Faculty & Staff

Fall 2009 Deans, Faculty, & Staff

Robert Chapel - Academic Dean

Robert Chapel has been a professor in the U.Va. Department of Drama since 1990, serving as its chair from 1990-2005. He has served as stage director (1987-1990), managing director (1990-1994), and producing artistic director (1995-present) of the Heritage Theatre Festival (formerly the Heritage Repertory Theatre). From 1999-2001, he chaired the Virginia 2020 Commission on the Fine and Performing Arts. In addition, he has served as executive director of the Virginia Film Festival. Since stepping down as chair in 2005, he has traveled to Russia three times, twice on Fulbright Grants, to teach workshops in musical theatre performance in Moscow (2005), to direct "Sweeney Todd" at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (2006) and in 2007. Since 2005, he has also served as guest director at the University of Tasmania's School of Visual and Performing Arts in Launceston. He has returned to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, twice, to direct "The Laramie Project" and, in 2007, to direct Arthur Miller's "Playing For Time" which was the opening production of U-M's new Arthur Miller Theatre. Bob has directed over 110 theatrical productions and acted in over 60 more in New York, Los Angeles, regional, and university theatre. Prior to joining the U.Va. faculty, he taught and directed at San Diego State University, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the University of Michigan, and the University of Alabama. He holds a Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Michigan.

Nicholas Iammarino - Executive Dean

Dr. Nicholas "Nick" Iammarino is a professor of health education and the director of the health sciences program at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he is also the chair of the Department of Kinesiology. Dr. Iammarino received his BS degree from the University of Dayton, his MA from University of Toledo, and his PhD in Health Education from Ohio State University. In addition to teaching classes at Rice in health education, Dr. Iammarino serves as associate director for international initiatives at the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center and associate director for administration and international initiatives at the Center for Cancer Control and Research, both of which are located at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Iammarino holds a number of other faculty positions including adjunct associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Baylor, as well as being a visiting professor in the Department of Biology at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Dr. Iammarino has conducted extensive research in health education, particularly as it relates to cardiovascular health. He has published extensively on health education in a variety of journals including Health Education, International Journal of Health Education, Journal of School Health, Health Values and more. Dr. Iammarino previously sailed on Semester at Sea in 1996 as a faculty member and we are glad to have him back as the executive dean for the Fall 2009 voyage.

Faculty

Staff

Terry Bangs (Communication)

Terry Bangs (Communication). Terry Bangs recently retired as national director of client training for Hewitt Associates, a global management-consulting firm. His PhD in organizational communication from the University of Denver followed bachelor's and master's degrees (radio, TV, and film) from the University of Michigan. Prior to his 20-year career at Hewitt, Terry was associate professor and deputy head of the Department of English, USAF Academy, Colorado, where he directed, designed, and taught courses in composition, speech, technical and business communication, and theatre. He designed and taught the first course in theatre history offered at any US military academy and, in 1976, was selected to direct the USAF Academy's Bicentennial production of the musical 1776. Over the course of his two careers, Terry has taught management and communication to audiences in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia as well as throughout the US. Before he settled into education and training, Terry was an Air Force pilot, stationed in SE Asia, Europe, and the US. He has flown single-seat fighters across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Back to Faculty List

Cynthia Church (Biology)

Cynthia Church is Associate Professor and Chair of Biology at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. Prior to her appointment at Metro State, she was a visiting assistant professor at Oberlin College. In her dissertation work, which she completed in 1996 at The University of Colorado-Boulder, she examined the role of a nuclear gene, PET100, in the cytochrome c oxidase assembly pathway in yeast. The study combined molecular genetics, including cloning and characterization of PET100, with cell biology using confocal fluorescence and electron microscopy. Prior to beginning her doctoral research, Dr. Church received a master's degree in parasitology from the University of Northern Colorado. Her thesis project was a taxonomic study of the cestodes of the round stingray, which she collected at el Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos (CEDO) in Puerto Peñasco, México. She has taught three different study abroad courses including Tropical Marine Ecology on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Costa Rica from Canopy to Coast in Central America, and In Darwin's Footsteps in the Galápagos Islands.
Back to Faculty List

K. Siân Davies-Vollum (Geology/Environmental Science)

Siân Davies-Vollum is an Associate Professor of geosciences in the environmental science program at the University of Washington-Tacoma (UWT). Born and educated in the UK, she has a BA and Ph.D. in geology from Oxford University and an M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London. Her research focuses on the sedimentology of river environments and the plant-based material that they preserve. She has conducted fieldwork in North America and Europe and has participated in geological field trips in South America, South Africa and Asia. Recently, she has been researching interdisciplinary environmental issues in Washington's Puget Sound. Professor Davies-Vollum has been very involved in curriculum development at UWT; she developed the geosciences component of the environmental science program and was a founding faculty member of the freshman general education curriculum. She has taught a variety of courses in environmental science and geology, including field courses in the US and UK, and has published a number of pedagogical research papers. She taught on the SAS summer 2003 voyage.
Back to Faculty List

Scott DeVeaux (Music)

Scott DeVeaux, Associate Professor, University of Virginia. Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, A.B., Princeton University. He has written Jazz with Gary Giddins (Norton, 2009), The Birth of Bebop (California, 1997), and Jazz in America: Who's Listening? (Seven Locks Press, 1995), and has published articles and reviews in Journal of the American Musicological Society, Current Musicology, Musical Quarterly, Black Music Research Journal, and American Music. In 2001-2002, he was a Fulbright Teaching Chair at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark. The Birth of Bebop won several awards, including the American Book Award, an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, and the Kinkeldey Prize for best book from the American Musicological Society. He has taught jazz, American music, 20th-century music, African music and performance, music theory and musicianship, and seminars on music and war.
Back to Faculty List

Steven Dickstein (Business/Commerce)

Steven Dickstein, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management Sciences, Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. B.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia; M.B.A. Finance & International Business, Rutgers University. Adjunct Faculty member with primary responsibility to develop & teach business courses that include short-term, international travel component for CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) at Fisher College. Undergraduate teaching focuses on International Operations. Business faculty member on the Summer, 2007 Semester at Sea voyage to Latin America. 30+ years of industry experience in Fortune 100 companies with international responsibilities for business development and "best practices."
Back to Faculty List

Daniel Duran (Business/Commerce)

