Asian American / Asian Students: Aspects of Social Interaction – Speaker Biographies

Biographies


Dave Bryan is the Director of Central Depository but is currently Acting as Special Assistant to the Dean for Student Life at Brooklyn College, CUNY. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Brooklyn College. He teaches introductory computer courses. As Special Assistant to the Dean for Student Life he is primarily responsible for assisting and representing the Dean for Student Life and is Director of the Health Programs Office which is responsible for establishing and monitoring immunization requirements. Mr. Bryan is currently the Chair of both the Dean for Student Life Advisory Committee for Brooklyn College Health Clinic and the President’s Advisory Committee for Emergency Medical Care. He is also a member of Brooklyn College’s Meningitis Task Force and the Advisory Committee for Recreation, Intramurals and Intercollegiate Athletics and CUNY Health Services Advisory Committee. He completed both his B.S. in Business Management and Finance and his M.A. in Economics at Brooklyn College, CUNY.


Selena Cantor is the associate director of the Member Services department of the College Board.


Wellington Z. Chen is a member of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York, and a Senior Vice President of TDC Development Corporation.


David Cheng is professor and director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Baruch College , CUNY. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice. Prior joining to Baruch College, Dr. Cheng has served as a senior psychologist and consultant for the New York City Police Department.


Nehru E. Cherukupalli currently is the Chairman and Professor of Geology in the Department of Geology, Brooklyn College CUNY . Prof. Nehru hails from India and had his schooling in Madras , India and earned a Ph.D. in geology from Madras University . He also has a Master’s degree from Columbia University , New York . He has been teaching at Brooklyn College , City University of New York for over three decades. He has field experience in many places in India and in the United States and Canada . He has more than three decades of experience in teaching all levels of students at Brooklyn College and Ph.D. students at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Prof. Nehru has authored more than a hundred research papers in geology. Prof. Nehru is also interested in environmental geology and teacher education. He has taught geology to ESL (English as Second Language) students and published on this subject.


Loretta Chin has worked for over 10 years at Brooklyn College and is currently employed as a Special Projects Coordinator for the Community Building Initiative in the Office of the Dean for Student Life.
Working closely with students and faculty, she has been an avid supporter of the Asian / Asian American community at BC and in CUNY. She has been co-advisor for the Asian Student Union, The Asian Outreach Committee, and the Chinese Language Culture Club . She has worked diligently to support Asian student leadership development and increase understanding of their challenges and achievements. Functioning in this way has helped to facilitate her role as liaison between the newly formed BC Asian/Asian American Faculty & Staff and AAARI. In addition, Ms. Chin has coordinates the BC Circles Dialogue series, involving many in discussions about peace, justice, democracy and world events to foster greater inter-group understanding on campus.


Otis Hill is the Vice Chancellor for Student Development and Enrollment Management at CUNY Central Office. He previously served at Kingsborough Community College as the Vice President of Student Affairs.


James Huang is currently the webmaster for the Asian American / Asian Research Institute.


Jane Hyun currently a trainer and career / executive coach for Crossroads Associates, Inc. Ms. Hyun maintains a private practice as a human resources consultant, speaker, and executive coach. She is also a senior coach with the Five O’Clock Club (www.fiveoclockclub.com), a national career coaching / outplacement firm.

Prior to beginning her own practice, Jane was a Vice President of Human Resources at JP Morgan until 1997 when she became the Director of Recruiting in the New York office of Deloitte & Touche Resources Connection (now a publicly traded company, originally founded by Deloitte), a national consulting/professional services firm. In her own practice, she provides workshops / training sessions for corporations and associations. She also conducts one on one coaching in person or by teleconference to assist individuals with developing career strategy, changing career direction, and enhancing communication/presentation skills.


June Jee is the director of the Manhattan Community Affairs Department at Verizon.


Hiroko Karan received the Bachelor of Pharmacy from Hoshi College of Pharmacy in Tokyo and graduated with honors as valedictorian. She received the Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University . Professor of Chemistry, she has served as Chairperson of the Department of Physical and Computer Sciences, Dean of the School of Science , Health and Technology at Medgar Evers College and presently as Dean of the School. For the past fifteen years, she has been an advocate for women and minorities in science and has mentored many students during her tenure at Medgar Evers College . Many of whom have pursued careers in Science, Medicine and other Health Related Professions and actively serve the community.


