Current Dissertation Defenses

January 2025

Candidate: Thomas Kerber
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Emission Behavior at the Single Emitter Scale from a Porous Media Iconic Liquid Ion Source
Committee: Dr. Kristina Lemmer, Chair,  Dr. Nicholas Taylor, Dr. Muralidhar Ghantasala, Dr. Charlie Ryan
Time/Place: Thursday, January 2, 2025, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., D201 Floyd Hall, Parkview Campus

Candidate: Shengxian Tang
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Civil and Construction Engineering
Title: Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based framework for Construction Quantity Take Off from Building Information Models
Committee: Dr. Hexu Liu, Chair, Dr. Osama Abudayyeh, Dr. Alvis Fong
Time/Place: Wednesday, January 22, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, G-209 Floyd Hall, Parkview Campus

Candidate: Manal Hamadi Alloqmani
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Statistics
Title: Nonparametric Finite Mixture of Ising Graphical Models
Committee: Dr. Kevin Lee, Chair, Dr. Hyun Bin Kang, Dr. Yingying Zhang, Dr. Geumchan Hwang
Time/Place: Friday, January 31, 2025, 2 to 4:00 p.m., 6625 Everett Tower

February 2025

Candidate: Jessica Arleigh Deckard Mann
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Ready, Set, No: Why Not All Successful Early College High School Graduates Matriculate to Postsecondary Education
Committee: Dr. Louann Bierlein Palmer, Chair, Dr. Brett Geier, Dr. Janet Boyle
Time/Place: Monday, February 10, 2025, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Virtual Meeting

Candidate: Holly Sisson
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: Upper-level Undergraduate Pre-Healthcare Students’ Journeys to Graduation and Health Professional Graduate Programs
Committee: Dr. Louann Bierlein Palmer, Chair, Dr. Ramona Lewis, Dr. Michael G. Miller
Time/Place: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 4550 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Emma Jent
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mathematics
Title: Multiple Monochromatic Subgraphs in Edge-Colored Graphs
Committee: Dr. Ping Zhang, Chair, Dr. Gary Chartrand, Dr. John Martino, Dr. Ebrahim Salehi
Time/Place: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 1 to 3 p.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Randall Janes
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: History
Title: Between the Ingenio and the Ingeniero: The Spanish Sugar Master and the Development of the Ibero-American Sugar Industry, 1450-1650
Committee: Dr. Lewis Pyenson, Chair, Dr. Larry Simon, Dr. Lynne Heasley, Dr. Natalio Ohanna
Time/Place: Monday, February 17, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, Virtual meeting

Candidate: Ethan S. Coffin
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Geological and Environmental Sciences
Title: Utilizing Drainage Induced PFAS Enrichment in Cascade Generated Foam for Efficient Removal at Wastewater Treatment Plants
Committee: Dr. Donald Reeves, Chair, Dr. Daniel Cassidy, Dr. Neil Danielson
Time/Place: Friday, February 21, 2025, 1 to 3 p.m., 1120 Rood Hall

Candidate: April Danielle Ruiz
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: The Ebony Edge: A Qualitative Exploration of Math Success Among Black College Women
Committee: Dr. Eric Archer, Chair, Dr. LaSonja Roberts, Dr. Keli Christopher
Time/Place: Monday, February 24, 2025, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 4550 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Lindsay Croghan
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Psychology
Title: Removing the Opportunity to Respond Produces Resurgence
Committee: Dr. Alan Poling, Chair, Dr. Ron Van Houten, Dr. Lisa Baker, Dr. Steve Ragotzy
Time/Place: Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 3 to 5 p.m., 4402 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Robert Near
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Ph.D. Program 
Title: Assessing the Relationship Between Combat Exposure, Wartime Service, and Barriers to Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Post-9/11 Veterans
Committee: Dr. Kieran Fogarty, Chair, Dr. Rob Lyerla, Dr. Decker Hains
Time/Place: Thursday, February 27, 2025, Noon to 2 p.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Junyi Bian
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
College:  Education and Human Development
Title: The Role of Benefits Fans Perceived in Shaping Response to Sport Sponsorship Leverage
Committee: Dr. Colin Cork, Chair, Dr. Michael Miller, Dr. James Lewis
Time/Place: Friday, February 28, 2025, Noon to 2 p.m., 4th Floor Conference Room, Student Recreation Center

March 2025

Candidate: Shaya Helbig
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
College:  Education and Human Development
Title: Identifying Universal and Language-Specific Features in Play-Based Writing of Young
Children
Committee: Dr. Laura Teichert, Chair, Dr. Susan Piazza, Dr. Andrea Smith
Time/Place: Monday, March 10, 2025, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., 2401 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Alicia Kornowa
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Educational Leadership, Research and Technology
Title: A Multiple Case Study of 4-year Public, Non-flagship Universities: Meeting Common Institutional Goals of Increased Enrollment and Academic Profile
Committee: Dr. Donna Talbot, Chair, Dr. Eric Archer, Dr. Keith Hearit
Time/Place: Monday, March 10, 2025, 2 to 4 p.m., Virtual meeting

Candidate: Sachin Sharma
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Title: Computationally Efficient Autonomous Vehicle Perception: Algorithms and Real-World Applications
Committee: Dr. Richard T. Meyer, Chair, Dr. Zachary D. Asher, Dr. Guan Yue Hong, Dr. Ali Riza Ekti
Time/Place: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, Virtual meeting

Candidate: Susan E. Huff
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
College:  Education and Human Development
Title: Preservice Teachers’ Experiences with Critical Self-Reflection as a Means for Identifying Resistances to Becoming Culturally Competent: A Phenomenological Study 
Committee: Dr. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, Chair, Dr. Selena Protacio, Dr. Summer Davis
Time/Place: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., 4725 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Cody Michael Harrison
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: English
Title: The Heavy
Committee: Thisbe Nissen, Chair, M.F.A., Chair, Jil Larson, Ph.D., Meghann Meeusen, Ph.D., Scott Kaukonen, Ph.D.
Time/Place: Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, Virtual meeting

Candidate: Kevin Fitton
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: English
Title: A Summer in Turners Corners
Committee: Thisbe Nissen, M.F.A., Chair, Meghann Meeusen, Ph.D., Jil Larson, Ph.D., Laurel Snyder, M.F.A.   
Time/Place: Thursday, March 13, 2025, 4 to 6 p.m., 3017 Brown Hall

Candidate: Caroline M. Ray
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
Title: Unveiling Clinical Supervisors’ Learning, Development, and Application of Multicultural and Social Justice Principles in Crisis Supervision Using Constructivist Grounded Theory
Committee: Dr. Glinda Rawls, Chair, Dr. Mark St. Martin, Dr. Regena Nelson, Dr. Michael Bobbitt
Time/Place: Friday, March 14, 2025, 10 a.m. to noon, 4520 Sangren Hall

Candidate: Carrie Y. Hess
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: English
Title: Monsters, Menders, Mothers, and Managers: Agatha Christie, Adaptation, and Female Domestic Gender Roles
Committee: Dr. Christopher Nagle, Chair, Dr. Jil Larson, Dr. Meghann Meeusen, Dr. Kristin Denslow
Time/Place: Friday, March 14, 2025, 2 to 4 p.m., 3017 Brown Hall

Candidate: Sahar Abedzadeh
For the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy
Department: Computer Science
Title: Resilient Learning for Anomaly Detection in Smart Living System
Committee: Dr. Shameek Bhattacharjee, Chair, Dr. Alvis Fong, Dr. Ajay Gupta, Dr. Kevin H. Lee
Time/Place: Friday, March 14, 2025, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., Virtual meeting

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.