With the academic year now in full swing, 10 new professors are adding their energy and expertise to Wittenberg’s already award-winning faculty.
Nationally recognized for its superior classroom teaching, contributions to the academic life of the students, and the accessibility of its professors, Wittenberg fosters an environment where the teacher-scholar can thrive through faculty development opportunities and through collaborative projects and initiatives with students and colleagues across campus.
“Once again Wittenberg has attracted incredibly talented and curious teacher-scholars to join our faculty,” said Provost Brian Yontz, professor of education. “Few things excite me more than thinking about our students learning from faculty members who do great work and feel called to this place. Encounters with great teachers are similar to witnessing a talented artist, a professional athlete, or eating at a phenomenal restaurant.”
Newly hired professors include:
Art
Gypsy Schindler, assistant professor of art
Schindler is an artist, musician, poet, writer, teacher, speaker, and storyteller. She has a BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design and an MFA from Eastern Michigan University. Currently residing in Springfield, Ohio, Schindler specializes in portraiture, writes poetry and creative nonfiction, and has extensive experience in mural painting and faux finishes. Schindler also has experience in teaching at all levels of drawing, painting, and printmaking at several academic institutions. Another fun fact is that she plays the banjo and sings, should anyone ever need a Musical Trobairitz. To see more of her work, visit www.gypsywindschindler.com.
Biological and Environmental Sciences
Timothy Swartz, assistant professor of biology
Swartz is an ecologist who studies how society can conserve and restore biodiversity in the places where people live, work, and play. He completed his B.S. in biology at Messiah University, an M.S. in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. in biology at Temple University. A key theme of Swartz’s research is understanding how humans create novel habitats for wildlife, and how these wild organisms provide benefits (and cause problems) for people. Working alongside undergraduate student researchers, he has studied frogs in farm ponds, arthropods in vacant lots, and birds in city parks. At Wittenberg, he is developing local community-based research projects in Springfield and the surrounding region focused on restoring connections between people and nature in residential and urban landscapes. In his free time, Swartz loves to travel and bird watch with his spouse. At home, he enjoys gardening, games, and spending time with his two cats.
Business & Economics
Collin Johnson, professor of practice, supply chain management
Johnson has held supply chain management positions in the food, automotive, medical, and aerospace industries. He has worked for Fortune 500, not-for-profit, privately held, and private equity firms, enabling him to lead multiple business strategies in both growth and decline environments. Having taught courses in operations management, quality management, statistics, organizational management, and project management, Johnson enjoys mentoring corporate capstone projects and interns on various projects. In addition to teaching, he continues to consult with companies on topics including, but not limited to, safety, quality, production, cost savings, training, and process improvement. The most important part of his life is spending time with his spouse, two grown children, and family. He also enjoys going to auctions, antique shops, and working on classic cars.
English
John Gulledge, assistant professor of English
Gulledge is a community-engaged scholar and teacher whose current work lies at the intersections of literature, performance theory, and health humanities. He received his Ph.D. from Emory University, where he completed a dissertation on Renaissance drama, disability performance, and aesthetic innovation. By studying literature and other cultural artifacts before 1800, his scholarship draws the past into contemporary debates across interdisciplinary fields, such as healthcare and medical ethics. In 2018, he co-founded “The Puck Project,” a Shakespeare-performance and arts summer program for children facing housing insecurity in Atlanta. Along with his experience working with similar community-based programs, such as Shakespeare Behind Bars and The Feast of Crispian, Gulledge’s public scholarship stresses the vital importance of putting the humanities to work in the service of a wider public. He teaches classes on early modern literature, disability culture, and aesthetics. Other research and teaching interests include digital humanities, archival and museum exhibitions, and the histories of emotion, especially those associated with laughter and wonder.
