NEW FACULTY

Experts in leadership, Black education, aural rehabilitation, and more join the College

The University of Georgia Mary Frances Early College of Education welcomed seven new faculty members for the 2021-2022 academic year. These faculty are using their expertise and knowledge to enhance the research and teaching of equity and justice, leadership development, rehabilitation and assessment, mental health and well-being, and more.

Alexandra (Allie) Cox

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’16 in adult learning, University of Georgia

Job title and department: Clinical assistant professor, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy

Specialties: Adult learning and development, leadership development, women’s leadership development, coaching, professional development, and online learning

Before UGA: Cox served as UGA’s director of training and development and was the founding director of the UGA Women’s Staff Leadership Institute. She is a certified executive coach and brings 20 years of experience leading professional development programs across healthcare, information technology, and higher education organizations.

Tianna Dowie-Chin

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’21 in curriculum and instruction, University of Florida

Job title and department: Assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education

Specialties: Social studies education, Black education, civics education, Black feminism in education, and critical race theory

Before UGA: Before pursuing graduate education, Dowie-Chin worked as a secondary school English and history teacher for the York Region District School Board in Toronto, Canada. Since 2016, she has worked as a pre-service teacher intern supervisor/coach and teacher educator at the University of Florida.

Rebecca Geller

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’20 in urban schooling, University of California, Los Angeles

Job title and department: Assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education

Specialties: Critical civic and political education, equity and justice, critical theories of race, social studies education, research-practice partnerships, and qualitative and historical research methods

Before UGA: Geller was an assistant professor of secondary social studies education at the University of Wyoming. Prior to her doctoral studies, she was an elementary and middle school teacher in Oakland, California.

Erin Hamel

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’21 in human sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Job title and department: Assistant professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education

Specialties: Early childhood workforce development and supportive work environments, early childhood science education, and equity in early childhood education

Before UGA: Hamel served as a lecturer in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was a Buffett Early Childhood Institute Graduate Scholar.

Katie Koo

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’16 in student affairs, University of Maryland

Job title and department: Assistant professor, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services

Specialties: Underrepresented students’ collegiate experiences, mental health and well-being, international students’ adjustment and acculturation, racism and racialized experiences among racially minoritized students on campus

Before UGA: Koo was an assistant professor in the higher education program at Texas A&M University-Commerce. She also served as an assistant professor in the counseling student affairs program at Northern Arizona University. Prior to her faculty positions, Koo worked as a counselor at the University of Maryland Counseling Center and an academic advisor at New York University. She is also a former research fellow in the Department of Health Outcomes at Johns Hopkins University.

SoMang Moon

Terminal degree: Au.D. ’14 in audiology, University of Texas at Austin

Job title and department: Clinical assistant professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education

Specialties: Aural rehabilitations using hearing aids, cochlear implants and bone-anchored hearing aids for the adult population, and vestibular assessments

Before UGA: Moon served as an audiologist for several institutions, including a hospital, a private practice, and an ear, nose, and throat office. For the last two years, she worked with students and patients at East Carolina University.

Dallin G. Young

Terminal degree: Ph.D. ’12 in college student affairs administration, University of Georgia

Job title and department: Assistant professor, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services

Specialties: College student transitions (practical and theoretical approaches), peer leadership in higher education, and graduate level professional preparation for student affairs in higher education

Before UGA: Young was the assistant director for research and grants at the National Resource Center for First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and an affiliate faculty member in the higher education and student affairs master’s program at the University of South Carolina.

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