FIU political experts

MIAMI – Florida International University has several experts on local, state, national and international politics, as well as other fields, available to comment on the upcoming Florida primary. Our experts can discuss a wide range of subjects, including politics in Florida, taxes, foreign relations and the environment.

For questions or assistance in contacting any of the following experts, please call the Office of Media Relations:

Maydel Santana-Bravo: 305-348-1555, santanam@fiu.edu
Dianne Fernandez: 305-608-4870, dfernand37@fiu.edu
Madeline Baro: 305-348-2234, mbaro@fiu.edu
Jean-Paul Renaud: 305-348-2716, jprenaud@fiu.edu

Florida Politics

Nicol C. Rae
Political science Professor Nicol C. Rae’s research has focused primarily on the contemporary Congress and the impact of American political parties on national institutions.  Rae is also the author of several books such as “The Decline & Fall of the Liberal Republicans: From 1952 to the Present”, “Southern Democrats”, and “Conservative Reformers: The Republican Freshmen and the Lessons of the 104th Congress”. Rae was awarded a Congressional Fellowship by the American Political Science Association in 1995-1996, and served as a Capitol Hill aide to Congressman George P. Radanovich of California, and Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
Office: 305-348-2270
E-mail: nicol.rae@fiu.edu

Dario Moreno
Political Science Professor Dario Moreno conducts research on Cuban-American politics, Miami politics and Florida politics. He is a contributing editor to the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy. He has also conducted extensive research in Central America, including the region’s relationship with Fidel Castro’s regime. He has been a Pew Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Fulbright scholar in Costa Rica.
Office: 305-349-1251
Cell: 305-444-2874
E-mail: Dario.moreno@fiu.edu

Kevin Hill
Hill received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida in 1993. He has published a book titled Cyberpolitics: Citizen Activism in the Age of the Internet. His  journal publications can be found in Politics and Policy (2001), The Journal of Urban Affairs (2001), The Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences (2001), Party Politics (2000) and Democratization (1999). Hill’s teaching and research interests focus on elections and campaigns, parties, interest groups, and political communication, both in comparative and American politics.  He has published numerous articles on Congressional elections and elite voting behavior in Congress, environmental politics in the developing world, voting rights, political behavior and ethnic minorities, political communication, and public administration. Hill has conducted over 70 public opinion polls in South Florida since 1996, and has served as a redistricting consultant and expert witness for the Florida House of Representatives.
Office: 305-348-3291
Cell: 954-547-9008
E-mail: khill@fiu.edu

Kathryn A. DePalo
DePalo, a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations, has extensive experience in state and local government processes and elections both in Connecticut and Florida.  She has managed several campaigns, including a successful countywide judicial campaign in Broward County, Florida. Her teaching focus is American politics, including judicial process, gender and politics, and state and local government. DePalo’s primary research interest is in Florida politics, and has published on topics such as state judicial selection, the effects of gender in state legislative politics, and career paths of term-limited legislators.
Phone: 305-348-2859
Email: depalok@fiu.edu

Economy

José M. Gabilondo
Gabilondo, associate professor of law at FIU’s College of Law, has served in government finance and academic positions, both domestically and abroad. His government service includes attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he advised on federal finance and the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets; attorney-advisor for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he conducted market structure and risk management inspections of securities markets; capital markets analyst in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where he advised on capital markets, liquidity risk, and bank funding; and attorney in the World Bank’s Legal Department, where he advised the bank on domestic and foreign suits involving treaty-based immunities. Gabilondo teaches federal income tax, corporate and partnership tax, corporate finance, international finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Gabilondo is available for interviews in English and Spanish.�
Office: 305-348-5943
E-mail: jose.gabilondo@fiu.edu

Krishnan Dandapani
Dr. Dandapani, a professor in the Department of Finance and Real Estate, has 15 years experience in performing research and financial analysis for corporations, governments, and institutions throughout the world. He was the principal investigator for “The Financial Implications of the Latin American Trade Block,” a research project based on statistical analysis of countries (to become part of the Latin American Trade Block). In December of 2000, Dr. Dandapani received a grant from the State of Florida’s Department of Insurance to create a Hurricane Loss Prediction Model.
Office: 305-348-4241
Cell: 305-984-8337
E-mail: dandapan@fiu.edu

Jerry Haar
Dr. Haar is the director of the Eugenio Pino Entrepreneurship Center at FIU and professor of management and international business. Dr. Haar was Director of Washington Programs for the Council of the Americas, a New York-based business association of over 200 corporations comprising a majority of U.S. private investment in Latin America, and served as Special Assistant to two cabinet secretaries. He can address issues of international economics including the economies of Latin America, financial markets, and competitiveness.
Office: 305-348-3894
Cell: 786-338-5100
E-Mail: haarj@fiu.edu

