33 OSU Faculty are Promoted to Professor
As Oregon's land grant university, Oregon State University is committed to educating, both on and off-campus, the citizens of Oregon, the nation, and the international community, and in expanding and applying knowledge. Candidates for promotion are evaluated objectively for evidence of distinction in their performance of assigned duties and in their scholarship or creative activity. The excellence of our faculty is paramount and we are very proud of the faculty recently promoted to the rank of professor.
Joel Felix Professor | Crop and Soil Science
Dr. Joel Felix joined the Department of Crop and Soil Science in December 2006 and is stationed at the Malheur Experiment Station, Ontario, OR. Joel was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013. He earned a BSc. degree in Soil and Crop Management and MSc. from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, and Ph.D. degree from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Both of his advanced degrees are in Crop Production and Physiology with an emphasis in Weed Science. In 1999, Joel accepted a postdoctoral position at The Ohio State University on the Wooster campus where he conducted research on weed management in vegetable crops. During his tenure at Oregon State University, he has conducted applied research on weed management in irrigated crops including onion, sugar beet, corn, dry beans, potato, wheat and other specialty crops in the Treasure Valley of eastern Oregon. Joel has published papers in leading peer-reviewed journals including Weed Technology, Weed Science, Crop Protection, HortTechnology, and Molecular Technology; and authored numerous abstracts in various professional meeting proceedings and periodicals.
Melissa Fery Professor of Practice | Crop and Soil Science
Melissa Fery is a Professor of Practice at OSU in the Department of Crop and Soil Science. She serves as a Small Farms Extension Educator supporting farmers and land stewards in the southern Willamette Valley. She enjoys exploring possibilities and providing a wide range of learning opportunities for her clientele on topics related to crop and livestock production, soil quality and testing, pasture management, weed control, horse farm stewardship, farm direct marketing, and agritourism. Melissa coordinated the establishment of the Willamette Women’s Farm Network in 2008, which has developed collaborative relationships in the marketing, production, and distribution of agricultural products.
Taal Levi Professor | Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences
Dr. Taal Levi is a Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University. He was trained in physics and biology at UC Berkeley and went on to receive a PhD in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz. He has diverse research interests in wildlife ecology, conservation biology, and disease ecology in tropical, temperate and boreal ecosystems on which he has authored over 100 scientific publications. A consistent theme of his research is the implementation of quantitative and molecular methods to applied ecology and conservation issues.
Maud Powell Professor of Practice | Horticulture
Maud Powell is a Professor of Practice in the Small Farms Extension program at Oregon State University. For the past eighteen years, she has designed and delivered educational programming primarily for farmers and ranchers in Jackson and Josephine counties. She also serves as the statewide co-coordinator for the Western SARE professional development program. Additionally, she and her family have owned and operated a vegetable seed and produce farm for twenty-five years. In 2023, she launched the Ag Climate Grief and Resilience Initiative.
Rory Mc Donnell Professor | Crop and Soil Science
Dr. Rory Mc Donnell is originally from Ireland and received his PhD from the University of Galway. His research and Extension program is focused on 1) understanding the ecology of invasive slugs and snails in agriculture, urban areas, and the natural environment, and 2) developing and implementing novel strategies for the management of these pests. He and his team are currently researching natural enemies as biocontrol agents, plant extracts as biopesticides, and novel attractants for use in trapping, and attract-and-kill strategies. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, an inventor on two patents, and has produced 76 peer-reviewed publications.
Monique Udell Professor | Animal and Rangeland Sciences
Dr. Monique Udell, PhD is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and faculty within the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences (College of Agricultural Sciences), where she directs the Human-Animal Interaction Lab and teaches courses in animal behavior. Much of her research has focused on social development, cognition, and human-animal bonds with a special interest in the behavior of dogs, wolves, lambs and cats. Dr. Udell is also the Co-director of several programs that provide free dog and cat training classes to children, with the aim of developing human-animal partnerships that improve health and well-being outcomes for both humans and animals.
Joy Waite-Cusic Professor | Food Science and Technology
Dr. Joy Waite-Cusic runs an integrated research, outreach, and education program focused on improving the safety and quality of our food system. Her “Food Safety Squad” works on real-world microbial problems facing the food industry from farm to fork. Current projects range from quantifying bacterial transfer and sanitation efficacy in post-harvest produce environments to evaluating different aging conditions to prevent excessive gas formation in cheese. She partners closely with numerous extension faculty to deliver diverse workshops to help farms and manufacturers comply with federal food safety regulations as well as supporting innovation and modernization efforts in home food preservation.
