Comings and Goings
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
The university welcomes Heather Ayala as an assistant professor of biology. Heather earned a PhD in biology-parasitology in 2007 from the University of Notre Dame. She’s spent the last three years teaching classes in genetics, human biology, anatomy and physiology, and general biology at Bethel College in Indiana. Heather also gained teaching experience as a visiting assistant professor at Elmhurst College in Illinois (2007-08) and as a teaching assistant at Notre Dame (2005-06). Prior to earning her doctorate at Notre Dame, Heather earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Azusa Pacific University. She lives in Newberg with her husband and children and attends St. Peter’s Catholic Church.
Rodney Birch joins the university this fall as an associate librarian/assistant professor and reference librarian. For the past two years, he has worked as library director and coordinator of the MidAmerica Learning Commons at MidAmerica Nazarene University. Prior to that, he was a reference librarian at MidAmerica Nazarene for four and a half years. Rodney also has library leadership experience from Vennard College (assistant director, 1996-98; director, 1998-2004). He is in the process of earning an EdD in ethical leadership from Olivet Nazarene University and holds a master’s degree in information science and learning technologies from the University of Missouri, Columbia (1999). Rodney lives in Newberg with his wife of 12 years, Christine. They have three children, ages 7, 5 and 3.
The university hired Rob Bohall to serve as an associate librarian/assistant professor and reference librarian. Since January of 2008, he has worked as a website specialist for the Western & Southern Financial Group of Cincinnati. The three and a half years prior to that, Rob was a reference librarian at Indiana Wesleyan University. He also gained library experience at World Bank in Washington D.C., where he was a reference librarian and webmaster from 1998 to 2005. He earned a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., in 1991. Rob lives in Newberg with his wife Penny and four children – Jamie, Nicole, Robert and Nathan – and attends Northside Community Church.
The chemistry department welcomes a George Fox alumna, Davida Brown, to work as an assistant professor of chemistry. Since earning a PhD in chemistry from Stanford University in 2007, she has worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Oregon (2007-09); as an adjunct professor at George Fox and Portland Community College (2009-10); and as an assistant professor of chemistry at Concordia University (2010-11). During her years at Stanford, she served as a teaching assistant for various courses in the school’s Department of Chemistry. She earned a Centennial Teaching Award in 2004, which recognizes and rewards outstanding teaching by Stanford graduate student teaching assistants. Davida earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from George Fox in 2002 and was recognized as the university’s Chemistry Major of the Year her senior year. She lives in Newberg with her husband Rich (a 2001 George Fox alumnus) and their daughter Abby. They attend Newberg Friends Church.
Institutional Technology has hired Ethan Burke as a media production specialist. A temporary employee since January, he joined the department full time in early August. He will be responsible for managing post production of on-campus audio/video recordings, researching and facilitating copyright release of digital media materials used by George Fox, and assisting with support for Media Production Services. Ethan earned a bachelor’s degree in cinema and media communication from George Fox in 2010. He lives in Newberg and attends New Song Community Church in Portland.
Brian Doak joins the university this fall as an assistant professor of biblical studies. Prior to earning his PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University this spring, Brian spent the past three years at the Cambridge, Mass., institution as a teaching fellow and teaching assistant, specializing in teaching courses on the ancient Hebrew language, the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Greek classics. Prior to his time at Harvard, Brian taught classes in the Department of Religious Studies at Missouri State University for three years and also taught for two overlapping years at Evangel University. He can read five ancient languages and has spent the last three years as an editorial assistant of the Harvard Theological Review. He holds a master’s degree in religious studies from Missouri State University (2004) and a bachelor’s degree in the same discipline from Evangel University (2002). Brian lives in Newberg with his wife, Susan, and their 2-year-old daughter, Nova. The family attends Newberg Friends Church.
Paula Hampton joins the university this fall as an administrative assistant in the Department of Religious Studies. An alumna of George Fox (1981), she has worked since 2000 as an editor at Barclay Press in Newberg, where she recruited writers, solicited manuscripts for publication, and edited various publications and books. Since 2005, she also has worked as a freelance editor, providing editorial services for doctoral candidates working on their dissertations. Previously, Paula served as secretary for publications at Newberg Friends Church (1984 to 1991). She holds a bachelor’s degree in language arts in secondary education from George Fox. Paula lives in Newberg with her husband, Larry, and son, Joseph (a student at Newberg High School). The Hamptons also have two daughters: Jessy, a junior at Seattle Pacific University; and Kelsey, a 2011 graduate of SPU. Paula attends Newberg Friends Church.
