Margo Berman

School of Communication

After the 2006 release of Prof. Berman’s first book, Street-Smart Advertising (also available in Russian), she wrote two more advertising books: The Brains Behind Great Ad Campaigns (2009, co-authored with Robyn Blakeman) and The Copywriter’s Toolkit (2012). In 2010, a second edition of her first book was released. Presently, all of her books are available globally including Asia, Europe, South Africa, India, Canada and Australia.

William Maguire

Department of Art + Art History

After completing undergraduate and graduate degrees at Notre Dame and the Institute of Design in Chicago, William Maguire returned to live in Homestead where he had grown up. Since 1975 he has been a faculty member in the Art and Art History department at FIU, and he has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and national and regional fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Silvia Márquez Pease

Department of Art + Art History

Silvia Pease is an interdisciplinary designer and theorist who teaches graphic design and undergraduate research design for social change courses at Florida International University. Silvia is a Fellow of IDSVA, Institute of Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, researching on the evolution of feminine depiction in South American poster design, towards societal changes.

Paula Powell

School of Communication

Dr. Paula Powell is an experienced media practitioner with over a decade of experience in television, radio, and print. She holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Barry University and a master’s in Mass Communication from Florida International University. In addition, Dr. Powell earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication: Television Broadcasting from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

Katarzyna Balug

Department of Architecture

Katarzyna Balug, PhD is a historian of modern and contemporary architecture. Her research explores feedback loops between techno-political change and subjectivity as mediated by architectural experiments. Balug’s current book project examines air-filled inflatable structures prevalent in the 1960s as a prescient meditation on human relations with the planet and its environment informed by the Space Race.

Gianno Feoli

Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design

Gianno is Director of Landscape and Urbanism at Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc., a locally headquartered multi-disciplinary firm serving the Florida and Georgia region. His specialties include park and landscape design, urban design, contextual analysis, redevelopment strategies, the drafting of planning ordinances, and context sensitive design.

Tatiana Guimaraes

Department of Interior Architecture

Tatiana has over 20 years of diversified healthcare planning and design experience. She leads planning teams in the creation of innovative healthcare facilities throughout the United States and abroad. These experiences provide her with consistent exposure to state-of-the-art health delivery systems from which she is able to glean fresh insight to bring to new projects. Her approach stresses the importance of creating innovative planning that maximizes operational efficiencies and allows for future flexibility and adaptability, with a focus on healing for patients, staff and families.

Laura Kurtzberg

Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Laura J. Kurtzberg is a news applications developer and data visualization specialist with a particular interest in environmental science and ecology communication. Laura has worked at the intersection of cartography, data journalism, and design with organizations like InfoAmazonia, Ambiental Media, WLRN Public Media, and Univision.

Robert Davidovici

Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts

In concerto, recital and chamber music performances in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia, violinist, Robert Davidovici, is acclaimed on five continents as a virtuoso who combines spectacular technique, wide-ranging repertoire and magnificent artistry with an exciting, compelling stage presence.

Mihaela Plugarasu

School of Communication

Ms. Plugarasu is a dynamic facilitator, moderator and presenter on empowering topics related to Personal Branding & The Power of Social Media, Communication and Leadership , Conscious Living , Conscious Parenting, Personal Development and Self Growth. She facilitated workshops and courses for college students in USA and Europe, not-for-profit organizations and women’s empowerment groups. 

Anthony Galaska

Department of Theatre

Tony Galaska has designed professionally for The Contemporary American Theatre Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Texas Shakespeare Theatre Festival, and in NYC for a variety of theatre companies such as Toy Box Theatre Company, The Gallery Players, Wings Theatre Company, Metropolitan Playhouse, and New Perspectives Theatre Company. In Miami, he has designed for Zoetic Stage and Gablestage.

Lilliam Martinez-Bustos

Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Lilliam Martinez-Bustos teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in broadcast journalism. She also teaches media courses in the SCJ study abroad program in Seville, Spain. Her research interests include trends in multimedia and Spanish-language news coverage of Latin America, immigration and other issues affecting the fast-growing Latino community in the United States. Before joining FIU in the fall of 2007, she spent over two decades as a broadcast journalist in English-language and Spanish-language television.

Henry Rueda

Department of Architecture

Henry Rueda started teaching at FIU in 2014 and before that, he taught at Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseno at Universidad Jose Maria Vargas; Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo at Universidad Central de Venezuela and also at Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela. His professional experience includes working for Jesus Tenreiro in Caracas, Venezuela and Wiel Arets in Maastricht, Holland. His current work focuses on Single Family Residences in different cities in Venezuela and in Miami.

