Reporting to the Senior Vice Provost & Dean of Undergraduate Education, the Resident Faculty serve as positive and visible members of a residential college community. They collaborate with college staff to help plan and implement educational, academic, social and cultural programs while serving as a role model, advisor, and leader in the residential community. Find out more about each of Pearon's Resident Faculty below.

Hello! I am Laura Kohn-Wood, the Faculty Master in Pearson. I am starting my third year at the University of Miami, as an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Educational and Psychological Studies Department in the School of Education. I also direct the new graduate program in Community & Social Change, and teach in the new Human and Social Development undergraduate major. I came here after teaching for nearly 10 years in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. I am originally from Seattle, Washington; left home to attend Howard University, went to the University of Virginia for graduate school; the University of California, San Francisco for internship; and Georgetown University for a post-doctoral fellowship. After living on the West Coast, East Coast and Midwest, I thought I’d give the South a try! My teaching and research interests are related to race, ethnicity and culture, mental health, the promotion of community strengths, and social justice. My family and I love living in the Residential Colleges and getting to know students on a personal level. It has also taught me a great deal about student life, residential life and given me a more holistic perspective on universities as complex institutions, where a great deal of learning takes place both in and out of classrooms. Living with me in Pearson #139 is my husband London who, as a lifelong Michigander, is thrilled to be out of the cold, and my busy toddler son, who will be 5 years old in October. My stepson, also named London, occasionally stops by - he is a UM student in Mechanical Engineering and works in the computer labs on campus. As a family we like movies, sports (watching and playing), and enjoying the South Florida weather, sights and sounds. Please come by and say hello!

Jyotika Ramaprasad is Associate Master of Pearson and Professor and Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the School of Communication. She has a Ph.D. in Journalism, and a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English Literature. Her teaching and research interests are in international and intercultural communication and communication for social change in the developing world. Her current social change research and projects deal with HIV/AIDS in Africa and South Asia. Jyotika has presented her work at conferences in various international sites and has published articles in her field’s journals. She has traveled extensively in the pursuit of her work and her dreams.

Arkalgud (please call him Ram) is Professor and Head of the Department of Information and Decision Sciences at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Jyotika and Ram commute between the two cities to meet once a month for a weekend or a little more. Ram and Jyotika have two daughters. Their older daughter, Charulata, has completed her fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago, and has Kaiser in San Jose to practice medicine. She is married to Kurt Krukenberg at a wedding India. Their younger daughter, Jui, has completed her Ph.D. in Business Administration at the University of California in Irvine, and has joined the faculty at McGill University in Montreal as an Assistant Professor. Both daughters’ names refer to flowers, and they are truly lovely in all senses of the word. Ram and Jyotika are originally from India, but have now lived in the United States for three decades and more. Jyotika moved to Miami from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in August 2008. Jyotika and Ram (when he is in Miami) live in Apartment 137 in the Pearson Residential College. We welcome students and their organizations into our home for discussion, comfort, food, meetings, and other shared experiences so we may also learn and grow.