Watts College promotes 2 to full professor, 2 to associate professor, 3 to senior lecturer

Seven faculty members at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions received promotions for the 2020-2021 academic year. The college now has two new full professors, two new associate professors and three new senior lecturers.

Professors Jill Messing and Dustin Pardini were promoted from associate professor. Associate Professors Christopher Hayter and Justin Stritch were promoted from assistant professor and were granted tenure. Senior lecturers Cora Bruno, Katherine Crowley and Chandra Crudup were promoted from lecturer

• Professor Jill Messing joined the faculty of the School of Social Work (SSW) in 2008 and has taught courses in statistics for social workers, seminar and proposal development. Messing's research focus includes intimate partner violence, risk assessment, evidence-based practice and the creation and testing of services for victims of intimate partner violence. Her specialization is intervention research. She earned her Master of Social Work degree and a doctorate in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in interdisciplinary violence research at Johns Hopkins University.

• Professor Dustin Pardini joined the faculty of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (SCCJ) in 2015 and has taught courses in quantitative methods, advanced criminology theory, and crime and forensic mental health. His research focuses on the development of antisocial and substance-using behaviors from childhood to adulthood. Much of Pardini’s work focused on a particularly violent subgroup of antisocial youth and adults who showed traits that are consistent with psychopathic features. Pardini received his doctorate in child clinical psychology in 2003 from the University of Alabama.

• Associate Professor Christopher Hayter joined the faculty of the School of Public Affairs (SPA) in 2014 and is the director of the Center for Organizational Research and Design’s (CORD) technology and entrepreneurship research program. He has taught a variety of courses from intro to science and tech policy to microeconomics of public policy and public entrepreneurship. He is also affiliated with the ASU Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (CSTEPS) and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. Hayter’s research areas include entrepreneurship, technology policy and organization of higher education and science. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public policy from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1996. He received his master’s in international science and technology policy in 2002 and his doctorate in public policy in 2010, both from George Washington University.

• Associate Professor Justin Stritch joined the faculty of the School of Public Affairs (SPA) in 2014 and has taught leadership and change, public affairs, origination behavior and intellectual foundations of public administration. His areas of expertise include the management and performance of public and nonprofit organizations. Stritch’s projects have examined public employee decision-making, behavioral consequences of public service and the effects of personnel change and managerial succession in organizations. Stritch earned his Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina in 2010 and his doctorate from the University of Georgia in 2014.

• Senior Lecturer Cora Bruno joined the faculty of the School of Social Work (SSW) in 2013 and has taught a variety of direct-practice courses to master’s-level social work students including mental health assessment, cognitive behavioral therapy, foundation practice, and social work in the healthcare setting. Bruno also has a private psychotherapy practice in the North Phoenix/Paradise Valley area, where she mostly works with adults dealing with depression, anxiety, LGBTQ issues, PTSD, trauma, bereavement, aging issues, sexual addictions and co-occurring disorders. Bruno earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1998, her Master of Social Work degree in 2002 and her doctorate in Behavioral Health in 2013, all from ASU. She also became a licensed clinical social worker with ASU in 2006.

• Senior Lecturer Katherine Crowley joined the faculty of the School of Social Work (SSW) in 2007 and has taught a variety of courses ranging from social work with families, cognitive behavior therapy, advanced social work practice, LGBTQ issues, ethics in social services, behavioral health services and assessment of mental disorders. Crowley is a licensed clinical social worker in Arizona with her own private practice, treating teens, including transgender teens, and adults with a focus on trauma and grief. Crowley has worked as a therapist in the Valley and has also held clinical director positions at a long-term residential treatment center and outpatient therapy office. Crowley double majored in psychology and criminal justice at Westfield State College in 1983 and received her Master of Social Work degree from ASU in 1989. 

• Senior Lecturer Chandra Crudup joined the faculty of the School of Social Work (SSW) in 2010 and is also its associate director for student services and programs. She has taught introduction to social work and diversity and oppression in a social work context. Crudup’s research interests revolve around multiracial identity, interracial relationships and the use of movement and performing arts in therapeutic settings. She is also the co-founder and director of Mixed Roots Stories, a nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to bridge connections between people of mixed heritage. Crudup earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree from Azusa Pacific University and her Master of Social Work and doctorate from ASU.

Written by Susan Wong, fall 2020 intern with the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions marketing communications department.