About Us

Dr. Kris Marsh
Professor
Maryland University

Kris Marsh received her PhD from the University of Southern California in 2005. She was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina before joining the faculty of Maryland in fall 2008. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Sociology, and affiliate faculty of the Maryland Population Research Center, Department of Women's Studies, and African American Studies Department.

Professor Marsh's general areas of expertise are the black middle class, demography, racial residential segregation, and education. She has combined these interests to develop a research agenda. This agenda is divided into two broad areas: avenues into the black middle class and consequences of being in the black middle class. The common theme in her work is decomposing what it means to be black in America by focusing on intra-group variability in regards to class, space, identity and educational achievement.

Kris teach undergraduate courses in Research Methods, Race Relations and Black Middle Class and graduate seminars on Racial Residential Segregation. Dr. Marsh is a blogger and contributor to CNN in America. She has published nearly a dozen articles in academic journals.

Dr. Emma Wood
Clinical Psychologist
Baylor University

Dr. Emma Wood is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Baylor University. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL, where she also received her Master of Arts degree. Dr. Wood received her bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, in Interdisciplinary studies: Art, Music, and Psychology. As a psychologist Dr. Wood recognizes the importance of holistic individualized treatment and strives to facilitate personal growth through creating a warm and accepting therapeutic space for her clients. She takes a feminist approach to her work, viewing empowerment as a catalyst for change in many clients she works with, and social action as an essential part of their healing process.

Her specific clinical interests are in the areas of eating disorders, identity development, diversity, self esteem, and women's issues. Dr. Wood has been featured in articles addressing mental health concerns on college campuses as well as issues related to eating disorders and self-esteem. She is a regular contributor for wearetherealdeal.com, voted a top body image and body confidence website and FemPop, the feminist pop culture blog for the American Psychological Association's Division 35: The Society for the Psychology of Women. Dr. Wood presents nationally at conferences and special events on topics of eating disorders, body image, feminist approaches to mental health promotion, and diversity. Dr. Wood is in the process of writing her first book based on an original college mental health promotion program she developed entitled "I Heart Me and U: creating personal and collective wellness on campus."

KC Williams
Professor
Stanford University

KC Williams earned her Bachelor's degree, with Honors, in Sociology and a Master's degree in Social Psychology and Interpersonal Processes, both from Stanford University. She concentrated on issues affecting students of color in the education system, writing an undergraduate honors thesis, "The High School Culture and its Effects on Motivation of Course Choice for Black High School Students" and a Master's thesis, "Assimilation Among African-American High School Students: Its Effects and Correlates" as part of Professor Sanford Dornbusch's "Families, Peers, and Schools" research team.

As an officer in the United States Air Force, she was trained in Public Affairs. While serving at one of her duty stations, she began teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Lutheran University, and then joined the adjunct faculty at Florida Memorial University. She currently teaches Sociology, Social Psychology, Social Diversity, and the Sociology of Gender full time at Coastal Carolina Community College. She is an academic advisor, counselor, committee member, fundraiser, and faculty trainer. She is a faculty advisor to the Male Minority Mentoring program, and she and her family have an endowed scholarship, "Each One Reach One Scholarship for African American Males" dedicated to the education and development of African American males.

While serving at Coastal, KC has conducted faculty training workshops on "Addressing the Needs of Multicultural Students," "Dealing with Difficult Students and Incivility in the Classroom (Contrapower Harassment)," "Feminism: The New 'F' Bomb," and "Mexico from a Sociological Perspective." Her current research focuses include a content analysis of the gender roles of women presented in the media and the contrapower harassment dynamic prevalent on college campuses.

Kim LeDuff, Ph.D
Associate Professor/Associate Director

Dr. Kim M. LeDuff is associate professor and associate director in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism. She holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from Indiana University with concentrations in communication and culture and media and technology.

She also has an M.A. in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland-College Park and a B.A. in mass communication from Xavier University of Louisiana. She is the author of Tales of Two Cities: How Race and Crime Intersect on Local TV News and co- author of Race and News: Critical Perspectives.

Dr. LeDuff was honored by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning as Black History Educator of the year in 2012 for her contributions to diversity education on the campus and across the state. She teaches a course on race, gender and media at the graduate and undergraduate levels, which is reflective of her research on race and representation in the mass media. She has also taught courses in broadcast journalism, media writing, mass media theory and pedagogy. Dr. LeDuff's professional experience includes work in television production and audience research. She has also worked as national account executive and voice-over talent. Dr. LeDuff has a vested interest in diversity and journalism education and has published research in these areas as well. She is a member of AEJMC, NCA and SSCA and presents at their annual conferences regularly.

Dr. Joseph D. Pepe, Ed.D.
Executive Vice President for Administration

Dr. Joseph D. Pepe is the Executive Vice President for Administration for Hodges University. In his current role, he oversees various departments including Student Services, Alumni Affairs, Financial Aid and Admissions. Previously, Dr. Pepe was the Executive Director of Nova Southeastern University's off-campus locations throughout Florida, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Nevada and in the Bahamas. Throughout Dr. Pepe's career he has served in various capacities developing new locations for higher education. As part of his work, he has helped develop several municipal partnerships including Avon Park, Jacksonville, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Miami, Naples, Palm Beach, Tampa and Miramar, Florida. Dr. Pepe also administers Hodges University's admission and marketing campaigns, and helps bring a variety of academic programs to the region. Dr. Pepe aided in the acquisition, design and build of several campuses throughout Florida, Nevada, Bahamas and Jamaica.

A native of Florida, born in Miami, Joe has been a resident of Southwest Florida for over twenty years. Before joining Hodges University, Dr. Pepe worked thirteen years for Nova Southeastern University as the Executive Director for Student Educational Centers, NSU's distant campus department. He also worked for five years in the telecommunications industry as an Area Manager for GTE Wireless (now Verizon), establishing new retail stores and managing rollouts of a variety of services such as, Cellular, Long-Distance, Internet and Digital Services. Not only was Joe heavily involved in the operations side of the business but he was one of 20 persons invited by the CEO to be part of the Marketing Management Development Team hosted by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School. Prior to joining the telecommunication company, Joe worked with the University of South Florida's School of Mass Communications as Production Manager. During this period, he served as mentor to the members of the Student Broadcasting Association that operated the in-house video production department and oversaw the installation and operations of all student lab operations and three studios.

Throughout his professional endeavors, Dr. Pepe has been recognized for his work and his significant contribution to the organizations with which he worked, as well as to the surrounding communities. He has been recognized at various institutions he served for several awards for his leadership and innovation. He has also been recognized by the Fort Myers Police Department and the City of Cape Coral for his cooperation and support in the development of new centers and programs. Dr. Pepe also served on the Alliance of Educational Leaders Board and is a member of the Chair Academy for Leadership. Dr. Pepe received a proclamation from the City of Miami Dade for the advancement of education in the region. Joe also enjoys supporting local charities such as fundraising for MDA, American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and Boys and Girls Club where he has given many presentations to at-risk children.

Dr. Pepe received his B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of South Florida and his Masters in Administration from Central Michigan. He attained his doctoral degree in education at Nova Southeastern University with concentrations in Organizational Leadership, and Instructional Technology and Distance Education. He also holds a Technician Class Amateur radio license.

Dr. Joseph Pepe plans to continue developing new working relationships within the Southwest Florida community as well as all communities in need of higher education. This will enable him to introduce more of Hodges University's new and dynamic programs and service offerings, thereby increasing the university's community contributions to achieve the 2020 vision.