Please join the Early Bird and the Office of Faculty Affairs in welcoming a new Roadrunner to the flock and congratulating a colleague on a new position.
Laneika Musalini, Ed.D., named director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs
Musalini joins Metropolitan State University of Denver as the director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs. She comes to the University with more than 20 years of experience in research and grants administration. Most recently, she was the director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Columbus State University in Georgia. There, she directed the full pre- and post-award division.
Like many Roadrunners, Musalini started her higher education at a community college. She went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources from Anderson University, a master’s degree in Human Resource Development from Clemson University and a doctorate in Higher Education Executive Leadership with a focus on Economic and Workforce Development from Wingate University. She also holds certificates in Project Administration, Grant Writing and Diversity in the Workplace. Musalini joins MSU Denver remotely from her home in South Carolina.
Todd Laugen, Ph.D., accepts new role as director of General Studies
Laugen, professor of History, is stepping up as the new director of General Studies. Laugen has played a key role in this three-year round of General Studies assessment and has taught at MSU Denver since 2005. He specializes in American History After 1865, including politics, labor, women and the West. As a former high school history and government teacher, Laugen remains interested in history education and the preparation of effective teachers.
Laugen received bachelor’s degrees in History and German from the University of Virginia before earning a master’s degree in Social Science Education from Stanford University. He later earned a doctorate in History from the University of Colorado Boulder. His recent publications include “The Gospel of Progressivism: Moral Reform and Labor War in Colorado, 1900-1930,” which details the fight against corporate and political corruption in Colorado during the early 20th century. Recent papers include “Worker Mobilization, Management Resistance: 1920s,” and “Struggles for the Public Interest: Organized Labor and State Mediation in the 1920s.”