The 2005 EI Institute
Biographies

Judy Cox has a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree in English from Boston University, which she received in 1974.  She then went into the insurance industry where she earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation in 1992.  She retired from  insurance and began graduate study at TAMUK.  She earned an M. Ed. degree in Adult Education with a minor in the MBA program in 1995.  Then she earned an M. S. degree in Counseling and Guidance in 2004.  Presently Judy is active with the Kleberg County Adult Literacy Council, serving as a member of the board of directors as well as a tutor. 

Dr. Michael Daniel is the Dean of the College of Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  His  28 years experience in higher education include 4 years in public schools as a teacher, Professor and Chair in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at TAMUK, Department Chair in Health Fitness and Physical Education at McMurry University, Abilene, Texas, and Director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.  He has also served as Director of Continuing Education and an Interim Dean of Students.  Dr. Daniel earned his Ed.D. from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville in 1981.

Dr. Michael R. Elkins, Associate Professor, earned his doctorate in 1997 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  He has been teaching for 19 years.  His areas of interest include gender communication, communication education, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, educational psychology, and communication apprehension.  He received Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s 2000 College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Award and is a Cohort I Member of The Academy for Teacher Education, Texas.

Edith Esparza-Young is presently a lecturer with The University of Texas – Brownsville.  She is completing her doctoral studies in bilingual education at Texas A&M University – Kingsville.  She has a bachelor degree from The University of Texas – Arlington in 1990 and a M.Ed. in ESL UT Brownsville. Ms. Esparza-Young has over ten years of teaching experience and is certified in bilingual education (1-6), ESL, English, and Spanish (secondary).

Dr. Sue Espinoza is an Associate Professor in the Educational Technology program in the Department of Secondary & Higher Education at Texas A&M University - Commerce.  She received her doctorate in Instructional Technology at Texas Tech University and is in her 13th year teaching at Texas A&M University - Commerce. Her research interests include technology integration into teaching and teacher education, online teaching and learning, online community, and reflection as a means of promoting both teaching and learning.

Dr. Dan Goad earned his doctorate from St Louis University in 1988.  He is presently a professor in the College of Education at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi.  He directs a field-based program for pre-service and student teachers and conducts a graduate seminar for new teachers. Dr. Goad is an educational psychologist who is greatly interested in the emotional intelligence and well being of teachers and students alike.

Liza Gonzalez is an instructor at South Texas College in McAllen, TX and a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership Program at Texas A&M University - Kingsville.  Liza has researched teacher attrition in the state of Texas and has been a presenter for the Javelina Emotional Intelligence Program.

Janis Innis Directs the Quality Enhancement Plan at Galveston College as part of the reaccredidation process for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  Prior to SACS and QEP, she taught English and served as a faculty sponsor for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.  She earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Mississippi.  Prior to joining the faculty at Galveston College, she taught at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi Delta Community College, and Holmes Community College.

Mona Jackson is the former Director of the JavElIna EI Program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and presently is working with the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management.  She has been with the university since fall 2001.  Mona has been in the field of Higher Education for 15 years and enjoys working both on the Student Affairs side of the house as well as with the Academic side. Mona earned her Masters of Education with an emphasis in Student Personnel Administration from James Madison University.

Dr. Tom Jackson, Jr. is the Vice President for Student Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and has been with the system since 2000.  Prior to that he served as the Assistant Director of Residence Life at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX, an Area Coordinator at the University of Southern California, the Academic Development Specialist in Residence Life at Cal Poly, Director of the Student Activities Center at the University of Texas at El Paso, and the Dean of Students at McMurry University (Texas).  He earned his Ed.D. in Educational Management from the University of La Verne in California. 

Dr. Madeline Justice is an Associate professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce in the department of Secondary and Higher Education. Her research interests include emotional intelligence of students in teacher preparation programs, secondary curriculum, diversity, technology, and reading.  She received her doctorate in Supervision, Curriculum, & Instruction at East Texas State University now Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Dr. Arthur Linskey is a contract psychologist for numerous agencies and educational programs.  He is an active member of the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, Texas Psychological Association, Rio Grande Valley Psychological Association, and the Association Fronteriza Mexico-Estadounidense de Salud (AFMES). Dr. Linskey holds degrees from St. Mary’s University – Maryland, the University of Notre Dame, the University of North Carolina, and St. John’s University – Jamaica campus.  He was a long-time faculty member at The University of Texas – Pan American and currently works with many mental health professionals in South Texas and Northern Mexico.

Dr. Brigido Lopez, Jr. is an Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership Program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  His research interest, academic background and experience is in the area of educational administration.  He is an enthusiastic teacher and researcher who enjoys working with aspiring and practicing educational leaders.  Dr. Lopez earned his Ed.D. in Education Administration from Texas A&M University. 

