FEATURE
FEATURE
Dr. Genya Afanasyeva
Mr. Michael Childs
Mr. Kris Hoffler
Who inspired you to teach? My grandmother worked with adults in Russian rural communities as part of efforts to fight illiteracy, taught in an elementary school, and later became a principal. My mother taught in a technical college in Russia.
What has been your greatest joy in your teaching career? Watching students find success in areas where they haven’t succeeded before—watching them work hard and overcome the obstacles that have held them back before.
What and where have you studied? I earned a Master and Doctorate in Mining Engineering/Surveying from Sckohinskiy Mining Institute in Russia, and I earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from NC State.
What activities are you involved with outside of the classroom? I lead a Bible study that meets in the Chapel one evening during the week. Since starting the Bible study a few years ago, we have studied Genesis, John, 1 John, and Ephesians.
Who inspired you to teach? My high school English teacher. He exposed me to works like Shakespeare’s Macbeth and many other literary heavyweights. The expertise and conviction with which he taught literature was unlike any other teacher I had had up to that point. He lit the fuse that sparked my interest.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
profiles in teaching Fourteen faculty members reveal everything from personal joys of teaching to secret superhero ambitions.
By Melinda McKee
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s a first-generation college student, I can relate to the fact that college is a huge transition for our students,” notes Associate Professor of Library Services and Librarian Pat Hinton.
Her husband, Professor of Art Will Hinton, had been a faculty member for 15 years when she officially joined the Louisburg family in 1998. “I knew I’d be working with a dedicated community of educators who cared deeply about their mission of helping and developing students.”
His perspective as a long-time faculty member has allowed him to witness the College’s adaptive nature in response to an ever-changing world, and he expresses his excitement “about the College’s future because of our thorough planning efforts and best practices approach to management.”
Also an artist herself, Hinton maintains a studio where she paints and creates other works. Her painting “Meadow at Penland School” hangs in the College’s Elizabeth Tiel Faulkner Gallery.
Brown’s Louisburg years have even had their share of romance: his “greatest reward” is that he met his wife, George-Anne Willard, while she was teaching history at the College.
True to her creative spirit, she likens the role of a librarian to that of a dancer: “Roles change frequently. We catalog books, plan instruction, teach classes, develop library guides, work on archival materials…there is a balance and a rhythm to it.”
Professor of Education and Religion Charles Sloan has served the College in numerous roles since 1986.
Recalling with pride her successful efforts to have a computer lab constructed in the library, Hinton is excited to be part of the new growth that will come from the Title III grant the College was awarded in 2013 (see Page 12). The son of beloved Professor of Mathematics Captain Brown, and a Louisburg College graduate himself, Matt Brown ’68 took up the family mantle when he joined the faculty in 1983 to teach computer courses. “As an actual product of the College,” he explains, “I had come to embrace its purpose and to completely believe that the school’s mission is worthy of a life’s work.” Now Professor of Business and Engineering Graphics, Brown also serves as chair of the Business and Social Sciences Division. With a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from NC State and an
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MBA from Georgia State, he enjoys helping shape the educational futures of his students as an engaged academic advisor. “Our campus is just too small for anyone to hide from me for very long!”
COLUMNS / SPRING 2014
In addition to his teaching, he has filled the position of institutional research director (1994-2012) and registrar (1997-2000). He also began coaching the men’s golf team in 2003. A man of many interests, the former Navy serviceman holds a BSEd in Mathematics and an MEd in Administration and Supervision from Georgia Southern University, and a Master of Divinity and Religious Education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His enthusiasm for teaching was first sparked while working with youth in his church. “My greatest joy each year has been watching students walk across the stage at graduation, knowing that they have been successful as they move on to senior institutions.” A Kenyan resident at one point in his life, Sloan enjoys retelling his tales of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, and of chauffeuring for the country western and gospel singer Skeeter Davis for four weeks while she sang in an evangelistic crusade in East Africa.
What has been the biggest surprise of your teaching career? The biggest surprise is how much I learn from my students. I learn more from them than from any textbook; they are my best teachers.
Mr. Michael Brantley Instructor of English
Instructor of Mathematics
Where is your favorite place you’ve traveled? Europe. Some of my favorite countries are Holland, Poland, and Switzerland.
Dr. Brent Dozier Assistant Professor of Mathematics
What did you do prior to coming to Louisburg College? I was a photographer and freelance writer for almost 18 years. I had a studio and wrote for regional and national magazines on sports, farming, business, and music. I also taught as an adjunct at Barton, Wesleyan, and Campbell before coming to Louisburg. What do you hope to impart to your students? Life is what you choose to make it. Have a high standard at all times, and remember that showing up is half the battle. What’s your favorite book? It changes constantly, but recently I’ve enjoyed Home Stand by James McKean, The Gay Talese Reader by Gay Talese, and Burning Bright by Ron Rash.
What do you hope to impart to your students? Academically, I want them to increase their mathematical and problem-solving skills, which will hopefully result in more logical thinking and sound judgment. In their hearts, I want them to know someone cared about them. What are some of your interests outside of teaching? I love fishing, small game hunting, basketball, and golf. I also love reading, and read fifty books last year (mainly Christian/theology books, but also some biographies and fiction titles). If you weren’t an educator, what would you be? A silent guardian; a watchful protector; a dark knight. Yes, I’d be Batman. But, aside from that, I suppose I’d settle for research mathematician.
Assistant Professor of English
What inspired you to start a study abroad initiative at Louisburg? I went to England for the first time in 1999, and those nine days changed my life. Then I got a grant from the state to study at Oxford University in 2005 for a semester, and it ingrained in me the perspective-changing potential of travel. If the overall goal of education is to broaden perspectives, a study abroad program does that exponentially. Editor’s Note: Read more about Louisburg College’s study abroad trips on Page 18.
Ms. Amy Johnson
Assistant Professor of English; Director of Developmental English
What did you do prior to coming to Louisburg College? I taught high school in Gates County, North Carolina, and in Elizabeth City before that. What do you love most about teaching at Louisburg? I have been teaching English in the Humanities Division for eight years, and the closeness between faculty and students is the best thing about teaching here. Fun Facts: I love to read and garden; I raise heritage breed turkeys; I have two grandsons with whom I try to spend as much time as I can; and I taught both of my sons and my daughter-in-law when they were in high school.
“Life is what you choose to make it. Have a high standard at all times, and remember that showing up is half the battle.” - Michael Brantley, On His Advice to Louisburg Students
SPRING 2014 / COLUMNS
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