New Faculty 2013-2014

Megan Bestwick, McMinnville, Visiting Assistant Professor
Chemistry

Education: B.S. in Chemistry, Southern Oregon University M.S. in Analytical Chemistry, University of Washington Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of Utah

Scholarly Interest: I am interested in the regulation of mitochondrial transcription and the assembly of electron transport chain protein complexes within the organelle.

Interesting Fact: I enjoy traveling, and I once spent a week above the Arctic Circle in Alaska.

Samuel Fox, McMinnville, Visiting Assistant Professor
Biology

Education: B.S., Oregon State University M.S., University of Central Florida Ph.D., Oregon State University

Scholarly Interest: 1) Genome-wide studies elucidating the abiotic stress response (salt, drought, cold) in crops such as wheat and rice. 2) The study of the relationship between plant root microbial communities and environmental changes.

Interesting Fact: I am a private pilot and enjoy flying a Cessna 172 up and down the Willamette Valley and throughout Oregon.

Katherine Hammond, McMinnville, Visiting Assistant Professor
Portland Nursing Department

Education: DNP and MN from OHSU BSN from University of Miami

Scholarly Interest: Prescription drug abuse, prescription drug monitoring. Women's health and emergency medicine and nursing.

Interesting Fact: I have a very large vegetable and flower garden. I currently maintain 34 rose bushes in my yard.

Dimitri Kelly, McMinnville, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Political Science

Education: B.A. University of California, Davis; M.A., Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison

Scholarly Interest: My scholarly interests concern citizens’ connection to and participation in politics, with a focus on the intermediary role of media in general, and partisan media in particular.

Interesting Fact: I have been training and teaching Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art combining music, acrobatics, and combat) for over ten years and am excited to begin teaching here in McMinnville.

Albert Kim, McMinnville,
Music

Education: A.B., Harvard University; M.M., D.M.A., Eastman School of Music

Scholarly Interest: Piano Performance, Collaborative Performance/Chamber Music, Theory, 20th Century Piano Literature

Interesting Fact:

David Korb, McMinnville, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Business

Education: B.B.A., M.B.A. College of Santa Fe; Licensed C.P.A.

Scholarly Interest:

Interesting Fact: I've lived in the New Mexico desert for twenty years. I made a commitment to the Linfield College search committee that recommended my hire that I will not complain about the Oregon rain for ten years. I intend to keep this commitment; I love rain.

Megan Kozak, McMinnville, Associate Professor
Psychology

Education: B.A., University of Pennsylvania M.A.,Ph.D., Harvard University

Scholarly Interest: 1) The study of empathy development and erosion in physicians. 2) The psychological underpinnings of dehumanization. 3) Psychological consequences of using social networking sites.

Interesting Fact: Outside of my academic work, I do litigation consulting in which I help to run and analyze mock jury deliberations.

Shelly Quint, Portland, Visiting Assistant Professor of Nursing
Portland Nursing Department

Education: B.S., California State University M.S., San Jose State University

Scholarly Interest: Pediatric and Obstetrical Nursing. Online teaching strategies.

Interesting Fact: I have 4 dogs, three chickens and seven fish.

Joe Wilkins, McMinnville, Associate Professor
English

Education: M.F.A in Creative Writing, The University of Idaho, 2007; B.S. in Computer Engineering, Honors, Gonzaga University, 2002

Scholarly Interest: As a writer, I am concerned with issues of place, loss, survival, violence, belief, inheritance, silence, memory, and story; no matter the genre--creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry--I'm interested in language's power to plumb these and other essentials of the human experience. As a student of literature, I'm particularly interested in 20th Century American literature, environmental and place-based literature, and postmodernism.

Interesting Fact: My undergraduate degree is in computer engineering.