Introducing Gallaudet’s new faculty members for 2023-2024

Dr. Jared Carter
Assistant Professor
Human Services and Sciences
Make an E shape with your hand. Then, gradually move your fingers slowly into an O shape. When did the E stop? When did the O start? “The break point is the categorical boundary,” explains Carter, who wants to develop neural research in this area. “It will teach us more about how the brain processes language.” He has been obsessed with brains since high school, but didn’t want to become a brain surgeon. (Too much blood, he says.) He graduated from Utah State University majoring in Communicative Disorders & DeafEducation, with minors in ASL and Psychology. Then he discovered his calling in the field of audiology. After earning his M.S. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the
University of Arizona and his Ph.D. in Communication Sciences & Disorders from the University of Memphis in 2022, he spent last year doing a postdoc at the University of Nottingham in Glasgow, Scotland. An avid reader, Carter set a goal to get through 50 books this year, but is already so far ahead that he is now shooting for 90.

Dr. Abraham Glasser
Assistant Professor
Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health
The future of technology depends on who is developing it, which is why Glasser is excited to join the M.S. in Accessible Human-Centered Computing program. Although he has always loved computers, he is frustrated by the frequent lack of consideration of deaf users. “Technology design processes should include people with disabilities and be inclusive from the beginning,” says Glasser, who was born and raised in Rochester, NY. He earned both his undergraduate degree and his Ph.D. in Computing and Information Sciences from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and has done research work for NASA, Microsoft, and Google. He wants to dive into the worlds of virtual and augmented reality. “Voice control is
becoming standard, and there’s no way to use sign language,” Glasser says. “Audio is a huge part of the experience, and there isn’t a lot of support for captioning or sign language.” In addition to his formal research, he builds his own computers and servers in a home lab, enjoys traveling, and playing board and video games (current favorite: Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). Since 2011, Glasser has been the reigning United States Deaf Chess Champion.

Dr. Jessica Guess
Lecturer II
Human Services and Sciences
Guess can trace her background in counseling to her childhood, when her family moved constantly for her dad’s job in the Navy. “I learned how to quickly connect with people,” says Guess, who has spent the past decade channeling that skill into her clinical practice as well as her teaching. “My goal is to help people find meaning in their lives, and help students navigate a variety of backgrounds and experiences.” As a Deaf adult, Guess recognizes many barriers that can prevent access to qualified mental health services. She earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Cincinnati
in 2022 with a dissertation examining counseling faculty and student disability competence. Her research also looks at the intersection of disability and human sexuality. Guess is especially thrilled to bring her perspective to Gallaudet, and to train the next generation of professionals in this critical area. In her spare time, she enjoys reading sci-fi, watching anime, and doing a variety of “grandma-like” crafts, including crocheting, knitting, sewing, and dot mandala painting.

Yexin Lin, ’17
Lecturer 
Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health Playing with numbers has always appealed to Lin, who grew up in Shanghai, China. She experienced many challenges with a lack of accommodations, so coming to Gallaudet in 2014 as an international student, and being immersed in Deaf culture has been a transformative experience for her. She recently earned a master’s in Mathematics from George Mason University and is proud to be back here teaching at her alma mater. Yexin hopes that her presence will help inspire other Deaf women to become mathematicians.
Her side interests include ChatGPT research and studying quantum mechanics. Yexin is interested in how numbers shape reality. “Maybe Earth is just one big game code,” she says. As the school year starts, she is looking forward to meeting people and supporting students.

Dr. Martha Tyrone
Associate Professor
Human Services and Sciences
As an undergraduate studying Linguistics at the University of Chicago, Tyrone worked in a lab devoted to gesture and speech. That led her to start asking questions about sign language, which have guided her research ever since. Tyrone, who teaches in the Speech-Language Pathology program, uses techniques such as motion capture to measure how sign production varies in different populations, and considers the effects of movement disorders, stoke, and Parkinson’s Disease. “Signing varies from individual to individual, so I separate out signing style from motor control factors,” Tyrone explains. In 2005, she
earned her Ph.D. in Language and Communication Science from City University London — where she studied British Sign Language — and then returned to the United States for positions at Haskins Laboratories and Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY. She is excited to continue her research at Gallaudet, surrounded by signers from such diverse backgrounds. “I’ve worked with deaf people many times,” Tyrone says. “It’s fun and interesting to be in a deaf community.”

Dr. James Waller
Assistant Professor
Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health Waller teaches applied statistics for three Gallaudet programs — Psychology, Math, and Accessible Human-Centered Computing. A native of the Bay Area, he earned a B.A. in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from Pomona College. He continued his academic career with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago, studying sign language and the use of role shift in ASL discourse. From 2021 to 2023, Waller was a postdoctoral researcher
here at Gallaudet under Dr. Raja Kushalnagar working on a project designing accountable artificial intelligence services for people with diverse sensory abilities, so the technology is more effective and efficient for Deaf and HoH people. In his free time, he loves to read fantasy novels, play video games, and travel.