Dr. Ahmed Shaffie joined LSUA in Fall 2022. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from University of Louisville, M.S. in Engineering Mathematics from Alexandria University, Egypt, and B.S. in Computer Science and Automatic Control from Alexandria University, Egypt. His research areas include Medical Image Analysis, Image Processing, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. He has taught various courses that include Engineering Mechanics, Advanced Engineering Mechanics, Introduction to Computer Programming, Data Structures, and Algorithms.
David Shanks M.A.S.
Assistant Director of Technovation Center and Instructor of Communication Studies
Since 2017 David has been a communication instructor at Louisiana State University of Alexandria. He teaches Communication Fundamentals, Public Speaking, Media Writing, Visual Communications and various courses in the newly-redesigned Sports Communication concentration. Additionally, for more than 20 years, he has also taught new media design—digital video, digital animation, 3D design, interactive design and motion graphics. He services as the faculty sponsor for the LSUA student media, the Sentry Podcast.
David was recently appointed assistant director of the newly-created Center for Technology and Innovation at LSUA (Technovation Center), where one of his roles includes coaching and mentoring middle- and high-school students on REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition teams. He is energized by helping students program and fly Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (drones) at a national competition level.
David is a 2022-2023 DoD STEM Ambassador where he advocates for drone education and the inclusion of the arts and humanities within STEM programs (STEAM).
David has a bachelor’s degree in English/mass communication from Auburn University at Montgomery and a master’s degree in mass communications from Texas State University-San Marcos.
Jeremy Simmons was raised in the Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas. Growing up in the rolling hills of rural Kansas on a cattle farm gave Jeremy a deep appreciation for interacting with and observing landscapes, nature, and animals. A great deal of his time growing up also was spent reading mythologies, comics, and drawing. These interests were translated into pursuing art as a career. Jeremy was also inspired to become an educator by his grandfather and grandmother who had careers as teachers.
After completing a BFA in Painting, a BSE in Art Education, and a year of teaching pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, Jeremy was accepted to the graduate painting program at Indiana University, Bloomington. The painting program at Indiana was a match with Jeremy’s own interest in figurative, narrative, and perceptual painting.
His artworks tell the audience more about themselves when they are with them. Viewers redress the works with their own experiences to find their own spiritual moment. The artist explains,
“My paintings deal with the human condition. I select objects, subjects, and experiences that reveal a sense of the spiritual in my response to them. I am influenced by expressionism in the way I spiritually respond to the life of the paint to render forms on the surface of canvas. The works reveal a delicate surface of honesty through their record of evident painterliness. A sense of uncanny agreement between the painting and life occurs as I balance formalism, poetic interpretation, and subjects and symbols to create narrative images.â€
After graduating from Indiana University, Jeremy accepted an art faculty position at Louisiana State University in Alexandria in 2004. He has exhibited his paintings in one and two person shows as well as various juried exhibitions. As a faculty member at Louisiana State University in Alexandria, he teaches painting, drawing, design, color theory, ceramics, art history, digital photography, and art education.
(PhD, University of Mississippi) is a Professor of History and specializes in southern history, cultural history, slavery in the Atlantic World, the Antebellum South and the Civil War. Stacey’s research interests include the history of professional wrestling and 1980s cultural history.