Spring 2010 Deans, Faculty & Staff

Daniel Abel (Biological Sciences)

Daniel C. Abel is an Associate Professor of Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) in Conway, SC. He earned his Ph.D. in marine biology from the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and was a postdoctoral fellow in marine biomedicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. His research focuses on the physiology and ecology of sharks and rays. He is co-author of the textbooks Environmental Issues: An Introduction to Sustainability (3rd ed., 2008), Environmental Issues in Oceanography (2nd ed., 2002), Environmental Oceanography (1st ed., 2010), and Environmental Geology (forthcoming in 2011), and he writes the weekly environmental column Sea Level for the Myrtle Beach Sun News. He teaches the course Biology of Sharks annually at the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas. Dr. Abel is a Fellow of the SC Sustainable Universities Initiative and a Senior Fellow of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. He is the founding director of CCU's Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative. He resides in Pawley's Island, SC.
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Lyn Amine (Business/Commerce)

Professor Emerita of Marketing and International Business at Saint Louis University (2008) and a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS). Lyn's contributions to the field of International Marketing were recognized at Saint Louis University by the honorary title of Shaughnessy Fellow in International Marketing. Lyn has received two Senior Fulbright Scholar awards for teaching and research in Bahrain and Morocco, and has also taught in Oman. Lyn has held elected leadership positions as President of the Women of the Academy of International Business, member of the Board of Governors of AMS, and President of the Faculty Senate of Saint Louis University. She currently serves on the Editorial Boards of several journals including the International Business Review, Thunderbird International Business Review, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, and Journal of Asia-Pacific Business. With over eighty publications, Lyn has published in Journal of International Marketing, International Business Review, Multinational Business Review, International Marketing Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Euromarketing, Journal of International Management, Thunderbird International Business Review, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, and Place Branding. Lyn's professional experience is in the fields of consumer advertising and export marketing. Her current research interests are cross-cultural consumer marketing, country image, women entrepreneurs, and sustainable development, with a regional focus on North Africa and the Middle East, India and China.
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Richard Barnett (History)

Rich Barnett, Assoc. Prof. of South Asian History at U.Va., earned his M.A. & Ph.D. from U. C. Berkeley. His first book is North India Between Empires: Awadh, the Mughals, and the British, 1720-1801 (U.C. Press, 1980). His edited book is Rethinking Early Modern India (New Delhi: Manohar, 2002). He is currently writing a monograph on early modern state and society in Hyderabad, India. His articles address gender, society, environmentalism, economy, and politics in both Pakistan and India. His languages are Urdu, Hindi, Persian, and German. He has lived in South Asia off and on for eight years, with fellowships from the ACLS/SSRC, Fulbright, American Institute for Indian Studies, National Endowment for the Humanities, and U.Va. He was Thomas Jefferson Visiting Professor at Downing College, Cambridge, in 1999, and currently serves as a country expert (India and Pakistan) for immigration courts nationwide, specializing in political asylum cases. He and his wife and daughters have a new sustainable house in a forest outside Charlottesville, with grid-tied PV, geothermal heating and cooling; wood stove; rainwater capture; berming; construction materials such as SIPs, recycled aluminum roof, and bamboo flooring; and an organic vegetable garden.
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James Boyd (Religious Studies)

My studies (M.A. & Ph D) of the world's 'Wisdom Traditions' began at Northwestern University, where I studied with Jewish rabbis and Christian theologians. Since then I have had the good fortune to study with remarkable teachers from many traditions, among them Zoroastrian priests and Hindu scholars in Iran and India, Buddhist monks and Shinto priests in Sri Lanka and Japan, and Muslim colleagues in Iran and more recently in the U.S. Through publications and teaching (e.g., Japanese Shinto: An Interpretation of Priestly Perspective, Philosophy East and West, 55:1, January 2005), I have endeavored to convey to both scholars and students how each of my teachers understood his particular Wisdom Tradition. I have studied/ taught at Vidyodaya University in Sri Lanka, the University of Bombay in India, the University of Shiraz, Iran, Kansai Gaidai University in Japan, and within the United States, the Universities of Harvard, Pittsburgh and Northwestern. I am recently retired as Emeritus Full Professor of Philosophy and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University.
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Thomas Braciale (Medicine)

Thomas Braciale is Professor of pathology and of Microbiology and Director of the Beirne B Carter Center for Immunology Research at the University of Virginia Medical Center. He received the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After residency training at Barnes Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Missouri he carried out post doctoral studies at the John Curtin School for Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra Australia. Upon his return to the U.S. he assumed a faculty position at Washington University School of Medicine and remained there until 1991 when he accepted his current position as Director of the Carter Immunology Center. He has served on multiple governmental and non-governmental panels dealing with the topics of Infectious Disease and Immunity, most recently as co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Panel on the future of the Influenza Research for the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Disease. His research interest focuses on how the body's immune system copes with virus infections of the respiratory tract.
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Sue Ellen Charlton (Politics)

Professor Charlton began her career with a Ph.D. in international relations (University of Denver), and a special interest in West European politics. Increasingly, her teaching and research focused on gender and international development (Women Third World Development, 1984 and Women, the State, and Development, 1989). More recently, she has written on Asian politics (Comparative Asian Politics, 3rd ed., 2009). Professor Charlton has taught in France, Japan, India, and Wales, as well as on Semester at Sea (1985, 1992). She is currently Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University, and has been working on projects as varied as development in Bhutan, politics and anime in Japan, and global sex trafficking. She teaches courses in comparative politics, development, and gender studies.
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Phoebe Crisman (Architecture)

Phoebe Crisman is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia. Educated in Urbanism and Architecture at Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon, she conducted post-graduate research during a Fulbright Fellowship in the Netherlands. She teaches courses on the history and theory of buildings and cities, design studios, and interdisciplinary courses on global sustainability. Her research has been published in The Hand and the Soul: Aesthetics and Ethics in Art and Architecture, The Journal of Architecture (UK), Places, and the Journal of Architectural Education. She practiced professionally in Chicago, Cambridge and Hong Kong prior to establishing Crisman+Petrus Architects. She has received numerous awards, including the American Institute of Architects Education Honor Award (2008), American Collegiate Schools of Architecture Collaborative Practice Award (2007) and Places / Environmental Design Research Association Planning Award (2007). Crisman believes in the importance of international experience and has led study abroad programs in Europe, lived in Hong Kong and Amsterdam, and traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
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Michael Ellerbrock (Economics/Environmental Science)

