IWU Adds Six to Faculty for 2002-03 Academic Year

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Six new faculty members have been added to tenure track positions at Illinois Wesleyan University for the 2002-03 academic year, while 11 more have joined the faculty as visiting professors.

The new tenure-track faculty are:

• Michael Dancs —Assistant professor of mathematics. Dancs received both his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Penn State University where he taught undergraduate mathematics courses in ordinary and partial differential equations as well as calculus and vector analysis.
• Victoria Folse—Assistant professor of nursing. Folse graduated from the Illinois Wesleyan School of Nursing and went on to receive her master's from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her doctorate from Saint Louis University. In addition to teaching in the Bradley University department of nursing since 1999, Folse has served as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in the Eating Disorders and Behavioral Health Programs at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
• Sara Freeman—Assistant professor of theatre arts. Freeman received her bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound and her master's and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. She has taught at DePaul University and Columbia College in addition to the University of Wisconsin. She has been associated with both the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Victory Gardens Theater and has many production credits in dramaturgy, directing, and acting.
• Linda French — Associate professor of physics. French received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and her master's and doctorate from Cornell University. After receiving her doctorate in 1980, she was an assistant professor at Bates College, an instructional and research position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then a Senior Research Associate with the National Research Council.
• Robert Kearney — Assistant professor of business administration. Kearney earned his bachelor's and juris doctor degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the M.B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. At Notre Dame, he was executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review and won the American Jurisprudence Award in Labor Law. He has since been a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the labor/employment counsel for the Management Association of Illinois, and an assistant professor, first at the University of Illinois-Chicago and most recently at the University of Michigan Business School.
• Michael Theune — Assistant professor of English. Theune received a bachelor's degree from Hope College and won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford where he earned a second bachelor's degree. He then earned the M.F.A. at the University of Iowa where he won the Iowa Arts Fellowship, that school’s top writing award. He received his doctorate in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston in literature. His poetry has been published in the American Literary Review, The Texas Review, and The New Republic, among others.

Two who were faculty members last year in a visiting role have been added as tenure-track faculty appointments. They are:

• Susan Swanlund — Assistant professor of nursing. Swanlund, a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan and a visiting assistant professor at IWU since 1998, received her master's in nursing from Texas Womans University and her doctorate from Saint Louis University. Swanlund, who has served in numerous capacities in hospital settings, has focused her research in gerontology.
• César Valverde — Assistant professor of Hispanic Studies. Valverde, a visiting professor at Illinois Wesleyan last year, earned his bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature and his master’s degree in Spanish Literature from the University of California, San Diego. He received his doctorate in Spanish from the University of California, Irvine. He has been an assistant professor at the University of Iowa, the College of Wooster, and the University of Redlands (Calif.).

The new visiting faculty members are:

• Ezra Byler —Visiting professor of finance. Byler received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University, the M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati, and a doctorate in business administration from Kent State University. He has previously taught at Eastern Mennonite University, Kent State, Illinois State, and Millikin.
• Sajalendu Dey —Visiting assistant professor of computer science. Dey studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, received a master's degree from Brock University in Canada and earned his doctorate in solid state physics with emphasis on electronics from Iowa State University. He has worked for the past several years in the computer industry as a programmer/analyst writing software codes.
• Steve Friedberg —Visiting professor of mathematics. Friedberg received the A.A. degree from Boston University and a master's and doctorate from Northwestern University. He is previously a member of the faculty at Illinois State University, where he won the "Outstanding Teacher" award for the College of Arts and Sciences in 1990-91.
• David Hibbard —Visiting assistant professor of psychology. Hibbard received a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University; a master's from California State University at Hayward and his doctorate from the University of Texas at Dallas. Upon completing his doctorate in 2000, he joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Monticello, where he taught developmental and industrial psychology.
• Stephen Hoffmann —Visiting instructor in environmental studies and chemistry. Hoffman earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hired jointly in environmental studies and chemistry, Hoffman’s doctoral studies have been in the Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, with his dissertation on natural organic and colloidal ligands for trace metal binding in rivers.
• Risa Kumazawa — Visiting assistant professor of economics. Kumazawa graduated from Illinois Wesleyan and then earned her master's degree from Illinois State University and her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. She has served as a visiting research professor in the School of Business at the University of Mississippi, where she was principal investigator for an Office of Naval Research grant.
• Brenda Lessen —Visiting instructor in nursing. An Illinois Wesleyan graduate, Lessen earned her master's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While working toward her doctorate in Neonatal Science at UIC, she has also worked full-time as a neonatal nurse, education coordinator, and clinical instructor at various hospitals.
• Blair Martin — Visiting instructor in music education. He holds a bachelor's degree from Southwest Missouri State University and a master's of music education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. While working toward his doctorate in music education, Martin has taught in several schools, including the Kingsway Academy in Nassau, Bahamas.
• William Moser —Visiting instructor in physics. Moser has a bachelor's from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's degree from the University of Florida. He has done research into the safety of food irradiation and trained engineers in physics and calculus at several community colleges.
• Sammie Robinson —Visiting assistant professor of business administration. Robinson has a bachelor's degree from Southwestern University, an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a doctorate from the University of Kansas. She has previously served as assistant professor in the College of Business at Illinois State University.
• Kevin Sullivan —Visiting instructor in religion. Sullivan holds both the bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan and a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame. He is completing his doctorate at The University of Oxford, The Queen’s College, and also has a diploma in Jewish Studies from the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He has taught at the University of Michigan and Oxford.