E-Colleague

The following employees were recently awarded faculty emeritus status by the university’s board of trustees: Kathy Heininge, Mark McMinn, Ron Mock and Brent Weaver. Mark has retired from the PsyD department but will remain as a “scholar in residence” at the university.

Teresa Arnold (Biology and Chemistry) was awarded the 2020 Manager of the Year Award at the National Association of Scientific Materials Managers’ conference and trade show on July 29. According to the organization, to be eligible for the award a nominee must be a regular member of NAOSMM for a minimum of five years and have a lengthy record of achievement in one or more of the following areas: distinguished operational, educational or administrative activities; contribution to the advancement of the profession; and active attendance in at least five NAOSMM conferences. Teresa has been employed at George Fox for 17 years and has been an active member of NAOSMM for 16 years. Founded in 1974, NAOSMM has grown to include 500 members in the scientific industry. Members are from teaching, research and industrial fields, and are involved in purchasing, receiving, warehousing, distribution and inventory control of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, glassware and plasticware, instrumentation, and environmental health and safety.

Rebecca Hernandez (Academic Affairs) was selected by Oregon State University as a 2020 Alumni Fellow in partnership with the university’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences. The Alumni Fellows program recognizes eminent alumni who have achieved success in their careers or have shown great accomplishment in their work within the community. This fall, Rebecca will be recognized for receiving the honor and will have the opportunity to give an online presentation to share her knowledge and expertise with students, faculty and staff at Oregon State.

Heather Ohaneson (Honors Program) is serving as the project director of a “Knowledge for Freedom” initiative that will provide an opportunity for intellectually curious but under-resourced high school students in rural Oregon to study philosophy, literature, and history at George Fox. The project is being funded by the Teagle Foundation, which has awarded a $25,000 grant over 12 months to develop the program. As part of Teagle’s Pathways to the Liberal Arts, this initiative supports success in liberal arts education, particularly for students from underserved backgrounds who might not otherwise have access to a rigorous liberal arts course of study.

Corban Harwood (Mathematics) is a co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant awarded to Patrice Tiffany, an associate professor of mathematics at Manhattan College. The $450,000 three-year grant has supported the use of modeling in motivating and teaching differential equations and funded intensive weeklong faculty developer and practitioner workshops, including two hosted at George Fox in summer 2019. Due to COVID-19 this summer, Corban and his collaborators developed remote teaching modules, published online by SIMIODE, to help professors utilize active learning activities while teaching online or preparing to switch to remote instruction. Corban’s other co-PIs are Brian Winkel, professor emeritus at the United States Military Academy; Audrey Malagon, professor of mathematics at Virginia Wesleyan University; and Therese Shelton, associate professor of mathematics at Southwestern University.

Andrea Scott joins the university this summer to serve as provost. She arrives from California Baptist University, where she was dean and professor of marketing in the Jabs School of Business the past four years. During her tenure, the Jabs School of Business experienced consistent growth while expanding its undergraduate majors and adding a master of science degree in information technology and an MBA business analytics concentration. Previously, she was a marketing faculty member in Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management for 12 years. Her business resume includes advertising agency experience with national clients such as General Mills and Wrigley at DDB and BBDO in Chicago, with NBC during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and working as a business analyst for Honeywell, Inc. Andrea holds a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, an MBA from Emory University and a PhD in marketing from the University of South Florida. She lives in Riverside, California, and attends Relevant Church. She plans to move to Oregon in August.