Dorothy Loo Kehl, Hong Kong-born, is director of the ESL Program at Brooklyn College and chair of the college’s Asian / Asian American Studies Program Task Force. She has presented research at professional conferences on ESL student profiles and the correspondingly different learning needs of such students. Her articles on women’s status in modern China and translations of Chinese poetry have been published in New York and Hong Kong magazines and newspapers. She has also been working with the New York Chinese Cultural Center for more than 30 years and is currently on its Board.


Maria Kromidas an instructor in the Social Science Department at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Her research interests include race and ethnic relations, critical pedagogies, the politics of education and stratification in the United States . Her recent article published in March in critique of Anthropology focuses on the shift in racial dynamics in post-September 11 th New York City .


Sambhavi Lakshminarayanan is currently a faculty member in the school of Business at Medgar Evers College. Earlier she had been a faculty member at Stern School of Business, NYU. She had taught in the areas of Management and Operations Management. Her research included Intergar programming models (in Operations Research) as well as developing and applying student grouping methods to create diverse groups. Some of her current research is in the area of Diversity with particular emphasis on elementary schools.


Lauren Lee a student majoring in marketing at Baruch College , CUNY. She is a native born student of the U.S. and a member of the Theta Phi Gamma Sorority, Inc.


Phillip Li is recent graduate of Brooklyn College, CUNY. He graduated with a B.A. in Television and Radio in the class of 2003. While a student at Brooklyn College, he served as president (2000-2001) for the Asian Student Union. He is currently a college assistant at AAARI.


James L. Muyskens became the ninth president of Queens College on July 29, 2002 after having served as CEO and Dean of the Faculty for the Gwinnett University Center/University System of Georgia. Dr. Muyskens’ senior-level and extensive administrative experience includes serving as Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Georgia . The appointment to Queens College marks Dr. Muyskens’ return to the City University of New York. From 1984 to 1987 he served as Associate Provost and Acting Provost at Hunter College and spearheaded a revision of the undergraduate curriculum, among other efforts. Dr. Muyskens also served as chairman of Hunter College ‘s Department of Philosophy and Director of the Religion Program.


Victor Nee is Goldwin Smith Professor of Sociology, Cornell University and Director, Center for the Study of Economy and Society.


Victoria Ortegas a native born student currently enrolled at Lehman College and pursuing her bachelors in Television and Radio Broadcasting. She is currently the president of the Asian Cultural Exchange and an active member of various student clubs.


Frank Shih is Dean of Students at the CUNY School of Law, received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research, with research focus in transnationalism and globalization and its particular impact on international education. He is responsible for the offices of Career Planning and Students Affairs. A former social worker and community advocate in New York City , Dr. Shih has interests in multiculturalism and pluralism, and has written about the experiences of Asian and students. He is currently Vice President of the Board of Directors for Nassau Suffolk Law Services of Long Island and Project Blueprint of Long Island United Way.


Sung Ha Suh is a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor in Department of Counseling at John Jay College where she teaches a course on Short-Term Counseling and Crisis Intervention. Her academic and clinical interests are psychodynamic theories, character pathology, clinical assessment and cultural influence on personality development. Her research experience includes the study of immigrant families, Asian American women, children’s moral and political development and the violence of disrespect among inner-city youth.


Betty Lee Sung is Professor Emerita and Chairperson of Asian American/ Asian Research Institute. She is the former Chairperson of Asian American Studies Department at City College, CUNY. Professor Sung has published innumerable articles and seven books on Chinese Americans including Mountain of Gold (1967), and Chinese American Manpower and Employment , which won an outstanding book of the year award for 1976.


Thomas Tam is Acting Chairman of Asian American Higher Education Council, and Executive Director of Asian American/Asian Research Institute, as well as the President of Oishi Movies, Inc. which produced a feature: Sunrise on Mulberry Street . He received his Ph.D. degree in SocioMedical Sciences with honors from Columbia University, and other degrees in Film-making, Public Health, and Physics from Montclair State University, Columbia, and City College of New York.


Marie P. Ting is Assistant to the President at York College. She received her B.A. in psychology and M.A. in higher education from the University of Michigan. Marie earned her Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Maryland, with a research focus on issues related to campus racial climates.


