E-Colleague

May 4              Sarah Reid
May 5              Robert Bonner, Emily Palkert
May 7              Cory Hand
May 8              Molly Hickok, Brent Wilson, Deb Worden
May 10            Chris Meade
May 12            Marla Sweningson
May 13            Jenny Elsey, Rob Leslie
May 14            Kathi Becker, Tim Galuza, Don Powers
May 15            Dirk Barram
May 16            Britny Scholz, Trevor Woods
May 17            Paul Anderson
May 18            Gregg Boughton, Paul Otto
May 20            Gabe Haberly, Teresa Lamm
May 22            Clifford Berger, Bree Stairs
May 23            Chuck Conniry, Adam McGuffie
May 24            Brenda Morton
May 26            Elise Trask
May 27            Virginia Lundquist
May 28            Beth LaForce, Steve Sherwood
May 29            Steven Classen, Kandie Comfort, Mike Magill
May 30            Stephen Bearden, Amy Dee, Roger Newell
May 31            Jessica Hollen
June 3             Paula Hampton, Jamison Loop
June 4             Nadine Kincaid
June 6             Keisha Gordon, Joyce Staats, Alan Thurston

Dexter Ballard has joined plant services as a custodian this month. He arrives from Aldersgate Camps and Retreats in Turner, Ore., where he was a maintenance assistant. Before that, he worked various jobs in Santa Cruz, Calif., primarily at Mission Springs Camps and Conference Center. Dexter holds a bachelor’s degree in history and social studies from Warner Pacific College (2012). He recently moved to Newberg with his wife, Courtney.

Kyle Wattenbarger (Plant Services) left the university in early April after serving at George Fox for 12 years. He left to stay home and take care of his three children.

Matt Sargent has moved from enrollment manager for the adult degree program and the Master of Social Work program to the position of associate registrar. Britny Scholz has moved out of the College of Business, where she was the program coordinator for the MBA and DBA programs, into the enrollment manager role that Matt vacated.

Kathy Heininge (English) presented her paper, “Paul Murray and W. B. Yeats: Sprezzatura for a Modern Ireland?,” at the national meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies at Notre Dame University the first weekend of April. In addition, her book review on Staging Intercultural Ireland: New Plays and Practitioner Perspectives came out this month in the Irish Literary Supplement. She also wrote an article, “Once: Ulysses Revisited,” that is forthcoming in a book on intercultural adaptations of theater in Ireland, and her article on “James Joyce and the Habitual Present Tense” was accepted, pending some revisions, for publication in the James Joyce Quarterly, the major Joyce journal. Finally, Kathy’s book Reflections: Virginia Woolf and her Quaker Aunt, Caroline Stephen should be released by Peter Lang within the month.

John Bennett (Art and Design) was selected as a professional reviewer for Portland Photo Month. In that role, he is giving portfolio critiques of Northwest photographers for Photolucida, a nonprofit organization that, every other April, hosts an international set of photographers and reviewers in Portland for a five-day celebration of photography that includes lectures, workshops and exhibitions. Reviewers are selected for their experience, involvement and commitment to advancing the work of emerging and mid-career artists. By providing a venue for in-depth, informed, and supportive dialogue between photographers, gallery owners, curators, publishers, editors, and consultants, Photolucida promotes the culture of photography locally, nationally and internationally.

Glena Andrews (Director of Clinical Training – Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology) will present at the Eastern Oregon Psychological Association’s 31st annual Wallowa Lake Conference on May 21. The title of her presentation is, “Neuropsychology: Frontal Lobe Dysfunction, Difficult Diagnoses, and Use of Screening Tools.”

Carmen Imes (College of Christian Studies) successfully defended her doctoral dissertation at Wheaton College on April 1. Her project is entitled, “Bearing YHWH’s Name at Sinai: A Re-examination of the Name Command of the Decalogue (Exod 20:7).” She will graduate with a PhD in biblical theology – Old Testament.

Ed Higgins’ (English) poem “Jalapeños” was selected to be included in the “EAT: A Literature + Photography Installation” exhibit scheduled to open in May at Centre College in Danville, Ky. Out of over 150 entries, Ed’s submission was one of 11 selected. His piece will be paired with a photographic interpretation by Kentucky photographer Sarah Jane Sanders. In addition, First Class Literary Magazine posted Ed’s poem “Sisyphus” on its website, and, in a Caribbean-based (Trinidad) online poetry journal (Random Poem Tree), three of his poems were published in March: “April Touch,” “A Poem Should Always” and “Tensions.”

