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Research Institute

People

Administrative Members

Bro.Jihad Mohammad, CEO
Mr.Muhammad, holds degrees in Medical Art,( School of Biomedical and Health and Human Development Sciences). University of Illinois , Maxo-facial Reconstruction and Facial prosthetics (UIC) Medical School.

He was the founding director of Anatomical Teaching Learning Museum , at the University Of Illinois School Of Medicine . He has been a member and consultant for international boards and committees and produced two documentary films on African American history. His contributions will include: “Bio-historical” archaeology, forensic anthropology and history representing a range of cultural heritages including early Africans, African-American descendants and admixture Native American with specialty in facial forensic anthropology approximations to promote recognition of ancient persons ethnic identity i.e. African enslaved. Production in progress of a comprehensive set database for accurate invivo facial tissue depth measurements from identifying lost African children, based on scientific application using ultrasonic technology, applied for use in forensic facial reconstruction. Appropriately developing an Age-Progressed Imagery processing system that predicts facial growth in African children. Its application in identifying missing children, image processing and their applications in medical, biomedical bioinformatics information processing.

Dr. Vibert White, Vice-President.
A graduate of Bethune-Cookman College (1980), Purdue University (1982) and The Ohio State University (1988), Professor White came to the University of Central Florida in 2003 being the Chair of the African-American Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield for four years. He has taught at the University of Cincinnati , Bloomsburg University ( Bloomsburg , Pennsylvania ), the Union Institute ( Cincinnati , Ohio ) and Blackburn College ( Carlinville , Illinois ). Professor’s White’s primary scholarship contributions have been in the history of African-American scholarship, but he has also published in the areas of Caribbean , Latin American and West African histories and cultures. Professor White’s articles have appeared in the Journal of Caribbean Studies, Illinois Historical Journal, The Psycho-History Review, The Journal of Negro History, UCLA Black Law Journal, and the Voze Historical Journal ( Brazil ). In addition, he has been extensively published in encyclopedia works such as the Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present, The Malcolm X Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of the World’s Minorities. Dr. White is working with a team of scholars in archeological history in the research and preservation of New Philadelphia , Illinois . Other areas of research include Afro-Latino/Caribbean Life and Culture in the United States , Afro-Brazilian culture in state of Bahia , Brazil , and American Jewish and African American historical and cultural relationships. In addition, a Civil Rights Oral History Project and an Afro-Latino Oral Project in Orlando has developed.

Samuel Hunter, M.D. PhD, Executive officer
Samuel Hunter received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his medical degree from Cornell University in New York . His research interest addresses testing to identify African-American ancestral groups by DNA analysis.

Dr.Andre Toguem, Chief Financial Officer
Andre Toguem holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University , and a Master Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from McNeese University. After receiving his PHD in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, he went to work at Bell Laboratories, a non-for-profit arm of AT&T. Currently he serves as Director for Research/Bioinformatics-and Imaging Informatics Computation and Informatics Training (BIT) ASRI Internship Program. Andre will contribute his expert informatics research and skills to the project

Dr.Laura Holland, Chief Educational Officer
Laura Holland graduated with her masters in education from University of Chicago and doctoral degree in curriculum instruction and evaluation from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. During her tenure with chicago public schools, She was a dedicated teacher, guidance counselor, case manager and administrator. Also she was an educational consultant to various agencies like National Science Foundation, North Central Regional Education Laboratory and DePaul University. Currently she is the Chief Educational Officer of ASRI and responsible for organizing summer school programs, designing curriculum for the high school students and program coordinator for ASRI's various academic programs.

Er.Mathiarasu Natarajan, Scientific Project Coordinator
Mathiarasu Natarajan holds masters in Mechanical engineering and Bioengineering with expertise in computational biomodelling. His research involves the facial reconstruction of a skull using DNA samples from bone. Currently he is coordinating the scientific side of various projects of ASRI.

Dr.Stephen Smith, Dental Specialist

Dr.Patricia Williams, Curriculum developer for Archeology
Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane is a native Chicagoan whose research focus includes African Diasporan religion, identity, and culture, Black Nationalism, Candomblé, Yoruba, race, and class. She has taught English at Chicago State University, Anthropology, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Northeastern Illinois University as an Adjunct lecturer, and currently teaches full time in the Humanities department at Wright College in Chicago. Patricia is the current advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Wright College. Patricia also serves as the Project Administrator of The Field Museum’s Diversity Initiative, a post she has held since 2001. Additionally, Patricia is a freelance writer and has most recently written a series of art reviews for Time Out Chicago Magazine. She also serves on several committees and councils including the United Way African-American Outreach Committee, Chicago Foundation for Women’s African-American Leadership Council, and the Chicago Council of Black Studies. Patricia holds a BA in English from Fisk University, a MALS from Dartmouth College, and a Ph.D in Anthropology from University of Illinois at Chicago. Patricia is married to Talim Lessane and they have two children: Osayende, 4, and Aniyah Ruth, 2.

