New faculty members join the Hood community

By Sullivan McGee

Hood has welcomed several new faculty members to various academic departments this year.

The new members of staff come from many different fields, from nursing to finance to psychology.  Some are entering Hood from other teaching positions, and some have just completed graduate school.

“It’s always exciting to bring new expertise and new vision to our academic programs through our faculty,” Provost Debbie Ricker said.

Ricker added that Hood offers plenty of ways for faculty members to engage with the Hood community. For example, mentor programs and workshops are available for new faculty, from the Center of Teaching and Learning, to introduce them to other faculty members and help prepare them for their classes.

            One new faculty member, Dinah Price, described what she is looking forward to about her new position at Hood as an assistant professor of nursing.  “As a wife, mother, nurse practitioner, business administrator, and educator, I am most excited about the opportunities at Hood College that allow me to fully use my talents and skills to serve and positively impact the local and global communities through maintaining an empathetic heart, working hands, and knowledgeable mind,” Price said.

Another new member of the Hood staff, Yankuo Qiao, described his excitement about the many opportunities available at Hood in his role as an assistant professor of finance and accounting. “Teaching at Hood indeed makes me feel more empowered than ever before,” Qiao said. “This is just the starting point of my journey at Hood, and I look forward to teaching, serving, and doing research at Hood in many months and years ahead.”

Ricker stated that faculty at Hood embrace the responsibility of supporting students in and out of the classroom, as students are an essential part of Hood’s culture.

“As always, I would want our Hood students to continue to be thought-leaders in the classroom and work in partnership with our new faculty to help build that learning community that they have in their classes, and recognize the role that they play as students, and… help to frame that learning environment,” Ricker said.

Other new faculty members are Steven Clark, visiting assistant professor of physics; Cynthia Drenovsky, visiting assistant professor of sociology; Sangeeta Gupta, visiting assistant professor of psychology; Anh Tuan Nguyen, assistant professor of finance and accounting; Amber Samuels, visiting assistant professor of counseling; Meredith Yeager, assistant professor of biology; and Thomas Yufik, assistant professor of psychology.

There are also several new staff members in Academic Affairs.  The new staff members are Katie Grocki, registrar; Anjali Jayant, executive assistant to the dean; Keri Keefer, honors administrative assistant; and Austin Twombly, logistics captain.

The 2021-2022 faculty retirements are Martha Bari, professor emerita of art history and archaeology; Linda Kennedy, assistant professor of nursing; and Jerry Van Winter, professor emeritus of management.