Class of 2019-20

Dr. Brian Crisher, an assistant professor in the Reubin O’D. Askew Department of Government, has written on military capabilities and various aspects of war and politics. Much of his research examines international conflict. This includes the role of military capabilities – specifically naval power – on conflict processes and the role of domestic politics on conflict and how often issues of power and domestic politics interact to influence conflict. His work has been published in "International Interactions," "Foreign Policy Analysis," and "Research and Politics," among others.

Crisher teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. Courses include “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” “Statecraft,” “Introduction to International Politics,” “International Relations in East Asia,” and “Political Science Research Methods.”

In addition to his publications, Crisher’s research findings have been presented at the American Political Science Association Conference, the International Studies Association Conference, the Peace Science Society (International) and elsewhere.

He is a reviewer for Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly, International Interactions, Conflict Management and Peace Science.

Crisher received a PhD in Political Science from Florida State University and taught and conducted research at FSU before joining UWF’s Department of Government in 2016. He also has a MA and a BA in Political Science; he earned both degrees at Western Michigan University.

Justin L. Davis teaches in the Department of Management and MIS and conducts research in several fields. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington, where his major was strategic management and his minor was international business. His dissertation focused on corporate entrepreneurship. He also holds a master’s of business administration from Texas Tech University and a B.B.A. from Dallas Baptist University.

He has won several research awards, including two from the Southern Management Association for his Doctoral Student Paper related to mutual fund ethics.  Most recently he won best paper at the Small Business Institute conference.  

His work at UWF has examined factors tying sports gambling markets to management, organizational ethics, social capital, and various aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation processes.

Davis has also given over 20 presentations at professional conferences, including a recent presentation of his research on “The Role of Overconfidence in the New Venturing Process.”

His professional interests include Status Anxiety, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Determinants of venture capitalist investment; International business entry mode choices; and Non-profit entrepreneurial behavior.

Davis’s work has been published in over a dozen outlets, including Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Small Business Management, American Journal of Business, Small Business Economics, Journal of Prediction Markets and other professional publications.

Dr. Natalie Goulette, who has a PhD in Criminal Justice, conducts research on judicial matters as part of her work as an associate professor at UWF’s Department of Criminology & Justice. Her research has examined such questions as whether female defendants receive different treatment than male defendants and what role defense attorneys play in generating disparities in case dispositions and outcomes.

Goulette also has studied other aspects of the criminal justice system: sentencing for black defendants; the influence of grandmothers raising children; collateral consequences of criminal conviction on offenders; and drug and mental health treatment for rehabilitative sentencing. In addition, she wrote technical reports on criminal matters for Ohio agencies and contributed to the Encyclopedia of Criminology & Criminal Justice. Goulette’s work has been published in peer-reviewed publications such as Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Public Policy, Criminal Justice Review, and Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Public Safety.

Goulette joined the UWF faculty in 2013 after she earned her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati. She also has bachelor and master’s degrees in Criminal Justice from Bowling Green State University. She teaches both online and traditional courses such as American Justice System, Juvenile Justice, Punishment and Society, and Courts and Society.

Dr. Stephen A. LeMay is Associate Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Logistics at the University of West Florida. He is also Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Logistics from Mississippi State University, External Research Fellow at the Centre for Globalization at the University of Kiel, Research Fellow at the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University, and Fellow at the Center for Supply Chain Management Excellence at the University of West Florida.

He is coauthor on one textbook, one research book, and one collection of educational materials for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. His work has appeared in leading marketing and supply chain journals including the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the Journal of Business Logistics, the International Journal of Logistics Management, and the International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. He has over 50 refereed journal publications. He is an active runner, voracious reader, and former professional golfer. In the last five years he has also published 21 poems in refereed chapbooks.

LeMay received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University, his MBA in Operations Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his Doctorate in Transportation and Logistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He served in the US Air Force from 1972-1978 as a Russian linguist and Soviet Specialist. His service included 31 combat missions.

Dr. Heather Riddell, assistant professor of communication, teaches social media communication and media writing.

Riddell’s research interests have focused on organizational uses of social media to implement crisis communication. She has also investigated issues of identity and social media communication. Through her academic and professional experiences, she has examined the various uses of social media, developed and implemented organizational social media strategic plans.

Riddell is a member of the National Communication Association and Eastern Communication Association.

Riddell has a bachelor of arts in rhetoric and public address from Bob Jones University, a master of arts in professional communication from Clemson University, and a doctorate of philosophy in communication from George Mason University.

Dr. Kevin Scott is English Department chair and teaches and researches primarily in the areas of 19th-century American literature and cultural history and in popular culture.

Scott has published scholarship on the 19th-century work of figures such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain and the painter William Sidney Mount. With Carmen Sarracino, he co-authored ‘The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What It Means, and Where We Go from Here” (Beacon, 2008). The book explores how the United States has been adopting the ideology of power-oriented pornography in many of its social institutions. A personal highlight for Scott is the week the book was positively discussed by Newsweek, Ms. Magazine, Focus on the Family, and XBIZ the porn industry’s business news source.

In 2015, McFarland published his edited collection “Marvel Comics Civil War and the Age of Terror: Critical Essays on the Comic Saga.” The essays investigate how Marvel’s “Civil War” comic event responded to challenges to civil liberties following 9/11. Scott has two forthcoming edited collections, one on the cultural significance of Spider-Man’s villains and another on the politics of 1980s horror films. He is also completing a collection of recovered speculative fiction by American women before the Civil War.

Scott received a bachelor’s degree in English from Ball State University, a master’s degree in English from Iowa State University, and a doctorate in American Studies from Purdue University.

Dr. Julie Ann Stuart Williams, a Professor in the Department of Management/MIS, has a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech.

Williams has conducted research on recycling, open-access scheduling systems, and ways to assess and improve student learning.

She wrote a chapter, “Clean Manufacturing,” for The Handbook of Industrial Engineering, Technology and Management, and she co-authored a chapter on “Real Options Design for Sustainable Product Quality Management” for another book.

Her research includes studies of bulk recycling, “reverse production” and electronics recycling, all key issues for an economy seeking to reduce costs and raise environmental quality.

Williams also has studied ways students learn – through essays, word problems and progressive quizzes – and serves as a reviewer for more than a dozen professional journals on such topics as production systems, management science, and operations research.

Her work has been published in Journal of Education for Business, Journal of Rehabilitation Administration, and International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing and elsewhere.

Williams, who is a licensed professional engineer, taught at Ohio State University and Purdue University before joining UWF in 2005.

She has worked with large corporations, including AT&T Bell Laboratories, General Motors Research & Development Center and Caterpillar Logistics as well as leading Pensacola institutions such as Sacred Heart Health System, Baptist Health Care and West Florida Healthcare.

Dr. Christopher Wirth is assistant professor in the Department of Movement Sciences and Health. He teaches physical education for teachers and personal and community health.

Wirth’s research interests in physical education have converged with the field of community health promotion. During the past two years, he has been co-coordinator of a community program called Let’s Wiggle with 5-2-1-0, a strategic initiative sponsored by Live Well Northwest Florida that promotes physical activity in classroom settings. This pilot program is part of a long-term initiative to improve the overall well-being of Escambia county residents. He has given poster presentations on different aspects of the Let’s Wiggle with 5-2-1-0 program at national and international conferences, including Active Living Research Annual Conference and International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education. In addition to his presentations, he has also written articles and journal reviews on physical activity and health promotion.

He received a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Wyoming, and a master’s in sport pedagogy and a doctorate in health and human performance from the University of Florida.