Montalvo, Ellis confirmed as chairs of Cameron University departments

Cameron University has announced the permanent appointments of Dr. Edris Montalvo and Jennifer Ellis as chairs of the Department of Social Sciences and the McMahon School of Business, respectively. Both had been overseeing their departments in an interim capacity for the past year.

Montalvo and Ellis were named interim chairs in August 2025, filling vacancies created when Dr. Lance Janda and Dr. Krystal Brue were named interim deans of CU's College of Arts and Sciences and College of Graduate and Professional Studies. Janda and Brue's positions were made permanent last month by the Board of Regents for the University of Oklahoma, Cameron University and Rogers State University.

Montalvo came to Cameron in 2010 as assistant professor of geography. He holds a Ph.D., a Master of Science degree in geography and a bachelor's degree in political science from Texas State University. He later completed a Master of Business Administration degree at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Montalvo has received university-level and national recognition teaching a broad range of undergraduate geography courses at Cameron. In 2016, he received the Higher Education Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council for Geographic Education and in 2015, he received the Hackler Award, CU's highest teaching honor. He is also the recipient of the CU Faculty Service Award and the Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Artistic Endeavor in the Educational Enterprise.

Montalvo's scholarship includes a peer-reviewed co-edited book and more than a dozen peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. His research focuses on migration, cultural landscapes, geographic education and access to higher education in the U.S.

He currently serves on the university's strategic plan steering committee and recently concluded his second term as chair of the CU Faculty Senate. He previously served on the search committee for Cameron's 18th president, chaired the General Education Committee and was faculty elections coordinator.

Montalvo is a board member for the Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference, and currently serves as treasurer. He has also chaired the Ethnic Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers.

Jennifer Ellis has been a member of Cameron University's business faculty since 2024.

She brings nearly three decades of executive leadership experience to her new role, having served as president and CEO of Cosmetic Specialty Labs, Inc., where she oversaw business operations for more than 25 years.

Ellis holds a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration degree at the University of Michigan-Flint.

A dedicated civic leader and U.S. Army veteran, Ellis serves on the boards of the Oklahoma District Export Council and the Lawton-Fort Sill Airport Authority, among others, and has been recognized as a Leadership Oklahoma Distinguished Graduate and a multiple-time honoree on the Journal Record's lists celebrating Oklahoma's most influential women.

In her new role, Ellis remains committed to preparing students for success in a global workplace and to strengthening the McMahon School of Business' role in the Lawton-Fort Sill community.

PR#26-070