New Faculty Introductions

Brandon Bagwell
Assistant Professor of Theatre (Lighting Design/Technology)

Elvis Bendana Rivas
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies

Thir Budhathoki
Assistant Professor of English
Dr. Thir Budhathoki earned his Ph. D. in English, Rhetoric and Composition at University of Arizona in May 2023. He received his M. Phil. and M. A. in English at Tribhuvan University, Nepal where he also worked as a faculty before moving to the U. S. in 2017. His research and teaching interests center on linguistically just writing practices in Writing Studies and Professional and Technical Writing. His work has appeared in the journals like Literacy in Composition Studies, Composition Forum, Technical Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Research and Practice in College Teaching.

Catherine Dowell
Assistant Professor of Psychology

Ngoc Nguyen
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Ngoc N. Nguyen is presently Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Indiana (USI). He holds a Ph.D. degree in Social Work from University of Pittsburgh and a Master degree of Social Work from Boston College. He has many years of experiences working with international non-profit organizations and in-need populations in Vietnam and the United States. He also has many years teaching experience at various universities in Vietnam. His research areas of interest include religion and human behaviors, youth addiction, addiction treatment, school violence, and mental health problems. (Dr. Nguyen joined in Spring 2023)

Raymond "Doug" Partin
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
Doug is an assistant professor of criminal justice who holds a doctorate in international crime and justice from Florida International University. Additionally, he received both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. Doug’s research and teaching interests include cybercrime, the Dark Web, and criminological theory. His recent research has appeared in journals such as Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Justice, and American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Joshua Robinson
Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre
Joshua Robinson is the new Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre. He holds a Ph.D. in theater and drama from IU, an MA in American Studies from Columbia University, and a BA in history from Kean University. He is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Previously, he served as Director of Theatre and Chair of the BFA in Musical Theatre program at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS. While his teaching interests focus on Musical Theatre performer training, his research interests lie in Contemporary Musical Theatre Studies, particularly the work of Michael John LaChiusa.

Jeffrey Keene Short
Instructor of English
Jeffery Keene Short received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Idaho and also holds a Master's in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Originally from Arizona, where he received BA degrees in English and History, his writing and research interests include environmental humanities, pop culture studies, and the role of food in creative writing. He is the editor-in-chief for Atticus Review.

Yang Yang
Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Advertising

Jamie Baker
Instructor of Food and Nutrition
Jamie graduated from USI in 2014 with a BS in Food and Nutrition, Dietetics Specialty. She then completed her dietetic internship and sat for the registration exam to become a Registered Dietitian in 2015. Jamie completed an MS in Nutrition from Murray State University in 2018 and in 2020 began pursuing a PhD in Health Education and Promotion from Walden University. In her 7.5 years of practice she worked for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Kentucky and specialized in lactation. She earned the credential of International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in 2019. As a result, her research interests lie in the field of lactation.

Megen Brown
Instructor of Nursing
Megen is from Henderson, KY, where she grew up and currently resides. She graduated from USI with a BSN (2010) and MSN (2013). She is a Family Nurse Practitioner, but has primarily focused her career on pediatrics. She has nursing experience in Pediatrics and NICU. She has spent the last 9.5 years practicing as a nurse practitioner at Peyton Manning Center for Children Sub-Specialty Clinic where she spent 6 years in neurodevelopmental pediatrics and the last 3 in pediatric Endocrinology. Over the last several years, she has enjoyed mentoring and teaching undergraduate and graduate nursing students. While she loves practicing and providing care to patients and their families, she has always had a desire to return to USI to teach. She is excited to begin this new role at USI and is looking forward to engaging with the students and assisting future nurses in meeting their educational goals.

Christina "Chrissy" Buxton
Instructor of Nursing
Nursing Instructor Christina Buxton earned her BSN at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and her MSN in public health/community health/home health care at the University of Michigan. At this time, she also earned a certificate in nursing education. She is a board-certified nurse in nursing professional development. She worked at the University of Michigan Health System. In 2015, she continued her career at Indiana University Health in Bloomington, IN. In August 2019, Christina began working as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Indiana University. In January 2023, Christina continued her career in academia at USI. She has practiced nursing and nursing professional development on a medical surgical unit, orthopedic/trauma unit, and inpatient psychiatric unit. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor and an American Red Cross nurse.