April 19            Jeff Tatum, Rebecca Williams
April 21            Stephanie Bugas
April 25            Terri Beecroft, Valerie Sherwood, Richard Silver
April 26            Dana Ferrin, Emma Glennen
April 27            Pat Vandehey
April 28            Danny Cross
April 29            Jeff Woods
May 1               Patrick Allen
May 2               Dwayne Worden

Emily-Grace Cropper-Russel has joined the advancement office as a gift and database specialist. She worked most recently for Youth Outreach as a job development specialist and as a site director for YouthWorks, a missions trips ministry for teenagers. Prior to that, she gained office experience as a work-study student and tutor at George Fox while she was a student between 2009 and 2013. Emily-Grace earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the university in 2013. She lives in Newberg with her husband Caleb and daughter Ellery and attends North Valley Friends Church in Newberg.

Emily Palkert has joined the university as the new women’s volleyball coach. A four-year American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn., Palkert was named National Freshman of the Year in 2007 and ended her career as the all-time career kills leader at Concordia. She also led her team to four straight NCAA Division II national championships. She holds a bachelor’s degree in child learning and human development (2011), and upon graduating from Concordia she played professionally in Finland (2011) and Spain (2012). More recently, she spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, where she also worked as a health and physical education instructor while working toward a master’s degree in business.

The university welcomes Lenore Stewart as an accounting specialist (general ledger) in the financial affairs office. She has worked as a teller at the US Bank in Tualatin since last August and previously worked as a National Instant Criminal Background check outfitter at Cabela’s in Tualatin (2014-15). Lenore also worked in accounts payable, handling vendor payments, for the Irwin Hodson Company of Portland from 2011 to 2014. She lives in Tigard with her husband Randy and their children Britta, a sophomore at George Fox, and Jared, a junior at Tigard High School. They attend Grace Point Community Church in Tigard.

Steve Wasson (IT/Media Services) left the university late last month to accept a position in the Midwest.

Lori DeKruyf (Counseling) co-presented with masters in school counseling alumna Catherine Davis and current masters in school counseling student Jill Williams at the Innovations in School Counselor Preparation Conference in Athens, Ga., Feb. 28 to March 1. The three presented “Key Field Experiences that Prepare School Counseling Students to Be Known as both Educational Leaders and Mental Health Professionals.” Lori also collaborated with Dr. Diana Gruman from Western Washington University and Dr. Laurie Carlson from Colorado State University on a presentation titled “Fostering a Balanced Professional Identity for an Agile Response to Equity Issues.”

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities has named Deborah Berhó (Spanish) director of the Latin American Studies Program, a Council for Christian Colleges and Universities BestSemester program. She and her family will be moving to Costa Rica this summer to work for the interdisciplinary program. “During my 19 years at George Fox I have come to understand many components necessary for a solid study abroad experience as I have worked with Spanish majors and minors. Though I am having a hard time saying goodbye to my students and wonderful colleagues, I am excited to bring that knowledge to bear on this program, and to use other components of my PhD in Latin American Studies that have been set aside as I have focused on Spanish language acquisition.”

Amy Dee (Education) published an article, “After Cancer, Looking Forward Gratefully,” in the March/April issue of Coping magazine. In it, Amy writes about her personal experience related to her journey after a cancer diagnosis.

Kris Kays (Psychology) and student Bekah Miles presented a seminar, “Facebook Self-disclosure and other Conversation Starters,” at the 2016 International Christian Association of Psychological Studies (CAPS) conference March 10-12 in Pasadena, Calif. Kays, Miles and Chris Koch (Psychology) also presented a poster, “Is Social Media Like an Onion? Exploring the Social Penetration Theory as an Explanation for Viral Responses to Intimate Self-disclosure,” at the same conference.

Jeannine Graham (Christian studies) contributed the chapter “‘The One for the Many’ Theme in James Torrance’s Theology” in the recently published Trinity and Transformation: J. B. Torrance’s Vision of Worship, Mission, and Society. Roger Newell (Christian studies) also contributed a chapter entitled “The Stuttgart Declaration of 1945: A Case Study of Guilt, Forgiveness and Foreign Policy.”