Michael Ellerbrock (Economics/Environmental Science). Mike is a natural resource economist and ordained minister striving to integrate the natural, social and philosophic sciences in his career devoted to education for sustainable development. Committed to collaborative learning, Mike is founding director of the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute in partnership with UVA’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation and the Virginia Department of Forestry, recently cited by the Virginia General Assembly Senate Joint Resolution # 417 (2009) “commending the Institute’s many efforts to build consensus, facilitate good environmental policy and leadership, and dedication to environmental issue resolution for the Commonwealth.”
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Doreen Geddes (Communication)

Dr. Doreen S. Geddes (Associate Professor of Communication) recently retired from the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University where she taught for over twenty years serving as department chair for five years. She received her MA in Communication from the University of West Florida and her PhD from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Geddes teaches communication courses in the areas of interpersonal, gender, nonverbal, organizational, intercultural, small group & team communication, and public speaking. She includes service learning in all of her classes and has worked with her students on service learning projects in Ghana, South Africa, Thailand, and Dominica (West Indies). She is particularly interested in travel to Third World countries as a way to help students become globally aware. Over the years, Dr. Geddes has independently traveled on all the continents except Antarctica. Geddes’ publications include academic articles on the use of international service learning in college courses, gender communication differences, and communication in families with an alcoholic. Over the span of her academic career, she received awards for her teaching and for her service. As department chair she was an active fundraiser resulting in numerous donor gifts aimed at building the communication program and raising money for communication majors’ outreach activities. Additionally, she was awarded grants to create a University communication lab and to fund students’ travel for international service learning trips. While at Clemson, she served on a myriad of committees including Russian studies, women’s studies, curriculum and many more. She was a long time member of the National Communication Association and is Past President of the Carolinas Communication Association.
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Don Gogniat (Global Studies)

Don Gogniat worked as an administrator for Penn State University from 1986-2005. He was the Campus Executive Officer at Penn State, York from 1993- 2003; from 2003-2005, he was the Director of International Programs for the Commonwealth College of Penn State. Since 1993, he has been teaching cultural geography courses each year for Penn State. His PhD is in Cultural Geography from the University of Pittsburgh (1983); he received an M.A. in Geography from Indiana University of Pa. (1973), and a B.S. in Education from Indiana University of Pa. (1970). He joined the Peace Corps (Costa Rica, 1974-75) and worked as a regional planner for the Costa Rican National Planning Office. Gogniat has sailed on Semester at Sea where he taught geography in the fall 1985 and Global Studies in fall 1990 and spring 2004. He was the Executive Dean on the summer voyage, 2006. Recently, he taught a course for the summer 2008 voyage entitled "Globalizing the Curriculum." His hobbies are travel, billiards and photography; his photographic work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and juried exhibits.
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Warner Granade (Librarian)

Warner Granade has been a librarian at the University of Virginia since 1984. He has a BS in Business and MS in Economics from Auburn University and an MLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Warner serves as the subject librarian for Commerce at UVA and is the circulation manager for Alderman Library, the main Humanities and Social Sciences Library. He has led the way in customer service training for library staff. Warner looks forward to helping students with their research while on the MV Explorer.
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Leigh Grossman (Medicine)

Leigh B. Grossman, M.D. graduated from Brandeis University and the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed her Pediatric Residency and Infectious Disease and Critical Care Fellowships at the University of Virginia. She is the former Vice Provost for International Affairs at the University of Virginia and is currently Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease and the Associate Dean for International Programs in the School of Medicine. Her clinical work at the University of Virginia is devoted to the care of hospitalized children both as a general Pediatric inpatient ward attending and as an infectious disease consultant. Her research is devoted to the prevention of hospital acquired infection in the critically ill newborn and child. She teaches at the bedside, in the classroom, nationally and internationally. She has edited and authored four books, Infection Control for the Pediatric Patient, Infection Control in the Preschool and Day Care Center, Infection Control for the Healthcare Worker and The Medical Student’s Guide to Successful Residency Matching. Dr. Grossman history of international experience includes growing up in India, service time with the Peace Corps, consultancies for the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, DC and Chile, Project Hope and the King Faisal Hospital in Saudi Arabia. She has participated in ten years of medical service work in Haiti. She has directed the pediatric resident International Medicine Elective for 26 years with sites in India, Thailand, Kenya, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Morocco and Guatemala. Her career has been honored with the McLemore Birdsong Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Virginia State Council of Higher Education Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Medical College of Pennsylvania Alumni Achievement Award, the Department of Pediatrics Clinical Excellence Award and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award. Dr. Grossman will be joining for a partial voyage with a group of medical students who are enrolled in a special program of study.
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Edeltraud Guenther (Business/Commerce)

Edeltraud Guenther holds the Chair in Environmental Management and Accounting at the Technische Universität Dresden and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia since 2005. She teaches and researches extensively in the fields of environmental performance measurement, adaptation to climate change, public procurement, valuation of environmental resources and hurdles analysis. Professor Guenther studied Business Administration at the Universität Augsburg, languages at the University of Geneva, and earned her doctorate in Environmental Accounting, also at the Universität Augsburg. Prior to her arrival at the TU Dresden, Prof. Guenther was a Research Fellow and Project Leader at the Bavarian Institute for Applied Environmental Research and Technology, where she worked closely with scientists and technicians analyzing practical solutions to problems of waste management. Prof. Guenther serves as a consultant to many businesses and government agencies, including the German Ministry of Environmental Affairs, the European Union and the German Organization for Standardization.
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Thomas Guenther (Business/Commerce)

Thomas Guenther is a full professor in Managerial Accounting at the Technische Universität Dresden in Dresden, Germany. Prof. Guenther studied Business Administration at the University of Augsburg, earned his doctorate in Strategic Management and Controlling, and a second doctoral degree in Value Based Management. He has been with the Technische Universität Dresden since 1994, and has twice held visiting positions at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. Prof. Guenther’s primary research areas are corporate finance; management and control systems; the measurement, valuation and control of intangible assets; and the performance measurement and management of non-profit organizations. He has written two widely-used textbooks on strategic management and control and on cost accounting and costmanagement. Prof. Guenther has extensive consulting experience with business organizations such as Siemens, BMW, Compass Group, Porsche, Lufthansa and Thyssen Krupp and nonprofit organzations. He is a board member of the Schmalenbach Society and former spokesperson of the Society of German-speaking Accounting Professors.
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David Harnish (Music)

David Harnish is Professor of Ethnomusicology, co-Director of the Balinese Gamelan, and Associate Dean in the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University. He received his Ph.D. and Master's in Ethnomusicology from UCLA and University of Hawai'i, respectively, and holds a BA degree in International Studies from University of the Pacific. Dr. Harnish has conducted extensive field research in Indonesia and has lived and studied in Japan and India. He is author of Bridges to the Ancestors: Music, Myth and Cultural Politics at an Indonesian Festival(University of Hawai'i Press, 2006), co-developer/writer/editor of Divine Inspiration: Music and Islam in Indonesia (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), and has published thirty articles in journals, encyclopedias and books. Dr. Harnish is a double Fulbright recipient, a National Foundation Fellow, and has received research grants from National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ohio Arts Council, the United States-Indonesia Society, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, and Partnerships for Community Action among other organizations. A former consultant for the BBC, National Geographic, and the Smithsonian Institute, he has recorded and/or performed Indonesian, jazz, Indian and Tejano musics with five different labels.
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Thomas Hawks (English)

