MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Several West Virginia University faculty members will be available to offer reaction and expert commentary to the media tonight (Jan. 12) and in the coming days following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

WVU faculty who can dissect the speech and offer analysis include:

Political science:Scott Crichlow, chair of the Department of Political Science, specializes in U.S. foreign policy and Middle Eastern politics. He can be reached at 304.293.3198 or by email at [email protected]

Economy and budgeting:John Deskins is director of the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research and an associate professor in the College of Business and Economics. He can be reached at 304.293.7876 or [email protected].

Eric Olson is an assistant professor in the College of Business and Economics whose work explores the economic cost of terrorism. He can be reached at 304.293.7879 or by email at [email protected]

Gerard D’Souza, director and professor of agricultural and resource economics, who can discuss energy economics. He can be reached at [email protected].

Karen Kunz, an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration, specializes in federal budgeting and fiscal policy, and financial markets regulation. She is also on the board of directors for the American Association of Budget and Program Analysts (aapba.org). She can be reached at [email protected].

Legal issues and constitutional law:Elaine Waterhouse Wilson, a professor in the College of Law, is an expert on tax law. She can be reached at [email protected].

James Friedberg from the WVU College of Law offers expertise in international law, including the law of war, human rights law and United Nations law. He can be reached at 304.293.7400 or by email at [email protected].

Arthur Rizer, a law professor who teaches criminal law and whose research focuses on issues dealing with the police, is an Iraq war veteran who helped to train the Iraqi Army. He also served as a national security litigator at the Department of Justice and civil litigator with the Office of Immigration Litigation. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

Michael Blumenthal, visiting professor of law and director of the Immigration Clinic at the College of Law. He can be reached at 304.241.1518 or 757.383.5035, or by email at [email protected].

Homeland security and terrorism trends:Rusty Russell is the research program coordinator at the WVU Research Office and has expertise in homeland security issues, critical infrastructure, as well as the training and preparedness of first and emergency responders. He can be reached at 304.293.5037 or by email at [email protected].

Robert Duval is chair for the Department of Healthy Policy, management, and Leadership at the WVU School of Public Health. His areas of expertise include domestic extremism, policy research methods, and national security policy. He can be reached at 304.293.1826 or by email at [email protected].

Lawrence Nichols is a professor of sociology and anthropology who teaches on the sociology behind terrorism, including causes and socio-cultural contexts as well as future trends. He can be reached by calling 304.293.5801 or email at [email protected].

Joshua Woods is an associate professor of sociology. His research has focused primarily on the social and psychological responses to terrorism and other perceived threats. He can be reached at 304.293.8843 or by email at [email protected].

Health:• Carl Sullivan is a professor and vice chair in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at the WVU School of Medicine. He serves as medical director of Substance Abuse Programs for WVU Medicine. In addition, Sullivan has served as director of the West Virginia Addiction Training Institute for 25 years. He has testified before the House of Representatives Appropriations Sub-Committee on prescription opioid abuse in Appalachia. Media requests should be directed to Angela Jones-Knopf at [email protected].

Marc Haut is the chair of the WVU Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. He also serves as psychology section chief, program director of neuropsychology, research advisor and professor in the Departments of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, Neurology and Radiology. He can be reached at 304.293.5323 or [email protected].

(General requests for other healthcare and health-related issues should be directed to Angela Jones-Knopf at [email protected] or Bill Case at [email protected].)

Energy:Brian Anderson is the director of WVU’s Energy Institute and the GE Plastics Material Engineering Professor of Chemical Engineering. He can be reached at 304.293.6631 or [email protected].

Timothy Carr, WVU’s Marshall Miller professor of Geology, teaches shale-gas and oil short courses internationally and works with the U.S. Department of State to assist countries in developing the expertise to establish and regulate unconventional resources. He can be reached at [email protected].

James Van Nostrand is director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development and associate professor of law. He can be reached at 304.293.4694 or [email protected].

Education:Gypsy Denzine, dean of the College of Education and Human Services, is a professor of educational psychology and conducts research in the area of college student development, learning and motivation. She can be reached at [email protected].

Other areas of interest:James Nolan, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, teaches courses in the area of crime and social control. His research currently focuses on police procedures, crime measurement, and hate crimes. He is available by phone at 304.293.8582 or [email protected]. Additional information is also available at the WVU Research Center on Violence.

Joel Beeson, associate professor in the WVU Reed College of Media, who can speak about technology, culture, media and race. He can be reached at 304.216.3594.

John Temple is an associate professor in the WVU Reed College of Media. He recently published his third book, “American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America’s Deadliest Drug Epidemic.” He can be reached at [email protected].

West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, area of expertise, or college/school/department in the Experts Database at WVU Today.

-WVU-

ak/01/12/16

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