Paul (Business) and Michelle (Professional Studies) Shelton teamed with a colleague from another university to present a paper, “Group Potency and Virtual Teams,” at the 2016 Academy of Business Research Conference in New Orleans March 23-25. The paper won the “Best Paper Award” in the session.

Terry Huffman (Education) received word that his new book, Tribal Strengths and American Indian Education: Voices from the Reservation Classroom, has been accepted for publication by the University of Massachusetts Press.

Gary Tandy (English) recently presented two writing skills workshops for the Oregon Educators Benefit Board staff in Salem. The workshops focused on Email Etiquette, Difficult Messages, and Grammar and Punctuation. The OEBB administers health care benefits for K-12 teachers and community college employees in Oregon.

Jim Smart (Biology) collaborated on a research paper with scientists from both Oregon Health & Science University and from Jena University in Germany. The paper, titled “RHEB1 Expression in Embryonic and Postnatal Mouse,” was published in a recent edition of Histochemistry and Cell Biology. The piece reveals the role of the RHEB1 protein in normal development of the early embryo. George Fox biology graduate Wesley Bollinger (2012) also contributed to the project as a Richter Scholar. Wesley is currently in a PhD program at the FAU/Max Planck Institute in Florida, where he is studying the molecular basis for sleep and memory formation.

Caroline Wildhaber (Nursing) was named Employee of the Month for March.

April 5              Paul Holman, Vicki Tschan
April 6              John Kaye
April 8              Joel Kelley
April 10            Cheri Hampton
April 11            Janelle Freitag
April 12            Dylan Harris, John Shaw
April 13            Britt Hoskins, Susan Newell, Sarah Taylor
April 14            Nell Becker Sweeden, Kathy Rosenbohm
April 15            Mike Campadore, Christine Green
April 18            Judy Deale

Sara Reamy joined the university earlier this month as executive assistant to the vice president of the seminary. She worked previously for nine years as the executive director of KUZA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training students in Uganda to be leaders through higher education and leadership development. Sara earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington in 1996. She lives in Portland with her husband, Derek, and their four teenagers. The family attends Riversgate Church in Portland.

Kristi Hagen (Advancement) has left the university, moving out of the area with her family.

Karlyn Fleming (Seminary) left George Fox on March 4 to take time to finish her master’s degree and enjoy her daughter’s wedding planning.

Rachel Gerig (Admissions) left the university this month to relocate to Bend, Ore.

Greg Allen (Adult Degree Programs) has accepted a seat on the advisory board for the University of Oregon Applied Information Management (AIM) master’s degree program. The AIM advisory board was recently established to provide advice and support to the program’s director, providing input into curriculum, assisting in areas of personal interest, and serving as advocates for the program.

Ed Higgins (English) published his poem “Of Light” in the March 11, 2016, online edition of the Dublin, Ireland-based literary journal Idler.

March 22          Terry Peters
March 24          Loren Kerns, Mary Monahan
March 25          Heather Groenlund
March 26          Jeff Birdsell, Nick Willis
March 27          Wendy Bruton, Yune Tran
March 28          Kathy Harris, Charles Kamilos, Jeremy Lloyd, Steve Petzold
March 29          Lynn Andrews, Vetta Berokoff
March 31          Melodee Powers
April 1              Jen Klapp
April 2              LuAnn Anderson
April 3              Steve Delamarter, Dale Journey
April 4              Deb Mumm-Hill

Leah Blake (Computer Support Specialist/Portland Center) left the university in February to work with the IT department at Spirit Mountain Casino.

After nearly eight years as a full-time web designer at George Fox, Cary Griffith (Marketing Communications) left the university on Feb. 29. He plans to work full time for the design and marketing firm, Griffae Design, that he and wife Kayin own. Kayin will continue to work as director of housing at the university.

Dot Miranda (Undergraduate Admissions) has left the university after working the past eight years in the admissions office. She has accepted an account manager position at CollegeNET in Portland, a company that builds online applications for several schools around the nation.

Ty Sohlman has transitioned out of her graduate admissions counselor role in the College of Business to take the graduate admissions counselor position for George Fox Evangelical Seminary.

