The College of Communication Arts and Sciences welcomes 14 new faculty, postdoctoral scholars and staff for the 2026-27 academic year. Each bring diverse experiences and expertise across artificial intelligence, environmental communication, journalism, game development, data analytics, strategic communication and student success
“The diversity of knowledge, experiences and expertise is what makes our college unique and sought after,” said Dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski. “I'm excited to welcome these new faculty and staff to our community and see the ways they will contribute to our students and the impact of the college.”
Aris Bailey, office manager
Aris Bailey serves as office manager for ComArtSci’s Academic and Student Affairs Office, supporting the day-to-day operations of the advising office and working with staff and college leadership to create an organized and student-centered environment.
Bailey’s background includes higher education administration, student services and office operations. Before joining ComArtSci, she served as an office manager in MSU’s Housing Assignments Office, where she supported housing operations, supervised student employees and managed administrative and financial processes.
Amber Britten, office administrative assistant
After 13 years working across MSU, Amber Britten brings her experience in administration and customer service to the Department of Media and Information. As office administrative assistant, she supports faculty, staff, students and the department chair by coordinating meetings and events, managing calendars and travel, supporting department processes and assisting students and visitors.
Britten previously worked with MSU Health Care in radiology and patient accounts. Her professional experience includes administrative support, customer service, communication and event coordination.
Kimberly Duran Montoya, research assistant
Kimberly Duran Montoya is a research assistant in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders and research coordinator for the Language Learning Lab. She supports a project examining the effects of developmental language disorder on adolescents in the juvenile justice system.
Duran Montoya’s research interests include developmental and mental disorders in youth, with a focus on creating more inclusive and supportive environments in education, health care and other institutions. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in May 2026, double majoring in psychology and gender and health.
Lois Furry, instructor
Lois Furry brings more than 30 years of communications and marketing experience at MSU to the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. Most recently, she led an MSU writing team focused on stories that engage university donors.
Furry earned a master’s degree in journalism and a second bachelor’s degree in education from MSU. She earned her first bachelor’s degree in English and communication from Hope College.
Peter Guenther, academic specialist
From virtual worlds to alternative game controllers, Peter Guenther brings a hands-on approach to teaching game development and programming in M&I. This fall, he will teach MI 231: Games and Interactive Media Development, MI 482: Building Virtual Worlds and a section of MI 430: Game Writing.
One of Guenther’s primary interests is alternative controllers, which use custom hardware to create ways of interacting with games beyond traditional keyboards, mice and joysticks. He plans to teach a special topics course on alternative controllers in the spring.
Guenther earned his master’s degree in information and media, with a focus on game studies and design, from MSU in 2023. He has since worked as a data engineer in learning analytics and taught part time at MSU and Lawrence Technological University.
Muhammad Ittefaq, assistant professor
Muhammad Ittefaq studies climate and health communication, including the ecological footprint of artificial intelligence data centers, media coverage of climate change and how emerging technologies are changing the ways people produce and consume information about health, climate and science.
As an assistant professor of environmental communication in the School of Journalism, Ittefaq will teach Environmental, Science and Health Reporting this academic year. Before joining MSU, he spent four years as an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University.
Sheri Jones, assistant instructor
After a 37-year career in broadcast television, Sheri Jones returns to her alma mater as an assistant instructor in JRN. Jones spent much of her career at WLNS-TV 6 in Lansing, where she worked as a news anchor and storyteller before concluding her tenure in 2025.
Jones will draw on her professional experience to teach students the craft of journalism and the importance of integrity, curiosity and compassion.
Her work has earned her induction into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame and Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, as well as recognition in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle. Most recently, she hosted WKAR’s “Impact: Michigan,” a public affairs series focused on how national issues affect Michigan communities.
Sian Lee, assistant professor
Sian Lee, an assistant professor in M&I, uses data science, machine learning, natural language processing and statistical analysis to study questions in computational social science, including misinformation, sport analytics and generative artificial intelligence.
In the classroom, Lee will apply that expertise to two courses. This fall, she will teach MI 401: Topics in Information Science, focusing on sport analytics and the use of data in team performance, player evaluation, media, business and fan engagement. In spring 2027, she will teach MI 320: Reasoning with Data, where students will use statistical methods to evaluate evidence and draw conclusions about technology performance and human behavior.
Lee earned her doctorate from Penn State University’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. Before joining MSU, she spent two years as an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi.
Hannah Overbye-Thompson, assistant professor
How people recognize and respond to bias and limitations in artificial intelligence and algorithmic systems is at the center of assistant professor Hannah Overbye-Thompson’s research. She also examines how people adapt their technology use in response to those biases and what those patterns can reveal about the design of sociotechnical systems.
Overbye-Thompson will teach advanced digital analytics in ADPR. Before joining MSU, she pursued her doctorate in communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Prathima Ramesh, instructor
Media intelligence expert Prathima Ramesh brings her industry experience into the classroom as a part-time ADPR instructor teaching PR 305: Methods of PR Inquiry.
Ramesh is an insights consultant at Muck Rack, where she advises global enterprise clients on data-driven communication strategies. Her areas of expertise include earned media analysis, social listening, audience analysis, large language model insights and narrative intelligence.
Andrew Roth, multiplatform news reporter
Award-winning reporter and photojournalist Andrew Roth joins WKAR as a multiplatform news reporter after working as a freelancer covering Michigan politics and policy, technology, culture and entertainment.
Roth’s reporting and photography have appeared in national outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Axios, POLITICO, CNN, NBC News and ABC News.
Javie Ssozi, postdoctoral scholar
Javie Ssozi studies global media and politics, with a focus on how digital technologies shape and are shaped by society. His research examines topics including artificial intelligence applications, personalization algorithms, social media radicalization and the governance of social media platforms.
As a Dean’s Postdoctoral Scholar in JRN, Ssozi will focus on research and scholarly publications in collaboration with colleagues in the school and across ComArtSci.
Before joining MSU, Ssozi earned his doctorate in mass communication from the University of Iowa. He also worked as a technologist and strategic communication consultant with civil society organizations in Uganda and other countries.
Becky Zimmerman, instructor
With experience in both advertising and education, Becky Zimmerman joins ADPR as an instructor and will teach ADV 482: Project Management for Advertising and Public Relations and ADV 432: Advertising Innovations this fall. Her professional background includes advertising account management, project management and education at the K-12 and college levels.
An MSU alumna, Zimmerman earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising with a specialization in public relations. She also holds master’s degrees in secondary education and administration and supervision, as well as an active teaching license and administrator certification.
Yuxing “Yolanda” Zhang, postdoctoral scholar
Yuxing “Yolanda” Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar in M&I, studies digital platforms and how institutions, policy, culture and capital influence the adoption of digital technologies across industries. Her research also considers what those changes mean for labor, knowledge and value, drawing from media and information studies, science and technology studies, and East Asian studies.
At MSU, Zhang is working on journal articles and collaborative research on agrifood and media studies, environmental data and narratives surrounding generative artificial intelligence. She is also interested in developing future courses on media, food and culture; East Asian popular culture; and digital economies around the world.
Zhang earned her doctorate from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information in 2025. Before joining MSU, she was the 2025-26 An Wang Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.