Faculty and staff sketches

February 24, 2026 (Volume 49, Number 12)

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Faculty and staff members who have given presentations, were recognized for outstanding contributions or had their research published are detailed below. The campus community can submit a sketch online for future publication. 

In the News
President Philomena V. Mantella and Marouane Kessentini, dean of the College of Computing, were interviewed by several media outlets for stories following the Feb. 18 news conference when U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten announced $1 million in federal support for the university’s new West Michigan Trustworthy AI Consortium.

Daniel Montanera and Cody Kirby, economics faculty members, were interviewed by media outlets for stories about their research analyzing health trends in Michigan, presented at the annual Health Economics Insights events.

Jennifer Pope, associate professor of marketing, was interviewed by WalletHub for a story about metal credit cards.

Jim Rademaker, general manager of WGVU Public Media, was interviewed by WOOD-TV 8 for a story about how the Blue Dot project will modernize WGVU's studios and space.

Sketches
Students involved in the Thompson Scholars and Charter Scholars programs volunteered to package sample seed packets for the Kent District Libraries' Seed Library. After 45 volunteer hours, students packaged 1,145 sample packets that will be distributed at KDL branches in March. 

The IT Innovation + Research team hosted a three-week Hackathon in collaboration with the Grand Rapids Public Museum High School. Erion Adams, developer for Emerging Technologies, led and facilitated the event.

Santos Ramos, assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies and program director for Latin American Studies, received a $150,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to support Xicano and Latine food systems work with communities in Michigan, in collaboration with the Masa Center.

Valerie Peterson, professor of communication and media studies, gave a presentation, "Introducing Students to Media Ecology: Animals and Games," at the National Communication Association's 111th Annual Convention.

Naureen Hoque, assistant professor of computing, was a co-author of an article, "Locking Down Relay and Spoofing Attacks During Concurrent Connection Establishments in 802.11ax," published in IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing.

Michael DeWilde, professor of management and director of the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative, gave a keynote address, "The Purpose of the University in an Era of AI, Animosity and Anxiety," at the George Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy at Adrian College. DeWilde also wrote a chapter, "A Business Ethics Center Rethinks Its Role," published in a book, A Companion to Doing Ethics.

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Faculty & Staff Sketches