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Jeannette Alarcón, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Teaching and Teacher Education
Search Committee, Mathematics Education
Teaching/Research Interests: My expertise includes community-centered practices to create more equitable learning
environments for K-12 and undergraduate students via professional development aimed
at increasing critical consciousness in mentor teachers. My research and funded projects
focus on professional development for teachers and teacher educators using an equity
lens to develop culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. My university teaching
includes courses in curriculum theory, teacher action research, and teacher education
in the undergraduate, M.Ed. and Ph.D. programs.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? UH is a great place to work because we enjoy supportive structures that provide myriad
professional learning opportunities. In addition, there are many talented colleagues
to collaborate with in both teaching and research. Houston is a great place to live
because it offers a variety of choices to suit myriad lifestyles and outside-of-work
interests. |
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Sam Brower, Ed.D.
Clinical Professor, Social Studies Education
Chair, Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Teaching/Research Interests: My work is situated at the intersection of critical pedagogy, social studies education
and teaching for justice. I attempt to focus on how social studies educators can utilize
transformative pedagogical practices to support student empowerment and deconstruct
the traditional, hegemonic narratives and practices found in social studies classrooms.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? Houston is a city unlike any other. It’s the fourth largest city in the U.S., but
somehow still maintains a small-town feel. Having lived here for the past 20 years,
I have found it to be a crossroads of diversity, culture and people that offers a
multitude of opportunities to engage in impactful work in advancing equity in education.
Moreover, the College of Education’s mission and vision at UH embodies this work,
and leadership continuously supports faculty in this work.
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Chakema Carmack, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Health
Research/Teaching Interests: My primary program of research is STI/HIV prevention among African American and LGB
young adults and cervical cancer prevention among African American and Hispanic females.
Particularly, I am interested in the social and built environment factors that impede
or promote risk-related sexual behavior and HPV prevention behaviors. I direct the
Social Sciences in Young Adult Risk Behavior Lab.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? I enjoy the student diversity and beauty of the UH campus. I’ve lived many places
before settling on Houston, and I enjoy that there are pockets of Houston MSA that
remind me of all the other places I’ve lived — making the diversity of the people,
the landscape and the food the primary reasons I enjoy Houston. |
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Julie Dunsmore, Ph.D.
Professor and Program Director, Human Development and Family Sciences
Search Committee, School Psychology
Research/Teaching Interests: My research examines what children learn about emotions from important people in
their lives; what patterns of emotional communication promote social and emotional
skills, positive relationships with friends and family, and healthy outcomes; and
what’s similar or different about all of this across contexts. I enjoy providing research
experiences for undergraduates.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? I was drawn to UH because of the commitment to multidisciplinary research aimed at
reducing health and educational disparities, inclusive teaching and mentoring to promote
student success, and partnership with the local community. There’s so much to appreciate
here — the food for sure, so many museums and other cultural experiences, the beach
being just a quick drive away, and simply hearing multiple languages while going about
daily life. |
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Leslie Frankel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Sciences
Search Committee, Human Development and Family Sciences and Health
Research/Teaching Interests: My research interests are focused on parent-child relationships and their impact on
early child development. Specifically, my recent research has examined children’s
ability to self-regulate in general, as well as in the context of eating, with a particular
emphasis on parents’ role in the development of their children’s self-regulatory abilities.
I also investigate how stress and other contextual factors impact parent-child interactions
and relationships.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? I happen to be from Houston. I feel so proud to work at this university because of
the things we do for the community and the quality of education we provide for our
students. I am especially proud of the diversity of our study body and the fact that
many of our students have or will go on to be leaders locally and nationally. I have
two small kids, and we love to explore the city and enjoy the delicious food here. |
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Erica Jordan, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Sciences
Assistant Chair for Student Success, Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning
Sciences
Research/Teaching Interests: I am passionate about undergraduate education and feel privileged to empower students
with the ability to critically evaluate claims that are so readily presented to them
about families in society. My specific teaching interests include courses that expand
students’ understanding about the many internal and external factors that can influence
family dynamics and courses that expose students to career opportunities within our
field.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? I was attracted to UH because of the diversity of its student body and the diverse
cultures represented within Houston. A variety of perspectives is especially enriching
for the classroom when discussing families. On a personal note, Houston is also a
wonderful place for families to explore, and it has been a great place for my partner
and I to explore with our young child. We live in the Museum District and are regularly
taking in much of the best that Houston has to offer, including the parks, food and
museums. We also enjoy getaways from the two airports and road trips together. |
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Milena Keller-Margulis, Ph.D.
