Advisory Board

Interim Provost Dr. Xuanning Fu has been with Fresno State for 20 years, and served as Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Vice Provost before being appointed Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in January 2021. In his interim role as the university's Chief Academic Officer, he is committed to empowering California’s Central Valley’s diverse students who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Dr. Ram Nunna is Dean of the Lyles College of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State). Dr. Nunna earned his PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He currently serves as a member of Fresno State’s Academic Affairs Leadership Team, board member of the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation, and executive committee member of Fresno DRIVE (Developing the Region’s Inclusive and Vibrant Economy), member of Fresno State President’s Commission on Teacher Education, and member of the leadership team of the Fresno K-16 Engineering Collaborative.

Sheryl Ehrman is the Don Beall Dean of the Davidson College of Engineering at San José State University, a position she has held since 2017. Prior to joining San José State, she was a member of the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, for 19 years, serving as Keystone Professor and Chair from 2010 to 2017. Dean Ehrman’s current research interests are in aerosol technology and air pollution. In 2006, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship, supporting a sabbatical visit to the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in Mumbai, India. In 2019, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR). Additional significant distinctions include an NSF CAREER Award in 2001 and the A. James Clark School of Engineering E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty in 2006, and in 2015, she was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. Dean Ehrman is a past President of AAAR and the past treasurer of AIChE's Women in Chemical Engineering (WIC) committee. She is currently the secretary of the Board of Directors for the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy in San José. She received her PhD degree from UCLA and her BS degree from UC Santa Barbara, both in chemical engineering.

Dr. Emily Allen is Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at Cal State Los Angeles. She serves on the Board of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, chaired the ASEE Engineering Deans Council Diversity Committee, serves ABET as an evaluator and commissioner, and chaired the ABET Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. At Cal State LA, she created the Acceleration Initiative, comprised of a series of outreach and early career undergraduate programs to ensure students are well-prepared for their studies and have available all the necessary support to achieve academic and professional success.

Dr. Amy S. Fleischer is the Dean of Engineering at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obsipo, CA, a role she has held since 2018. In this role she sets strategic direction for the college and oversees the operations of the nine departments, 14 degree programs, 220 FTE faculty, 55 staff, and 6000 students. She is a passionate advocate for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing approach to engineering education.

Before arriving at Cal Poly, Dean Fleischer was a Professor and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department and director of the National Science Foundation Research Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems at Villanova University. She was on the faculty at Villanova for 18 years. As an internationally recognized research expert in thermal management of electronics systems, she has led work on 42 research grants funded for a total of $7.4M and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and two books.

Dean Fleischer is also active in leadership in the broader engineering community, and currently serves as the past chair of ASME’s Electronics and Photonics Packaging Division, as chair of the CSU Engineering Dean’s council, and as co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of ASEE’s Engineering Dean’s Council. She is a fellow of ASME and has won numerous teaching and research awards.

Jamie Hogan serves as the Director of Title IX and Clery Compliance at Fresno State, and has been on campus since 2015. Jamie has worked with college students for 20 years, serving at large public, as well as highly selective private institutions across the United States. As a 5th generation Fresnan, she welcomed the opportunity to return to her hometown.

Prior to working in Title IX and Clery at Fresno State, Jamie served as the Director of Student Conduct and continues to Co-Chair the CARE Team, focusing on behavioral interventions.

Tinnah Medina is the Associate Vice-President for Facilities Management at Fresno State. She provides strategic leadership to a diverse workforce and oversees all planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance for all campus facilities and grounds. She is responsible for the Capital Development Plan and serves as the Campus Deputy Building Official and Executive Facilities Officer. 

Prior to joining Fresno State, Tinnah has served the CSU since 2007, holding progressive leadership positions at CSU Fullerton, Dominguez and the Office of the Chancellor. She has contributed to several system wide initiatives; conducted and moderated numerous systemwide training sessions in the area of Capital Planning Design and Construction; and served on the CSU Construction Claims Review Board. 

Her 30 year career in the building industry includes all aspects of the building design process from programming through construction. She is well versed in the funding mechanisms in the CSU; capital project budget forecasting, managing capital finance and operational budgets. With this breadth of experience, she is passionate to give back and contribute towards strategic synergies to optimize performance and maximize the “value of the public dollar”. 

Tinnah is a Licensed Architect in the State of California and Illinois; accredited LEED (Leadership in Environmental Energy Design) professional; a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC). She holds dual degrees at the Masters level in Architecture and Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Magdalena L. Barrera is the inaugural Vice Provost for Faculty Success at San José State University (SJSU). In this role, she supports tenure-line and lecturer faculty through each stage of their career advancement as they meet individual milestones and contribute to the collective mission of the institution.

At SJSU, Dr. Barrera oversees all aspects of the faculty recruitment and tenure and promotion processes, developing the training and support offered to faculty committee members and college leadership teams. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, she was Professor and Department Chair of Chicana and Chicano Studies and the Faculty-in-Residence for Diversifying the Faculty in SJSU’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Dr. Barrera’s current research focuses on the experiences of historically underserved students and faculty in higher education; her work has appeared in a wide range of journals, edited collections, and higher education news outlets. She is the co-author of The Latinx/a/o Guide to Graduate School, forthcoming from Duke University Press. The first in her family to pursue post-secondary degrees, Dr. Barrera holds a B.A. in English and Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University.

