Faculty Mentors

Faculty Mentors are the heart of scholar research and graduate school activities in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. Each year, we work with individual McNair Scholars to identify faculty that will serve as research and academic mentor for the duration of the scholars time in the program. 

Kathryn Anderson, PhD
Professor of Psychology
College of Professional Studies 
Faculty Profile

Melissa Brennan, Ph.D., LPC, CSC
Assistant Professor
Counseling College of Professional Studies
Faculty Profile

Dr. Brennan specializes in school counseling and child and adolescent counseling. Her research interests include school counselor advocacy for historically marginalized student populations (emphasis on gender diversity), professional advocacy for the school counseling profession, development of students' counselor advocacy competencies in counselor education programs, and best practices in online course development and instruction. Dr. Brennan's current research considers factors of school counselor job satisfaction and professional quality of life in relation to school counselor attrition and retention rates

Rogers Milton Brown II, PhD
Visiting Assistant Professor

Dr. Brown received his B.S. from Texas Lutheran University and his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology in 2020 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Groves. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Jeffery Boychuk in the department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology to continue training as a postdoctoral research fellow in late 2020 and the SABER•IRACDA Program in 2021. Dr. Brown’s doctoral research was focused on studying the role of the Notch signaling pathway in inner ear development and his post-doctoral research studied the effects of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease on the motor functions of mammals. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology in the department of Mathematics & Science at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.

Adam Bynum
Instructor of Biology
College of Arts and Sciences

Vanessa Clark, PhD
Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems and Security 
School of Business and Leadership
Faculty Profile

Dr. Clark’s research interests include behavioral research in Computer Information Systems and Security to include online learning, compensatory adaptation, mobile security device policies, and human computer interaction. Much of her research revolves around theories from fields such as psychology and communications and their applications to the field of Information Technology and Cybersecurity. She has published in AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, AMCIS, among others.

Mary Ruth Fernandez, PhD, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

My passion is for promoting research in the inclusive dimensions of communication sciences and disorders, interprofessional practice, and online education for knowledge and skill-based instruction. My commitment lies in exploring and advocating for genuine clinical practices, promoting clinical research, and demonstrating valued outcomes for consumers. Continuously dedicated to learning, I invest time studying publications and participating in training sessions focused on online teaching and learning. My dedication is a desire to contribute to advancements in clinical practice and research.

Josiah Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Profile

Dr. Josiah Johnson's research focuses on physical activity and sports for people with disabilities. More specifically, Dr. Johnson examines the relationship between motor skill competence and physical activity in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). He is currently working on a balance bike program to teach kids with ASD and other intellectual disabilities how to ride bicycles.

Christina C. Long
Lecturer of Social Work
Worden School of Social Service

Valerie Martinez, PhD
Assistant Professor of History
History Program Head

Dr. Valerie A. Martínez specializes in 20th Century Mexican American history, U.S. Military and Labor History, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her current National Endowment for the Humanities-funded project, Embajadoras: Latina Servicewomen and Hemispheric Politics during World War II, reconceptualizes traditional notions of diplomacy and international actors by investigating how the recruitment and service of Latina women in the Benito Juárez Squadron during World War II embodied the Pan-American ideal of an imagined hemispheric system of unity and reciprocity in the Americas. Her transnational research in both Mexico and the U.S. has been funded by several entities. She is also the co-recipient of an NEH grant to create an oral history project dedicated to women veterans. Dr. Martínez is currently an Assistant Professor of History and History Program Head at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.

Marlo Mitchell-Gonzalez, MA, LSSP
School Psychology Instructor
College of Professional Studies
Faculty Profile

 As a school psychologist in public education for the last twenty years, I have been privileged to witness first-hand the crucial role that schools play in the lives of students. I have also seen the various challenges, including inequalities in education. I am passionate about empowering families and communities as well as promoting non-discriminatory practices as a school psychologist. My research interests include Promoting Social Justice and Advocacy in School Psychology through Graduate Preparation, Self-Regulation and Reading Fluency of Students in Special Education, Effective Response to Intervention/Multi-Tiered System of Supports prior to referral, recruitment and retention of LSSPs in Texas, ELL (Spanish) Students and Special Education Evaluations, Anxiety and Counseling in Schools, and Parent Training and Collaboration.

Teresita Munguia, PhD
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs
Faculty Profile

Dr. Teresita Munguia is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Our Lady of the Lake University. She earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, with a focus on organometallic synthesis—particularly group 14—from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a B.S. in chemistry and biology from Our Lady of the Lake University. She finds great joy in mentoring undergraduate researchers and has mentored thirty undergraduate research projects while at Our Lady of the Lake. Her current research interests center on developing a natural products library from aquatic and terrestrial microorganisms and plants found in Lake Elmendorf, OLLU’s natural laboratory, including the isolation and characterization of secondary metabolites utilizing chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. 

Kristen O'Donnell
Associate Professor of Psychology
School Psychology MS Program Director
Faculty Profile

Dr. Kristen O’Donnell currently serves as Assistant Professor in Psychology. She is a member of both the Texas Association of School Psychologist and the National Association of School Psychologist.

Emily Sauers, PhD
Assistant Professor
Kinesiology
College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Profile

Dr. Sauers research interests involve eating behaviors and appetite following exercise. Her research in the past has focused on steady state compared to high intensity interval aerobic exercise. Through her research, she has questioned the role of the menstrual cycle in eating responses and appetite to exercise. Thus far, her research projects have focused on acute (single bout) exercise, but she would like to expand to exercise training, including resistance (strength) training, and populations beyond a healthy, college-aged individual.