11 New Faculty Join Fullerton College’s 2026-27 Year
This 2026-27 academic year, Fullerton College welcomes 11 new tenure track faculty to its community. Together, our new instructors will guide and mentor students, cultivate an enriching learning experience and transform lives. Meet our new faculty:
Business and Computer Information Systems Division
Diana Hsueh
Accounting
Diana Hsueh began her career in the corporate world as a financial controller working toward her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. After several years in the finance industry, she transitioned into higher education with passions to share her story and help prepare the next generation of accounting professionals.
A proud Fullerton College alumna, Hsueh is honored to return to the campus that shaped her into a successful professional. As an accountant instructor, her goals are to give back to place that influenced her career and embrace our college motto: “Once a Hornet, Always a Hornet.”
Marwin Luminarias
Business
Marwin Luminarias joins Fullerton College as an instructor in business management, business communication and marketing. His career spans more than 14 years in student services, property management and digital marketing.
Luminarias taught as an adjunct instructor at Fullerton College and Rio Hondo College. He also served as coordinator of the Veterans Resource Center and director of Student Life and Leadership at Fullerton College and most recently, as director of Student Life at San Bernardino Valley College.
His commitment to equity-driven education and student success goes beyond the classroom. He has contributed to grant-funded initiatives supporting student veterans and Black, Latine and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) students. His journey as a nontraditional student and DACA recipient also shaped his teaching philosophy that learning should be relevant and accessible to those with diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and educational goals.
A proud Hornet alum, he received his associate degrees at Fullerton College before completing his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Central State University through CSEA’s Union Plus program.
Counseling and Student Development Division
Cyndy Garcia
Counseling Faculty
Cyndy Garcia is a proud first-generation community college graduate that brings a strong background in counseling, coordinating and teaching across multiple community colleges. Prior to joining Fullerton College, she served in several part-time counseling roles, including at Irvine Valley College, where she supported students through EOPS and the Honors Program. She also supported students at Orange Coast College through general counseling, the Promise Program, Puente, MESA and more. Across these roles, she has approached her work through an equity-minded lens, with a deep belief in the transformative power of community colleges and the importance of building relationships rooted in belonging, intention and cariño.
Garcia began her educational journey at Santa Ana College before transferring to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she majored in sociology and minored in education studies. She later attended California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), where she earned her master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis in student development in higher education and earned a graduate certificate in Applied Disability Studies.
Nicole Winborne
EOPS Counseling Faculty
Nicole Winborne is a proud first-generation community college transfer student. Her own educational journey continues to shape her commitment to educational justice and helping students identify opportunities, overcome barriers and achieve their academic and career goals.
Winborne holds 16 years of experience in education, with eight of them supporting college access programs in South Los Angeles before transitioning to the community college system. Prior to Fullerton College, she served as a STEM counselor at El Camino College, career counselor at Santa Monica College, and CalWORKs counselor at Long Beach City College supporting CalWORKs, EOPS and CARE students. At Fullerton College, she served in the Transfer Center and the STEM Success Learning Community.
She earned both her bachelor’s degree in sociology and her master’s degree in counseling, from California State University, Dominguez Hills, where she is a proud two-time Toro. She is excited to continue serving the Fullerton College community and helping students experience the same sense of belonging and opportunity that has made our campus feel like home.
Ethnic Studies and Student Equity Division
David Ferrándiz
Ethnic Studies
David Ferrándiz proudly joins Fullerton College as professor of comparative ethnic studies. Having taught as an adjunct at Fullerton College over the past year, he eagerly became involved in campus events and initiatives. From moderating a conversation with author Javier Zamora on the root causes and perils of forced migration to serving as faculty advisor for the Dance Folklórico, Mariachi, y Más club, he has already made a large impact on our Hornet community.
Born and raised an immigrant in Los Angeles to Spanish and Ecuadorian families, his multicultural and multigenerational influences shaped his early interest in history and desire to understand the distribution of wealth and power in society. After graduating from the Los Angeles Unified School District, he studied history and colonialism studies at Tufts University, where he experienced both the alienation of predominantly white spaces and sense of belonging through the organization of labor with outsourced immigrant janitors. These experiences inspired his belief in the fundamental purpose of education: working with others to create a more just and dignified society.
Ferrándiz earned his bachelor’s degree in history at Tufts University and his master’s degree in Latin American studies at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA). He is excited to cultivate critical learning communities and collaborate on social-justice-oriented initiatives at Fullerton College.
Marisol Rivera
Ethnic Studies
Marisol Rivera began her career as an instructor in 2022 as a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She taught ethnic studies at six community colleges, including Fullerton College and universities around Southern California.
While navigating the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, she attended workshops, conferences and programs to expand her knowledge and skills as an ethnic studies educator. Her graduate work centered on gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity and childhood, youth and education in America. A proud Fullerton College alumna, Rivera considers her return to the college a “full circle moment” where she is able to give back to her community and serve future leaders.
