Dean, Graduate School
Candidate Presentations
Harish Cherukuri, Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science (CV)
Public Presentation and Faculty/Staff Q&A
Monday, November 18
1:30-2:45
Halton Reading Room, J. Murrey Atkins Library
Candidate Evaluation Form, closes December 3 at 5:00 p.m.
Harish Cherukuri is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science in The William States Lee College of Engineering at UNC Charlotte. He is also an Affiliate Faculty of the School of Data Science (SDS) and currently serves as the Faculty President of SDS. Dr. Cherukuri previously served as the MEES Graduate Coordinator and began his career at Charlotte as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in MEES.
Dr. Cherukuri was a Maxheim Research Fellow (2002-2003), a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellow to India (2010-2011), a CTL Faculty Fellow (2012-2013), and received the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award (2011). He is a member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Research in Technology & Engineering. His most recent research interests are in particle-based methods, machining modeling, and the application of machine learning techniques to manufacturing and materials behavior.
Dr. Cherukuri received his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India, his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, and his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Scott Kissau, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Cato College of Education (CV)
Public Presentation and Faculty/Staff Q&A
Tuesday, November 19
1:30-2:45
Student Union Movie Theater
Candidate Evaluation Form, closes December 3 at 5:00 p.m.
Scott Kissau is Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education and Professor of Foreign Language Teacher Education in the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte. Prior to arriving at UNC Charlotte in 2006, Dr. Kissau was an elementary school French immersion teacher in Canada. At UNC Charlotte, Dr. Kissau has served as the Director of the Graduate Certificate and Master’s of Arts in Teaching Foreign Languages, Chair of the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education (interim), and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education in the Cato College of Education.
Dr. Kissau was named the Higher Education Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (2015) and was the recipient of the Anthony Papalia Award for Excellence in Teacher Education (2016), granted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages to the top foreign language teacher educator in the nation. He has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and over $8M in external funding. He is currently serving as Principal Investigator of a $1.8M Teacher Quality Partnership Grant and Co-Principal Investigator of $2.1M Teacher Quality Partnership Grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Dr. Kissau received his B.A in Translation from Queen’s University (Canada) and his B.Ed., M.Ed., and Ph.D. (Educational Studies) from the University of Windsor, Canada.
Bill Tolone, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and External Relations, College of Computing and Informatics (CV)
Public Presentation and Faculty/Staff Q&A
Thursday, November 21
1:30-2:45
Student Union Movie Theater
Candidate Evaluation Form, closes December 3 at 5:00 p.m.
Bill Tolone is Associate Dean and Professor of Computer Science in the College of Computing and Informatics at UNC Charlotte. He previously served at UNC Charlotte as Interim Dean of the College of Computing and Informatics, Interim Chair of the Department of Computer Science, and Interim Chair of the Department of Software and Information Systems. He also served as Program Director for multiple graduate programs.
Dr. Tolone’s research is in Integrated Modeling and Simulation, Critical Infrastructure Analytics, Visual and Data Analytics, and Collaborative Systems. His scholarship includes 70+ peer-reviewed publications and 2 patents. His work has been supported by competitive funding from numerous federal agencies, the State of North Carolina, and industry, with total extramural funding of over $30M. He has led numerous large, interdisciplinary projects. Dr. Tolone’s research in integrated modeling and simulation resulted in innovative analytical capabilities being deployed within the U.S. Government. Currently, he is a co-PI on a $1.5M UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative award. Recently, he led a multidisciplinary $4M NSF big data analytics project involving eight universities and two national labs. Dr. Tolone helped UNC Charlotte receive designation by NSA and DHS as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance / Cyber Defense.
Dr. Tolone received his B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from Millikin University and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Sejal Foxx, Chair, Department of Counseling (CV)\
Public Presentation and Faculty/Staff Q&A
Monday, November 25
1:30-2:45
Student Union Movie Theater
Candidate Evaluation Form, closes December 3 at 5:00 p.m.
Sejal Parikh Foxx is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Counseling in the Cato College of Education. She is also the founder and director of the Urban School Counseling Collaborative. Prior to arriving at UNC Charlotte, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida and North Carolina State University.
Foxx, a former elementary and high school counselor, specializes in postsecondary access and readiness. Her research also focuses on multicultural counseling and advocacy, helping to ensure that school counselors have the necessary training and skills to support the needs of diverse K-12 students. Foxx has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and books. She has been a co-primary investigator on interdisciplinary grant teams securing external funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and Department of Education, Office of Special Education. In 2024 Foxx was appointed Chair of the International Registry for Counsellor Education Program Advisory Committee which was developed to foster excellence in the education and training of professional counselors worldwide and empower programs to develop counselor training curricula appropriate to their country, regions, and/or culture.
Dr. Foxx received her B.A in Psychology and M.A. in School Counseling from the University of North Florida and her Ph.D. in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Position Description
Search Committee
| Deb Thomas, Chair Associate Vice Chancellor for Research dthoma88@charlotte.edu | Assistant: Braxton Koblick bkoblick@charlotte.edu |
| Jose Gamez Dean, College of Arts + Architecture jlgamez@charlotte.edu | Assistant: Annie Krieger akriege2@charlotte.edu |
| Concepcion Godev Professor, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation cgodev@charlotte.edu | |
| Jill Huerta Assistant Dean and Director of the Reynolds Center for Graduate Life and Learning jhuerta2@charlotte.edu | |
| Shanti Kulkarni Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Studies, College of Health and Human Services skulkar4@charlotte.edu | Assistant: Leslie Douglas ldougl16@charlotte.edu |
| Clare Merlin-Knoblich Associate Professor, Department of Counseling cmerlin1@charlotte.edu | |
| Asis Nasipuri Professor and Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering anasipur@charlotte.edu | Assistant: Michele Wallace mwalla38@charlotte.edu |
| Adam Reitzel Professor, Department of Biological Sciences areitze2@charlotte.edu | |
| Yash Tadimalla Ph.D. Student, Software and Information Systems and Sociology stadimal@charlotte.edu | |
| Leslie Zenk, Academic Affairs Liaison Associate Provost and Chief of Staff, Office of Academic Affairs 704-687-5766 lzenk@charlotte.edu | Shannon Homesley Office of Academic Affairs 704-687-5962 Shannon.Homesley@charlotte.edu |