Dan Duran is a tenured Associate Professor of Business Administration at Whittier College where he teaches Energy and Water Policy, Renewable Resources Planning, Operations, MIS, International Business, and Change Management courses. He is also the founder and a Principal of Energized Solutions, a California based LLC that provides consulting services in the renewable resources, strategic environmental planning, energy efficiency, water conservation, and sustainability areas. Dan's background includes twenty-five years of leadership positions in the environmental, energy, telecommunications, and information services sectors, including senior positions with AT&T, NEC (Japan), Edison International, Sempra, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), and Sat Networks Int. He currently is managing projects with several cities, counties and utilities in the area of long term sustainability and environmental planning. Dan holds a Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), a MLS and BA (Political Science) from the University of California, Berkeley. Dan has authored several texts, including a seminal text on the information seeking behavior or Latinos and one of the first texts on energy services outsourcing. He is currently at work on a new book on the history and evolution of environmental services in the United Sates. Dan has been engaged in international business for most of his career, including a long stint with NEC (Japan) and establishment of a international satellite operations center in Mexico City. For the last several years he has led groups of undergraduate students to Mexico, Chile, and Argentina to meet with multinational business executives.
Back to Faculty List

Richard Farkas (Political Science)

Full Professor, Political Science, DePaul University, Chicago. Ph.D. International Studies, University of South Carolina. B.A. Political Science, Northwestern University. Recent publications focus on the dynamics of change in political systems and include "Post-Conflict Societies and Terrorism," Democratization in the Balkans: Prescription for a Badly Scarred Body Politic, "Transitional Politics in Central Europe," and "Transitional Politics in East and Southeastern Europe." International experience includes more than 25 study abroad programs including two previous Semester-at-Sea voyages; more than 60 research and lecturing jaunts to Eastern Europe; protracted research projects in Hungary, Croatia and Russia; an honorary degree from Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences (Budapest, 1985) and service as the founding Study Abroad Director for the College of Arts and Sciences at DePaul University (1981).
Back to Faculty List

James Godfrey (History and Art History)

James B. Godfrey is an internationally recognized specialist in Chinese art and antiquities based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia in History with a specialization in East Asian Studies. He served as the Maddox-Cowden Curator of Asian Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas from 1984-1996 where he curated numerous exhibitions focusing on the arts of East Asia. From 1996-2001 he was Senior Vice President and Director of Chinese Art at Sotheby's from 1996-2001 where he was also Director of Asian Business Development and conducted auctions of Chinese Antiquities in New York, London and Hong Kong. He was Vice President and director of Chinese Art at Christie's in London and New York from 1974-1978. He lectures on Chinese art regularly at universities and museums through out the United States and has served as a consultant to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. He served as interport lecturer during the Asian component of the Spring 2008 voyage.
Back to Faculty List

Alfred Hunt (History)

Alfred Hunt is Full Professor Emeritus from the State University of New York, College at Purchase where he served as Dean of the College of Letters and Science for a decade and taught for 30 years. He received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching of Excellence in 2003. His publications include The Influence of Haiti on Antebellum America (LSU, Press, 1988) and numerous articles on slavery and the Diaspora. Professor Hunt developed and hosted an award-winning cable television program, "Critical Issues," and is a frequent public lecturer on American and world history. He received his Ph. D in American Studies in 1975 from the University of Texas at Austin, and has twice been a Fulbright Fellow, at the University of Venice, Italy and University of the West Indies, Barbados. He founded and directed overseas programs in both Italy and Spain, where he continues to teach. This is Dr. Hunt's second voyage with the University of Virginia, Semester at Sea.
Back to Faculty List

Nancy Hurrelbrinck (English)

Nancy Hurrelbrinck is a writer and activist who completed a Ph.D. in English at the University of Virginia. She has taught high school English at a small, rural school in Kenya, as well as college composition and literature at U.Va. She has published essays and articles on a variety of topics, from literature to environmentalism to motherhood. As an activist, she has promoted bicycles as transportation and raised public awareness of Peak Oil. In recent years, she has been working on a collection of short biographies of Emily Dickinson, Frank Sinatra, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Back to Faculty List

Stepanka Korytova-Magstadt (History/Women's Studies)

Stepanka Korytova-Magstadt, PhD, a Czech native, born in Prague, lived in England and in the United States where she received her education: undergraduate degree in Modern European and American History from Southampton University, England; Master's Degree from the University of Nebraska; and PhD from Charles University, Prague. She has held teaching positions in these three countries, including a Visiting Professorship at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and is currently an Assistant Professor at Charles University. She has received a number of grants, including one from the Center for Great Lakes Culture, Michigan State University Fellowship at the Newberry Library; Ruth Crawford Mitchell Scholar Award, University of Pittsburgh, and FU JF Kennedy American Studies Research Grant, Berlin, Germany. In 2008 she received a grant from a Czech foundation to support her research on diaspora and its ties to the motherland. Her book entitled To Reap a Bountiful Harvest: Czech Emigration Beyond the Mississippi River, 1850-1900 was published in 1993. Numerous articles of hers have dealt with migration, ethnicity, race and gender, including "The Elite, the Peasants, and Woodrow Wilson: American Slovaks and Their Ties to the Homeland, 1914-1918," in the Transcultural Localisms: Responding to Ethnicity in a Globalized World in the American Studies monograph series. Memberships include the Organization of American Historians, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California at San Diego, and Research Associate, Czech and Slovak Association of American Studies and Gender Studies, Prague.
Back to Faculty List

John Kovach (Sociology)

John A. Kovach, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA. In addition to 15 years as a sociology professor at Pennsylvania State University and Kutztown University (PA), he has served as the Co-Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Regional Educational Laboratory at Temple University and as the Project Director of the National Indian Education Needs Survey for the Office of Indian Education. He has published numerous articles and several book chapters in the areas of the achievement gap between white and minority students, urban education policy, and educational segregation in urban schools. He has worked as a consultant for the School District of Philadelphia and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Project of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He has been recognized for outstanding teaching and was the recipient of a Distinguished Educator Award from the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Kovach is also an accomplished metal sculptor having exhibited pieces at juried shows within the Central Pennsylvania region.
Back to Faculty List

María Lope Solá (Law)

María Lope Solá is an international lawyer who has practiced law and been a prosecutor in Spain, worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Central Asia, and has taught International Public Law at the American University of Central Asia and at Indiana University. She is a graduate in Law from the Law School of the University of the Basque Country at San Sebastian, Spain, where she also received a Masters degree in European Community Law. She has a second Masters degree, in International Labor Relations, from the University of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid.
Back to Faculty List

Robert McGowan (Business/Commerce)

Dr. Robert P. McGowan is Professor of Management at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver. He received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University as well as M.P.A. from George Washington University and B.A. from West Virginia University. He has published extensively in the areas of strategic planning, strategic alliances and new ventures and innovation management. He has taught entrepreneurship to officials from Russia, South Korea, and the People's Republic of China as well as several African delegations. Professor McGowan has done executive training for the China Ministry of Water Resources through UC Berkeley Executive and International programs. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, R.O.C. In 1991, Dr. McGowan was named Methodist Scholar/Teacher of the Year for the University of Denver, and in 1993, he was given the Cecil Puckett Award for Teaching Excellence in the Daniels College of Business.
Back to Faculty List

