Faculty and Staff

Dr. Kevin Gray

(he/him/his)

Department Chair of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor/Sociology and Criminal Justice

Room 57, Schroeder School of Business Building
812-488-1038
kg70@evansville.edu

Dr. Gray joined the University of Evansville in the Fall of 2005. He earned his PhD at Michigan State University and his MS at the University of Alabama. His undergraduate degree was in sociology from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. Dr. Gray coordinates the criminal justice program at the University of Evansville. He teaches Introduction to CJ, Deviance and Crime, Juvenile Justice, Policing, CJ Ethics, International Crime and Justice, and Corrections.

Dr. Elizabeth Hennon Peters

Associate Professor of Psychology

Room 217 H, Hyde Hall
812-488-2511
eh82@evansville.edu

Dr. Mari Plikuhn

(she/her/hers)

Professor/Sociology

Room 55, Schroeder School of Business Building
812-488-2707
mp168@evansville.edu

Dr. Mari Plikuhn received her PhD from Purdue University in 2010 in sociology with a graduate minor in gerontology. She also holds graduate degrees in sociology and marriage and family therapy. Her area of research specialization is in family sociology, specifically in the success of first-generation college students. In addition to her research, Dr. Plikuhn teaches a variety of courses in sociology, including: Marriage and Family, Gender and Sexuality, Death and Dying, Environmental Sociology, and Research Methods. Dr. Plikuhn was named the University of Evansville Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2012, presented the Berger Award for Service in 2016, and awarded the Eykamp Prize for Extraordinary Contributions to the University in 2022. Currently, she is the Director of the Gerontology Center at UE, and serves as the Director of Sociology Programs, coordinating the Sociology and Gerontology majors and the Social and Human Services minor, as well as advising for Pre-Social Work.

Dr. Vincent Campese

Assistant Professor/Psychology and Director of Neuroscience Program

Room 217 D, Hyde Hall
812-488-2531
vc44@evansville.edu
Campese's Personal Website

Dr. Campese earned his PhD in 2011 from the City University of New York Graduate Center through the Cognition Brain and Behavior Psychology sub-program. His thesis project examined the neural substrates involved in context-specific memory. As a postdoctoral research scientist Dr Campese joined the LeDoux lab at New York University, where he pursued questions about how associative learning contributes to aversive motivation and memory. His work has focused on how maladaptive anxiety or fear-related defensive responding is eliminated by experience with avoidance learning. In 2018 Dr Campese became an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Evansville, in Evansville, Indiana. As a principal investigator, he continues to train students to conduct research with the long-term goal of identifying brain circuits that control defensive responding and promote active coping.

Dr. Ian Taehwan Kim

Assistant Professor/Neuroscience and Psychology

Room 217E, Hyde Hall
812-488-2532
ik53@evansville.edu

Dr. Derek Jones, PhD

(he/him/his)

Director of Field Innovation

IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner

Room 270, Ridgway University Center
812-488-1045
dj4@evansville.edu

Dr. Jones joined the University of Evansville in 2012. He earned his MA in Philosophy from the University of Houston and his PhD from Indiana University. Jones has published one book and several articles on the nature of agency, free will, embodied cognition and minimally cognitive adaptive systems. He is currently working on projects involving skill acquisition, “automatic” or “mindless” actions, and embodied/enactive conceptions of free will. Jones teaches courses in the philosophy of mind, cognitive science, philosophy of science, action, and epistemology, and logic, and received the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Teaching award in 2019. He has served as Director of the Cognitive Science program since 2013.

Emeriti Faculty

Dr. Lora Becker

(she/her/hers)

Emeriti Professor of Psychology

Room 217 E, Hyde Hall
812-488-2532
lb47@evansville.edu

Dr. Lora Becker, emeriti professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, teached the Honors course, Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience. In this course, students study the nervous system and how it controls the actions of the human body. In addition to the textbook, students read essays from Robert Sapolsky and Oliver Sacks which present case studies of individuals with neurological impairments or critiques on how neuroscience findings can enlighten understanding of ourselves.|

Dr. Becker received her undergraduate dual BS in biology and psychology from Wright State University, as well as a MA in psychobiology and PhD.. in behavioral neuroscience from Binghamton University. Her research expertise is in the field of behavioral neuroscience. She has been published in numerous scholarly journals, including Comparative Clinical Pathology and the Journal of Applied Biological Sciences. Dr. Becker is a member of the Nu Rho Psi Neuroscience Honors Society, Phi Kappa Phi, and The National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She received the Dean of Arts and Sciences Teaching Award in 2007 and the Dean of Students Advisor of the Year Award in 2004.

Dr. Mark Kopta

Professor Emeritus of Psychology

Room 217 G, Hyde Hall
812-488-2533
mk35@evansville.edu