ÃÛÌÒ½´

Laura Robinson-Doyle

Armstrong Commons

Dr. Robinson-Doyle's academic journey is marked by a deep-seated commitment to addressing poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity. Her work serves as a catalyst for raising awareness about these critical issues, and more importantly, she empowers her students to take meaningful actions to drive positive change within their communities. Her passion for social justice and dedication to eradicating poverty go beyond academic interests; they represent a personal mission to create a more equitable and compassionate world. In May 2024, Dr. Robinson-Doyle was awarded SMU’s Outstanding Faculty Award for Community Engagement and Social Justice.

Sarath Pillai

Boaz Commons

Sarath Pillai is the A. Kenneth Pye Visiting Assistant Professor of South Asian History in the History Department at SMU. He teaches various courses on South Asia and the British Empire. His first book project offers a global history of federalist ideas in South Asia through the long twentieth century. He received his PhD with distinction from the History Department at the University of Chicago, and his dissertation was awarded the 2022 Sardar Patel Award for the best dissertation on Modern India in the US (conferred by UCLA with a purse of $10,000).  He is an avid road biker who enjoys exploring urban spaces and bike trails, a devoted movie buff who watches movies in various Indian and foreign languages, and an archive nerd who enjoys local archives and histories.

Maryann Cairns

Cockrell-McIntosh Commons

Maryann Cairns is an environmental anthropologist dedicated to using creative research design and cultural understanding to safeguard environmental resources and human health. She is the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the ÃÛÌÒ½´Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, the Extra Mile Award, and the President’s Associate’s Award.  She has mentored and trained many undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scholars both in the US and internationally. Several of her current and past mentees have themselves received prestigious external grants and recognitions, as well as coauthored articles with Cairns that have been published in journals including Water Research and Human Organization. She believes in collaborative, open scholarship, and always enjoys speaking to public audiences about her research. She is currently an Associate Professor at SMU’s Department of Anthropology.

Tiffany McCray

Kathy Crow Commons

Tiffany McCray holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a Bachelor of Arts in American Sign Language from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and a Master of Business Administration from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. With a passion for educating others, Tiffany specializes in Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf advocacy. She has made significant contributions to the field as an ASL teacher at McKinney Boyd High School and has been sharing her expertise at ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University since 2017. Outside of her professional pursuits, Tiffany enjoys spending quality time with her daughter, Madison, and their dog, Baylee, embracing the joys of family life.

Mónica Fernández Martins

Loyd Commons

Mónica Fernández Martins holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese Literatures and Cultural Studies, as well as a Master's degree in Hispanic Linguistics from Texas Tech University. She earned her undergraduate degree in Translation and Interpreting from Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio in Madrid, Spain. Her research interests focus on Iberian Studies—particularly the intersections of gender, class, nation, and identity in 19th-century Spain and Portugal—as well as Translation Studies and Spanish as a Heritage Language.

Karla del Rosal

McElvaney Commons

Karla del Rosal has a Ph.D. in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity from the University of Colorado Boulder and is certified as a bilingual teacher in Texas. She is fluent in English and Spanish. Her areas of expertise are teacher education, second language acquisition, cultural responsiveness, and formative assessment for English learners (ELs), with a specialization in K-12 mathematics and science. Karla has experience in the education of ELs in EC-12 settings. She also has experience preparing and collaborating with educators and other professionals to design culturally and linguistically responsive learning spaces. Karla teaches undergraduate and master's degree-level teacher education courses and supervises teacher candidates at ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University. She is also the Director of Graduate Studies and of the Masters of Bilingual Education program.

Nils Van den Steen

Mary Hay, Peyton, Shuttles Commons

Nils Van den Steen is a clinical professor of information technology and operations management at the Cox School of Business. He holds a PhD in Business Economics from Ghent University in Belgium, where he also earned an MS in Operations Management and a BS in Business Engineering. His research focuses on business process digitalization and came to Cox as a visiting professor in the fall of 2021. He also serves as Associate Director for The Commercial Diplomacy Initiative. Off-duty, he is an avid board gamer, tabletop roleplaying storyteller, pc gamer, and unofficial ambassador to the city of Ghent, championing its beauty at every opportunity.

Yuriko Ikeda

Morrison-McGinnis Commons

Dr. Yuriko Ikeda is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. She earned her Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from Texas Tech University. After graduation, she taught at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, for eight years. Her teaching experience consists of twenty years of instruction at three universities, a community college, and two high schools. She has experience designing and teaching all levels of language courses, Spanish for Specific Purposes, and literature and culture courses. Her research interests include apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature, detective fiction, Spanish for Specific Purposes and Spanish for Heritage Speakers.

Cathy Lysinger

Virginia-Snider Commons

Cathy Lysinger is on piano faculty in Meadows where she teaches undergraduate and graduate pianists. She also teaches in the piano pedagogy area mentoring the newest generation of piano teachers. In her 21st year at SMU, she loves being a part of the Mustang community almost as much as she loves her 2 children (Abby, 23, and Sophie, 17).

Zoë Hess Carney

Ware Commons

Dr. Zoë Hess Carney is a scholar of public address specializing in U.S. and transnational political communication. Dr. Carney focuses on how contemporary problems facing our nation and world connect to the past, teaching students how to trace rhetorical histories through textual analysis and archival research. She has spent time living and studying in Spain, Mexico, and China, which grew her desire to continue learning about different cultures, languages, and ideas and how people and institutions work, or fail to work, together. The most rewarding part of her job at ÃÛÌÒ½´is getting to know students and learning from them, as well. When she’s not working, Dr. Carney enjoys playing mediocre-at-best tennis, walking trails, watching comedy, and reading. Most of all, she loves spending time with her husband and chasing after her two kids.