2019 Speaker Bios

Dr. Richard Castallo is the author of a recent book entitled Dealing with Dysfunction: A Book for University Leaders. Rick’s background includes time spent as a public school teacher, central office administrator, high school principal, and university professor. Rick has over 25 years experience as a department chair and administrator in higher education. Rick was a partner in the consulting firm of Castallo & Silky and in that role has been involved in providing retreats and workshops for hundreds of leadership groups who were interested in improving their effectiveness. He will be talking about a topic we don’t often discuss – how to build strong cultures while dealing with resistant and challenging staff members.

Prior to her new role, Dr. Rachel Bates served as a Department Chair and mathematics faculty member teaching undergraduate mathematics. Her research interests are in the fields of student centered mathematics pedagogy in higher education, alternative higher education mathematics curricula and teaching mathematics for social justice. Dr. Bates is an active member of the Mathematical Association of America, the Research Council on Mathematics Learning, Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is currently the Chair of the Placement and Assessment Committee for the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. Dr. Bates now serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Educational Partnerships at Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Peggy Bradford, J.D.,Ed.D. has worked in higher education for twenty-five years in roles ranging from Board and Legislative Liaison, President and Chief Executive Officer of a comprehensive two-year campus with multiple fully accredited sites, interim provost for a community college in the State University of New York system, General Counsel, Academic Vice President, Dean and tenure-track faculty member. She was elected to the faculty senate of Aurora University, was an adjunct instructor at Benedictine University, and Governor State University, and has served as a guest lecturer at several other academic institutions. She was selected for the Governor-Elect of Illinois’s Panel on Career and Technical Education, is a Fulbright Scholar and the first educator to be appointed to the Illinois Press Foundation Board.

Bob Cipriano served as a department chair for 28 years and has conducted research and written extensively on such topics as civility and collegiality in higher education, managing conflict, and  the changing roles and responsibilities of academic leaders. He is the author of Facilitating a Collegial Department in Higher Education: Strategies for Success and co-author with Jeff Buller of A Toolkit For Department Chairs and A Toolkit for College Professors. Bob is a Senior Partner in ATLAS – Academic Training, Leadership & Assessment Services, an internationally acclaimed consulting firm specializing in academic leadership training, and has been invited to deliver more than 260 presentations in the US, Asia, and the Middle East.

Dr. Penny Garcia is currently Dean of the College of Education and Technology at Eastern New Mexico University. Previously, she was professor and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in the College of Education and Human Services. She has over forty-five years of leadership in education as a teacher, principal, teacher educator, full professor and higher education administrator. Throughout her career, she has contributed to a broad range of education enterprises and organizational models each of which continues to ensure a rich context for her work with school districts, departments of public education and institutes of higher education. She is a member of Deans for Impact, a national organization of deans of colleges of education who collaboratively work to ensure that every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher.

Jon M. Garon is dean of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. Dean Garon serves as chief academic officer for the law school, providing strategic leadership on programming, curriculum, enrollment management, marketing, and finance. He is a nationally recognized authority on technology law and intellectual property, particularly copyright law, entertainment and information privacy. A tenured member of the law faculty, Dean Garon teaches Information Privacy Law, Cyberspace Law, Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, and related courses. He is the author of four books and numerous book chapters and article and has presented at more than 150 forums across the U.S.

Michael Gray has a PhD in Microbiology from Clemson University. During a 40-year career (mainly at Bob Jones University) he has taught over 10,000 university students at levels ranging from freshman non-majors through graduate students. He has created numerous innovative courses including, most recently, an issues-focused blended course for non-majors called Essential Science. He consults with universities to assist their faculty in focusing and interconnecting curriculum to create transformative learning environments. He equips faculty who aspire to effectively engage students in deep and durable learning.

Neil Hattlestad, Ed.D, was Dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas for 30 years. Following his retirement, the UCA Board of Trustees recognized him as Distinguished Dean Emeritus. Prior to his tenure at UCA, he was department chair at three different universities for 14 years. Dr. Hattlestad served as accreditation site visitor for the Higher Learning Commission for 20 years. During that time, he was a member of the HLC’s Accreditation Review Council and assigned to chair numerous HLC site-visit teams. He was also site visitor for the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, was subsequently appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, and was elected chair of the Commission in 1996. In 2000 Dr. Hattlestad led the effort to bring the National Conference of Academic Deans to UCA, and served as campus host of NCAD for 14 years.