Thomas Hawks is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Kenyon College, where he teaches poetry writing workshops as well as classes on Modern and Postmodern literature and theory. He earned his Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah, after having received an MFA from the University of Virginia and a BA from Cornell University. His poems have appeared in journals such as the Antioch Review, Image: A Journal of Religion and the Arts, The Literary Review, Seneca Review and Western Humanities Review. His critical writings on subjects such as free verse prosody, Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and the pedagogy of podcasting have appeared in journals such as College English Notes, and his play All of the Beautiful are Blameless was selected as a finalist in the 1996 New Voices competition at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Hawks also established and directed the Telluride House, a residential scholarship program for students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is currently researching representations of urban space in modern and postmodern writing. He lives with his wife, Dr. Irene Lopez, and their two children in Gambier, Ohio.
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Christopher Hill (History)

Christopher V. Hill, Professor of History at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, received his MA and PhD from the University of Virginia. He is the author of two books: River of Sorrow: Environment and Social Control in Riparian India (University of Michigan, 1997), and South Asia: An Environmental History (ABC-CLIO, 2008). His teaching areas include Environmental History, South Asian History, and the History of the British Empire. He is the recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award from the American Society for Environmental History, and has received fellowships and grants from Fulbright, American Institute for Indian Studies, the Government of India, and ACLS/SSRC. In 2007 he was the UPE Visiting Fellow at the University of Hyderabad.
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Lewis Hinchman (Politics)

Professor of Government, Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY). Education: PhD, Cornell University 1979. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1968-70. B.A. Princeton University 1968. Publications: over twenty articles and book chapters; author of Hegel’s Critique of the Enlightenment, co-editor of Hannah Arendt: Critical Essays and Memory, Identity, Community: The Idea of Narrative in the Human Sciences. International Experience: Three Fulbright fellowships to Germany, most recently to teach at University of Bonn, April-August, 2009; Visiting scholar at Griffith University, Brisbane Australia, 1996-97; Participant, CIEE seminar in Hungary and Czech Republic, 2003. Languages: German, Spanish, French, Italian.
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Sandra Hinchman (Politics)

Munsil Professor of Government, St. Lawrence University (emeritus) A.B, Political Science, Vassar College; M.A., Ph.D., Government, Cornell University. Author or co-author of numerous articles on contemporary political philosophy, politics and literature, environmental political theory, and the rights of native peoples. Co-author of books entitled "Hannah Arendt: Critical Essays" and "Memory, Identity, Community: The Idea of Narrative in the Human Sciences."
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Robert Hoffert (Philosophy/Politics)

Bob Hoffert is professor and dean emeritus from Colorado State University where he held appointments in the departments of philosophy and political science. He is currently the Executive Director of the Colorado Partnership for Educational Renewal. He was educated at Ursinus College (B.S., history), Yale University (M. Div., theology), Penn State University (M.A., political theory), and Cornell University (Ph.D., political theory). His scholarly interests have centered broadly on democratic theory with focused attention on Anglo-American liberalism and the political philosophy of the American political founding. He is the author of A Politics of Tensions and numerous other articles. He was the faculty coordinator for a 2006 study abroad program in Wales and taught at the University of Wales, Swansea. He enjoys film, traveling, hiking, gardening, cooking, reading, sharing time with friends, and anticipating the day he’ll become a grandfather.
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John Israel (Sino-US Relations/History)

John Israel, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1955) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard (1957, 1963). His scholarly writing has focused upon students and higher education in 20th century China. His magnum opus is Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution (1998). He has traveled, lived, and studied in Taiwan (1959-1962) and the People’s Republic of China (since 1978). After retiring from the UVa faculty in 2003, he taught American history to Chinese students at the Yunnan Nationalities University and Chinese history to American students through the Duke in China program in Kunming. His commentaries on contemporary China have been broadcast through the Voice of America’s Mandarin Language Service. A veteran of the anti-Vietnam-war movement, he has periodically conducted colloquia and seminars on Vietnamese history and the Vietnam War.
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Hana Kim (Studio Art)

Hana Kim is an artist, designer and lecturer with the University of Virginia School of Architecture. She received her Master of Architecture degree at the University of Virginia and has practiced professionally in architecture and landscape architecture in Maine, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. She has contributed to The Hand and the Soul: Aesthetics and Ethics in Art and Architecture, edited by Sanda Iliescu and Lunch, the academic journal at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Hana currently lives and works in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Irene Lopez (Psychology)

Dr. López is an Assistant Professor of psychology at Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio). As a cross-cultural and clinical psychologist, her areas of interests focus on the intersection of psychology and anthropology. In particular, she is interested in the impact of acculturation on mental health, the assessment and phenomenology of cross-cultural psychopathology (such as ataques de nervios), and understanding the interplay of culture, gender, and socioeconomic status in the psychological functioning of ethnic minorities, particularly among Latinos. Dr. López has received a number of awards for her work and teaching, including a faculty fellowship by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. Her work has also been published in a number of journals, including Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Psychological Assessment. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Socioeconomic Status.
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Nilufer Medora (Sociology)

Nilufer Medora is a certified family life educator and a full professor in the area of child development and family studies in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at California State University, Long Beach. Courses that she has taught are: Introduction to the University: The University of Your Future, Life Span Human Development, The Older Child, Child and Family in the Community, Family Life Education, International Families, and Research Methods. She has published several book chapters and journal articles in the areas of teenage pregnancy and teen parenthood, human sexuality, mate selection and marriage, and family strengths from a cross-cultural perspective. She was selected as the campus representative for the London Semester Program in Spring 2008. She has also planned, organized, and conducted 3- week short term study abroad programs to New Zealand twice in the past three years. Experiencing these travels with the students has been a rewarding, enriching, and life altering experience for her. She has been the recipient of the Best Advisor of the Year award and the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award. She is very active in the Partners for Success mentoring program on campus and as part of this program she mentors several first-generation college students. She has traveled extensively and she strongly believes that students need to be more tolerant, more culturally sensitive, and more aware of global issues. She endorses and encourages students to incorporate international travel as part of their education.
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Phillip Kolbe (Business/Commerce)

