First-gen Success Stories
Our students have the support of the following faculty and administrators (and more!) who serve as examples of individuals who were once in their shoes as first generation college students:
Julie Burkholder
Business management and marketing student from Elkhart, Indiana
Abagail Catania
Director for Student Engagement
Lisa Hale
Assistant Professor of Education
Elizabeth Hennon Peters
Associate Professor of Psychology
Su Jin Jeong
Director of the Institute for Public Health / Associate Professor
Marisa Patterson-Knox
Administrative Assistant for Foreign Languages and Cultures and Archaeology
Lori LeDuc
Assistant Director of Human Resources
Todd Matteson
Department Chair, Associate Professor of Art
Evan McCracken
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Samantha Nelson
Accounting student from Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Alex Ortiz
2021-22 President, Student Government Association
Mari Plikuhn
Professor/Sociology
Rob Shelby
Vice President for Talent & Community and Chief Inclusion & Equity Officer
Jennifer Whitaker
Sr. Director of Major Gifts and Campaigns
Danielle Williams
Collection Development / Electronic Resource / Professor
Kimberly Zamora
Exercise science student from Round Lake, Illinois
- Dr. Jeffrey Braun, Professor/Physics
- Dr. Vincent Campese, Assistant Professor/Psychology and Director of Neuroscience Program
- Dr. Jared Fulcher, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
- Dr. Cris Hochwender, Professor/Biology
- Mr. Ralph Larmann, Professor of Art
- Dr. John Layer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
- Ms. Leanne Nayden, Lecturer, Coordinator of Student Teaching
- Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz, President
- Dr. Elizabeth Powell, Associate Professor/Biology
- Dr. Diana Rodríguez Quevedo, Associate Professor of Spanish
- Dr. Jim Ware, Emeritus Professor of Religion
- Dr. Katie Whetstone, Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Therapy
