Robert Vryheid
Associate ProfessorCollege of Health and Human ServicesSchool of Public HealthSDSU[email protected]619-463-1266Area of Expertise
Malaria, Thailand, Cambodia, avian influenza, coronavirus transmission and prevention
Experts Directory
The San Diego State University Experts Directory is a rolodex for reporters, designed to assist journalists in their search for subject-matter experts on a variety of topics and academic research areas.
For Faculty Interested in Joining the Experts Directory
Faculty interested in joining the Experts Directory are encouraged to contact Senior Director of Media Relations Cory Marshall for more information.
For Media Seeking an Interview
For questions or assistance in coordinating an interview with one of the university’s subject-matter experts, please contact a member of the SDSU media relations team.
Scott Walter
DeanUniversity LibrarySDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Libraries, Librarians and Information Literacy.
Minjuan Wang
ProfessorCollege of Professional Studies and Fine ArtsSchool of Journalism and Media StudiesSDSU[email protected]619-594-3878Area of Expertise
Learning across the Metaverse, Cross-Reality (XR) and Immersive Learning, AI in education, and the sociocultural aspects of learning design and the use of technology. Methods of inquiry, designing and developing training for the global audience, mobile learning design, and emerging trends in learning design and technologies.
Sandra Wawrytko
ProfessorCollege of Arts and LettersPhilosophySDSU[email protected]619-594-4428Area of Expertise
Buddhist and Daoist philosophy, Asian aesthetics, the neuroscience of Buddhism and global philosphies.
Fridolin Weber
Department Chair, ProfessorCollege of SciencesPhysicsSDSU[email protected]619-594-0239Area of Expertise
Theoretical astrophysics, neutron stars, pulsars, general relativity and dense matter.
Shirley Weber
Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Faculty member, Current California Secretary of StateCollege of Arts and LettersAfricana StudiesSDSU[email protected](916) 653-6814Area of Expertise
Co-founder of the Africana Studies Department, co-founder of the W.E.B. DuBois Leadership Institute for Young Black Scholars. Africana studies, African culture and ethnicity.
John Weeks
Distinguished Professor EmeritusCollege of Arts and LettersGeographySDSU[email protected]; [email protected]619-594-8040Area of Expertise
Population, census, spatial statistics and demographics.
Kristen Wells
ProfessorCollege of SciencesPsychologySDSU[email protected]619-594-1919Area of Expertise
Improving the quality of healthcare delivered to underserved populations; the development, implementation, and testing og patient navigation interventions to improve access to care related to cancer, HIV prevention, suicide prevention, and COVID-19 vaccination, among diverse and minoritized populations; mobile sensing technologies and data to understand medication-taking behaviors, predict individual risk factors, and deliver interventions to improve adherence that are needed by the individual at the optimal time, place, and in the optimal context; cancer disparities, cancer care, patient navigation, mobile sensing, medication adherence, HIV prevention, suicide prevention and COVID-19 vaccination.
Bill Welsh
ProfessorCollege of SciencesAstronomySDSU[email protected]619-594-2288Area of Expertise
Astronomy, astrophysics, planets, extrasolar planets, exoplanets, Kepler Mission and astrobiology.
Wil Weston
Librarian, Head of Collection ManagementUniversity LibrarySDSU[email protected]619-594-6988Area of Expertise
Library management, acquisitions, and development of library collections. Information seeking behavior, online research behavior, student retention, student success and student persistence.
Jess Whatcott
Assistant ProfessorCollege of Arts and LettersWomen's StudiesSDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Disability history, institutionalization, eugenics, prison history, California history, speculative fiction, Octavia Butler, abolition and transformative justice.
Roy Whitaker
Assistant ProfessorCollege of Arts and LettersDepartment for the Study of ReligionSDSU[email protected]619-594-8613Area of Expertise
Atheism, humanism, and secularism; pop culture and religion; new religious movements; hip hop studies and religious studies; African American theology and philosophy
Andrew Wiese
Professor and ChairCollege of Arts and LettersHistorySDSU[email protected]619-594-5262Area of Expertise
American urban and social history
Jillian Wiggins
Assistant ProfessorCollege of SciencesPsychologySDSU[email protected]619-594-2188Area of Expertise
Brain imaging (functional MRI) research with children/adolescents who have social-emotional mental disorders (i.e., severe tantrums, depression, anxiety), MRI, anxiety, and depression in children.
