Meet the New Faculty Members 2019-2020
Dr. Katie Alford
Assistant Professor of Education
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PhD in English Education, Arizona State University
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MA in Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing and Editing, Northern Arizona University
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BA in English and Secondary Education, University of Northern Colorado
A former high school English, reading, and ESL teacher, Alford recently completed her PhD at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on the impact of teacher writing communities on literacy instruction. She has taught language and composition methods courses as well as introductory writing courses. In 2018, she received the English Leadership Quarterly Best Article Award for the co-authored article, “Take Time to Write!: A Teacher’s Story of Writing Within a Community of Teacher Writers.” Also in 2018, she received Arizona State University’s Graduate and Professional Student Association Excellence in Teaching Award.
Brittany Dobill
Instructor of Marketing
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DBA in Marketing, Liberty University (in progress)
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MBA, McKendree University
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BBA in Economics and Finance, McKendree University
Dobill, an alumna of McKendree, plans to complete her DBA at Liberty University this December. She has taught business courses at several institutions, including John A. Logan College and Missouri Baptist University. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she served as the Director of Marketing and Promotions at Auto Credit of Southern Illinois. While there, she created radio and television spots, organized promotional activities, and helped recruit students for company positions.
Dr. Vincent Dunlap
Associate Professor of Chemistry
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PhD in Medicinal Chemistry, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
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BS in Chemistry, University of Central Arkansas
Dunlap has taught full time at both Erie Community College and Henderson State University, where he also served as Assistant Dean of the Ellis College of Arts and Sciences. He has taught courses in general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry, and he has extensive experience mentoring undergraduate research projects. In 2015, he was named Henderson State University’s Jack and Ida Byrne Kennedy Endowed Chair for Premedical Studies. That year he also received the STEM Faculty Excellence in Scholarly Activity Award. In 2013, he received the Campus-wide Outstanding New Faculty Award.
Dr. Michael Hahn
Assistant Professor of Psychology
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PhD in Experimental Psychology, Saint Louis University
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MS in Experimental Psychology, Saint Louis University
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BS in Psychology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
In May, Hahn earned his PhD from Saint Louis University. His thesis explored the degree to which working memory and domain knowledge predict recollection performance following viewing of Major League Baseball game clips. His current research extends these concepts to chess performance. Hahn has taught courses in introductory psychology, cognitive psychology, and careers in psychology. To date, he has given seven scholarly presentations and published three research articles.
Dr. Robyn Swink
Assistant Professor of Sociology
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PhD in Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia
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MA in Sociology, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
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BA in Social Science, Webster University
Swink, who completed her PhD in May, received the Irma D. Mathes Dissertation Award from the Department of Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia for her thesis entitled “Are Women Funny?: Exploring Gender, Race, (Post)Feminism and Pleasure in Women’s Comedy.” She has taught courses in race and ethnic relations, social inequalities, and sociology of gender in a variety of formats – traditional, online, and hybrid. To date, she has given six scholarly presentations and published one research article.
Learn more about our outstanding academics and McKendree University.