Brandon Cole
Instructor of Nursing
Brandon Cole earned his Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Nursing Management and Leadership in 2020 from the University of Southern Indiana. He also earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from USI in 2007 and is currently working on his Doctorate in Nursing through USI. Brandon especially enjoys teaching in the clinical setting. Research is a natural fit that goes along with his Journalism degree. Brandon has nursing experience in the following fields: Medical Surgical, PACU, Cardiovascular, Long Term Acute Care, and Rehabilitation.

Kara Doucet
Instructor of Nursing
Kara completed her undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Kentucky. Her practice experience includes cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgical, and trauma/surgical critical care, abdominal transplant and pulmonary critical care medicine. Her teaching experiences include serving as adjunct clinical faculty for the DNP AGACNP track at the University of Kentucky, until relocating to be closer to family in Henderson, KY. She joined USI as adjunct clinical faculty for the Acute Care NP track in Spring of 2023. Her professional interests include clinical practice, critical care management and palliative care.

Leslie Kirkwood
Instructor of Nursing
Leslie is a graduate of USI, completing her associate degree in Nursing in 1992 and Bachelor's degree in Nursing in 1994. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing Education from the University of Evansville in 1998. She worked as a bedside nurse for 16 years prior to starting a career in academia at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville in 2008, where she taught in both LPN and RN programs. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the College of Education at the University of Alabama with plans to graduate in May 2024.

Theresa Marcotte
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Dr. Theresa Marcotte is a USI alumni (MSN Class of 2002). Dr. Marcotte earned her DNP with a focus on empowerment and innovation in nursing. As an educator, Dr. Marcotte has taught across the nursing educational spectrum from undergrad to graduate nursing. She has also served as a Dean of Instruction and Associate Dean of Nursing and Allied Health during her career. As a new member of the nursing faculty at USI, Dr. Marcotte's main goal is to support students in becoming quality nurses, innovating and advocating for the profession of nursing and becoming nursing leaders of the future.

Abigail "Abbi" McIntosh
Instructor of Nursing
Abbi grew up in Louisville, KY. She came to Evansville in 2009 to play volleyball for USI and go to nursing school. She graduated in 2013 with her BSN. She has worked in med-surg nursing for Deaconess and as a travel nurse in Indianapolis. She got her MSN in 2020 from USI. She has since worked for Deaconess as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She has worked as an adjunct in the graduate FNP program for the past 2 summers. This will be her first full time faculty role starting this fall.

Keri Montgomery
Instructor of Nursing

Stephanie Rexing
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy
Dr. Stephanie Rexing is joining the University of Southern Indiana’s College of Nursing and Health Professions as an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy. Stephanie completed her Masters in Occupational Therapy (OT) at USI in 2014. Achieving her Certified Lymphatic Therapist certification in 2015 she spent seven years in community health serving the lymphedema population. Her passion to provide evidence-based services led her to pursue her Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Eastern Kentucky University from 2019-2021. Stephanie’s Leadership and Capstone objectives focused on improving OT service delivery to individuals diagnosed with breast cancer. Stephanie is passionate about OT and excited to impact the future of the profession through academics, research, and service.

Jordan Thomason
Instructor of DMS and Clinical Coordinator of DMS
Jordan graduated from the USI diagnostic medical sonography program in 2013. She has over 10 years of experience in ultrasound doing multiple specialties including high risk OB, adult echo, pediatric echo, and fetal echo. After many years of scanning her career has brought her to USI. She started teaching as an adjunct faculty member and is now the clinical coordinator for the diagnostic medical sonography program. She looks forward to working and growing at USI.

Zulfikar Ali
Assistant Professor of Physics
Dr. Zulfikar Ali earned his M.Sc. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and obtained a Ph.D. in Physics from Clark University. As a postdoctoral associate at UMass Chan Medical School, he honed his expertise before joining USI as an Assistant Professor of Physics. Dr. Ali has been captivated by the concept that life's complexity can be understood through fundamental principles. His research, spanning both his Ph.D. and postdoc years, delves into the molecular and cellular workings of biological systems. Utilizing simple toy models, analytical calculations driven by data, numerical simulations, and statistical mechanics, he unravels the mechanisms governing biological processes. Driven by a relentless curiosity, he continues his exploration in the vast domain of gene regulation, cellular decision-making, and the evolutionary design principles of genetic circuits.

