paco Antonio, has performed several times in Festival Flamenco Internacional, has lived and studied in Spain, and has performed and taught internationally. Most recently he was a special guest artist for Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco Benefit Gala, opening her 2002 summer season, and was a featured dancer at the Santa Fe Opera's 2002 productions of La Traviata and Eugene Onegin.
Tara Gray Associate Professor, Criminal Justice and Director of the Teaching Academy
Dr. Gray has a longstanding interest in both crime and equality. She currently directs the NMSU Teaching Academy. She has been honored at NMSU and nationally with six awards for teaching or service.
Website: http://www.taragray.com/
Email: tgray@nmsu.edu
Peter Gregware Associate Professor, Criminal Justice and Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Gregware has worked as an attorney for numerous legal institutions, ranging from the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to the Office of State Prosecutor. He also has done graduate work in psychology and has a Ph.D. in Justice Studies. He is currently researching socio legal issues concerning AIDS and legal decision-making. He received the Patricia Christmore Faculty Teaching Award in 1994-95, and won a Roush Award for excellence in teaching in 1996.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~pgregwar/
Email: pgregwar@nmsu.edu
Elvira A. Hammond College Assistant Professor, History
Elvira Hammond is a college assistant professor in the Department of History. She has an M.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Stanford University, is fluent in Chinese, and has traveled widely in China.
Kenneth Hammond Associate Professor, History
Dr. Hammond teaches East and Southeast Asian history. His field of specialization is the cultural and intellectual history of China, in particular the Ming Dynasty from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~histdept/hammond/ham.html
Email: khammond@nmsu.edu
Neil Harvey Associate Professor, Government
Dr. Harvey teaches comparative politics and Latin American politics. His research interests include rural social movements, political change in Chiapas and Mexico, and human rights and democratization in Latin America. Dr. Harvey is also the Director of the Center for Latin American and Border Studies.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/database/experts/HarveyNeil1320549.html
Email: nharvey@nmsu.edu
Jon Holtzman Associate Professor, Astronomy
Dr. Holtzman has extensive experience with observational techniques and instrumentation. His research interests include the study of stellar populations in nearby galaxies; much of his research uses data taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Website: http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/dept/html/directory.faculty.holtz.shtml
Liz Horodowich Assistant Professor of History
Professor Horodowich teaches early modern European history. Her current research deals with obscenity, language and state formation in Renaissance Venice, and with Italian representations of the New World discoveries.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~histdept/horodowich/horodowich.html
Email: lizh@nmsu.edu
Gabriel Lampert College Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Professor Lampert is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He is also past president of Temple Beth El in Las Cruces, where he has taught Biblical Hebrew; his calligraphic designs adorn the Ark doors. His story "Journey" was recently published in Response magazine.
Email: gabriel@nmsu.edu
Yosef Lapid Regents Professor, Government
Dr. Lapid teaches in the Department of Government. He has research interests in social theory, international relations, and comparative politics.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~govdept/faculty/lapid/lapid.html
Email: ylapid@nmsu.edu
Gail Lavender College Professor, English
Professor Lavender's research and teaching interests are in the area of mythology and the literary essay.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/faculty/lavender.htm
Email: glavende@nmsu.edu
Timothy Lawton Professor, Geological Sciences
Dr. Lawton studies the geologic history of the western United States and Mexico.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~geology/lawton/
Email: tlawton@nmsu.edu
Adrienne Lee Associate Professor, Psychology
Dr. Lee's research interests are in the area of human problem-solving, with a focus on learning, transfer, and expertise.
Website: http://www-psych.nmsu.edu/~alee/
A. Elizabeth Lindsey Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Dr. Lindsey teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the area of interpersonal communication and has published studies examining the cognitive processes involved in producing interpersonal messages.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~nmsucomm/Lindsey.htm
Harriet Linkin Professor, English
Dr. Linkin specializes in nineteenth- century British literature and gender and language studies. Her publications include work on British Romantic poets, women writers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and approaches to teaching literature. She is currently working on a project that seeks to recover the lost writings of women poets of the British Romantic period. She received the Patricia Christmore Faculty Teaching Award in 18988-89.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/faculty/linkin.htm
Jerry Lodder Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Lodder's areas of research are algebraic topology, differential geometry, and the history of mathematics. He has incorporated historical sources in teaching mathematics courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Presently he is involved in a project with colleagues from the Departments of Computer Science and Mathematical Sciences to teach courses in discrete mathematics, logic and algorithm design from an historical perspective.
Email: jlodder@nmsu.edu
Margaret Malamud Associate Professor, History
Dr. Malamud is a specialist in the history of religions and in the cultures of the Mediterranean world.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~histdept/malamud/malamud.html
Email: mmalamud@nmsu.edu
G. Larry Mays Regents Professor, Criminal Justice
Dr. Mays is the author of a variety of articles on criminal justice. In addition, he is coauthor of Juvenile Justice, 2nd edition (with L. Thomas Winfree, Jr.), Essentials of Corrections, 3rd edition (with L. Thomas Winfree, Jr.), coeditor of Courts and Justice, 3rd edition (with Peter Gregware), and editor of Gangs and Gang Behavior. He was a winner of the 1993 Roush Award for outstanding teaching, and in 1997 he was named the New Mexico "Professor of the Year" by the Carnegie Foundation.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/database/experts/MaysG.Larry1553325.html
Email: glmays@nmsu.edu
Donald McCoy College Professor Emeritus, Computer Science
Professor McCoy's teaching specialties include computer literacy, computer graphics, software engineering, and programming languages. He received a Roush Award for excellence in teaching in 1994.
