Bridgewater College announces eight new faculty members

Bridgewater College welcomes eight new full-time faculty members for the 2022-23 academic year. They join the Rhodes School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Natural Sciences and the School of Professional Studies.

The new faculty members include:

• Ahmad Alqurneh joins the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science as an assistant professor of data science and analytics. Alqurneh earned a Ph.D. in intelligent computing from the University of Putra Malaysia, an M.S. in computer science from the University of Jordan and a B.S. in computer application from Aligarh Muslim University in India.
• Derli Dias do Amaral Jr. joins the Department of Physics as an assistant professor of applied physics. Amaral earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Sao Paulo and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Sao Paulo State University.
• Nicholas Erdman joins the Department of Health and Human Sciences as an assistant professor. Erdman earned a Ph.D. in kinesiology with a concentration in sports medicine from the University of Virginia as well as an M.S. in athletic training from Shenandoah University. Erdman holds credentials as a certified athletic trainer with licensure in Virginia and maintains a certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
• Sevinj Iskandarova joins the Department of Economics and Business Administration as a visiting assistant professor of business. Iskandarova received her Ph.D. in strategic leadership studies with a concentration in postsecondary analysis and leadership from James Madison University, an M.S. in adult education and human resource development from JMU and a B.A. in humanities and social sciences from Khazar University in Azerbaijan.
• Yuting Jia joins the Department of World Languages and Culture as a visiting assistant professor of Spanish. Jia earned a Ph.D. in Spanish language and literature from the University at Buffalo (N.Y.), an M.A. in Spanish and Latin-American literature from the University of Salamanca in Spain and a B.A. in music performance from Xiamen University in China.
• Shuang Li joins the Department of Sociology as an assistant professor. Li earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in sociology from South Dakota State University. She also holds an M.S. degree in English literature from Shanghai Maritime University, and she earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management (China).
• Vanessa Rouillon joins the Department of English as an assistant professor. Rouillon earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in teaching English as a second language also from UIUC and an M.A. in economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Her B.A. degree is in economics from the University of Lima in Lima, Peru, her country of origin.
• Robert “R.J.” Shute joins the Department of Health and Human Sciences as a visiting assistant professor. Shute earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in health, physical education and recreation focusing on exercise physiology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He earned his B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in exercise science. Shute spent the last three years working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia.