Convocation Program 2025 single pages

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

HONORS MEMBERS OF ITS DISTINGUISHED FACULTY

2025-26

University Professors Steber Professors Herzog Endowed Scholar Class of 1975 Endowed Professorship

September 4, 2025

THE FALL CONVOCATION OF THE FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

September 4, 2025

WELCOME Nicholas R. Santilli, PhD Interim Provost and Vice President INVOCATION Linda Lane, JD Professor of Practice, School of Law

GREETING Amanda Ruiz, PhD Chair, University Senate Professor of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences

PRESENTATION OF AWARDS James T. Harris III, DEd President

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS James T. Harris III, DEd

THE FALL CONVOCATION OF THE FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO Today we recognize those who have excelled in academic achievement by awarding them special professorships. The university community is pleased to congratulate these individuals because they represent the core of our mission and the scholarly values we all share.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS University Professors are those who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievements in teaching and research supporting the mission and goals of the university. STEBER PROFESSORS Steber Professors are recognized for substantial contributions in the areas of teaching, research and service to the university and are limited, by the intent of the donor, Clarence L. Steber, to faculty members in the School of Business Administration and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

HERZOG ENDOWED SCHOLAR The Herzog Endowed Scholar award recognizes meritorious teaching or schol arly productivity and provides funds for professional development or for increased time for research or teaching for a one-year

period to School of Law faculty. CLASS OF 1975 ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP

The Class of 1975 Endowed Professorship, established by the School of Law’s Class of 1975 as its 25-year reunion gift to the law school, recognizes meritorious teaching, leadership and academic accomplishments of a professor in the School of Law.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

CAROLINE ANDREA BAILLIE, PhD

Caroline Baillie is a professor within the Department of Integrated Engineering and academic director of MESH – MS Engineering, Sustainability and Health. Her main area of expertise is engineering as it relates to social justice.

and practices into classrooms of all ages, in order to facilitate the transformation to a more equitable and just future. In her spare time, Professor Baillie runs the Standing People Together program of Waste for Life, which includes the Standing People Forest Exploratorium: forest-based retreats, forest schools for children and

In order to practice what she preaches, Professor Baillie co-founded the nonprofit Waste for Life organization in 2006, to share her materials engineering knowledge in support of vulnerable communities wishing to develop upcycled waste-based businesses. She also co founded ESJP – the Engineering, Social Justice and Peace network, in 2004. Professor Baillie’s research considers socio-technical processes and systems that enhance social and environmental justice, and educational systems that promote these. She brings lessons learnt from these studies

professional development for teachers; and Standing People Staging, which produces original shows to bring critical social issues to the awareness of audiences. Professor Baillie has published 28 scholarly books, an edited Springer book series on Engineers, Technology and Society , and more than 250 book chapters, peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. Her most recent book, Reimagining Engineering Education , was published in October 2025.

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UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

BRADLEY J. BOND, PhD

Bradley Bond is a professor in the Department of Communication specializing in media psychology. Professor Bond’s scholarship investigates the influence of media on youth socialization and the development of parasocial relationships with media personae. His studies have received external grants, and resulted in more than 50

associate editor for the Journal of Media Psychology , the vice-chair of the Mass Communication Division of ICA, and the president of the Board for FilmOut, San Diego’s LGBTQ+ film festival organization. Professor Bond also invests in strengthening collaborations between academia and industry. He

academic publications, including journal articles, book chapters and edited volumes. He has presented competitive top paper awards at both national and international communication associations, and has given invited talks at universities, institutions and organizations in North America and Europe. He is also a regular contributor to popular press outlets, including TIME, Psychology Today , ABC News and NPR. Professor Bond has taken leadership roles within and beyond USD. He served two terms as the chair of the Department of Communication. He is presently an editor for the Journal of Children and Media , an

sits on the advisory council for the L.A.- based Center for Scholars and Storytellers, and presents workshops and seminars on improving the representation of marginalized identities in entertainment narratives to major media corporations, including Warner Brothers, Disney and YouTube. Professor Bond’s teaching excellence has also been recognized by USD’s Center for Educational Excellence, the National Communication Association, and through an endowed position with the Institute for Shipboard Education.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

MICHAEL B. RAPPAPORT, JD, DCL

Michael Rappaport is the Hugh & Hazel Darling Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he is also the director of the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism. Professor Rappaport teaches Constitutional Law and Administrative Law. His research interests include originalism, administrative law, supermajority rules and the separation of powers.