Lara Christoun
Assistant Professor and Chair of Teacher Education of Education

Scott Grady
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Scott Grady obtained his bachelor's in Chemistry from the University of Evansville before moving to Saint Louis to pursue his doctoral studies at Saint Louis University. There, he oversaw organic and general chemistry teaching labs as a graduate teaching assistant and remained involved with curriculum development after moving on to a research assistant position. After completing his graduate education, he was hired on as an assistant professor of organic chemistry at USI. His research areas span multiple disciplines, reflecting the diversity of his training, including virology, synthesis, and analytical chemistry. More specifically, his research focuses on synthetic design, flavivirus drug development, and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. His teaching style involves a lecture/discussion hybrid with anonymous live feedback during the lecture to identify points of confusion.

Ryan Integlia
Assistant/Associate Professor of Engineering

Peter "Brian" Kiessling II
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Sport

Timothy Mattison
Assistant Professor of Education
Dr. Timothy Mattison earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He earned master's degrees in public affairs and Russian at the University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs, and his B.S. in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Dr. Mattison has served as a High School Math Teacher, K-8 Math Specialist and Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal and Associate Principal. He served in these roles at traditional public and public charter schools in Texas. Dr. Mattison also served for 3 years as the Director of Policy and Research at the Texas Public Charter Schools Association conducting advocacy research. He is currently serving as Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Indiana's Department of Teacher Education.

Elise Murray
Assistant Professor of Education

Darrin Sorrells
Contract Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Sport

Jason Ulery
Contract Assistant of Physics
Dr. Jason Ulery earned his B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Manchester University in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Purdue University in 2007. He did postdoctoral research at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. Jason's research was in high-energy nuclear physics where he studied nuclei-nuclei collisions on particle accelerators, including the Large Hadron Collider. These collisions produce the hottest man-made explosions with a temperature hot enough it should form a state of matter, called a quark-gluon plasma, where protons and neutrons break apart. Jason has been teaching high school physics for the past nine years and has been a physics adjunct for USI part of that time. His other research interests include physics education. Dr. Ulery is looking forward to teaching physics for education majors and introductory physics courses.

Jessica Felix
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Jessica Felix is a new Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern Indiana. She obtained her Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD in Marketing from the University of Texas at El Paso. She has taught marketing research and will begin teaching principles of marketing in the fall. Jessica's research focuses on online platforms and the strategic implications of business relationships in this context.

Michael Klein
Instructor of Accounting
Michael Klein has a PhD in Criminal Justice and Criminology from Washington State University, has a Master of Professional Accounting from Winona State University, and is on his way to a CPA accreditation. Michael is interested in research related to fraud and governmental accounting. A southern Indiana native, he is excited to return to a region he loves.

Sonik Mandal
Assistant Professor of Finance
Dr. Sonik Mandal is joining as new finance faculty in the Romain College of Business. He was teaching for around 4 and a half years at Cameron University before accepting the offer here at USI. Sonik has a PhD in finance from Old Dominion University and an MBA from Iowa State University. He is a native of India having completed his undergraduate studies from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. Sonik will be teaching classes on financial management, investments, business finance and much more in the department of finance. His research interests include derivative hedging, dividend policy, capital structure and managerial characteristics/risk preferences. During free time, Sonik likes to listen to music, watch movies and surf the internet. He is looking forward to his new job at USI.

Magdalena Viktora-Jones
Assistant Professor of Management
Magdalena Viktora-Jones obtained a B.A. in International Business and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in Management from Lindenwood University, an M.A. in Modern Language from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. in International Business from Florida International University. Her research interests include corporate domestic and global strategies and connections concerning diversity, reputation, and language management. Magdalena has taught business and foreign language courses where she used a combination of interactive learning methods. She is also an engaged member of the Academy of Management and the Academy of International Business.