New Faculty Bring Fresh Energy into University Community

BSU Welcomes New College of Professional Studies Dean & Eight Department Chairs

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – As the new academic year is coming into full swing, new faculty bring new ideas and energy to Bowie State University, enhancing the rich and diverse scholarship of the community of learners. This year, eight new department chairs and a college dean have taken the helm in their respective areas.

Most notably, the College of Professional Studies welcomed a new dean, Dr. Tanya Smith Brice, who brings extensive leadership, knowledge and experience. She has served in leadership roles in social work organizations at the national, state, and community levels in the state of South Carolina. She has also taught and lectured all over the United States, as well as in other countries such as Ghana, Sweden, Uganda and the republic of Moldova. She provides consultation to community organizations, as well as religious and educational institutions, on the impact of their policies on African American families. Her extensive research centers on addressing issues of structural violence, specifically as it relates to the impact of those structures on African American people. 
  

The new eight department chairs are:

• Dr. LaTanya Brown-Robertson, interim chair, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance
  Dr. Brown-Robertson is an economist who studies urban communities, publishing papers in various peer-reviewed journals. She has also conducted feasibility and impact studies for state governments and national organizations. She has served as an expert witness and has testified in front of the Maryland State Senate Committee on Budget and Taxation. She has presented papers at numerous professional conferences. She has written papers that received grant funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She strives for her teaching and research to give a voice for the voiceless in the areas of housing, poverty, economic empowerment, and various urban and financial economic policy issues.
• Professor Gina Lewis, chair, Department of Fine and Performing Arts 
  Professor Lewis was previously Bowie State’s studio arts program coordinator and has taught courses in painting, printmaking, integrated studios and digital media arts. She is a mixed media artist with 20+ years of professional experience. Her most recent work focuses on the process of being sustainable, through acts of creativity, and community engagement. She has also been an independent curator for local cultural centers including, the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland, and the Millennium Arts Salon in Washington, DC.
• Dr. Manohar Mareboyana, interim chair, Department of Computer Science
  Dr. Mareboyana joined Bowie State University in 1994 and is now a professor in the department. Before he became full time faculty at Bowie State University, he was a senior research scientist with Universities Space Research Association at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he conducted research in parallel image processing algorithms and image compression techniques. Dr. Mareboyana has developed courses at graduate level, mentored a number of graduate and undergraduate students and supervised a number of master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. Dr. Mareboyana has published extensively in reviewed journals in the area of parallel algorithms, neural networks, and image processing and image compression. 
• Dr. Wilbur Parker, chair, Department of Educational Leadership
  Dr. Parker’s teaching and leadership experience includes an advanced placement biology teacher, STEM education, International Baccalaureate, and an allied healthcareers professor in public schools, community colleges, and university teacher preparation programs. He has given professional learning and keynote sessions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. His research includes school leadership and teacher leadership development, urban school leader development, critical race theory, multicultural education, social justice, African American male teachers, and student athlete achievement.
• Dr. George Ude, chair, Department of Natural Sciences
  Dr. Ude is a tenured full professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and a 2016 Wilson H. Elkins Professor, an award by the University System of Maryland that honors recipients for teaching, research and service. Dr. Ude has secured extramural funding for laboratory-based initiatives and regularly mentors students to pursue intensive research. Dr. Ude has established collaboration with internationally regarded research entities, such as the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the National Institutes for Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For years, Dr. Ude has traveled to Nigeria with students to conduct DNA barcoding research, in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor and the Godfrey Okoye University at Enugu, Nigeria.
• LTC Altwan Whitfield, professor, Department of Military Science
  Before joining Bowie State, LTC Whitfield was most recently serving as the director of the U.S. Army Transportation Agency (White House). Previously, she was selected to serve as the Division Transportation Officer for the 25^th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. She had served in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, where she was selected for a second Company Command for the A/1-25 Stryker Brigade, 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Wainwright.  She deployed her unit to Iraq. She was then assigned as the Army Systems Team chair for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected program at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where she won the Military Tester of the Year Award. 
• Dr. Otis Williams, chair, Department of Counseling
  Dr. Williams began teaching in Bowie State’s Department of Counseling in 2008. In addition to teaching, he has had his research published in journals and books focusing on health disparities, the Alderian psychology theory and practice, mental healthcareer opportunities in correction facilities, among other topics. He has also served on master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation committees, as the lead researcher on several grant-funded initiatives and as the faculty advisor for the African Psychology Student Association.
• Dr. Azene Zenebe, chair, Department of Management Information Systems
  Dr. Zenebe was previously the coordinator of the Master of Science in management information systems program before assuming the role as department chair. He has taught courses in information systems, database systems, decision support systems, knowledge management systems, digital business and e-commerce, information systems security, computer programming with Java, computer applications in business, and statistical methods. His research focuses on the role of information systems in small and mid-size businesses, design and evaluation of enterprise-wide information systems, and business intelligence and decision support using data mining.

The new faculty are:

• Mark Bolden, assistant professor, Department of Counseling
• Takisha J. Carter, assistant professor, Department of Social Work
• Festus Cole, assistant professor, Department of History and Government
• Anton Dormer, visiting professor, Department of Natural Sciences
• Melissa Duchene-Kelly, assistant professor, Department of Teaching, Learning and Professional Development
• Kim Evelyn, assistant professor, Department of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies
• Renee Foose, associate professor, Department of Educational Leadership
• Davenia Lea, associate professor, Department of Educational Leadership
• Akeda Pearson-Stenbar, lecturer, Department of Teaching, Learning and Professional Development
• Cynthia L. Taylor, assistant professor, Department of Counseling

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, criminal justice, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit www.bowiestate.edu.