Farzaneh Milani (Religious Studies/Studies in Women and Gender)

Farzaneh Milani completed her graduate studies in Comparative Literature in 1979 at UCLA. Her dissertation, "Forugh Farrokhzad: A Feminist Perspective" was a critical study of the poetry of a pioneering Iranian poet. Past president of the Association of Middle Eastern Women Studies in America, Milani was the recipient of All University Teaching Award in 1998 and nominated for Virginia Faculty of the Year in 1999. She is the author of "Veils and Words: The Emerging Voice of Iranian Women Writers," "A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems of Simin Behbahani" (with Kaveh Safa). She has published over 100 articles, epilogues, forewords, and afterwards in Persian and in English. She has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Ms. Magazine, the Readers Digest, USA Today, and N.P.R.'s All Things Considered. She has presented more than 150 lectures nationally and internationally. Former Director of Studies in Women and Gender and Professor of Persian Literature and Women Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Milani was a Carnegie Fellow, 2006-2007.
Back to Faculty List

Andrea Mitnick (Communication)

Andrea D. Mitnick, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Theatre at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She teaches Business and Professional Communication, Public Relations, Crisis Management and Leadership Communication. Previously an Assistant Professor of Communication at Penn State University, she won the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award there in 1995. She received her Ph.D. in rhetoric and communication from Temple University, and her research on a wide range of topics has been published in both journals and textbooks. She has presented more than twenty-four juried papers at national and international conferences since arriving at Kutztown University in 1996. An experienced researcher and speaker on age diversity, Dr. Mitnick recently co-authored a groundbreaking study on the generational transition taking place in the construction trades with The Center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Kentucky. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Mitnick has lived and lectured in Switzerland. She has taught crisis communication in Moscow at the Diplomatic Academy on three separate visits and continues to travel extensively in Europe, China and the Pacific Rim, Mexico and North America. This will be her third voyage with Semester at Sea.
Back to Faculty List

Charles Morris (Psychology)

B.S., Psychology (Denison University); M.A.and Ph.D., Psychology (University of Missouri). Dr. Morris is professor of psychology and provost emeritus at Denison University. His first faculty position was at Beloit College in Wisconsin. After the second year, he accepted a position at Denison University, where he remained until retirement in 1999. During his career at Denison, he moved through the ranks of Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor, and, in 1991, was appointed Provost of the College. Hi primary research interests were in the area of the psychology of learning. In addition to basic animal research, he conducted a number of studies on self-paced learning, which eventually led to a sabbatical leave at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan. Later on, he became interested in genetics and behavior, had the opportunity to spend some time at the Institute for Behavior Genetics at the University of Colorado, and eventually developed courses that focused on the so-called "Nature vs. Nurture" issue. Since 1999, he has been engaged in research that examines the relationship between poverty and student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
Back to Faculty List

Jahan Ramazani (English)

Jahan Ramazani is the Edgar F. Shannon Professor of English at the University of Virginia. He chaired the English Department from 2006 to 2009, where he has taught courses on modern and contemporary poetry and on anglophone literature in a global context. He is the author of four books, most recently A Transnational Poetics (2009), The Hybrid Muse: Postcolonial Poetry in English (2001), and Poetry of Mourning: The Modern Elegy from Hardy to Heaney (1994), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He edited the most recent edition of The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry (2003) and, with Jon Stallworthy, The Twentieth Century and After, in The Norton Anthology of English Literature (2006). He received a PhD from Yale, an MPhil from Oxford, and a BA with Highest Distinction from Virginia. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEH Fellowship, a Rhodes Scholarship, the William Riley Parker Prize of the MLA, the NEH/Mayo Distinguished Teaching Professorship, and the Jefferson Scholars Faculty Prize at the University of Virginia.
Back to Faculty List

Agustín Reyes-Torres (English)

Agustín, from Spain, is an Assistant Professor at the Hispanic Studies Program of the University of Virginia in Valencia. He received his Ph.D. from the Universitat de Valencia (Spain) in English Philology, where his doctoral dissertation focused on postcolonial studies and the creation of an alternative subjectivity in the African American detective novel. He has published several articles on his specialization and most recently, a book titled Walter Mosley's Detective Novels: The Creation of a Black Subjectivity. He also holds the M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Iowa, where he concentrated on Chicano literature. He has taught different English and Spanish courses at Middlebury College, U.Va, Semester at Sea, Florida State University, Caxton College, and the University of Iowa, where he was a course coordinator. He was a 2000-2001 recipient of the University's Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.
Back to Faculty List

Caroline Rody (English)

Caroline Rody is Associate Professor of English at the University of Virginia, where she teaches fiction by contemporary ethnic American, Caribbean, and women writers and is affiliated with UVA's Asian Pacific American Studies and Jewish Studies programs. After receiving a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, she was Assistant Professor of English at Yale before moving to UVA in 1996. Her first book, The Daughter's Return: African American and Caribbean Women's Fictions of History, was published in 2001 by Oxford University Press, and Oxford will also publish her forthcoming study, The Interethnic Imagination: Roots and Passages in Contemporary Asian American Fiction. In the spring of 2007, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute of Oxford University.
Back to Faculty List

Shamim Sisson (Assistant to the Academic Dean/Registrar)

Shamim Sisson is retired from the University of Virginia where she served most recently as senior associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Life. Her career in higher education has been primarily in the field of student affairs with previous appointments at Auburn University, Valdosta State University, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. She has longstanding professional interests in women's education, communication between men and women, leadership development, and interracial understanding. Other emphases of her work have included student development theory as applied to university systems and college and university responses to sexual assault - especially mediation and judicial hearing options. She has served in leadership positions and as a conference presenter at the state, regional, and national levels of numerous professional associations. She holds a B.A. from Judson College; M.Ed. from Livingston University; and Ed.D. in counseling and college student development from Auburn University.
Back to Faculty List

Catherine Skokan (Geology/Earth Sciences)

Associate Professor of Engineering, Colorado School of Mines. BSc, MSc, PhD, Colorado School of Mines, published over 80 articles and extended abstracts in numerous geophysical and educational journals including the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research and Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors and Journal of Engineering Education. Her research interests include geophysical measurements of volcanoes and geothermal areas, energy resources, and groundwater. Another research thrust involves curriculum development in problem and project based learning. Her research also addresses humanitarian engineering - an application of earth science and engineering skills to aid underserved populations. She has led student humanitarian projects including travel to Tribal Communities in Alaska, South Dakota, and New Mexico as well as Ghana, Honduras, and Senegal. Dr. Skokan has traveled with students for summer studies in former Czechoslovakia, Turkey, Southeast Asia, and Morocco. She also traveled on the Fall 2002 Voyage of Semester at Sea.
Back to Faculty List