Originalism Blog , which he founded. He has taught overseas at both the Sorbonne and Paris Two in Paris, France, at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, at LUISS in Rome, Italy, and at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He has published in the Wall Street Journal , the New York Times, National Review, and the Weekly Standard , and has been cited many times by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Previously, Professor Rappaport worked in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice and practiced appellate law with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He received a JD and a DCL (political theory) from the Yale Law School, and served as a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Professor Rappaport is the author (with John McGinnis) of Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard 2013). He has published scores of law review articles, in journals such as the Yale Law Journal , the Virginia Law Review , the University of Pennsylvania Law Review , and the Northwestern Law Review . He blogs at The

FALL CONVOCATION 2025 / UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

KENNETH P. SERBIN, PhD

Kenneth Serbin’s contributions span the fields of Brazilian history, science and technology studies, and bioethics. His book, Secret Dialogues: Church-State

untreatable brain disorder, and the movement to conquer it. First writing under a pseudonym to avoid genetic discrimination, in 2012 Professor Serbin exited the “Huntington’s closet” by publishing an essay titled “Racing Against the Genetic Clock” in The Chronicle of Higher Education . In 2011, he was named the Person of the Year of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.

Relations, Torture, and Social Justice in Authoritarian Brazil also appeared in a special Brazilian edition, receiving wide media coverage and a prize. His Needs of the Heart: A Social and Cultural History of Brazil’s Clergy and Seminaries also won a prize. From Revolution to Power in Brazil: How Radical Leftists Embraced Capitalism and Struggled with Leadership chronicled the lives of opponents of Brazil’s military dictatorship. Professor Serbin served as president of the Brazilian Studies Association. He has also documented the new and harrowing human experience of living in the gray zone between a genetic test result and onset of a disease. Since 2005, his blog, At Risk for Huntington’s Disease has chronicled his family’s struggle against Huntington’s, an

In 2017, Professor Serbin, his family and Huntington’s advocates from around the globe attended a special audience in Rome with Pope Francis, who declared Huntington’s “hidden no more.” For USD, Professor Serbin organized an exclusive screening of the documentary about the event, Dancing at the Vatican . His many courses include “A History of the Brain: Examining Huntington’s Disease.”

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

ADRIANA VAMOSIU, PhD

Adriana Vamosiu is a professor of economics in the Knauss School of Business. Over her 12 years at USD, she has designed and taught a multitude of courses spanning the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. From foundational principles to advanced econometrics and capstone and Honors theses, her student-centered approach focuses on analytical thinking, practical

presentations at over a dozen of conferences. She actively collaborates both across institutions and within her own department and further contributes to USD’s research reputation through extensive service as a journal reviewer and conference session chair.

Professor Vamosiu’s service spans from curriculum design and undergraduate research to cross-school collaborations, cultivating inclusive learning environments and strengthening academic pathways. Her leadership on committees at the school and university level and her service as a department chair reveal a steadfast devotion to USD’s mission. As a Changemaker Fellow, a Catholic Intellectual Traditions Fellow and Harpst Migration Fellow, Professor Vamosiu brings empathy, rigor and purpose to her work and lives the university’s mission of fostering peace, justice and transformative scholarship for a more hopeful world.

application and ethical leadership — all deeply rooted in the university’s liberal arts core values. Professor Vamosiu continually innovates through her own learning from having attended more than 320 professional development events to date, and integrating pedagogies like Universal Design Learning and AI-driven tools that resonate with today’s learners. Her research portfolio spans microeconomic theory, economics of education, health and real estate economics, with 13 publications, multiple works in progress and

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STEBER PROFESSORS

VICTOR CARMONA, PhD

Victor Carmona teaches and writes as an associate professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. There, he also serves students and colleagues as director of the Mons. Portman Endowment in Catholic Theology and as core director. A spirituality of acompañamiento (accompaniment) lies at the

