Research Fellows

Research Fellow – Michael Nance

Michael Nance graduated cum Laude in 2010 from Tufts University with a B.A. in Anthropology and a Minor in Music. He speaks Hebrew and German proficiently, having also studied at the University of Tübingen in Germany and having been a participant in the 2008 Sommerhochschule of the University of Vienna, where he received the Sommerhochschule Diploma in European Studies with highest distinction. He has participated in multiple extra-curricular activities during his time in college, including a couple of plays, several musical ensembles, and an archaeological dig in Tuscany.

Research Fellow – Randy Rowe

Randy Rowe is a 2009 graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies and while at MSU he was president of the Russian club. For the last three years he has worked in the Michigan State Senate as a research assistant. Randy is a volunteer coordinator and English as a Second Language assistant at the Refugee Development Center in Lansing, Michigan, and in addition to Russian, he has studied Latin, Polish, and Arabic.

Research Fellow – Tim Morrison

For the past five years, Tim Morrison has been an associate attorney in the Dallas office of an international law firm.In that position, he has been a member of teams defending some of America’s leading corporations in wide ranging litigation-from diverse products liability matters (including claims in connection with international aircraft disasters, public nuisance claims against gun manufacturers, global warming-based tort claims, and claims of occupational chemical exposure) to commercial and tax litigation.

In addition to litigation, Tim has worked with the in-house legal staff for a major international retailer on state and federal regulatory compliance matters related to consumer products, with a particular focus on issues related to the retailer’s “green” initiatives (such as energy efficient and organic products). He also has experience with securities fraud litigation, and in connection with the defense of a major computer services corporation in a securities fraud class action, Tim was part of a team tasked with taking third-party depositions of the United States Navy, including the deposition of a three-star Navy admiral.

Tim graduated from Tulane Law School magna cum laude in May 2004, and upon graduation was inducted into the Order of the Coif. While in law school, he was a student editor and managing editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal and was awarded that journal’s awards for editorial excellence as both a junior member and managing editor. He spent the entirety of his third years as an extern for the Honorable Lance M. Africk, United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. Also while in law school, Tim participated in Tulane University’s Project for Older Prisoners, where he assisted with the successful petition for the parole of a 62-year-old inmate and interned the summer after his first-year for the Honorable Jorge A. Solis, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, in Dallas.

He received his undergraduate degree in government magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2001. While an undergraduate (and throughout his high school career), Tim coached age group and Masters (adult) competitive swimming, serving in various positions and capacities of increasing responsibility, including co-founding and helping grow a nonprofit USA Swimming club program to over 200 athletes.

He has traveled extensively internationally, in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Research Fellow – Francis Mwaijande, Ph.D.

Dr. Francis Mwaijande is a Fulbright scholar. He received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Arkansas in 2008. His dissertation examined barriers for agriculture-tourism linkages. He holds M.A. Communications Planning from the University of Wolverhampton, U.K., and B.A. Education (Hons) from the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Dr. Mwaijande began his teaching career with the Mzumbe University, Tanzania in 1990. He was promoted from Assistant Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. He has worked as a Training Adviser cum Coordinator for UNDP/NEX supported project. His role was to coordinate, supervise, and evaluate project management, monitoring and evaluation capacity building program for government officers. He also has worked with a team of consultants for the Rural Financial Services Program for gender needs assessment and leadership training for Micro-financial institutions (MFIs) in Tanzania. He also worked as a postdoctoral intern at Arkansas World Trade Center (USA) while exploring and promoting Arkansas-Africa trade and investment in Africa in the framework of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Dr. Mwaijande has researched on “Cultural Approaches to Information, Education and Communication (I.E.C) on sexual behavior change” and Understanding Barriers for Agriculture-Tourism Linkages. He co-authored a research report “Village Governments Partnership with Private Institutions”. His research interest and capacity include agritourism, evaluation of food assistance programs, the Millennium Development Goal to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, assessment of U.S. foreign policy on trade and investment in Africa, review of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria and PEPFAR, and the Millennium Challenge Account.

Advisor and Senior Fellow – Gioietta Kuo, Ph.D.

Dr. Gioietta Kuo received her Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics at Birmingham University, England and M.A. (Physics) at Cambridge University, England. She developed her thesis in low energy nuclear physics. Other educational pursuits include studies in mathematics, chemistry and physics at Cambridge University, (Newnham College) England.

She has co-authored over seventy scientific publications in international journals.

Recently, she has published a fascinating memoir, ‘A Himalayan Odyssey’, of her earlier years in China, England and Paris (publisher: 1stbooks).

Dr. Kuo’s career has included the invention of a new high-resolution 3-D cone beam reconstruction algorithm for CT scanners covered by US patent #537 5156, 1994, which is now widely known. She also has three recent disclosure documents with the US Patent Office, 2002, on the implementation of the cone beam algorithm. Dr. Kuo was awarded the Excellence in Science Award – Ruder Boskovic, the first to measure the neutron-neutron scattering length in nuclear physics and was an Atlas Computer Fellow at the prestigious St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, GB before coming to work at Princeton University, NJ, USA.

Dr. Kuo has an extensive international research background that includes the Center for Computer Aids for Industrial Productivity, Rutgers University, USA; Siemens Medical Systems, Iselin, NJ, USA; Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ, USA; Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; St. Hilda’s College, Oxford University, England; United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham, Oxford, England; Institute Ruder Boskovic, Zagreb, Yugoslavia and the Commissariat d’Energie Atomique, Paris, France.

Dr. Kuo is currently Co-Founder of Astron CT, which is in the beginning stages of funding for a specialized CT Scanner designed for detection of weapons of mass destruction and other security applications. Beside that, her passions are the promotion of sustainable global population growth and eradication of poverty the world over.

Research Fellow – Lisa Schwamkrug J.D.

Lisa Schwamkrug received her J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in May 2003 and is admitted to practice in Texas. During law school, Ms. Schwamkrug served as President of the International Law Society. In 2003 she re-established the school’s Jessup International Law Moot Court team, serving as Team Captain, international law tutor, and brief writer, winning a second place award for the briefs at the regional rounds with the team placing third. Ms. Schwamkrug was invited back to Texas Tech School of Law to serve as a judge when the law school hosted the Jessup Regional Rounds in 2004.

While in law school, Ms. Schwamkrug participated in a summer program at Moscow State University, studying the Russian Legal System in Transition and Comparative Law. Her other studies in law school included International Business Transactions, Public International Law, NAFTA, Constitutional Law Seminar on Foreign Relations, and National Security Law.

Ms. Schwamkrug holds a B.A. in Russian Language and Area Studies with a minor in German from Texas Tech University. Her undergraduate studies included not only the Russian language but also Russian literature, Russian history, Russian government and political science, and international and comparative economics. Ms. Schwamkrug served as President of the Russian Club. She also studied Japanese and Latin.

Ms. Schwamkrug speaks fluent Russian and currently volunteers at Catholic Charities Immigration Counseling Services in Dallas, Texas. In particular, she assists Russian mail-order brides who have been abused by their husbands in gaining legal status in the U.S. through provisions of the Violence Against Women Act. This work, and other first-hand knowledge of the Russian mail-order bride phenomenon, have prompted Ms. Schwamkrug’s research into domestic and international policy issues affecting Russian mail-order brides, internet marriage brokers, and the violence often accompanying mail order marriages.