Bernard Strenecky (Leadership/Service Learning)

Bernard J. Strenecky presently serves as the Scholar in Residence at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. His responsibilities at the university center on internationalization through the development of innovative curriculum and program design and the establishment of faculty development programs. He holds a master's degree from the University of Scranton and a doctoral degree in Education and Curriculum Design from the University of Rochester. Dr. Strenecky's recent publications and professional presentations center on the development of interdisciplinary international service learning program design. Dr. Strenecky has taught or consulted in over fifty countries. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to international education development. The highest of these honors is the Gold Crown of Merit which was awarded by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth for outstanding contributions to the development of the country of Barbados. This award is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a non-Barbadian citizen. Dr. Strenecky serves in the Diplomatic Corp of Barbados and holds the title of Honorary Consul from Barbados to Kentucky. He is an active Rotarian and was designated Rotarian of the Year for his contributions to international understanding in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In concert with The Prospect/Goshen Rotary Club, Semester at Sea and Western Kentucky University, he has developed a humanitarian project entitled the $100 Solution. Through this project, students are provided with knowledge, skills and funds which are used to solve social problems at the national and international levels. To date, projects have been established in twelve international areas. Dr. Strenecky welcomes all students who have a desire to develop international leadership skills especially in the area of service to others.
Back to Faculty List

Charles Tolbert (Astronomy)

Charles R. Tolbert is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Virginia. He received a BS from the University of Richmond in Physics in 1958, a MS in Physics-Astronomy from Vanderbilt University in 1960 and a PhD in Astronomy from Vanderbilt University in 1963. He held a postdoctoral position at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands working in the area of 21-cm radio astronomy. He was for four years a staff member at the University of Groningen before joining the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1967. His research interest in photoelectric photometry includes observation of variable stars, double stars, and star clusters and the study of stellar classification, photoelectric systems and reduction techniques. His work in radio astronomy includes observations of the 21 cm line radiation of neutral hydrogen and studies of the distribution of hydrogen outside the galactic plane especially in low and intermediate velocity clouds. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Dutch Astronomical Society, and the International Astronomical Union. He served for a number of years as president of the Society for Scientific Exploration. Professor Tolbert is a popular teacher at the University of Virginia.
Back to Faculty List

Donna Tolson (Librarian)

Donna Tolson is the Head of Clemons Library at the University of Virginia. As the undergraduate study library, Clemons is open 24/5, provides collections and services specifically for undergraduates, and houses the Robertson Media Center and the Digital Media Lab. Donna joined the University Library in 2002 as a data librarian, and has a strong background in quantitative research. She has managed library units specializing in statistical and geographic data, and digital scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. She has authored reports on Virginia’s workforce and immigration, and given presentations on transforming library computing spaces and using assessment to manage library services. Donna holds a B.A. and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and her first career was in demographic research. Donna looks forward to the immersive experience of traveling and working with students and faculty on this international journey.
Back to Faculty List

Wenda Trevathan (Anthropology)

Wenda Trevathan is Regents Professor of Anthropology at New Mexico State University and Resident Scholar at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe (2008-2009). She is a biological anthropologist and received her doctorate in anthropology from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Her international experience includes a Fulbright Senior Lectureship in the Philippines and three previous voyages with the Semester at Sea (1980, 1990, 1995). Her research focuses on the evolutionary and biocultural factors underlying human reproduction including childbirth, maternal behavior, sexuality, and menopause; primary publications include works on the evolution of childbirth and evolutionary medicine. She teaches courses in nutritional anthropology, medical anthropology, evolutionary medicine, and anthropology of reproduction. She has received awards for teaching and research from New Mexico State University and is the recipient of the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Back to Faculty List

Robert Vaughan (Humanities)

Rob Vaughan is President and founder of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, a research, education, and program center. He has taught at least one course each year for over 30 years at the University of Virginia. Among his publications are The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Its Evolution and Consequences in American History (Cambridge) and The South (Greenwood). He received his B.A. from Washington and Lee University, his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia, and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Averett University. Vaughan has served as President of the National Humanities Alliance and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence; as an officer of many national organizations, including SOLINET, the American Shakespeare Center, and Tupelo Press; as a judge for the John Dos Passos Prize in American Literature; and as a consultant to the Pew Trusts, the University of North Carolina, Hendrix College, the American Council of Learned Societies, and other institutions. He directs an international Fellowship program, has built houses in Mexico, was a recent guest of the Chinese exploring cultural development, and has traveled widely in Europe. His interests are interdisciplinary, and he is currently developing an exchange program with a Chinese university and an international center on violence and community.
Back to Faculty List

Paul Wagner (Documentary Film)

Paul Wagner is an Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and a member of the Adjunct Faculty currently teaching film at the University of Virginia. His work includes both documentaries and narrative films, many focused on cultural, political and historical themes. They include The Stone Carvers, a film about Italian American artisans, that won the Oscar and Emmy Awards for Best Documentary; Signature: George C. Wolfe, a documentary about the charismatic New York theater director, that was named Outstanding Public Television Program of the Year; Out of Ireland, a feature documentary about Irish immigration, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; and Windhorse, a narrative theatrical feature shot on location in Tibet and Nepal, that won several major film festival awards. Wagner holds a BA and MA in Communications from the University of Kentucky and studied anthropological film at the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School of Communications. Over his thirty-year career, Wagner has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and private foundations. His films have been featured at many international film festivals and broadcast on public television in the U.S and around the world.
Back to Faculty List

Aimee Wheaton Schlander (Business/Commerce)

Aimee Wheaton Schlander is an Associate Professor at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University and Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong. Her research and published works have focused on cross-cultural management, comparative organizational commitment, spirituality and work, and managing the work-life balance. She has published in the Business Ethics Encyclopedia, the Asia Pacific Business Review, and the Business Research Yearbook, among others. Aimee has lived and traveled extensively throughout Asia. She currently teaches classes in International Management, Organizational Behavior, Business Policy and Strategy, and Diversity.
Back to Faculty List

Edmond Williams (Drama/Theatre)

Edmond Williams (Drama/Theatre). Professor Williams served as the Chairman of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Alabama from 1979-2007. He joined the faculty in 1971 just after receiving his Ph.D. degree from Florida State University, and now continues to teach and direct at the University of Alabama as Professor of Theatre. His dissertation for the Ph.D. was on directing Shakespeare and involved his observation of the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London. At the University of Alabama Williams established the MFA degree for professional studies in Theatre, regularly directs at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and teaches in the Professional Actor Training Program there. Williams has been involved with the Alabama at Oxford program, teaching at Wadham College within Oxford University, and the Alabama in Ireland program, teaching at Trinity College, Dublin. He has also served as consultant for the US Department of State to the National Theatre of Namibia, was outside examiner for the University of Namibia's Academy of the Arts, and served as consultant to the University of Ulster in their efforts to establish a graduate program. His production of Edward Bond's Lear was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a national winner in the American College Theatre Festival. He is the recipient of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association's award for Outstanding Commitment to Teaching, and presently serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
Back to Faculty List