Foreign Policy

Eduardo Gamarra
Political Science Professor Eduardo Gamarra has done research on the regional dynamics of Latin America, including Cuba’s role. As an expert in Bolivia and the Andean region, he has followed closely the alliances formed by Fidel Castro, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Gamarra has also studied drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the effects of American policies in the regional dynamics. He has testified in front of the U.S. Congress several times and is the author of more than half a dozen books and more than forty academic articles on Latin America. Gamarra is available for interviews in English and Spanish.
Cell: 786-253-4898
E-mail: Eduardo.Gamarra@fiu.edu

Guillermo Grenier
Sociology Professor Guillermo Grenier has been one of the lead investigators in charge of the Cuba Poll FIU has been conducting since 1991. The poll measures the attitudes and opinions of Cuban-Americans in South Florida in issues ranging from their support for the embargo, to their party preference. In addition to the poll, Grenier is the author of books such as “Miami Now: Immigration, Ethnicity and Social Change;” “Legacy of Exile: Cubans in the United States;” and “This Land is Our Land: Newcomers and Established Residents in Miami,” in which he is a co-author. He has also written numerous articles on labor and ethnic issues in the United States. Grenier is available for interviews in English and Spanish.
Office: 305-348-3217
Home: 305-388-6469
E-mail: Guillermo.Grenier@fiu.edu

Jerry Haar
Dr. Haar is the director of the Eugenio Pino Entrepreneurship Center at FIU and professor of management and international business. Dr. Haar was Director of Washington Programs for the Council of the Americas, a New York-based business association of over 200 corporations comprising a majority of U.S. private investment in Latin America, and served as Special Assistant to two cabinet secretaries. He can address issues of international economics including the economies of Latin America, financial markets, and competitiveness.
Office: 305-348-3894
Cell: 786-338-5100
E-Mail: haarj@fiu.edu

Russell E. Lucas
Lucas graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a PhD in Government.  His research specializes on Middle Eastern politics with attention to political institutions, democratization, public opinion, the media, and foreign policy.   His book, Institutions and the Politics of Survival in Jordan: Domestic Responses to External Challenges, 1988-2001 was published by SUNY Press.  He has also published articles in a range of journals including: Journal of Democracy, International Studies Quarterly, International Journal of Middle East Studies, and Middle East Journal.
Office: 305-348-3295
E-mail: lucasr@fiu.edu

Health Care Policy

John A. Rock, M.D.
Only the fourth individual since 1980 to guide the growth and development of a new U.S. allopathic medical school, Dr. Rock, founding dean and senior vice president for medical affairs at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, is former director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. During his tenure at Louisiana State University Health Science, he served as chancellor of the Health Sciences Center and had management oversight of Louisiana’s statewide Charity Hospital System. Vast experience in administration and research has served him well. At Emory, for example, he boosted the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s National Institutes of Health’s ranking from 66th in the nation to 18th; at LSU, he established a School of Public Health and increased the medical school’s research funding by almost 85 percent.
Office: 305-348-0570
E-mail: John.Rock@fiu.edu

Pedro José “Joe” Greer, Jr., M.D.
For more than two decades Dr. Greer, assistant dean of academic affairs at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, has brought health care to the poor and the disadvantaged. His autobiography, “Waking Up in America: How One Doctor Brings Hope to Those Who Need It Most”, details his early years as a physician delivering care to patients living under highway overpasses in Miami. Recognized by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Sr., and Carter for his work with Miami’s poor, Dr. Greer, a native Miamian, is the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to the city’s homeless, and the St. John Bosco Clinic, which assists undocumented immigrants. He is also the recipient of three Papal Medals as well as the prestigious MacArthur “genius grant.” In 2009, Dr. Greer accepted the nation’s highest civilian honor – the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dr. Greer is available for interviews in English and Spanish.
Office: 305-348-0570
E-mail: Pedro.Greer@fiu.edu

Joe Leigh Simpson, M.D
A member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine since 1994, Dr. Simpson, Chair of Human and Molecular Genetics, plays an active role in our educational program and serves as principal investigator of his Department of Defense grant, Mass Scale Biosensor Threat Diagnostic for In-Theater Defense Utilization. He also serves as Senior Vice President for Research and Global Programs at the March of Dimes where he leads one of the nation’s premier grant-making programs, directing research focused on the prevention of birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Dr. Simpson has done substantial research in genetics. He comes to FIU from Baylor College of Medicine where he taught in both the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics. He is a former chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Office: 305-348-0570
E-mail: Joe.Simpson@fiu.edu

