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Faculty Profiles

Rebecca Covarrubias (Associate Professor, Psychology Department)
“¿Estás durmiendo bien?” “Are you eating enough?” “Your new shoes look funny.” These are bits of conversations that can be heard when Rebecca Covarrubias, an Associate Professor of Psychology, visits home during the break. “My family shows love in many ways — making sure I’m doing okay and also teasing me. They are good at it, too.”
James Doucet-Battle (Assistant Professor, Sociology Department)
James Doucet-Battle was born and raised in Rochester, New York. His father worked for the Air Force and his mother was employed at Eastman Kodak.
Olof Einarsdottir (Former Chair, Academic Senate and Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department)
I grew up in Iceland and I was one of 11 children, 8 girls and 3 boys. My mother completed high school, then entered law school but did not finish. My father graduated from high school; he started his own business when he was very young and did not attend college. I grew up in an environment with a heavy emphasis on academics.
Raja GuhaThakurta (Professor, Astronomer, Department Chair, Astronomy & Astrophysics Department)
I had dreamed of being a scientist from a young age, my interest sparked by many class visits to a local planetarium while I was in elementary school.
Gina Langhout (Kresge '94, former Provost of Oakes College and Professor of Psychology)
I was born in Hawaiian Gardens, CA (near Long Beach), and grew up in Modesto, CA. Three of my four grandparents did not complete high school due to family obligations (e.g., helping to raise siblings).
Jaye Padgett (Professor, Linguistics Department, and (Former) Vice Provost for Student Success)
Jaye Padgett grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland, one of three siblings.

His father never graduated high school and procured work as a printer and later a chauffeur. His mother earned her diploma, but instead of continuing on to college got work as an administrative assistant.
Juan Poblete (Literature Professor)
Juan Poblete was born in Santiago, Chile, one of five siblings. His father was a popular singer, whose Frank Sinatra-like crooner style made him popular in the 1950s. Juan’s father also co-led a popular Chilean radio show in the 1960’s.
Catherine "Cat" Ramirez (Associate Professor, Latin American & Latino Studies, Director, Chicano Latino Resource Center)
Catherine "Cat" Ramírez’s father graduated from high school in East Los Angeles and, after serving in the U.S. military during World War II, got a job working for Caltrans. Her mother, an immigrant from Mexico, was a homemaker who had to leave school as a girl to support her siblings after their mother died.
Veronica Terriquez (Associate Professor, Sociology Department)
Veronica Terriquez was born in the San Gabriel Valley in eastern Los Angeles County. The daughter of working-class immigrants, Veronica discovered early on her acumen and affinity for academic pursuits.
Linda Werner (Adjunct Professor, Computer Science and Engineering Department)
I grew up in a town in northern Connecticut, working summertimes in the tobacco fields when I was 14 and 15.