Virginia M. Tong, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Hunter College/CUNY where she teaches in the Masters in Arts Program in TESOL. Her research interests are acculturation, computer assisted language learning / literacy, and teacher education.


Kyoko M. Toyama, a native of Japan , is a counselor in the College Discovery Program in the Department of Counseling at LaGuardia Community College . Her primary responsibility is to provide academic, career and personal counseling to students in the College Discovery Program. She is the chair of the departmental committee on Intern Training which provides counselor training, for graduate students in Counseling Psychology Programs. She has conducted workshops and provided training in the areas of cross-cultural communication and diversity throughout New York State . Her research interests include cross-cultural counseling, inter-racial/ethnic/faith families and children, and women’s psychological development, particularly related to Asian women. She is an active member of the Pluralism Task Force, is a faculty advisor to the Japanese Student Club, and serves as the counseling staff member for the Bridges to the Future Program of National Institute of Health at LaGuardia. She is also a consultant to educational and mental health organizations in the U.S. and Japan . She is currently completing a doctoral dissertation toward her Ph.D. degree in Counseling Psychology at New York University .


Maria R. Volpe, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, serves as Director of the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice – City University of New York, and Convener of the CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium, a university-wide project funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She is an Editorial Board Member of Conflict and Resolution Quarterly [formerly Mediation Quarterly ,] Negotiation Journal and Practical Dispute Resolution ; Past-President of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution [SPIDR]; Member of Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee of the NYS Unified Court System, Former Board [NCPCR]. Dr. Volpe’s current research focuses on police use of mediation and dispute resolution processes, particularly mediation, and has been widely recognized for her distinguished career in the field of dispute resolution. Dr. Volpe received her Ph.D. from New York University in 1981 where she was an NIMH Fellow.


Raymond Wang is an assistant professor at the College of Staten Island Library. Before joining the CUNY faculty, he was an electronic librarian and an instruction librarian at the State University of New York. Raymond had graduate training in information science and education technology. His research interest include information literacy for ESL students.


Xiang Bo Wang is senior psychometrician at The College Board. As a native Chinese, Xiang Bo Wang received his M.A. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language in 1987, and his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 1992 from University of Hawaii . During the past 12 years, he has worked on a number of large-scale educational and professional examinations in various capacities, such as a research scientist on the Law School Admission Test of the Law School Admission Council; as a senior psychometrician on the Test of English as a Foreign Language of the Educational Testing Services; and as the Director of Statistical Analysis in charge of a number of licensure and certification examinations at the Chauncey Group International. At the present, he is a senior psychometrician with the College Board working on SAT, CLEP and ACCUPLACER testing programs. His research interests include test performance of minority test takers, item response theory, test equating, computer adaptive testing, and test security investigation.


Antony Wong is a College Assistant at the Asian American / Asian Research Institute. He received his B.A. in English at Hunter College, CUNY and is currently pursuing his M.B.A. in Accountancy at Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, CUNY.


Hoi Yee Yim is an international student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. She is a Business Management major and she is involved in the Women’s Resource Center at BMCC.


Marion Yuen, president of the MYA Group, is a communication advisor, researcher and mediator. A skilled convenor and facilitator, Marion brings together diverse audiences and provides them with platforms for open, efficient face-to-face information exchange. She has moderated numerous focus groups, assisting organizations in clarifying their objectives and implementing initiatives. Marion has practiced mediation in a variety of settings. She serves as a mediator for the New York County Supreme Court (Commercial Division), United States Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service, Brooklyn & Manhattan Mediation Centers, and NASD Dispute Resolution. Marion holds master’s degrees in Communications from Columbia University Teachers College and in Biophysics from the University of California at Berkeley , and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Wellesley College.


Jierong Zhang is a foreign born student majoring in accounting at Brooklyn College, CUNY. Currently, she is an active member of the Chinese Language and Culture Club, and serves as Treasurer of Academic Club Association.


Ying Zhou received her MA. Degree in Economics at Tufts University , Boston , and is currently a PH.D candidate in Psychometrics at Fordham University. During the past 2 years, she has been working as a research assistant at the College Board on many research projects and data reports on SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and other testing programs. Her research interests include cultural issues in test performance, test security investigation, quantitative methods in psychological measurement and medicine research.

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