Disenchantment and Misenchantment in the Contemporary World , edited by W. Cavanaugh (forthcoming) and “Deu Filho como ternura encarnada” in Ternura: abordagem ético teológica , edited by J. Trasferetti and R. Zacharias (Brasil, Paulus Editora, 2023). Professor Carmona’s current project explores the experiences of Catholic

heart of Professor Carmona’s teaching philosophy. A commitment to healing our communities’ wounds is at the heart of his research on theological ethics of migration. A desire to build bridges that help our communities’ institutions adapt to and thrive in a changing world is at the heart of his service. His courses include Spirituality and Struggle, Catholic Social Thought, and Latine Catholicism. Among his pieces are “Fear, Security, and Idolatry at the U.S.- Mexico Border” in Is Idolatry Dead?

parishes in the Cali-Baja region to develop Catholic social thought on migration in a synodal key. He is also co-editing a book bridging insights of theologians and scholars of religion from Canada to Argentina on the future of synodality and Catholicism in the continent. Beyond USD, Professor Carmona recently completed service in the Diocese of San Diego’s Synodal Commission and the Board of Directors of the Society of Christian Ethics. He now serves in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Moral Theology .

STEBER PROFESSORS

SARAH C. LYON, PhD

Sarah Lyon is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and former tax accountant who earned her PhD from the University of California, Irvine. She is a member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of CPAs.

deception, communication methods, tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility. Her dissertation explored the link between aggressive financial and tax reporting practices. Her work has been published in leading journals, including the Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, The British

Professor Lyon has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in financial accounting, taxation, accounting policy and international accounting. She has been recognized for her outstanding teaching and dedication to student success, and currently serves as the academic director for the graduate accounting programs (MACC and MTAX). Her research focuses on auditor judgment and decision-making, audit quality,

Journal of Management, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Organization Management Journal, and The Tax Adviser . Professor Lyon has received multiple grants from the Center for Audit Quality in support of her collaborative research. Her contributions reflect a strong commitment to advancing the field of accounting through both scholarship and education.

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HERZOG ENDOWED SCHOLAR

MICHELLE LAYSER, JD

Michelle Layser is a professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law. She joined the USD faculty in 2022, after four years as an assistant professor of law at the University of Illinois College of Law and two years as a research fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center.

and the TaxProf Blog . She previously served on the editorial advisory board for The Tax Lawyer , and she is the current chair of the teaching tax committee for the American Bar Association Tax Section. Professor Layser earned her LLM in Taxation from New York University. She earned her JD from the University of Southern California Gould

Major themes in Professor Layser’s research include the use of tax expenditures to subsidize urban development, and the effects of these expenditures on economic and social inequality. Her recent work has appeared in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review , the Duke Law Journal , the Georgetown Law Journal , and NYU’s Tax Law Review . In addition to her scholarly publications, Professor Layser has written various articles for the Illinois Institute of Government & Public Affairs, Law360 , The Conversation ,

School of Law, where she graduated Order of the Coif, and was on the board of the Southern California Law Review . She received her BA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania. After law school, she worked as a transactional associate at Latham & Watkins LLP, and as a senior legal editor and a managing editor for the Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs.

CLASS OF 1975 ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP

DONALD DRIPPS, JD

Donald A. Dripps is a Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he has been a faculty member since 2004. A leading scholar in criminal law and procedure, Professor Dripps brings decades of academic and professional experience to his role. He earned his BA from Northwestern University

Law School, where he was named the James Annenberg Levee Professor of Criminal Procedure. Professor Dripps's areas of expertise include Federal Courts, Constitutional Interpretation, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Evidence. He is the co-author of the widely used casebook

in 1980 and his JD from the University of Michigan in 1983, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. He is also a member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Dripps clerked for the Honorable Amalya Kearse of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City. He later held academic positions at several prestigious institutions including the University of Illinois College of Law, Duke University School of Law, Cornell Law School, and the University of Minnesota

Criminal Law and Procedure: Cases and Materials (15th ed., 2025) and has published extensively in top law reviews on topics such as due process, plea bargaining, the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and the federalization of rape law. His forthcoming book, Sentencing Discretion and the Constitution: Due Process of Time , is due to be published in January 2026 by Oxford University Press.

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