Welcome to our new board members!
President-Elect Position (2019-2020): Dr. Lei Zhang has served as a tenured Physics faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Winston Salem State University since 2005. He received his BS in Space Physics from the University of Science & Technology of China, the MS in Astrophysics from Florida International University, the MS in Math from Louisiana Tech University, and the Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington. Research interests include the Electro-Optical properties of crystalline materials, Non-Linear Optics & Optical telecommunication, and Fiber-Optics & Devices. He is a long-standing NCAS member who has served on the NCAS BOD as Bryden Grants Chair for the past 6 years.
Treasurer Position (2019-2022 term): Dr. Edson Justiniano is an Associate Professor of Physics at East Carolina University, where he has been a faculty member for 33 years. He holds BS and MS degrees in physics from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a PhD degree in physics from Kansas State University. Dr. Justiniano’s research addresses atomic phenomena occurring in ion-atom and electron-ion collisions. He has 41 refereed publications, 34 papers in international conference proceedings, and numerous conference abstracts. Throughout his career Dr. Justiniano has been a staunch supporter of faculty leadership in matters of shared governance and served for more than a decade on the Faculty Governance Committee of East Carolina University’s Faculty Senate. Dr. Justiniano takes particular pride in having been able to contribute to the education of legions of students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Elected Board Member Position (2019-2022 term): Dr. Michael Stiff joined the LR faculty in 2015 as Assistant Professor of Biology. He holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science from North Carolina State University and a B.S. in Microbiology from Ball State University. Michael served as a post-doctoral research scholar in the NC State Department of Crop Science. His research interests include the cell biology of cotton fiber shape and sustainable building practices. Michael has served on LR’s Teaching & Learning Committee for three years. Among Michael’s teaching duties, he enjoys teaching Freshman in first semester introductory Biology.