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Sept. 7, 2004

Morningside welcomes new faculty members

Morningside College announces nine new faculty members who will begin teaching with the fall 2004 semester.

New faculty members include: Dr. Shirley R. Bruce, assistant professor of biology and chemistry; Michael J. Buse, assistant professor of mass communication; Dr. David W. Chobar, associate professor of education; Twyla Malloy, visiting instructor of business administration and economics; Terri P. McGaffin, visiting assistant professor of art; Dr. Sean R. Meehan, assistant professor of English; Dr. Rachel J. Meyer, visiting assistant professor of biology and chemistry; Clifford N. Towner, assistant professor of music; and Dr. Shelley C. Wiley, visiting assistant professor of religious studies.

In addition, Regina C. Bade has been promoted to math specialist and Dr. Daniel P. Petra has been hired as director of assessment and institutional research.

Bruce had been a post doctoral fellow in the department of immunology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, since 2000. She has also been a research assistant at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Odessa and a medical technologist and an immunohematology supervisor at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. Bruce received a bachelor of science degree in life science and chemistry from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 1994 and a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Kentucky in 1999. She has published several articles and is a frequent presenter.  

Buse had been a teacher's assistant in cinematography at Chapman University, Orange, Calif., from 2002 to 2004. He has also taught courses in video production at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, Calif., and the Meadowbrook Family Center in Seattle, Wash. Buse received a master of fine arts degree from Chapman in 2004. He is a member of Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society.

Chobar comes to Morningside from Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa, where he was an assistant professor of secondary education during the 2003-04 academic year. He has also been a part-time faculty member at Baker University, Overland Park, Kan., and an adjunct faculty member at Central Missouri State University and Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Mo. Before entering the education profession, Chobar was a senior organizational development representative for internal, cultural, and technical training for GE Transportation Systems, Blue Springs, Mo.; president and CEO for APECS Training Group, Shawnee Mission, Kan.; and a training specialist for SPRINT Telecommunications, Kansas City, Mo. He has been director of business development at Beckloff Associates, Inc., a pharmaceutical research and development company in Overland Park, since 2002. Chobar holds a master's degree in industrial technology from the University of Northern Colorado and a doctorate degree in adult education from Kansas State University.

Malloy had been an adjunct accounting and business instructor at Western Iowa Tech Community College since 2003. She obtained her CPA in 1983 and is a member of the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants. She was an accountant for Catholic Schools of Sioux City from 1999 to 2003 and president and director of A Dream Fulfilled Adoption, Inc., in Hinton , Iowa , from 1995 to 1999. Malloy received a master's degree in business administration from the University of South Dakota in 1992.

McGaffin was a visiting assistant professor of art at South Dakota State University during the 2003-04 academic year. She was a part-time faculty member in the art department at Morningside from 1990 to 2003. McGaffin has also been a teaching assistant at the University of South Dakota, an instructor and artist-in-residence at the Sioux City Art Center, and an assistant to the director and associate director of exhibits at the Putnam Museum, Davenport, Iowa. McGaffin received a master's degree in painting from the University of South Dakota in 2002.

Meehan had previously been a teacher and curriculum coordinator in the English department at Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pa., since 2002. Meehan was a visiting professor of English at the University of Iowa in the spring of 2001, a general education instructor at Iowa from 1997 to 1999 and 2001 to 2002, and a teacher at the Newark Academy, Livingston, N.J., from 1991 to 1994. Meehan was editor of "Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies" from 1997 to 2000 and is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and the Modern Languages Association. He received a master's degree in English and American literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1996 and a doctorate in English and American literature from the University of Iowa in 2002.

Meyer had been a graduate teaching assistant and a graduate research assistant in the biology and microbiology department at South Dakota State University since 2001. She was an adjunct professor at College of St. Mary, Omaha , Neb., from 1997 to 2001 and a graduate teaching assistant of biology at the University of Nebraska-Omaha from 1995 to 1997. She is licensed as a registered nurse in South Dakota and is a former business manager of Watertown Radiology, Ltd., in Watertown , S.D. Meyer received a master's degree in biology from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1997 and a doctorate in biological sciences from South Dakota State in 2004.

Towner comes to Morningside from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, where he was a graduate teaching assistant of music since 2002. He was the music director at Archbishop McNicholas High School, Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1995 to 2003, and the music director at Lynchburg-Clay Local Schools, Lynchburg, Ohio, from 1993 to 1995. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the Music Educators National Conference, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Towner received a master's degree in music education from Wright State University in 2004.

Wiley had been an assistant professor of religion at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., since 2001. She was a member of the faculty at Nash Community College, Rocky Mount, N.C., from 1995 to 2001. She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., and is a steering committee member for the Religion in Latin America and the Caribbean Group of the American Academy of Religion. Wiley graduated from the master's division of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas, in 1985 and earned a doctorate from Northwestern University 's Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1993.

Bade has been a mathematics tutor at Morningside since the fall of 2000. She was also an adjunct teacher of intermediate algebra during the 2002-03 academic year. Before coming to Morningside, Bade was an insurance office receptionist at Peatrowsky & Associates, Norfolk, Neb., from 1995 to 1996. Bade graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1989 and received a master's degree in statistics from Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993.

Petra had previously been the program coordinator for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents in Pierre since 1999. Petra was interim coordinator of assessment at the University of South Dakota from 1997 to 1999. He was an assistant professor of sports medicine and director of the sports medicine department at Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, S.D., from 1994 to 1995. Petra earned a master's degree in exercise physiology from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1989 and a doctorate in educational administration with an emphasis in adult and higher education from the University of South Dakota in 2003.