Steve Delamarter (Seminary) led a team that digitized the images used as part of a multimedia concert featuring the professional female vocal ensemble In Mulieribus. The concert, titled “Horae: A Musical Book of Hours,” was presented three times over the March 4-6 weekend in three Portland-area locations. The images were inspired by the Book of Hours, a prayer book used by the laity for private devotion throughout the late Middle Ages. The projected images were pulled from the rare manuscript collection at Mount Angel Abbey in Mt. Angel, Ore.

Rhett Luedtke (Theatre) was awarded the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion at the recent Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Denver. Only one teacher in each region receives the award each year. According to the Kennedy Center website, it is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF and is considered one of the great honors in theatre education. As a reward, Rhett will go to Washington, D.C., in April.

Nicole Enzinger (Eduation) was selected as a STaR Fellow for the 2016-17 year by The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. She is one of 30 early-career faculty selected across the United States. The Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) Fellowship is an induction program for early-career mathematics educators working at institutions of higher education. The program was initiated through a grant from the National Science Foundation. The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators provides a professional home for the program as one of the mentoring programs for members.

Carlisle Chambers (Chemistry) is part of a team of scientists at George Fox University, the University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University and Western Washington University who received a grant from the Murdock Charitable Trust for a collaborative research project. The project, “A Materials Science Research Alliance in the Pacific Northwest: Advancing Renewable Energy and Building Research Capacity at Predominately Undergraduate Institutions,” is funded at $360,000 over three years.

Joseph Clair (William Penn Honors Program) was awarded a Veritas Riff Fellowship for the next two summers in Boston. Every two years, the Veritas Forum selects a cohort of 12 young academics who are aspiring Christian public intellectuals and helps train them in the art of writing op-eds and giving TED-style talks about issues of faith and culture. Joseph will travel to Boston July 11-14 this year to work on crafting op-ed pieces with editors from USA Today and Christianity Today. Next year, he will travel to New England to focus on public speaking and developing talks that integrate his faith with his areas of expertise.

A poem written by Ed Higgins (English), “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Blackbeard,” is up for the annual Science Fiction Poetry Association’s Rhysling Award, an honor in science fiction poetry that compares to the Hugo Awards annually given for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. The piece will be published in the association’s annual Rhysling anthology. Nominations come from editors of various science fiction journals and magazines who are also members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

Jillian Sokso (Art and Design) is currently exhibiting in “The Other: Nurturing a New Ecology in Printmaking” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Fla. The exhibition, which runs through April, includes work by major artists of the 21st century, including June Wayne, Kiki Smith, Swoon and Alison Saar. Jillian is also showing in a solo exhibition entitled “In the Shadow of the Mountain; As if the Sea Were Nothing” at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. Later this month, she will open an exhibit at Chase Gallery in Spokane, Wash.

Paul Anderson (Christian Studies) published a review of the six episodes of the “Finding Jesus” series that is airing on CNN between now and Easter. The reviews have been posted on The Bible and Interpretation website. The episodes will be aired on Saturday, March 26, in preparation for Easter. Also, his essay, “Second John and Women,” was posted in the “Ask A Scholar” section of Bible Odyssey (March 2016), and his essay, “Testimonies of Truth, What Quakers Have Believed though 350 Years,” was published in Christian History 117 (February 2016: pages 12-14). Finally, his coauthored essay with Jaime Clark-Soles, “Glimpses of Jesus Through the Johannine Lens – An Introduction and Overview of John, Jesus, and History, Vol. 3.,” was published on The Bible and Interpretation website (December 2015).

Davida Brown (Chemistry) received word that a collaboration involving her lab and one at the University of Portland was funded by the Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities. The proposal, “Solar Thermal Energy Production,” is funded for $15,000.

Jing Hao (Chemistry) learned the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust will fund her  natural sciences proposal, “Facile synthesis of thermo-responsive biodegradable micelles for drug delivery applications,” at $58,800 over two years.

Kenn Willson (Music) adjudicated and judged the Portland Oregon Music Teachers Association Ensemble Festival at the Portland Piano Company in January. Also that month, he performed his “Encounters with Beethoven” presentation for the Music Teachers Association District in Roseburg. Finally, in February, he presented a Monster Piano Concert on the Bauman Auditorium stage with 18 pianists ranging from George Fox alumni to 13-year-olds from his private piano studio. According to Kenn, the event drew the largest audience for any piano event the university has hosted – between 600 and 700 attendees.