Melvin Huffnagle

Department of Theatre

Melvin Huffnagle is a professional actor from New York and is a member of the Off-Broadway ensemble, the Layon Gray American Theatre Company where he has appeared in the original roles of Pops Coffey in “The Kings of Harlem,” and Jeremiah Jones in the award-winning “Black Angels Over Tuskegee.” Melvin is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and his television credits include “Law and Order SVU,” “Law and Order CI,” “Royal Pains,” and most recently Carl Weber’s “The Family Business.” He has an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Florida and a BA in Theatre Buffalo State College (SUNY). Professor Huffnagle teaches Acting and Voice and Movement.

Lidu Yi

Department of Art + Art History

Dr. Lidu Yi is a historian of Chinese art and architecture specializing in Chinese visual art and material culture. Yi earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in Canada. Before joining the faculty of the College of Communications, Architecture and The Arts here, she was the visiting Gretta Chambers chair professor at McGill University for two years. Dr. Yi’s research interests are two-fold: Buddhist rock-cut cave-chapel art, architecture and archaeology, and contemporary art in China. Currently, Yi is particularly interested in art, archaeology and liturgy of Buddhist sanctuaries of medieval China. Her book, Yungang: Art, History, Archaeology and Liturgy (Routledge, 2017), is a comprehensive examination of a fifth-century rock-cut cave-chapel complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the greatest Buddhist monuments of all time, Yungang. It asks why, when and under what circumstances this impressive cave sanctuary was made, who played significant roles at various stages. Her initial question was what Yungang was like in the fifth century and what were the important components of the entire complex. These led to more questions and eventually became a book.

Sandra Sanchez Adorno, Ph.D.

Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts

Dr. Sandra Sanchez Adorno is an assistant professor of music education at Florida International University. She teaches courses in elementary general music, assessment and evaluation in music education, and music psychology. She is a native of Florida and holds degrees in music education from the University of Florida (B.A.) and the University of Miami (M.M., Ph.D.).

Dr. Adorno’s research aims to understand children’s musical cultures and identity development, highlight voices of marginalized populations in music education, and enhance professional learning in music teacher education. Sandra has presented her research internationally and nationally, including the International Conference on Musical Cultures, National Association for Music Education National Research Conference, Society for Music Teacher Education National Conference, Mountain Lake Colloquium, and Desert Skies Research Symposium.

Tom Scicluna

Department of Art + Art History

Tom Scicluna received his BA in Contemporary Art Practice from the University of Northumbria (UK) and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Miami, FL. Selected shows and projects include: 2019 Atlanta Biennial: A thousand tomorrows, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA; 6319 NW 2nd Avenue, Nina Johnson, Miami, FL; Some Aesthetic Decisions: Centennial Celebration of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, FL; Climate Sync, a public artwork realized in conjunction with Miami-Dade Art in Public Places and the University of Miami’s School of Communication (installed at ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL); and Rendez-Vous 08 (in conjunction with the Moore Space European Residency Program), Musée dʼArt Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France. A South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship for Visual and Media Artists recipient, Scicluna’s work is in the permanent collections of ICA Miami, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Luis Alberto González

Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Luis Alberto González is a seasoned media executive and educator with over 35 years of experience in Radio, TV, Newspaper and New Media content creation. For the past 12 years, Luis Alberto has worked as an Adjunct Professor at Miami Dade College and FIU’s School of Journalism + media. He also provides coaching and consulting services to several media outlets including Voice of America, Associated Press, and the Telemundo Station Group.

Rebecca Covey

Department of Theatre

Rebecca Covey is an Equity actor and a designated Linklater Voice teacher. In Chicago, she taught at the Theatre School at DePaul University, Northern Illinois University, and Columbia College.Her scholarly research focuses on helping neurodiverse theatre artists reach their full potential. Additional interests include: the intersection of gender, culture and voice; accents and dialects; and heightened language including Shakespeare, Moliere and Shaw.

Roberto Rovira

Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design

Roberto Rovira is Chair of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design at Florida International University, and Principal of Studio Roberto Rovira. Roberto completed a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 1990, and a Masters in Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1998, where he was Dean’s Scholar and recipient of the Award of Merit from the ASLA. Roberto has lived in Latin America, Europe, and Japan and is a former U. S. Naval Officer, having served primarily in Asia and the Persian Gulf from 1990 to 1994.

