Thiel College welcomes five new faculty members

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College welcomes five new full-time faculty members for the 2012-2013 academic year, which begins Aug. 27.

Dr. Sarah Swerdlow joins the faculty as an assistant professor of biology. She most recently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Swerdlow holds a doctorate from the pathology department of the cancer biology training program of Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology/biotechnology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Russell B. Richins has been named assistant professor of mathematics. He holds a doctorate and master’s from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University. Richins comes to Thiel from Michigan State University where he was a postdoctoral follow at the Michigan Center for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Dr. Jared Johnson will take a position as assistant professor of English. He holds a doctorate from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, a master’s from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. He comes to Thiel from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Dr. Eugene Takeo Torigoe joins the faculty as an assistant professor of physics. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and bachelor’s degrees in physics and philosophy from Binghamton University in New York. He comes to Thiel from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.

Dr. Laura R.G. Pickens has moved from an adjunct position at Thiel to assistant professor of psychology. She holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from Kent State University in Ohio and a bachelor’s degree from Thiel College. Along with the courses she led at Thiel, Pickens served as a teaching fellow at Kent State.

New adjunct faculty for the 2012-2013 academic year include Emmett Rafferty, environmental science; Gregory Hungerford, sociology; Brett Stedman, sociology; Ronald Friend, communication; Burton Speakman, communication; Kimberly Banic, education; Erin McKinney, education; Kristina McCartney, education; and Nancy Castor, education.