Faculty & Staff Directory

Jean Camberg, Instructor in Human Development and Family Studies, earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State in Human Development and Family Studies, a master’s degree in Social Work from Marywood College in Scranton, and is a Licensed Social Worker in Pennsylvania. Her many years of experience in social work range from working with hospice programs to serving as a social worker with Cen-Clear Child Services, the Head Start grantee in Clearfield County. Over the past decade, she served as an adjunct faculty member for Temple University and as a visiting faculty member in the Social Work department at Lock Haven University. This past spring, she completed her course work and comprehensive exams for a doctorate in Adult Education from Penn State. She plans to do her dissertation on the effectiveness of filial play therapy with adopted children.

Marissa holds a bachelor's degree in Communications Media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2000. She began working at Penn State Altoona in 2007.

She also teaches dance part-time at Holliday Dance in Duncansville.

Dr. Charles has done a wide array of research, using a variety of methods, all driven by an interest in perceptual and behavioral development. His research has ranged from observational study of primate behavior, to studies of infant cognitive development and the role of infant behavior in parent-infant interaction, to mathematical modeling and computer simulation. His theoretical work focuses on explaining perception, which also connects with work on the nature of knowledge (i.e., epistemology) and issues in the philosophy of science. Most of this work is connected to an approach to perception known as Ecological Psychology, and many of the seeming sidetracks are due to interests of student collaborators and colleagues. Most recently his experimental work focuses on how the "behaviors of perception" develop in infants. Dr. Charles' teaching interests include Introductory Psychology, Psychology of Learning, Psychological Statistics, Animal Minds, Evolutionary Psychology, and he loves to be involved in student-driven research.

James M. Chen, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, earned his doctorate at The George Washington University in 2011. His primary area of research lies in multiscale mechanics, computational nanoscience, computational solid/fluid mechanics, with particular interest in the electrodynamics of functional nano-materials and generalized continuum theory for multi-physics. His doctoral work focused on the development of theoretical derivation for Micropolar electromagnetic fluids and computational fluid dynamics on high order scheme (e.g. Spectral Difference Method). He is currently focused on extending results and techniques from previous research into energy harvesting at both macro- and micro-scales. He has published more than 15 peer-reviewed articles in the leading journals and is currently serving on the editorial board of "Nanoscience and Nanotechnology" and "Journal of Advanced Mathematics and Applications." He is also one of the founding members and technical committee for ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute on Nanomechanics and Nanomaterials and Honorary Fellow of Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials (AIHEM).

Heejeong Choi, assistant professor of human
development and family studies, earned her doctorate
from the University of Wisconsin. Her research
interests focus on adult development and aging in
the context of the family. She has received several
research and teaching awards, and has published
articles in the "Journal of Marriage and the Family," the "Journal of Family Issues, and Research in the
Sociology of Health Care."

Jack currently is the Chief Operating Officer of Link Computer Corporation and has been employed by Link for 22 years. Prior to Link, he was the Treasurer at LEGENT Corporation in Pittsburgh and prior to LEGENT was a Senior Accountant with the public accounting firm, Peat, Marwick & Mitchell. Jack is Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. He graduated summa cum laude from Bucknell University in 1984 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration majoring in Accounting. He earned a Master’s of Science in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon in 1990 with a concentration in Finance. He is active on the Executive Board of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Advisory Board for SIFE at Penn State Altoona, the Board of Directors of Hollidaysburg Rotary and is active with many other charitable and community groups. He is married to Andrea (Davis) Collins and has four children.

Mihai Comanescu received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering form Bucharest Polytechnic University in 1992 and his M.S. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, in 2001 and 2005 respectively. He is currently an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Penn State Altoona. His research interests are in the areas of power conversion, power electronics, AC motor drives, sliding mode control and renewable energy. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of the Industrial Electronics Society.

Linda Conway, teaching supervisor for Penn State Altoona's teacher certification program in elementary education, has been a part-time supervisor for our education program since 2005 and has helped create a reputation for quality supervision in the local schools that partner with Penn State Altoona. Linda comes to Penn State Altoona after teaching grades 3 through 6 in the Altoona Area School District for 35 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education at St. Francis College and fulfilled the requirements to become a master’s-level teacher at Penn State.

Dr. Roselyn Costantino is Associate Professor of Spanish and Women's Studies and 2011 Fulbright Scholar at La Universidad del Valle, Guatemala. She received her M.A. from Montclair State University (1988) in Spanish Peninsular Literature with a focus on 19th-century Spanish and Latin American narrative, and her Ph.D. from Arizona State University (1992) in Spanish with specialization in Latin American theatre and narrative; Latin American Studies; and Women's Studies.
Her areas of specialization include Feminist Theory; Performance Studies; Rape in War; Violence against women and femicide in Guatemala; Latin American Writers, Playwrights, and Performance Artists; Latin American and Latina Women in creativity and resistance; Latin American Studies. Her most recent publications include Holy Terrors: Latin American Women Perform (co-edited with Diana Taylor. Duke UP, 2003); "Guatemaltecas Have Not Forgotten: From Victims of Sexual Violence to Architects of Empowerment in Guatemala" in Rape: Instrument of War and Genocide, Eds. John Roth, Carol Rittner; Femicide, Impunity, and Citizenship: The Old and The New in the Struggle for Justice in Guatemala (Chicana/Latina Studies 6.1 Fall 2006); "Politics and Culture in a Diva's Diversion"; "Youth Movements in Mexico: Indigenous Youth of the Zapatista Rebellion"; and "Preserving the American Way of Life." She is completing a manuscript, "There are many ways to kill a woman": Structural Deformities, Femicide, and Transformative Collaboration in Guatemala's Narrative of Extreme Gendered Violence. She is a member of the Altoona College Arts and Humanities faculty; Women's Studies Faculty; and the University Graduate faculty.

Amanda Cox, assistant professor of criminal justice, earned her doctorate at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In her dissertation, entitled “Assessing the Malleability of Student Death Penalty Attitudes: An Experimental Test of the Marshall Hypothesis,” Cox focuses on assessing the changeability of student death penalty attitudes and how attitude strength may affect this process. Her research interests are in the area of criminology and criminal justice, with emphasis on death penalty issues, wrongful convictions, prisoner re-entry, correctional issues, school-based crime prevention programs, and media and crime.