Shiloh A. Williams
Assistant Professor, Nursing Leadership ProgramCollege of Health and Human ServicesSchool of NursingSDSU Imperial Valley[email protected]Area of Expertise
health literacy, nursing, rural health, health care administration, nursing leadership, social determinants of health, rural health policy, rural-border health
Carl Winston
DirectorCollege of Professional Studies and Fine ArtsL. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism ManagementSDSU[email protected]; [email protected]619-594-5254Area of Expertise
Hospitality & tourism, hotel operations, meetings and events, restaurant operations, tribal gaming, holiday travel tips
Susan Woodruff
Professor and Associate Director of ResearchCollege of Health and Human ServicesSchool of Social WorkSDSU[email protected]619-594-3475Area of Expertise
screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), a public health harm-reduction approach to reducing alcohol and drug use.
Ann Woods
LecturerCollege of Professional Studies and Fine ArtsSchool of Art + DesignSDSU[email protected]619-594-5918Area of Expertise
Historic preservation, architecture
James Wright
Assistant ProfessorCollege of EducationEducational LeadershipSDSU[email protected]619-908-2394Area of Expertise
K-12 School administration and leadership; Administration and leadership in ethnic studies; achievement gap discourses in education; community engagement and parental involvement in education; race, culture, and ethnicity in K-12 education; inequities and injustices in K-12 school policies, leadership, and education; K-12 school policy and history of school policies.
Tianying Wu
Associate ProfessorCollege of Health and Human ServicesSchool of Public HealthSDSU[email protected]619-594-0969Area of Expertise
Molecular and nutritional epidemiology; individualized nutrition; precision medicine; red meat and dietary acid load; hypoxia; cancer survival; climate changes; aging-related disorders; health disparities between Asians and non-Asians; secondhand and past smoking, complementary and alternative medicine.
Tao Xie
ProfessorCollege of SciencesComputer ScienceSDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Storage systems, high-performance computing, energy-efficient storage systems, security-aware scheduling, cluster and Grid computing and parallel and distributed systems.
Xiaofeng Xu
Associate ProfessorCollege of SciencesBiologySDSU[email protected]619-594-2279Area of Expertise
How global change affects terrestrial ecosystems and how terrestrial ecosystems feed back to the climate system by using a modeling approach. Global change, climate warming, soil and trace gas.
Yong Yan
Associate ProfessorCollege of SciencesChemistry and BiochemistrySDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Catalysis, solar cells, renewable energy and pharmaceuticals.
Andrew Young
Adjunct ProfessorCollege of SciencesAstronomySDSU[email protected]619-594-5817Area of Expertise
Astronomy, green flash, atmospheric refraction and mirages.
George Youssef
ProfessorEngineeringMechanical EngineeringSDSU[email protected]619-594-6649Area of Expertise
metamaterials, design, mechanics of polymers, mechanics of composites, advanced manufacturing, impact, multiscale characterization, solid mechanics
William Zahner
Associate ProfessorCollege of SciencesMathematics and StatisticsSDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Mathematics education, multilingual students, English learners and algebraic reasoning
Ricardo Zayas
ProfessorCollege of SciencesBiologySDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Stem cells, tissue regeneration, and neurobiology.
Bob Zeller
Professor and ChairCollege of SciencesBiologySDSU[email protected]619-594-3044Area of Expertise
Co-Faculty Director of the Microchemical Core Facility, member of the Molecular Biology Institute, the Coastal and Marine Institute, and the Center for Applied and Experimental Genomics.
Zheng-sheng Zhang
ProfessorCollege of Arts and LettersLinguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern LanguagesSDSU[email protected]Area of Expertise
Chinese, Chinese language structure (corpus linguistics, stylistic variation, writing system, dialects), language pedagogy and technology for language teaching.
Congcong Zheng
Professor, Director of Graduate ProgramsFowler College of BusinessManagementSDSU[email protected]619-594-3833Area of Expertise
Business operation, China business, entrepreneurship, international business
