The Fellows
Dr. Allen Apblett
Allen Apblett received a B.Sc.(Honours) degree from The University of New Brunswick in 1984 and then graduate school at The University of Calgary under the supervision of Dr. Tristam Chivers where he received a Ph.D. in March 1989. He was awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship that he took up at Harvard University in Dr. Andrew Barron’s research group. In 1991 he became an assistant professor at Tulane University and then moved to Oklahoma State University in 1997. Among the awards that Dr. Apblett has received are the ACS Environmental Division Certificate of Merit, nomination as a member of Project Kaleidoscope’s Faculty for the 21st Century, a Mortar Board Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Governor General of Canada’s Medal, and a Lilly Endowment Teaching Fellowship and OSU’s College of Arts and Science Junior Faculty Excellence in Research Award. Last year he shared the honor of being OSU’s Entrepreneur of the Year award with Prof. Nicholas Materer. He has started three companies to commercialize OSU technology and has plans for two more. He has participated in the raising of approximately $7.5 million in research funding since arriving at OSU. As a Riata fellow, Dr. Apblett is interested in assisting chemistry graduate students to become entrepreneurs and start their own businesses and to help any other students who are involved in Riata activities who require assistance with chemical technologies.
Lloyd Caldwell
Lloyd Caldwell is a Fight Director, Stunt Coordinator, and business consultant to the action entertainment industry. Through his company, Bladework, he has provided a wide variety of services to clients such as Universal Studios, British Actors Equity Association, Actionpact Amsterdam, Youngblood Ltd., and Broad Motion Entertainment (Los Angeles).. In a career spanning 30 years he has appeared off-Broadway and regionally, and in feature films and television. His fight choreography credits include the New Globe Theatre in London, The Donmar Warehouse, The Berlin Opera, the Banff Center for the Arts, the Stratford Festival in Stratford Ontario, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His film and television credits include The Virginian, The Equalizer, Tour of Duty, and Red Hat. In June 2001 Lloyd completed a five year appointment as the Executive Director of IOSP/FDI, the international service organization for fight directors and stunt people. Lloyd is a member of the Theatre Faculty of Oklahoma State University, and co-teaches a course in Arts Entrepreneurship for the Entrepreneurship Program at the Spears School of Business. He recently was awarded the Riata Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University
Dr. J. Cecil
Dr. Cecil is an Associate Professor in the School of Industrial Engineering and directs Center for Information Based Bioengineering and Manufacturing (CINBM). His research and teaching interests are in Information Centric Engineering including design of cyber physical systems, adoption of virtual prototyping and distributed computing frameworks for collaborative manufacturing. Dr. Cecil’s current research projects deal with ICE themes for various process domains including micro / nano assembly, bio cell manipulation and small satellite assembly. Current and past funding sponsors include the National Science Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, the Missile Defense Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is also a pioneer in the design and use of Virtual Learning Environments for engineering education. His recent interests include creation of Information Centric frameworks for engineering entrepreneurship contexts including developing curriculum aimed at encouraging software oriented entrepreneurial activities (including products emphasizing virtual reality tools for emerging markets and process domains including micro / nano, healthcaree and bio systems). Dr. Cecil has a background in both Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; his doctoral degree is in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Julie Croff
Dr. Croff is trained in public health and has an interest in social entrepreneurship. Her research focuses on the link between alcohol use/abuse and risky sexual behavior. She is working with the Riata Fellowship program to create international field training opportunities in health education and promotion for students in partnership with the University of Western Cape in Capetown, South Africa; to define and publicize the definition of health entrepreneurship; and the creation of a course in health entrepreneurship.
Dr. Catherine Curtis
Dr. Catherine Curtis is an Assistant Professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration. She received a PhD in Hospitality Management Education, a MS in Hospitality and Tourism Management, and a BM in Music Education. She has taught courses in Organizational Behavior, Hospitality Accounting, Management, Leadership, as well as courses in Food and Wine. Catherine has over fifteen years of industry experience focused in beverages, multi-unit management, and accounting and is looking to integrate this experience in a course focused on entrepreneurialism in the hospitality industry.
Dr. Steve Harrist
Steve Harrist holds the Hyle Family Endowed Professorship in K-20 Leadership and is Associate Head of the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology at Oklahoma State University. He is Director of the McKnight Leader Scholar Program and Co-director of the OSU Leadership Minor. His Ph.D. is in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee and his scholarly interests include philosophical psychology, ethical theory, and motivation for leadership and academic success. He is the 2011 Program Chair for Division 24 of the American Psychological Association and received awards for OSU Outstanding Service Learning Faculty 2010, OSU Outstanding Faculty Study Abroad Leader 2008, and the OSU Regents Distinguished Teaching Award 2004. He is a Riata Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship and is collaborating with faculty in the in OSU School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business to incorporate entrepreneurship coursework into the OSU Leadership Minor.
Dr. James D. Hess
Dr. James D. Hess currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health and is also an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine. As a fellow, Dr. Hess will focus on program development and research with the aim of creating an entrepreneurial culture within the health profession.
Dr. Derina Holtzhausen
Derina Holtzhausen (Ph.D. University of Johannesburg; M.A. University of South Africa; B.A. University of Pretoria) is professor and director of the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Holtzhausen joined OSU in July 2008 after serving for 11 years at the University of South Florida as graduate studies director and associate professor. She teaches courses in public relations, strategic communication management, and research at undergraduate and graduate level and serves as the editor of the International Journal of Strategic Communication.
