Endowed Professorships

Carroll is proud of our faculty...

and grateful to the many donors who support their work in classrooms, labs, in the field, and at conferences. The following endowed professorships highlight the excellent work of our faculty and students through the generosity of donors who have given to enhance scholarship at Carroll College.

Opportunity Bank Endowed Professorship for Finance

JULIA MULL

The Opportunity Bank Endowed Professorship is an incredibly generous gift that has allowed Professor Mull to further her professional development and research in the field as well as attend conferences. All of these very important endeavors provide her with additional resources and further develop her depth of expertise to bring back to the students in the classroom.

The finance major is the newest addition to the department and has grown significantly over the past few years. Prof. Mull is pleased and honored to be a part of such a dynamic program and initiative. This endowment allows her to participate in activities to help ensure Carroll students are receiving the most relevant experiences and knowledge in the ever-evolving field of finance. She is most grateful to Opportunity Bank for this thoughtful and supportive gift.

The Guido Bugni Professorship

JOHN ROWLEY, PH.D.

The financial support of the Guido Bugni Professorship makes it possible for Dr. Rowley to provide research opportunities to Carroll students, specifically working to invent new and creative mechanisms that convert solar energy into a chemical fuel. Dr. Rowley sees undergraduate research as an open-ended, creative, and interdisciplinary process that illustrates to students the value of the broad spectrum of academic disciplines to which they have been exposed to at Carroll College. Dr. Rowley’s students are motivated to develop new forms of renewable energy because of their desire to use their knowledge of chemistry to serve the human family. Carroll students do not simply want knowledge to prepare them for a vocation; they want the knowledge and awareness that will allow them to choose a vocation that makes a difference in the world. Dr. Rowley thanks everyone who has helped support undergraduate research at Carroll College.

When students graduate from Carroll College, the problems they will encounter are multidiscipline, open-ended, and loosely defined. Dr. Rowley believes that it is the job of educators to prepare students for these real-world problems. Too often colleges only prepare students to answer well-worded problems taken from a textbook; applying course knowledge to real-world problems becomes “on the job training.”  While at Carroll College, Dr. Rowley has been able to work with his colleagues to continue the tradition at Carroll of creating classes that prepare our students not for school, but for life. At Carroll he has helped create three new classes that are course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that give Carroll students the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to open-ended research questions. These CUREs classes span the freshman to senior level and in them students make progress on answering real-world problems and develop the skills necessary to contribute to the modern economy. The advantage for Carroll students is that in a CURE they see first-hand the value of the content they have learned as they hone the skills of creative problem-solving, collaborating as a team, and communicating technical information. 

The Henry (Hank) Burgess Professorship in English

DEBRA BERNARDI, PH.D.

Dr. Debra Bernardi is delighted to be the recipient of the Henry “Hank” Burgess Professorship in English.  Much of her research and writing had to be suspended over the last few years—especially during the height of the COVID pandemic—as all faculty had to learn new teaching methodologies. During that time, she took on the responsibilities of Chair of the Languages and Literature Department, and the English program lost a number of professors. Despite the difficulty of that period for everyone, students in her Literary Studies course produced fascinating digital critical editions of short stories from the 1950s and 60s. Inspired by their work, she is now developing an essay on the writer Patricia Highsmith and her novels, such as The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955). She plans to use the Burgess award to help support this scholarship and then to share her findings with our community of scholars in the spring of 2024 at Carroll.

Her research interests include: Italy and American female imagination in literature and film; 1950s and 60s women writers. Most recent conference paper: “Ecologies of the Expat.” (Delivered at the Conference of the Society for the Study of American Women Writers, Baltimore, November 2021). Most recent published article: “ ‘You’re Not Going to Let Some Silly Rule Stand in Your Way!’: Alternative Visions of the Modern in Mid-Century American-Women-in-Italy Films.” (Iperstoria: Journal of American and English Studies 2019). Dr. Bernardi is completing a book manuscript on Italy and American Female Imagination, 1847-2018. She received a Fulbright Senior Lecturer Award in Naples, Italy (2010-11), has lectured in Italy as well as the US, and is co-editor of the book Our Sisters’ Keepers: Nineteenth-Century Benevolence Literature by American Women (University of Alabama Press, 2006).

The Sue A. Buswell Endowed Professorship in Nursing

KATE PIEPER

Kate Pieper, nursing instructor, is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Nursing Leadership and Management with a focus on Native health care at Aspen University and earned her bachelor in nursing at Washington State University. She has worked in a variety of settings, but primarily in emergency medicine and hospital administration. She plans on continuing her education to better educate and serve the state of Montana regarding issues that surround health care and the Native population.

