Friday Forum Speakers' Bios
Cary Nelson - Nelson took office as the 49th President of AAUP in June 2006, and was reelected in 2008 and 2010. His latest authored book is entitled, No University is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom (2010). He serves as a Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Robert W. McChesney - McChesney teaches in the Department of Communication at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, writes about media and politics, and hosts "Media Matters" every Sunday afternoon on WILL-AM 580.
Geoffrey Hewings - Hewings is Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory and a Professor in IGPA, economics, geography, urban and regional planning and agricultural and consumer economics. His PhD is from the University of Washington; he has been at Illinois since 1974. His main research interests center on modeling metropolitan and state economies - in the US and several countries in Latin America and Asia.
Dr. Jeff Crump - Dr. Crump is a Professor of Housing Studies at the University of Minnesota. Currently Professor Crump’s research focuses on subprime lending and foreclosure in the Twin Cities and elsewhere. Other research interests include public housing policy and deindustrialization in the Midwest. His research has been published in a wide variety of journals including the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and Urban Geography. Professor Crump has testified on behalf of anti-predatory lending legislation in Minnesota and was Chair of a State Legislative Committee on foreclosure data.
Adrian Burgos, Jr. - Burgos is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois who specializes in US Latino history, urban history, immigration history, and race and ethnic studies. His research is concerned with the intersections of race, nation, and culture between the United States and the Spanish-speaking Americas
Brian Gaines - Gaines is a professor with appointments in the Department of Political Science and at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. He focuses on public opinion and political behavior, in the US and elsewhere,especially elections. He earned his PhD from Stanford in 1995, and has also served as a consultant on redistricting and polling and expert witness on voter fraud.
Michael LeRoy - LeRoy is a professor at the School of Labor and Employment Relations, and College of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Rebecca Ginsburg - Ginsburg serves as the Director of the Education Justice Project and concurrently holds position as Assistant Professor, Departments of Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Art History, and African-American Studies, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Know Your University Speakers' Bios
Mike Ross - Ross has held his position as Director of Krannert Center for the Performing arts since 1997. He is an active board member of numerous local, state, and national arts organizations. He attributes his experience as a professional musician and his interest in the literary, visual, and cultural history of art as major influences on the creative and collaborative nature of his work in arts administration.
Dr. Robert Easter - chancellor and provost (interim) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Easter served as Dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) from 2002-2009. He has served as Head of the Department of Animal Sciences from 1996 to 2001, and has been on the Animal Sciences faculty since 1976.
Suhail Barot - doctoral student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He has held the position of Chair of the campus Student Sustainability Committee for numerous terms.
Raymond L. Price, Ph.D. - Professor and Severns Chair for Human Behavior, joined the faculty in the fall semester 1998. Prior to that he had career in industry working in Management and Organization Development and Human Resources. His primary charter is to provide opportunities for engineering students to understand and develop skills in Human Behavior: interpersonal skills, leadership, and management skills that will be useful to them in their careers. His research focuses on innovation and leadership.
Irvin Harrison - Director of the Native American House and assistant dean of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A member of the Navajo Tribe, Irvin was also an instructor in the Native American Scholars and Collaborators Project at San Diego State University that trains Native American graduate students in the field of school counseling and school psychology.
Nancy Abelmann - Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for the Humanities, Arts, and Related Fields and Harry E. Preble Professor of Anthropology, Asian American Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dianne Harris - appointed as Director of IPRH in 2008. She is also a professor of Landscape Architecture, with appointments in Architecture, Art History, and History.
Scott Schwartz - Archivist of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music and Associate Professor of Library Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Rebecca Ginsburg - Director of the Education Justice Project and concurrently holds position as Assistant Professor, Departments of Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Art History, and African-American Studie, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.