Shannon Mathews is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of La Verne.
Her scholarship is in the area of poverty and aging and health disparities, and she shares a deep commitment to community engagement.
Mathews is a graduate of nearby Ganesha High School in Pomona. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Pomona College and went on to earn her Master of Arts in Medical Anthropology and PhD in Gerontology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Mathews came to La Verne from Savannah State University in Georgia, where she was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to that and since 2005, she was a professor at Winston-Salem University in North Carolina, where she also served in administrative roles, including program and department chair, director of the honors program, a dean’s fellow, and interim dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, Business, and Education.
Dr. Ngoc H. Bui is a tenured full professor in the psychology department at the University of La Verne, who is currently serving as Associate Dean for Effectiveness, Planning, and Faculty Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences.
She earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in psychology, with a minor in quantitative research, at California Polytechnic University, Pomona, in 1994. Dr. Bui earned her M.A. (1997) and Ph.D. (2000) degrees in social psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to coming to La Verne, Dr. Bui was a full-time social sciences instructor at Metropolitan Community College in Elkhorn, Nebraska (1999-2002).
Dr. Bui’s research interests include teaching and learning psychology, attitudes, procrastination, social cognition and media psychology. She has also supported student research by publishing and presenting with undergraduate and graduate students in the psychology program at the University of La Verne. Dr. Bui has 19 refereed journal publications (10 of which were co-authored with students), 16 book and film reviews, and 26 refereed poster presentations since arriving at La Verne. She has also served as chapter advisor to Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology at the University of La Verne since 2002, and as President-Elect, President, and Past-President on the Psi Chi Board of Directors (2021-2023). Dr. Bui has been awarded Advisor of the Year (2022), the Outstanding Club/Organization Advisor Award (2007, 2008, 2009, 2022), the Psi Chi Regional Faculty Advisor Award (2006), and the Psi Chi/Florence L. Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award (2012). She has been recognized for Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Student Mentoring for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of La Verne (2016), and was inducted into the La Verne Academy (2017), which is dedicated to collegial leadership in research and scholarship. She has served on a variety of committees, including the University Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Institutional Review Board, the Sabbatical Committee, the General Education Committee (as co-chair), and the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Professional Support Committee.
She lives with her husband, Kent, her two children (Grace and Ben), and her three cats. In her free time, Dr. Bui is an avid reader of dystopian fiction, fantasy, and YA novels.
Dr. Bui’s scholarly work can be found at Google Scholar.
Dr. Gerard Lavatori is a professor of French, Interim Associate Dean of Curriculum, Scheduling, and Student Affairs, and Program Coordinator of the Liberal Arts major. He has previously served as Modern Languages Department Chair, Interim Chair of the English Department, General Education Committee Chair, and is an advisor to Alpha Lambda Delta honor society.
Dr. Lavatori earned a Bachelor’s Degree in French from Boston College, an M.Ed. in Reading from the University of La Verne, and a master’s and Ph.D. in French from Brown University. Prior to teaching at the University of La Verne, he taught Intermediate French and a graduate seminar on French Renaissance Prose at Washington State University, in Pullman, Washington, and French language at Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge.
Dr. Lavatori’s current research interests include postcolonial francophone literature, psychoanalytic approaches to literature, and Critical Disability Studies and world literature.
He is an amateur oboist and has performed with community groups throughout Southern California.
