OBU College of Science and Mathematics Welcomes New Faculty

August 17, 2016

OBU’s James E. Hurley College of Science and Mathematics is pleased to welcome two new faculty members. Dr. Chris Jones is the new dean of the Hurley College, while Dr. Roland Ngebichie-Njabon assumed the role of chemistry instructor.

Jones assumed his duties as dean in early July. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in physics from Erskine College in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Texas in 1997. He also has extensive research experience at the University of Texas, Argonne National Lab, the University of Alabama and Erskine College. He most recently served as professor of chemistry at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, assuming that role in 2014. From 2002-14, he served as associate professor of chemistry and instructional technology specialist at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia. While at Brewton-Parker, he served as interim chief information officer from 2004-06, chief instructional designer from 2006-11, interim provost from 2011-12, and unit coordinator for math and science from 2012-13. He served as a lecturer in general chemistry and computer-assisted learning specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1997-2002. He also served as a teaching assistant from 1990-97 at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ngebichie-Njabon earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a minor in material science and technology from the University of Buea in Cameroon. He then earned a Master of Science in chemistry from the Universitaet Siegen in Germany. He later earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Arkansas and is currently working toward a Master of Science in operations management, also from the University of Arkansas. He has served as both a chemistry instructor and a chemistry teaching assistant at the University of Arkansas. He likewise has four years of experience as a research assistant, also at Arkansas.