Take a Virtual Tour

Your AU Staff

College of Health, Human Services, and Science

Barbara Philibert, PhD – Dean

Dr. Barbara Philibert is Dean of the College of Health, Human Services, and Sciences at Ashford University. She has been associated with Ashford University since 1993, teaching in the areas of healthcare administration, psychology, and social science. Barbara holds graduate degrees from the University of Iowa – a Master of Arts in Nursing and a PhD in Educational Psychology, Instruction Design, with cogent areas in educational psychology, health care administration, and health education. Dr. Philibert has been active in the design, development, and implementation of several of the Ashford University online and campus degree programs.

Prior to coming to Ashford, Dr. Philibert was in hospital administration, serving in various upper-level administration positions. Additionally, she has taught and held administrative positions in both nursing and allied health education. From a community perspective, Dr. Philibert was the project director/designer of a public community project providing comprehensive school-based health services for low-income children and families. She has also served as a board member for various community agencies in both healthcare and education, and has been a consultant for healthcare administration, health education, nursing education, education, and community health projects. In reflection upon education, Dr. Philibert states, “ All of us are learners in life’s journey. It is truly a privilege to encourage and share the joy of learning with students.”

Lee Cartwright, PhD

Dr. Lee Cartwright, who had previously been an associate professor at Texas A&M University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for 18 years, teaches organic and quantitative chemistry courses at Ashford University. He earned his BS, MS and PhD degrees from North Carolina State University and his MBA degree from Salisbury State University, Salisbury, MD.

Ted Eilders, PhD

Ted Eilders is in his second year of teaching at Ashford. He is a graduate of Concordia University Chicago, Wartburg Theological Seminary, and the University of Iowa. Eilders has worked in pastoral ministry, college counseling, and college teaching. He enjoys his work with students, faculty, and staff at Ashford University and finds them friendly and helpful. He currently teaches in the Sociology and Psychology areas on campus. Eilders sees Ashford University as a place where "learning for life" occurs.

Sarah Gall, PhD

Originally from northeast Tennessee, Sarah Gall received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1998. Six years later, she attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri and earned a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology. Gall began teaching in the Biology department at Ashford in the fall of 2004. Her primary teaching responsibilities include most of the upper-level biology classes for science and health care majors, including (but not limited to) Anatomy & Physiology, Cell Biology, Genetics & Immunology, and Microbiology. She has also directed several senior research projects for students. Additionally, Gall teaches a biology course for non-science majors, and has team-taught an interdisciplinary course on Science and Culture. Her hope for her students: "That they will learn to think in new ways and apply their knowledge to new situations."

Glen Just, ABD

Glen Just has been with Ashford University since 1983, and has served as Mathematics Department Chairman and Associate Professor of Mathematics. His educational background includes an MEd (Mathematics) and a BSEd (Mathematics) from Columbus State University, and he is currently ABD (All But Dissertation) in Instructional Technology at Northern Illinois University. His objective is to assist college students in their learning of mathematics and problem-solving techniques. Just's current research area is the use of educational technology for the purpose of undergraduate learning.

Devin Land, PhD

Devin Land received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Kansas in 2007. The emphasis of his graduate education was cognitive psychology, the study of basic brain processes such as perception, attention, memory, and language that underlie everyday cognition. His teaching experience and interests include cognitive psychology, biological psychology, and research methods and statistics for the behavioral sciences, among others. Dr. Land has conducted basic experimental research on the attention and memory processes involved in visual search and is also interested in studying how basic cognitive principles apply to areas such as human factors design, social and clinical psychology, and personality and individual differences.

Karen Meade, PhD

Now teaching Ashford University's general chemistry and college physics courses is Dr. Karen Meade. Mead comes to Ashford University from Iowa Lakes Community College where she had been a science instructor since August 2007. She has also taught at Iowa Central Community College and Southeastern Community College, as well as at the junior and senior high school levels. Meade earned her AA degree from Iowa Central Community College, Webster City, IA; her BS degree from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA; and her MA and PhD degrees from the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA.

Librado (Lee) Salazar, BS

Salazar serves as the Science Laboratory Supervisor and has been with Ashford University since 2007. Salazar has Bachelor of Science degrees in both Psychology (Northern Illinois University ’02) and Biology (Ashford University ’07) and is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of the Rockies. In addition to overseeing daily laboratory activities, Salazar also supervises student laboratory assistants and helps to coordinate students’ senior thesis projects. In his time at Ashford, Salazar has also filled in as a laboratory instructor and is currently a member of the safety committee. His hope is that, “Students get the most out of their experience at Ashford and that they truly enjoy the time that they spend here.”

Helen Schroeder, PhD

Helen Schroeder began teaching at Ashford University in August 2010. She received her PhD in Pure Mathematics from the University of Iowa in December 2006, and has been teaching at University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin for the past four years. There, she enjoyed serving on the Faculty Senate and on the University Curriculum and Instruction Committee, and presenting her collaborative work with Lesson Study at local, state, regional, and national conferences. She teaches College Algebra and Pre-Calculus at Ashford University. Her hobbies include reading, camping, and traveling.

Shukhrat Usmanov, PhD

Dr. Usmanov was born in Andijan, Uzbekistan (former Soviet Union), and received a PhD in Analysis from Tashkent State University in 1985. He moved to the United States in 1999, and earned a second PhD in Ergodic Theory from North Dakota State University in 2006. At Ashford, he currently teaches undergraduate courses in Combined Algebra, College Algebra, Linear Algebra, Pre-Calculus, Calculus Sequence and Managerial Calculus. His hobbies include reading, music, chess and hiking. His wife, Sofya, is also a mathematician and they have two children who are currently enrolled at Jefferson Elementary in Clinton.

John Zimmerman, PhD

Dr. Zimmerman has an AA from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology from Oklahoma State University, and a PhD in Zoology from North Carolina State University. He has been with Ashford University since the fall of 1995 teaching in the areas of Biology and Environmental Studies. He serves as an academic advisor for the Biology department and the 3+1 Programs.

His words of wisdom to students: "Remember the saying that you get out of something comparable to what you put in. So put effort into your education."

print page | top of page