Scott Hudson
College of Engineering
(509) 372-7254
West 134F & 144D
hudson@tricity.wsu.edu

Scott Hudson serves as Director of Engineering Programs at Washington State University Tri-Cities. He oversees undergraduate and graduate programs in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Computer Science and works with the faculty in these areas to pursue world-class education, research and public service.

Scott earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from California Institute of Technology in 1990. That same year he joined the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as an Assistant Professor at the Pullman campus. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1996 and full Professor in 2001. After serving for a time as the School's Associate Director, in 2002 Scott transferred to the WSU Tri-Cities campus where he has since been the Electrical Engineering Program Coordinator.

Scott also is serving as the interim academic director for the College of Sciences programs, effective July 2008.

Thought about WSU-Tri-Cities:

At WSU Tri-Cities, students can access the resources, programs and degrees of a major research university while enjoying the individual attention from faculty and staff that typifies a small-campus setting.

Phyllis Morris
College of Nursing
(509) 372-7196
West 263C
pmorris@tricity.wsu.edu

Phyllis Morris, MN, RN, CRNI, serves as the Regional Academic Director of Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing, based at WSU Tri-Cities for 2008-2009. Phyllis is responsible for the oversight of the Basic RN, RN to BSN, and MN programs on the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla campuses.  

Prior to joining WSU Tri-Cities, she worked in area hospitals and held several management positions. Phyllis holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Education, has more than 20 years of nursing experience, and specializes in intravenous therapy. She is an active member of several community based committees and boards, including the advisory boards for the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing and the Columbia Basin College Nursing program.
 
Thought:
The WSU Tri-Cities campus is providing a much needed service to the community by investing in nursing education. The student-to-instructor ratio and the collaboration with area healthcare facilities promotes a learning environment that affords an excellent educational experience for students.

Elizabeth (Liza) Nagel
College of Education
(509) 372-7398
West 207N
elizabeth_nagel@tricity.wsu.edu

Elizabeth (Liza) Nagel, Ph.D., arrived in Spring 2008 from the University of New Mexico where she served in many capacities: Associate Professor of Health Education, Accreditation Coordinator for the College of Education, and Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.  

She has an active research agenda that includes the study of youth risk-taking behaviors and stress management.  A former member of the state advisory board for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, she assisted that organization in significantly decreasing the rates and impact of drunk-driving in the state of New Mexico.  Prior to her tenure at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Nagel served as the Director of the Institute for Substance Abuse Prevention Studies at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Her Project EDAHOE received the 1989 National Exemplary Drug Prevention Award designation by the U.S. Department of Education.
 
Dr. Nagel received her bachelor’s degree in Child Development at California State University. She earned her master’s degree in Family Relations and Ph.D. in Higher Education at Washington State University.

Leonard Orr
College of Liberal Arts
(509) 372-7253
West 207L
orr@tricity.wsu.edu

Dr. Orr has been involved in the WSU Tri-Cities’ administration since 1993, and has served as the Academic Director of Liberal Arts since 2000.  In addition to serving on campus leadership councils, he is a member of the College of Liberal Arts Administrative Leadership and the Dean’s Administrative Staff.

He is currently pursuing interdisciplinary research and teaching in the area of representations of the Holocaust, resulting in a new course, and fellowships in seminars at the centers for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. He was honored by the College of Liberal Arts by being named to the Lewis E. and Stella G. Buchanan Distinguished Professorship in English (for 2005-2008).
 
Dr. Orr is a tenured, full professor in the English Department and he has been active in recent years as a poet, giving readings throughout the state and elsewhere, leading workshops, and serving as president of the Washington Poets Association
 
Thought about WSU Tri-Cities:

Dr. Orr believes the most exciting development for the campus has certainly been the start of the lower-division, a prospect he was told was imminent at the time he was interviewed for this position in 1990.  This will have long-lived positive consequences throughout the programs and colleges from freshmen through doctoral students.

James R. (Dick) Pratt
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
College of Sciences, interim academic director

509) 372-7212
East 225
jrpratt@tricity.wsu.edu

James R. (Dick) Pratt joined Washington State University Tri-Cities as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on Aug. 1, 2008.

Previously, Dick was founding Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology at Clarkson University in New York.  His experience also includes Idaho State University’s Dean of Arts and Sciences and Portland State University’s Vice Provost for Academic Personnel and Budget in the Office of Academic Affairs. 

Dick has served on national and international committees on environmental pollution, environmental indicators, and environmental restoration.  He has been extensively published on the topics of environmental toxicology, environmental restoration, and microbial ecology. He also taught science at the middle school and high school levels for 10 years. 

Dick received his doctoral degree in zoology from Virginia Tech, his master’s of science in biology from Eastern Washington University, and his bachelor’s of arts in biology from the University of Washington. He graduated from Kennewick High School in 1968.

Dick’s thought about WSU Tri-Cities:

This is an exciting time to be at WSU Tri-Cities.  I’m looking forward to helping grow enrollment and to increase the diversity of programs that serve the region.  Additionally, WSU Tri-Cities has excellent people ready to advance our research agenda, especially through work with our many community partners.

John Thornton
College of Business
(509) 372-7246
CIC 125F
jthornt@tricity.wsu.edu

Dr. Thornton is the Academic Director of the Business Programs and an Associate Professor of Accounting at Washington State University’s Tri-Cities Campus.  Prior to coming to WSU in 2000, he served as an accounting faculty member and Director of Faculty Development at the U.S. Air Force Academy’ Department of Management.  His research interests focus on professional ethics and auditor independence.  Dr. Thornton serves on five editorial boards of accounting research journals.  Between undergraduate and graduate degrees, he held staff and senior level positions in both local and international public accounting firms.
 
Thought about WSU TC:

"Prestigious school, small class sizes, student-focused faculty: WSU's Tri-Cities campus provides the best bang for your educational buck in the country. Now that makes an accountant happy!"