An alumnus of the university’s doctor of education program, Jay Mathisen, has joined George Fox as director of educational leadership. For the past five years, he has worked as the deputy superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, a role in which he supervised the district’s schools and academic programming, led school design planning, and supervised human resources. Previously, Jay was principal of La Pine High School (2007-12) in La Pine, Oregon, where he earned “Oregon Principal of the Year” honors in 2011. His education leadership experience also includes serving as assistant principal at La Pine Middle School (2005-07), as principal of McKenzie Middle School and High School in Finn Rock, Oregon (2003-05), and as a teacher and coach at McKenzie schools (1995-2003). In addition, he has taught on an adjunct basis for Corban University and George Fox for the past 10 years. Jay earned an EdD at George Fox (2012) and holds a master’s degree in secondary education from Western Oregon University (2000), as well as a bachelor’s degree from Western Baptist College (1995). He lives in Bend and will be based at the university’s Redmond campus, while weekly traveling to campuses in Newberg and/or Portland. Jay and his wife Shannon have two daughters, Daisy (18) and Molly (16), and they attend Mirror Pond Church in Bend. Jay is passionate about education systems and partnerships in Rwanda, where he has served since 2010 and leads annual professional development trips with educators from the U.S.

Kate Wimer joined the university this summer as a research and instruction librarian and assistant professor. She arrives from Bryan, Texas, where she served as a reference and adult services librarian in the Bryan + College Station Public Library System for the past two years. Previously, Kate worked as a support specialist for the Research Center at the University of Denver Libraries (2015-18). She has served in various roles for public, academic and law libraries since 2010. Kate earned a master of library and information science degree from the University of Denver (2017) and a bachelor’s degree in history from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas (2014). She lives in Tualatin with her husband Zachary and is looking for a local church.

The following employees are no longer with George Fox University: Jamie Adams (Plant Services), Jonathan Anderegg (Communication Arts), Karen Bowdoin (Art and Design), Mike Campadore (IT), Erik Comfort-Bay (Plant Services), Belinda Creighton (Finance), Kathy Heininge (English), Kimberly Hergert (Theatre), Dwayne Hood (Plant Services), Kacy Hughson (Theatre), Carol Huchinson (Adult Degree Program), Bart Hutchison (Plant Services), Ryan Ingersoll (Library), Robin Jewett (Physician Assistant Program), Fiofana Kalugin (Plant Services), Mary Lou Lewis (Music), Ron Mock (Politics), Annette Nemetz (Business), Melinda Olson (Graduate Admissions), Nadine Pasin (IDEA Center), Chuck Rouse (Plant Services), Jennifer Salzman (Art), Keith Schneider (Student Life), Mark Smith (Plant Services), Stephanie St. Cyr (Student Life), Joyce Staats (Financial Aid), Daniel Winn (Plant Services), Jane Wilson (Admissions), Rob Westervelt (Catalyst) and Steve Winterberg (International Studies).

Jennifer Macnab, formerly a senior enrollment counselor in the registrar’s office and most recently an adjunct professor, has been hired to be the assistant director of academic engagement for the seminary’s doctor of ministry program.

Angeleen Umfleet has transitioned from her role as an administrative assistant for history, sociology, world languages, and politics to a position as a student financial services specialist.

The Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) Project, a STEM higher education reform program supported by the National Science Foundation, honored Paige Parry (Biology) as one of its 25 QUBES mentors for the 2019-20 academic year. Paige was among a group who led professional development opportunities for their peers nationwide by offering their expertise and guidance into incorporating new educational practices and pedagogical approaches to teaching quantitative biology. Paige’s particular Faculty Mentoring Network, which she has led for two years now, is titled “Teaching with R in Undergraduate Biology” and focuses on reducing barriers to implementing R programming in biology courses for students with little to no prior programming experience.

Jeff Walters (Engineering) continues to work on projects to promote water, sanitation and hygiene programs in countries that include Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Cambodia, Nicaragua, East Timor and Chile, along with investigating how to integrate systems-thinking within engineering education. Recently, in connection to his work in this area, he gave a webinar talk for the Research in Global Design Seminar Series for Engineering for Change on his research, engaging Ethiopian, Kenyan and Ugandan water and sanitation stakeholders in systems-thinking and systems-modeling workshops. A recording of the webinar can be found here.

Nicole M. Enzinger (Education) coauthored an article with George Fox alumna Kristina Hofer, titled “Opportunities for redefining unconventional units,” that was published in June in the journal Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12.