Rivera holds three associate degrees in science and mathematics, social behavior and self-development and mathematics from Fullerton College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in American studies with a minor in mathematics for teacher education and her master’s degree in American studies from CSUF.
Humanities Division
Melissa DeLeon
Communications Studies
Melissa De Leon is a first-generation Filipina college graduate who began her academic journey at Rio Hondo College before transferring to CSULA. Prior to joining Fullerton College, she spent seven years teaching in the California Community College and California State University systems.
Her passions for forensics, speech and debate are reflected in her 12 years of experience as a nationally ranked competitor, coach and program director. Her greatest accomplishment includes becoming the first educator to bring debate education to California State Prison, Los Angeles County, where she taught incarcerated students to harness the power of their voices while completing coursework toward their bachelor’s degrees. She is also driven by a commitment to students’ personal and professional growth and to creating campus communities where all students feel welcomed, included and supported.
De Leon earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication studies from CSULA.
Natural Sciences Division
Dr. Gerardo Spinelli
Horticulture
Dr. Gerardo Spinelli grew up on an olive and vegetable farm in Tuscany, Italy and studied Agronomy and Tropical Agriculture at the University of Florence.
Throughout his career, he traveled throughout the country for a variety of roles in the agriculture industry. In 2007, he ventured to Honduras to work on an irrigation development project providing technical assistance to smallholder corn and watermelon growers. He also spent some time residing in London designing and installing landscape irrigation systems. In Lebanon, he managed projects to introduce integrated pest management in apple and olive production and built irrigation systems for tobacco and vegetable growers.
In 2010, he moved to California and completed a master’s degree in international agricultural development, as well as a doctorate in horticulture and agronomy at University of California Davis focusing on plant physiology and water stress in almond orchards before transitioning to work on irrigation in strawberry and lettuce production. He then moved to San Diego to assist growers with improving fertilization and irrigation in nurseries and greenhouses.
Dr. Spinelli joins Fullerton College with a plethora of knowledge in the field, ready to inspire horticulture students and our broader community.
Technology and Engineering Division
Jordyn Barber
Cinema and Television
Jordyn Barber’s work spans film, television, education, publishing and social impact. Across each medium, she returns to the same question: How can stories help people imagine better worlds?
Barber has built these worlds from many directions. As an actor, she helped bring television stories to life, appearing in The Shield, NCIS: Origins and The Middle. As a writer, director and producer, she has developed independent films including Pratfall, Cold Feet and America’s Next Top Immigrant. She also directed and shot Land Games, a short documentary exploring the competing visions residents hold for the future of her hometown of Georgetown, South Carolina.
Before joining Fullerton College, she taught cinema and television courses as an adjunct instructor, including screenwriting and documentary filmmaking. She also mentored young filmmakers through the Youth Cinema Project, helping students move from early ideas to finished films while discovering the value of their own perspectives. In the classroom, she encourages students to see film not only as an artistic medium, but as a way to imagine possibilities, shape culture and inspire people to build a world where everyone can thrive.
Barber earned her bachelor’s degree in interactive media and her Master of Fine Arts in film and television production from the University of Southern California.
Han Tse
Drone Technology
Han Tse brings more than a decade of experience in unmanned aircraft systems, engineering and technical education, with a background spanning drone operations, autonomous systems, aerial imaging, maintenance, robotics and advanced manufacturing.
Tse is also the founder of Sensofly, a Southern California drone training and services company established in 2016. Sensofly began with hands-on services such as drone repair and youth summer camps and has since grown to provide drone training, aerial imaging, technical services and educational programs. An incredible effort, Tse has made drone education more accessible, encouraging people of different ages and experience levels to explore the field.
As an educator, he has taught drone technology and engineering at Fullerton College, Santa Ana College and CSUF. His teaching emphasizes hands-on learning and gives students experience across the UAS ecosystem from safe flight operations and FAA regulations to aircraft systems, troubleshooting, maintenance and autonomous technologies.
Tse holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stony Brook University and brings additional industry experience in aerospace manufacturing, robotics, automation, and machine vision.
Elyusha Vafaeisefat
Cimena, Radio and Television
Elyusha Vafaeisefat is a producer, filmmaker and educator who has taught filmmaking and media studies courses at CSULB, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), El Camino College, Chaffey College and other film schools throughout Southern California. He has also served as a guest lecturer at institutions and events across Europe and has conducted production workshops in Hamburg, Germany.
Vafaeisefat’s films have screened in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Denmark and more. He produced the film The Painter, an Academy Award-qualifying short film. His latest film as a producer, Filthy Animals, was also distributed theatrically and later acquired by Amazon Prime Video. He also serves as a judge for prominent film and media arts programs, including the Newport Beach Film Festival and the CSU Media Arts Festival. He has also collaborated with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sean Baker and the Gardena Cinema on student-oriented screenings, events, and workshops, creating opportunities for emerging filmmakers to engage with cinema and industry professionals.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in film and electronic arts from CSULB and his graduate degree in cinema and media studies from UCLA.
