Dr. Natalie Rose Youngbull, citizen of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and descendant of the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux tribes of Montana, is assistant professor of adult and higher education in the educational leadership and policy studies department. Her research interests include the experiences of American Indian Gates Millennium Scholars, Native/Indigenous student success, Native Nation building and intellectual leadership and capacity building within tribal colleges and universities. She serves as an editor of the Tribal College and University Research Journal, the first peer-reviewed journal focused on research based at TCUs. Youngbull received her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from OU and master of education and doctoral degrees in higher education at the University of Arizona. She is excited to be a part of the Indigenous higher education initiatives within the College of Education.
Dr. Deborah A. Trytten
I’ve been a professor in computer science at OU since 1992. I have degrees in physics, mathematics, applied mathematics and computer science. I love to teach the beginning programming classes. I’ve spent the last twenty years studying the ways that universities advantage some students over others, and trying to figure out how to fix it. Outside of OU, I talk to my Mom and sister every single day. I spend a couple of hours a day walking my dogs, running, bicycling, or doing yoga, Zumba, and/or Pilates. I also like to make quilts, knit, and cook.
Dr. Randa L. Shehab is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the Gallogly College of Engineering and the Nettie Vincent Boggs Professor. She is the past director of the School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. She is co-founder and co-coordinator of the Data Science and Analytics MS Program. She also serves as Director of the Sooner Engineering Education Center and is a member of the Research Institute for STEM Education, a multi-disciplinary research group investigating factors related to equity and diversity in engineering student populations. Before joining OU, Shehab worked as an Ergonomics Consultant to the Manufacturing Ergonomics Laboratory at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. She teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in ergonomics, industrial engineering, and statistical design and analyses. Shehab has worked with the Spaceflight Ergonomics Research Program at OU since 1992 on issues related to cognitive performance of astronauts in microgravity. For more than the past decade, her research has focused on the advancement of equality and diversity in engineering education through the study of engineering students’ experiences and the improvement of the educational climate.
Dr. Dean F. Hougen. I am a faculty member in the School of Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma. My research area is artificial intelligence, and I teach robotics, artificial neural networks and evolution, data structures, and other courses (academic website: https://www.cs.ou.edu/~hougen/). When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, playing games, practicing Tae Kwon Do, and living in a house full of pets (one dog, four cats, five snakes, and more fish than I can count).
Casey Haskins has been a member of the University of Oklahoma community in some capacity since 2013, as a transfer and non-traditional student. After her undergraduate degree in Mathematics with a Psychology minor was conferred, she started her graduate degree. Since completing her Master of Arts in Mathematics, she has been teaching full time in the Mathematics department. In the fall semester of 2018, she also started coordinating MATH 1503 (College Algebra). Among other service activities, she also spends time on the Diversity Committee and organizing the Resources for Alternative Methods in Pedagogy for University Professionals (RAMP UP) Seminar, within the department. In addition to her work, Haskins is a doctoral student with the Department of Educational Psychology.
Dr. Deborah “DMR” Moore-Russo is a daughter, sister, wife, mother of 3, sports lover, and Christian. She serves as the First Year Math Director at OU. When she’s not studying the ways that math concepts are understood, represented, visualized, and communicated, DMR is usually dancing in her kitchen or hanging outside with her dogs.
Founding Faculty Members
Dr. Heather Shotton is a citizen of the Wichita & Affiliated Tribes, and is also of Kiowa and Cheyenne descent. She was an associate professor in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma, having previously served as as an associate professor in Native American Studies at OU. She is now the Vice President for Diversity Affairs at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. She received her doctorate in Adult and Higher Education from the University of Oklahoma in 2008. Dr. Shotton’s research focuses on Indigenous students in higher education and Indigenous women, particularly in the areas of leadership and Indigenous women in academia. She served as a co-editor for the book, Beyond the Asterisk: Understanding Native Students in Higher Education (Stylus), which addresses strategies for serving Native college students, and is a co-editor for the forthcoming book, Reclaiming Indigenous Research in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press). Prior to returning to OU she served as assistant director of multicultural student affairs at Oklahoma City University. She has spent her career serving students both in and out of the classroom. Dr. Shotton is the past president for the National Indian Education Association and was recently named the NIEA Educator of the Year. She is a strong advocate for Native education and serves Native students and communities on a national and local level. She lives in Norman with her partner John Shotton, and their two daughters Sloan and Sophie.
