AUM Faculty & Staff
Directory
Ben Okeke
Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (1994): University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
M.S. (1989): University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
B.S. (1985): University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Professor Okeke is a Distinguished Research Professor of Industrial and Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science. His research interests include: biofuel and co-products, biosensors, bioremediation, enzyme biotechnology, effects of pollutants on microbial communities, indicators of microbiological safety of water and food, and genetic engineering of microbes. He teaches industrial microbiology, environmental microbiology, special topics biotechnology, general microbiology and directed research. Professor Okeke did postdoctoral work at the University of California, Riverside; Gifu University, Japan; and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy. Dr. Okeke has 60 research papers in peer reviewed journals, three US patents, two books, numerous conference abstracts and several research grants including a million dollar grant for research on fuel ethanol from biomass. His excellence awards include Alumni Professor, Ida Belle Young Endowed Professorship. He is the founding Director of the Bioprocessing and Biofuel Research Lab (BBRL). Dr. Okeke served as Associate and Assistant Editor for two peer reviewed international journals; the Journal of Environmental Quality and Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.
Sameer Pande
Associate Provost of Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
Sameer Pande
Associate Provost of Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
Lastella Paradise-Watson
Associate Director
Daewoo Park
Dean/Professor | College of Business
Dr. Daewoo Park is the Dean and Professor of the College of Business at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). He assumed this role in August 2024. Dr. Park brings extensive experience in academic leadership and strategic management to AUM. He led curriculum innovation and strategic enrollment management, accreditations/assurance of learning, impactful partnership development/fundraising, and innovation-centered student success initiatives.
Academic Background
- Ph.D. in Strategic Management from Texas A&M University (1992)
- MBA from the University of Texas at Austin (1989)
- B.A. from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (1984)
Professional Experience
- Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success at Northern Illinois University’s College of Business (2019-2024)
- Chair, Department of Business at Hawaii Pacific University (2015-2019)
- Chair, Department of Management & Entrepreneurship at Xavier University’s Williams College of Business (2009-2013)
- Director, Sedler Family Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Xavier
Madison Parker
Transfer Admissions Counselor
Theresa Pelfrey
Associate Professor and Director of Legal Studies | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Theresa Pelfrey, Director of Legal Studies, Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, joined Auburn University at Montgomery in 2009. She earned her Juris Doctor, Master of Social Work, and Bachelor of Science in Education degrees from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Licensed to practice law in Alabama, she engaged in the private practice of law prior to joining AUM. She worked previously as a social worker. She has taught a variety of Legal Studies courses from Introduction to the American Legal System to Alternative Dispute Resolution. Her research interests focus on children’s rights, parental rights, family law, juvenile law, and estate law.
Robert K. Perkins
Department Chair and Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Robert K. Perkins specializes in and trains on diversity, equity, and inclusion in work organizations. Dr. Perkins’s extensive career in law enforcement, community organizing, and higher education spans 30 years, both within and outside the academy. He has also been published in national and international scholarly journals, uncovering the objective truths in various social phenomena, including social inequality, criminal justice, immigration, environmental racism, implicit biases, and emotional intelligence.