Camilo Rosales

Department of Architecture

Camilo Rosales, AIA is a registered architect in the states of New York and Florida. As a practicing professional he has received design and teaching awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and his personal work has been published in architectural journals and periodicals in several countries.

Before joining Florida International University he was a senior designer with I. M. Pei and Partners in New York where he also participated with an SOM/Frank O. Gehry partnership in the winning entry for the Redevelopment of Madison Square Garden. He also worked with Arquitectonica in Miami.

Sam Moshaver

Department of Interior Architecture

Sam Moshaver received his PhD in Architecture and Interior Design from the University of Montreal. His research interests are in the areas of housing, design methods, and computational design. He is a member of the CAD Research Group (GRCAO) at the University of Montreal. He is also the author of conference and journal papers in the areas of flexible housing and design methods. Sam is a reviewer and contributor to CIB W104 Open Building Implementation.

Jennifer Printz

Department of Art + Art History

Jennifer Printz uses photography, printmaking, and drawing as differing means to observe her world and unifies them together to make poetic works that reflects on the structure of the universe. These beautiful creations have been exhibited widely including recent exhibitions at the Spartanburg Museum of Art, Chroma Gallery, and as far away as Portugal, Egypt, and Russia. Printz has completed artist residencies in Paris and Malta, both locations having a great influence on her current practice. Her work has been included in publications as diverse as Tricycle and the Carolina Review.

Javier Jose Mendoza

Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts

Javier José Mendoza is the Artistic Director of the Chicago Arts Orchestra. Under Mendoza’s direction the CAO has consistently been named a “Critics Pick” by Time Out Chicago and a “Recommend” by the Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein. Early Music Today praises the CAO, “the Chicago Arts Orchestra plays terrifically,” and Steven Ritter of Audiophile Audition claims that the CAO is an “exciting group for sure.” In 2014 Mendoza led the CAO to being named “Professional Orchestra of the Year” by The Illinois Council of Orchestras.

Maria Elena Echarri

School of Communication

Maria Elena Echarri brings more than 25 years of experience in professional journalism and communication studies to her classes at Florida International University. As a scholar-practitioner, with great interest in interdisciplinary approaches, Elena is most interested in the relationships between communication contexts and cognitive science, such as how social and media communication may interact with one’s inner experience and intrapersonal communication. Elena holds a Master of Science in communication studies from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in cognitive science from the University of Connecticut where she focused on the relationship between language and cognition. Elena graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. 

Susan Jacobson

Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Dr. Jacobson has worked in new media her entire professional and academic career. Her research is concerned with how social media shapes the relationship between journalists and news audiences, the impact of new media on journalism and the expressive qualities of multimedia. Her work has been published in top-ranked journals such as New Media and Society and The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. She has won fellowships and awards from the CMM Institute, the Mellon Foundation, the Media Ecology Association and the Warburg Institute.

Ivan Lopez

Department of Theatre

Ivan R. Lopez is a professional actor and director. He has worked with the Denver Center Theatre Company, New Theatre, City Theatre, Main Street Players, O Miami Poetry Festival, Orchestra Miami, Artistic Vibes, White Rose Miami, Microteatro, aMios, among others. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the South Florida Theatre League.

Biayna Bogosian

Department of Architecture

Biayna Bogosian is an Assistant Professor of Architectural Technology at FIU CARTA. Biayna’s academic and professional background extends in the fields of architecture, environmental design, computational design, data science, spatial science, and interactive media design. Biayna’s interdisciplinary research has allowed her to understand innovation in design and technology within a broader environmental context and explore data-driven and citizen-centric approaches to improve the built environment.

Linda Chamorro

Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design

Linda Chamorro teaches design studios and courses in 3D modeling and representation, planting design, and urbanism. She is the founding principal of 5m Studio, a multidisciplinary design practice focused on landscape design, public art, and public space design. At Harvard, her work was published in Platform (2008) and Studioworks (2007). Originally from Miami via Nicaragua, she has lived and worked in western Massachusetts, Nicaragua, Boston, San Francisco, and Oregon.

Daniel Guernsey

Department of Art + Art History

Daniel Guernsey received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His areas of specialization are eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European art and European intellectual history. He is the author of The Artist and the State, 1777-1855: The Politics of Universal History in British and French Painting (Ashgate, 2007) as well as several articles on the philosophy of history in European art during the Neo-Classical and Romantic periods.

