Release Date:  August 28, 2001

Monmouth College welcomed 21 new full-time employees last week in preparation for the first day of classes Tuesday. The group includes 13 faculty, two coaches and six staff. Following are brief biographical sketches of the new personnel:  

Don Capener, assistant professor, political economy and commerce. MIM/MBA from the Thunderbird School in Glendale, Arizona, 1985. Capener has had teaching experience as an adjunct at San Diego and Brigham Young universities and most recently served as chief marketing officer for PocketCard, Inc., in Chicago, managing a $20 million advertising budget.

Nathan Cox, lecturer (fall)/visiting assistant professor (spring), art. Cox received his MFA from Bradley University in 2000. He has most recently taught at Western Illinois University, Bradley University and Carl Sandburg College.

Mercedes de Grado, visiting instructor, modern foreign languages. She has an M.A. in Spanish from Louisiana State University and is completing her Ph.D. thesis at the University of Durham in Durham, England, where she has also been teaching in the Spanish department.

Joanne Eary, visiting assistant professor, mathematics and computer science. Eary has an Ed.D. in higher education with emphasis on mathematics college teaching from Oklahoma State University, 2001. She has teaching experience at Oklahoma State University.

Don Elwell, lecturer, communication and theatre arts. Elwell received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the The Graduate School of The Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. He most recently served as director and founding board chair of the Greylight Theatre in Murphysboro, Ill., currently the largest non-academic producer of new works in the U.S. He has also taught at Southern Illinois University.

James Godde, assistant professor, biology. Godde has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois, 1993. His most recent teaching assignment was as an assistant professor at Brooklyn College in New York. James and his wife Trudy have two sons, Justin (8) and Brendan (5).

Judi Kessler, assistant professor, sociology and anthropology. She received a Ph.D. in sociology in 1999 from the University of California-Santa Barbara and has taught at the University of California-San Diego.

Kevin Roberts, lecturer, English. Roberts earned an M.Ed. in English/education from the University of Illinois, received in 1988. Before coming to Monmouth College last spring in a part-time capacity, he taught full-time in the Moline school district.

Hannah Schell, assistant professor, philosophy and religious studies. Schell received a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University in 2000. She comes to MC from Sarasota, Fla., where she taught at the University of South Florida.

Timothy Tibbetts, assistant professor, biology. Tibbetts received a Ph.D. in botany and plant pathology from Michigan State University in 2000. He was most recently an assistant professor at Luther College. Tim and his wife Amy are busy doing home improvements on their new house in Monmouth in anticipation of their first child, due this month.

Thomas Waldemer, visiting assistant professor, modern foreign languages. Waldemer has a Ph.D. in Hispanic languages and literatures from the University of California-Santa Barbara, 1991. His teaching experience includes appointments at Colorado College, St. Olaf College and Ripon College.

Bruno Wambi, visiting assistant professor, modern foreign languages. He received a Ph.D. in romance languages with emphasis on French from the University of Missouri in 1999 and most recently taught at the University of Notre Dame.

Joan Wertz, instructor, psychology. She is completing her Ph.D. in health psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught from 1993-1996. Her research focus examines factors affecting drug addiction, craving and use.

Sarah Comeaux, director of wellness and head coach of women’s soccer. She has an M.Ed. in secondary education with an emphasis in health promotions from Northern Arizona University, 2000. She most recently served as housing program manager at the Area Emergency Housing Center in Sacramento, Calif.

LeAnn Hakeman, instructor, head softball coach and assistant volleyball coach. With an M.A. in sports administration from Mankato State University in 1996, Hakeman most recently was an instructor and head athletic trainer at Buena Vista University.

Marcie Beintema, training and documentation specialist. She has an M.A. in English from Bradley University, 1996, and most recently has been self-employed as an instructional designer, developing Web- and computer-based training courses.

Susan Brown, Web coordinator, has an M.S. in Instructional Technology and Telecommunications from Western Illinois University. She most recently worked for Infobahn Outfitters, Inc., in Macomb, where she was a member of a team that designed and developed commercial, informational and e-commerce Web sites.

Lisa Eckley, assistant cashier, business office. Prior to coming to Monmouth College, she worked at Midwest Bank for three years as a personal banker. She is married to Kevin and they have two children, ages 7 and 15.

Jimmy Johnson, a 1995 graduate of Monmouth College, has been hired as an admission representative. He earned a master's degree from California State University in Sacramento. Most recently he was working in the Sacramento area as a personal trainer.

Helen Ochs, director of intercultural life. She holds a B.A. in social work, a graduate degree in urban studies and is currently completing a master’s degree in communication art. Ochs has spent the last five years working with international and American minority students in the areas of recruitment and retention. She will be responsible for recruiting and advising international and American minority students.

Walter Pumfrey, lab manager, department of biology. He and his family live in London Mills. Pumfrey most recently was an assistant lab manager in biology at Knox College.

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330

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