Terry Steele (Portland Seminary) had an article, “Beyond Immigrants as the Other: Relational Approaches to Global Ministry,” accepted by the Evangelical Missiological Society National conference in October. Another article, “The Culture Tree: A Powerful Tool for Mission Research and Training,” has been accepted for the July edition of the missions journal Global Missiology.

Four faculty members were recently honored with faculty achievement awards for the 2019-20 academic year: Todd Curtis (Engineering) and Jillian Sokso (Art and Design) were named the undergraduate teacher and researcher of the year, respectively, while Jennie Harrop (Department of Professional Studies) and Debby Thomas (Business) received the corresponding awards at the graduate level.

Nicole Enzinger (Education) coauthored a chapter, “Mathematics education communities: Crossing virtual boundaries,” in the recently published Springer book Borders in Mathematics Pre-Service Teacher Education. The chapter explores mathematics education communities within and across social media with a communities of practices lens and shares implications for teacher preparation. 

Ed Higgins (English Emeritus, Writer in Residence) recently published a review of George Fox alumna Joann Boswell’s poetry volume Cosmic Pockets on the Christian Feminism Today website. He’s also published a number of his own poems in recent months, including “Barricades/barracuda” (in Otholiths, an online magazine, on May 1); “Night Fear Illusions” (in Black Poppy Review, an online literary journal, on March 31); and “the full moon’s light,” Epistemology” and “refugees” (in The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration, an online literary site, on March 15).

Paul Anderson (Christian Studies) and the university are featured in an article, “The Saint John’s Bible Illuminates George Fox University’s 125th Anniversary,” on The Saint John’s Bible website. The piece recounts the university’s history and its affiliation with The Saint John’s Bible.

Jesse Richards (Advancement) is no longer with the university.

MaryKate Morse (Seminary) published a book this spring, Lifelong Leadership: Woven Together through Mentoring Communities (NavPress). In it, she offers a comprehensive mentoring community model to support and develop Christian leaders for the lifetime of their calling. This communal and formational approach to mentoring leaders was field-tested and proven to be effective in diverse cultures and faith contexts. 

Don Powers (Biology) and four colleagues published an article, “Hummingbird torpor in context: duration, more than temperature, is the key to nighttime energy savings,” in the May 2020 issue of the Journal of Avian Biology. The piece was the cover subject of the publication, dedicated to empirical and theoretical research in ornithology.

Paul Anderson was quoted in an article in the Atlantic (May 9, 2020) on Sidwell Friends School and its sense of fiscal responsibility in receiving governmental grants during the COVID-19 crisis. He also published an essay, “Inspiring Readings of the Inspired Text – Taking the Bible Seriously After the Manner of Friends,” in Quaker Religious Thought #134, and his essays, “Something Greater than the Temple is Here,” “Jesus Appeared: the Easter Resurrection” and “He Descended into Hell – The Ultimate in Social Distancing,” were published on the Psalm 91 web blog. In addition, his challenge to Hugo Mendez and Candida Moss, “On Biblical Forgeries and Imagined Communities – A Critical Analysis of recent Criticism,” was published by Bible and Interpretation. Paul also preached two Zoom sermons for Spokane Friends Church in April and May, and he spoke at the McMinnville Presbyterian Church on “A Quest for Jesus – One that Includes the Gospel of John. He also published an essay, “Elizabeth Fry – Prison Reformer and Quaker of Note,” in Quakers, Social Work, and Justice Concerns (Volume 7 in the FAHE Quakers and the Disciplines Series, of which Paul is the founding editor in chief). Finally, his essay “Receiving Holy Callings, Becoming Wholly Responsive” was published by the Oikonomia Network. Paul has been invited to gather as guest editor of a volume involving 14 essays on “Jesus and Spirituality” for the peer-reviewed international journal Religions.  

Linda Samek (Provost) is stepping down from her position this summer but will remain at the university as a full-time faculty member in the doctor of education program.

