Coastal welcomes 25 new faculty members
College of Business
- David DeCenzo joins the Wall College of Business as dean and professor of management. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maryland, a master's degree in Labor Economics from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from West Virginia University. Prior to joining Coastal, he held a variety of administrative positions at Towson University in Towson, Md., the most recent being the director of Partnership Development for the College of Business and Economics. DeCenzo is a nationally known author with more than 15 books in the areas of management principles, supervision, and human resource management. In addition, he has published numerous articles, provided consulting services and training programs for many nationally and internationally recognized organizations, and has served or currently serves on the editorial board of several leading journals.
- Dennis Edwards is an assistant professor of economics. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Murray State University and both a master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from Louisiana State University. Most recently, he was a visiting assistant professor of economics at Centre College in Danville, Ky. His research focuses on a theoretical analysis of horizontal and vertical integration models in international trade.
- John Mortimer is an assistant professor of accounting. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of South Florida, a master's degree in business administration from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in accounting from Florida Atlantic University. His primary areas of interest are accounting information systems and financial accounting.
- Winnie Riley is a visiting assistant professor of accounting. She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from McNeese State University and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Mississippi. She is completing a doctorate in accounting from the University of Mississippi. Most recently, she taught computer science and accounting at Francis Marion University. Riley is teaching in the areas of financial and managerial accounting.
College of Education
- Gibson Darden joins the health, physical education, and recreation faculty as department chair and associate professor. Darden earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Western Carolina University, a master's degree in sports psychology from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in motor learning from the University of Virginia. He comes to Coastal from Radford University where he has been the department chair of exercise, sport, and health education since 2001.
- Patricia Hardee is an instructor of education. She earned a bachelor's degree from Mercer University, a M.Ed. in secondary education from the University of South Carolina, and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Carolina. Her experience includes 13 years in secondary education in public school systems of South Carolina and Georgia and six years in administration in the private sector.
- Carol Osborne is an assistant professor of education. She earned a bachelor's degree in English and an MAT degree in English education at the University of North Carolina. She also earned a master's degree and Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia. Osborne, who taught in the Virginia Beach Public Schools for 12 years, comes to Coastal from Murray State University where she has held an assistant professorship since 1998 and has served as director of Humanities since 2000.
- Nancy Ratcliff is an assistant professor of education. She earned bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees in early childhood education from Indiana State University. After teaching 14 years in the Indiana public schools, she held a directorship of the Educational Research Center for Child Development at the University of South Florida where she has held an assistant professorship since 1996. She is a former winner of the Florida Primary Educator News Journal�s Award of Merit.
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
- Bonner Guidera is an instructor of Spanish. She earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., and attended New York University in Madrid, Spain, her junior year. She also earned a master's degree in Spanish and secondary education and an M.L.I.S. from the University of South Carolina. She taught in South Carolina K-12 public schools from 1970 to 2002 and has worked with the S.C. Department of Education since 1989 on foreign language curriculum development and program assessment.
- Carlos LaFuente is an instructor of Spanish. He earned a master's degree in Spanish from Bowling Green State University and is completing a Ph.D. at the University of Florida. He has been teaching English as a Second Language and Spanish since 1992. Before earning a master's degree he worked as a journalist for nine years in La Paz, Bolivia, where he was born.
- Jorge Alberto Perez is an assistant professor of Spanish. A native of Nicaragua, Perez earned a Ph.D. in language, literature and culture from Syracuse University. He has taught at Ohio University and Sweet Briar College. His primary areas of interest are literary theory and Spanish American contemporary poetry.
- Melanie Schuessler is an assistant professor of theater with a speciality in costume design and construction. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from Rice University where she graduated magna cum laude, and an MFA in costume design from the University of Wisconsin. Schuessler has worked in costume patterning and construction for the Skylight Opera Theater, the Madison Repertory Theater, and the Milwaukee Shakespeare Company.
- Renee Smith is an assistant professor of philosophy. She earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from California State University, graduating magna cum laude in 1996. She earned a master's degree and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Colorado. Smith was awarded the Thomas Edwin Devaney Dissertation Fellowship in 2002 and the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award in 2001 at the University of Colorado.'
- Philip Whalen is as assistant professor of history. He completed a doctoral degree in 2000 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Whalen recently served as a visiting assistant professor at the College of Charleston. His specialty is 19th- and 20th-century France.
College of Natural and Applied Sciences
- Daniel Abel has been promoted to assistant professor of marine science. Abel joined Coastal's faculty as an instructor in 1994 and was promoted to senior instructor. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the College of Charleston and a Ph.D. in oceanography from Scripps Institute of Oceanography. He plans to continue his research on sharks in Winyah Bay and coastal waters.
- Dennis Dinge is as an assistant professor of physics. He comes to Coastal from a position as associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and master's degree in physics from Clemson University, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He plans to continue his research in astrophysics.
- Wendy Hood is as an assistant professor of biology. She recently completed her postdoctoral research associate position at Fordham University. Hood received a Ph.D. and master's degree in ecology from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was a teaching fellow at Boston University and a naturalist at the Marine Environmental Institute.
- John Hutchens, Jr. is an assistant professor of biology. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in ecology and bachelor's and master's degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in biology and ecology. Most recently, he has been working as a research biologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Andrew Incognito is a visiting assistant professor of mathematics. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Temple University. He has coached basketball and chess while teaching in Morocco. Incognito plans to continue his research into various aspects of transform functions and their applications.
- Hong Li is an instructor of chemistry. She earned a bachelor's degree in organic chemistry from Jiangxi University and a master's degree in analytical chemistry from the University of South Carolina. She has a wide background in maintaining a variety of analytical instruments.
- German Ojeda is an instructor of marine science. He earned a Ph.D. in geophysics from Florida International University, a master's degree in geology from the University of South Carolina, and a bachelor's degree in geology from Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He has been conducting research as a post doctoral fellow in Coastal's Center for Marine and Wetland Studies for nearly two years.
- Christopher Podeschi is an assistant professor of sociology. He earned a Ph.D. and master's degree in sociology from the University of Nebraska and a bachelor's degree in sociology from James Madison University.
- Suzanne Senchak is an instructor of biology. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in forest resources and a master's degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in wildlife biology. Senchak taught at Coastal as a part-time instructor in biology last year. Previously, she taught at Coker College and as an instructor for the Red Cross.
- Brett Simpson is an assistant professor of chemistry. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Augustana College and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Iowa State University.
- Erin Wolfe is an instructor of marine science. She earned a master's degree in marine science from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor's degree in biology from Franklin and Marshall College. She is teaching introductory marine science and environmental science laboratories.