Professor Emeritus of Finance and Real Estate at the University of Memphis. Dr. Kolbe received his BS from the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as a Southeast Asia area specialist and a special operations officer. His MA and PhD are from the University of Arizona. He has taught for more than 30 years, starting while he was president of a real estate research corporation and CEO of a market research firm. Dr. Kolbe has twice received the University of Memphis Distinguished Teaching Award and was the first recipient of the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award and the Suzanne Downs Palmer Professorship in Teaching Award. During his career he has received ten teaching awards. He has traveled to over 100 countries and taught executives in France and Switzerland. He serves as a consultant to a variety of companies and has published numerous articles and books, including Investment Analysis for Real Estate Decisions and Real Estate Finance.
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Erika Paterson (English/Theatre)

Erika Paterson is a lecturer with the Co-coordinated Arts Program and the English Department at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She received a BFA in Theatre and an interdisciplinary PhD (Anthropology & Performance) from the University of Victoria (1998). As Artistic Director of a small independent theatre company, Erika toured across Canada several times as well as conducting workshops in performance improvisation and collaborative theatre production. She spent several years traveling and living in Latin America and the Caribbean -- where she taught English in Chiapas, Mexico, studied Spanish with the University of Havana, worked as a project developer for the Cayman Islands Maritime Heritage Foundation, and in Honduras, she assisted with the development and opening of a small university on Roatan Island: The Bay Islands University, where she was the first Chair of the English Language and Literature Department (2003). Erika also has extensive maritime experience; at seventeen she began working as a deck hand on west coast trollers, she later worked her way through the Panama Canal catching the hawser ball for yachts as she earned sea time for her studies with the Pacific Marine Institute where she earned her Class Four Master Navigation Papers (1981). And, this is Erika’s second voyage around the world on the M.V. Explorer.
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Michael Petrus (Photography/Architecture)

Michael Petrus is a Studio Instructor with the University of Virginia School of Architecture and a Principal of Crisman+Petrus Architects in Charlottesville, Virginia. He holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design degree with distinction from Harvard University (1997) and a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon (1987). He was awarded two post-graduate fellowships by Harvard: the Druker Traveling Fellowship to support his research into renewed railway infrastructure as urban catalyst in Europe, and the Sheldon Fellowship for his photographic and drawn documentation and analysis of the fortress towns of the Kali Gandaki Valley in North Central Nepal. Petrus has traveled widely and practiced architecture and urbanism on four continents, including the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa. As part of a belief that an important component of learning includes first hand study in the field, he regularly leads university sponsored studio trips to various US cities and has led a six-week Study Abroad program across Europe. His most recent professional work has focused on projects that achieve an integration of industry and ecology at a very large scale through land planning projects on brownfield sites in the Tidewater, Virginia region.
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Amy Predmore (Assistant to the Academic Dean / Registrar)

Amy Predmore has a degree in economics from Yale University and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. In the past, she has taught high school mathematics and was the chief coordinator for the Charlottesville, Virginia Earth Week festival. Currently, she tutors students in mathematics and study skills, teaches yoga and meditation to adults, young adults, and teens and is working to creating a serious rite of passage experience from adolescence to adulthood using a variety of modalities. She is looking forward to being a part of a vibrant shipboard community of adults and young people who care about the interdependent world, to advising students, and to perhaps even teaching some yoga and meditation.
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Lee Riedinger (Physics)

Lee Riedinger is a Professor of Physics at the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville and returned to the department in a fulltime capacity in fall of 2007 after a year as the interim Vice Chancellor for Research. Until September of 2006, he worked in a six-year assignment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served for four years as the Deputy Director for Science and Technology and then as Associate Laboratory Director for University Partnerships. Before joining ORNL, he was head of the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy and has been on the faculty since 1971, a full professor since 1978. He received a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from Vanderbilt University, is an author of 190 refereed publications, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His research focuses on the properties of nuclei at the limits of stability, produced in accelerator-based experiments. He has spent extended research leaves at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and has served as the science advisor to Tennessee Senator Howard Baker in Washington. He received recently the top faculty award (Macebearer award) at UT and a 2005 award for service to the American Physical Society.
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Tina Riedinger (Physics)

Margaret (Tina) Riedinger is an instructor of physics and astronomy at the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville. She received a master's degree in physics from Vanderbilt University, performing research for the degree in the Health Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She taught various astronomy and physical science courses in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1973-2002, served as the leader of the astronomy instruction program, chaired the Non-major Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and worked as an advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Office. Since 2002 she has taught on-line astronomy courses in the UT Independent Study and Distance Education program. She is a co-author of two university textbooks: Online Journey through Astronomy, Thomson Learning, 2000, and Astronomy Online Student Companion, Thomson Learning, 2001. In addition, she has given many public lectures on astronomy and presented short courses on cosmology and relativity at the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning.
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Richard Robbins (Anthropology)

Richard Robbins received his Ph.D. in anthropology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has spent his entire teaching career at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Some of his most formative academic experiences include field research among Cree, Inuit and Naskapi First Nations peoples of Canada, Acadian farmers and fisherfolk in New Brunswick, Canada, and among religious communal societies in the United States. A research semester at the Science Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh would count as one of his most stimulating intellectual experiences. His most recent publications include an introductory textbook in anthropology, Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach (5th edition 2009) which received the Text and Academic Authors Association textbook of the year award (1994) and Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism (4th edition 2007) which was Selected by Choice (the Journal of the Association of College and Research Libraries ) as An Outstanding Academic Title of the Year (1999). He is also co-editor with Mark Nathan Cohen of Darwin and the Bible (Penguin Academic 2008), and World in Motion: Globalization and the Environment with Gary Kroll (Altamira Press, 2009). He has received the State University of New York’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the American Anthropological Association/McGraw-Hill Teacher of the Year Award. He appeared also in the hit anti-globalization documentary, The Yes Men. He is currently SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor at Plattsburgh, and maintains a global problems website at www.plattsburgh.edu/legacy.
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Stuart Schwartz (Psychology)

Stuart Schwartz is Clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF). He received an A.B. in History from Cornell University and an M.D. from the State University of New York. His psychiatric training was at UCSF where he became the Director of Post Graduate Education at San Francisco General Hospital. Following that position he became Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Education at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey (Rutgers Medical School). He has been the recipient of three Senior Scholar Fulbright awards for work in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka and a Wellcome Fund traveling fellowship to London, England. His research has focused on delivery of mental health care in developing nations. He maintains an active psychotherapy and psychopharmacology practice in San Francisco. His clinical interests have included work with anxiety, mood disorders and schizophrenia. He has had an enduring interest in the outdoors and enjoys hiking, biking and scuba diving.
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Dingli Shen (Sino-US Relations/Politics)

