William Jewell welcomes new faculty members

William Jewell College welcomes 11 new faculty members for the fall 2006 semester:

Kenneth D. Alpern, Senior Tutor, Oxbridge Honors Program and Professor of Philosophy
Dr. Alpern was professor of philosophy at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, where he served as the George and Arlene Foote Chair in Ethics & Professor of Philosophy, and as Director of the Center for the Study of Ethical Issues. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, with distinction, from Kenyon College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been widely published, with interests and areas of expertise that extend to the theory and history of ethics; applied ethics (including medicine, business, law, public policy and engineering); critical thinking; the history of philosophy (ancient and early modern); philosophy of language; philosophy of science; and logic.

Jeanine L. Haistings, Assistant Professor of Education
Dr. Haistings received a doctorate of philosophy in education from the Department of Teaching and Leadership at the University of Kansas, where her major field was curriculum and instruction and her area of specialization was elementary mathematics education. She received a master's of education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Memphis and a bachelor's degree in elementary education from William Jewell College. She has served as an adjunct instructor at William Jewell and as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas.

Suzanne M. Hatcher, Assistant Professor of Music
Dr. Hatcher served as an adjunct professor of music at Florida International University and New World School of the Arts in Miami. She received her doctorate of musical arts in choral conducting from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. Her areas of specialization are conducting, voice, diction, opera history and literature and 20th and 21st century non-traditional vocal techniques. She received a master's of music in vocal performance from Rice University in Houston, where she was the recipient of the Cecilia Bartoli Scholarship for Vocal Excellence. She earned a bachelor of arts in vocal performance, with minors in vocal accompanying, choral conducting and oboe performance, at California State University in Turlock, Calif.

Dr. R. Thomas Howell, Professor of History and Chair
Dr. Howell served as chair of the division of history and political science at Louisiana College. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, where he completed his dissertation on domestic propaganda in World War II. He received an M.A. from Louisiana State University and a B.A. from Louisiana College. He has completed further study at Rice University; Free University of Berlin, Germany; the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland; and the University of Texas. His fields of specialization include contemporary America, World War II, the Middle East and the American Civil War and Reconstruction.

Elizabeth Kessler, Instructor in Nursing
Ms. Kessler has been faculty clinical coordinator and adjunct clinical instructor at William Jewell College, in addition to serving as a staff nurse in the Birthing Center at Liberty Hospital. She received her master's of science in nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her bachelor's of science in nursing from William Jewell. She has also held the positions of nursing research assistant and teaching assistant at the University of Missouri.

Alison D. Prest, Assistant Professor of Education
Ms. Prest has served as lecturer and adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University in Mesa, Ariz. She has also been a classroom teacher in Gilbert, Ariz. She is completing her Ed.D. in higher education at Arizona State University, where her dissertation focuses on preparing teachers to work with students of diverse cultures. She earned her master's in education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and her B.A. in education at Arizona State.

Dr. Kevin W. Prine, Professor of Business Administration and Chair
Dr. Prine served as Director of the Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. He received his Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Kansas, where his dissertation on entrepreneurial higher education organizations was nominated for the outstanding dissertation research award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He earned an M.B.A. from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a B.A. from Graceland College (now University).

Dr. Matthew C. Schuette, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Dr. Schuette most recently served as assistant professor in the department of mathematical sciences at Georgia Southern University. He earned a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and computational sciences from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and an M.A. and B.S. in mathematics from Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville.

Dr. Charles L. Walts, Assistant Professor of Communication
Dr. Walts was a graduate teaching assistant at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he received his Ph.D. in speech communication. His dissertation chronicled "Ideographs and the War on Terror." He received his M.A. in speech communication from Eastern New Mexico University and a B.S. in speech communication from Abilene Christian University. His areas of interest include war rhetoric, foreign policy analysis, conspiracy theory, terrorism rhetoric and nuclear discourse.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Webb, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion
Dr. Webb served as assistant professor of religious studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. She received her Ph.D. in theological studies from Emory University, where her dissertation was titled "The Body of Christ, Broken: Child Sexual Abuse Trauma and the Communion of Compassion." She earned her M.T.S., summa cum laude, from Duke University, and a B.A. from William Jewell College. Her areas of specialization include theological responses to evil and suffering, feminist theologies and the history of Christian thought.

Dr. John R. Wright, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Dr. Wright was a visiting assistant professor in the department of philosophy at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, completing his dissertation on "Understanding and Responding: A Realist's Response to Discourse Ethics." He earned a B.A. in philosophy, summa cum laude, from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. His areas of specialization include ethical theory and social and political philosophy.