Colin White (Economics)

Professor Colin White (BA and MA, Cantab.), a full professor of economics at the La Trobe University, Melbourne until retirement from full time employment this year, has been head of three departments - economic history, economics and the graduate school of management. He has wide academic interests but a particular interest in comparative economic performance, publishing a wide range of books, including Russia and America: the roots of economic divergence, and Coming Full Circle: an economic history of the Pacific and Risk and Foreign Direct Investment. He has traveled and worked widely at the international level in all continents. Recently he was a Balkan scholar at the American University in Bulgaria and the Hobart Houghton research fellow at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He is currently working on a book on economic growth.
Back to Faculty List

N. Brian Winchester (Global Studies)

N. Brian Winchester is the Director of the Center for the Study of Global Change at Indiana University. He has taught more than a dozen different political science and international and area studies courses at Iowa State University, the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, the American University in Kyrgyzstan, and Indiana University. He has, in addition, lectured at Taraz State University in Kazakhstan, the University of Pretoria in South Africa, at Pompeu Fabra Law School in Barcelona, Spain, and to the faculties of the St. Cyril and Methodius University and South East European University in Macedonia. He has conducted research in Africa, Western Europe, the U.S. and Canada, the results of which have been presented at two dozen professional conferences and subsequently published in books, reference works, academic journals, and the popular press. His most recent publication is "Emerging Global Environmental Governance" which will be published in the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies in Fall 2008.
Back to Faculty List

Ana Barraza Gonzalez(Living Learning Coordinator: Diversity)

Ana was born in Guatemala, but considers herself a native Rhode Islander. She earned her B.A. (1993) in English with a concentration in African/African American Literature from the University of Rhode Island. She then went out to work in the public and private sectors. She has had a significant amount of experience as a caseworker for non-profit agencies assisting clients with mental health issues, emotional issues, and substance abuse issues. Ana also worked for several years at Morgan Stanley, it was during her time in corporate America that she determined to return to the University of Rhode Island to earn her M.S. (2004) in College Student Personnel. Upon graduation, Ana became the Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College in Easton, MA. There she worked with Multicultural first year students as well as first year international students assisting in their transition to college, as well as provided diversity programming for the Stonehill community. Ana is currently the Program Coordinator for the Center for Student Leadership and Development at URI, responsible for overseeing the outdoor leadership component as well as the Rose Butler Brown Leadership and Mentoring Program for Women of Color; she teaches one of the introductory courses in the Leadership Minor as well as the Senior Portfolio class and other elective Leadership classes. Ana is a General Member on the URI Alumni Executive Board, and a member of the Providence chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Back to Staff List

Leslie Becker (Dependent Children Coordinator)

Leslie Becker recently served as an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, from 2005-2009. Within Admissions, Leslie has worked with high school students and their families on the US West Coast and Southwest. She is a member of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) and various regional admissions associations. Leslie began her career in higher education working for the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, AZ. Leslie holds a Master's in Public Administration from Syracuse University, and Bachelors of Science degrees in Public Relations and Political Science from Northern Arizona University. Leslie travels nearly 3 months a year for her job, so when she is home she enjoys cooking, entertaining friends, scrapbooking, and relaxing with her husband, MacGarret.
Back to Staff List

MacGarret Becker (Living Learning Coordinator: Recreation)

MacGarret Becker recently served as a Resident Director at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, from 2005-2009. He is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and his professional interests include working with first-generation students, living-learning communities, Jesuit higher education, and StrengthsQuest. Prior to Creighton, he earned a Master's of Education in Higher Education from Iowa State University and held graduate assistantships with the Department of Residence and Women's Center. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Criminal Justice from Northern Arizona University. An avid sports fan, MacGarret enjoys traveling throughout the United States visiting baseball stadiums with his wife, Leslie, and hopes to figure out how cricket is played while aboard the Fall 2009 voyage.
Back to Staff List

Betsy Bloom (Assistant Librarian)

Betsy Bloom has over 30 years of experience as a librarian. She has served as a bookmobile librarian for migrant workers, managed a public library in Michigan and worked in several young adult/children's departments in both California and Michigan during her career. She currently works as a librarian at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia. She holds a MLS from the University of Michigan and has served on numerous regional and state library committees. She recently served on the Jefferson Cup Committee which honors a distinguished biography, historical fiction or American history book for young people. Her interests include reading, yoga, choral singing and hiking.
Back to Staff List

Karen Burns (Field Office Coordinator)

One of the joys of my life has been Semester at Sea. I first sailed in S'83 and then returned (after 15 years in corporate America) for SAS F'99, F'02, S'03 and S'06. It has been a privilege to sail with so many remarkable students, and dedicated faculty and staff over the decades. When I'm not sailing I'm a consultant, entrepreneur and activist. I'm a Managing Director with The Algon Group, an investment banking and financial advisory firm. We work with distressed companies helping them address and resolve complex problems and restructure. Many of my recent engagements have been in the real estate market, including a case where we were engaged to help a large developer restructure $2 billion in debt. I have an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics and Communications (magna cum laude) from Villanova University. During my career I've held positions such as VP of Business Planning and CFO for Kaset International (now AchieveGlobal - a corporate training company) and Director of Marketing for Tech Data Inc. (one of the world's largest wholesale computer distributors). I currently serve as Off-Board Director of Election Reform for the League of Women Voters of Florida.
Back to Staff List

Steven Steele Cawman (Photographer)

Steven Steele Cawman is an award winning travel and fashion photographer, residing in Fairfield, CT. He has a B.A. from Kenyon College and went on to NYU where he received his M.F.A. in Film & Television. After 10 years of working in the Advertising Industry, Steven left the rat race of Madison Avenue to pursue his passion for travel and photography for the opportunity to be his own boss. His stunning images of his many world travels can be seen online at sscphoto.com.
Back to Staff List

Joanna Lauren Cyprys (Global Nomads Group)

Joanna Lauren Cyprys is the Production Manager at Global Nomads Group, where she is the driving force behind GNG's documentary video initiatives and oversees the completion of all media content. She also lends her technical expertise to implementing GNG's remote satellite videoconferences. Her work with GNG has brought her across the world: from Egypt, to Bolivia, to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and even Antarctica. This will be Joanna's second voyage on the MV Explorer having traveled on the Spring 07 voyage. Joanna graduated from Temple University with a B.A in Film and Media Arts.
Back to Staff List

Eduardo Diaz (Assistant Dean of Students)

Eddie Diaz is currently the Assistant Dean of Students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois "The Windy City". He is a first generation Latino college student blessed to still have both his parents and is the oldest of 4 siblings. He is a Brother of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. and serves on the National Board of Directors as the Vice President of Expansion.