Email: hue@nmsu.edu
Tracey Miller-Tomlinson Associate Professor of English, Associate Dean of the Honors College
Dr. Miller-Tomlinson directs the Office of National Scholarships and International Education. A specialist in the literature and drama of the English Renaissance, her research and teaching interests include Shakespeare, Renaissance poetry and prose, Restoration comedy, literature and subjectivity, and literature and the rise of nationalism. Her publications include articles in Studies in English Literature, Restoration and 18th-century Theatre Research, Etudes Theatrales, and Research Opportunities in Medieval and Renaissance Drama.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/faculty/tomlinson.html
Email: tomlin@nmsu.edu
Bruce Olberding Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Bruce Olberding, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, specializes in Commutative Algebra.
David Pengelley Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Pengelley is a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. His research areas are algebraic topology, mathematics education, and history of mathematics. He received the 1993 award for Distinguished Teaching from the Southwestern Section of the Mathematical Association of America.
Website: http://emmy.nmsu.edu/~davidp/
Email: dpengelley@nmsu.edu
Beth Pollack Professor, Languages and Linguistics
Dr. Pollack teaches Latin American literature and culture in the Department of Languages and Linguistics. She is currently researching women writers in Latin America.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~langling/Staff/bpollack.html
Richard Rundell Professor and Department Head, Languages and Linguistics
Dr. Rundell teaches German language, literature, and culture in Department of Languages and Linguistics. Dr. Rundell has recently published in the area of film studies.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~langling/Staff/rundell.html
Email: rrundell@nmsu.edu
Danny Scoccia Associate Professor, Philosophy
Dr. Scoccia's research and teaching areas are social and political philosophy and ethics.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~philos/faculty.html#scoccia
Email: dscoccia@nmsu.edu
Elba Serrano Professor, Biology
Dr. Serrano is a neurobiologist and biophysicist. Her interdisciplinary research program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and focuses on the development of sensory systems and the brain. Undergraduate students are key participants in her research. Dr. Serrano has received the NMSU Roush Award for Excellence in Teaching and a AAAS International Lectureship in Science and Engineering.
Website: http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/serrano/neurolab/neurolab.html
Email: serrano@nmsu.edu
James Shearer Professor, Music
Dr. Shearer teaches music history, theory, and tuba/euphonium. He has recorded with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Creole Jazz Band, and the Canterbury Brass.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~music/faculty/shearer.html
Email: jshearer@nmsu.edu
Tom Smith Associate Professor, Theatre Arts
Professor Smith's focus is directing, playwriting and improvisation. He is the author of more than 25 plays, 9 of which are published. He is also the recipient of numerous national and international playwriting awards.
Website: http://theatre.nmsu.edu/
Email: tomsmith@nmsu.edu
Mary A. Staffeldt Associate Professor Emerita, Industrial Engineering
Dr. Staffeldt teaches operations research in the Department of Industrial Engineering. The Public Service Company of New Mexico Foundation funded the development of her honors course, Technology and Policy. She received a Roush Award for excellence in teaching in 1988.
Lois Stanford Associate Professor, Anthropology
Dr. Stanford is a cultural anthropologist with field experience in the Philippines, Mexico, California, and the U.S.-Mexico border region. Her research areas include agricultural development, sociocultural change, political resistance, and social impact studies.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~publhist/lostan~1.htm
Email: lstanfor@nmsu.edu
Edward Staski Professor, Anthropology
Dr. Staski is Director of the University Museum and Professor of Anthropology. His research interests include the emergence of urban life, ethnic group relations, and life on the western frontier.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~publhist/stasvita.htm
Email: estaski@nmsu.edu
Irena Swanson Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Swanson's research areas are commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, and computational algebra.
Website: http://www.math.nmsu.edu/~iswanson/
Tracy Tomlinson Assistant Professor, English
Dr. Tomlinson is a specialist in the poetry and drama of the English Renaissance, with an emphasis on the intersection between literature and contemporary politics. She is presently revising her Yale doctoral thesis into a book manuscript entitled Breaking the Mirror: The English History Play in the Seventeenth Century.
Marsha Weisiger Assistant Professor, History
Dr. Weisiger teaches environmental history, the history of the U.S. West, and the West in popular culture. She has published a book on the history of migratory agricultural workers in Arizona and is currently working on an environmental history of the Navajos.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~histdept/Weisiger/weisiger.html
Email: mweisige@nmsu.edu
Kathleene West Professor, English
Dr. West has published four collections of poetry. She has a forthcoming book of short fiction that weaves together her research on contemporary cultures and the ancient civilizations that once sustained them. Her research has taken her to Cambodia, Viet Nam, China and numerous Mayan sacred sites in Mexico and Central America.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/faculty/west.htm
Email: kwest@nmsu.edu
Mary Wolf Associate Professor, Languages and Linguistics
Dr. Wolf teaches French and women's studies. She publishes on North African literature written in French and is currently working on a series of photo essays dealing with identities and transnational decolonization.
Website: http://www.nmsu.edu/~langling/Staff/wolf.html
Email: mawolf@nmsu.edu
Walter Zakahi Professor, Communication Studies and Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Zakahi is the author of numerous articles on interpersonal communication skills, shyness, and loneliness.
Website: http://web.nmsu.edu/~nmsucomm/Zakahi.htm
Email: wzakahi@nmsu.edu