Faculty and Staff - Emergency Management

JSU Emergency Management Educators are Leaders in the Field

Students in Emergency Management programs benefit from the dedication and expertise of a faculty and staff who have more than 200 years of combined experience. All professors and instructors hold doctorate and/or master degrees and many have hands-on experience in their field outside of academia, uniquely qualifying them to teach Emergency Management courses.

Administration

Tanveer Islam, PhD, CFM Department Head tislam@jsu.edu	Ms. Belinda Chitwood Administrative Assistant 256-782-5925 bchitwood@jsu.edu
Alessandra Jerolleman, PhD Doctoral Program Co-Director ajerolleman@jsu.edu	Shih-Kai (Sky) Huang, PhD Doctoral Program Co-Director shuang@jsu.edu	Denise DaSilva, MPA MSEM Program Advisor ddasilva@jsu.edu
Rachel Haas, MBA Undergraduate Program Advisor rhass@jsu.edu	Kirsten Hughes, MSW Career Advisor khughes6@jsu.edu

Faculty

Professors	Education	Specialization/Research Interests
Bill Lowe CV	D.B.A. 2000 - Nova Southeastern University	Homeland Security Terrorism Response Mitigating, Preventing, Responding, and Recovering from Active Shooters Incidents
Tanveer Islam CV	Ph.D. 2006 - Texas Tech University	Hazard Mitigation Vulnerability Assessment Community Resilience Social Media GIS applications

Associate Professors
Shih-Kai Huang CV	Ph.D. 2014 - Texas A & M University	Risk Perception Risk Communication Warning Response Cross-national Comparisons in Disaster Research Quantitative Research Method
Alessandra Jerolleman CV	Ph.D. 2013 - University of New Orleans	Privatization of Emergency Management Disaster Resilience Hazard Mitigation
Jeff Van Slyke CV	ED.D 2007 - University of Texas	Response Terrorism Campus Safety Homeland Security Threat Assessment
Assistant Professors

Allison Newton CV	Ed.D. 2017 - University of Alabama	Student Veteran issues e.g. transitioning to civilian life, etc. Hazard Mitigation and Recovery Issues to include Federal/State Mitigation Programs and Emergency Relief The Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project
Chongming Wang CV	Ph.D 2016 - Pennsylvania State University	Evacuation Behaviors & Preparedness Vulnerability of Elderly Populations GIS Applications in Social Science
Laura Olson CV	Ph.D 2012 - George Washington University	Disaster Risk Reduction Climate Change Adaptation Disaster Recovery
Instructor

Denise DaSilva CV	MPA/EM 2002 - Jacksonville State University	Social dimensions of disaster Preparedness and planning

Emeritus Faculty
A. Barry Cox IEP Director Emeritus	Ph.D 1968 - University of South Carolina	Safety and Environmental Health Issues Hazardous Materials Management
Jane Kushma Professor Emerita & CDCR Director CV	Ph.D. 2001 - University of Texas at Arlington	Emergency Management Policy Disaster Management Nonprofit organizations and volunteer management Service learning
Jeff Ryan Professor Emeritus	Ph.D 1996 - North Carolina State University	Public Health Preparedness Biosecurity Military Role in Disaster Response

Distinguished Affiliate Professor/Affiliate Faculty

David McEntire Distinguished Affiliated Professor CV	Ph.D 2000 - University of Denver	Emergency Management Theory Vulnerability Reduction Community Preparedness Response Coordination International Disasters Terrorism and Homeland Security
Arjola Balilaj CV	Ph.D 2020 - Florida Atlantic University	Diversity Mediation & Conflict Resolution Program Evaluation Public Budgeting and Management
David Thornton CV	Ph.D 2008 - Auburn University	Serious Games Gamification Multimodal and Speech-enabled Interfaces Human-Computer Interaction

Adjunct Faculty

Rhonda Braudis CV	MA/EM 2012 - American Public University	Public Safety Telecommunications Disaster Operations Clinical Incident Stress Management -Crisis Negotiations
Andre Jones CV	Ph.D 2021 - Walden University	Management Systems in Disaster Major Incident Response Emergency Operations Center Management
Matthew McFall CV	MS 2014 - Jacksonville State University	Business and Academic Continuity Cyber Security Risk Perceptions
Brad McGriff CV	MS 2007 - Jacksonville State University	Cyber Security Computer Systems & Software Design
Scott Manning CV	D.Sc. 2017 - Jacksonville State University	Strategic Planning Leadership Theory and Organizational Behavior Homeland Security Planning and Preparedness
Eugene Rothman CV	MS/EM 2013 - Jacksonville State University	Public Safety Response
Laura Ann Martin Sullins CV	MA in Communication Management 2014 - University of Alabama at Birmingham MA in English 2006 - Jacksonville State University	Technical Writing Interpersonal Communications
Mary "Kay" Vonderschmidt CV	D.Sc. 2017 - Jacksonville State University	Healthcare Emergency Management Medical Surge Social Vulnerability Disaster Modeling