Charles Ruch

Ruch is President Emeritus of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSMT) in Rapid City, SD.  Now retired, he is a member of the Registry for College and University Presidents, a nonprofit organization which engages former university presidents interested in service in interim leadership roles.

Ruch earned his Doctorate and Master’s degrees in Education from the Northwestern University and his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the College of Wooster, Wooster, OH.

Preceding his tenure as president of SDSMT, which began in 2003, Ruch was president of Boise State University for a decade.  Earlier teaching and administrative positions were at Virginia Commonwealth University, California State University at Fullerton and University of Pittsburgh.

A trustee of the Barry Goldwater Foundation for Excellence in Education, Ruch has published and spoken extensively, consulted for a wide variety of colleges, universities and corporations, and served on a number of professional, governmental and community Boards and Commissions.

Office: EDU 101
Phone: 806-742-1837 Ext:
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Zenaida
  Aguirre-Munoz

Dr. Zenaida Aguirre-Munoz is an associate professor in the Bilingual Education and Diversity Studies program within the Curriculum and Instruction department of Texas Tech University's College of Education. She received her PhD in psychological studies in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. Aguirre-Munoz joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2004 and is the assistant director for the Center for Leadership in Education. She teaches EDCI 6306: Instructional Modifications for Universal Access to Mathematics and Science for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree.

Office: EDU 356
Phone: 806-742-1997 Ext: 278
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Mary Baker

Dr. Mary Baker is an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. Her BS in engineering physics was earned at the Texas Tech University in 1983; MS in applied physics at Texas Tech University in 1985, and PhD in electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington in 1988. She teaches ENGR 5300: Integrating Math, Science, and Technology in the Context of Engineering for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree.

For more Information about Dr. Baker's research activities, please visit http://www.ee.ttu.edu/ece2/faculty/baker.php

Phone: 806-742-3533
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Dominick Casadonte

Dr. Dominick Casadonte is a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University. After receiving an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Case Institute of Technology of Case Western Reserve University (1973, with honors), Dr. Casadonte earned an MS degree (physical chemistry) and PhD (inoganic chemistry) from Purdue University in 1985. He did postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois in the laboratories of Ken Suslick and Ted Brown. In 1988, Dr. Casadonte was awarded one of the first ten Scholar/Fellow Awards given by the Dreyfus Foundation to work with Noel Kane-Maguire at Furman University for the 1988-89 academic year. He began his academic career at Texas Tech University in fall 1989. He teaches CHEM 5360 and 5361: Conceptual Chemistry for Teachers, I and II for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's program.

Phone: 806-742-1832
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Brock Williams

Brock Williams came to Texas Tech in 1999 after earning a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. from Mississippi State University.  Dr. Williams primary research interests are discrete conformal geometry and geometric function theory. In particular, he especially interested in the application of circle packing techniques to Riemann surfaces and quasiconformal maps. For example, his circle packing version of conformal welding has led to advances in computational uniformization of surfaces.  

He teaches Math 5360/5361: Advanced Math and Statistics for Teachers I and II for the (MS)2 multidisciplinary science master's program.

Phone:742-2580 x 237, Office: 244
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  David Lamp

Dr. David Lamp teach courses on 'how to teach science' for pre-service teachers mainly at the primary level. Dr. Lamp also presents many workshops on using inquiry in the teaching of science for in-service teachers at all grade levels, as well as teaches courses on physics and astronomy for the Multidisciplinary Master of Science program. He received his PhD in physics from the University of Missouri in 1984, and joined the Texas Tech faculty in 1988. He teaches PHYS 5371: Conceptual Physics for Teachers in Physics for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree program.

Office: Science 21
Phone: 806-742-3234
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Mark McGinley

Dr. Mark McGinley is an associate professor with a joint appointment in Texas Tech's Honors College and the Department of Biological Sciences. Originally from Thousand Oaks, California, he earned a BA in zoology from University of California, Santa Barbara, an MS in biology from Kansas State University, and a PhD from the University of Utah. Dr. McGinley began at Texas Tech in 1991 and joined the Honors College in 2005 where he is heavily involved in the Natural History and Humanities (NHH) degree. Dr. McGinley has scholarly interests in plant and animal ecology, science education, environmental issues, and marine conservation. He teaches BIOL 5311: Ecology for Teachers for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree.

Phone: 806-742-1828 Ext: 242
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Lou Densmore

Dr. Lou Densmore received his BS and MS from the department of Biology, University of Houston. He received his PhD from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. He did post-doctoral research in molecular biology at the University of Michigan. He has been at Texas Tech in the department of Biological Sciences since fall,1985. His classes in molecular biology and biology of animals are offered at TTU's Lubbock campus, and field herpetology classes are given at Junction campus. He teaches BIOL 5312: Cell and Molecular Biology for Teachers in Biological Sciences for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree program.

Phone: 806-742-2728
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Gregory Gellene

Dr. Gregory Gellene holds a BS in interdisciplinary studies from Georgetown University, 1979; MS (1983) and PhD (1984) in chemistry from Cornell University. He is a professor and associate chair of physical chemistry in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University. He teaches CHEM 5360 and 5361: Conceptual Chemistry for Teachers, I and II in the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree program.

Office: Chemistry 044
Phone: 806-742-1994
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Victoria Howle

Dr. Victoria Howle received a BA in English literature from Rutgers University in 1988. After working for a number of years as a technical writer at several software companies, she returned to school to study mathematics. She received her MS in 1998 and Ph. in 2001 from the Center for Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. Before coming to Texas Tech in 2007, she worked for seven years as a research mathematician in the Computational Science and Mathematics Research Department of Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California.

Dr. Howle's research is in applied mathematics with a focus mainly on numerical linear algebra. Her main research interests have been in physics-based preconditioning for incompressible fluid flow problems, developing iterative methods and preconditioners for the solution of highly ill-conditioned systems that arise in faulted electrical power networks, and fault-tolerant linear algebra. She teaches MATH 5360 and 5361: Advanced Math and Statistics for Teachers, I and II, in the (MS)2 master’s program.

Office: Mathematics 217
Phone: 806-742-2580
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

  Jeff Lee

Dr. Jeff Lee is an associate professor in the department of Economics and Geography at Texas Tech. His PhD in geography is from Arizona State University. He teaches IS 5301, "The Nature of Science for Teachers" for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree program.

Office: 209-A Holden Hall
Phone: 806-742-2466 Ext:247
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Rebecca Ortiz

Dr. Rebecca Ortiz teaches math education and integrated math and science courses. Dr. Ortiz joined the Texas Tech faculty in fall 2008. Prior to that, she taught at South Houston State University. She is an assistant professor who holds a masters in education and PhD in curriculum instructor from Texas Tech University. She is also the recruitment coordinator for the (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree program. She teaches EDSE 5377: Science Curriculum and Instruction in Education for the Middle School Math/Science (MS)² multidisciplinary science master's degree.

Phone: 806-742-1997
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it