Dingli Shen is a professor of international relations and Executive Dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, Director of the Center for American Studies, and Associate Dean of Fudan Development Institute. He received a Ph.D. in physics in 1989 from Fudan and did post-doc in arms control at Princeton University from 1989-1991. Dr. Shen teaches nonproliferation and international security and China's foreign policy in China and abroad. He writes prolifically and his publications appear worldwide, inc. The Washington Quarterly, Survival, Journal of Contemporary China, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists etc. In 1997, he was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship. In 2002, he was invited by the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to advise his of strategic planning. Dr. Shen is on the International Council of the Asia Society and other organizations, and boards of a number of international journals. He is Vice President of Shanghai Association of International Studies, and Vice President of Chinese Association of South Asian Studies.
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Dan Sprau (Public Health)

Dan Sprau comes to ISE with a Doctorate in Public Health (Environmental Health Management) from the University of Michigan, Master of Science degrees from Emory University (Radiological Health) and East Carolina University (Environmental Health) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Adrian College. Currently he is an Associate Professor Emeritus at East Carolina University after serving for over thirty years in the Environmental Health Sciences program and with the School of Medicine. That extensive teaching experience included publication of a wide variety of research and applied environmental health articles and book chapters. He also holds the rank of CAPT in the Commission Corps of the US Public Health Service (Reserves) and maintains a full schedule of consulting as a Registered Sanitarian, Certified Safety Professional, and Certified Industrial Hygienist. His international environmental health experiences began in the early 1970’s with courses at the University of Graz, Austria, and continues to this day with his work at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, and Almaty, Kazakhstan. Most recently, he led a student trip to the Ukraine (Chernobyl), and has been involved in Environmental Health/Medical Missions work in India.
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Audrey Sprenger (Sociology)

Audrey Sprenger, Ph.D., is a sociologist and audio producer who has documented the everyday lives and culture of people living in India, Central America and all across the United States and Canada. Currently a Faculty Affiliate at the Charles Warren Center at Harvard University where she is writing a biography of Jack Kerouac, (the very first to use the author's vast archive of unpublished papers), she has also written ethnographies and produced documentaries on urban bohemias, macadamia nut farmers, borderland communities, paper mill towns and the social custom of dowry. Nationally recognized for her pedagogical website, The Nomad Motel, as well as her cross country sociology course, Jack Kerouac Wrote Here Crisscrossing America Chasing Cool, she has taught on sociology, geography, gender studies, law and South Asian Studies faculties at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Denver; created a series of publicly accessible, university accredited courses for the City of Denver; and has produced artistic programming and events, as well as community ethnography and documentary projects, for the Denver Public Library, PBS' Masterpiece Theatre, the Denver Art Museum, Rocky Mountain PBS, the Wyoming Humanities Council, the 2008 Democratic National Convention and The Nation magazine.
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David Sumner (English)

Dr. David Sumner is Associate professor of English and Environmental Studies at Linfield College in McMinnville, OR where he also directs the writing program. He earned a PhD from the University of Oregon, where he focused on the relationship between American nature writing and environmental ethics. He also holds an MA from Brigham Young University, and a BA from the University of Utah. He has published several articles on the genre and ethics of nature writing and western American literature as well as a series of interviews with contemporary nature writers. As a Fulbright fellow in 2007, Professor Sumner taught courses in American nature writing and western American literature at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. He has also delivered invited lectures on these topics at several Universities in Germany as well as at the University of Helsinki in Finland. When not reading, writing, or teaching, Professor Sumner likes to wander the wild landscapes of the West, preferably with his wife Heidi, their three children, and a fly rod.
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George Thomas (Linguistics)

Professor Thomas received his B.A. and his Ph.D. in Russian from the University of London in the United Kingdom. Since 1969 he has been teaching at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, specializing at first in Russian language and linguistics and later branching out into Slavic and general linguistics. He has taught introductory courses in linguistics as well as upper level and graduate courses in sociolinguistics, language planning, applied linguistics, languages in contact, historical and comparative linguistics. His main field of research has been in the area of language contact, language planning and lexical enrichment. Most of this research, published in 34 articles and three book-length monographs, has concentrated on Russian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene and Serbo-Croatian. However, in 1991 he published Linguistic Purism, a much cited book dealing with the efforts around the world to combat unwelcome influences (usually foreign) on standard languages. Among his recent academic interests are the study of areas of linguistic convergence (Sprachbund), pidgins and creoles, and the origin of human language. Since his formal retirement in 1999 at the rank of Full Professor of Linguistics he has continued to teach and maintain an active research profile. His major work in progress at the moment is a book on the linguistic history of Europe. He has studied, taught and lectured throughout eastern and western Europe, North America and South Africa and has traveled widely in Europe, eastern and southern Africa and the Americas. This will be his second voyage on the MV Explorer, having taught in Spring 2009.
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Diane Timmerman (Theatre)

Diane Timmerman is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher, one of about 100 worldwide, and Professor of Theatre at Butler University, where she directs and teaches a wide variety of courses in acting, voice, and theatre. An active professional actress, Diane’s recent roles include Bernstein in the first post-Broadway production of David Mamet’s NOVEMBER at the Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis, Agnes in BUG by Tracey Letts, also at the Phoenix, and Nerissa in Shakespeare’s MERCHANT OF VENICE for the Heartland Actors’ Repertory Theatre, where she is a company member. Directing credits include 6 Shakespeare productions, 2 world premieres, and several alternative voice productions utilizing Linklater and Roy Hart voice techniques. Diane’s books include “Spare Scenes: 60 Skeletal Scenes for Acting and Directing” and 2 Shakespeare adaptations. An avid international traveler, Diane’s Linklater voice work has taken her in recent years to Scotland, Germany, Russia, and Italy. Diane’s global interests began during her junior year of college at the University of Vienna and continued through her German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship to the University of Hamburg after she had graduated from college. Diane received BA’s in Theatre and German from Southern Illinois University and an MFA in acting from Indiana University.
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Stephen Webb (Religion/Philosophy)

Stephen Webb is in his 20th year of teaching at his alma mater, Wabash College, where he is Professor of Religion and Philosophy. After Wabash he earned the Ph.D. with distinction at the University of Chicago. He is the author of nine books, including Dylan Redeemed, a study of Bob Dylan’s Christian period, The Divine Voice, a history of the theology of sound, Good Eating, an investigation of theological arguments about diet, and American Providence, a work in political theology. A regular contributor to First Things and Books & Culture, he has written many essays and articles and has been invited to lecture at over a dozen universities. He is also the co-founder and former co-director of the Christian Vegetarian Association (Christianveg.com), an ecumenical website that promotes responsible and compassionate dietary practices.
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Katherine Weist (Anthropology)

