PhD Student Placement

Curious about where our PhD students found career success? Look no further! 

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2024

  • Chris Bosley
     Dissertation: Stress and Health in the Emergency Medical Services: An Organizational Approach
    Advisor: Barr
    Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, UNC Sheps Center for Health Services Research
  • Jiaying Lin
     Dissertation: Understanding the Impact of the First Antidomestic Violence Law in China
    Advisor: Lee
    Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Lingnan University

2023

  • J Coley
     Dissertation: Gentrification and Displacement in the American Rust Belt: A Qualitative Study of Neighborhood Change and Experience
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, MetLife Foundation Lender Center, Syracuse University
  • Sara DiPasquale
     Dissertation: Past School Punishment and the Lives of Young Adults
    Advisor: Barr
    Current position: Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology at the University at Buffalo
  • Julia Schoonover
     Dissertation: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Migrant Work in Singapore
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Research Manager, University of Manchester
  • Siqi Wang
     Dissertation: Time to Self-Report Arthritis, Self-Reported Arthritis and Self-Rated Health, and the Period Pattern in Self-Reported Arthritis Prevalence
    Advisor: Grol-Prokopczyk
    Current position: Health Services Researcher, Rush University Medical Center

2022

  • Wei Luo
     Dissertation: Educational Disparities in Chronic Pain and Life Expectancy: Gaps and Pathways
    Advisor: Grol-Prokopczyk
    Current position: Research Scientist, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
  • Matthew McLeskey
     Dissertation: Life in a Leaded Landscape: Housing, Stigma, and Struggle in the Rust Belt
    Advisor: Hatton
    Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice at Oswego State College, SUNY

2021

  • Kristen Connolly
     Dissertation: Doctors, Patients, and Opioids: Governmental Regulation, Physician’s Autonomy, and the Treatment of Patients
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Hilbert College
  • Gregory Hall
     Dissertation: Normalization, Prioritization, and Pervasive Individualism: Precariously Housed Minority, Ex-Prisoners, and Low-Income Renters
    Advisor: Mele
    Current position: Research Administrator Office of the Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo
  • Miranda Workman
     Dissertation: Negotiating Multi-species Families: Are Fluffy and Fido Family?
    Advisor: Lee
    Current position: Shelter Behavior Apprenticeship Liaison, ASPCA

2020

  • Erica Boyce
    Dissertation: School Choice Policy and Social Inequity within an Urban School District
    Advisor: Street
    Current position: Senior Program Evaluator, Office of Shared Accountability, Buffalo Public School District
  • Vinay Kumar 
    Dissertation: Morality in the Making of Urban Space
    Advisor: Mele
    Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 
  • Jared Strohl
     Dissertation: Greenlinks Urban Farm: Friendship, Food and Environmentalism in a Postindustrial City
    Advisor: Hatton
    Current position: Diversity Project Coordinator, Office of Inclusive Excellence, University at Buffalo
  • Yulin Yang
    Dissertation: Chronic Pain and Social Relationships among midlife and Older Adults in the United States
    Advisor: Grol-Prokopczyk
    Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, University of California, San Francisco
  • Sam Yaqi Yuan
    Dissertation: Public Opinion of Health Care Systems: Social Determinants and the Moderating Effects of Social Contexts and Historical Contexts
    Advisor: Lee 
    Current position: Assistant Professor, School of History and Sociology, Georgia Institute of Technology

2019

  • Aysegul Balta Ozgen 
    Dissertation: Refugee Integration in comparative Perspective:  Syrians in Canada, Germany, Turkey, and the United States
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Üsküdar University (Turkey)
  • Matthew Perry
    Dissertation: Romantic Relationship Quality, Parenthood Transitions, and Long-Term Health Outcomes
    Advisor: Street
  • Diana Pehlic Samardzic 
    Dissertation: Occupational Segregation and Job Attributes of Native- and Foreign-Born Groups in the U.S. Labor Market
    Advisor: Adelman
  • Joanne Tompkins
    Dissertation: Ethnoracial Differences in Planning for End-of-Life Care
    Advisor: Street 
    Current position: Research Associate, The Center for Guardianship Excellence

2018

  • Kiera Duckworth
    Dissertation: Masculinity Achievement and Risky Health Behaviors Among Adolescent and Young Adult Men
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Training Manager for Chief Equity Officer, City of Rochester
  • Paul Durlak
    Dissertation: Making Rights in the Workplace:  Workers’ Perceptions of the Americans with Disabilities Act
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Research Associate, KJT Group
  • Wanda Garcia
    Dissertation: Family Disruption and the Transition to Adulthood Among Low Socioeconomic Status Young Adults
    Advisor: Lee
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Social Work, Marist College
  • Donna Manion
    Dissertation: Manifestations and Perceptions of Organizational Tolerance of Military’s Sexual Harassment and Assault By Gender, Race, Rank, and Service Branch in 2006 and 2010
    Advisor: Moore 
    Current position: Instructor, SUNY Polytechnic
  • Patrick McDonald
    Dissertation: Unfulfilled Promises: How Promise Scholarships Impact Small Private Colleges
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Director of Data Analytics, College of Arts & Sciences, University at Buffalo
  • Watoii Rabii
    Dissertation: Crime, Threat, and Security: Immigrants as Laborers, Entrepreneurs, and Good Neighbors
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Oakland University

