2022-2023 FASC New Full-Time Faculty

 

Valerie N. Adams-Bass

Title/Rank: Assistant Professor
Department: Childhood Studies

Dr. Valerie Adams-Bass joins us from the University of Virginia, School of Education of Education and Human Development, where she served as an Assistant Professor of Youth and Social Innovation since 2016. Dr. Adams-Bass earned her doctorate in interdisciplinary studies in human development from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 and has research interests in Black adolescents, media stereotypes, positive youth development, and racial/ethnic socialization.

 

Brian Corbett

Title/Rank: Assistant Professor
Department: Biology

Dr. Brian Corbett joins us from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he performed postdoctoral research since 2015. While at CHOP, Dr. Corbett’s research focus was on using genetic and pharmacological methods to understand the molecular mechanisms and neural networks underlying behaviors relevant to stress resilience, stress-induced inflammatory processes, and habituation to repeated stress. Dr. Corbett earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Thomas Jefferson University in 2015.

 

Eveling Hondros

Title/Rank: Assistant Professor, NTT
Department: World Languages and Cultures

Eveling Hondros is a Rutgers–Camden alumna, having earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish degree and her Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish degree on our campus. Ms. Hondros has also served as a lecturer in Spanish at Rutgers–Camden since 2015, teaching courses such as Elementary Spanish I, Spanish for Medical Professions I, Spanish for Health Profession II & III, and Emergency Spanish. Ms. Hondros has a certification for Community Interpreter Training of Trainers, and she is the coordinator of the Spanish for Health Profession.  Since 2018, Ms. Hondros has also served as a Spanish teacher at Carusi Middle School.

 

Hunter King

Title/Rank: Assistant Professor
Department: Physics

Dr. Hunter King joins the Department of Physics from the University of Akron, where he served as Assistant Professor of Polymer Science, Biology and Physics, as one of the core faculty of its Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center.  His PhD in experimental physics from the University of Massachusetts focused on mechanical instabilities and pattern formation in soft matter and disordered systems. For four years, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics at Harvard University, where he began to study mechanical phenomena underlying physiological function in complex biological systems, at that time focusing on the collective respiration mechanism of swarm-constructed termite mounds.  His lab currently investigates diverse subjects including: the granular physics of bird nests, fluid dynamics of biological fog capture, thermodynamics of sorbent-based vapor harvesting, and dynamics of adhesive underwater contact between soft bodies.  He uses optical and mechanical instrumentation and pointed table-top experiments to approach these interdisciplinary problems, and collaborates with theory and computation groups, as well as biologists and architects.  Recent work has been featured in the New York Times, Science, and Business Insider.

 

Randy Mershon

Title/Rank: Assistant Professor, NTT
Department: Mathematical Science

Randy Mershon has a long history with Rutgers University–Camden, having earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in pure mathematics, here in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Mr. Mershon has been a teaching instructor for the Department of Mathematical Science since 2019, teaching courses both remotely and in-person.

 

Nathaniel Wright

Title/Rank: Associate Professor
Department: Public Policy and Administration

Nathaniel S. Wright, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Policy and Public Administration at Rutgers University-Camden and is a trusted expert in charitable giving and strategic philanthropy. Dr. Wright’s research portfolio is a diverse nexus of social science, and urban studies research with emphasis on projects exploring topics involving nonprofit community-based organizations and sustainable development. His current research centers on the role that social advocacy organizations play in creating sustainable neighborhoods, and more generally on issues related to nonprofit performance and accountability.

Dr. Wright’s work has appeared in leading nonprofit and urban journals such as Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Journal of Urban Affairs, American Review of Public Administration, Sustainability. He is also co-editor of a book entitled Performance and Public Value in the Hollow State: Assessing Government–Nonprofit Partnerships.

Since joining Rutgers-Camden in 2022, Dr. Wright has held various leadership positions. Most recently he served as the Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives for the College of Arts and Sciences and as the Director of the Masters of Public Administration program at Texas Tech University.

He received his B.A. and Master of Public Administration from Binghamton University, and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.