Faculty — S
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Sabbaghi, Omid
Omid Sabbaghi
Associate Professor of Finance and Director of Graduate Business Programs, teaches investments and corporate finance. He received both his M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where he studied finance and econometrics. During his graduate studies, he was the recipient of an Oscar Mayer Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of California-Berkeley, triple-majoring in Economics, Statistics, and Applied Mathematics.
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Sanchez-Castano, Eliana
Eliana Sanchez-Castano
Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Clinical Dentistry, teaches restorative dentistry to dental students, has a special interest in the implementation and integration of CAD/CAM dentistry technologies into the dental curriculum. She has a DDS degree from University of El Bosque, Bogota Colombia, a Master’s Degree in Hospital Management, and an Implant Fellowship Certificate from The Ohio State University. She joined the University in 2010.
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Saunders, Mitzi M.
Mitzi M. Saunders
Professor, McAuley School of Nursing, Dr. Saunders has been the Program Coordinator for the Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS) program since 2010. She has over 20 years of experience as a certified Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist. Dr. Saunders is committed to growing the numbers of AGCNSs nationwide and showcasing the impact of the CNS role. She actively speaks on practice issues affecting nursing and remains involved in legislative processes at the state and national level. She is an active member of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. Besides teaching in the AGCNS program, Dr. Saunders teaches an interprofessional course in health policy. Her research interests are family caregiving, CNS role and methods in on-line learning. Dr. Saunders is certified by the Association of College and University Educators in effective teaching practices in higher education.
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Saunders, Timothy R.
Timothy R. Saunders
Clinical Professor, Division of Clinical Dentistry, Assistant Dean of Clinic Administration, his primary responsibilities are related to the administration of the Corktown and UHC clinics. Dr. Saunders earned his DDS degree from Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha, Nebraska in 1972. He completed his GPR training at Scott Medical Center, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois in 1973. Dr. Saunders attended the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota for his residency training in Prosthodontics and Maxillofacial Prosthetics from 1974 to 1977. Dr. Saunders spent 24 years actively practicing and teaching prosthodontics and maxillofacial prosthetics in the United State Air Force, retiring in 1995. He joined the faculty of the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, in 1996, retiring in 2010. Dr. Saunders joined the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry in 2011.
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Saybolt, Thomas
Thomas Saybolt
Professor of Practice, has experience in U.S. and international business transactions, environmental and regulatory matters, tax planning issues, and government relations. He teaches Business Organizations, Cross Borders Sales and Financing Transactions, and International Business Transactions. He joined the University in 2007.
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Scheys, Joshua
Joshua Scheys
Assistant Professor, Division of Integrated Biomedical Sciences, teaches human physiology to dental students and Integrated Biomedical Sciences to dental hygiene students. Additionally, he is the faculty advisor for the Student Research group at the dental school. His research interests include beta-cell biology and secretory signaling pathways. Dr. Scheys received a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan Brehm Center for Diabetes Research. He joined the University in 2014.
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Schlick, Shulamith
Shulamith Schlick
Professor of Physical and Polymer Chemistry, teaches graduate and undergraduate Physical and Polymer Chemistry (lecture and laboratory). Her research interests include morphology, phase separation, and self-assembly in ion-containing polymers and nonionic polymeric surfactants; electron spin resonance imaging (ESRI) of transport processes in polymer solutions, hydrogels and polymer-supported catalytic systems; degradation and stabilization processes in polymeric membranes used in fuel cells; and transport of solvents through elastomers and glassy polymers. Dr. Schlick received her D.Sc. from The Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 1963. She has held visiting professorships and appointments worldwide, and has authored over 200 scientific articles, two books and several book chapters.
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Schumack, Mark R.
Mark R. Schumack
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, teaches heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and energy systems. His research interests lie in thermal/fluid modeling using computational techniques, including applications in the automotive, manufacturing, HVAC, and alternative energy fields. Schumack earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He joined the University in 1991.