Before joining the University of South Florida in 1997, Dr. Holtzhausen, a native South African, practiced communication in that country for 25 years, including as a journalist, a partner in an advertising and publicity agency, and a communication executive in both the public and private sectors. She is a recipient of the Pathfinder Award from the U.S. Institute of Public Relations for her original research agenda on postmodern public relations and is a fellow of the Journalism Leadership in Diversity (JLID) program of the AEJMC/ASJMC.
Since moving to the United States she has published 18 articles and book chapters and presented more than 30 papers.
Dr. Kaan Kalkan
Dr. Kalkan joined Oklahoma State University in 2006 as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering. Previously, he held Research Associate position at the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization at Penn State University for 5 years. During this period, he also co-founded NanoHorizons, Inc. The company’s nanoscale antimicrobial additives are marketed globally to customers in the apparel, health care, and coatings and plastics industries under the SmartSilver® brand. Dr. Kalkan earned his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. degree in Engineering Science both at Penn State University. Dr. Kalkan’s active research is centered around molecule-nanoparticle interactions as well as engineered nanoparticle-nanoparticle(nanowire) conjugate systems with unique functionalities, applied to trace-level detection, single-molecule spectroscopy, bioimaging, photoswitching, and energy harvesting. He is the inventor of 13 US Patents, which have been licensed by companies, such as LG Phillips, Balzers, Solarity, and NanoHorizons. Dr. Kalkan has also led the commercialization of his technologies in funded projects in collaboration with various companies including TechnoSciences, AMETEK Oil & Gas, and ICx Nomadics.
Dr. Lin Liu
Dr. Lin Liu is currently a Regents Professor and Director of Lung Biology and Toxicology Lab in the Department of Psychological Sciences, a branch of the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. Dr. Liu is currently engaged in developing joint undergraduate and graduate programs between the Schools of Entrepreneurship and Veterinary Biomedical Sciences. His goal is the creation of entrepreneurial veterinary practitioners and veterinary biomedical scientists.
Dr. Dale Maronek
Dr. Maronek has more than 30 combined years of commercial horticulture and landscape industry management as well as university research, teaching, extension and administration experience. He also serves as Director of the statewide Oklahoma Botanical Garden and Arboretum system (one of only two in the U.S.) and the OSU Botanical Garden. He is a liaison to numerous horticultural and landscape enterprises and on the Board of Directors of several agricultural organizations. His publications include refereed research journal articles, book chapters, research reports and popular press articles related to plant production, propagation, marketing; stress physiology, and urban agriculture.
Dr. Nick Materer
Dr. Materer has been in the Department of Chemistry at Oklahoma State University since August 1998. He received his Ph.D. in 1995 from the University of California, Berkeley and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Honors at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Materer has published over forty papers in pre-reviewed journals and my research program is focused on the chemistry and physics at interfaces. With the School of Entrepreneurship, He plans on using his expertise to help convert scientific advances into new commercializable technologies.
Dr. Melanie C. Page
Dr. Melanie C. Page is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation (ICI) in the School of Entrepreneurship. In her capacity as director of the ICI and Riata fellow she aims to foster a culture of creativity and innovation among all faculty, staff, and students thereby making OSU the leading entrepreneurial university in the nation.
Nathan Richardson
Nathan Richardson is an assistant professor in the School of Architecture. His work as a fellow will focus on establishing a cross-disciplinary academic collaboration between Architecture and the School of Entrepreneurship. Richardson’s project, the Collaborative Understanding of Built Enterprise (CUBE), examines the role of the entrepreneurial architect in the process of conceiving, designing, financing, constructing and inhabiting the built environment.
Liz Roth
Liz Roth is currently an Assistant Professor of Drawing, Painting and 2D Design in the OSU Department of Art. Roth is currently involved in teaching and the development of curricula for the Entrepreneurship and the Arts Program. Her current research also focuses on how to inspire arts majors to utilize their full potential to identify and exploit opportunities in a highly competitive yet “splintered” art market.
Jane Talkington
Jane Talkington is the Sustainability Scholar-in-Residence at Oklahoma State University. She is considered by many as a cornerstone advocate of the sustainability movement in Oklahoma because of her dedication to higher education. Her love of innovations and sustainable solutions led her to RE-THINK all design of what we make and how we live.
Jane has worked as a sustainability researcher/writer/consultant in green building, energy efficiency, and urban planning but now follows the evolution of corporate sustainability. She has developed curriculum and taught sustainability classes in environmental science, green business, and green chemistry at UC Berkeley, OSU and OU.
Jane is “original orange,” a Stillwater native who returned to her indigenous roots to complete a Ph.D. in OSU’s Environmental Science Graduate Program with a specialization in Sustainability. She also has a B.S. in Marketing from OSU and a MBA from the University of Tulsa where she specialized in Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Jason Vogel
Dr. Jason Vogel is currently an Associate Professor in the OSU Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department and Extension Storm Water Specialist. Dr. Vogel is part of the Green Entrepreneurship Initiative of the School of Entrepreneurship and is currently engaged in program development in the area as well as research aimed at developing environmentally friendly and sustainable storm water management systems.
Apply to become a Riata Faculty Fellow