Center for No-Boundary Thinking Names Affiliate Faculty

JONESBORO – The affiliate faculty for the Center for No-Boundary Thinking at Arkansas State University has been announced by Dr. Alan Utter, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and research.

Dr. Xiuzhen Huang, the center director, is a professor of computer science and an Arkansas Research Alliance Scholar. Her areas of interest include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Dr. Huang is joined by associate directors and division leads Dr. Emily Bellis, Dr. Jason Causey, and Dr. Jake Qualls.

The center was approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board in July.

Bellis is research assistant professor of bioinformatics and associate director of the center.

“Affiliate faculty of the Center for No-Boundary Thinking are leaders in their fields who are willing to tackle the challenges of true interdisciplinary collaborative work," Bellis explained. "They are willing to contribute their expertise to help solve problems that are beyond the scope of a single discipline.”

Here is the list of the inaugural affiliate faculty, by area represented at A-State, along with those from St. Bernards Medical Center, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, and U.S. Department of Agriculture:

College of Sciences & MathematicsDr. Than Boves - Associate Professor of Ecology - Department of Biological SciencesDr. Amanda Lambertus - Associate Professor of Mathematics Education – Dept. of Mathematics & StatisticsDr. Mohamed Milad - Assistant Professor of Statistics - Department of Mathematics & Statistics Dr. Argelia Lorence - Professor of Metabolic Engineering - Department of Chemistry & Physics Dr. Asela Wijeratne - Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics - Department of Biological Sciences Dr. Sudeepa Bhattacharrya Associate Professor of Bioinformatics - Department of Biological Sciences Division of Medical Sciences & Public Health - Working Group Member

College of Agriculture Dr. Ahmed Hashem - Assistant Professor - Agricultural Systems Technology Dr. Jianfeng (Jay) Xu - Research Professor - Plant and Soil Science

College of Engineering & Computer ScienceDr. Hung-Chi Su - Assistant Professor – Department of Computer Science

College of Liberal Arts and Communications Joe Ford - Associate Professor of Digital Design – Department of Art + Design Leslie Parker - Assistant Professor of Graphic Design – Department of Art + Design Dr. Justin Castro - Associate Professor of History – Department of History Dr. Cameron Wimpy – Assistant Professor of Political Science – Department of Political Science

College of Education and Behavioral Science Dr. Karen Yanowitz - Professor of Psychology – Department of Psychology Dr. Beverly Boals Gilbert – Professor of Teacher Education – Department of Education

Neil Griffin College of Business Dr. Richard Segall - Professor of Computer & Information Technology – Department of CIT Dr. Kelly Fish - Professor of Computer & Information Technology - Department of CIT Dr. Farhad Moeeni - Professor of Computer & Information Technology - Department of CIT

College of Nursing and Health Professions Dr. Amanda Carpenter - Assistant Professor – Department of Occupational Therapy Dr. Shawn Drake - Professor of Physical Therapy – Department of Physical Therapy Dr. Susan Motts - Associate Professor of Physical Therapy – Department of Physical Therapy Dr. Cheryl Dubose Associate Professor – Department of Medical Imaging & Radiation Sciences Division of Medical Sciences & Public Health - Working Group Member

St. Bernards Medical Center Sarah Nehring, DO Program Director, St. Bernards Internal Medicine Residency Program Division of Medical Sciences & Public Health - Working Group Member

NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine @ A-StateDr. Viswanathan Rajagopalan – Assistant Professor – Basic Sciences

US Department of AgricultureDalmo A. N. Vieira – Physical Scientist – Agricultural Research Service, National Sedimentation Laboratory

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