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Selby, Karen L.
Karen L. Selby
Associate Professor of Education. Selby came to the University in 2007. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College and a Master of Arts from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her doctorate from University of Michigan focused on literacy strategies in the social studies curriculum of full-time Islamic schools. Her research continues to focus on multicultural literature, families, literacy, and the use of technology. Selby’s most recent research looks to concretize the reality of urban parents in the minds of pre-service student teacher. Teaching interests, which reflect her lifelong commitment to the liberal arts and sciences, include children’s literature, reading, language arts, social studies, research methods, and student teaching. Her favorite authors include Maxine Greene (Releasing the Imagination) and Christopher Paul Curtis (The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1968).
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Serowoky, Mary L.
Mary L. Serowoky
Clinical Associate Professor, McAuley School of Nursing, teaches in the Family Nurse Practitioner program. Dr. Serowoky’s scholarship interests include adolescent wellness, risk and protective factors. She maintains an active primary care practice in school based health and serves as a consultant for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Child and Adolescent Health Centers Program. Dr. Serowoky earned her BSN from Mercy College of Detroit, her MSN from the University of Detroit Mercy and her DNP from Wayne State University. She joined the University in 2012.
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Shaw-Gallagher, Marlene
Marlene Shaw-Gallagher
Marlene Shaw-Gallagher, MS, PA-C is an Assistant Professor in the Physician Assistant program. Professor Shaw-Gallagher teaches Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures I, II, III and is a Clinical Rotations Coordinator. She is an alumnus of Detroit Mercy's Physician Assistant Program and has a background in Internal Medicine and Interventional Radiology. She has been working in Nephrology for the past 5 years and has received a grant from the National Kidney Foundation to study interventions aimed at preventing the progression of Chronic Kidney Disease in diabetic patients. Professor Shaw-Gallagher holds a BS in Biology-Zoology/Biological Anthropology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and a MS in Physician Assistant Studies from Detroit Mercy. She has been at Detroit Mercy since 2017.
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Shen, S.J., Raphael
Raphael Shen, S.J.
Professor of Economics, teaches courses in macroeconomics, microeconomic theory/analysis, comparative economic systems, development economics and resource economics. Shen's publications and presentations have dealt with transitional economies in Eastern Europe. His more recent publications include a book titled: The Political Economy of China’s Systemic Transformation 1979-Present: Successes, Obstacles, Anomalies. Palgrave-MacMillan, 2011 and two refereed articles (all three publications were co-authored with Victoria L. Mantzopoulos, Ph.D., professor, Detroit Mercy). Shen has also presented numerous papers at professional conferences over the years. Shen holds a Bachelor of Arts from Berchmans College and a Master of Arts and a doctorate from Michigan State University. He came to Detroit Mercy in 1977.
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Shepherd, Kathi R.
Kathi R. Shepherd
Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of Educational Development and Assessment, co-directs the dental hygiene board review and all courses in the community health curriculum. Additional teaching includes lecturing in the oral health assessment and prevention dental hygiene courses. Her publications and professional presentations focus on both dental education and dental hygiene care. She received a Certificate in Dental Hygiene and a B.S. from the University of Detroit and a M.S. from the University of Detroit Mercy. Ms. Shepherd joined the University in 1985.
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Sherrick-Escamilla, Shirley A.
Shirley A. Sherrick-Escamilla
Associate Professor, McAuley School of Nursing, teaches obstetrical nursing in the undergraduate program. She earned her M.S.N. from University of Phoenix.
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Shoemaker, Daniel P.
