UCF TRT – Faculty

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UCF TRT – Faculty

Current UCF TRT Faculty 
Mindy Shoss, PhD, Professor, TRT Director 

Dr. Mindy Shoss is the director of the Targeted Research Training Program and a Professor of Psychology in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology doctoral program at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Shoss is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and a Fellow of the Global Labour Organization (GLO). She also holds an honorary professorship at Australian Catholic University. Dr. Shoss conducts research projects on several topics germane to the TRT program, including precarious work, the future of work, and workplace aggression. Dr. Shoss’ research has been published in leading outlets, including Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,  Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Business and Psychology. Dr. Shoss’ research has received funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Army Research Institute (ARI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation, among others. She has built successful collaborations with colleagues in the fields of hospitality, medicine, medical education, and information systems. Additionally, Dr. Shoss has led and been involved with a variety of health and safety interventions, including in hospitality, hospital, business, and university settings. She currently serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and sits on several editorial boards of other top journals in the field. In 2021, Dr. Shoss was recognized by NIOSH, the American Psychological Association, and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology with the Gwendolyn Puryear Keita Award for Social Justice and the Welfare of Working People. Dr. Shoss, with assistance from the other core TRT faculty, provides leadership, direction, management, and administration of the program. 

Cynthia Mejia, PhD, Associate Professor, TRT Deputy Director for Industry Collaboration 

Dr. Cynthia Mejia is an Associate Professor of the Department of Foodservice and Lodging Management at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management and has served as a faculty member since 2013. She received her Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from Texas Tech University, a Master’s degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California. In addition to this academic training, Dr. Mejia is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York. Dr. Mejia has over 20 years of industry experience in F&B, and hotel operations management, primarily working for luxury brands both in the U.S. and in Singapore. Her publications and areas of research include: human resource management, cross-cultural organizational management, technology acceptance in hospitality operations, green facilities management, empathy across the services industries, and hospitality education. 

Chelsea LeNoble, PhD, Assistant Professor, TRT Core Faculty , Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida  

Dr. Chelsea LeNoble is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology doctoral program at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on issues at the intersection of work and societal resilience. Dr. LeNoble studies the implications of burnout in occupations critical to society, developing theory and interventions designed to advance human resilience in work and non-work domains of life. She most often conducts this work in interdisciplinary research teams, ascribing to the National Science Foundation notion of CONVERGE: the greatest challenges facing society cannot be solved by one discipline alone. Upon completing her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Florida Institute of Technology, Dr. LeNoble worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Clemson University and Prisma Health, leading projects on healthcare leadership development and clinician resilience to burnout. This work earned her ongoing faculty affiliations with the Clemson University School of Health Research and the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville. Dr. LeNoble’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Office of Naval Research, and Natural Hazards Center. In addition, she has consulted with academic, industry, military, and non-profit organizations, providing expertise in survey design, analysis, and reporting. 

Steve Jex, PhD, Professor, TRT Core Faculty, Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida   

Dr. Steve Jex is a Professor and the Director of the Ph.D. Program in I/O Psychology at the University of Central Florida. His research is broadly focused on workplace stress, with an emphasis on interpersonal mistreatment and abuse. Dr. Jex has a long history of interdisciplinary collaboration, holding Guest Scientist positions with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research (WRAIR). He was recently Co-Principal Investigator on a 2-year grant from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation investigating causes of workplace injuries, assault, and abuse among nursing assistants in long-term care settings. He has also received research funding from NIOSH, and the Army Research Institute. In regard to the TRT program, Dr. Jex is responsible for the advisory board, performing functions such as seeking input from advisory board members, and coordinating advisory committee meetings. 

Affiliates 
Kristin Horan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Former TRT Core Faculty, Department of Psychological Science, Kennesaw State University  

Kristin Horan is Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at Kennesaw State University. She worked with Targeted Research Training as a Deputy Director and Core Program Faculty during her time at the University of Central Florida and continues to collaborate with Targeted Research Training. Her research interests focus on intervention methodology, safety and health needs of vulnerable occupations and populations, and the relationship between health and work. 

Mary Jean Amon, PhD, Assistant Professor in the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training, University of Central Florida 

Mary Jean Amon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Amon holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, as well as an M.A. in Psychology in Education from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Before joining UCF, she was also a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, as well as a Research Associate in the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Joe Kider, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Joint Faculty, University of Pennsylvania

Joe Kider focuses on the transdisciplinary digital design of smart sustainable architecture. I work on high dimensional light transport problems, such as complex illumination, material appearance, physically-based simulation, and spectral rendering, which facilitate a unique approach to provide both more accurate simulations and efficient algorithms for simulating sustainable architecture and smart buildings

Deborah Breiter-Terry, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Former TRT Deputy Director  

Dr. Deborah Breiter Terry is a retired Professor. Prior to stepping away from full-time teaching she was a faculty member in the Tourism, Events and Attractions Department at the University of Central Florida’s  Rosen College of Hospitality Management and deputy director of the Targeted Research Training program. She earned her B.A. from Bennington College in politics and economics, her M.P.S. from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in Educational Administration for Higher Education.  Dr. Breiter Terry’s research focuses on hospitality and event management, including work on quality management, hotel management practices, and convention management. Her publications have appeared in leading academic journals in hospitality and tourism management including Tourism Management, Event Management, The Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.  Dr. Breiter was been awarded the Professional Achievement Award for Education by the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in 2007, the Professional Achievement Award by the Greater Orlando chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) in 2009 and the Stevenson Fletcher Award by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education in 2005 for her development of convention and conference education.  She has conducted research for the Orange County Convention Center, Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau, PCMA and MPI.  Prior to teaching in higher education, she worked in the hospitality industry for 12 years in positions ranging from wait staff to hotel general manager and she continues to work with several professional organizations.

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