2017

  • Tyler Dupont
    Dissertation: Skating Through Life: Subcultural Careers in and Exits from Skateboarding
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, SUNY Oneonta
  • Yumiko Fujita
    Dissertation: Gender and Formal Carework in Japan
    Advisor: Street
    Current position: Tenured Teacher, Dazaifu School for Special Needs Education, Fukouka Prefecture Board of Education, Japan
  • Jessica Hoffman
    Dissertation: Understanding Maternity Care Decisions
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Hilbert College
  • Robert Kappel
    Dissertation: “The Greatest Free Party in the Streets”: Creating Urban Place Identity Through Permissive Policy
    Advisor: Mele
    Current position: Regional Director, B’nai B’rith Youth Organization
  • Melis Kural
    Dissertation: Making Sense of Post-Relocation for Public Housing Residents in Izmir, Turkey
    Advisor: Mele
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Keuka College

2016

  • Sarah Desai
     Dissertation: The Impact of Avoiding Surveilling Istitutions Among the Children of U.S. Immigrants
    Advisor: Street
    Current position: Adjunct professor, SUNY Buffalo
  • Jin Dong
    Dissertation: How Do Chinese Lawyers View Pro Bono? A Sociological Analysis
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Deputy Head, China office, Astrum Education, Shanghai
  • Elizabeth Roby
     Dissertation: Climate of Framing:  Beyond Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice in a Neoliberal Context
    Advisor: Mele
    Current position: Lecturer, Alfred State, Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Margaret Smith
    Dissertation: Family Income Instability and Child Socioemotional Development
    Advisor: Wagmiller
    Current position: Research Scientist, Women, Children, & Adolescent Bureau, New York State Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services

2015

  • Jessica Fitzpatrick
    Dissertation: Institutionalized Help: Teen Dating Violence Victims’ Relationships with Family, The Law, and Medical Care
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Social Work, Buffalo State College
  • Ashley Kranjac
    Dissertation: A Sociological Evaluation of Childhood Obesity
    Advisor: Wagmiller
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Chapman University
  • Christina Panagakis
    Dissertation: With a Little Help From My Friends: Social Networks and the Transition to Adulthood
    Advisor: Lee
    Current position: Director of Research and Public Policy, United Way of Buffalo & Erie County
  • Johnna Pike
    Dissertation: Demanding Accountability in Domestic Violence Courts: Defendants’ Perspectives of Mandated Batterers Intervention Programs
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Social Sciences & Human Development, Newbury College
  • O. Nicholas Robertson
    Dissertation: Immigration, Identity, and Crime
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Sarah Smith
    Dissertation: Touchy Subjects: Teen’s Perspectives on Stigma, Risk, and Adulthood in School-Based Sex Education
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Director of Programs, Rural Outreach Center
  • Richard Strahan
    Dissertation: Queer Times: The Politics of Protest Coverage
    Advisor: Moore
    Current position:  Instructor, Buffalo State College
  • Sibo Zhao
    Dissertation: Changes in Parental Time with Children in China, 2004-2011: Time Trends, Regional Variation, and Gender Inequality
    Advisor: Lee
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Central University of Finance and Economics (Beijing)

2014

  • Kriston D’Amuro
    Dissertation: Life in Affluent Globalized City: Working Age Singaporeans’ Current Perspectives and Future Expectations
    Advisor: Street
    Current position: Sociology Instructor, Grande Prairie Regional College
  • Jessica MacNamara
    Dissertation: Appearance and Acceptance: Toward a Sociology of Familial Responses to Gender Transition
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Keuka College
  • Meghan Murphy
    Dissertation: How Social Support and Sexuality-Based Expectations Shape Former Students’ Perspectives on Being Out in High School
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Bridgewater State University
  • Daniel Nickolai
    Dissertation: Student Orientations to Learning in a Marketized Environment: Disciplined Learners, Disinterested Consumers, or Distorted Constructions?
    Advisor: Trautner
    Current position: Associate Professor of Sociology, Trocaire College
  • Kimberly Silla
    Dissertation: The Impact of the Feminist Movement, By Birth Cohort, on the Likelihood of Becoming a Grandmother Caregiver
    Advisor: Blair
    Current position: Senior lecturer, Niagara University
  • Dawn Soufleris
    Dissertation: From Home to Hall: The Transitional Experiences of Homeschooled Students Entering Residential University Settings
    Advisor: Street
    Current position: Associate Vice President for Student Behavior, Rochester Institute of Technology

2013

  • Kathleen Contrino
    Dissertation: Drug Court Judges and Judicial Behavior: “Progressives” or “Traditionals” and Their Impact on Clients
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Canisius College
  • Cindy Hsin-Yi Liu
    Dissertation: Ethnicity-Based Patterns of Mate Selectivity: Second Generation Immigrants in Southern California and Florida
    Advisor: Blair
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, Community College of Rhode Island
  • Lauren Nicholas
    Dissertation: An Examination of Current Obstetrical Opinions, Diagnostic & Practice Trends in the Management of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome Patients & Their Effects
    Advisor: Blair
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, D’Youville College

2012

  • Shashi Gayadeen
    Dissertation: Ritualizing Social Problems: Intermediaries in the Institutionalization of Anti-Hazing Legislation
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Buffalo State College
  • Cassi Meyerhoffer
    Dissertation: What’s Race Got to Do With It? An In-depth Analysis of Neighborhood Preferences and Residential Segregation
    Advisor: Adelman
    Current position: Associate Professor of Sociology, Southern Connecticut State University
  • Philip Veliz
    Dissertation: The Role of Interscholastic Sport in Public High Schools: A Zero-Sum Game or a Bridge to Success?
    Advisor: Granfield
    Current position: Assistant Research Professor, School of Nursing’s Applied Biostatistics Laboratory and Associate Director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center, University of Michigan