Welcome New Faculty and Permanent Lecturers in the College of Sciences for 2007

Ms. Eva G. Clarke, Lecturer of Psychology, received an M.S. and a B.S. in Psychology, in 1991 and 1987 respectively, from Old Dominion University.  From 1992 to 2005, she was a Lecturer in Psychology at Old Dominion University.   

Dr. Claudia Constanze Englbrecht, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, received a Ph.D. in 2000 and degrees in Biology Studies in 1995 from the Zoological Institute of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich.  From 2002-2005, she was a Research Scientist at the Institute for Bioinformatics (MIPS), National Research Center for Environment and Health (GSF), near Munich.

Dr. Tal Ezer, Associate Professor of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, received a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography in 1989 from Florida State University and an M.Sc. in Atmospheric Sciences and a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics, in 1984 and 1981 respectively, from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  Since 1989, he has been a Research Staff Member and Research Scholar for the program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University.

Dr. Tatyana Lobova, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, received a Ph.D. in Botany in 2000 from Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences and an M.S. in Botany in 1994 from State University, Russia.  Since 2001, she has been a Research Assistant at the Institute of Systematic Botany for The New York Botanical Garden. 

Dr. Poornima Madhavan, Assistant Professor of Psychology, received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Engineering Psychology (Human Factors), in 2005 and 2002 respectively, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology, English, and Economics, in 1999 and 1997 respectively, from Bangalore University, India.  Since 2005, she has been a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory, Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Dr. Douglas J. Mills, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, received a Ph.D. in Biology in 1996 from the University of Maryland at College Park, an M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology in 1989 from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Biology in 1986 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  Since 2006, he has been a Technical Instructor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Dr. Mills has also taught at Concordia University, Georgia State University and Emory University. 

Dr. Emilia S. Oleszak, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, received a Doctor of Philosophy in Virology in 1979 from the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Science and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the Medical School of Wroclaw, Division of Pharmacy, Poland.  Since 1999, she has been an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Temple University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Karin A. Orvis, Assistant Professor of Psychology, received a Ph.D. in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology in May 2007 from George Mason University, an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology in 2001 from George Mason University, and a B.S. in Psychology in 1999 from Michigan State University.  Since 2004, she has been a Research Fellow at the United States Army Research Institute.  She has also taught at Clarkson University, School of Business and George Mason University in the Department of Psychology. 

Dr. Iordanka Panayotova, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin and a B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics in 1992 from Sofia University, Bulgaria.  Since 2005, she has been a Research Scientist (postdoctoral position) at the Institute for Scientific Research at Boston College.  From 2002-2005, Dr. Panayotova was a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin. 

Dr. Chris D. Platsoucas, Dean of the College of Sciences and Professor of Biological Sciences, received a Doctor of Philosophy with training in Biochemistry and Immunology in 1978 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1973 from the University of Patras, Greece.   He has been an endowed professor at Temple's Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology since 1993 and served as Dean of Temple's College of Science and Technology form 2000-05.  Dr. Platsoucas previously served as a Professor in cancer research and immunology and deputy chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  He is an immunologist and researcher known in the United States and abroad for his work on the molecular and cellular immunology of human T cells.

Dr. Balasubramanian Ramjee, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and an M.S. in Chemical Sciences, in 2001 and 1997 respectively, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India and a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1994 from Loyola College, University of Madras, India.  Since 2003, he has been a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   

Dr. Jin Wang, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, received a Ph.D. in Mathematics in 2004 from The Ohio State University and an M.S. and B.S. in Mathematics, in 2000 and 1998 respectively, from the University of Science and Technology of China.  Since 2005, he has been an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Duke University.  Dr. Wang also taught at The Ohio State University. 

Ms. Kimberly E. Wood, Director of Academic Advising in the College of Sciences, received a Master of Arts in Public Communication in 2001 from The American University and a B.S. in Speech Communication in 2000 from Radford University.  Since 2005, she has been Director of Career Advising at ECPI College of Technology.  She has also been an Adjunct Professor of Communication at George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College. 

Dr. Ying Xu, Research Assistant Professor of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.A. in Mathematics, in 2006 and 2005 respectively, from the University of Kentucky, and an M.S. and a B.S. in Thermal Engineering, in 1998 and 1995 respectively, from Tongji University, Shanghai, China.  Since 2000, she has been a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics at the University of Kentucky.  Prior to that, Dr. Xu was an Engineer in the Research and Development Center at Shanghai Hitachi Electronic Appliance Co., Ltd.

Dr. Junyan Zhong, NMR Facility Manager, College of Sciences, received a Ph.D. in NMR and Physical Chemistry in 2005 from Clark University, an M.S. in Chemistry in 1996 from Dalian University of Technology, China, and a B.S. in Chemistry in 1993 from GanNan Normal University, China.  Since 2005, he has been a Research Associate at City University of New York.