/Institutions/Occidental-College/json/2025-2026/Catalog-local.json

/Institutions/Occidental-College/json/2025-2026/Catalog.json

2025-2026 Catalog > Faculty > On Special Appointment

On Special Appointment

Visiting Instructor, Music; Director of the Afro-Cuban Drumming Ensemble

 

Carlos Aguilar
Visiting Instructor, Education
B.A. Occidental College; M.A. Biola University

 

Jamie Angell

Resident Professor of Theater and Performance

B.A., Dartmouth College; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

 

Chris Anthonissen
Visiting Instructor, Geology
B.Sc., M.Sc. University of Stellenbosch

 

Christina Aushana
Visiting Assistant Professor, Media Arts and Culture
B.A., Ph.D. University of California, San Diego

 

Resident Associate Professor, Kinesiology

A.B., Occidental College; M.P.T., University of Southern California; M.B.A., La Sierra University; D.P.T., University of Southern California 

 

Mariano Bertucci

Resident Assistant Professor, Politics

B.A., Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires; M.A. University of Denver; Ph.D. University of Southern California

 

Stephanie S. L. Birnbaum

 

Ann Blythe

Visiting Associate Professor, Geology

B.S., Cornell University; M.S., University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D., Cornell University

 

Alexander H. Bolyanatz

 

Stephen Cabell

Visiting Assistant Professor, Music

B.M., The Curtis Institute; M.M., The Juilliard School; Ph.D., University of Southern California

 

Anthony Cardella

 

César Castro

Visiting Instructor, Music

 

Sharon Cech
Visiting Instructor, Urban & Environmental Policy
B.A., Bard College; M.A., UCLA

Resident Associate Professor, Computer Science

BA., B.S., M.S., National Taiwan University; M.S., Ph.D., University of Southern California

 

Chris Cianci
Visiting Assistant Professor, Computer Science

A.B. Occidental College; B.S. Caltech; Ph.D. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

 

Rick Cole
Visiting Assistant Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy
A.B., Occidental College; M.S., Columbia University

 

Ara Corbett

Resident Assistant Professor, College Writing Program

B.A., Loyola Marymount University; M.F.A., Boston University; M.A., California State University, Los Angeles

 

David Crabb
Visiting Assistant Professor, Theater & Performance Studies
B.F.A., Texas State University; M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art 

 

Bryon Cunningham

Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology

B.S., University of Georgia; M.A., Ph.D., Emory University; M.F.A., University of Southern California; Psy.D., California School of Professional Psychology

 

Chekwube O. Danladi

Visiting Assistant Professor, English; Writer in Residence

B.A., Oberlin College; M.F.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Tyrone Davis
Visiting Instructor, Theater & Performance Studies
B.A. California State University, Northridge; M.F.A. California Institute of the Arts

 

Jordanne Dervaes

Visiting Instructor, Religious Studies

B.A., University of California San Diego; M.A., doctoral candidate, University of California, Riverside

 

Jessica Dirkes

Resident Assistant Professor; Public Health Program Coordinator 

B.S., University of Missouri; M.P.H, Tulane University; Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago

 

Resident Associate Professor, Chemistry

B.A., M.A., Harvard University; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology

 

Jacqueline Elam

Resident Assistant Professor, Core Program

B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A., Loyola Marymount University; Ph.D., The Claremont Graduate School

 

 

Jesse T. Fischer
Visiting Assistant Professor, Kinesiology
B.A., Occidental College; M.A., University of Houston; Ph.D., University of Houston

Resident Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

B.F.A., Carnegie-Mellon University

 

Heng Lam Foong

Visiting Instructor, Public Health

B.A., College of New Rochelle; M.S., Capella University

 

Max Foreman

Resident Assistant Professor, Music; Director, Choi Family Music Production Center

B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts 

 

Andrew V. Frane

Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology

B.A., M.A., California State University, Los Angeles; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Devin Fromm