Dr. Gary R. Low is a professor and assistant dean in the College of Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  He received the Ph.D. degree at East Texas State University.  He has completed long-term research in the area of personal skills and emotional intelligence and their relationship to personal and career excellence.  He is the co-author of Personal Skills Mapping, Exploring and Developing EI Skills, Personal Responsibility Mapping, and Emotional Intelligence:  Achieving Academic and Career Excellence.

Dr. Lento Maez received his doctorate in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Language Acquisition and Reading Development in Early Childhood from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  He did a post-doctorate in Instructional Technology at Arizona State University.  Currently he is a Professor in the Department of Bilingual Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Dr. Darwin B. Nelson is a Professor of Education and Consulting Psychologist at Texas A&M University Kingsville.  He has authored and co-authored positive assessment and emotional learning programs published nationally and his books and materials are used world-wide by international consulting and training corporations.  He speaks and presents research findings and theoretical papers at state, national, and world professional conferences annually.

Dr. Andrew Nelson currently serves College of the Mainland as Associate Vice President of General Education, a position he has held since 2002. Prior to that, he was a Professor of English at the college. He began teaching online in 1996 and has been instrumental in the development and administration of other online offerings at COM. Drew came to the College from Texas A&M University, where he received his PhD in English; his current position includes overseeing the Academic Success Program, credit transfer courses in the core curriculum, and several instructional support functions. He is also the Director of the college’s Title III Grant project, which focuses on improving student success in pre-college (developmental) courses.

Dr. Kaye W. Nelson earned her doctorate in 1981 from East Texas State University, now Texas A&M University-Commerce. She teaches in the doctoral counselor education program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Her areas of interest include supervision, counselor education learning environments, qualitative research, and marriage and family therapy.  She received Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s 2001-2002 College of Education Excellence in Teaching Award.  Dr. Nelson is a former President of the Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and has been offered as editorship of The Family Journal, The Official Journal of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors. Dr. Nelson will serve on a panel discussion about how EI instruments have been used to assess outcome results in dissertation research.

George R. Potter is completing his doctoral studies in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University – Kingsville.  He as served as a doctoral graduate assistant and adjunct instructor at Texas A&M University - Kingsville.  He has been involved in the Javelina Emotional Intelligence Program as a planer, presenter, and researcher.  He is studying the effect of EI educational interventions as a part of his dissertation.

Matilde A. Sarmiento-Arribalzaga is currently a faculty member in the Department of Education at the University of Texas - Pan American and is completing her doctoral studies in the Department of Bilingual Education at Texas A & M University in Kingsville, Texas. Originally from Mexico, she has taught at the elementary level, community college, undergraduate and graduate level since 1997. Her academic interests center on Bilingual Education, early childhood, ESL, and language instruction.  Her research interests are in the education of language minority students, and in challenging our conceptions of "risk" for low income and second language students.

Rito Silva is the Director of Student Development at Coastal Bend College.  He graduated from Texas A&I University in 1990 with B.B.A. and from Texas A&M University – Kingsville in 1994 with a Masters in Guidance and Counseling.  His 1994 thesis on “The comparison of self-perceived personal skill and academic achievement on freshman students” was one of the first emotional intelligence research projects conducted at Texas A&M University – Kingsville.  He is currently a Doctoral Student at Texas A&M University – College Station.

Dr. Michelle N. Stallone received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from the Joint Program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Her area of concentration is educational research and statistics, with research interests in the areas of teacher and student retention, the effects of NCLB, and international employee comparisons. Currently she is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Dr. Barbara G. Stottlemyer is the Dean of Academic and Student Services at Presbyterian Pan American School, Kingsville, a secondary boarding school for U.S. and international students.  She has twenty-five years of teaching experience and four years as a principal. She received her Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Dr. Stottlemyer has presented at the national conference of the American Educational Research Association as well as state and local conferences.

Dr. Alan Tipton is the Director for the Office of Institutional Research at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  He received his doctorate in Wildlife Ecology-Computer Simulations from Michigan State University.  Before coming to the university in 1984, Dr. Tipton taught and conducted research at Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State University.  He has had a long-term interest in developing predictive models for student success.

Dr. Robert H. Vela, Jr.  is currently employed with Coastal Bend College where he is responsible for all counseling and student services activities at the Kingsville campus and a collaborative developmental education program with Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  Dr. Vela is an adjunct professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and the University of Texas Pan-American where he teaches graduate counseling and educational leadership courses. Research interests include: student achievement, student success, first year experience, and constructive thinking.

Dr. Magdalena Williams: Dr. Williams has been the Registrar and Director of Admission at Texas A&M University–Kingsville since July 2000.  She received her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  Her research interests include correlates of college success, including emotional intelligence skills.