Dissertation Defenses

Dissertation Defenses

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Listing of current doctoral dissertation defenses below and archives. Information includes candidate name, degree, department, title, committee, date of defense, and abstract

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Candidate: Natalie A. Giarratano

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: English

Title: Low-Water Mark

Date: Friday, May 4, 2012 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
2033 Brown Hall

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Candidate: Abdou A. Abouelmagd

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Geosciences

Title: Paleoclimatic Regimes of the African Sahara Desert During Pleistocene and the Origin of Groundwater in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System

Date: Thursday, May 10, 2012 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
1122 Rood Hall

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Candidate: Mike DeVivo

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Biological Sciences

Title: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Date: Friday, May 11, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
3208 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: June E. Gothberg

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Title: The Role of Focus Group Venue: A Comparative Study of Face-to-Face, Telephone, and Internet Video-Based Venues

Date: Monday, May 14, 2012 10:00 a.m. to Noon
2211 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Stephen J. Snyder

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Title: Overcoming Non-Academic Issues to Gain Admission into Competitive Entry College Mojors: The Power of Positive Psychological Development

Date: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Grand Rapids Beltline Campus, Room 3008

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Candidate: Ryan Redner

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Psychology

Title: The Effects of Repeated Resurgence Conditions on the Magnitude of Resurgence

Date: Monday, May 14, 2012 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
3713 Wood Hall

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Candidate: Solomon Bera Simiyu

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Chemistry

Title: Optimization of Biodiesel Production from Free Fatty Acids (FFA) in Trap Grease in the Presence of Different Meta Salts

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
1710 Wood Hall

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Candidate: Buddhi M. Rai

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Physics

Title: Modeling Transmission of Photonic Crystal Waveguide Modes Enhanced by Kerr Nonlinearity

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 10:00 a.m. to Noon
2202 Everett Tower

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Candidate: Jafar jameel Abukhait

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering

Title:A Discriminative Imaging Framework for Road Signs Condition Assessment Using Local Features and SVM Classifiers

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
College of Engineering and Applied Science, room D210

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Candidate: Carol L. J. Hustoles, J.D.

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

Title:Through the Eyes of Higher Education Attorneys: How Department Chairs Are Navigating the Waters of Legal Issues and Risk Management

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
3208 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Bonnie M. Benson

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

Title: A Grounded Theory of Lesbian/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving Women Students’ Perceptions of Transgender Individuals

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 10:00 a.m. to Noon
2211 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Zella Jackson Hannum

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Title: Development of a New Technology Venture Balanced Scorecard
Derived from Critical Factors that Impact Product Quality

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Walwood Commons, Walwood Hall

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Candidate: Yusuf K. Bilgic

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Statistics

Title: Rank-Based Estimation and Prediction for Mixed Effects Models in Nested Designs

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
6625 Everett Tower

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Candidate: Chi-Jung Cheng

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering

Title: Design, Modeling and Fabrication of Shear Mode Bulk Acoustic Wave Sensor as a Potential Biosensor

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Parkview Campus, Room A-213

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Candidate: Tova A. Samuels

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Chemistry

Title: Strategies for the Detection and Deactivation of Chemical and Biological Environmental Pollutants

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
2902 Wood Hall

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Candidate: Scott T. Marley

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Physics

Title: Study of the Structure of 9C via Single Neutron Transfer

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
2202 Everett Tower

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Candidate: Ma’en Saleh Saleh

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering

Title: Adaptive Security-Aware Scheduling for Packet Switched Networks Using Real-Time Multi-Agent Systems

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Room D-210

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Candidate: Kelly L. Faust

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Sociology

Title: Winds of Change: The Historical Contingency of State Crime

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
2211 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Michelle A. Suarez

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Interdisciplinary Health Sciences

Title: Food Selectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Associated Factors and Impact on the Family Meal Experience

Date: Friday, May 18, 2012 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
College of Health and Human Services, Room 2023

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Candidate: Claudia L. Márquez Reséndiz

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Spanish

Title: Mapa provisional de la literatura hispanoamericana de entre siglos: una mirada al camino literario actual

Date: Friday, May 18, 2012 11:00 .m. to 1:00 p.m.
033 Brown Hall

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Candidate: Cynthia Visscher

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Sociology

Title: The Religious Aspects of the 1893 Columbian Exposition: A Case Study of Interreligious Interaction, and Religious Pluralism in the Public Square

Date: Friday, May 18, 2012 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
2526 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Bryan Phinezy

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Mathematics

Title: Variations on a Graph Coloring Theme

Date: Friday, May 18, 2012 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
6625 Everett Tower

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Candidate: Rebecca Klott

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

Title: What Psychotherapists Have to Teach Us about Childhood Developmental Trauma: The Roles of Attachment Orientation and Coping Strategy

Date: Friday, May 21, 2012 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3208 Sangren Hall

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Candidate: Amanda Mahoney

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Psychology

Title: Mine Detection Rats: Effects of Repeated Extinction on Detection Rates

Date: Thursday, May 31, 2012 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
3713 Wood Hall

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Candidate: Sooman Lim

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Biological Sciences

Title: Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Imaging

Date: Monday, June 4, 2012 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Parkview Campus, Room B231

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Candidate: Alison Moses

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Psychology

Title: Child Parent Relationship Therapy for Parents of Children with Disruptive Behavior

Date: Monday, June 4, 2012 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3713 Wood Hall

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Candidate: Jianwei Lin

Degree of: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Mathematics

Title: The Domination Number of Ka? Kb? Kc

Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
6625 Everett Tower