The following faculty members are leaving George Fox this spring and summer to pursue other opportunities: Robert Bonner (Education), Patrice Brown (Art and Design), Anderson Campbell (Christian Studies), Isabelle Corneaux (French), Briana Currey (Social Work), Ben Hartley (Christian Studies), Jennie Headley (Social Work), Tricia Hornback (Intercultural Studies/Center for Peace and Justice), David Liu (Business), Steve Sherwood (Christian Studies), Sarah Song Southworth (Business), Shannon Stueckle (Education), Susanna Thornhill (Education) and Elizabeth Yarbrough (Nursing).

Paige Parry (Biology) published a paper, “Taking Temperature with Leaves: A Semester-Long Structured Inquiry Research Investigation for Undergraduate Plant Biology,” in The American Biology Teacher, an award-winning, peer-refereed professional journal for K-16 biology teachers. In addition, in recognition of Arbor Day, Plough magazine published Paige’s essay “What Forests Teach Us About Community,” in which she reflects on what she has learned about faith from her time studying forests. You can find the essay here.

Dan Brunner’s (Seminary) article, “Luther’s Mysticism, Pietism, and Contemplative Spirituality,” was published in Word and World (Winter 2020), a journal of theology and ministry. He also had his piece “Evangelicals and Roman Catholic Spirituality” published in the online newsletter of Paulist Press, Koinonia (April 2020).

The following professors are retiring from the university this spring with emeritus status: Paul Chamberlain (Center for Study Abroad), Steve Grant (Health and Human Performance), Tim Tsohantaridis (Christian Studies) and Jeannine Graham (Christian Studies). Paul has served at the university for 43 years, Steve for 38 years, Tim for 32 years, and Jeannine for 14 years. Lu Ann Anderson (Education) has also announced she will be retiring from the university.

Jordan Nelson (Financial Aid) is no longer with the university.

The university has hired Jenny Duquette to serve as a coordinator for the undergraduate teaching, administrative licensure, doctor of education, and master of education and endorsement programs. She has worked at Mt. Hood Community College for the past 20 years, as a student development technology specialist (2019-20), a degree audit coordinator and encoder (2006-19), a student records coordinator (2001-06) and a testing services coordinator (2000-01). This marks a return to George Fox for Jenny, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology/social work in 1994. She lives in Beaverton with her husband, Jon, and daughters Lucy and Gemma. The family attends Beaverton Christian Church.

After serving at Portland Seminary for 12 years, Roger Nam is leaving George Fox to join the Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta as a professor of Hebrew Bible this fall. Roger arrived at the university in 2008 as a professor of biblical studies and has served as dean of the seminary the past two years. The university is working on a succession plan for the dean position and will communicate it when it is finalized.

Laura Hartley, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences since the fall of 2013, is leaving George Fox this spring to take the position of provost at Seattle Pacific University.

David Martinez, assistant professor of Spanish, has been chosen as new director of the Center for Study Abroad. Outgoing director Paul Chamberlain, who will be retiring, is joining assistant director Lynn Scott in helping David make the transition to his new role.

Steve Billings has been promoted from his groundskeeping position to serve as superintendent of grounds.

Paul Otto (History) published Permeable Borders: History, Theory, Policy, and Practice in the United States (Berghahn Books), coediting the volume with Susanne Berthier-Foglar of Université Grenoble Alpes. The essays in the book explore the ways that historical and contemporary actors in the U.S. have crossed borders, whether national, cultural, ethnic, racial or conceptual.

The following professors were recently announced as recipients of the university’s annual teaching and research/scholarship awards: Todd Curtis (Engineering), Faculty Achievement Award for Undergraduate Teaching; Jillian Sokso (Art and Design), Faculty Achievement Award for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship; and Debby Thomas (Business),  Faculty Achievement Award for Graduate Research and Scholarship. The graduate teaching award will be announced on Saturday, May 9.

Jennie Harrop (Department of Professional Studies) was interviewed for a recent feature story in Online Education titled “How the Social Distancing Era is Reshaping Education: Is Online Learning the New Normal?” You can find the article here.

Guadalupe Garcia McCall (English) published a nonfiction essay, “Embracing The English,” in The English Journal, put out by The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). In the piece, Guadalupe recounts her personal story of learning English as a second language and her ongoing love for “The English” as an author and educator.

