ODU BLAST Administration Personnel

Dr. Cynthia Tomovic, PI, and Director of ODU BLAST, joined the department of STEM Education and Professional Studies, Old Dominion University, as a Professor in 2008 where she most recently has conducted research and published in the area of STEM education and STEM career access for urban students. Dr. Tomovic is also Program Director for Organizational Training, an area of concentration in the B.S., Occupational and Technical Studies program, a transfer-friendly career-pathway program for students interested in organizational leadership and training. Dr. Tomovic received her B.A. in Anthropology, and her M.Ed. in Educational Program Evaluation and Assessment from the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. She received her M.S. in Organizational Psychology, and her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Higher Education Administration from the University of Michigan. Dr. Cynthia Tomovic teaches, conducts research, and consults in STEM education, workforce development, organizational leadership and development, and quality and organizational performance improvement.

Dr. Vukica Jovanović, Co-PI, Associate Professor of Engineering Technology, in  Batten College of Engineering and Technology. She received her dipl.ing and Magistar (Ph.D. Candidate) in Industrial Engineering from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She received a Ph.D. in Technology at Purdue University, while working in the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. She is a Director of the Digital Manufacturing and Mechatronics Lab and lead faculty for Mechatronics Systems area of specialization. She organized multiple robotic undergraduate student competitions and was working as a chaperone and instructor in multiple summer STEM camps. Dr.Jovanovic conducts research in the areas of engineering education, mechatronics, manufacturing systems, digital thread and robotics.

Virginia Space Grant Consortium STEM Education Specialists Supporting ODU BLAST 2018

 Dr. Tysha Stanford, STEM Education Specialist, Virginia Space Grant Consortium. coordinates and lead all aspects of BLAST (Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology). Before this position, she worked as a Master Teacher for Virginia Space Grant Consortium. Before that, she was a Science Lead Teacher for science department at Newport News Public Schools, Newport News, Virginia.

Ms. Joyce Klubarek is STEM Education Specialist, Virginia Space Grant Consortium. She is dedicated and resourceful educator with proven ability to develop an environment that encourages open communication with colleagues, students and community, and to mentor teachers to implement class instruction, design lesson plans, and student assessment in conjunction with state learning regulations.

Ms. Joyce H. Corriere, STEM Education Specialist, Virginia Space Grant Consortium. She coordinates and lead all aspects of I lead the Virginia Earth System Science Scholars (VESSS) Program. She taught Earth Science and AP and IB Environmental Science. Ms. Corriere taught AP Chemistry, Chemistry, Biology, Genetics, and was an Instructional Trainer in Yorktown Public Schools.

College of Education STEM Education Specialists

Sueanne McKinney, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Elementary Education. McKinney was an elementary and middle school teacher for the Norfolk Public Schools before she joined the ODU faculty in 1998. She won the 2002 Teletechnet Faculty of the Year Award and the 2007 Darden College of Education Teaching Innovation and Excellence Award, and was named the 2009 Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics William C. Lowry University Educator of the Year.

Kristie Gutierrez, Ph.D.is an Assistant Professor of Teaching and Learning, received a Ph.D. in Science Education from North Carolina State University, an M.Ed. in Science Education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previously she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, STEM Career Clubs, NSF ITEST Project and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at North Carolina State University.

Administrative Support

President John R. Broderick has served as the eighth president of Old Dominion University (ODU) since 2008. As president, he guides the University’s six colleges, more than 10 economic development and research centers, and numerous partnerships with government, military and business organizations and agencies. He oversees an operating budget in excess of $526 million and more than 2,500 faculty and staff members. More than $338 million in new buildings and building renovations have been authorized or completed on his watch.

Brian K. Payne is the vice provost for academic affairs at Old Dominion University, where he is tenured in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. He is a former editor of the American Journal of Criminal Justice and past president of the Southern Criminal Justice Association and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Payne is the author or co-author of more than 160 journal articles and seven books including White-Collar Crime: The Essentials (Sage), Family Violence and Criminal Justice (Elsevier, with Randy Gainey), and Crime and Elder Abuse: An Integrated Perspective (Charles C Thomas). He is currently co-authoring (with Will Oliver and Nancy Marion) Introduction to Criminal Justice: A Balanced Approach (Sage).

Provost Dr. Austin Agho is a Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs . Agho, who earned his doctorate in hospital and health administration in 1989 from the University of Iowa. As a research principal investigator or project director, Agho has received five funded grants worth $1 million or more for health careers opportunity programs. Included is a $1.9 million grant for the Indiana University Health Careers Opportunity Program from the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources Services Administration. In Michigan, he secured $1.2 million from the C.S. Mott Foundation to establish the Urban Health and Wellness Center to provide primary care and physical therapy services to underinsured local residents. And he secured an additional $2.4 million to design and implement programs aimed at increasing the enrollment of minority students in nursing and health science programs.

Dean Jane Bray, Ed. D. is a Dean of Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University. Dr. Jane S. Bray is an experienced dean holding numerous academic leadership positions with colleges for more than 15 years. In 2013, she became Dean for the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University. Having spent more than 30 years as a classroom teacher in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada and as a teacher educator, she is a leading expert in teacher education and educator preparation. Dr. Bray has written extensively on higher education issues and has contributed articles to The Virginian-Pilot, The Washington Post, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, and EdPrep Matters, a blog published by The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Dean Stephanie G. Adams, Ph.D. is Dean of Batten College of Engineering and Technology. She is an honor graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned her B.S. in mechanical engineering. She received a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia in 1991 and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary engineering from Texas A&M University in 1998. She is President Elect and Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education. She has more than $12 million in research grants as principal investigator or co-principal investigator and authored more than 75 scholarly publications, including peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters.

Dean Gale Dodge, Ph.D. is a Dean of College of Sciences at Old Dominion University. She received her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. She is an experimental nuclear physicist, studying the protons and neutrons which make up the atomic nucleus.  Dr. Dodge served a two-year term as a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia.  In 2015, she was selected by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for an Outstanding Faculty Award.  She has been active in efforts to improve the teaching of introductory physics courses and was one of the co-founders of the Physics Learning Center, where students can drop in for tutoring help.

Lisa Mayes is Executive Director of the Center for High Impact Practices at Old Dominion University. She has served the University in various capacities in support faculty and students in the classroom. Her most recent OER project is a partnership grant with Virginia Beach Public Schools and Tidewater Community College to establish a textbook-free pathway all the way through to a bachelor’s degree.