Michelle Barnhart Professor | Marketing, Analytics, and Design
Professor Barnhart holds a PhD in Business with a focus in Marketing from the University of Utah, and a B.S. in Biology from Stanford. Her research focuses on markets and consumption that impact consumer and societal well-being, such as eldercare, credit and debt, and guns in America. She is widely published in prestigious academic marketing research journals, and her research is frequently covered in mainstream media, including US News & World Report, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune. She has also provided expert analysis and commentary to documentarians, gun violence prevention groups, and litigators.
Jay Hardy Professor | Management, Entrepreneurship, and Supply Chain
Dr. Jay Hardy is a Professor of Management in the College of Business. His research explores recruitment, selection, workplace learning, and employee retention, with a recent focus on new hire ghosting, applicant withdrawal, and the Great Resignation. His work has been published in leading journals and contributes to both academic scholarship and industry practice. As Associate Dean of Research for the College of Business, he is dedicated to fostering a strong research culture, supporting faculty recognition, and enhancing institutional research impact. Through his research and collaborations, he aims to advance understanding of workforce dynamics and improve talent management strategies.
Ted Paterson Professor | Management, Entrepreneurship, and Supply Chain
Dr. Ted A. Paterson joined Oregon State University in 2015 and is a Professor of Management. In 2020 he was named the Director of the Center for Family Enterprise and the L.W. "Bill" Lane Professor in Family Business Management. He serves as Senior Editor for the Journal of Business Research. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 2014. Dr. Paterson's research interests center on positive organizational behavior, leadership, ethics, identity, and family business. He has taught a wide variety of management courses and currently teaches MGMT 552, Organizational Behavior.
Nicholas Roberts Professor | Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems
Dr. Nicholas Roberts is a Professor in the College of Business at Oregon State University. His recent research examines how organizations engage in digital innovation to create organizational and social value. He has taught courses in project management, database management, and information technology strategy. He received his PhD from Clemson University.
Thomas Field Professor | Counseling and Adult and Higher Education
Dr. Thom Field (he/him) holds a PhD in Counseling and Supervision from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon. His research focuses on the integration of neuroscience into counseling practice, and professional and social justice advocacy. During his academic career, he has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and authored two books on the topic of neuroscience integration. He has received grant funding from agencies that include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA). He has more than 15 years of experience as a counselor and has counseled more than 1,000 clients during his career.
Lizhong Chen Professor | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Lizhong Chen is a Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California. His research interests are in the broad area of efficient computer systems (e.g., GPUs, AI accelerators, HPCs) and their applications in machine learning and natural language processing (e.g., large language models). He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2018), a Senior Member of IEEE and ACM, and an inductee into the HPCA Hall of Fame (2020).
Erdem Coleri Professor | Civil and Construction Engineering
Dr. Erdem Coleri is a Professor and the Director of the Asphalt Materials and Pavements Laboratory at the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at OSU. He received his Ph.D. degree from UC Davis. His research interests are low-carbon transportation materials and structures, energy-efficient pavement design strategies, and pavement life cycle assessment. He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Coleri is a member of several scientific committees at the TRB and the ASCE. He is also the Vice-Chair of the ASCE’s Engineering Mechanics Institute Mechanics of Pavements Committee. He is also on the editorial board of several international journals.
Zhenxing Feng Professor | Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Zhenxing Feng joined the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University in 2016. Dr. Feng’s primary research interests are focused on the electrochemical clean energy conversion and storage including electrocatalysts for hydrogen production and carbon dioxide reduction, lithium-ion and high-voltage aqueous metal-ion batteries. His group is also developing advanced synchrotron X-ray scattering, spectroscopy and imaging techniques for in-situ and operando studies of interfacial processing in these electrochemical energy systems.
Matthew Johnston Professor | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Matthew Johnston joined OSU in 2014, where his research group focuses on integrated circuit microchips for sensor/instrumentation applications in chemistry, biology, and medicine. A primary goal is shrinking electronic measurement systems to enable portable, low power, and highly accessible technologies, with collaborative work in robotics and ocean/environmental sensing. He was co-founder of Helixis, a Caltech-based spinout developing real-time PCR instrumentation, from 2007 to its acquisition by Illumina in 2010, and he worked with other startups and at a venture capital firm. He received a B.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University.
