ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank all the people who supported me through this process. I would not be able to make it without their continued help and support. I specifically wish to thank my dissertation chair Dr. Wynne Chin for his leadership and insights and committee member Dr. Annette Mills for the tremendous amount of time she invested in the successful completion of this dissertation. Their help and guidance throughout all phases of this dissertation were priceless. Their commitment of time and effort made the completion of this dissertation possible. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to the memory of my mother, Fatemeh Kamaly. If it were not for her dedication to my education and her never-ending sacrifices, I would not be able to make it this far. I would also like to thank my father, Seyed Hassan Vaezi, for all the spiritual and material support he provided during this lengthy process