People
The team of investigators spans all the disciplines needed to accomplish the mission of the project - history of science ethics, moral philosophy, biomedicine and computing, and educational evaluation. It also blends senior and junior people in appropriate roles.
Dr. Ioannis Pavlidis
Eckhard-Pfeiffer Professor |
Dr. Pavlidis is the Eckhard-Pfeiffer Professor of Computer Science at UH. He is actively involved in ethics initiatives in the area of scientific publishing; a notable one was the introduction of the open review system, during his 2008 Program Chairmanship of the IEEE AVSS Conference. Dr. Pavlidis runs a major interdisciplinary lab and has a multi-disciplinary background that touches upon biomedicine, psychology, computing, and engineering. He has been the Principal Investigator (PI) in many research grants from NSF, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Dr. Pavlidis is also on the executive committees of several refereed conferences.
Dr. Ioanna Semendeferi
Associate Instructional & Research Professor |
Dr. Ioanna Semendeferi is an Associate Instructional & Research Professor at the Department of Physics in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston (UH). She has a B.S. degree (magna cum laude) in Physics from the Aristotle University in Greece. She got her Ph.D. in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She pursued ambitious archival research during her Ph.D. years with support from several foundations, including an NSF grant from the Science and Technology Studies Program. She worked for a time as a researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory investigating historical issues in environmental science.
Currently, her academic work and interests focus on science and engineering ethics as well as the social and human dimensions of science and technology. Dr. Semendeferi was the architect of the ethics in science and the history of science courses at UH, where she has taught since 2008. She developed the concept of “Experiencing Ethics” upon which the relevant NSF grant is based. She wrote, directed, and produced the film Dear Scientists-an innovative film on the scientists’ ethical and social responsibility. Her articles have mainly appeared in the Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, Science and Engineering Ethics, Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, and Nature Physics.
Dr. Dov (David) Liberman
Associate Professor |
Dr. Liberman is an Associate Professor and past Associate Chair in the Educational Psychology Department at UH. He is currently the evaluator for an NSF grant in the Computer Science department at UH and is the past evaluator for three other NSF UH grants, one in the Computer Science department, one in the Chemical Engineering department, and one in the Biology department. He is also the evaluator for the College of Education´s new, experimental Executive Ed.D. in Educational Administration. In addition, Dr. Liberman has served as needs assessments and evaluation expert for non-profit organizations and private businesses, including Survey Publications, an academic press.
Dr. David K. Phillips
Professor and Associate Dean |
Dr. Phillips is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at UH. He served as Interim Chair of the Philosophy Department in the spring of 2010, and as Chair of the Faculty Governance and Advisory Committee in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences from 2003-2007. He is a current member of the Faculty Senate, serving on the budget committee. He specializes in ethics, especially metaethics and the history of ethics. His book, Sidgwickian Ethics was published by Oxford University Press in October of 2011. His articles have appeared in top journals including The Journal of Philosophy and Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.