Katherine (Tobie) Weist is an emeritus professor at the University of Montana and earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from U.C. Berkeley. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution and has carried out field and archival research funded by National Institute of Mental Health, National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Park Service. Katherine’s research focused on Native American women and Plains ethnohistory. She co-authored the book An Annotated Bibliography of Northern Plains Ethnohistory, edited the autobiography of a Northern Cheyenne woman and published 11 professional papers. She received a Fulbright lectureship to Seoul National University and a second Fulbright to the University of Botswana and was an exchange professor to the University of Calabar, Nigeria and to the Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa, the Republic of Georgia. Her most recent field research investigated the lives of women in Tabora, Tanzania. Throughout her teaching career, Katherine brought her anthropological experiences in other societies back into the classroom and encouraged students to explore and reflect upon the diversity of behaviors and beliefs both within and between cultures. Upon retirement Katherine joined the Peace Corps (2001-2003) in South Africa.
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Toni Zimmerman (Psychology)

Toni Zimmerman (Psychology). Professor Toni Schindler Zimmerman has been on the faculty at Colorado State University in the Human Development and Family Studies Department, Family Therapy Program since 1991. Her alumni affiliations include Ohio University (BA), Radford University (MA), and Virginia Tech (PhD). Toni’s research areas include; Work and Family Balance, Diversity Training with Youth, and Media Analysis of Stereotypes. She has published over 70 articles and is recognized in her field as a lead scholar. Her diversity training website was recognized by Teaching Tolerance as excellent. Toni’s has received numerous awards for her outstanding teaching. Her most recent awards include CSU College of Applied Human Sciences Outstanding Teacher (2009), CSU Alumni Best Teacher (2009) and CSU University Distinguished Teaching Scholar (2009). Toni has worked in Sudan, Africa, studied in France, and was on the faculty Spring 2007 Semester at Sea voyage. She believes strongly in the importance of diversity awareness and international travel as part of a well rounded education.
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Rob Abowitz (Living-Learning Coordinator)

Rob Abowitz is on leave from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where he serves as Associate Director of Residence Life. In addition to his traditional residence life duties, during the course of his 13 years at Miami, Rob has also coordinated academic advising in the residence halls and is currently supporting the implementation of the Residential Curriculum. Prior to Miami University, Rob worked in the Dean of Students Office at the University of Virginia as an Interim Dean of Students and Area Coordinator. He earned his masters degree from the University of South Carolina in Higher Education Administration and his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Florida. This is Rob's first voyage with Semester at Sea, during which he hopes to support all aspects of students' growth and development.
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Emily Blake (Living Learning Coordinator)

Emily most recently worked as an Assistant Director for LGBTQ Initiatives at Colgate University. Much of her time was spent working with students to navigate their coming out process, find resources and advise their programming efforts. Emily has been a member of The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, The National Coalition Building Institute and the American College Personnel Association. She earned her BA in Sociology from SUNY Potsdam in NY and then ventured out to Ames Iowa to earn her MEd. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Iowa State University. Emily enjoys watching movies, working out, playing with her animals, dancing and reading. Emily is looking forward to meeting lots of great students and processing what we will go through as a Semester at Sea community.
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Henri Bristol (Videographer)

Henri Bristol is an award winning cinematographer and filmmaker who has worked in commercial, music video, and short film production after receiving his M.F.A. from USC's School of Cinema Television in 2002. An alum of Semester at Sea, Henri has worked on several documentaries and has traveled extensively since his last voyage onboard ship. He looks forward to documenting the Spring 2010 voyage and working with students and communication staff in creating a dynamic multimedia depiction of the journey. He currently resides in Santa Barbara, CA where he owns and runs a gallery featuring photography and photo based art.
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Dr. Morton Chiles (Physician)

Dr. Mort Chiles is a board certified family physician. He received his undergraduate B.S. from Davidson College and M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Family Practice residency was completed at Riverside Hospital in Newport News, Virginia, including service as Chief Resident. Dr. Chiles actively practiced with Culpeper Family Practice Associates in Culpeper, Virginia for 31 years, retiring from active practice in July 2009 to assume the position of Vice President for Medical Staff Services for Culpeper Regional Hospital. He and his wife, Ketsy, are greatful for the opportunity to participate in the Spring 2010 voyage.
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Chris Churma (Assistant Field Office Coordinator)

Chris Churma completed his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in marketing and international business, and is currently completing his Masters degree in comparative and international development education at the University of Minnesota. Prior to obtaining his Masters degree, Chris served as the Assistant Director of International Field Programs for Semester at Sea in Charlottesville and had been with the organization from 2002 to 2008. He currently serves as a part-time recruiter for the program in the Minneapolis - St. Paul region. Chris sailed with Semester at Sea in spring 2004, has studied and interned abroad in London, and has also sailed on other regional Semester at Sea voyages in the Field Office. With the academic and intercultural perspective he acquired while in graduate school, he is looking forward to visiting the many places on the spring 2010 itinerary. Chris is also excited about sharing in such a life changing experience with everyone onboard.
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Debbie Deas (Living-Learning Coordinator)

Debbie Deas is from Charleston, SC and attended Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC where she double-majored in Government and Sociology. After graduation, Debbie worked at Wofford as the Coordinator of the Bonner Scholars Program, a community service/service-learning scholarship program. She received her MS in Higher Education & Student Affairs from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN where she worked in residence life, leadership development, and student activities. Debbie also has experience working in conference planning and career development. She's excited to work with students in such a unique living/learning experience and to be part of their growth and development.
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Alison Droster (Assistant Field Office Coordinator)

Alison is currently working toward completing a Master's in International Education through the SIT Graduate Institute. Prior to attending the SIT Graduate Institute, Alison received a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Marquette University in Wisconsin, her home state. Also while at Marquette she was the Community Assistant for the Global Village, a living learning community that brings together international exchange students and US students. Since childhood Alison has loved being on open waters and is excited to combine her passions for the sea, traveling, and experiential international education this spring.
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Andy Finn (Dependant Children Coordinator)

Andy Finn has owned and operated Finn Graphics, a sign and graphics company in Colorado Springs, for the past fifteen years. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelors degree in Supervisory Management. Andy is an urban farmer, beekeeper and regularly sells his organic produce and honey at local farmer's markets. Andy is an avid cyclist and organized the first century ride in Colorado Springs two years ago. He traveled with Semester at Sea on the Fall 2000 voyage with his wife, Jenny, and will now be traveling with his five-year old daughter Elizabeth, and eight-year old son, Andrew. Andy looks forward to this journey with his family, and the rest of the shipboard community, and is committed to making the journey a rich experience for other families traveling with children.
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Jenny Finn (Living-Learning Coordinator)

