JMU Grad Glad To Be Back in the Classroom as Teacher

Toni South is glad to be getting back into a JMU classroom this fall, this time as a teacher. 

The 2005 chemistry graduate is one of 117 new faculty members in JMU classrooms this year, 78 full-time and 39 part-time. 

"The professors here really influenced me," said South, who will teach an introductory class in the department of chemistry and biochemistry and will also work on research. "They were very motivating and they were mentors and friends to me so they were instrumental in me wanting to go on and teach." 

South had been working for Dow Chemical Co. in the Philadelphia area before returning to JMU. 

Mark Gruskin, who will teach in the College of Business, is coming to JMU from Wayne State University in Michigan. He is looking forward to learning from the students he teaches. "Their questions drive us to investigate things and it ultimately expands our viewpoint on things," he said. 

Edwin O'Shea will teach in the department of mathematics and statistics and is coming to JMU from Ireland, where he was involved in research. His research work with a JMU alum and JMU's emphasis on undergraduate education influenced his decision to come here. "I really enjoy the students. I think most of them, they're at an age where they're filled with enthusiasm. In return for wonderful teaching, you get to spend time on things that interest you and so that model really appealed to me," he said. 

Here is a list of the new faculty: 

College of Arts and Letters 

Danielle Widmann Abraham, Philosophy & Religion 

Aaron E. Bacue, Communication Studies 

Frank Daniel Bechter, Sociology & Anthropology 

JoAnn Benjamin, University Advising 

David Bleich, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication 

Heidi Bollinger, English 

Rebecca N. Brannon, History and Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies 

Daisy Breneman, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication 

Karl W. Brown, History 

Samuel Lee Duncan, Philosophy & Religion 

Peter Eubanks, Foreign Languages 

Allison Fagan, English 

Mariagrazia Fiorello, Foreign Languages 

Samar Fitzgerald, English 

Andrea Gallo, Foreign Languages 

Ervie Glick, Foreign Languages 

Julie Gochenour, School of Media Arts & Design 

Robert Shelton Hill, History 

Shelly Lynn Hokanson, School of Media Arts & Design 

Yongguang Hu, History 

Jennifer Jacovitch, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication 

William Dewey Jennings, Justice Studies 

Michael K. Kolakoski, English 

Elinor Spalding Lewis, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication 

Alice Neff Lucan, School of Media Arts & Design 

Melanie Luhn, Foreign Languages 

Talley Mulligan, School of Media Arts & Design 

Jemimah W. Mwakisha, Communication Studies 

Jesse W. Newton, Philosophy & Religion 

Andre Buel Nicholson, School of Media Arts & Design 

Susan Opt, Communication Studies 

Stacey A. Passalacqua, Communication Studies 

Nicholas Robinette, English 

Laura Stump, Foreign Languages 

Kimiko Tanaka, Sociology & Anthropology 

Jeb Thomas Terrien, Justice Studies 

Mark A. Trickett, Sociology & Anthropology 

Nan Zheng, School of Media Arts & Design 

Robert W. Alexander, Political Science 

Tom F. Hannon, Political Science 

Jessica L. Minnis-McClain, Political Science 

Donald L. Plambeck, Political Science 

Elisabeth Whitehead, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication 

College of Business 

Miguel Bendrao Baltazar, School of Hospitality, Sport & Recreation Management 

Karie A. Barbour, Economics 

Merve Kaleagasi Eren, Marketing 

Alyssa T. Gerlando, School of Hospitality, Sport & Recreation Management 

Mark R. Gruskin, Finance 

Gary William Juhan, School of Hospitality, Sport & Recreation Management 

Ali Muhammad Shahzad, Management 

Marilla S. Showalter, Accounting 

Debra G. Wenger, Computer Information Systems & Management Science 

College of Education 

John T. Almarode, Early, Elementary, and Reading Education 

Edward Brantmeier, Learning, Technology & Leadership Education, CFI 

Dannette A. Bronaugh, Exceptional Education 

Richard Ingram, Learning, Technology & Leadership Education 

Douglas J. Loveless, Early, Elementary, and Reading Education 

Jennifer R. Newton, Exceptional Education 

Kateri Grace Thunder, Middle, Sec & Mathematics Education 

College of Integrated Science and Technology 

Rachel M. Bavister, Communication Sciences & Disorders 

Laine P. Bradshaw, Center for Assessment & Research Studies 

Brendan J. Danker, Kinesiology 

Elizabeth S. Edwards, Kinesiology 

Kethera A.J. Fogler, Psychology 

Kyle Gipson, Engineering 

Trent A. Hargens, Kinesiology 

Daniel D. Holt, Psychology 

Michael S. Kirkpatrick, Computer Science 

Melissa Leisen, Nursing 

Jennifer Mangan, Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies 

Bernice A. Marcopulos, Graduate Psychology 

Christopher S. Mayfield, Computer Science 

Jacquelyn Nagel, Engineering 

Carole L. Nash, ISAT 

Stacey Pavelko, Communication Sciences & Disorders 

Andrew A. Peachey, Health Sciences 

Julie Sanford, Nursing 

Nathan R. Sprague, Computer Science 

Deborah Crawford Sturm, Graduate Psychology 

Timothy Ronald Walton, ISAT 

College of Science and Methematics 

Elizabeth Victoria Berkeley, Biology 

Brycelyn M. Boardman, Chemistry 

Brent D. Cunningham, Chemistry 

Tracy Deem, Biology 

Joshua E. Ducey, Mathematics & Statistics 

Kristen E. Funck, Chemistry 

Elizabeth Jane Jeffery, Physics & Astronomy 

John H. Johnson, Jr., Mathematics & Statistics 

Joanna Mott, Biology 

Edwin O'Shea, Mathematics & Statistics 

Deepshika Shukla, Physics & Astronomy 

Shaleen Shukla, Physics & Astronomy 

Toni South, Chemistry 

Julia Stutzman, Biology 

Shelly Thomas, Biology 

Cindy Vindman, Biology 

Shelley J. Whitmeyer, Geology & Environmental Science 

Nathan T. Wright, Chemistry 

John Charles Zimmerman, Physics & Astronomy 

College of Visual and Performing Arts 

Patricia Augsburger, Art, Design & Art History 

Terry Brino-Dean, Theatre and Dance 

Meredith Conti, Theatre and Dance 

William Bryce Hayes, School of Music 

Lise Keiter, School of Music 

Adam Larrabee, School of Music 

Karen Mulder, Art, Design & Art History 

Jiyoung Oh, School of Music 

Marc Paxton, Art, Design & Art History 

Daniel Lawrence Robinson, Institute for Visual Studies 

Jun Bum Shin, Art, Design & Art History 

Klaus Shmidheiser, Art, Design & Art History 

Emilie Johnson Wheeler, Art, Design & Art History 

Academic Affairs 

Trevor P. Alvord, Libraries & Educational Technology 

Michael Mungin, Libraries & Educational Technology 

Erika Peterson, Libraries & Educational Technology 

Laura Kate Schubert, Libraries & Educational Technology 

Yasmeen Shorish, Libraries & Educational Technology