Bill Jolliff (English) recently published a book, Heeding the Call: A Study of Denise Giardina’s Novels (West Virginia University Press). In it, Bill offers the first book-length discussion of West Virginia writer and activist Denise Giardina, perhaps best known for her novel Storming Heaven, which helped spark renewed interest in the turn-of-the-century Mine Wars.

Ed Higgins’ (Writer in Residence/English Emeritus) poem, “The Truth About Storytelling,” was featured in the Feb. 28 issue of The Creativity Webzine, an online literary magazine. He also published his poems “the full moon’s light,” “Epistemology” and “refugees” in the March 15 issue of The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration, an online literary journal.

Jennie Harrop (Department of Professional Studies) was featured in the November 2019 issue of Recruiting & Retaining Adult Learners under the heading “Leaders & Innovators.” She was interviewed regarding best practices for raising awareness about degree completion programs in colleges and universities nationwide. Started in 1986, George Fox’s degree completion program – the Department of Professional Studies – will be celebrating its 35th anniversary next year. Jennie has served as department chair since 2015.

Judy Deale (Education), Aimee Soles (Student Accounts), Lorie Brubaker (Science Outreach Program) and Jesse Dillow (Plant Services) are no longer with the university.

Gabe Benfield has made the transition from part time to full time as a security officer in the Campus Public Safety office. A 2019 graduate of George Fox, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in social work, he has worked for the department as an unarmed security officer since the fall of 2015. Also, for the past three years, he has worked as a retail sales associate for Pool and Spa House in Portland. Gabe has also volunteered in the Portland Police Cadet Program for the past five years. He lives in Gresham and is engaged to be married to his fiancée, Briyonna, this June. He attends Grace Community Church in Gresham.

The Campus Public Safety office has hired David Bower to work as a security officer on a part-time basis. He has worked in the education field for more than 20 years, serving most recently as a substitute teacher in the Forest Grove, McMinnville, Newberg and Tigard-Tualatin school districts for the past five years. Previously, he was a special education teacher for three years (2012-15) in the Multnomah Education Service District and for one year in the Northwest Regional ESD in Hillsboro (2010-11). Also, for the past eight years, he has volunteered as the lead administrator for the Portland Superheroes Coalition, which raises funds for Doernbecher and Randall children’s hospitals by having superheroes appear at child-related events to provide energy and encourage charitable donations. David holds both a bachelor’s degree in writing/literature (1998) and a master of arts in teaching degree (2000) from George Fox. He lives in Newberg with his wife Kristeen and their children Marcus and Ali. The family attends Red Hills Church.

Aga Luptak has joined the university to work as a benefits and leave administrator in the human resources office. For the past three years she has worked as a senior leave and disability examiner with the Standard Insurance Company in Hillsboro. Prior to that, she was a long-term disability manager, plan sponsor liaison and senior leave coordinator with Aetna in Portland for six and a half years. In all, Aga has worked in the HR field for 14 years, beginning her career as a human resource benefits specialist and human resource assistant with DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite National Park in California. Prior to coming to the U.S., she taught English as a second language in Poland for two years. She holds both a master’s degree in English philology (2002) and a postgraduate diploma in legal and business translation (2003) from the University of Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland. Aga lives in Beaverton with her husband Josh and their son Enzo. She also has a stepson, Brody. She attends the Old Town Church in Forest Grove.