Carolyn D. Runowicz, MD
The Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Runowicz, is a nationally prominent expert in gynecologic cancers and women’s health who has helped develop multidisciplinary research teams in immunology, cancer prevention, and molecular medicine.  Before coming to FIU, Dr. Runowicz was a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and held a position as the Northeast Utilities Chair in Experimental Oncology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She also served as Director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Program at the University of Connecticut Health Center.  Among her many leadership positions in national organizations, Dr. Runowicz was the first female president of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, Chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board, President of the American Cancer Society and the first gynecologic oncologist to serve on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Office: 305-348-0570
E-mail: crunowic@fiu.edu

Elizabeth Price Foley
Foley, a professor of law, previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Carolyn Dineen King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and spent several years on Capitol Hill as a health policy advisor, serving as senior legislative aide to U.S. Congressman (now U.S. Senator) Ron Wyden (D-OR), legislative aide for the D.C. office of the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, and a legislative aide for U.S. Congressman Michael Andrews, a Democrat from Texas. Foley can speak on issues such as abortion, stem cell research and cloning.  �
Office: 305-348-8344
Cell:  305-360-6813
Home:  734-562-2279
E-mail: foleye@fiu.edu

Environment

Hugh E. Willoughby
Willoughby, a distinguished research professor in the Department of Earth Science, researches tropical cyclone formation and intensification and has flown more than 400 missions into the eyes of the storms as a meteorologist for the federal government. Beyond the scientific aspects of a hurricane, Willoughby’s research has includes the economic effects of hurricanes on a local and national scale. He also sits on the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology.
Office: 305-348-0243
E-mail: hugh.willoughby@fiu.edu

Stephen Leatherman
Leatherman is a coastal scientist with a background in offshore drilling. Leatherman also is director of FIU’s International Hurricane Research Center and is known as “Dr. Beach” for his annual selection of the “Top 10 Beaches” in the United States.
Office: 305-348-6304 or 305-348-1339
E-mail: leatherm@fiu.edu

Immigration

Alex Stepick
Anthropologist Alex Stepick is the director of the Immigration and Ethnicity Institute and a professor of Anthropology and Sociology at FIU. He has been conducting research on the impact of immigration in South Florida for the past 20 years. As an author, he has published several articles on Cuban immigration and co-authored “City on the Edge,” a book on how immigration has changed Miami. Stepick received his B.A in Anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz and his Ph.D. in Social Sciences at the University of California Irvine. He had his postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University and was a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins University and a Fulbright Fellow in Mexico. Stepick is available for interviews in English and Spanish.
Office: 305- 348-2247
E-mail: Alex.Stepick@fiu.edu

Gay and Lesbian Politics

José M. Gabilondo
Gabilondo, associate professor of law at FIU’s College of Law, has served in government finance and academic positions, both domestically and abroad. He is a faculty co-advisor to the Stonewall Legal Alliance and is an expert on gay and lesbian politics in the local and national arena. Gabilondo is available for interviews in English and Spanish.�
Office: 305-348-5943
E-mail: jose.gabilondo@fiu.edu

Political Campaigns and the Media

Rosanna Fiske
Rosanna Fiske, associate professor, is the first Hispanic woman named president of PRSA Miami and a three-year member of PRSA’s national board of directors. Fiske received the 2002 D. Parke Gibson Pioneer Award – the nation’s highest individual honor in multicultural communications. She’s also received two Silver Anvils and a CIPRA award for work in consumer marketing communications. Fiske holds a master of science in mass communication and a bachelor of science in journalism. Prior to joining the SJMC faculty, she was partner and senior counsel at Communiqué Group, a Miami-based public relations, public affairs, and advertising firm with national and international clients.
Office: 305-919-5626
E-mail: fisker@fiu.edu

Juliana Fernandes
Juliana Fernandes, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication and a Master of Arts in Political Communication from the University of Florida. Dr. Fernandes’ research interests include affective impact of advertising, effects of advertising repetition, effects of time perspective on voting behavior, and international political communication.
Phone: (305) 919-4029
E-mail: jfernandes@fiu.edu

Politics and the Internet

Kevin Hill
Hill received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida in 1993. He has published a book titled Cyberpolitics: Citizen Activism in the Age of the Internet. His journal publications can be found in Politics and Policy (2001), The Journal of Urban Affairs (2001), The Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences (2001), Party Politics (2000) and Democratization (1999). Hill’s teaching and research interests focus on elections and campaigns, parties, interest groups, and political communication, both in comparative and American politics.  He has published numerous articles on Congressional elections and elite voting behavior in Congress, environmental politics in the developing world, voting rights, political behavior and ethnic minorities, political communication, and public administration. Hill has conducted over 70 public opinion polls in South Florida since 1996, and has served as a redistricting consultant and expert witness for the Florida House of Representatives.
Office: 305-348-3291
Cell: 954-547-9008
E-mail: khill@fiu.edu