Jenny Finn is a licensed social worker, embodiment educator and owner of Soma, Ltd (www.somamovement.org), offering opportunities to heal through embodied practice and creative expression. Jenny will be serving as a Living Learning Coordinator/ Spiritual Development Specialist on the Spring 2010 voyage and is looking forward to developing, and enhancing, spiritual and religious life with the ship and global community. Jenny received her Masters in Social Work in 1999 and sailed as a Mental Health Professional with SAS on the Fall 2000 voyage. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Wisdom Studies at Wisdom Univeristy, with her dissertation focusing on the recovery of the heart and soul of our institutions through creative expression and embodied practice. Embodied spiritual practice is crucial in developing one's spiritual life, so to deepen into relationship with body and soul, Jenny completed the Foundation Year of SomaSource®, founded by 5 Rhythms® instructor Melissa Michaels, and has also studied with Susan Aposhyan, founder of Body Mind Psychotherapy®. She founded Soma in response to a deep inner calling to reclaim her body and creative relationship with her soul, and now is honored to share this teaching with others.
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Danielle Genemore (Living Learning Coordinator)

In the Summer of 2000, Danielle first sailed with Semester at Sea and had the most memorable experience, always knowing that SAS would be a part of her life. Danielle received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Public Policy from Duquesne University in 2001 and her Master's of Higher Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. She has had the privilege to work with Semester at Sea/Institute for Shipboard Education since 2001 and is currently a part of the Department of University Outreach. As Associate Director-Midwest Region, she lives in Pittsburgh, PA and promotes, sustains and builds relationships with students and study abroad offices in ND, SD, MN, IA, IL, WI, MI, MO, IN, OH, KY, WV, and Western PA. Danielle has advised students, developed programming and cultivated alumni involvement throughout the Midwest. Knowing the impact Semester at Sea has played in her life, she is looking forward to playing an integral role in the shipboard community through service, sustainability, and cultural awareness.
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Marvel Harrison (Counselor)

Marvel Harrison, PhD, a native of Canada is a psychologist who has relished sailing with SAS on three prior voyages. Marvel earned graduate degrees at Utah State University, University of Massachusetts and postdoctoral studies at University of New Mexico. She is a family systems therapist, coauthor of several books and has a focused interest in disordered eating, trauma resolution and a gentle acceptance of self and others. Marvel is co founder of Cambodia's Hope, a charitable organization born out of prior SAS experiences and that supports the education and well being of needy Cambodian children. Marvel and her daughter Sopahn will miss the mountains and ski season of northern New Mexico where they call home but the challenges and excitement of a new shipboard community and another global expedition will satisfy their need for adventure.
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Midhun Joseph (Living Learning Coordinator)

Midhun is currently on leave from the University of California, Berkeley where he serves first year students to graduate students working for the Office of Student Development in Residential Living. Midhun will be serving as the Learning Assistance Specialist LLC on the spring voyage. Midhun spent his childhood in Kerala, India and in Chicago, Illinois. He received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University in Chicago in Finance and Marketing and he went on to earn his masters degree from the University of San Francisco in Organization & Leadership focusing his research on retention and graduation of students coming from low-income, first generation backgrounds. Midhun loves to travel, learn and share stories and this has led him to help coordinate immersion/service-learning trips to Belize, Brazil, Ecuador and Nicaragua over the past 5 years. Midhun is very excited to travel, learn and share this unique experience with an amazing group of students, life-long learners, faculty and staff this spring.
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James K. Lee (IT Coordinator)

James K. Lee currently works as an art director at the Core Knowledge Foundation in Charlottesville, Va. He received his BFA in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. James managed the Graphics Lab for the Communication Arts + Design department. In 2006 James travelled abroad for the first time on a trip to Italy, and in 2007 accompanied a medical mission to Haiti to work in Grison-Garde.
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Courtney Miller (AV Coordinator)

Courtney holds a B.A. in Cinema-Television and a Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. She has produced segments for network television, managed performing arts venues, published stories, served on nonprofit boards and has further produced hundreds of large-scale live events with A-list performers throughout Southern California. She is greatly looking forward to the sustainability focus, and though she loves the AV Booth dearly, is also excited to be revisiting South Africa.
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Eric Mosher (Communications Coordinator)

Eric Mosher will join the Spring 2010 Semester at Sea voyage as the Communications Coordinator. Mosher currently is the executive director of Creative Communications at the University of Washington, a position he has held since 1989. Previously he served in a variety of positions in the public relations and communications office at Colorado State University. With a degree in journalism from CSU, he is interested in the effective use of all communications media. With his wife Georgia, he is looking forward to being part of the Semester at Sea team.
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Georgia Mosher (Administrative Assistant)

Georgia Mosher has been the executive assistant for the Vice President for University Advancement at the University of Washington since 2000, and the assistant secretary for the UW Foundation Board of Directors. She joined UW in 1989 in the School of Business School Dean's Office. Prior to that, she worked in the Office of Alumni Relations, and the colleges of Arts & Sciences and Natural Sciences at Colorado State University. She earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She and her husband Eric have two grown children and are excited to fulfill this life-long dream of joining the Semester at Sea team.
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Nathan Quinlan – Assistant I.T. Coordinator

Nathan Quinlan comes to SAS with a Bachelors degree in Sociology from Duquesne University (2000) and a Masters degree in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2006). Most recently Nathan has had the opportunity to be employed as the US Sales and Product Manager for a winter sports company where he managed the marketing and sales for snowboard and ski equipment. This role sent him across the country and “across the pond” for “work,” mainly snowboarding as much as he could. Nathan, or better known as Nate, has been known to tinker with computers and electronics making him a go to trouble shooter for a number of technical issues and is excited about the opportunity to fulfill the role of Assistant I.T. Coordinator for this upcoming semester. Growing up on the shores of Lake Erie and now residing in Pittsburgh, with a quick stay in Salt Lake City, Nate has taken any chance to travel and experience all that he could. The Spring 2010 Voyage will not be Nate’s first tour aboard the MV Explorer, he has sailed on both a Seminar and Reunion trip. Nate is looking to take full advantage of the culture and diversity immersion throughout this Spring while sharing the experience with his wife Danielle.
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Theresa Pepin (Assistant Librarian)

Theresa Pepin is a member of a large European musical family and traveled widely as a young professional musician. Educated both in Europe and in the United States in a number of different major disciplines, including music, philosophy, languages, engineering and political science, she attended the University of Tennessee on fellowship and was awarded a Master's in Library and Information Science. After a number of years as a professional librarian, she taught graduate courses in information science and managed computer science laboratories at the University of Tennessee. She continues to work as a consultant on policy research and has recently led a $85-million grant proposal for the Science Alliance, the University of Tennessee and the State of Tennessee in broadband technology with sustainability of the project a major emphasis. Ms. Pepin is particularly interested in translational and multidisciplinary research needs in collaborative teams and welcomes the opportunity to discover and learn with students and faculty/staff in the exceptional environment of the Semester at Sea.
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Janelle Nicole Rahyns (Living Learning Coordinator)