Dr. Amy Hawkins is the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Central Arkansas, leading faculty development initiatives to strengthen teaching and learning at UCA. She is also an Associate Professor of Public Relations in UCA’s School of Communication. Dr. Hawkins is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) through the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She has a 6’2″ 15-year-old son named Paxson and an eight-pound maltipoo named Luby.

Jacob M. Held, PhD. is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the UCA Core at the University of Central Arkansas. The UCA Core is an outcomes based general education program serving the more than 11,000 undergraduate students at the University of Central Arkansas. The program is scaffolded throughout the student’s entire education from introductory level course work and a first year seminar to upper division course work culminating in a capstone experience. As Director of the program, Dr. Held is charged with managing all facets of the general education curriculum at UCA, from design and implementation, to assessment, improvement, and faculty development.

Jimmy H. Ishee currently serves as Dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Central Arkansas as a tenured, full professor. Previously he served as Dean at Texas Woman’s University and Georgia College and State University. Ishee began his higher education career in 1982 as an assistant professor at the University of Central Arkansas in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. Ishee holds a B.S.E and an M. E. from Delta State University and a Ph.D. from Florida State University.

Kim L. Jackson currently serves as the Department Chair for the Visual and Performing Arts and an Associate Professor of Humanities and Dance at Tarrant County College Northwest Campus in Fort Worth, TX. She received both her B.A. in dance and her M.A. in drama from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. She has worked as an equity and inclusion practitioner for over 20 years as a curriculum designer and facilitator. Ms. Jackson focuses primarily on cultural responsive leadership and teaching methods. She is a 2013 recipient of a Golden Apple Teaching Award, a 2014 and 2015 recipient of a John and Suanne Roueche Teaching Excellence Award and the 2015 recipient for the Chancellor’s Exemplary Teaching Award at Tarrant County College.

During his postsecondary career, Scott Newman has held faculty, mid- and senior-level leadership positions. From 2001 to 2013 he served as founding Dean of the School of Information Technologies at the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Institute of Technology. He currently serves as the University’s Vice President of Academic Affairs. Newman is a Peer Reviewer for The Higher Learning Commission, and a former Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Fellow and American Council on Education Fellow. Newman has been honored for his contributions to and through higher education—including identification as one of the nation’s top technology leaders by Computerworld, and selection to receive the American Association of University Administrators’ McInnis/Ryan Award for Mid-Career Higher Education Leadership. Newman’s diverse scholarly interests include postsecondary innovation and leadership. Recent publications include articles in Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and a higher education leadership textbook.

Terri Nierengarten architects partner-oriented learning solutions at Collegis Education. With 20 years of product management and over 10 years of higher education industry experience, she leverages research, strategy and customer insights to craft innovative solutions that help colleges and universities grow. The past 5 years, Terri has focused on helping Collegis Education partners identify learning solutions to specifically address the evolving and demanding needs of their local markets while confronting the ever-increasing pressures from national competitors. Terri received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois – Urbana and a MBA in Strategy and Finance from The University of Chicago – Booth School of Business.

Steven J. Peters, Ph.D. is Dean of the College of Fine Arts at University of Montevallo. His leadership at Montevallo has entailed positioning the arts as a driver of campus-wide innovation through new certificates, programs in interdisciplinary digital media, cross-college partnerships, the construction of two multi-million-dollar facilities, and a new “collaboratory” for the arts that opens in 2019. An advocate for the arts, Peters is the founder of the annual Forte Festival of Creativity, a creative placemaking and revitalization project linking artists and communities in Alabama. He was President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, served on the boards of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences, and the Kansas Association for the Arts in Education. Peters led the Wichita Arts Council’s Cultural Funding Committee that awarded grants to the city’s legacy and emerging arts organizations. Originally trained as a director, playwright and designer, Peters is a practicing artist who pursues an active research agenda by focusing on the construct of performance as a frame for examining artistic collaborations and patient – caregiver interactions in healthcare and medical environments. He is co-author of a forthcoming book on creative practice in the 21st century, Leonardo’s Children: Stories on Creativity by Fine Arts Leaders that will Blow your Mind.

Timothy Renick is Senior Vice President for Student Success and Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University. At Georgia State, he has served as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and Director of the Honors Program. Since 2008, he has directed the student success and enrollment efforts of the university, overseeing among the fastest improving graduation rates in the nation and the elimination of all achievement gaps based on students’ race, ethnicity or income level. Dr. Renick has testified on strategies for helping university students succeed before the United States Senate and has twice been invited to speak at the White House. His work has been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and CNN and cited by former President Obama. He was named one of 2016’s Most Innovative People in Higher Education by Washington Monthly, was the recipient of the 2015-16 Award for National Leadership in Student Success Innovation, and was awarded the 2018 McGraw Prize in Higher Education. He currently is principal investigator for a $9 million U.S. Department of Education grant to study the impact of predictive-analytics-based advisement on ten-thousand low-income and first-generation students nationally. A summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Dr. Renick holds his M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University.