Camille Palmer Professor | Nuclear Science and Engineering
Dr. Camille Palmer’s research is driven by challenges related to national security and the global nuclear landscape, particularly nonproliferation and arms control. This work fosters collaborations with colleagues specializing in AI/ML, cybersecurity, cryptography, robotics, and public policy. Camille has also served as a staff member in the Thermonuclear Applications and Foreign and Improvised Nuclear Design groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Currently, she holds positions on the Board of Directors at the Foundation for Resilient Societies, the Board of Trustees of Oregon State University, as Deputy Director for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Consortium for Nuclear Forensics, and as Associate School Head for the School of Nuclear Science and Engineering.
Bryson Robertson Professor | Civil and Construction Engineering
Dr. Bryson Robertson is a Professor in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering and the Director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center. His research and teaching interests include the wave mechanics, hydrodynamics of floating bodies and mooring systems, and ocean renewable energy. Working with partners in industry and the US National Laboratories, he focusses on ocean renewable energy resource characteristics; the co-design and modelling of offshore wind and wave renewable technologies; and numerically integrating marine power within the electrical grid and Blue Economy applications. His research utilizes open-source field measurements, hydrodynamic models, and physical prototype build/test to help the responsible development of ocean renewable energy systems.
Michael Rosulek Professor | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Mike Rosulek’s research interests are in the field of cryptography, with a special focus on interactive protocols for computing on private data. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois and a B.S. in computer science from Iowa State University. He has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award (2012) as well as CoE awards for graduate mentoring (2022) and outstanding young faculty (2019).
Seri Robinson Professor | Wood Science and Engineering
Dr. Seri Robinson, Ph.D. and M.S. in Forest Science and undergraduate degree in Woodworking, is well known across the global woodworking field for using the ancient art of spalting for both modern sculptural works, and modern science. Their scholarship explores the use of fungal secondary metabolites for wood dyeing, paint colorants, decking materials, solar cells, and batteries, among many other applications. An avid woodturner, Robinson has shown sculptural work across the world and is also active in wood education, with a passion for community outreach among wood hobbyists to help pass on knowledge and passion around woodworking as a craft, art, and critical life skill.
Tina Dodge Professor of Practice | Nutrition and Public Health
Tina Dodge has been a county-based faculty with the College of Health through Oregon State University Extension’s Family and Community Health program for over 20 years. Her work in Linn-Benton focuses on using a health equity lens to help individuals, families and communities achieve healthy outcomes. She strives to improve current systems that are not set up to equally serve all community members. She has a personal and professional commitment to ensure families are well served and their needs are being met in the community.
Sam Logan Professor | Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences
Dr. Sam Logan's research agenda focuses on the health and well-being of typically developing children and children with disabilities, with recent work emphasizing the role of independent mobility in the development of language, cognition, play interactions, and motor behaviors of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, and other significant physical and cognitive diagnoses. His research is interdisciplinary in nature, bridging the fields of Kinesiology, Psychology and Pediatric Rehabilitation
Colin Hesse Professor | Communication
Dr. Colin Hesse (Arizona State University, 2009) joined the Department of Speech Communication in September 2013. Colin’s research focuses on the links between affectionate and emotional communication with psychological and physiological health. He has published a combined number of over fifty journal articles and book chapters on those topics, including publications in leading communication and interdisciplinary journals such as Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Personal Relationships, Communication Monographs, and the Journal of Communication. Colin became the first director of the School of Communication in 2021 and is currently serving in that role.
Rebecca Olson Professor | Writing, Literature, and Film
Dr. Rebecca Olson specializes in early modern literature in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film. Her 2025 monograph, Early Modern Reading and the Imagined Self (Edinburgh UP), reconsiders “private reading” as it is represented in early print to better account for the ways that solitary reading continues to be a social activity. She is also the author of Arras Hanging: The Textile that Determined Early Modern Culture (2013) and oversees the student-edited open textbook Romeo and Juliet. Her work on inclusive pedagogy, Shakespearean drama, and early modern textiles has appeared in edited collections and journals including Pedagogy, Shakespeare, and PMLA.
Ehren Plugfelder Professor | Writing, Literature, and Film
Dr. Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder is a Professor of technical and scientific writing in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film, where he teaches and researches technical writing, science and environmental writing, and rhetoric theory. He is the author of Communicating Mobility and Technology (2017, Routledge), Geoengineering, Persuasion & the Climate Crisis (2023, The University of Alabama Press), a multi-authored work in progress, Risk and Technical Communication (SUNY Press), and numerous journal articles. Originally from Pittsburgh, he came to OSU with a Ph.D. from Purdue University, an MA from Case Western Reserve University, and a BSE from Slippery Rock University.
