USU Uintah Basin Hires New Faculty

Utah State University Uintah Basin is pleased to announce the addition of three new professionals, two faculty and one research scientist: Michael Bailey, Nathan Braccio and Liji David.

“Dr. Braccio and Dr. David replace long valued members of the campus community and Dr. Bailey is the first faculty in the Technology Systems program in the Uintah Basin,” stated James Y. Taylor, associate vice president. “All three were selected from very deep applicant pools. I am thrilled and excited that each of these three accepted to join the campus and move to the Basin as they bring extensive industry and academic experience that will meet our strategic goals for campus and program growth while also helping our communities' academic culture and workforce development.”

Michael Bailey

Bailey will serve as an instructor in the Applied Sciences, Technology & Education (ASTE) program and will work as a faculty mentor in the Technology Systems program. This will be the first time a dedicated faculty member will be housed in the Uintah Basin for the program. The program allows students to turn approved certificates from one of Utah’s System of Technical Colleges into an associates followed by a bachelor’s in technology systems.

Bailey holds his doctorate in electrical engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology, with an emphasis in pattern recognition, stochastic processes and nonlinear systems. He earned a master’s from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s from Brigham Young University. For him, engineering is the family business. His father was also an electrical engineer.

Bailey comes to USU-Uintah Basin after spending the last 29 years working in several engineering positions. In additional to his professional experience in the engineering field, Bailey is also an experienced instructor, having spent nine years as an assistant professor at BYU. He was the co-founder of BYU’s Information Technology program. After spending time away from the classroom, Bailey is excited to return to the classroom.

Nathan Braccio

Braccio joins the Uintah Basin faculty as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in environmental history. Braccio recently earned his doctorate in history from the University of Connecticut, becoming an expert historian of indigenous and English mapping in early modern New England. Braccio earned a master’s in American history and a bachelor’s in history from American University in Washington, D.C.

Braccio has several years of teaching experience. His most recent post was teaching a variety of history classes as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut Stamford, concentrating on U.S. history after 1877, as well as American Indian history and colonial American history. Prior to this position, he also taught at the University of Connecticut as both an instructor and a teaching assistant.

Braccio also has published a variety of papers, many of which focus on early mapmaking in the American Colonies and other parts of the world.

Liji David

David joins the Uintah Basin faculty as a senior research scientist in the Bingham Research Center. David joins USU after spending six years with Colorado State University’s Departments of Chemistry and Atmospheric Science where she started as a postdoctoral fellow and continued as a research scientist. She earned her doctorate in physics from the University of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, India in 2013. She holds a master’s in physics from the University of Madras in Chennai, India, and a bachelor’s in physics from Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, India.

Prior to her position at CSU, David was a research fellow in the Space Physics Laboratory of the Indian Space Research Organization, as well as a project scientist at the National Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Ministry of Earth Sciences, India. She has also presented guest lectures at CSU.

David is an expert in air quality and has published or co-authored many papers and research on ozone and atmospheric pollution. Her current research interests involve advancing the understanding of the chemistry of pollutants in the atmosphere to achieve better air quality and human health.

USU’s fall semester begins August 30. USU Uintah Basin is home to over 125 program options and 27 full-time faculty members with locations in Vernal and Roosevelt. Scholarships applications for Fall 2021 are still open. Learn more at uintahbasin.usu.edu.