Dr. Dawn Neuman was named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the California State University, Channel Islands in July 2008. She came to the CSU after seventeen years with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she was a professor and former Chair in the School of Life Sciences and served first as the Vice Provost of Educational Outreach and then as the Vice Provost of Academic Resources. In her role, she contributed to UNLV realizing its vision of becoming a premier metropolitan research university.
Dr. Neuman, a native of southern California, earned BA and MA degrees in Biology at the California State University, Long Beach, and a PhD at the University of Washington. Her scholarship has been focused in three areas; (1) plant responses to the environment, (2) interactions between roots and shoots, and (3) plant hormone physiology. She is the author of numerous scientific articles and has served as a reviewer for journals in plant ecology, chemistry and molecular biology as well as for the NSF and the USDA.
Professor Dennis D. Muraoka is a native Californian and a life long resident of Santa Barbara where he received his primary and secondary education from the local public schools. He attended Santa Barbara City College and UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), ultimately receiving his doctoral degree in economics from UCSB.
Prior to joining CSUCI as one of its original faculty, Dr. Muraoka served on the economics faculty at CSU Long Beach. At CSUCI he has had many faculty and administrative assignments and currently serves as the Interim Associate Provost.
Gary A. Berg, PhD is founding Dean of Extended Education at California State University Channel Islands and author of numerous articles on current issues in higher education, educational technology, and media studies, as well as five books including Why Distance Learning? and Lessons from the Edge: For-Profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America (Praeger and the American Council on Education).
Berg has also co-edited two encyclopedias of distance learning. In addition to a doctoral degree in Higher Education from Claremont Graduate University, he has an MFA in Film and Television from UCLA. Previous to CSUCI, Berg headed continuing education divisions at Chapman University and the California School of Professional Psychology, as well as professional training programs at the Directors Guild of America.
Before taking on an administrative role, Renny Christopher was a Professor of English. Her PhD is in American Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her book, The Viet Nam War/The American War: Images and Representations in Euro-American and Vietnamese Exile Narratives (University of Massachusetts Press, 1995) was named Outstanding Book on Human Rights by the Gustavas Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. She has an MA in Linguistics from San Jose State University and a BA in English/Creative Writing from Mills College. A Carpenter’s Daughter: A Working-Class Woman in Higher Education, which addresses her experiences as the first in her family to attend college, is forthcoming from Sense Publishers. Before she earned her PhD, she worked as a printing press operator, typesetter, carpenter and horse wrangler. She is a poet as well as a teacher and scholar. My Name is Medea won the New Spirit Press chapbook award in 1996; Longing Fervently for Revolution won the Slipstream Press chapbook competition in 1998; Viet Nam and California, a full-length collection, was published by Viet Nam Generation/Burning Cities Press in 1998.
Since 2005, Stephen Lefevre has served as AVP for Academic Programs and Planning, with responsibility for new program development, academic planning, curriculum, the University catalog, and program review. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Dean of Faculty at CSUCI, and prior to that served as director of the CSU Northridge off campus center, located in Ventura and at the Channel Islands campus. Dr. Lefevre received his undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount, and his Ph.D from University of California, Riverside. From 1975 to 1998, he was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Texas at Tyler, where from 1992 to 1998 he was Dean of the School of Liberal Arts. A political scientist, Dr. Lefevre teaches courses in American politics, political theory, and public policy.
Nelle Moffett came to CSUCI in August 2008 as Director of Institutional Research. Nelle came from Sacramento where she was the Dean of Planning, Research, and Institutional Effectiveness at Sacramento City College since August 2000. Prior to coming to California, Nelle was Director of Institutional Research and Planning at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico for eight years and Research Analyst at Arizona State University for five years. Nelle received her B.A. in Philosophy from Antioch College in 1973, M.A. in Educational Psychology from Arizona State University in 1987, and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from ASU in 1993. In addition to her formal education, Nelle has earned certificates in Life Coaching, Non-Violent Communication, and Focusing.
Dr. Shah joined California State University at Channel Islands in 2010 as the Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs. Dr. Shah’s responsibilities include the campus-wide growth of research, scholarship, creative activities and sponsored research initiatives. The office works closely with CSUCI faculty, staff and external funding agencies, community partners, to foster collaborations and to develop strategies for prospective funding opportunities. Prior to joining CSUCI Dr. Shah served as the Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Western Kentucky University with responsibilities for the Offices of Sponsored Programs, Technology Transfer, the WKU’s Center for Research and Development, the Small Business Development Center and also serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors for the WKU Research Foundation. From 2001 through 2006, Dr. Shah served as the founding Director of the Western Illinois Entrepreneurship Center at Western Illinois University with responsibilities for the Office of Technology Transfer, the Executive Studies Center in Macomb, the Small Business Development Center, the Center for The Applications of Information Technologies, the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center for West Central Illinois and the Procurement Technical Assistance Center in Quincy under the umbrella of the Entrepreneurship Center.
After receiving his doctorate in chemistry from Washington University, St. Louis, in 1986, Dr. Shah spent sixteen years in industry managing the research and development efforts for product and technology development for the specialty chemicals and Health Care markets.Amy Wallace
Amy Wallace is the Dean of the Library at California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI). Most recently she was the Head of Public Services and Outreach at CSUCI, where she has had the once in a lifetime opportunity to design and implement an information literacy program and other public services from the ground up. Over the years she has served in an eclectic mix of roles in academic libraries, including the Assistant Department Head for the Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of California San Diego, Team Leader for Digital Libraries and Reference and Instruction Librarian for Religion and Women's Studies at the Libraries of The Claremont Colleges, and Off Campus Services Librarian for Chapman University. Her research interests include information literacy, library instruction, classroom design, and academic technologies.
Amy received her M.A. in History from San Diego State University and her M.L.I.S. from San Jose State University. She is actively involved in too many professional organizations to list. She currently serves as the Vice President - South for the California Association of College and Research Libraries (CARL) and Chapter Assembly Director for the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST).
Karen is a California native and a long time Camarillo resident. Her career path took her from academia to the medical supply distribution industry and back to the academic environment at CSUCI. She is proud to be affiliated with the "gem" of the CSU system and enjoys the enriched environment and culture of this new academic institution.
