Member Directory

2024-2025 Co-Chairs

Committee Members

  • Gabriel Garcia
    A head shot of Gabriel Garcia

    Gabriel Garcia

    Associate Professor, Health Sciences
    ggarci16@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6532

    Dr. Garcia is a Philippine-born, Alaska-grown, Associate Professor of Public Health at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). He is also the Coordinator of UAA’s Master of Public Health Program. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in English at University of California Davis and M.A. in Medical Sciences and M.P.H. in Social and Behavioral Sciences at Boston University. In 2008, Dr. Garcia received his Ph.D. in Public Health with a minor in Anthropology at the University of California Los Angeles. He was a Fulbright-Hays scholar at UCLA, studying Filipino Language and Culture at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. Dr. Garcia’s research interests include tobacco and alcohol, cancer prevention and control, and health disparities among Asians and Pacific Islanders. Dr. Garcia was the recipient of the Alaska Public Health Association’s “Short Term Service Award” in 2002 and “The Barbara Berger Excellence in Public Health Award” in 2012. At UAA, Dr. Garcia has been awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Service, Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity, and the Center for Community Engagement Learning’s Community Builder Award. Dr. Garcia, along with a group of UAA faculty and students, were awarded the UAA’s Stewardship Award in 2014 and American Lung Association in Alaska’s Breathe Easy Champion Award in 2015 for the group’s successful effort in making the University of Alaska system smoke and tobacco-free. In 2015, Anchorage Mayor appointed Dr. Garcia as one of the health commissioners of the municipality’s Department of Health and Human Services. From 2016-2017, Dr. Garcia served as the President and CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and an affiliate of the American Public Health Association. Since 2009, Dr. Garcia has been a member of UAA’s Faculty Senate Diversity Committee and a co-chair from 2011 to 2017.

     

  • Erin Hicks
    A head shot of Erin Hicks

    Erin Hicks

    Assistant Professor, Physics & Astronomy
    ekhicks@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-7764

    Erin Hicks is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Director of the UAA Planetarium and Visualization Theater.  She has been on FSDC since 2014 and currently serves as co-chair.  Erin has advocated for underrepresented groups in science, particularly physics and astronomy, for many years and has enjoyed broadening this effort to promoting diversity and inclusivity across the UAA campus as a member of FSDC.

  • Wei-Ying Hsiao
    A head shot of Wei-Ying Hsiao

    Wei-Ying Hsiao

    Professor, Education
    whsiao@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4435

  • Cammie Hsu
     

    Cammie Hsu

    Term Assistant Professor, Prince William Sound College
    cshsu@alaska.edu
    (907) 834-1663

  • Jodi Jacques
     

    Jodi Jacques

    Business and Government Information Librarian / Assistant Professor, Consortium Library
    jmjacques@alaska.edu 
    (907) 786-1895

     

  • Seta Kabranian-Melkonian
     

    Seta Kabranian-Melkonian

    Professor, Human Services
    sbkabranian@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6449

     

  • Amana Mbise
     

    Amana Mbise

    Multicultural Postdoctoral Fellow, Social Work
    ambise@alaska.edu
    (907) 796-9610

     

  • Vanessa Meade
     

    Vanessa Meade

    Term Assistant Professor, Social Work
    vmeade@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6903

     

  • Jenny Miller
    Picture of Jenny Miller talking to a colleague

    Virginia (Jenny) Miller

    Associate Professor, Health Services
    vlmiller2@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-6588

    Jenny Miller is a faculty member in the MPH Program and recently completed a rotation as Department Chair for Health Sciences. In addition, she serves in the role of Training Director for the Alaska LEND Program at the Center for Human Development.
  • Jessica Ross
     

    Jessica Ross

    Term Assistant Professor, Human Services
    jmross2@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-0327

     

  • Kimberly Pace
    Photo of Kimberly Pace

    Kimberly Pace

    Term Assistant Professor, Political Studies & Women's Studies
    kjpace@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4837

    Kimberly Pace grew up in Soldotna, Alaska. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Montana and graduate work at Miami University in Ohio, and she has been teaching at UAA since 1998. Her primary interests include Comparative Politics, International Relations and American Government. She is the Faculty Director of Model United Nations of Alaska and the Director of Women's Studies here at UAA, and teaches classes both face-to-face and online. She is inspired by the issues of Climate Change & Sustainability.

  • Katja Perat
     
     

    Katja Perat

    Assistant Professor, Department of Writing
    kperat@alaska.edu

     

  • Rei Shimizu
     

    Rei Shimizu

    Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
    rshimizu@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-4302

     

  • Lauren Wallace
     
     

    Lauren Wallace

    Metadata & Cataloging Librarian, Consortium Library
    lawallace4@alaska.edu
    (907) 786-1847