Daniel P. Shoemaker
Professor of Cybersecurity & Information Systems, Director of the Master of Science in Information Assurance Program, PI for the CAE program with the NSA. Daniel Shoemaker, Ph.D., is a full-time professor at University of Detroit Mercy, director of the Master of Science in Information Assurance Program with a major in Cybersecurity, and a principal investigator and senior research scientist at Detroit Mercy's Center for Cyber Security & Intelligence Studies. He is a former chair of the Computer & Information Systems department at Detroit Mercy, a role for which he served for 25 years. As the co-chair for the National Workforce Training and Education Initiative, he is one of the authors of the DHS Software Assurance Common Body of Knowledge (CBK). He also helped author the DHS IA Essential Body of Knowledge and serves as a subject matter expert for the NIST-NICE workforce framework. Shoemaker also enjoys editing journals, and his publications number are well over one hundred. He joined the University in 1985.
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Sinutko, Jaime M.
Jaime M. Sinutko
Associate Dean, McAuley School of Nursing Undergraduate Programs, serves as Associate Dean for the undergraduate programs in the MSON. Prior to this appointment, she taught in the classroom and online for the MSON undergraduate students. Dr. Sinutko earned a BSN, MSN in education, and PhD in educational leadership with a focus on higher education administration from Oakland University. She also assumed leadership and teaching responsibility at Oakland University, Rochester College, and Chamberlain College of Nursing. Much of her academic leadership work revolved around nursing program creation, recruitment, accreditation, and funding. Prior to these academic roles, Dr. Sinutko worked as an emergency nurse for ten years with a passion for triage and trauma care.
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Slowik, Linda H.
Linda H. Slowik
Associate Professor of Psychology. Linda Slowik, Ph.D., teaches coursework pertaining to the field of industrial/organizational psychology, as well as statistics, community development, developmental psychology, and social psychology. She has expertise in the measurement of psychological concepts and applying psychology following an inclusive, interdisciplinary approach. Slowik's research focuses on applying theories and principles of motivation, with special attention to the social context, such as organizational climate, community, and group dynamics. She seeks to address real-world problems by integrating principles of psychology to applied problems. Her projects have included topics such as examining the role of motivation and social support in promoting dental compliance; the dynamics of adult identity in organizational contexts, as well as community contexts; social dynamics of creativity and affectivity in the work setting; the relationship between vehicles and owners; nursing empowerment; public views of transit systems; succession planning in small companies; and work-life balance as it relates to work climate.
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Snyder, Katherine E.
Katherine E. Snyder
Dean of the College of Engineering and Science, previously served as Interim Dean and associate dean of Academic Affairs of the College of Engineering & Science from 2010-2017. She has held other administrative roles including the Director of the 7-year Dental Program and Chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department. She is the Principle Investigator (PI) of a $300,000 grant from the Ford Motor Company for a Ford Mobility App project, and is co-PI for the ReBUILDetroit grant, a $21.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, she serves on the Academic Board for Detroit Loyola High School. Before joining the University of Detroit Mercy as a faculty member in the Mathematics & Computer Science Department in 1994, Dr. Snyder taught high school in Southwest Detroit. She earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Computer Education at Wayne State University. She also holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics and an M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Detroit. Her field of study includes the appropriate and effective use of technology in Mathematics and Computer Science education, particularly computer algebra systems.
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Sordyl, Claudine M.
Claudine M. Sordyl
Associate Professor, Division of Clinical Dentistry, teaches physical assessment, management of medical emergencies, basic life support (re)certification courses, pain and anxiety control, and medical history taking. She is also involved in teaching protocols on nitrous oxide inhalation/parenteral sedation preparation and monitoring the sedated patient to dental, dental hygiene and post doctoral graduate students. As a research study nurse, she coordinates study participants in pain control research involving pharmaceuticals and techniques. Her publications and local/national professional presentations deal with subject matter on preoperative assessment and emergency preparedness of sedated patients, medical emergencies in the dental office setting, local anesthesia, and nitrous oxide. She has received several speaking engagement awards. Ms. Sordyl holds a B.S. in Nursing and a M.S. in Health Services Administration from the University of Detroit Mercy. She joined the University in 1989.