March 10            John Spencer
March 12            Theresa Schierman, Brent Weaver
March 13            Carol Brazo, Karen Buchanan, Sandy Cherachanko
March 14            Keelan LoFaro, Piper Parks
March 15            Caitlin Corning, Stephanie St. Cyr
March 17            Bryan Boyd, Saurra Heide
March 19            Marty Hunter
March 20            Heidi Cuddeford
March 21            Kevin Copple

Penny Martin joined the university as an administrative assistant for both the Department of History, Politics and International Studies and the Department of World Languages, Sociology and Cultural Studies. She worked previously as a transaction coordinator and real estate assistant with Dwight Schwab, Keller Williams Realty of Lake Oswego for the past two years. Before that, she worked as an administrative assistant and office manager for NW Realty Group in Lake Oswego (2005-13) before taking time off to write a book in 2013-14. Penny lives in Tigard with her husband, Jeff.  She has three children: Royce, Ashley and her youngest, Alexis Behrend, who is a freshman at George Fox. She attends Westside: A Jesus Church in Portland.

Bill Buhrow (Health and Counseling/GDCP) presented a three-hour lecture on “Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders” as part of a multi-day training seminar, “Understanding Psychopathology,” at PLACE (Program for Leadership Advancement & Continuing Education) in Mumbai, India, to about 30 students via Skype. Bill was invited to speak by Dr. Steve Stratton (Asbury Seminary) to be part of this ongoing counselor training ministry, an initiative of The Church at Powai in Mumbai.

Anderson Campbell (Christian studies) published the article “Serving for Goodness Sake” in the Christ & Cascadia online journal, a collaborative publication that explores the cultural challenges, opportunities and responsibilities for Christianity in Cascadia (Oregon, Washington and British Columbia).

Kevin T. Jones (Department of Communication Studies) and Bethany Widdicombe (December 2015 communication studies graduate) recently had their book chapter, “Engaging Empathy in Interpersonal Social Justice,” accepted for publication in an upcoming 2016 textbook, Teaching From the Heart and Learning to Make a Difference: Teaching the Introductory Communication Course Through Critical Communication Pedagogy. The chapter examines how to teach students to explore social justice as more than a global concern, but a problem on the local level that needs attention through an interpersonal communication lens.

Sarita Gallagher (Christian studies) published an article, “Building Bridges of Peace in the Midst of Religious Diversity,” in a special edition of the Evangelical Society’s journal Occasional Bulletin.

Paul Anderson (Christian studies) has written an essay about Quakers that will be published in a forthcoming issue of Christian History magazine. The piece is part of a series of articles on the history of Quakers. Christian History magazine is a full-color, high-quality, quarterly publication “bringing the story of the church to the people of the church,” according to its website.

Feb. 9              Bill Stevens
Feb. 10            Debbie Cash
Feb. 11            Danae Allen, Lynn Scott, Cindy Zablotny
Feb. 12            Paul Shew
Feb. 14            Johanna Schweitzer
Feb. 16            Danielle Warner
Feb. 19            Sue Corbett-Furgal, Kelly Hughton, Cristina Schmitt, Jere Witherspoon
Feb. 20            Gina Braden, Scot Headley
Feb. 21            Adina Briggs McConaughey, Jon Hall
Feb. 22            Mark Hall
Feb. 23            Jeongah Kim, Mark Weinert
Feb. 24            Corwynn Beals
Feb. 27            Joel Schutter
March 1           Andrew Fleming
March 2           Winston Seegobin
March 3           Joseph Clair, Kayin Griffith, Rhett Luedtke
March 4           Tyler Cuddeford
March 6           Chris Casey
March 7           Lecia Retter

Trenton Corvino (Graduate Admissions) left his position at the university last week. He has taken a job with the United States Tennis Association as a junior competition coordinator, a position in which he will oversee all junior competition for the entire Pacific Northwest section.

Gregg Palmer (Plant Services) left the university in mid-January.

Vetta Berokoff has joined the Department of Biology and Chemistry as an administrative assistant after serving in that capacity in the Department of History, Politics and International Studies.