Leadership Team
Dr. Adam J. Woods
Dean
Dr. Woods was appointed as the Dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences in Fall 2024. He holds the Aage and Margaret Møller Distinguished Professorship. Dr. Woods is an internationally recognized scientist in the fields of neuromodulation and non-invasive brain stimulation. His program of research focuses on discovery and implementation of novel non-invasive interventions to remediate cognitive aging and prevent dementia.
Dr. Lisa Jimenez
Associate Dean, Administration
Dr. Jimenez serves as chief operations and finance officer for the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, working to support the dean with administrative leadership and counsel. Jimenez has extensive training and experience in academic leadership, comprising graduate degrees in both business and educational leadership, and leadership experience in higher education. Her previous roles include senior director of operations at a veterinary medical school and executive director at a graduate school of management.
Dr. Melanie Spence
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies
In her role as associate dean, Spence provides resources and support for students enrolled as undergraduates at the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. She is also a leading researcher in the area of how young infants process speech stimuli and faces.
Dr. Robert Stillman
Associate Dean, Graduate Studies
Dr. Stillman provides resources and support for students enrolled in graduate programs at the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He is a member of the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, and has extensive administrative experience at UT Dallas, including his long- standing role as associate dean for graduate affairs, with additional previous experience with the Speech, Language, and Hearing BS, MS and PhD programs, and helping to manage academic affairs for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.
Dr. Emily Touchstone
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies
In her role as assistant dean, Dr. Touchstone provides support to Dr. Melanie Spence in her efforts with undergraduate education and she plays an active role in student engagement and undergraduate recruitment for the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Dr. Touchstone is a professor of instruction and the undergraduate program head for the department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.
Dr. Edward Lobarinas
Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies
In his role as assistant dean, Dr. Lobarinas works in conjunction with Dr. Stillman to support students at the school level and at the Department the Speech Language and Hearing. He is also the Head of the PhD program for SLH. Dr. Lobarinas also manages an active hearing science research program focused on the effects of hearing loss on auditory perception. He is known for his work on hearing loss and tinnitus and for the development of artificial intelligence approaches to managing hearing loss.
Dr. Meg Flanigan
Assistant Dean, Assessment and Curriculum
Dr. Flanigan joined UTD in Spring 2023 and serves as the assistant dean for assessment and curriculum development. Her background includes extensive teaching experience supporting undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as leadership roles in faculty and educational development, program development, and assessment of student learning. She is a professor of instruction in the department of Psychology.
Dr. Gregory Dussor
Department Head, Neuroscience
In his role as department head of Neuroscience, Dr. Dussor oversees the administrative and financial management of the research, teaching, and service missions of the department. He joined the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences in 2014 and was appointed as department head in 2021. Dr. Dussor is internationally recognized in the field of migraine and his research program focuses on understanding the mechanisms that cause this highly prevalent disorder. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses, mentors doctoral students and fellows, and has authored over 130 papers.
Dr. Shayla Holub
Department Head, Psychology
Dr. Holub serves as the Department Head for Psychology. In this role, she oversees all aspects of departmental operations, including personnel, course scheduling, and other administrative tasks. She is passionate about supporting her faculty colleagues so that they can be successful in their research and teaching missions. Dr. Holub also runs the Healthy Development Project, a research lab that focuses on how parents socialize children’s body image, weight attitudes, and eating behaviors across the lifespan.
Dr. Colleen Le Prell
Department Head, Speech, Language, and Hearing
Dr. Le Prell was appointed as the Head of the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science in January 2020. She holds the Emily and Phil Schepps Distinguished Professorship of Hearing Science. Dr. Le Prell is an internationally recognized scientist in the fields of noise-induced hearing loss and hearing loss prevention. Her primary research interests are early identification of noise injury, outcome measures for noise-induced hearing disorders, and intervention assessments.
