New Faculty 2020

August 19, 2020
Andy Harris portrait

Dr. Andy Harris

Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Andy Harris is from Taylorsville, Utah. He earned his PhD from Utah State University. Dr. Harris’s research interests include adolescent community engagement and volunteerism. Dr. Harris enjoys baking, gardening, and eating cookies. Most of all, he loves laughing with his children and holding his wife's hand.

Julia Yan portrait

Dr. Jia "Julia" Yan

Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Jia Yan is from Qingdao, China. She earned her PhD from The Ohio State University. One of Dr. Yan’s main research interests is socio-emotional development. In her spare time, Dr. Yan enjoys mountains, board games, and traveling.

Spencer Bradshaw portrait

Dr. Spencer Bradshaw

Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Spencer Bradshaw is from East Millcreek, Utah. He earned his PhD from Texas Tech University, and his research focuses on individual and family recovery from substance use disorders. Dr. Bradshaw loves being with his wife and their six children, as well as being outdoors, athletics and exercise, music, and selective reading.

Hillary Swanson portrait

Dr. Hillary Swanson

Assistant Professor, Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

Dr. Hillary Swanson is from Fairfield Iowa, and she completed her PhD at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Swanson researches learning sciences, and she enjoys hiking, taiji, cooking, and drawing.

Lisa Lundgren portrait

Dr. Lisa Lundgren

Assistant Professor, Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

Dr. Lisa Lundgren is from Littleton, Colorado, and she earned her PhD at the University of Florida. Dr. Lundgren researches learning in informal and online environments. She enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, hiking, skiing, and asking people if she can pet their dogs.

Ramy Shaaban portrait

Dr. Ramy Shaaban

Professional Practice Assistant Professor, Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

Dr. Ramy Shaaban is from Alexandria, Egypt. He earned his PhD and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on technology-based medical education, simulation-based learning, gamification, and scaffolding and virtual collaboration. Dr. Shaaban spends his spare time playing virtual reality games using Oculus Quest, exploring the fun of new technologies, and contemplating the future of learning with technology. He also uses his spare time to learn VR/AR coding.

James Morton portrait

Dr. James Morton

Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Health Science

Dr. James Morton is from Dodge City, Kansas. He received his PhD from The Ohio State University, and his primary research interest is organizational behavior in intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Morton enjoys hiking with his wife, watching movies at the movie theater, and finding good pizza to eat.

Pam Anderson portrait

Pam Anderson

Professional Practice Associate Professor, Nursing and Health Professions

Pam Anderson is from Smithfield, Utah. She received her MS from Weber State University. Her primary area of research in the past year has been the immunization debate, especially with regard to nurses. Ms. Anderson’s personal interests include spending time with family, vacationing, camping, four wheeling, and gardening. She also enjoys playing golf, exercising, reading, doing family history, and watching movies. She has 10 children and 24 grandchildren.

Stan Johnson portrait

Stan Johnson

Professional Practice Assistant Professor, Nursing and Health Professions

Stan Johnson is from Draper, Utah. He earned his MS from Western Governors University, and he researches leadership and management in nursing. Mr. Johnson enjoys fly-fishing, dirt bikes, athletics, animals, and spending time in the mountains. He also enjoys shooting guns and loves classic cars and trucks.

Crissa Levin portrait

Dr. Crissa Levin

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Crissa Levin is from Reno, Nevada. She earned her PhD from the University of Nevada, Ren, and one of her main research interests is the scholarship of teaching and learning psychology. Dr. Levin enjoys cooking new and difficult things and failing forward in these ventures. She also enjoys playing games with friends.

Daniel Piper portrait

Daniel Piper

Professional Practice Instructor, Psychology

Daniel Piper is from Kaysville, Utah. He will complete his PhD in fall 2020 at the University of Utah. His primary research areas include school-based Native American language revitalization, Native American education policy, and the impact of Indigenous language and culture-based education on students and families, as well as the role of such efforts in expanding the educational sovereignty of Native nations. Mr. Piper's personal interests are reading and creative writing, exploring nature, road trips, and learning more about local histories.