David Dolata

Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts

The Bulletin de la Société Française de Luth has referred to Florida International University Professor of Musicology David Dolata as a “gentleman de la Renaissance” for his activities as a performer and scholar.

David Park

School of Communication

Dr. Park’s research interests include critical political economy of communication, new media technologies, media and democracy, environmental sustainability, consumerism and international communication. He is the author of Media Reform and the Climate Emergency: Rethinking Communication in the Struggle for a Sustainable Future with the University of Michigan Press, and Conglomerate Rock: The Music Industry’s Quest to Divide Music and Conquer Wallets with Lexington Books.

Newton D’souza

Department of Interior Architecture

Newton D’souza is the Chair and Associate Professor of Interior Architecture, Florida international University. He has previously served as the Director of Graduate Studies at the Department of Architectural Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia. Having widely published in the area of design thinking and environment-behavior, his recent book is titled ‘The Multi-skilled Designer: A Cognitive Explanation for Diversity in Architectural Thinking’ from Routledge Research in Architecture Series. He has received several grants, including MU System Research Board award and American Society of Interior Designers, and was awarded the 2014 Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology.

Alejandro Alvarado

Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media

Dr. Alejandro Alvarado is a communications consultant with proven track record in Public Relations, Public Affairs, Journalism and academia. He is the Coordinator of the Spanish-language Journalism Master’s program, and Spanish-language Editor of the South Florida News Service. He co-chairs the annual Journalists and Editors Workshop, and was Chair of the Hispanic Communications Conference Series, and Director of the Telemundo Hispanic Media Futures Program at Florida International University.

Elisa Silva

Department of Architecture

Elisa Silva is director and founder of Enlace Arquitectura 2007 and Enlace Foundation 2017, established in Caracas, Venezuela. Projects focus on raising awareness of spatial inequality and the urban environment through public space interventions, informal settlement integration and strengthening rural landscapes. Enlace’s work has been recognized in international biennials, competitions, and design exhibitions.

Ebru Özer

Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design

Ebru Özer teaches grading, drainage, and construction, and community, urban, and regional design. Her research focuses on stormwater management, green infrastructure, sustainability in park and trail design, and age-friendly open space design. She has over 20 years of experience in practicing landscape architecture and architecture. She is the co-founder and principal of LandscapeDE, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm based in Miami, Florida. She serves as the treasurer of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) and the executive committee member of the American Society of Landscape Architects Florida Chapter.

Anthony Faiola

Florida International University’s College of Communication, Architecture, + The Arts is proud to announce FIU CARTA Alumnus Anthony Faiola as its Knight Innovator-in-residence.

A graduate of the Class of 1990, Faiola began his professional career at the Miami Herald before moving to the Washington Post, where he has worked for the past 25 years. During his distinguished career with the Post, Faiola has served as the paper’s bureau chief in Buenos Aires, Tokyo, New York, London, Berlin and now Miami, where he is currently in charge of South America and the Caribbean.
Faiola has covered major global events from more than 50 countries, reporting and writing on historic migrant waves, financial crises, genocides and terror attacks while interviewing international figures including Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Alberto Fujimori, Ban Ki Moon and more.

Leigh Steinberg

Leigh Steinberg may best be known to the public as the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire, but the newly appointed Board Member of FIU iSTAR also has a remarkable history of influencing the lives of more than just athletes.

Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Steinberg has represented many of the most successful athletes and coaches in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, golf, etc., including the number one overall pick in the NFL draft for an unprecedented eight times as well as 62 total first-round picks. He has represented notable athletes such as Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, and multiple Olympians and professional teams. With an unrivaled history of record-setting contracts, Steinberg has secured over $3 billion for his 300+ pro athlete clients and directed more than $750 million to various charities around the world.

Linda Chamorro, Coralina Rodriguez Meyer & Marcelo Ertorteguy

This past month Oolite Arts announced its 2019 recipients of the Ellies Visual Arts Awards. Over 500 artists and educators submitted proposals to these competitive awards and forty-four winners were selected. Three of the forty-four recipients were faculty from Florida International University’s College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts.

Amongst the winners, adjunct faculty Linda Chamorro and Coralina Rodriguez Meyer from the Department of Landscape Architecuture & Environmental and Urban Design were selected, and Marcelo Ertorteguy from the Department of Architecture. The three faculty winners were awarded the Creator Award, which supports working artists with grants of $2,500 to $25,000 to realize a significant visual arts project that will advance their careers.