Joshua Reeves Professor | Communication
Dr. Joshua Reeves is a faculty member in the School of Communication, where he has served since 2015. He has published three books, including Prison House of the Circuit: The Politics of Control from Analog to Digital, Killer Apps: War, Media, Machine, and Citizen Spies: The Long Rise of America’s Surveillance Society. An associate editor of Surveillance & Society, he has recently published articles in journals like Theory, Culture, & Society and Theory & Event. He teaches classes in New Media Communications and Communication Studies and also serves as the School of Communication’s Director of Graduate Studies.
Elizabeth Schroeder Professor | Public Policy
Dr. Elizabeth Schroeder is an economist in the School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on using micro-econometric methods to estimate the impacts of policies such as education, credit, and health interventions around the world. She also studies behavioral biases in decision-making and political media and communication. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University, an M.Sc. in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Yale University.
Adriane Irwin Professor, Clinical | Pharmacy Practice
Dr. Adriane N. Irwin is a Clinical Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Her clinical practice is with Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics, where she provides data analytic support for initiatives focused on quality and medication use. Outside of her clinical practice, Dr. Irwin maintains an active research program focused on the delivery and optimization of pharmacy services in outpatient environments. She is best known for her work on opioid safety and improving care for those with substance use disorders.
Yanming Di Professor | Statistics
Dr. Yanming Di joined the Department of Statistics in 2009 as an Assistant Professor after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He has developed statistical methodologies and computational tools for large-scale genetics and genomics data, applying his expertise to diverse biological and agricultural sciences, including horticulture, plant pathology, and molecular biology. Promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2015, Dr. Di has since expanded his research to include an exciting project using computer vision for grass seed analysis. Advancing impactful solutions through collaborations and consulting, his interests also extend to statistical applications in education and social sciences.
Matthew Graham Professor | Physics
Dr. Matt Graham is a Professor of physics at Oregon State University, where he runs the Micro-Femto Energetics Lab, which develops new spectroscopy methods that study emerging transistor semiconductor device physics, organic semiconductors and two-dimensional quantum materials. His academic path began with his bachelor’s at University of Toronto (2005), PhD at University of California, Berkeley (2010) and a Kavli Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University (2013). He presently Chairs the Ultrafast Optical Phenomena Technical Group for Optica (formerly OSA).
Yuan Jiang Professor | Statistics
Dr. Yuan Jiang is a Professor and Co-Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Statistics at Oregon State University. He received his BS in Mathematics from USTC in 2004 and PhD in Statistics from UW-Madison in 2008. After a postdoctoral training at Yale University, he joined OSU as an Assistant Professor in 2011 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2017. Dr. Jiang has published more than 40 papers in top-tier journals and received grants from NSF, NIH, Simons Foundation, and other funding agencies. He has also served on the editorial board for multiple journals.
Stephen Ramsey Professor | Biomedical Science & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Stephen Ramsey is a computational biologist who uses the tools of bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and data science to understand the molecular basis of diseases and advance precision medicine. He has worked in diverse areas of the biomedical sciences including cancer (both in humans and companion animals), cardiovascular disease, epilepsy drug dosing, innate immune system activation, and chlamydia infections. He has also developed new data science methods for several applications including mapping gene regulatory networks, finding functional genetic variants, and drug repurposing. His most recent work focuses on using artificial intelligence for biomedical translation, with an emphasis on improving diagnosis and management of rare diseases.
Katy Townsend Professor | Clinical Sciences
Dr. Katy Townsend joined faculty at Oregon State University in 2014, and was granted indefinite tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Originally from Australia, she completed her veterinary degree with honors at the University of Sydney and earned a Master of Science in Veterinary Comparative Sciences from The Ohio State University. Dr. Townsend completed her Small Animal Surgery Residency at Ohio State, where she remained on as junior faculty for two years before transitioning to Oregon State University. Dr. Townsend teaches in the second through fourth years of the veterinary curriculum, with a particular emphasis on small animal surgery. Clinically, Dr. Townsend’s expertise is in oncologic and general surgery, where she serves as head of service. She collaborates closely with other board-certified specialists in the hospital to ensure the highest standard of patient care. Dr. Townsend’s research focus is based on fluorescence imaging for metastatic spread of cancer in dogs.