Meet the newest additions to the College of Education faculty
The College of Education is excited to welcome four new tenured/tenure-track faculty members joining us for the fall semester!
Hsien-Chang Lin, Ph.D.
(he/him)
Professor and Chair, Department of Child and Family Development
Hsien-Chang Lin comes to SDSU from the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health, where he served as professor of health behavior and policy and interim associate dean. A prodigious researcher with more than 100 journal articles to his name and a recipient of prestigious R01 grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, his research program focuses on childhood well-being and substance use behaviors and their impact on later-life health outcomes. Additionally, his reputation as an outstanding mentor and teacher during his 13 years in Bloomington earned him the IU Trustees’ Teaching Award and the Mentorship Award from the American Academy of Health Behavior. Hsien-Chang recently served as president of the American Academy of Health Behavior, where he is also a fellow. He is also a member of a national committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, evaluating the impact of opioids on veterans.
He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology as well as a master’s degree in economics from National Taiwan University, before earning a master’s in applied economics and a dual Ph.D. in health services research and pharmacoepidemiology from the University of Michigan.
Born and raised in Taiwan, Hsien-Chang has a deep love for Taiwanese food. During the COVID pandemic, he also took up baking and learned how to make *simple* breads and cakes.
Learn more about Hsien-Chang Lin in our Q&A.
Brittany L. Marshall, Ph.D.
(she/her)
Assistant Professor, Math Education, School of Teacher Education
Brittany L. Marshall is a mathematics teacher whose research focuses on disrupting traditional mathematics logics — assumptions about who and what belongs in mathematics spaces — that exclude students from intentionally neglected communities. New to California, Brittany spent the 2023-24 academic year as a dissertation scholar at the University of California Santa Barbara.
She received her Ph.D. in education from Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education, with graduate certificates in Africana studies and women, gender and sexuality Studies. Previously, Brittany taught elementary, middle and high school mathematics in the community she grew up in on the southside of Chicago. Her favorite branch is algebra. Brittany holds a master’s in architecture from North Carolina State University and a bachelor of science of architectural studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
When she is not teaching or learning, you can find Brittany exploring different cities and trying new cuisines with her family and friends. She also loves reality television, like “Chopped” and “Love and Hip Hop!”
Devanshi Unadkat, Ph.D.
(she/her)
Assistant Professor of Literacy Education, School of Teacher Education
Devanshi Unadkat is a literacy researcher and digital media scholar whose work lies at the intersection of media, technology, early literacy and development, from an anti-bias and equity centered lens. Broadly speaking, her research focuses on the use of technologies as tools for learning in various contexts with a focus on inclusive education. Devanshi has spent the past decade exploring the use of digital technologies from a critical sociocultural perspective and enjoys teaching courses that center these frameworks, particularly focusing on (early) literacies.
Devanshi has taught several courses and held leadership positions across various departments at the University of San Francisco, Santa Rosa Junior College, San Francisco State University, and the University of California Berkeley. Prior to entering her Ph.D. program she taught in preschool through second grade classrooms in the U.S. and India and was a PK-12 special educator.
Devanshi loves to hike with her friends and family — albeit in cooler temperatures! And she is always looking for good coffee and food!
Weichen Zhao, Ph.D.
(she/her)
Assistant Professor, Math Education, SDSU Imperial Valley and School of Teacher Education
Weichen Zhao received her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in elementary mathematics education from the University of Kansas. Her research primarily focuses on mathematics teacher training, specifically preparing preservice teachers to teach mathematics using inclusive instructional strategies such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and differentiated instruction.
Her experiences working with students with diverse needs and backgrounds motivated her to support preservice teachers to teach mathematics in line with inclusive pedagogy. She acknowledges the expertise preservice teachers bring to mathematics classrooms and is dedicated to providing them with the necessary training to increase their confidence in mathematics teaching.
Weichen enjoys traveling with her husband and has visited 29 states. California will be the fifth state she has lived in. She also loves snuggling with her cats and feeling their purrs.