The university welcomes Corban Harwood as an assistant professor of mathematics this fall. He recently earned a PhD in mathematics from Washington State University, for which he also worked as a graduate teaching assistant, research assistant, and tutor over the past five years. For the past year and a half, he concurrently offered research support for the Microelectronics Research and Communications Institute at the University of Idaho. In 2008, he earned a master’s degree in mathematics at Washington State, after earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Whitworth University in 2006. Corban recently moved to Newberg and is engaged to Mary Eagle of Spokane, Wash. They look forward to living in the Newberg area.
Carol Hutchinson joins George Fox this fall as an assistant professor of adult degree programs. She has more than 30 years of experience teaching adults, youth and adolescents in small- and large-group settings. At George Fox, she has taught business writing, world views and leadership courses on an adjunct basis in the adult degree programs for the past six years. Also, during the past two years she has worked as a tutor in the Willamette Valley. For 20 years, from 1979 to 1999, Carol worked in Argentina helping Christian and Missionary Alliance teams initiate youth groups, start a church and reorganize a national women’s commission. She earned a doctor of ministry degree from George Fox Evangelical Seminary in 2005 and holds a master’s degree in religious education from the Canadian Theological Seminary (1976). Carol lives in Salem and since 1978 has been a member of Salem Alliance Church, where she served on staff as pastor of recovery for five years before becoming an adjunct at George Fox.
The university welcomes Val Orton as an assistant professor of nursing this fall. This marks a return to the university for Val, who served as campus nurse from 1999 to 2007. For the past four years, she has worked as a nursing instructor at the University of Portland, teaching clinical courses in medical surgical nursing for undergraduate students and clinical courses for graduate students in the Clinical Nurse Leader master’s degree program. Areas of practice have included medical surgical nursing, maternal-child nursing, operating room services, college health nursing, and faith community nursing. Val’s most recent nursing practice was at Tuality Community Hospital in Hillsboro and with Northwest Parish Nurse Ministries in Portland. Previously, she practiced nursing at various healthcare facilities in Texas, California, Minnesota and Washington. Val earned a master’s degree from the University of Portland in 2007 and a BSN from Seattle Pacific University in 1975. Her two children both attended George Fox University: Paige Orton Ma (1998-2000) and Trevor Orton (BA, 2008). Her husband, Tim, is also an alumnus of the university, earning a DMin in 2011. Val and Tim live in Hillsboro and attend Solid Rock Church at the Westside location.
Nate Peach joins George Fox this academic year as an assistant professor of economics. For the past three years, he’s served as an instructor in the economics department at Colorado State University, teaching courses that included microeconomics, issues in environmental economics, and money and banking. He was also a graduate teaching assistant at the school from 2006 to 2009. His research explores the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for states in the United States and the interaction of economic growth and sustainable development in energy-rich nations. This summer he completed a doctor of philosophy degree from Colorado State. Nate also holds a master’s degree in economics from the same institution (2007) and a bachelor’s degree in international business from Messiah College (2000). He lives in Tigard with his wife, Meagan, and son Jed.
The engineering department welcomes Patrick Ray as an assistant professor of engineering this year. For the past three years he has lived and worked in Jordan, where in 2010 he was assistant professor of engineering at Middle East University, specializing in hydraulics/hydrology, numerical methods and engineering economics. Patrick began his work in Jordan researching the water system in Amman as a Fulbright Fellow. Over the course of his three-year tenure in Jordan he worked as a water systems engineer in a variety of contexts, including as a water systems economist for the Millennium Challenge Corporation and a climate change specialist for the United Nations Development Programme. Before that, Patrick was a researcher, teaching assistant and graduate student at Tufts University, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. In all, he has eight years of experience in water resources engineering. He holds a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from Tufts University (2010) and a master’s degree in the same discipline from Tufts (2006). He lives in Newberg with his wife and two boys.
After working at George Fox as a visiting assistant professor (2010) and adjunct professor (2008-10), Abigail Rine joins the university as an assistant professor of English this fall. She will also continue to serve as director of the school’s forensics program, a position she has held the past two years. Among the classes Abigail has taught are ancient world literature, gender theory, introduction to literature, and college writing. Her research and teaching interests include transnational women’s writing and gender studies, critical theory, creative writing, and ancient world literature and mythology. Abigail earned a PhD in English from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (2010) and holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from George Fox (2005). She has published articles in the journals Forum for Modern Language Studies and Journal of Gender Studies, as well as the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literary Theory and the edited collections Sex, Gender and Time in Fiction and Culture and Mortified: Representing Women’s Shame. In addition, her fiction work has appeared in several literary journals. Abigail lives in Newberg with her husband, Michael, and their two cats, and she has recently begun attending St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Newberg.
