NWC announces faculty promotions, tenurings

Tenure was awarded to Jan Carrell, Jamey Durham, Graham Lemke, Lila Sybesma, Todd Tracy, Bob Winn and Dan Young. Lemke, Tracy, Winn and Young were promoted to the rank of associate professor, and three faculty members were promoted to full professor: Laird Edman, Tim McGarvey and Mark Vellinga.

Carrell joined Northwestern’s faculty in 2002. An assistant professor of business, she previously was a hospital CEO and a 30-year business executive. She served as a fellow for the American College of Healthcare Executives and as district president for the Wisconsin Hospital Association. A recipient of a doctorate in management from Colorado Technical University, Carrell also holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from San Antonio’s Trinity University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas.

Durham, assistant professor of communications, has taught at Northwestern since 2001. A writer of scripts that have been used by the Family Channel and Christian Broadcasting International, he served as writer and director for a feature-length film, The Prairie Pirates, which was honored as the best children’s film at the Creation Arts Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Durham earned an M.F.A. in script and screenwriting from Regent University in Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Tennessee.

Lemke has been a member of the business and economics faculty since 2004. He previously taught at Penn State and New York’s Binghamton University, where he received the university’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He holds a doctorate in economics from Binghamton, a master’s degree in finance from Cornell University, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alberta.

Sybesma, assistant professor of education, joined Northwestern’s faculty in 2001 after 19 years of elementary teaching experience. A former president of the Northwest Iowa Reading Council, she earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, with an emphasis in early childhood education, at the University of South Dakota. She also received a master’s degree in education from the University of Sioux Falls and a bachelor’s degree in humanities and elementary education from Northwestern College.

Tracy joined the biology faculty in 2002. Actively involved in research on the impact of European buckthorn on native forests, funded by the Iowa Science Foundation, he has an extensive research background. Tracy earned doctoral and master’s degrees in zoology from Colorado State University. He completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry and environmental studies at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Winn has been a member of the history faculty since 2004. He previously served as a visiting professor at Creighton University in Omaha. He completed doctoral and master’s degrees in early Christian studies at the Catholic University of America and earned a master’s degree in history from Miami University of Ohio. He did his undergraduate work at Ohio’s Cedarville University, majoring in history.

Young joined Northwestern’s political science faculty in 2002. He earned a doctorate in political science at Temple University and a master’s degree in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Calvin College. In 2000 he was awarded a fellowship to the Civitas Program in Faith and Public Affairs, a civic education and leadership development program that prepares Christian scholars for positions in academic, governmental and public policy fields.

Edman, the 2008 recipient of the Northwestern Teaching Excellence Award, joined the psychology faculty in 2003. He previously taught at the University of Minnesota, Iowa State University, Waldorf College and Luther College, receiving Iowa State’s 2003 Honors Faculty of the Year Award and Waldorf’s 1995 Professor of the Year Award. He holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota, master’s degrees in counseling psychology and English literature from the University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor’s degree from Luther.

McGarvey has been a member of Northwestern’s music faculty since 1989. He received the Northwestern Teaching Excellence Award in 1994. He previously taught at public schools in Wisconsin and Michigan. McGarvey earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree at Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree at Indiana’s Taylor University.

Vellinga, who has taught computer science at Northwestern since 1990, previously taught high school mathematics and computer science in Radcliffe, Aurelia and Storm Lake, Iowa. A Northwestern College graduate, he earned master’s degrees in computer science and school computer studies from the University of South Dakota and Northwest Missouri State University, respectively.

In addition, sabbaticals have been granted to two faculty: Byron Noordewier and Barb Turnwall.

Noordewier, professor of biology, will be on sabbatical during the 2008–09 school year. He plans to work on a guide to molecular biology for Christian science students that focuses on important integrative questions.  He also will be working to expand his knowledge of pathophysiology to enhance his teaching assignments by participating in learning and lab experiences at the University of Utah.

Noordewier has taught at Northwestern since 1988. He previously served on the faculty of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. Noordewier earned a doctorate in pharmacology at the University of Utah and did his undergraduate study at Westmont College.

Turnwall’s sabbatical during the fall 2008 semester will include continuing her work on the Hispanic Story Project. Under her leadership, a team has gathered, translated and published stories of northwest Iowa’s Hispanic immigrants. Two of the stories have been published bilingually and provided to area teachers for a variety of uses; Turnwall plans to prepare several additional stories for publication. She also will continue planning for a Sept. 20 campus festival that will celebrate Hispanic culture.

An assistant professor of English, Turnwall is a steering committee member of the Iowa Writing Project. She joined Northwestern’s faculty in 1966 after earning a master’s degree from SUNY-Albany and a bachelor’s degree from Hope College.