Laura Schott, a former NCAA Division I head coach and player, has been hired as the university’s new women’s head soccer coach. She arrives with an impressive resume, which includes four high school state championships as a player at Jesuit High School (Oregon), a school-record-setting career at the University of California, and a stint as a professional and international player. As a player, she set school records at Cal for career goals and single-season goals, for which she was inducted into the Golden Bears’ Hall of Fame in 2017. As a junior in 2001, she was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, given to the nation’s top player, and was named All-Pac-10 in each of her four seasons. After graduating with a pair of bachelor’s degrees in political science and mass communications, Laura played professionally for the Washington Freedom of the WUSA (2003) and the California Storm of the WPSL (2004). She made five international appearances, including four starts, as a member of the U.S. Senior Women’s National Team in 2001. After retiring as a player, Laura transitioned to coaching and has worked with the Portland Thorns Development Academy, FC Portland, Portland State University, U.S. Soccer, and Formation Sports. At Portland State, she was a two-time Big Sky Coach of the Year (2009, 2013) and coached her teams to four regular-season titles, including three in a row from 2011 to 2013. While there, she earned a master’s degree in education in 2016. Laura currently works for the Portland Thorns Development Academy, overseeing all aspects of its U14-U19 teams, including its college recruitment and placement program. She also runs her own business, Formation Sports, as an educational platform to grow the game. She lives in Charbonneau with her daughter, Gracen, and attends Grace Chapel in Wilsonville.

Darla Norgren (Operations Manager/Portland Center), Katie Sol (HR), Tai Harden-Moore (Advancement) and Torey Smith (Athletics) are no longer with the university.

Andrea Byerley has been hired as a regular part-time administrative assistant with the Oregon Writing Project. She will continue to work her half-time, nine-month position as a learning support services coordinator in the Disability Services Office.

Ashley Lippard (Art and Design) was honored, along with her colleagues, for her work with the Community Wellness Collective, named the Volunteer Organization of the Year by the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce. Lippard serves on the board and works as a brand and marketing manager for the group, dedicated to providing mental health and addiction services in Yamhill County.

Wendy Flint (IDEA Center Director) and Sidney Tafflinger (IDEA Center CAP Coach) presented in a national webinar for National Association of Colleges and Employers members on Feb. 19. Seventy-five career center leaders, academic and career coaches, and university administrators attended the one-hour webinar on “Integrating Advising and Career Development.” An increasing number of universities are evaluating the IDEA Center model, which successfully increased student appointments from 500 to 4,800 over five years. The overall program evaluation was 4.6 out of 5, with a 4.62 for “Topic Relevance.” NACE commented, “You hit it out of the ballpark!”

Josh Guffey joins the physician assistant program this semester as an assistant professor. He will be working remotely on a part-time basis. For the past year, he’s served as director of Continuing Professional Development at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy – an institution at which he’s also worked as a clinical assistant professor since 2013. In addition, he’s spent the past three years working as a clinical professor and director of pharmacology and pharmacotherapy at North Greenville University’s Department of Physician Assistant Medicine in Greer, South Carolina. Josh has also been the director of pharmacy education and a clinical pharmacy specialist at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2013. Previously, he worked as a clinical pharmacy specialist for the Greenville Health System in Greenville, South Carolina, and clinical assistant professor with the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. Josh holds a doctor of pharmacy degree from Wingate University School of Pharmacy and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Brittany, and daughter, Annelise.

The university has hired Heidi Hopkins to work as the field coordination specialist in the bachelors and masters of social work programs. For the past three and a half years she has worked as a mindfulness educator teaching short courses in Newberg Public Schools as well as leading retreats, workshops and classes in the community. Heidi has also worked since 2016 as a spiritual director for private clients and PsyD graduate students at George Fox as part of their degree requirements. Previously, from 2007 to 2018, she hosted children in a weekly, Montessori-based, contemplative Christian experience. Heidi earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University in 1995. She lives in Dundee with her husband and three children and attends Journey Church.

Nick Sullivan joins the university to work as manager of the maker hub in the Klages Center. A 2013 graduate of Norwich University and a 2015 graduate of the Air Force Institute of Technology, he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. For three years, he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where, as an Air Force captain and developmental engineer, he conducted engineering work on the F-35 Lightning II. He worked in the squadron’s Threat Modeling Team, where he managed a team of active duty military members, civilians, and contractors that built and tested radar simulations. Nick has worked the past year as an associate recreation minister for Crosspoint United Methodist Church in Niceville, Florida, leading a small recreation team and facilitating both adult and youth sports leagues. He lives in Wilsonville and attends Red Hills Church.

Josiah Philipsen (IT) and Jim Steele (Business) are no longer with the university.