Lei Jiang

Department: School of Education

Get to know me: Jiang’s primary research interests focus on equitable and inclusive educational leadership, multilingual and multicultural education, and quantitative and qualitative research methods. He recently published articles in Applied Linguistics, Language and Education, TESOL Quarterly, and Research in Science Education. He is a former K-12 English and Mandarin teacher. Before moving to North Dakota, he lived in California, Massachusetts and Georgia. He is excited to join the NDSU family, and looks forward to working with educators, students and communities here. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, reading, running and watching football games.

Hyeongjin “Harry” Jeon

Department: Apparel, Merchandising, Interior Design and Hospitality Management

Get to know me: Jeon enjoys settling into new experiences. As a teacher, he wants to assist students in identifying their career goals and gaining the knowledge that they need to achieve their objectives. As a hospitality and tourism researcher, his specialty is event and tourism management and marketing. Jeon’s goal is to continually grow as a teacher and researcher so that he can better serve students and the academy.

Kelsey Slater

Department: Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences

Get to know me: Originally from Pennsylvania, Slater earned a degree in environmental studies and political science from Lafayette College, where she also was a two-sport varsity athlete in volleyball and track and field. She worked in hospitality and event facility management for four years before returning to school to pursue her master’s degree in sport administration at Mississippi State University. It was there that she became interested in sport management research and decided to complete her doctoral degree. Slater completed her dissertation on the social media use of non-governmental sport organizations based in Sub-Saharan Africa in summer 2021. As an assistant professor at NDSU she will pursue research in sport for development, sport diplomacy and sport communication.

Katelyn Nicolay

Department: Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences

Get to know me: Nicolay is originally from Winnipeg, but has lived in the Boston area for the past seven years. She earned her Bachelor of Kinesiology at the University of Manitoba, Master of Science from Illinois State University Doctor of Education degree from Northeastern University. She holds dual certifications in athletic training/athletic therapy in the U.S. and Canada, and has mainly practiced clinically in the high school setting. Her research is focused on improving the authenticity of simulations in athletic training education. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, travelling and baking.

Wen Wang

Department: Human Development and Family Science

Get to know me: Wang is interested in using quantitative methods to understand the diversity of socialization processes in families and the inequality among children. In particular, her research aims to advance the research regarding how culture and ethnicity shape parenting and its effects on child mastery motivation, communication and prosocial behaviors since infancy. Wang is excited to join the College of Human Sciences and Education this fall.

Joseph Smith

Department: Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences

Get to know me: Smith is an assistant professor of athletic training and a sports medicine health care professional holding national certifications as an athletic trainer, orthopedic technologist and emergency medical technician.

Smith has cared for patients and athletes in sports medicine hospitals and clinics, such as Stanford University Medical Center, University of California San Francisco Orthopedic Institute and JACO Physical Rehabilitation.His areas of expertise include clinical and practical athletic training application, exercise science testing and human performance, orthopedic injury prevention and treatment, emergency care and post-op and injury rehabilitation.

He completed his athletic training internship and Bachelor of Arts in east Asian studies and exercise science at the University of California-Santa Barbara, and his Master of Science in advanced athletic training and doctorate in kinesiology and rehabilitation science at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Joel White

Department: Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences

Get to know me: White joined NDSU after being an associate professor for four years at Mayville State University. Prior to that, he taught at Rogers State University in Oklahoma for nine years. He and his wife have four children, ages 13 to 20.

Nancy Kaler recently retired after teaching in the College of Human Sciences and Education for 33 years. She taught students in many ways, from a college introduction class to coordinating field experiences.

“It was the best career I could imagine,” said Kaler. “Some of my favorite teaching memories include coordinating human development and family science field experience. Helping students match their skill set with their career path was so fulfilling.”

Kaler found the community was highly receptive to having HDFS interns in their organizations. She said the ultimate success was when former students became field experience supervisors, giving back to NDSU by hosting more interns.

“I want my students to find a career that uses their skills, challenges them, allows for a balanced lifestyle, recognition for their achievements and be lifelong learners,” Kaler said. “I also want them to be grateful. I am forever grateful for my career at NDSU.”

Since retirement, Kaler and her husband took a road trip from the east coast this summer and have more plans for future trips. They intend to spend their winters in Arizona, where they can spend time with their newest granddaughter.