FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -  September 30, 2004
CONTACT: Sarah Lingenfelter, Media Relations (585) 567-9559

HOUGHTON WELCOMES TEN NEW FACULTY MEMBERS

HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Ten new faculty members have joined the ranks at Houghton College for the 2004-05 academic year.

Alice Barry, who graduated from Houghton in 2000, is interim assistant professor of art. Before returning to Houghton, Barry worked as a ceramic intern and  instructor at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, N.Y. Recently, her worked was displayed in the MudFire Pottery Center’s National Teapots-A-Go-Go II exhibit of eclectic, whimsical, and elegant teapots. She is represented at Veni Vedi Gallery on Park Avenue in Rochester, N.Y.

Recent work will be on exhibit in March in the Ortlip Art Gallery at Houghton College. Barry received her master’s in ceramics and ceramic sculpture, with a minor in furniture design from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts.

Jacqueline Crisman is assistant professor of biology. Before coming to Houghton, Crisman taught biochemistry,  molecular biology, immuniobiology, nephrology, and medicine at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa. While working on her master’s she worked as a graduate research and teaching associate in molecular cellular and developmental biology. She also was a microbiologist in the metabolism branch of The National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. Crisman received the Alyce G. Specter Award for Renal Research in 1999-2000 and 2001-2002.

Additionally, she is an invited reviewer for the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, and a member of the American Association of Immunologists, American Society for Microbiology, International Proteolysis Society, and American Physiological Society. Crisman received her bachelor’s from SUNY Geneseo, and her master’s and doctorate from Ohio State University.

Daria Halkides is visiting assistant professor of earth sciences. Prior to coming to Houghton College, Halkides did climate research as a graduate student research assistant at the University of Colorado. She spent the past five years as a graduate student at the University of Colorado and completed her doctorate in Atmospheric and Ocean Dynamics two weeks prior to the start of the fall semester.

As an undergraduate, Halkides had the opportunity to assist as a researcher in astrophysics at Haverford College in collaboration with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, N.M. She holds a bachelor’s from Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, Pa., a master’s, interdisciplinary graduate certificate in environmental policy and a doctorate from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Lin He joins the music department as assistant professor of violin and director of strings. His teaching experience includes a position as assistant professor in violin/viola at The College of Wooster, teaching studio violin/chamber music at Pennsylvania State University, and a teaching assistant for Zvi Zeitlin, distinguished professor of violin at the Eastman School of Music. He was the co-founder and violist of the Melody String Quartet, the resident string quartet of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; co-founder and first violin of the Serendipity String Quartet, the graduate quartet in residence at Pennsylvania State University; a member of the Eastman Chamber Music Society; and the violinist with the Wooster Piano Trio He received both the Creative Achievement Award and the William Forest Chamber Music Award. For the summers of 2003-2005, he has been named the Toby Devan Lewis Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Recently, he received the 2003 John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music.

He performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and has appeared with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. He holds a bachelor’s from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a master’s from Pennsylvania State University. He is currently working on his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music.

Lori Huth is instructor of writing. Previously she served in this capacity as a part-time instructor at Houghton. In addition she was an instructor in Houghton’s Program for Accelerating College Education program and the Upward Bound program. She has received the Arthur Beverly Taylor Excellence in English Award from Houghton College and the Student as Literary Critic Award from the University of Northern Iowa.

Huth has led group discussions and tours for North American undergraduate students of Spanish in Colima, Mexico. She holds a bachelor’s from Eastern College in St. Davids, Pa. and Houghton College. She earned her master’s at SUNY Buffalo.

Sharon Johnson is assistant professor of piano and director of outreach groups. She has been heard with the Greensboro Symphony and the Greensboro Philharmonia; in guest artist recitals at the North Carolina Museum of Art and Dickinson State University; and at the Baltimore Composers Forum in Maryland, premiering several new music works. In addition she served as one of the official accompanists for the International Tuba/Euphonium Conference 2002, and the International Double Reed Society Conference 2003.  As primary keyboard/assistant director of the Continental Singers she has toured the United States, Asia, and Europe.  During 2002-2003 Johnson was pianist for the Ted Mann Vocal Quartet of the University of Minnesota, with performances in Iowa, Minnesota, and on Minnesota Public Radio.

She has held faculty positions at Greensboro College as coach/accompanist for the opera workshop productions; The Music Center of Greensboro, as a private instructor; the Wesleyan Institute of Music and Arts as director/instructor; and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Summer Piano Camp as a faculty member. She received her bachelor’s and master’s from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Recently, Johnson completed her doctorate in accompanying and coaching at the University of Minnesota where she was a teaching assistant and Denny Scholar. 

Mengyang Li is assistant professor of chemistry. Since 2000, he served as senior engineer and project leader on optical fiber perform analyzer development for Corning Incorporated. Previously he was awarded the Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University where he studied the chemical analysis and x-ray diffraction of bio-polymers. He held research and teaching fellow positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester. From 1982-1985 Li was a research and teaching assistant at Beijing University.

Li has several papers published in Nature, Science, and Journal of Chemical Physics. He was awarded the Elon Huntington Hooker Fellowship and Sherman Clarke Fellowship from the University of Rochester and the Elizabeth R. Norton Prize for Excellence in Research at the University of Chicago. He received his bachelor’s from Nanjing University, a master’s in applied physics from Beijing University, a master’s in physical chemistry from The University of Rochester, and a doctorate from The University of Chicago.

Meic Pearse is associate professor of history. Before joining the faculty at Houghton College, Pearse served as a  B.A. course leader at the London School of Theology. From 1995-1996 he served as a visiting lecturer in Baptist history at Regent’s Park College in Oxford, England. He also served as lecturer at the London Bible College, Carmel College in Wallingford and Abingdon College. He also was a local government officer on the Swansea City Council.

Pearse is author of five books: “Between Known Men and Visible Saints,” “Who’s Feeding Whom?” “The Great Restoration,” “We Must Stop Meeting Like This,” and “Why the Rest Hates the West.” He also has articles published in various publications including the Mennonite Quarterly Review, Mission and Meaning, and Anabaptist Today. He holds a bachelor’s from Wales University and a master’s and doctorate from Oxford University.

Brigitte Seck, is interim assistant professor of French. Formerly, Seck served as head of French courses and head of anthropology at Bethel Bible Institute in Lennoxville, Quebec. She has also served as head of the French department of the College of Technical Training in Issa Beri, Niamey, head of Hausa language department at the Teachers’ College in Niamey, and head of the literature department in Niger. She was also a member of the committee for Canadian Solidarity and vice-president of the committee for private aid, a group of NGOs of Niger.

Seck has also been involved in organizing a program of collective extra-curricular activities and rebuilding a climate of trust in communications at the Centre d’obsevation de Chevilly-la-Rue in France. She holds a diploma in the teaching of geography from the University of Paris, a certificate in the Hausa language and civilization from the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris, and a master’s from Paris VII.

Aaron Sullivan is interim assistant professor of biology. Previously, Sullivan taught at SUNY Binghamton, Southwest Missouri State University, and Mount Vernon Nazarene University. He has received over 12 awards and grants including the Distinguished Dissertation Award, the Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research, and the Departmental Exemplary Progress Award from SUNY Binghamton.

A member of The Animal Behavior Society, The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, and The Missouri Herpetological Society, Sullivan has been engaged in many conference presentations and symposiums. His articles have been published in periodical such as Animal Behavior, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Herpetological Review, and the Journal of Herpetology. Sullivan received his bachelor’s from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, his master’s from Southwest Missouri State University, and his doctorate from SUNY Binghamton.