Dr. Jeff W. Robertson is Professor of Astrophysics and Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences and Interim Dean of the Graduate College at Arkansas Tech University. In college, his life was saved from engineering courses that sapped his soul when it was revealed that you could actually major in things like space sciences. While obtaining a B.S. in physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, he played basketball, ran around as the Jayhawk Big Jay mascot and got married. An M.S. from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics at Indiana University completed his transformation into professional scientist as well as dad to a daughter and twin sons. Even though he has never physically made it into space, he loves being a landlubber astronaut as he gets to go out and explore the cosmos each and every day. He helps train amateur astronomers to participate in relevant research with their equipment as part of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics at Columbia University and with the American Association of Variable Star Observers. He studies interacting binary stars, builds hardware and programs software for the automation of robotic telescopes & observatories, and hunts supernovae. But most importantly, performs astrometry of potentially hazardous asteroids saving humanity from the fate of the dinosaurs. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the American Meteorological Society and has twice been the President of the Arkansas Academy of Science. When he is not doing any of that, he tackles his 1 ½ acre garden and plays enormous amounts of basketball.

Dr. Abdelilah Salim Sehlaoui is a professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics with more than 33 years combined leadership experience as an educator, teacher educator, and administrator (in North Africa and the USA) and currently serves as the College of Education Director of Grant Research at Sam Houston State University. His current research interests include, among others, the development of critical cross-cultural communicative competence (C⁵) in educators and academic leaders, critical pedagogy in teacher education, and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Dr. Sehlaoui has designed and managed large-scale federal grants, he has presented at various international and national conferences, he has provided professional consulting to schools and universities around the world, and he has published numerous peer-refereed journal articles, book chapters, and books, including his latest titled Teaching ESL and STEM through CALL. He has also been an engaged member and leader of many regional, national, and international professional organizations, and the recipient of several professional awards.

Dr. Hal Strough currently serves as associate dean in the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences at Nova Southeastern University Florida in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He is also department chair and an associate professor in the Health and Human Performance. He was previously the founding department chair of the Athletic Training Department at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. Prior to that he was the founding program director of athletic training at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in Oshkosh, WI.

Mark Wallenmeyer, MBA, CNMT, RT(N), FSNMMITS is the Dean of Health Professions at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Mr. Wallenmeyer is a certified nuclear medicine technologist. He worked in the clinical setting for 11 years, and then spent 15 years as an instructor, assistant professor and then program director at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences before taking the role of Dean of Health Professions. Mr. Wallenmeyer has held leadership positions with the Society of Nuclear Medicine at the local, regional and culminating in being elected president of the national organization. Mr. Wallenmeyer is an accomplished speaker who has been invited to and spoken at international conferences across the globe in nuclear medicine, management and leadership.

Nicole McZeal Walters is a skilled educator with 20 years of professional educational experience holding teaching, administrative, consulting, and instructional design positions in school and non-profit organizations. Her public school career spanned 10 years as an early childhood, elementary teacher and principal in the Aldine Independent School District. Dr. Walters presently serves as the Dean of Aquinas College at the University of St. Thomas, and an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership. Her research agenda includes developing culturally relevant leaders to embrace servant leadership, female leadership in higher education, social philanthropy, and integrating culture and language to support academic achievement in underserved, marginalized students.

Dr. Angela Webster completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research at the University of Memphis. She is a PreK-12 licensed school administrator and received several years of professional coaching development from Results Coaching Global. Dr. Angela was also an American Council on Education Fellow in the class of 2017/2018. Webster has served higher education at two predominantly white institutions, an HBCU, an art college, and a women’s college in Saudi Arabia. Currently, she serves as Associate Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Central Arkansas where she maintains her academic rank as Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and helps to prepare the next generation of inclusive PK-12 school leaders. Her primary scholarly interest involves inclusive leadership in PK-12 and in higher education. She has authored newsletters, journal articles, book chapters, and books. As a child, Webster was present for the final speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in her beloved city of birth, Memphis, Tennessee, and has since penned a book, “In the Presence of a King” about that experience.

Terry Wright is Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the author of seven books/chapbooks of poetry. He is also a visual artist. His written and artistic work has widely appeared in print and digital media in publications ranging from “Rolling Stone” to “USA Today.”