Professor, School Psychology
Chair, Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences
Research/Teaching Interests: My research agenda is focused on the measurement of academic skills for all students
in efficient and accurate ways that facilitate identification of those in need of
supportive intervention. My early work as a school psychologist in public schools
highlighted the gaps in research regarding the technical adequacy of academic skills
screening measures used in practice and the absence of measures for certain purposes.
The main focus of my research team, Promoting Academic Skills Success (PASS), is on
curriculum-based measurement (CBM), an approach that involves collecting brief samples
of basic academic skills in reading, math and writing, and is used as a screening
tool to identify children at-risk for poor academic performance and to monitor progress
in response to instruction or intervention. My teaching is also focused on measurement
as well as the practical field training experiences of students.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? Houston is a wonderful place to both work and live, as well as a wonderful place to
train future school psychologists. The city is home to so many people from diverse
backgrounds that results in a rich and exciting community in which to live and learn.
UH reflects the diversity of the broader region and is a vibrant learning and scholarly
community. |
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Mimi Miyoung Lee, Ph.D.
Professor, Learning, Design and Technology
Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Belonging and Success
Search Committee, Artificial Intelligence, Teaching and Learning
Teaching/Research Interests: My research examines social and cultural aspects of technology in various learning
environments. I have been trained as a critical ethnographer and enjoy continuous
learning about critical qualitative research methodologies through my own research
and teaching.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? The list will be too long for me! My sons and I have really enjoyed the food, the
museums and many cultural experiences here in Houston. As an Asian American, I really
appreciate the diversity and the feeling of home that UH and Houston have provided
me and my family. The colleagues and the students I have met at UH have helped me
grow as a person, a scholar and an educator. |
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Norma Olvera, Ph.D.
Professor, Health
Research/Teaching Interests: My research interests are focused on identifying maternal, cultural and environmental
influences on pediatric obesity, body image, disordered eating behaviors, anxiety
and physical activity in Latino and African American families. Results derived from
these studies have led to the development of innovative community and family-based
obesity interventions designed to promote healthy eating, exercise and positive body
image in Latina and African American youth. My research has been published in high
impact factor journals such as Appetite, American Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Journal of Pediatric Psychology and Obesity.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? Cultural diversity in people, languages, traditions, music and, of course, food. |
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Bradley H. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor and Program Director, School Psychology
Research/Teaching Interests: I train students to be sensitive community partners who engage in the development
and application of socially-valid, evidence-based practices that improve well-being
and student success. I direct the University of Houston Mindfulness, Well-being, and
Spirituality Lab, studying ways to make mindfulness a part of the culture of diverse
educational communities. Along with my students, we work with community organizations
to evaluate and strengthen youth serving programs that provide summer camping programs
with an emphasis on understanding benefits for historically underserved groups (e.g.,
HoustonLEAD.org; TheWoodsProject.org).
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? UH is a great place to work, and I think Houston is one of the best places in the
country to train school psychologists because of the diversity of the population and
learning opportunities. Relatedly, the food scene in Houston is vibrant, diverse and
excellent. |
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Jie Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor, Bilingual/ESL Education
Associate Chair, Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Research Interests: My research is focused on language and literacy development and instruction for culturally
and linguistically diverse learners and integrating language and literacy in STEM
teaching and learning for English language learners.
What do you enjoy about UH and Houston? I enjoy working at UH because of the great colleagues and students. I call Houston
home because of its celebration of culture and diversity. I love to explore ethnic
food/restaurants in Houston. |