He attained a B.S. and B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Psychology and Spanish. Upon graduation from Illinois he worked for two years at Illinois as a program manager in student activities with the Illini Union Board and with student leadership development at the Illinois Leadership® Center.

Eddie received his Masters Degree in Higher Education Administration from Loyola University Chicago. During his time at Loyola he was a graduate hall director, did a practicum in residence life at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and studied in Rome, Italy at the Loyola Rome Center.

He worked at Boston College as a resident director for three years in the Office of Residential Life. While at Boston College he had the opportunity to take students to Salvador, Brasil and Jemez, New Mexico (Pueblo of Jemez) for service/immersion trips. Eddie's future plans are to attain a PhD in Psychology and become a university president. He is VERY excited to join the fall 2009 voyage team and all the participants as this is his first Semester at Sea Voyage!
Back to Staff List

Rita Enders (Assistant Executive Dean)

Rita Enders completed both undergraduate and graduate studies at San Diego State University. She teaches computer classes at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA, while maintaining an extensive private computer client base. Additional teaching experience includes a private university in Phoenix, AZ plus over 2500 Elderhostel students. Her love for education and travel found a connection to Semester at Sea Shipboard Education. Rita has sailed in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. You will see her checking out local food markets and textile locations to compliment her interests in cooking, weaving and spinning. She is a Palm Desert resident since 1986. Summers are devoted to personal world travel, her lake home in northern British Columbia, Canada, and extended learning.
Back to Staff List

Jonathan Fessler (Global Nomads Group)

Jonathan Fessler joined the GNG team this year as a Videographer. He has an extensive background in production, having worked as a travel producer for International Film and Video, and as a commercial producer for an NBC, FOX, CW, TELEMUNDO affiliate station in Oregon. Recently Jonathan spent time in Nepal's Kathmandu and Everest regions, independently producing a documentary on trekking and health care. He holds a B.A. in Mass Communications from Walla Walla University. This will be Jonathan's 3rd voyage with SAS.
Back to Staff List

Allegra Hinkle (AV Coordinator)

Allegra Hinkle retired recently from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a small, interdisciplinary liberal arts institution. Over the course of her 25 years with Evergreen, she served as media technician, Head of Instructional Media, and Media Services Manager, in addition to over 10 years as adjunct faculty teaching Introduction to Digital Media. She also collaborated on various film projects, including an artist portrait piece, Dreaming of Spirit Animals, shot on location in Germany. She graduated from Seoul American High School in Korea, and gained her BA in Communications (radio and television) from Western Kentucky University in 1976. She currently lives with her photographer husband in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where she is working on editing a documentary film set in India. She is interested in language and culture, and speaks Dutch and some French.
Back to Staff List

Thomas Hogarty (Community Resource Officer)

Tom holds a BS in Behavioral Science and Criminal Justice from Chart Oak State College in Connecticut. He is a veteran of campus public safety work having begun his career as a police officer at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Tom then spent 23 years with the Connecticut State Police, retiring as a lieutenant after having served in a variety of community policing initiatives. Most recently, Tom was the Director of Campus Safety at Connecticut College in New London. He is currently working toward his master captain's license.

Tom has also spent time working at Glacier National Park in Montana and recently completed a cross country bicycle trip with his son Brian. Tom is excited to team up with such a group of dedicated professionals and believes that the voyage will be an experience of a lifetime for everyone.
Back to Staff List

William Grant Hoover (Living Learning Coordinator: Leadership)

Grant currently serves as the Class Council Program Coordinator at the University of Vermont (UVM). He received his Masters of Education from the UVM in Higher Education & Student Affairs Administration and his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California (USC). Grant's work experience touches on functional areas in event coordination, club advising, LGBTQ advocacy work, residential life, recruitment and selection, new student orientation, and Greek life. He will be leaving UVM this summer to join the Living and Learning Team for the prolific 100th voyage of Semester at Sea.
Back to Staff List

Byron Howlett (Dean of Students)

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Byron Howlett has spent the majority of his life in and around the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Byron currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Student Housing & Residential Education at the University of La Verne in southern California. Prior to his employment at La Verne, Byron worked in various capacities within Housing & Residential Life at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB), California State University Northridge, California State Polytechnic University Pomona, and the University of Southern California (USC). Byron holds a B.A. degree in Geography from UCLA, a M.A. degree in Education Counseling from CSUSB, and his Ed.D. degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne. He currently teaches an undergraduate International/Intercultural Immersion Experience course, a graduate Student Services Assessment course, and sits as an outside reviewer for doctoral oral defenses. Byron is a former President of the Western Association of College & University Housing Officers (WACUHO) and Co-President of the California College Personnel Association (CCPA). This will be Byron's 3rd voyage with the Semester at Sea program having previously sailed during the Fall 1988 voyage as an undergraduate student and the Spring 1993 voyage as a Resident Director. He enjoys board/card games, visiting amusement parks, and travelling. Byron recently achieved one of his lifetime goals by visiting all 50 state capitols in the USA. Byron is excited to sail again with Semester at Sea as the Dean of Students and to be joined on this voyage with his lifetime partner Frank.
Back to Staff List

Ann Hsu (Living Learning Coordinator: Spiritual Development Specialist)

Ann Hsu is a mental health therapist at Child and Family Service, a non-profit, private organization in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a therapist, she provides individual, group and family therapies for at-risk youths and their families in a residential program. Ann received her bachelor's degree in Biology at University of Hawaii and her master's degree in Science Counseling Psychology with emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Prior to working as a therapist, Ann worked with young adults in university residential settings; she was a residential advisor and a residential director in Student Life Offices at University of Hawaii and Chamiande University.
Back to Staff List

Caroline Jackson (Nurse)

Caroline "Carly" Jackson is a registered nurse currently working in the emergency department at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CA. Carly is a 2003 nursing graduate from Lake Superior College in her hometown of Duluth, MN. She is currently a B.S. Health Care Administration student at California Coast University. Her work experience includes staff, travel, and per diem nurse positions in a variety of specialties throughout hospitals in Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, MN. In 2005 Carly moved to California and spent the next two years as a travel nurse in San Francisco, CA and Honolulu, HI. She made San Francisco home in 2007 by taking a permanent staff position at CPMC. On her days off, you will find Carly taking advantage of San Francisco's shopping, food and wine, nightlife, or enjoying the outdoors on a run, hike, or bike ride. Carly travels frequently to spend time with her boyfriend, Pete, who lives in Southern California, as well as visiting friends and family in Minnesota and Washington. She is very excited and thankful for this opportunity to travel with Semester at Sea.
Back to Staff List

