AUM Faculty & Staff
Directory
Kendra Love
Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Kendra Love is a strategic communicator and veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience in newspapers, magazines, corporate communications, and political strategy. She began her journalism career at 16, advancing from reporter to newspaper publisher, and has worked in both daily and weekly papers, as well as in magazine design and feature writing.
Kendra holds a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and a master’s in strategic communication from Troy University and is pursuing her Ph.D. in strategic media at Liberty University. She most recently served as director of communications and marketing for the Greater Nashville Apartment Association and the Tennessee Apartment Association. She spent nearly three years in political communications, contributing to major legislative battles and playing a key role in the Supreme Court case Allen v. Milligan, which upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Her work has earned multiple Alabama Press Association awards, recognition as Troy University’s Print Journalism Alumna of the Year (2022), and honors including Communicator of the Year by the Alabama Association of Conservation Districts. At AUM, she teaches journalism and communication, advises AUMLive, and was named Outstanding Advisor of the Year in 2025.
Yolanda Machado-Escudero
Assistant Professor of Social Work | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Yolanda Machado is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work. She is a newcomer to AUM, Montgomery, and Alabama. Her classroom pedagogy, research scholarship, and service are informed by the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, and class among Latinx and other transnational migrant communities of color in the U.S. and abroad. Her research interests include historic trauma, resilience and resistance in oppressed groups, systemic inequality and other barriers to access health care, self-sufficiency and inclusion of people with disabilities in social settings, social work education in Latin America, and environmental injustice and climate grief in vulnerable contexts. She has worked in direct practice, management positions, and as a social work instructor in rural and urban settings in Puerto Rico, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. Dr. Machado has a teenage son living with autism. Their pastimes include walking in nature, reading, gardening, and cooking Puerto Rican tasty meals.
LisaMarie Malischke
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. LisaMarie Malischke is an Anthropologist specializing in archaeology, with a background in hard science and medicine. Traditionally, my research focuses on post-contact 18th-century French and Indigenous interactions at forts and villages. I am trained in conflict and battlefield archaeology and, in partnership with Auburn University and Dr. Meghan Buchanan, we research and instruct field school students at the Civil War Conscription Camp #1, Camp Watts, in Notasulga, Alabama. At AUM, I also teach Cultural Anthropology, Introductory Archaeology, Public Archaeology, and Collections and Museum Curation Management for the Museums Studies Certificate. I am a board-member with the Alabama Archaeological Society and I enjoy mentoring students, instructing them in the field and in the lab, and taking them to conferences and on field trips.
Luke Manning
Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Luke Manning grew up in upstate New York and rural Michigan. He completed a BA in Philosophy at Michigan State University, then earned a PhD in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara. His research specializations include Philosophy of Language, Logic, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Art, and Philosophy of Fiction. He previously taught at Western Michigan University and at Auburn (main campus), and he joined AUM in 2020. At AUM he has taught courses including Applied Ethics, Introduction to Logic, Reasoning and Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Art & Literature, and Social & Political Philosophy. His other interests include music, chocolate, and Mexican food.
Chapel McCullough
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Chapel McCullough serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Auburn University at Montgomery in Montgomery, AL. His duties including directing AUM Spirit Band (pep band), Choir, and AUMcappella ensemble, as well as teaching music courses for the Department of Fine Arts. Dr. McCullough holds PhD and master’s degrees in Music Education from Auburn University in Auburn, AL and a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, KY.
Lee McMichael
Interim BSW Program Director/Clinical Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Lee McMichael (MSW, LCSW-S) serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Social Work at Auburn University at Montgomery, where she teaches across the BSW curriculum, mentors students, and contributes to program development and service activities. A summa cum laude graduate from Western Kentucky University’s MSW program, she brings nearly two decades of clinical and teaching experience to the classroom at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
McMichael is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and approved clinical supervisor in Alabama, with extensive experience providing therapy across the lifespan in areas such as trauma, depression, anxiety, CPTSD, elder care, and family systems. She has worked in a variety of settings, including private practice, community-based programs, community policy board director, psychiatric in-patient, and Hospice.
In addition to her clinical and academic roles, McMichael has served as a trainer on topics such as self-care, ethics, and DSM diagnosis, and she has been an active leader and volunteer in professional and community organizations, including NASW, CSWE, Save Our Kids Coalition, and Main Street Wetumpka. Her teaching interests include clinical and generalist practice skills, mental health, gerontology, and professional development of social workers.
Jacqueline McNett
Assistant Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Jackie Chavez McNett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology at Auburn University at Montgomery. She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The University of Alabama, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from The University of Alabama, and her Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. Dr. McNett teaches for the graduate program in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Her research and teaching interests include homeland security, emergency management, criminological theory, crime and deviance, jury studies, and fear of crime. Currently, she serves as the advisor for the department’s criminal justice club The American Criminal Justice Association – Lambda Alpha Epsilon (ACJA-LAE) and is co-advisor for the Beta Delta Chapter of the Criminal Justice Honor Society Alpha Phi Sigma.
Andy Milstead
Lecturer | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Andy Milstead has taught Spanish at the college level since 2004 and has also worked in a variety of technology-related roles. He previously served as Director of Technology for the Modern Languages and Classics department at the University of Alabama and as Administrative/Technology Director for Samford University’s Language Technology Forum. He has led or co-led students on six study abroad trips to Costa Rica and one to Spain. Dr. Milstead has always valued the role of technology in education and consistently seeks to apply modern technologies to language learning. He is currently exploring ways to integrate modern AI systems into the language learning experience. When he isn’t teaching, Dr. Milstead enjoys computer programming (particularly web development) and kayaking local lakes and rivers.