Health and Sports Studies
Alan Ledford, associate professor, program director, master of sport administration
Ledford earned his Ph.D. in sport management at the United States Sports Academy, a M.A. in sport management from East Tennessee State University, and a B.S. in sport administration from Wilmington College. Prior to Wittenberg, he served as the program director at Wilmington College. Ledford has also spent time as an assistant athletic director/recreation specialist/adjunct faculty member at Harrisburg Area Community College, coached baseball and basketball at both the high school and collegiate levels, and worked with intramurals and recreational sports. Ledford, who lives in Clarksville with his spouse Emily, two daughters, Riley, and Reece, and their son Jaxson, likes to bring real-world experiences to the classroom. He regularly leads student groups to work the NFL's Super Bowl, the NCAA’s College Football National Championship, MLB’s All-Star Weekend, and the NBA’s All-Star festivities.
Math and Computer Science
Sunday Ngwobia, assistant professor of computer science
Ngwobia teaches computer science courses for both majors and non-majors in Wittenberg’s Department of Math and Computer Science. His main research interest is cybersecurity, especially in the malware analysis domain. Also interested in natural language processing, web semantics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, Ngwobia obtained his undergraduate degree in computer science from Abia State Polytechnic, a postgraduate degree in computer science from Bayero University Kano, an M.S in computer science from the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering from the University of Cincinnati.
Theresa Wilson, visiting assistant professor
Wilson graduated from the College of Wooster with a B.A. in computer science. She earned her master’s degree in computer science and her Ph.D. in intelligent systems from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to her teaching career, Wilson was a researcher at the University of Edinburgh and at Johns Hopkins University, where she worked on the automatic recognition of opinions and sentiments in human language. However, she most enjoys teaching introductory computer science classes, and her work currently focuses on developing resources, such as coding problem banks and process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) activities, to aid in teaching computer science. When not teaching, Wilson can most often be found walking her dog, Ruthie, playing referee to her four cats, reading for fun, or learning about whatever new thing has most recently caught her fancy.
Music
Libby Hainrihar, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities
Prior to her appointment at Wittenberg, Hainrihar was a faculty member at Capital University where she conducted Cantabile and taught conducting coursework. A devoted educator, she spent more than a decade as a choir director in the Ohio public schools. In addition, Hainrihar enjoys an active schedule as a choral clinician, collaborative pianist, and adjudicator. Her sessions on music literacy, choral intonation, and rehearsal strategies have been presented or co-presented at Ohio Music Education Association conferences. An avid supporter of Ohio’s professional music organizations, Hainrihar serves as Membership Chair for the Ohio Choral Directors Association. She earned a B.A. in music education from Bowling Green State University, an M.A. in conducting from Kent State University, and a Ph.D. in musical arts degree from the Ohio State University.
Nursing
Jessica Johnson, professor of practice, nursing resource center and simulation laboratory coordinator
Johnson, Wittenberg class of 2005, spends most of her time teaching sophomore- and junior-level nursing students. Her nursing background is in mother-baby and emergency nursing, and she has been a registered nurse since 2010. Earning an M.A. in nursing education in 2016 from Indiana Wesleyan University, Johnson and has taught undergraduate nursing for more than five years. She also earned a B.S.N. from Wright State University and a B.A. in psychology from Wittenberg. With a passion for making sure humans are heard and seen, Johnson loves to foster curiosity in learners. Residing in Springfield with her husband and daughter, she is active in the community through her child's school, Girl Scouts, 4-H, and youth sports. Her hobbies include cuddling with the family dog, spending time with her step-grandson, and playing sports.
Kristina O’Meara, professor of practice
O’Meara has enjoyed a career in medical-surgical nursing, advanced practice cardiac nursing, interdisciplinary hospice education, and undergraduate nursing education. She earned a BSN from the University of Lynchburg and her MSN with nurse practitioner certification from East Tennessee State University before beginning her career in 1996. She is excited to be completing her Ph.D. of nursing practice in 2024. Originally from Virginia, she moved with her husband and three children to Ohio in 2021. She and her family stay busy participating in a variety of sports, aerial silks, dance, and biking Ohio trails.