Jennifer Grewe portrait

Dr. Jennifer Grewe

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Jennifer Grewe is from Logan, Utah. She completed her PhD at Utah State University and researches the teaching of psychology. Dr. Grewe enjoys skiing, traveling, and spending time with her husband and 3 kids.

Katherine Brown portrait

Dr. Katherine Brown

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Katherine Brown is from Goodhue, Minnesota. She earned her PhD from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her main research area is behavior intervention adherence and integrity. Dr. Brown enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Sara Boghosian portrait

Dr. Sara Boghosian

Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Sara Boghosian is from Boron, California. She earned her PhD at Utah State University. Her clinical interests include multicultural psychology, the treatment of eating disorders and anxiety, adolescent development, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Dr. Boghosian is an avid soccer fan, and she enjoys hiking, reading, crossfit, and spending time with her three dogs. She is married and has an adult son who attends USU. She is especially proud of her Armenian heritage and is attempting to learn the language. She likes to travel locally, nationally, and internationally as often as possible, and she spends a significant portion of her free time engaged in activism in the areas of civil rights and anti-racism.

Tyler Lefevor portrait

Dr. Tyler Lefevor

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Tyler Lefevor is from West Jordan, Utah, and he completed his PhD at the University of Miami. Dr. Lefevor researches religion and health among sexual and gender minorities. He enjoys running, hiking, eating good food, horror movies, and traveling.

Michael Gerald portrait

Dr. Michael Gerald

Assistant Professor, Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling

Dr. Michael Gerald is from Woodland, California. He received his PhD from the University of Iowa, and his primary research area is rehabilitation counseling ethics. Dr. Gerald likes hiking with his wife, reading science fiction and fantasy novels, volunteering, exercising, and watching action movies.

Amanda Deliman Portrait

Dr. Amanda Deliman

Assistant Professor, School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Amanda Deliman is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned her PhD at Indiana University Bloomington. Her primary research interests are elementary literacy education and empathy literacy. Dr. Deliman enjoys traveling, hiking with her golden retrievers, climbing, mountain biking, and yoga.

Katherine Vela portrait

Dr. Katherine Vela

Assistant Professor, School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Katherine Vela is from Houston, Texas. She completed her PhD at Texas A&M University, and her main research focus is STEM education. Dr. Vela loves traveling, spending time with family and friends, and spoiling her furbabies, Sophie and Kimber.

Mitchell Colver portrait

Dr. Mitchell Colver

Professional Practice Assistant Professor, School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Mitchell Colver is from Laie, Hawaii. He received his PhD from Utah State University. His main research interests are higher education, retention, analytics, and academic motivation. Dr. Colver likes to write music, spend time with his children, and travel to speaking engagements, where he seeks out specialty and local cuisine.

Rachel Turner portrait

Dr. Rachel Turner

Assistant Professor, School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Rachel Turner is from Normangee, Texas. She earned her PhD from Texas A&M University, and her primary research area is elementary social studies. Dr. Turner enjoys hiking, working out, reading, and playing with her dogs, Finn & Penny.

Sarah Jarnagin portrait

Dr. Sarah Jarnagin

Professional Practice Assistant Professor, School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Dr. Sarah Jarnagin is from Lake Charles, Lousianna, and she earned her EdD from Sam Houston State University. Her main research focuses are effective organizational change practices in K-12 schools and districts and the need for effective modeling of emotional intelligence by candidates in educational leadership programs. Dr. Jarnagin enjoys spending time with her husband, Aaron, her 16-year-old son, TJ, and her dog, Reggie. She loves to travel and spend time with friends she has made in other states. Dr. Jarnagin also loves the outdoors and never passes up an opportunity to be outside in the woods, enjoy lake activities, or sit on the deck at home.