Resident Associate Professor, Core Program

B.A., University of Montana; M.A., University of Pittsburgh; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Visiting Assistant Professor, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

B.A., University of California, Irvine; M.A., Ph.D., Yale University

 

Jean-Luc Gauvreau

Resident Associate Professor, Physics

B.S., Universite Laval, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada; Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park

 

Susan Geffen

Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology

B.S., University of Miami; M.A., Ph.D., University of Southern California

 

Alicia Gonzalez

Resident Senior Instructor, Spanish and French Studies

A.B., Stanford University; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles 

 

Eugenio Grippo

Visiting Assistant Professor, Biology

B.S., University of California, Los Angeles; doctoral candidate, University of Southern California

 

Thorgal Hinault
Visiting Assistant Professor, Mathematics
M.E. ENS, Lyon; Ph.D. California Institute of Technology

 

Julia Holter

Johnston Fix Professor of Songwriting

Hector Huezo
Visiting Instructor
B.S. California State University, Los Angeles; M.A. California State University, Northridge

 

Senior Director of Advising; Affiliated Faculty, Music

B.A., Lawrence University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Resident Professor, Music; Choi Family Director of Instrumental Music

B.M., Northwestern University; M.M., University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

 

Amina Kinkhabwala
Visiting Assistant Professor, Biology
B.A. Columbia University; M.A. Stony Brook University; Ph.D. Cornell University 

 

Alan Knoerr
Associate Professor, Mathematics, Cognitive Science, Emeritus
B.A., Oberlin College; Sc.M., Ph.D., Brown University 

 

Desiree La Vertu 

Resident Professor, Music; Director of Choral and Vocal Activities

B.Mus., California State University, Fullerton; M.M., University of Nevada, Reno

 

Nishu Lal

Visiting Associate Professor, Mathematics

B.S., M.S., University of California, Irvine; Ph.D., University of California, Riverside 

 

Don Lawrence

Visiting Professor, Mathematics

B.A., Pomona College; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Swee Fong Lee

Resident Instructor, Asian Studies

B.A., Tokyo Gakugei University; M.A., Hitotsubashi University; M.A., California State University, Long Beach

 

Marisol León

Visiting Assistant Professor, Critical Theory and Social Justice

B.A., Yale University; M.A., Loyola Marymount University; J.D., University of California, Berkeley

 

Daniela Smolov Levy

Visiting Assistant Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

B.F.A., Shanghai Theater Academy; M.F.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst

 

Daniel Ryan Long

Visiting Instructor, Music

B.A., University of Virginia

 

Francisco Martinez

Visiting Senior Instructor, Theater and Performance Studies

 

Chelsie May

 

Laural Meade

Resident Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

A.B., Occidental College; M.F.A., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Jeffrey Miller

Resident Associate Professor, Mathematics

B.S., University of California, Davis; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Sydney K. Mitsunaga-Whitten

Resident Instructor, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

A.B., Occidental College; M.A., Yale University 

 

Malek Moazzam-Doulat

Resident Associate Professor, Critical Theory and Social Justice

A.B., Occidental College; Ph.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook

 

Karen Molinder

Resident Assistant Professor, Biology

A.B., Occidental College; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Susanna Nazarova
Visiting Instructor, Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture
B.A., M.A. Moscow State University; M.A. University of California, Davis

 

Visiting Assistant Professor, Music

M.A., Drury University; M.M., D.M.A., University of Southern California

 

Resident Senior Instructor of Accounting, Economics

B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., Pacific Western University

 

Q. Ostendorf

Resident Assistant Professor, College Writing Program

B.A., Northwestern University; M.F.A., Mills College; Ph.D., New York University

 

Mo Perkins
Visiting Instructor, Media Arts & Culture
B.F.A. University of California, Santa Cruz; M.F.A. University of California, Los Angeles

 