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Souldatos, Ioannis
Ioannis Souldatos
Associate Professor of Mathematics, received his Ph.D. (2008) in Mathematical Logic and M.A. (2004) in Mathematics from UCLA. He also holds a Master’s degree (2002) in “Logic, Computation and Algorithms” from the University of Athens, Greece, where he also got his Bachelor’s (2000) in Pure Mathematics. His research interests lie in Mathematical Logic, especially in Model Theory and Set Theory. He teaches a variety of lower and upper level classes and enjoys working with student on research projects, or individual study courses. Prior to Detroit Mercy, he spent three years at Minnesota State University in Mankato, five years as an instructor/teaching fellow/teaching associate/teaching assistant at UCLA, and one year in Melbourne, Australia. He joined the department of Mathematics and Computer Science in 2011.
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Spreitzer, Jil
Jill Spreitzer
Associate Librarian, Reference, McNichols Campus Library, provides reference services, instruction in database searching, and research skills instruction. She facilitates collection development for civil/architectural/environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, communication studies, health services administration, and digital media studies. Spreitzer holds a B.S. degree in Biology from University of Michigan and a M.S.L.S. degree in Library Science from Wayne State University. She joined the University in 1999.
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St. John, Julie
Julie St. John
Assistant Professor of Comparative Legal Writing and Research, has experience in civil litigation, family law, real estate, and wills and estates. She teaches Comparative Legal Writing and Research and joined the University in 2004.
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Stack, Margaret A.
Margaret A. Stack
Associate Professor of Psychology. Stack received a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University of Detroit and her Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan. She is a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She joined the University faculty in 1995 and currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Psychology. She teaches courses in assessment, basic psychoanalytic concepts, human sexuality, religion and psychology, and case conference. Her primary areas of research interest include LGBT issues, spirituality, and delinquent behavior in adolescents. Her current research focuses on understanding the complexity of factors that contribute to youth violence, juvenile sexual offending, and/or other delinquent behavior. Stack's clinical work is directed at psychotherapy with adults and families, and psychological assessment of children, adolescents, and adults. She is a consultant to the Oakland County Circuit Court – Family Division, where her services include psychological evaluation of adjudicated delinquents and individuals referred because of neglect and/or abuse, domestic relations, competency evaluations, expert witness services, and staff training. She is also a member of the Archdiocesan Review Board, which is an advisory board for cases of clergy sexual abuse for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
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Stanard, Virginia
Virginia Stanard
Assistant Professor and Director, Master of Community Development, teaches courses in urban design, community development, and real estate development. Stanard is a principal at City Form Detroit, a Detroit-based urban design practice. In these roles Stanard has implemented an interdisciplinary and collaborative model of teaching, research, and practice focused on community-based design and planning. Stanard received her Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Design from the University of Michigan and her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Stanard began at the University in 2006 as an urban designer at the Detroit Collaborative Design Center and joined the faculty in 2015.
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Stanton, Thomas
Thomas Stanton
Associate Professor of Communication Studies.Stanton teaches news writing, news editing, mass communication, media ethics and Detroit sports history and journalism and advises the student newspaper, The Varsity News. He is author of several nationally recognized nonfiction books, including the 2016 New York Times sports bestseller Terror in the City of Champions and the Casey Award-winning Tiger Stadium memoir The Final Season. He has been featured on CNN, ESPN and NPR. A co-founder and former editor of The Voice newspapers, Stanton was named a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of Michigan Library Association’s Author of the Year award, and his most recent work was named a 2017 Notable Book by the state library.
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Stevens, Jonathan
Jonathan Stevens
Associate Professor of Chemistry, teaches physical chemistry, general chemistry, and core curriculum chemistry for non-science and non-engineering majors. His research focuses on the application of theoretical quantum chemistry to gas-phase atmospheric reactions and photochemistry. Stevens holds B.S. degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Miami University of Ohio and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. He joined the University in 1998.