The School of Business is hiring Bruce Shepard for a nine-month position as a visiting assistant professor of accounting. Bruce is an accomplished business executive with more than 20 years experience in building companies’ infrastructure, finances, technologies, processes, measurement systems and sales/marketing strategies. For the past five years, he’s served as chief financial officer for Las Vegas Gaming Inc., responsible for all financial affairs, daily business operations, administration and HR. Previously, he was with PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1985 to 2006, where he led the firm’s Middle Market practice in Portland. He holds an MBA in accounting and quantitative methods from the University of Oregon (1973) and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce (1972). His permanent residence is in Las Vegas, but he and his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth, own a home in Portland. They have one son, Sean, a daughter-in-law, Lisa, and a 3-year-old granddaughter, Samantha. They all attend River West Church in Lake Oswego.
The School of Education welcomes Susanna Steeg as an assistant professor of education this semester. She has worked the past three years as a graduate student teaching assistant in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, serving as an instructor in subjects including reading and language arts, literacy assessment and teaching writing in the classroom. She also has experience as an elementary school teacher, teaching grades two through four in the Mesa Public Schools system in Mesa, Ariz., in the mid-2000s. Before that, she taught for two years at the International Community School in Bangkok, Thailand. Susanna holds both a PhD (2011) and a master’s degree (2007) in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Cedarville University (2000). She lives in Newberg with her cat, Cricket.
Carlos Taloyo joins the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology this fall as an assistant professor of clinical psychology and director of clinical training. He arrives from Oregon State University, where he taught diversity and group therapy seminars for the past five years. The former pre-doctoral course engaged interns in the exploration of a multicultural context for counseling, while the latter was designed to develop competence in interns in their professional functioning as group psychotherapists. He taught the group seminar for three years (2006-09), the diversity seminar for two years (2008-09), then became the coordinator of the practicum program (2009-11). In Carlos’ position as practicum coordinator, he oversaw the training and supervision of students from the George Fox PsyD program and Portland State University MSW students. Concurrently, he worked as senior staff psychologist in OSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Previously, he taught graduate counseling courses for six years at Northwest Christian College and, from 2004 to 2006, was a psychologist resident in private practice. He also worked as a child therapist at the Miller Children’s Hospital Abuse and Violence Intervention Center in Long Beach, Calif., and as a psychology clerk at USC-LAC Medical Center in Los Angeles. Carlos holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary (2004) and master’s degrees in theology (2002) and psychology (2000) from Fuller. He lives in Salem with his wife Dawn and their two children, Alex and Sage. They attend Trinity Covenant Church, where Dawn is the associate pastor.
After taking a two-year hiatus from George Fox, Martha Wood returns to campus this fall to work as an area coordinator in residence life. For the past year she has worked as an office assistant at Barclay Press in Newberg, and in 2010 she was a document review/data entry clerk with Volkswagen Credit of Hillsboro. Before that, Martha was an area coordinator at George Fox for three years (2006-09) and a resident director at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich. (2003-06). She will live on campus as an area coordinator for houses and apartments on the north side of campus and is pursuing a master of divinity at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She attends Newberg Friends Church.
The university welcomes Candice Zhang as assistant director of admissions for international students. A 2011 graduate of the George Fox MBA program, Candice speaks English, Chinese and Japanese. Prior to earning her MBA, she worked for four years as a part-time teacher and as a student leadership advisor in the students’ union and social practice department at Dalian Nationalities University in Dalian, China. She earned a bachelor’s degree in language and literature in English from Dalian Nationalities University in 2009. She lives in Newberg and attends the Chinese Baptist Church in Portland.
Editor’s Note: More new employees will be featured in the Sept. 5 issue of E-Colleague.
Alan Timmins (School of Business) is leaving the university to become the CFO at the University of Portland.
Karen Coronado (Library) left the university this month because of her long commute.
The following faculty members have left George Fox: Daymond Glenn (School of Education), Lisa Venable (ELI) and Carla Anderson (School of Education). Carla and Lisa were on temporary one-year contracts; Daymond resigned to take another employment opportunity.