Tuyetdong Phan-Yamada
Visiting Instructor, Computer Science
B.S., University of California, Irvine; M.S., California State University, Los Angeles

Visiting Assistant Professor, Chemistry

B.S., University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison 

 

Roksana Pirouzmand
Visiting Assistant Professor, Art & Art History
B.F.A. California Institute of the Arts; M.F.A. University of California, Los Angeles

 

Erica Preston-Roedder

Resident Associate Professor, Philosophy

B.A., Stanford University; M.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Ph.D., New York University

 

Lisa Pringle

Visiting Instructor, Politics

A.B., Occidental College; M.A., University of California; M.A., Claremont Graduate University

 

Jackie Provost

B.A., University of Southern California; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

 

Karina Rincon

Senior Instructor, Spanish and French Studies

A.B., Occidental College; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Naomi Joyce Rodgers
Visiting Assistant Professor, Geology
B.A. Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D. University of Southern California 

Rosa Romero
Visiting Instructor, Urban & Environmental Policy
B.A., UCLA; M.Ed., University of Hawaii, Manoa 

 

Resident Assistant Professor, Diplomacy and World Affairs; Faculty Director, Kahane United Nations Program

B.A., Tufts University; M.A., Columbia University

 

Dylan Sabo

Resident Professor, Philosophy, Cognitive Science

Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Charlyne Sarmiento

Resident Assistant Professor, College Writing Program; Assistant Director, Writing Center

B.A., San Francisco State University; M.A., University of Illinois, Chicago; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Gary Schindelman

Resident Full Professor, Biochemistry

B.S., State University of New York at Binghamton; Ph.D., New York University 

 

Robert Sipchen

Visiting Full Professor, College Writing Program

B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara

 

Rosie Stockton
Visiting Instructor
B.A. Reed College; M.A. Eastern Michigan University; Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles

 

Resident Associate Professor, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

B.A., John Carroll University; M.A., Ph.D., Stony Brook University

 

Camilla Taylor

Resident Professor, Asian Studies

B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles 

 

Tiffany Barber
Visiting Assistant Professor, Art & Art History
B.F.A. Fordham University/The Ailey School; M.P.A.S. University of California Roski School of Fine Arts; Ph.D. University of Rochester

 

John Trafton

 

Victoria Umanskaya

Resident Associate Professor, Economics

B.A. (DHE), Saratov State University; Ph.D., University of Wyoming

 

Igor Umanskiy

Laboratory Coordinator

M.S., Saratov State University, Russia; Ph.D., Saratov State University, Russia

 

Kevin Urstadt

Resident Associate Professor, Cognitive Science

B.A., Rutgers; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Riverside

 

Stephen van Dyck

Visiting Assistant Professor, Education

B.A., Nanjing University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Ezra Weisz

Visiting Assistant Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

B.A., Sarah Lawrence College; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

 

David Weldzius

Visiting Assistant Professor, Art and Art History

B.F.A., University of Illinois, Chicago; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

Visiting Assistant Professor, Media Arts and Culture

B.A., Augsburg University; M.F.A., The American Film Institute Conservatory

 

Jonathan P. Williams

Resident Senior Instructor, Biology

B.S., University of North Carolina at Wilmington; M.S., California State University, Northridge

 

Daniel Wohl
Visiting Assistant Professor, Music
B.A., Bard College; M.A., University of Michigan School of Music; Ph.D.., Yale School of Music

 

Patricia Yossen

Visiting Assistant Professor, Art and Art History

B.A., Escuela Provincial de Artes Visuales Juan Mantovani; M.F.A., Pratt Institute

 

Anne Yu

Resident Senior Instructor, Chemistry

B.A., Pomona College; M.S., University of California, Los Angeles

 

Anita Zachary

Visiting Assistant Professor, College Writing Program

B.A., Pitzer College; M.F.A., San Diego State University

 

Alexander Zhu

Sigfrido A. Zimmermann