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Stever, Sarah
Sarah Stever
Associate Professor of History, teaches courses on the ancient Mediterranean world, Renaissance Italy, and the history of art and architecture. The author of a study of the art and history of Siena, Florence, and Venice in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, a memoir about Italian alabaster artisans, and of several articles on Renaissance humanism and philology. She has been a recipient of fellowships from the Danforth Foundation and the Renaissance Society of America. She earned a A.B. from Sarah Lawrence College and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.
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Stocker-Schneider, Julia
Julia Stocker-Schneider
Associate Professor, McAuley School of Nursing, is lead faculty and coordinator of the Health Systems Management (HSM) and Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) graduate nursing programs. She has 15 years of experience teaching nursing leadership and management, quality improvement, and nursing informatics at the graduate level. Dr. Stocker Schneider earned her doctorate from the University of Michigan with a research focus on the measurement of nursing-sensitive outcomes in the home care setting. She gained nursing informatics experience through her work in the development of the Hands-on Automated Nursing Data System (HANDS) at the University of Michigan. She has over six years of home care leadership and quality improvement experience, including four years’ service as Director of Nursing at two Medicare-certified Home Healthcare Agencies. Dr. Stocker Schneider is passionate about developing nurse leaders who are systems thinkers, grounded in improvement beginning with a clinical microsystem approach, and who support informatics integration, and utilize nursing and outcomes data to inform decisions leading to systems change. She has been a certified Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) since 2016.
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Stokes, Carmen A.
Carmen A. Stokes
Clinical Associate Professor, McAuley School of Nursing, obtained a B.S. in Nursing from Wayne State University and a M.S. in Nursing from University of Detroit Mercy, Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a PhD in nursing education from Eastern Michigan University. She is a certified family nurse practitioner and certified nurse educator. She joined the University in 2001.
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Streit, Sigrid
Sigrid Streit
Assistant Professor of English and Director of Writing across the Curriculum, Streit joined University of Detroit Mercy in 2015; prior to this position, she taught at Stanford University and Penn State. She holds a doctorate and a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition from Kent State University, and a second Master of Arts from Dresden University of Technology, Germany. In her capacity as director of writing across the curriculum, Streit collaborates with departments and individual instructors to support the integration of writing across disciplines at the university. Her research and teaching interests include the relationship of knowledge to embodied practices and teaching and learning in multimodal settings. Her current research explores the role of movement and its ability to form implicit arguments in the context of complementary and alternative medicine. The second part of her research agenda combines insights gained from her interest in nonverbal communication with questions related to digital literacy. She explores what motivates users to choose specific gestures in touchscreen interactions, and how comfortable they are using them.
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Stone, Carl
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Sumner, Gregory D.
Gregory D. Sumner
Professor and Department Co-Chair of History, teaches courses on 20th-century American politics and culture. He is the author of Dwight Macdonald and the Politics Circle: The Challenge of Cosmopolitan Democracy (1996) and Unstruck in Time: A Journey Through Kurt Vonnegut's Life and Novels (2012) and Detroit in World War II (2015). A fellow of the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, he also was selected as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Rome (2001, 2010). He holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts and a doctorate from Indiana University and a Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School. He joined the University in 1993.
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Sunghera S.J., Gilbert
Gilbert Sunghera, S.J.
Associate Professor of Architecture, teaches design studio and graduate seminars in his research area of sacred space and the encounter between sacred space and the public square. Fr. Sunghera worked as an architectural designer in Southern California before entering the priesthood, and currently directs the Detroit Mercy Liturgical Space Consulting Service, a national outreach effort for churches and religious congregations as they prepare to build new worship environments. Fr. Sunghera is Superior of the Jesuit Community. Fr. Sunghera holds a B.A. in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, a M.Arch from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, a M.Div from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and a STM from the Institute of Sacred Music, Worship and the Arts from Yale University.