AUM Faculty & Staff
Directory
David M. Simmonds
Assistant Professor
David M. Simmonds
Assistant Professor | College of Business
Kate Simmons
Professor | College of Education
Dr. Kate D. Simmons is a Professor of Special Education where she specializes in instructional strategies that enhance academic and behavioral outcomes for students with exceptionalities. With over five years of experience in public education, she has authored 19 peer-reviewed articles, two book chapters, and delivered over 71 presentations at various professional conferences while at AUM. Dr. Simmons has secured multiple grants, including for AUM’s Virtual Avatar Laboratory (VAL), has held chairs in the Special Education Programs Caucus (SSEPC) for over 11 years, and served on 66 committees inside and oustide of the university.
Faculty’s Expertise: Behavior Management, Curriculum Design, Virtual Worlds, Direct Instruction
Holly Singleton
Human Resources Generalist I
Katie Slade
Audiologist | College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Lacey Sloan
Professor | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Lacey Sloan is a wanderer who received her BSW from the University of Mississippi and her MSSW and Ph.D. in social work from The University of Texas at Austin. Her three intertwining areas of scholarship are sexual rights and gender-based violence; social work education and practice in Islamic contexts; and, environmental justice. Her early practice and scholarship focused on sexual rights, with a specific focus on sexual violence, sex work and sex workers, violence against LGBT people, sexual violence and oppression against people with disabilities, and sexual violence and oppression against other marginalized populations. Her decades working in the anti-sexual violence movement at the local, state and national level included work in rape crisis centers, serving on the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and National Coalition Against Sexual Assault boards of directors, and serving as the scientific lead for the Department of Justice funded Violence Against Women Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative. Since 2001, she facilitated the development and/or initial accreditation of three MSW programs (University of Southern Maine, College of Staten Island, Zayed University [United Arab Emirates]), three BSW programs (College of Staten Island; five universities Somalia; Qatar University), and, two diploma and certificate programs in social work (six universities in Somalia; Juba University in South Sudan).
Angie Smith
Assistant Professor of Social Work | College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Angie Smith is a first-generation college graduate whose academic path reflects her dedication to social work and education. She earned an Associate degree in Pre-Social Work, a BSW from the University of Montevallo, and both an MSW and Ph.D. from The University of Alabama. Her doctoral dissertation explored the lived experiences of Black college students following encounters with police violence.
Dr. Smith’s current research focuses on social work education, particularly the importance of evidence-based practice in research for undergraduate students. Her broader interests include vulnerable populations, public and mental health, advocacy, policy, and the impact of police violence.
A passionate educator and mentor, Dr. Smith is committed to helping students reach their goals. She embraces the proverb, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime,” and believes mentorship is essential to student success.
Outside of academia, she enjoys science fiction and fantasy films such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings. She also loves to travel and is known for her dry sense of humor.
Derrick Smith
Dean | College of Education
Dr. Derrick Smith serves as a professor and Dean of the College of Education. He earned BS in Mathematics from Faulkner Unviersity, an M.A.Ed. in Special Education from UAB, and an Ed.D. in Special Education for Texas Tech University. Over this 25+ years in education, he has focused primarily on STEM education and research for students with visual impairments and blindness.
Faculty’s Expertise: Special Education, Visual Impairments and Blindness, STEM Education, Qualitative Research, Single-Subject Design Research
