Board announces faculty promotions

Tenure was awarded to Laird Edman, Bob Hubbard, Mitch Kinsinger and Jim Mead. Mead was promoted to the associate professor rank. Mike Kugler and Earl Woudstra were promoted to the professor rank.

Edman has been on the psychology faculty since 2003. Prior to coming to Northwestern, Edman taught at the University of Minnesota, Iowa State University, Waldorf and Luther College. He holds Teacher of the Year awards from Waldorf and the Honors Program at Iowa State University. Edman specializes in critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and teaching and assessing critical thinking. He holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota, as well as master’s degrees in counseling psychology and English literature from the University of Notre Dame. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Luther.

Hubbard joined Northwestern’s theatre faculty in 2002 after teaching for six years at Calvin College. He has extensive experience as a director, actor, teaching artist and playwright/adaptor. Hubbard debuted his original, one-person show, “Dancing with Jimmy,” in New York City in 2003 and has since performed it in a number of venues. In 2005 he received a fellowship to participate in the O’Neill Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Hubbard earned doctoral and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University. He did his undergraduate study at Minot State University.

Kinsinger has taught in the religion department since 2000. With research interests in Colonial American religion, religious pluralism and American evangelicalism, Kinsinger was awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship from the Virginia Historical Society in 2003. A graduate of Wheaton College, Kinsinger holds a doctorate in religious studies from the University of Iowa and a Master of Divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary.

Mead also joined Northwestern’s religion faculty in 2000. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he served as a pastor for 11 years before earning a doctorate in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also holds Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees from Reformed Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. The 2004 recipient of Northwestern’s Teaching Excellence Award, Mead has research interests in Old Testament prophets as well as the theology of the Old Testament’s historical books.

Kugler, a member of the faculty since 1994, is a specialist in 18th-century Enlightenment history, particularly the study of Scottish intellectuals who were also Christians. He has presented at conferences in Ireland, as well as at the Conference on Faith and History and the North American Conference on British Studies. He has had articles printed in Fides et Historia and The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation. Kugler holds a doctorate in history from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree from Western Washington University and a bachelor’s from Judson Baptist College.

Woudstra joined the kinesiology faculty in 1989. He previously was an award-winning parks and recreation department director and coached a variety of sports. Now the coach of Northwestern’s women’s basketball team, he was named the NAIA Div. II Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to the national championship in 2001. A Northwestern College graduate, he holds a doctorate in physical education from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in recreation education from the University of Iowa.

In addition, sabbaticals for the 2006–07 school year have been granted to three faculty. Working on scholarly research will be Ralph Davis, associate professor of biology; Kim Jongerius, professor of mathematics; and Ann Lundberg, associate professor of English.

Davis will analyze data, write papers and continue his ongoing neurophysiological and neuropharmacological research on parasitic nematodes. A leading expert on nematode neurobiology, Davis spent 20 years as a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before coming to teach and do research at Northwestern College in 2000. He received a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison after earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Jongerius will study the ways C.S. Lewis used mathematical concepts and images in his writing. The 2005 recipient of Northwestern’s Teaching Excellence Award, Jongerius has served as a reviewer for calculus and intermediate algebra textbooks and has been published in the Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra. A member of Northwestern’s faculty since 1993, she holds doctoral and master’s degrees in mathematics from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University.

Lundberg, who joined the English faculty in 1999, plans to research and write a variety of articles on the literature of geology and archeology in late 19th century America. She explores and publishes on the interrelatedness of history, science and literature in journals like ATQ and Western American Literature. Lundberg also is a seasonal interpretive park ranger with the National Park Service. The recipient of doctoral and master’s degrees in English from the University of Notre Dame, she did her undergraduate work at the University of Wyoming.

The Board of Trustees has also granted emeritus status on three faculty members who retired at the end of the 2004–05 school year: John Kaericher, Dr. Ron Takalo and Dr. Barb Top.

Kaericher, professor emeritus of art, was a member of Northwestern’s faculty since 1963. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in art from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree from Millikin University, Decatur, Ill.

Takalo, professor emeritus of Spanish, joined the college in 1982. He received a doctorate in foreign language education from the University of Texas. He also earned a master’s degree in Spanish from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University.

Top, professor emerita of education, was a member of the faculty since 1993. She earned a Doctor of Education degree at the University of South Dakota as well as a master’s degree in special education and a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College in Sioux Falls.