Members

Rita Tetter Smith, Staff
Vicky Wooten,Staff
Tucker A., Teacher
MacDonald Larry, Volunteer
Merry Weather Toya, Volunteer
Ms.Tammy Jones, Volunteer
Mpingo Jahsyl, Volunteer

Collaborators

Mr.Michael Holtzman, SCORE

Mr.Francis M Harty, TNC

Dr.Don Daake, ONU

Dr.Barabara Howery, Superintendent

Dr.Scott Demel, Field Museum
He graduated B.S., Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin – Madison, M.A., Anthropology, University of Illinois – Chicago and Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee . He continue his research in the prehistory of the Great Lakes and the early history of Chicago region. He is able to work with collections from the Midwest and to evaluate the significance of our collections from Illinois . He is working with the Illinois Archaeological Survey (IAS) in Springfield to determine if any of the collections here are from unrecorded archaeological sites. In addition, Demel is responsible for conducting salvage archaeology around the museum during construction projects. He has sampled the landfill deposits beneath the museum during the construction of the CRC and has compiled a substantial collection of material culture from the early twentieth century of Chicago (ca. 1904-1915). In conjunction with this work he is co-director of DePaul University ’s urban historical archaeology field school being taught for the fourth year – this year at the Pullman State Historic Site. Scott has conducted archaeological research throughout the Midwest for over twelve years, and has excavated over one hundred prehistoric and historic sites. His active research interests include coastal zone settlement in the Lake Michigan basin, underwater archaeology, and lithic analysis. His dissertation research focused on Archaic settlement patterns along the western coast of Lake Michigan . His interests range from peopling of the Americas , Archaic settlement and subsistence, early Chicago , and social complexity, to microwear analysis of chipped stone tools.

Dr.Chapurukha Kusimba, Field Museum
Dr. Kusimba is an Associate Curator of African Archaeology and Ethnology. He received his doctorate in anthropology from BrynMawr College , Pennsylvania . He is currently examined both foreign and African contributions to Swahili civilization in the excavation of both urban and villagesites on the Kenya Coast using DNA mapping.

Dr. Thomas Riley
Dr. Thomas Riley has been the Dean of the College of AHSS at NDSU since 1996. He is also a Professor of Anthropology. Before joining NDSU, Dr. Riley taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 22 years, moving up the ranks from assistant to full professor. He held posts of Associate Dean of the Graduate College (1983-86) and Head of the Anthropology Department (1986-94) at that university. Dr. Riley holds an AB in English Literature from Boston College and his AM and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Hawaii, where he concentrated in prehistoric archaeology. His research has been focused on prehistoric agricultural systems, their inception and change. He has worked on this theme in Oceania - specifically in the Hawaiian Islands , American Samoa and Micronesia , as well as in eastern North America . Dr. Riley is the author of nearly 100 articles and three monographs. He is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University , and he serves on a number of professional and community boards. He is cited in Who’s Who in the Midwest and in Who’s Who in America as well as in several biographical dictionaries. Cited in Who’s Who in the World. Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND, United Way of Cass-Clay Board of Trustees, and Board of Trustees of the ND State Historical Society Foundation.

Timothy Baumann, Ph.D.,
Dr. Baumann is leading the field operations for The Search for DuSable. He joined the University of Missouri -- St. Louis Anthropology Department in the fall of 1998 and now serves as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Baumann’s research interests include both prehistoric and historical archaeology ( Midwest and Southeast), African-American Studies, Museology and Public History. He holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.His current archaeological research focuses on Missouri's African-American heritage — specifically concentrating on Arrow Rock, Mo. to explore its post-Civil War African-American community through the material remains of homes, a school and additional business structures. Working with the Friends of Arrow Rock, the local historical society, Dr. Baumann is developing an African-American heritage program based on this archaeological research. Additional research projects include a mid-19th century pottery factory in Arrow Rock, combining urban archaeology and economic revitalization in “Old North St. Louis” neighborhood, and developing archaeology education programs for K-12 students and their teachers. Dr. Baumann is the Faculty Advisor for the Anthropology Club and the Faculty Representative for the Alpha of Missouri Chapter of Lambda Alpha, anthropology's honors society. He also serves as a committee member for the Missouri Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, The Friends of Arrow Rock and The Friends of Greenwood Cemetery Association.

Dr.Itender Singh, Pharmacology dept, UIC

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