DIRECTORS
Jonathan Beever
Director and Co-Founder; Professor of Ethics and Digital Culture
Dr. Jonathan Beever is Professor of Ethics & Digital Culture in the Department of Philosophy and the Texts & Technology Ph.D. Program at the University of Central Florida. He is the founding director of the UCF Center for Ethics (founded Fall 2019), and the Program Director of the Theoretical and Applied Ethics Certificate Program. He works in applied ethics, specifically at the intersections among digital ethics, environmental ethics, and bioethics.
Stephen M. Kuebler
Associate Director and Co-Founder; Professor of Chemistry and Optics
Dr. Stephen M. Kuebler received the D.Phil. degree in chemistry from the University of Oxford and the B.S. degree in chemistry and B.A. in German from Tulane University. Dr. Kuebler joined the faculties of CREOL and the Department of Chemistry in August 2003 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in May 2008. His research interests include materials and processes for 3D nano- and microfabrication, use of these techniques for creating nanophotonic structures and devices, nonlinear optical materials and photochemistry.
ADVISORY BOARD
Stephen M. Fiore
Professor, Philosophy & Institute for Simulation and Training
Dr. Stephen M. Fiore, is Director, Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, and Professor with the University of Central Florida’s Cognitive Sciences Program in the Department of Philosophy and Institute for Simulation & Training. He is Past-President of the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research and a founding Program Committee member for the annual Science of Team Science Conference. He maintains a multidisciplinary research interest that incorporates aspects of the cognitive, social, organizational, and computational sciences in the investigation of learning and performance in individuals and teams. His primary area of research is the interdisciplinary study of complex collaborative cognition and the understanding of how humans interact socially and with technology.
Michael Georgiopoulos
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Michael Georgiopoulos is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the University of Central Florida. He currently serves as the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He graduated with a Diploma from the National Technical University of Athens in 1981, and a Masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 1983 and 1986, all in Electrical Engineering. Georgiopoulos joined the University of Central Florida in December 1986. His research interests span various paradigms and applications of Machine Learning, like Artificial Neural Networks, Decision Trees, Kernel-Based Methods, Evolutionary Computation, and Data Mining among others.
Nancy Stanlick
Professor of Philosophy; Chair of Philosophy
Dr. Nancy Stanlick is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy (eff. 8/8/23). Prior to appointment as Chair, she was Associate Dean and Director of Research in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida, having served CAH for 13 years as assistant to the dean, assistant dean, and associate dean. Dr. Stanlick’s interests are primarily in the history of American and Early Modern philosophy, the history of ideas, and theoretical and applied ethics. She earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of South Florida.
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS
Joshua Kissel
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Joshua Kissel was a NSF-funded postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Ethics from 2024-2026. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Northwestern University (2021), then spending two years as an instructor in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Phillips Academy – Andover. Kissel’s research focuses on our conception of social freedom and its realization. His other research explores the relationship between and of compatibility of left-wing political ideals with Effective Altruist ethical orientations and has written on philosophy of education and distributive justice with a focus on defending egalitarianism against sufficiency standards of educational justice.
Alex Nikolaidis
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Alex Nikolaidis was a NSF-funded postdoctoral scholar at the UCF Center for Ethics from 2023-2025. Before joining the University of Central Florida, he was a former Distinguished University Fellow at The Ohio State University where he received his PhD in educational studies and a former Fulbright grantee at Teachers College, Columbia University where he received his MA in philosophy and education. Nikolaidis’s research interests include education ethics, philosophy of education, and education policy. He has published articles in the Journal of Education Policy, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Curriculum Studies, and Theory and Research in Education, among other scholarly venues.
Hajer Albalawi
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Hajer Albalawi was a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Center for Ethics and Texts & Technology from 2024-2025. She specialized in ethics, digital media, with a focus on dissecting codes of ethics, analyzing value artifacts, and developing strategic frameworks for understanding disciplinary frameworks governing professional development and ethics in the digital realm. She holds a Ph.D. in Texts and Technology with a focus on digital media from the same institution. Her Master of Arts in English was facilitated through the distinguished King Abdullah Scholarship Program. Her research interests particularly revolve around the ethical implications of technology.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
Gretchen Mahalic
Gretchen joined the Center for Ethics as an intern in fall of 2025 and is a 2nd year undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida. She’s pursuing a major in biology with interests in complexity theory and ethics.
The Center for Ethics has supported several other researchers and interns who have graduated from UCF including:
- Grace Gueduoar (B.S. Journalism, 2025)
- Paul Copeland (B.A. Philosophy, Minor Legal Studies, 2025)
- Manasi Pradesh (B.S. Clinical Psychology, 2025)
- Daniela Martinez (B.S. Psychology, 2025)
- Lakelyn Taylor (Ph.D. Communications 2022)
- Eve Vazquez (B.S. Psychology 2022)
- Jordan Collins (B.S. Computer Science 2021)
- Joel Gonzalez (B.A. Philosophy 2020)
- Jennifer Crowell (Ph.D. student, Texts & Technology)
- Emily Lapdura (Ph.D. student, Texts & Technology)