Current Dissertation Defenses

June 2025

Candidate: Zhiyao Zhang
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Chemistry
Title: Mechanistic and Evolutionary Insights into a Group of Nicotine and Hydroxynicotine Degrading Flavoenzymes
Committee: Dr. Frederick Stull, Chair, Dr. Todd Barkman, Dr. David Huffman, Dr. Benjamin Koestler
Time/Place: Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 2 to 4 p.m., 1260 Chemistry Building

Candidate: Meena Shrestha
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Physics
Title: Measurements and First-Principles Calculations on the Non-Centrosymmetric Superconductor AuPb3
Committee: Dr. Clement Burns, Chair, Dr. Lisa Paulius, Dr. Asghar N Kayani, Dr. Pnina Ari-Gur
Time/Place: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 9 to 11 a.m., 2202 Everett Tower

Candidate: Justin Myers
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Measuring the Accuracy of Hierarchal Linear Models and Visual Analysis for Evaluating Single-Case Designs
Committee: Dr. Cynthia Pietras, Chair, Dr. Anthony DeFulio, Dr. Hugo Curiel, Dr. Ya Zhang
Time/Place: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, 1527 Wood Hall

Candidate: Bonnie E. Ebendick
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Biological Sciences
Title: Immune Modulation Affects Olfactory Glomerular Recovery in Zebrafish
Committee: Dr. Christine Byrd-Jacobs, Chair, Dr. Cindy Linn, Dr. Pamela Hoppe, Dr. Erika Calvo-Ochoa   
Time/Place: Friday, June 27, 2025, Noon to 2 p.m., 2708 Wood Hall

Candidate: Emile N. Van Meter
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Chemistry
Title: The Development of High Throughput Screening Assays for the Identification of Small Molecule Modulators of the pri-miR-18a--hnRNP A1 Interaction
Committee: Dr. Frederick Stull, Co-Chair, Dr. Kelly Teske, Co-Chair, Dr. Alex Davies, Dr. John Spitsbergen
Time/Place: Monday, June 30, 2025, 1 to 3 p.m., 1220 Chemistry Building

Candidate: Chelsea Brehm
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
College:  Education and Human Development
Title: The Experiences of Elite, Female Club Volleyball Players: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Committee: Dr. Colin Cork, Chair, Dr. James Lewis, Dr. Dana Munk
Time/Place: Monday, June 30, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, 4016 Student Recreation Center 

Candidate: Queen Roach
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mallinson Institute for Science Education
Title: Developing and Testing an Instrument to Diagnose and Measure Change in Conceptual Understanding of ENSO Among Undergraduates
Committee: Dr. William Cobern, Chair, Dr. Heather Petcovic, Dr. Lei Meng
Time/Place: Monday, June 30, 2025, 6 to 8 p.m., 1408 Wood Hall

July 2025 

Candidate: Sophia Prokos
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Examination of Caregiver Supervision Practices and Beliefs Among Caregivers of Children with Bleeding Disorders
Committee: Dr. Amy Damashek, Chair, Dr. Scott Gaynor, Dr. Wayne Fuqua, Dr. Kristen Bonifacio
Time/Place: Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 8 to 10 a.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Priyanka B. Dave
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: The Impact of Feedback Timing on Work Performance When There is a Long Duration Between Sessions
Committee: Dr. Jonathan Baker, Chair, Dr. Ron Van Houten, Dr. Kate Martini, Dr. Douglas Johnson
Time/Place: Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, Virtual meeting

Candidate: Shivi Saxena
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Chemistry
Title: Rational Approaches to Achieve Luminescent Gold Clusters for Optical Applications
Committee: Dr. Ramakrishna Guda, Chair, Dr. Gellert Mezei, Dr. David Huffman, Dr. Asghar Kayani
Time/Place: Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 2 to 4 p.m., 1260 Chemistry Building

Candidate: Alexander J. Twohy
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: How was Rehab? A Follow-up to a Randomized Effectiveness Control Trial of a Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Protocol for Inpatient Detoxification Patients
Committee: Dr. Scott Gaynor, Chair, Dr. Amy Naugle, Dr. Amy Damashek, Dr. Taylor Weststrate, Dr. Christopher Briggs
Time/Place: Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Mohammad Essam AL-Shatnawi
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Civil and Construction Engineering
Title: Effects of Roof-Connections' Types on the Wind Resistance Performance of Light-Frame Roof Structure
Committee: Dr. Xiaoyun Shao, Chair, Dr. Upul Attanayake, Dr. Jinseok Kim, Dr. Baljinder Kaur Saioni
Time/Place: Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 9 to 11 a.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Lampros Tzianos
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Chemistry
Title: Graphical Spectral Deconvolution and Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Electrostatically Bound Chromophore-Polyoxometalate Complexes
Committee: Dr. Ramakrishna Guda, Chair, Dr. Gellert Mezei, Dr. Andre Venter, Dr. Qingliu Wu
Time/Place: Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1260 Chemistry Building

Candidate: Naima Minhas
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: English
Title: The Wangled Hiss
Committee: Thisbe Nissen, M.F.A., Chair, Todd Kuchta, Ph.D., Meghann Meeusen, Ph.D., Alen Hamza Ph.D., Karen Blaisure, Ph.D.
Time/Place: Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., 3025 Brown Hall

Candidate: Molly Mutchler
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Effects of Commission Errors During Prompting on Skill Acquisition and Maintenance 
Committee: Dr. Heather McGee, Chair, Dr. Jonathan Baker, Dr. Cynthia Pietras, Dr. Catherine Williams
Time/Place: Monday, July 28, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, Virtual meeting

August 2025

Candidate: Chad E. Inabinet
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: A Multiple Case Study of Place-based Programs
Committee: Dr. Donna Talbot, Chair, Dr. Ramona Lewis, Dr. Kahler Schuemann
Time/Place: Thursday, August 28, 2025, 4 to 6 p.m., Virtual meeting

October 2025

Candidate: Jeffrey Stark
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mallinson Institute for Science Education
Title: Environmental Beliefs Among Evangelical Leadership
Committee: Dr. William Cobern, Co-Chair, Dr. Betty Adams, Co-Chair, Dr. Stephen Case
Time/Place: Monday, October 13, 2025, 6 to 8 p.m., 1408 Wood Hall

Previous dissertation defenses have been digitized and archived by the Western Michigan University Libraries ScholarWorks Dissertations page. Use the advance search located on the left side of the page to get dissertations sorted by author, subject, department, year published, and more.