MCLA welcomes nine new faculty

Print Story | Email Story
NORTH ADAMS - Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has welcomed nine new faculty members in a variety of disciplines for the fall 2004 semester. The faculty will join the Departments of Biology, Business Administration-Economics, Education, English/Communications, Mathematics and Philosophy. The new faculty members include: "Donna L. Casey-Baker will join MCLA as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration-Economics and will specialize in accounting. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of Albany and a B.S. in Accounting from Russell Sage College. Casey-Baker is also a Licensed Certified Public Accountant for the State of New York. She most recently worked as a Financial Manager at the Research Foundation at SUNY Albany, Albany NanoTech as well as an Adjunct Professor of Accounting at Hudson Valley Community College. Casey-Baker has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Maria College and Dowling College in addition to a senior accountant at Computer Sciences Corporation. In addition, she was an independent consultant providing business planning and accounting services. "Rosanne F. Denhard will join the English/Communications Department as an Assistant Professor, although she is not new to campus. Denhard served since 1996 as an instructor and in the terminal capacity as assistant professor since 2002. She has taught a variety of literature and creative arts courses and specializes in medieval and early modern British literature. She has done a tremendous job and we are pleased she will remain at MCLA in a tenure track position. Prior to her position here, she served as a faculty member at Southern Vermont College. She also served as director of the Writing and Speech Lab at the College of Saint Rose while a graduate student there and as an English and Performing Arts Faculty Member at the Buxton School in Williamstown. Denhard holds a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Albany. She also holds an M.A. and B.A. from the College of Saint Rose. "Susan Edgerton will join MCLA as an Associate Professor of Education teaching curriculum courses in both the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. Edgerton comes from Western Michigan University where she has served as an Assistant and Associate Professor since 1996. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois from 1991-1996. Edgerton holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in curriculum theory and cultural studies from Louisiana State University and an M.S. and B.A. in chemistry from Louisiana Technical University. Edgerton is the author of "Translating the Curriculum: Multiculturalism into Cultural Studies," as well as numerous other articles, book reviews and book chapters. "Rivka Glaser will join MCLA as an Assistant Professor of Biology. Glaser comes most recently from Johns Hopkins University where she served as part of a science teaching team for Master of Education students specializing in science. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Towson University where she taught molecular biology. Prior to that, she was a National Science Foundation Teaching Fellow at Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School. Glaser holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in biological sciences from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. She has received numerous awards and honors including a National Science Foundation Teaching Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in 2003. "Ellen Kalicki will join MCLA as an Instructor in Education focusing on courses within the Early Childhood Licensure Program and special education. Kalicki has also been teaching here part-time for the past couple of years. She most recently worked as Director of the Early Childhood Center at Bennington College as well as an independent grant writer and consultant. From 1999-2003, she served as the program coordinator for the Northern Berkshire Community Partnership for Children in North Adams. In addition, Kalicki was an early childhood/family educator with The Parent's Place in North Adams from 1995-1999. She holds an M.A. in sociology and a B.A. in psychology/sociology from the State University at New York. "Linda Kenney will begin this fall as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science. She holds an M.S. in Computer Science from the State University of New York, Albany, an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Dayton, Ohio. Kenney most recently served as an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Adirondack Community College. She also owns her own web design and software application consulting company. She previously served as a faculty member in Computer Studies as well as Webmaster at Southern Vermont College in Bennington. Prior to that, she was a technology specialist at the Bennington Rutland Supervisory Union and a teaching assistant at the State University of New York. "Paul Nnodim will serve as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy. He hails from Germany and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy, English and American Studies from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany as well as a Bachelor of Philosophy from Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome. Nnodim most recently served as a Research Associate in the Department of Philosophy of Johannes Gutenberg University. He was also an Instructor at Christ the King College, Imo State, Nigeria and a Lecturer at Wallau-Hofheim Language School in Germany. He specializes in Rawls, Kant, contemporary issues in Ethics, bioethics, social and political philosophy, and interdisciplinary themes in English and American studies. "Dawn Shamburger will join us as an assistant professor of Fine & Performing Arts specializing in Theatre Design. She most recently worked for Hartford Stage Company where she served as a First Hand in the Costume Shop for several productions during two seasons. Prior to that, she served in a variety of capacities with Glimmerglass Opera, Greensboro Ballet, Community Theatre of Greensboro, Middle Georgia College and Seaside Music Theatre among others. Shamburger holds an M.F.A. in Sceneography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a B.A. in Theatre Design and Production from Northwestern State University. She specializes in costume design and scenery as well as computer skills. "Christopher Thomas will begin this fall as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics. He comes from Texas A&M University where he served as a visiting assistant professor since 2002. Prior to that, he was a graduate teaching assistant at Tufts University from 1997-2002. From 1994-1996, Thomas served in the Peace Corps at Mozano Senior Secondary School in Ghana. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Tufts University and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research interests are geometric group theory including group theory, graph theory and low-dimensional topology. He has received several awards and honors including First Prize at the 2001 Graduate School Council Research Symposium.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Senior Golf Series Returns in September

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire County Fall Senior Golf series returns in September with events on five consecutive Wednesdays starting Sept. 18.
 
It is the 22nd year of the series, which is a fund-raiser for junior golf in the county, and it is open to players aged 50 and up.
 
The series will feature two divisions for each event based on the combined ages of the playing partners.
 
Golfers play from the white tees (or equivalent) with participants 70 and over or who have a handicap of more than 9 able to play from the forward tees.
 
Gross and net prices will be available in each division.
 
The cost is $55 per event and includes a round of golf, food and prizes. Carts are available for an additional fee.
 
Golfers should call the pro shop at the course for that week's event no sooner than two weeks before the event to register.
 
View Full Story

More Stories