USCA welcomes new faculty members

The University of South Carolina Aiken began the Fall 2024 semester with 21 new faculty members. These professors and instructors bring a wealth of professional and academic experience to the College of Sciences and Engineering, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Business Administration and School of Nursing.

“Our new faculty are gifted and exceptionally qualified,” Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Phil Bridgmon says. “They bring with them a passion and energy for discovery, service and sharing their knowledge. Most importantly, they are committed to what makes us special—nurturing an academic community that supports student success and contributions to the greater good.”​

College of Sciences & Engineering

Department of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics

• Ahmed Ahmed, Assistant Professor, received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Tennessee Technological University. As a graduate research assistant, he studied the use of machine learning to address cybersecurity challenges in smart grids. His other research interests include cybersecurity and privacy preservation, cryptography and network security, and 5G and beyond wireless networks.
• Ali AlSabeh, Assistant Professor, earned his Ph.D. in informatics from USC Columbia, where he served as an instructor in the Department of Integrated Technology. His doctoral research involved analysis of cybersecurity applications related to high-speed networks, malware samples in isolated environments and strategies for fingerprinting encrypted DNS traffic.
• Trevor Lightbody, Instructor, comes to USCA from the Unum Group, where he has served as an associate actuary since 2016. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and master’s in teaching from USC Columbia and master’s in actuarial science from the University of Iowa.
• Mahmoud Omari, Assistant Professor, comes to USCA from Amman Arab University in Jordan, where he served as an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1992 and has nearly four decades of teaching experience.

Department of Exercise and Sports Science

• George Grieve, Assistant Professor, mostly recently served as an assistant professor at The Citadel. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science at USCA and conducted his master’s and Ph.D. studies at USC Columbia. His research interests concern the health aspects of physical activity, with emphasis on the effects of mode and intensity on energy expenditure during and after exercise in resistance-trained males.

Department of Psychology

• Andrew D. White, Assistant Professor, earned his Ph.D. in social psychology from Indiana University, serving as a graduate teaching assistant during his studies. His research interests include social identity development among LBGTQ STEM undergraduates and the role of child gender conformity on evaluations of same-sex and different-sex adoptive families.

College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Department of Visual and Performing Arts

• Todd E. Jenkins, Assistant Professor, earned his Doctorate of Music Education from Liberty University. His teaching experience includes undergraduate trumpet instruction at USCA, where he also conducts Wind Ensemble rehearsals, and instruction of trumpet studio and brass methods at Augusta University. He is also conductor of the Aiken Concert Band and band director for Augusta Christian Schools.
• Ashley Jensen, Instructor, received her Master of Fine Arts in scenic design from USC Columbia. During her tenure as a graduate student, she held a scene shop assistantship, with responsibilities including set construction and painting for a number of theater productions, maintaining the scene shop, and supervising and instructing undergraduate students.

Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy

• Dakoda Trithara, Assistant Professor, comes to USCA from the University of Calgary, where she earned her Ph.D. and was a sessional instructor in the Department of Political Science. She has published research on topics such as “Toward Geopolitical Gaming: Exploring the Tension between Blizzard Entertainment and Political Forces” and “Securitizing Disinformation: The Case of Westminster’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.”

Department of Communication and Emerging Media

• Mo Chen, Assistant Professor, received her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Florida, where she also served as an independent course instructor. Her research interests include emerging media, media psychology, human-machine communication, algorithmic bias and virtual and human influencers.
• Carl Ciccarelli, Assistant Professor, earned his Ph.D. in mass communication from USC Columbia and served as a visiting assistant professor at USCA during the 2023-24 academic year. His research interests include media effects in health and strategic communication using experiments, surveys, content analysis and qualitative approaches for examining media content.

School of Business Administration

• Yu Cao, Assistant Professor, earned his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of North Texas, where he served as an instructor of financial and managerial accounting. His research interests include audit quality, audit fees, auditor changes, financial reporting, social media and ESG practices. His research on corporate social responsibility reporting has been published in the Journal of Applied Business and Economics.
• Charles “Buck” Harris, Instructor, comes to USCA from Hamden, Connecticut, where he was senior vice president of Community Investment Corporation. He earned his MBA from Quinnipiac University, where he also served as an adjunct professor, and has more than 25 years of experience in business management, including SBA lending and economic development.
• Joe Iglesias, Assistant Professor, received his Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of Florida. Most recently he was a tenure-track assistant professor of management at USC Beaufort, where he was named Student Organization Advisor of the Year in 2022. His research interests include strategic change, entrepreneurship, management education, international business and ESG topics.
• Alhashmi Lasyoud, Associate Professor, comes to USCA from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he was an assistant professor of accounting. He received in Ph.D. in accounting and finance from the University of Dundee in Scotland, UK. His research interests include management accounting, corporate governance, auditing, and social and environmental accounting.
• Canchu Lin, Assistant Professor, earned his Ph.D. in manufacturing and technology management from Purdue University. He also holds a Ph.D. in organizational communication and master’s degrees in computer graphics technology and English literature. He most recently served as an assistant professor at SUNY Farmingdale, teaching courses in business statistics, business analytics, data management and social media analytics.

School of Nursing

• Sonya Edwards, Assistant Professor, received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Chamberlain University. She has previous experience as an adjunct clinical faculty member at USCA, Aiken Technical College and Augusta Technical College. Her professional experience includes nursing positions at Doctors Hospital of Augusta, Aiken County Public Schools and Trinity Hospital.
• Kimberley Fairchild, Instructor, received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Liberty University and is experienced in home health services and case management, acute care, bone marrow procurement, labor and delivery, and long-term care. She has previous teaching experience at Aiken Technical College, Fortis College and Indiana Wesleyan University.
• Lacey Julian, Instructor, has a diverse background in critical care, renal/medical-surgical, endoscopy and home health nursing and is also a nursing instructor at Augusta Technical College. She received her master’s in nursing from USC Columbia and is a recipient of the Outstanding BSN Generic Nursing Student Award.
• Mary Keigans, Instructor, previously served as a women’s health adjunct instructor at USCA for the Spring 2024 semester. She earned her master’s in nursing from USC Columbia and is a family nurse practitioner at the Wagener Medical Center, with previous experience in labor and delivery and emergency medical services.
• Tyler Shealy, Assistant Professor, received his Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Augusta University and also holds a graduate certificate in bioethics. He served as a variable part-time instructor for the Augusta University pre-licensure program and was a staff RN in the Augusta University Medical Center Shock Trauma and Surgical/Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Units.

For more information, contact USCA Marketing & Communication at news@usca.edu.