Bridgewater College welcomes 12 new faculty members

Bridgewater College welcomes 12 new full-time faculty members for the 2015-16 academic year. The faculty members, who will arrive on campus in mid-August for meetings before the start of classes on Aug. 25, will join the departments of chemistry, communication studies, economics and business administration, education, English, history and political science, mathematics and computer science, physics and world languages and cultures.

The new faculty members, announced by Carol A. Scheppard, vice president and dean for academic affairs, are as follows:

David Morris will join the department of chemistry as an instructor, stockroom manager and chemical safety officer. He earned a master’s in chemistry from The University of Sheffield and a master’s in chemical methodology and design from University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, both in the United Kingdom. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Virginia.

The department of communication studies welcomes two new faculty members—Jessica Brophy as an assistant professor and Lisa Ady Dewey as a visiting instructor.

Brophy earned a B.A. in English language and literature from Smith College, and M.A. in mass communication and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Maine.

Dewey received a B.S. in education from Virginia Tech and an M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government.

Joining the department of economics and business is Marcellina Hamilton as associate professor of business administration. She received a B.S. from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, Africa. She earned an M.B.A., with a finance concentration, from Delaware State University and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.

Hope Rias has received a teaching fellowship in the department of education. She earned a B.A. in history, with a minor in education, from Spelman College and an M.A.T. in education from Brown University. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies, history of education from Indiana University.

Nicole Yurcaba will join the department of English as an instructor. A 2010 Bridgewater College graduate with a degree in business administration and English, she received a master of humanities in English from Tiffin University.

Joining the department of history and political science are Martin Kalb as assistant professor of history and Szymon Stojek as visiting assistant professor of international studies.

Kalb earned an M.A. in history, political science and English from Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, and a Ph.D. in history from Northern Arizona University.

Stojek received a B.A. in international relations from Kennesaw State University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from The University of Georgia.

The department of mathematics and computer science welcomes two new faculty members—Cheryl Downs as an instructor of mathematics and Janne Flory as a visiting assistant professor of information systems management.

Downs received a B.S. in secondary mathematics from State University of New York (SUNY) and an M.S. in mathematics from Marquette University.

Flory received a B.S. in mathematics and education from Beijing Normal University. She earned an M.S. in decision science and business analytics and a Ph.D. in information systems from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Joining the department of physics is Jason Ybarra as a visiting assistant professor. He earned a B.S. in physics, with a minor in astronomy, from California State University at Sacramento, an M.S. in physics from San Francisco State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Florida.

Grace Martin will join the department of world languages and cultures as an assistant professor of Spanish. She earned a B.A. in vocal music and Spanish from Morehead State University and a Ph.D. in Hispanic studies from the University of Kentucky.

Ian McNeil has been promoted to full-time assistant professor of chemistry. He joined Bridgewater’s faculty in August of 2013 as a visiting assistant professor. He received a B.S. in chemistry, with a minor in mathematics, from Bridgewater College in 2008. He earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lacey Johnson has been promoted from adjunct to full-time instructor of music. She received a B.A. in music, with a minor in mathematics, from Bridgewater College in 2007. She earned an M.M. in piano performance from James Madison University.

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,800 undergraduate students.