Janelle Nicole Rahyns is on leave from the University of Los Angeles, CA (UCLA) where she serves as a Resident Director for the Office of Residence Life. Delta Terrace, the community she oversees, is home to the Transfer Experience theme community at UCLA housing first-year transfers and offering transfer-specific programming. Janelle also serves on the Sustainability committee for ORL and hopes to initiate and implement sustainable programming to support the theme of the Spring 2010 voyage. Prior to UCLA, Janelle attended the University of Florida (Go Gators!) where she received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and her graduate degree in Higher Education. She also served as an ACUHO-I intern at the University of Alaska-Southeast. Janelle is excited about her first voyage with Semester at Sea and is eager to meet the faculty, staff, and residents.
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Laura Roth ( Assistant Dean of Students)

Laura Roth received her M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University in Ohio in 1998. Most of her professional career has been spent in Colorado where she has worked in several areas of student affairs including residence life, Greek affairs, and student activities. She also worked as the Director of Student Services at a small college in Vermont. Most recently Laura lived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for 15 months teaching English at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. Laura is thrilled to be a part of the Semester at Sea staff and is looking forward to meeting and supporting the students on this life transforming journey.
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Becca Rowland (Field Office Coordinator)

Becca Rowland holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Since university, she has spent ten years traveling the globe. Her love of ship life and travel began on the SS Universe Explorer where she spent five years traveling through Central America and Alaska. Then she continued her adventures on the Ocean Explorer I on a world voyage that visited all seven of the world's continents. She has also lived for a year each in Japan, Ireland and most recently in New Zealand. This will be Becca's fourth Semester at Sea voyage and she still cannot believe her luck!
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Kathy Sprau (Lifelong Learners Coordinator)

Kathy Sprau, rhymes with “WOW”, Lifelong Learning Coordinator, is a leadership development trainer and motivational speaker since 1981. Kathy comes to ISE with an M.Ed. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University and an M.ED. in Adult Education from East Carolina University. Her BA is in Psychology from Adrian College. She has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. Kathy is also an author of two books. Kathy is a member of the National Speakers Association and numerous local professional associations and a member of Rotary Internat’l. She has traveled in 48 states and many parts of Europe. She enjoys camping, hiking, pilates and power walking for fitness. Kathy and her husband have children from A to Z ........... Abby and Zachary. Kathy plays the harp professionally and enjoys ballroom and swing dancing with her husband.
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Stacey Steinbach (LLC)

Stacey Steinbach currently works as a First Year Experience Specialist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst working with a residential first-year experience program and serves on the board of the Massachusetts College Student Personnel Association (MCPA). As a native New Yorker she earned a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from SUNY Stony Brook in 1999 and a M.A. in Higher Education Administration from New York University in 2001. While at New York University she held a Graduate Assistantship in Greek Life advising NYU's sororities. Stacey then journeyed to the mountains and worked for three years as a Residence Life Coordinator at Colorado College. Then she started her progression back to the east coast with a 4 year stop in the Midwest where she worked as the Assistant Director of Residential Life at Maryville University of St. Louis.

Stacey is not unfamiliar with the Semester at Sea program as she served as a Resident Director on the Summer 2003 voyage where she got to sail around the Pacific Rim. That voyage confirmed Stacey's passion for travel and she has since traveled to India to learn all about their culture. Stacey is excited to visit some of the countries she has been to before and looks forward to many new adventures.
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Margie Teetor (Dependant Children Coordinator)

After living in Southern California all of our lives, 10 years ago my husband, John and I retired to Prescott, Arizona. We enjoy traveling, dancing and sports. Prior to our retirement, I was busy raising our daughter, working for the Los Angeles Dodgers and ended my working career with years as an Escrow Officer. My biggest thrill is visiting our daughter and her family in San Diego, which normally includes babysitting our 3 and 8 year old grandsons. We were fortunate enough to sail with Semester at Sea on the Spring 2000 voyage and once again look forward to greeting, meeting and becoming involved with yet another "Semester at Sea family".
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John Teetor (Community Resource Officer)

As a Vietnam Veteran, serving with the United States Marine Corp, John Teetor was honorably discharged in 1968. He pursued a career in law enforcement with the Los Angeles Police Department and retired after 26 years of service. As a law enforcement officer he attended Valley College, taking courses in criminal justice and law enforcement. John's wife of 44 years, Margie, and him participated in the Semester at Sea 2000 Spring voyage and are both looking forward to another rewarding experience, hoping to be a positive influence on the students and to become part of the Semester at Sea family.
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Ashley Vaughan (Photographer)

Ashley Vaughan is a photographer and curator from Jacksonville, Florida. She earned a B.A. in Journalism Studies from the University of Denver and an M.A. in Contemporary Art from Sotheby's Institute of Art, London. With a flair for the documentary, Ashley has captured images across the United States and Europe, working both on independent projects and for high-profile institutions-including the University of Denver, the Denver Public Library and the Democratic National Convention. She is thrilled to be circumnavigating the globe with SAS and is eager to document the unique cultures and geographies the voyagers will experience on the journey.
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Susie White (Textbook Coordinator)

Susie White has been waiting for her ship to come in. When she's not sailing the seven seas, she loves to cook, exercise, listen to music and have fun with kids. She has previously been a partial voyager and on this voyage she's planning on exploring the cuisines of the world!
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Karen Wosiski (Nurse)

Karen Wosiski joins ISE from Philadelphia Pa. with a diverse background as a Nurse Practitioner and Family Therapist. Her thirty plus years in nursing include experience in intensive care, emergency medicine, teaching and for the last fifteen years have focused on the care of children and college age students in the primary care setting where she uses her mental health as well as her nursing skills. Her leadership skills include acting as preceptor for masters level Nurse Practitioner students from various universities as well as being a Fall 1997 alumni of SAS as part of their medical team. Since 1997, she has spoken internationally on the subject of "Cultural Sensitivity in the Health Care Environment", and written and illustrated a children's book about her voyage. Karen is a passionate learner, an artist and a team player. She is thrilled to be chosen as part of the medical team for the Spring 2010 voyage.
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Jill York (Nurse)

Jill York received her BS in Nursing from the Medical College of Virginia in 1974. She then became one of the first graduates of the MCV Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program in 1977. She received her MS in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner certification from Old Dominion University in 1994. Her work experience includes inpatient and outpatient adolescent health, student health, gynecology and extensive work in primary care. She considers the voyage to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world and meet people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
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