Several new faculty and staff have joined Southwestern College and were in place for the start of the fall semester Monday.

• Tamara McEwen, assistant professor of biology. McEwen was recently awarded her Ph.D. in molecular biology and immunology at the University of Missouri.  Prior to earning her degree McEwen taught high school biology in Buffalo, Kan., and spent her summers teaching for Pittsburg State University and Neosho County Community College. 

• Sheryl Erickson, assistant professor of education. Erickson holds an Ed.D. from Wichita State University.  She has served as an affiliate faculty member at SC in the past and had a full career teaching in the public schools.  Erickson has been an instructional coach for the Wichita public schools and was principal for an elementary school in Augusta. 

• James Mastrangelo, assistant professor of political science. Mastrangelo earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University.  Prior to coming to SC, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame and he served as a visiting scholar at Denison University.  Mastrangelo’s specialty is American political thought. 

• Meredith Minister, Institute for Discipleship visiting scholar.  Minister is in the process of completing the doctoral program in religious studies (systematic theology) at Southern Methodist University.  To complement her theological studies, she has also completed a graduate certificate in women’s and gender studies at Southern Methodist University.

• Li Jin, visiting scholar from China. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Anhui Educational Institution in 2000 and a master’s degree of English language and literature in 2006.  Before coming to Southwestern, Jin had been working as a teacher in the department of foreign languages at Huangshan University in China.

• Brandon Lee Blackburn, artist in residence.  Blackburn earned his master of music degree in jazz studies from Arizona State University in May.  He also has a B.A. in music and a B.M. in jazz studies from Rowan University.

New staff members at Southwestern include:

• Mary Requena, director/lead teacher of the SC Learning Center,
• Robin Crain, institutional advancement administrative assistant,
• Rose Hanna, performing arts faculty assistant,
• Pam Olney, social sciences faculty assistant,
• Cindy Stevens, communications faculty assistant,
• Logan Wyrick, athletic grounds coordinator,
• Joshua Murphy, billing and account representative,
• Corey Brazil, professional studies admission counselor,
• Lolita Repp, coordinator of academic innovation and assessment for professional studies.

 “We’ve added some wonderfully talented people to our community this year,” says academic dean Andy Sheppard.  “They have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and they are all really smart.  It will be great to see the positive impact that they will have on our students”