Faculty and Staff

ABOUT

Get to know our highly qualified professors

At most schools, you have to wait until graduate school to work directly with professors. SFA does not force undergrad students to toil through huge, impersonal classes that are taught by a teaching assistant who knows you only by your student identification number. We believe that all students, especially undergraduates, should have access to personalized, high-quality instruction. 

As a psychology student at SFA, you’ll be a name, not a number. You’ll attend small, personal classes taught by highly qualified faculty members, most of whom hold Ph.D. degrees in their chosen field of study. You’ll get into the lab and collaborate with your professors on research projects and studies that examine everything from romantic relationships and sexuality to memory, discrimination and development.

Scott Hutchens

Dr. Scott Hutchens earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology, his Master of Arts and his Ph.D. in experimental psychology (with a specialization in cognition) from Texas Tech University. His primary research interests include distinctive memories, text comprehension, eyewitness identification, social cognition and scholarship of teaching and learning. He is a member of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, the Southwestern Psychological Association and the Southeastern Psychological Association.

Lauren Brewer

Dr. Lauren Brewer attended Florida State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Master of Science and a PhD in social psychology. Her research interests include the self, philosophical psychology and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She is a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Southwestern Psychological Association.

Julie Brotzen

Julie Brotzen earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Houston and a Master of Arts from SFA. Brotzen is a licensed psychological associate. Her primary teaching interest is abnormal psychology and human sexuality. 

Kyle Conlon

Dr. Kyle Conlon’s research interests include social cognition, motivation and goals and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He earned his Ph.D. in social psychology from Florida State University. He is a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Southwestern Psychological Association.

Scott Drury

Dr. Scott Drury’s research areas include unconscious priming, implicit memory, impression formation, text comprehension and the history of psychology. He holds a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Alabama. Drury is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association and is the faculty advisor for SFA’s Psychology Club.  

Steven Estrada

Dr. Steven Estrada holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University. His research interests include emotion-cognition interactions, decision making, embodied cognition, animal cognition and the neurobiology of attention. He is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Lora Jacobi

Dr. Lora Jacobi’s primary research interest is the effects of appearance, obesity and other extraneous variables on the perception of performance and personnel decisions, including hiring and promotion. Jacobi holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. She is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Dusty Jenkins

Dr. Dusty Jenkins’ research and teaching interests include adolescent and adult development, romantic relationships, human sexuality and issues pertinent to sexual minorities. Jenkins earned a Ph.D. in human development and family studies from Auburn University. She is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Mark Ludorf

Dr. Mark Ludorf’s research interests include attention, memory, leadership, applied statistics/methodology and technology applications in higher education. He holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology (with a specialization in cognition) from the University of Kansas. He is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association.

Sylvia Middlebrook

Dr. Sylvia Middlebrook studied school psychology and developmental psychology at Texas Woman’s University and applied behavioral analysis at the University of North Texas. Her primary research and teaching interests include psychological/behavior analytic services, ethical issues in psychological services provision, psychopathology, interface of legal/mental health systems and causal attribution. She is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Catherine Pearte

Dr. Catherine Pearte earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Florida. Her research interests include psychopathology in young adults and college students, borderline personality disorder, suicide, non-suicide self-injury and eating disorders/body image. Pearte is the faculty co-advisor for the SFA chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. She is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Dr. Robert Polewan
Assistant Professor

Dr. Robert Polewan’s research interests are behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, associative learning, memory, animal cognition and psychopharmacology. He studied neuroscience and behavior at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association.

arah Savoy

Dr. Sarah Savoy holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Rutgers University. Her current research interests include weight stigma, cognitive processes that contribute to the development and maintenance of disordered eating behavior and developmental-ecological models of the impact of victimization on psychosocial adjustment. She is a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Nathan Sparkman

Dr. Nathan Sparkman’s primary research and teaching interests include neuroinflammation, aging and learning and memory processes. He earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Texas Christian University. Sparkman is the co-faculty advisor for the SFA chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. He is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association. 

Dr. Michael Walker

Dr. Michael Walker’s research and teaching interests include behavioral assessment of individuals and systems, clinical interests include attention and memory across the lifespan, learning disabilities and response to trauma. Walker is SFA’s assistant dean of student affairs for support services and Title IX coordinator. Walker also serves as a member of SFA’s Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee. 

Elizabeth (“Bit”) Johnson

Elizabeth Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science in interior design from SFA and has been with the Department of Psychology since 2006.  

Dr. Sharon Eaves 
Assistant Professor 

Dr. Sharon Eaves holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts in psychology from Louisiana State University, and she earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from University of Texas at Arlington. Her teaching interests include educational psychology, lifespan development, child and adolescent psychology and cognitive psychology. She is a member of the faculty senate and the chair of the Faculty Welfare Committee. 

Charles White 

Charles White holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from SFA. He teaches General Psychology, Scientific Literacy in Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and Human Lifespan Development. His areas of interest include human sexuality, childhood aggression, and attitudes about sexual orientation. His work has been published in the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services.  

James Schaeffer

Dr. James Schaeffer holds a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests include interactions between memory and cognition, psychophysiology, neuroscience and health. Much of his research focuses on the ways in which lifestyle and environmental health factors throughout the lifespan may impact the brain and contribute to memory loss and general cognitive decline. Some examples of these health factors include chronic stress, depression, obesity, inflammation, heart disease and diabetes. He is a member of the Southwestern Psychological Association.

Hollie Smith

Smith earned both her Bachelor of Science in psychology and Master of Arts in psychology with an emphasis in industrial and organizational psychology from SFA. She holds a Doctor of Education in higher education administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce. Her research interests are in student leadership development and assessment practices. She is a member of the Education Law Association, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Association, and Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Association. She advises SFA’s Purple Haze Association and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society.