Danielle Jenkins (Living Learning Coordinator: Health Promotion Specialist)

Danielle Jenkins has been a public health professional specializing in international health and disaster management for 6 years and is currently a risk consultant with ABS Group in Washington DC. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master of Public Health from Tulane University. A New Orleans native born and raised, prior to Hurricane Katrina Danielle worked as a clinical research director of hypertension and diabetes at both Tulane University and Ochsner Clinic Foundation. After the storm, Danielle established a non-profit disaster center on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and consulted on major Katrina grant projects until relocating recently to DC. An active SAS alum, Danielle sailed on the Fall 2000 voyage and has since sailed on numerous reunion voyages. She is excited to bring her skills and experience to the voyage while incorporating health promotion activities into shipboard life.
Back to Staff List

Kathleen Jump (Administrative Assistant)

Kathleen Ferguson Jump has been an assistant and writer for the Executive Vice President and COO of the University of Virginia since 2000. She joined U.Va. in 1994 as an editor of faculty cases at the Darden Graduate Business School. Prior to that, she worked in the public affairs department of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, in the legislative office of a maritime trade association, and on Capitol Hill. She earned a B.A. from the University of Maryland and a Publication Specialist certificate from George Washington University. An active volunteer, she is co-founder of a food cooperative and a farmers' market in her community of Crozet, Virginia. She has three grown children, and will be joined on the voyage by her oldest daughter, Charlotte Jump, a rising third year at U.Va. Kathleen enjoys yoga, hiking, history and architecture, reading and discussing fiction, and conversation.
Back to Staff List

Pat Larsen (Counselor)

Pat Larsen is a Senior Instructor on the Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education Faculty at the University of Colorado Denver. She is also the Director of the Student and Community Counseling Center at UDC. Pat received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver in 1987 and has been licensed psychologist in Colorado since 1989. Prior to coming to UCD, she directed the Student Counseling Center at the University of Denver and served as the President of the Association of College and University Counseling Center Directors. In addition to her faculty position at UCDenver, Pat has a small private practice. Her professional interests include working with college students, family and couples therapy, divorce counseling, managing life challenging illness and addictions counseling. She enjoys adventure travel, hiking, reading, dancing and spending time with friends and family. She sailed as the Mental Health Professional on SAS Fall 2004 and is really looking forward to a second adventure!
Back to Staff List

Grace Lau (Global Nomads Group)

Grace Lau is currently the Program Manager at Global Nomads Group. She received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine, and is currently completing a certificate in Global Affairs at New York University. Before joining the GNG team, Grace honed her educational skills and dedication to young people in the after-school arena, by directing programs in youth enrichment at both the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation and SCORE! Educational Centers. Her passion for exploration has led her to travel widely around the world, where she also volunteered and taught English. She loves to chow down and is looking forward to tasting the local cuisines and specialties in the various countries.
Back to Staff List

Kim Layton (Global Nomads Group)

Kim Layton joins the GNG team as a Production Assistant, helping to support media projects and videoconferencing programs. Equipped with a background in mechanics and having fixed-up a number of different things, she is known to be a jack-of-all-trades. Most recently, her passion for adventure, travel and the outdoors led her to spend a full season working in Antarctica supporting scientists on varies expeditions. This is also where she first encountered the GNG field team. In her spare time, Kim enjoys all things from her native Alaska- like running with reindeer, hiking on glaciers, and kayaking through the Arctic rivers. Kim graduated from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Back to Staff List

Bridget Le Loup (Living Learning Coordinator: Service)

Bridget Le Loup will be serving as the Living Learning Coordinator for Service Learning on the Fall 2009 voyage. Bridget earned her Doctorate of Education from the University of Southern California in May of 2009 and a Masters of Education in Counseling and Student Affairs from Northern Arizona University in 2003. Bridget's doctoral dissertation was a case study on leadership in higher education responding to globalization through the development of a Global Citizenship initiative at a community college. Bridget serves as a Resident Director at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has taught courses in global activism, leadership, and student development theory and practice. Bridget is a strong advocate of international experiences for college students, and believes that a global mindset that appreciates world cultures, has a broad understanding of world events, and understands the interconnectedness of the contemporary world is critical for students to become successful community leaders. Bridget has lived abroad in London, England, and has traveled to China, Chile, Australia, and throughout Europe.
Back to Staff List

Patrick Lynn (Living Learning Coordinator: Learning)

Patrick Lynn joins the Semester At Sea team after working as a Resident Director at Loyola Marymount University for the past three years where he managed the daily operations of two apartment communities and also served as an instructor for the Leadership Institute. Originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan Patrick attended Western Michigan University where he received his BA in Organizational Communication. He left the cold Michigan winters for the cold San Francisco summers to obtain his Masters Degree in Organization and Leadership with a focus in Higher Education at the University of San Francisco. While at USF, Patrick worked for Residence Life and the international law program. After running the San Francisco Marathon and completing graduate school, Patrick made the move to Los Angeles where he still enjoys running and recently became a certified Spinning instructor. This is Patrick's first journey with Semester At Sea.
Back to Staff List

Bill McCall (Assistant Lifelong Learners Coordinator)

Billy (Bill) McCall retired May 2001 at the age of 65 after 30 plus years in various positions with state government, the private sector, and Iowa State University. In state government he managed procurement, communications, and research departments. While in the private sector he designed controls, new products and large multi-state truck transport/state communication systems. While at Iowa State University he was Associate Director, Center for Transportation Research and Education involved in Administration, Research, and Project Management. He has also guided high school student and adult study groups while cruising in the Mediterranean Sea and on land tours in Europe. He is an Amateur Radio Operator and a western horseman.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1962. Bill and his wife Carolyn attended the Summer Semester 2008 with Semester At Sea.
Back to Staff List

Hannah Mumma (Assistant Field Office Coordinator)

Hannah Mumma is a graduate student at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, VT. After completing the on-campus phase of her degree, Hannah joins Semester at Sea as an Assistant Field Office Coordinator intern for the Fall 2009 voyage. Her interests include education, travel, and learning about various world cultures. Hannah is grateful and very excited for the opportunity to work in the field of international education with Semester at Sea.
Back to Staff List

Shira Ortezky (Counselor)

Shira Oretzky is a licensed Clinical Psychologist working with students at San Diego State University as well as in private practice in La Jolla, California. She earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego. Her doctoral dissertation research focused on the effects of yoga as a treatment for depressive and physical symptoms in young adults. She has presented her work at multiple national conferences including the American Psychological Association and Symposium- International Association of Yoga Therapists. Shira specializes in working with, adolescents, young adults, and athletes.

