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Center for Resiliency

Committees and Councils

Executive Committee

  • Brian D Williams PhD, MSG(Ret)

    Brian D Williams

     

    Executive Director 

    Center of Resiliency

    Email: bwilliams9@lamar.edu

     

    U.S. Army, Retired - Master Sergeant 
    Ph.D., University of North Texas, Public Administration and Management (Specialization - Emergency Management)
    M.P.A., Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô, Public Administration
    B.S., Troy University, Criminal Justice and Military Science
    A.A.S., Texas State Technical College, Drafting and Design Technology
     
    Publications
    ·     Williams, Brian D. (2025) “Local Government Strategy and Crisis in the United States: A Community Resilience / Systems Perspective” in The Routledge Handbook on Crisis and the Public Sector, Ed. Kimberly Moloney, Gloria Billingsley, Bok Gyo Jeong, Tonya Thornton, Pablo Pulido, and Eric Zeemering, pp 133 - 144, New York, NY: Routledge
    ·     Williams, Brian D. (2024) “Emergency Management and Sustainability: Understanding the Link Between Disaster and Citizen Participation for Sustainability Efforts and Climate Change” Journal of Emergency Management. 22(7): 11-23 
    ·     Williams, Brian D. (2023) “The Role of the Emergency Manager in Disaster and Homeland Security: Navigating the Challenges of Intergovernmental Relationships through Networks” in The Distributed Functions of Emergency Management and Homeland Security: An Assessment of Professions Involved in Disasters and Terrorist Attacks, Ed. David McEntire, pp 11-25, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
    ·     Silveratnam, Thinesh, Ginger Gummelt, Matt Pyne, Berna Tokgoz, Brian D. Williams, Kyle Boudreaux, Liv Haselbach, Igor Linkov (2023) “Establishing a Regional Interdisciplinary Resilience Center: Bottom-Up Approach” Environment Systems and Decisions. 43(2): 191-199
    ·     Williams, Brian D. (2021) “Understanding where Emergency Management Gets the Knowledge to Solve the Problems they Face: Where are We More Than 20 Years after the IJMED Special Edition Calls on Closing the Gap?” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disaster. 39(3): 417-433. 
    ·     Mann, Jim P. and Brian D. Williams (2021) “Policing in the Eye of the Storm” Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 36(2): 183-192. 
    ·     Williams, Brian D. and Gary R Webb (2021) “Social Vulnerability and Disaster: Understanding the Perspectives of Practitioners” Disasters, 45(2): 278-295. 
    ·     Williams, Brian D. and James P Nelson (2020) “Media, Governance and Ebola: What Local Government Needs to Understand about Media Influence of Response Operations When the Improbable Becomes Reality?” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 18(1): 67-91. 
    ·     Williams, Brian D. and Gary R. Webb (2020) “Vulnerability and Disaster: Practitioner Strategies for Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Populations” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 17(2). 1-13  
    ·     Williams, Brian D., Jesus Valero, Kyungwoo Kim (2018) “Social Media, Trust, and Disaster: Does Trust in Public and Nonprofit Organizations Explain Social Media Use During a Disaster?” Quality and Quantity, 52(2): 537-550.
    ·     Vanderleeuw, James, Jason Sides, Brian D. Williams (2015) “An Advanced Degree in Public Administration – is it Valued by City Councils?” Public Administration Quarterly, 39(3): 453-483. 
    ·     Williams, Brian D. (2015) “Social, Legal, and Legislative Challenges to Disaster Management.” Review of “Asia-Pacific Disaster Management: Comparative and Socio-Legal Perspectives” eds. Simon Butt, Hitoshi Nasu, and Luke Nottage, Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, 14(2), 81-86. 
  • Dr. Ginger Gummelt

    Ginger S

    Department: Social Work

    Email: vgummelt@lamar.edu 

    Associate Professor, Director of Social Work Program

    Research interests:

    • Children and violence
    • Mental health issues for athletes
    • Vulnerable populations
    • Sexual abuse and sexual assault
    • Women's issues
  • Dr. Matt Pyne

    Matthew Pyne

    Department: Biology

    Email: mpyne@lamar.edu 

    Associate Professor

    Research interests: Understanding the relationship between the distribution of aquatic organisms and the structure, climate, and hydrology of freshwater aquatic systems. 

  • Dr. James Slaydon

    Department: Finance

    Email: slaydonjl@lamar.edu

    Professor and Director, New Programs Initiatives 

    Research interests: 

    • Resiliency after natural disasters
    • Regional economic development
    • Real estate.
  • Dr. Jill E. Killough

    killough.jpeg

    Department: Nutrition, Hospitality & Human Services

    Email: jekillough@lamar.edu

    Department Chair

    Research interests:

    • Community-based participatory research to food disparities and insecurity
    • Quality improvement processes in nutrition and dietetics practice
  • Dr. Berna Tokgoz

    Berna E

    Department: Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Email: btokgoz@lamar.edu 

    Associate Professor

    Research interests: 

    • Resilience Engineering
    • Risk Analysis
    • Systems Engineering
    • Complex Systems
  • Dr. Jeannette Fresne

    students

    Department: College of Fine Arts & Communication

    Email: jfresne@lamar.edu

    Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communication
    Professor of Music

    Research interests:

    • Pedagogy of early childhood and elementary music
    • Integration of arts-based education across the elementary curriculum
    • American folk music, specifically children's songs and 7-shape, shape-note gospel music
  • Dr. Bandyopadhyay
    Soumava Bandyopadhyay
    Department: College of Business 
    Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research
    Professor of Marketing
    Research interests:
    Digital Marketing, Channels of Distribution, Global Marketing

External Advisory Council