Full Bio: https://www.sjsu.edu/people/magdalena.barrera/

Dr. Octavio Villalpando embraces the opportunity to lead the Division of Student Life and to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the role. As an alumnus of the Cal State system and of the Educational Opportunity Program, he recognizes the importance of Student Life programs in supporting and guiding students and shaping their university experiences.

Working in the Division of Student Life is a natural progression in his professional journey. He joined Cal State LA as first Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion in 2016, and was appointed the first Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2019. His longstanding interest in and engagement with student affairs and student life led to his development of a master’s degree in student affairs at a major research university, as well as teaching and scholarship focused on student affairs leadership.

Octavio received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in social foundations of education at Cal State Northridge, followed by a master’s degree and Ph.D. in higher education from UCLA.

Dr. Denise Isom received her doctorate in Socio-Cultural Anthropology of Education from Loyola University, Chicago. She is currently serving as Interim Vice President for Diversity and Equity & CDO,and was previously the Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Multicultural Education, along with a B.S. in Engineering and B.A. in African American Studies were earned at the University of California at Davis. Dr. Isom’s areas of expertise includes, racialized gender identity, ethnic studies, sociology/anthropology of education and whiteness.

Her primary research agenda centers on racialized gender identity in African American children, and she recently co-authored the text, “Multicultural Psychology: Self, Society, and Social Change” from Sage Publications. Her work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences, published in journals such as The Urban Review and The Journal of Race, Equality and Teaching, and in chapters on boy “culture”, teaching race, and African American Female Psychology and identity for the Oxford Handbook of Feminist Multicultural Counseling Psychology.

Marylou Mendoza-Miller is the Associate Vice President for Human Resources at Fresno State. She provides vision and strategic leadership for the planning and implementation of innovative, integrated human resources programs for the University. Marylou has over 20 years of human resources and organizational development experience with a passion for inspiring, leading, and engaging a diverse workforce to serve all employees with professionalism, care, and exceptional service.

Marylou serves as the University’s DHR (discrimination, harassment, retaliation) Administrator and is a member of the President’s Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; KIND Advisory Board; Seal of Excelencia team; Workplace Quality Task Force; Arte Americas Advisory Board and Latino Leadership in the Valley community group. Marylou is a proud alumni of Fresno State where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources Management. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources and an alumni of the UC Berkeley Executive Leadership Academy and the President’s Leadership Academy.

Marylou has been married for 21 years to her husband, Jason, and they are blessed with three children. As a family, they are committed to serving their communities regionally and in the world.

Al Liddicoat is responsible for managing the division of University Personnel, which includes the Human Resources and Academic Personnel departments and the Civil Rights and Compliance Office. University Personnel engages as a partner across campus to best serve the university employees and community.
Al began his administrative career as the assistant vice president
for Academic Personnel in 2006 and prior to his current roll served Cal Poly as vice provost for Academic Affairs and Personnel and the interim dean of the Orfalea College of Business. He has held various leadership assignments overseeing academic personnel, the center for teaching, learning and technology, academic affairs technology services, institutional research. He  has participated in strategic planning, diversity equity and inclusion, budgeting and recruitment efforts, as well as led critical CSU systemwide initiatives, including chairing the CSU steering committee for a common human resource system. He is a tenured professor in Computer and Electrical Engineering.

Full Bio: https://www.calpoly.edu/about/president-and-leadership

Dr. Raman oversees the vision, advancement and administration of the CSU's research and scholarly mission, and is a senior member of the Academic and Student Affairs administrative team. He has initiated four major efforts to enhance CSU research: mentoring faculty in writing competitive proposals; streamlining research data; cooperation between CSU and the UC systems; and a new focus on climate change. He is internationally recognized for research in aeroacoustics and flow control, and is the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Aeroacoustics. Dr. Raman has published over 150 scholarly articles. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Sue Rosser is Provost Emerita and Professor Emerita at San Francisco State University. She served as the Special Advisor for the California State University System Office of the Chancellor and Dean of Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Institute of Technology, where held the endowed Ivan Allen Dean’s Chair of Liberal Arts and Technology. She received her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has authored and edited fourteen books and written approximately 140 journal articles on the theoretical and applied problems of women and science, health and technology, and held numerous NSF grants.

Marsha L. Baum joined CSU Fresno in January 2019 as the Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs after over thirty years in legal education. In her current role at CSU Fresno as Interim Special Assistant to the President for Faculty Success, Professor Baum is building upon her work with faculty recruitment, retention, and development in Faculty Affairs. The mission of the current position is to provide the President of CSU Fresno with recommendations for strategies for the campus to recruit, retain, and support a diverse and qualified faculty. Professor Baum has a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo, an M.S. from Columbia University, and a B.A. from the University of Rochester. Professor Baum is a tenured full professor in the CSU Fresno Department of Finance and Business Law in the Craig School of Business and brings with her decades of teaching experience in law schools in intellectual property, property law, and commercial law. Her prior work at UNM included chairing the campus IRB and serving several terms on the campus Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee in support of the research projects of faculty from a range of campus departments. She is looking forward to working with the NSF KIND on this very important work.