Shira sailed previously as a student on the Spring 1998 voyage. She has lived in Costa Rica and traveled to many countries throughout Central and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Shira is looking forward to the Fall 2009 voyage!
Back to Staff List

Tonya Muro Phillips (Global Nomads Group)

Tonya Muro Phillips, Ed.D., is Director of Programs at the Global Nomads Group (GNG). Tonya holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Spanish from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She later received a M.A. and Ed.D. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. During her time as a doctoral student, she was awarded the prestigious Boren, Fulbright and Spencer fellowships for doctoral research in Tanzania in HIV/AIDS entertainment-education programs. Tonya's passion for international education and travel has spanned over 15 years to 19 countries - to roles ranging from teaching in secondary schools in both the U.S. and Latin America, to consulting for NGOs in the U.S., Latin America and Africa. Tonya can't wait to hop on board SAS' 100th voyage!
Back to Staff List

Mario Rodriguez (Living Learning Coordinator: Career Development Specialist)

Mario Rodriguez, a California native is in his first voyage on Semester at Sea. A First Generation College Student, Rodriguez received a Bachelor's of Arts degree in International Business from the University of La Verne, a small liberal arts university in Southern California and a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education Administration from Florida International University, a four year public institution in Miami, FL.

Some of his interests include working with underrepresented students and his passion lies in increasing access for these students into the higher education system to help provide equal access to the benefits associated with baccalaureate attainment. Because of his efforts, Rodriguez was awarded the "Si Se Hizo" Alumni of Year Award by the Latino Student Forum from the University of La Verne in 2008.
Back to Staff List

Charity Scott (Communications Coordinator)

Charity Scott will be joining the Fall 2009 Semester at Sea voyage in the capacity of Communications Coordinator. Ms. Scott is a recent graduate of The University of Alabama where she was a Presidential Scholar, and was invited to join several honor societies based on her achievements in scholarship and service, including Golden Key Honour Society, and Phi Eta Sigma. While at the Capstone, she founded Capstone Mentors Association, a program that helped pair honor students with at-risk elementary students through after-school tutoring. She has written for several magazines and newspapers, including JAMROCK Magazine, which is distributed internationally. She also constructed a online marketing program for the magazine, which is now in its final stages of implementation.
Back to Staff List

David Stonington (Physician)

David Stonington, MD (known aboard ship as "Dr. Dave") is a family Physician from Seattle, Washington. He has been in clinical practice for 35 years at Group Health Cooperative and was the physician for SAS voyages Fall, 1991 and Fall, 1999. He completed his medical education at the University of Colorado, Postgraduate education at the University of Oregon, and is Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine. Awards include the Ward C. Miles Award for Clinical Excellence by Group Health Cooperative in 2006. He is greatly looking forward to participating with all of you on the Fall 2009 SAS voyage.
Back to Staff List

Janet Stonington (Physician Assistant)

Janet Stonington (a.k.a. Jani) is joining the fall 2009 voyage as the Physician Assistant. She is currently practicing as a PA in a family practice in Boulder, Colorado. She has proudly served in her current clinic for 25 years. Jani graduated from PA school with a Masters in 1983. Prior to that, she traveled on SAS as a student on the Fall 1978 voyage and as an RD on the Fall 1979 voyage. She is thrilled to be once again circumventing the globe with the ISE.
Back to Staff List

Frank Stranzl (Assistant Campus Store Manager)

Frank William Stranzl is the Manager of Faculty Personnel & Compensation Programs at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where he has worked since 2002. Prior to joining CSUN, Frank served as an administrator in university housing at University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA and Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from Northampton, Pennsylvania, Frank holds a BA degree in Psychology from Temple University and is just one course away from earning his Master's degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at CSUN. A long-time vegetarian, Frank enjoys running, cooking, and the outdoors. Frank lives in Pasadena, CA with his partner Byron; together they enjoy traveling both internationally and within the 50 states.
Back to Staff List

Eileen Dalenberg Strenecky (Lifelong Learners Coordinator)

Eileen Dalenberg-Strenecky retired on November 30, 2006, after thirty-four years in education. She taught Home Economics, was the coordinator of a nationally recognized Magnet Program in Public Safety, assistant principal at a large urban high school and building principal of an all girls middle and high school for pregnant and parenting teens. She was named a Fulbright Scholar and taught one year at Mansfield Comprehensive High School in Nottingham, England. Her passion is travel and she has worked in the travel industry since 1975. She received her CTC (Certified Travel Counselor) and has worked as a group coordinator and FIT specialist. Bernie and Eileen sailed on Fall 07 voyage where he served on faculty and she was an assistant field office coordinator. They also sailed on the inaugural Semester at Sea Leadership Forum on Global Affairs held June, 2008. They have one son, Linwood and his wife, Monica, and one grandson, Lawson, who is almost 6 and the darling of the Strenecky household!

She received her Bachelors Degree from the University of Illinois, a Masters Degree from VPI and State University (Virginia Tech), and has completed advanced studies at the University of Tulsa, Oral Roberts University and the University of Louisville.
Back to Staff List

Timothy Tolson (Information Technology Coordinator)

Tim F. Jost Tolson is a security and policy analyst in the Information Security, Policy, and Records Office at the University of Virginia (UVa). His 22 year career in information technology has focused on direct user support, including years of statistical computing consulting and general technology support and as the manager of research computing support. He is a 2005 Frye Leadership Institute Fellow. He holds three degrees from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. and a M.A. in Community Psychology and a B.A. in Religion and Psychology. He loves being outdoors, riding his BMW motorcycle, and hiking. He also enjoys cards, parlor and board games, and reading. He's excited about being a participant and observer of the transform to connectedness and caring about the whole community, both shipboard and worldwide. This is his first voyage with Semester at Sea.
Back to Staff List

Daniel Wulfman (Assistant Field Office Coordinator)

Dan Wulfman began his marketing career with McCann-Erickson Advertising in New York City, working with megabrands like Nintendo and Unilever. After earning his MBA at Indiana University, he signed on with Deere & Co. in Des Moines, IA to develop marketing plans for the company's financial services arm. He was later a partner in an event planning business in Atlanta catering to major pharmaceutical companies. Fed up with corporate America at 35, he set off with his wife on a 2-year camping trip through North and Central America and subsequently founded Tracks & Trails, a Colorado company that organizes National Park vacations for active families from around the world. Dan also holds a BA from Centre College in Danville, KY. He is joined on the voyage by his wife, Sheri, and their well-traveled sons, Chase-10 and Gabe-7.
Back to Staff List