Monsignor Joseph Harrington Endowed Professorship for Nursing

MARIA BROSNAN, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, CNE, CHSE

Professor Maria Brosnan says the Msgr. Harrington Endowed Professorship has provided support for her to complete her second graduate degree and her Family Nurse Practitioner Certification. It has also provided support for her current research project, Student-Developed Simulation as a Learning Strategy. Her research interests also include Emotional Intelligence as an Indicator of Baccalaureate Nursing Student Success, and Resiliency Score as a Predictor of Success in Nursing.

Prof. Brosnan continues her Nurse Practitioner clinical practice working with the veteran population and has previously held a Locum Tenens Hospitalist Nurse Practitioner position and an Emergency Nurse Practitioner position with St. Peter’s Regional Medical Center. She also teaches Advanced Cardiac Life Support courses at the hospital for the staff and community.

When she is not teaching, Maria enjoys spending time with her horse, hanging out with friends, and being outdoors with her dog, Riley, enjoying the beautiful sites of Helena and Montana.

Current courses: Pathophysiology and Pharmacology, Illness across the Lifespan II, Capstone Clinical, Comprehensive Nursing Review, and Applied Pharmacology. Coordinator for student ACLS and PALS courses. 

The Archbishop Hunthausen Professorship in Peace and Social Justice

ERIC HALL, PH.D.

If the life of the academic can oftentimes get focused on the self and one’s own projects, this Professorship has pushed Dr. Eric Hall to refocus much of his work into the possibilities of others. Especially important to these funds as he has allotted them, is giving a voice to the voiceless, be that through offering a stage for the first peoples of Montana to express their maltreatment, or to give the chance for the recent environmental encyclical to be heard outside of the usual political punditry. Dr. Hall hopes and intends for the fullness of the Catholic intellectual and justice tradition to emerge through this professorship.

Joseph A. Maierle and Morrison-Maierle Endowed Professorship in Civil Engineering

MARY KEEFFE, PH.D.

Dr. Mary Keeffe is the recipient of the Joseph A. Maierle and Morrison-Maierle Endowed Professorship in Civil Engineering and is the director of the Civil Engineering program at Carroll College. The Civil Engineering program is ABET-accredited and the program is scheduled to have a general review in 2024. Dr. Keeffe is leading and coordinating the review process. The Civil Engineering program has undergone substantial change in terms of the faculty of the program with three new hires of full-time faculty members over the last two years. These hires have been replacements for retiring faculty. As the expertise in the faculty has shifted due to the new hires, she will also be leading the program as it reexamines its curriculum.

The Mandeville Endowed Professorship in Accounting

BELLE MARIE, PH.D.

James J. Manion Endowed Chair in Biology

BRANDON SHEAFOR, PH.D.

Dr. Brandon Sheafor has a wide range of interest in animal physiology and ecology.  His current research focuses on chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin disease that has greatly impacted amphibian populations around the world. Specifically, he is investigating how the interplay between antimicrobial peptides and cutaneous microbial communities convey resistance to the disease. In 2021, Dr. Sheafor continued this line of research with an international group of colleagues as an Invited Visiting Researcher at Vancouver Island University in British Columbia.

Some recent publications on the subject include:

• Kueneman, J., M. Bletz, M. Becker, B. Gratwicke, O. Garces, A. Hertz, W.M. Holden, R. Ibanez, A. Loudon, V. McKenzie, L. Palfrey, B.A. Sheafor, L. Rollins-Smith, C. Richards-Zawacki, J. Voyles, and D.C. Woodhams.  2022.  Effects of captivity and rewilding on amphibian skin microbiomes. Biological Conservation.  271: 109576.  
• Korfel, C.A.,  R. M. Lehtinen, C.L. Richards-Zawacki, J. Fregonara, P.K. Williams, A. Loudon, B.A Sheafor, L. Charbonneau, B. Wolfe, T.E Hetherington, T. Krynak, G. J. Lipps, E.M. Berent, N.C. Newman, and J.N. Garrett-Larsen. 2021.  Infection Patterns in an Amphibian Fungal Pathogen in Ohio.  Ohio Biological Survey.  10: 13-21.
• Loudon, A.H., A. Kurtz*, E. Esposito*, T.P. Umoie, K.P.C. Minbiole, L.W. Parfrey, and B.A. Sheafor. 2020.  Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) have characteristic skin microbiota that may be shaped by cutaneous skin peptides and the environment .  FEMS Microbiology Ecology.  96: fiaa168.

    *=Carroll College undergraduate student

Dr. Sheafor has a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a B.A. from Colorado College.

Margaret Perryman Endowed Professorship for Human Animal Bond Degree Program

H. MARIE SUTHERS, D.V.M.

Dr. Marie Suthers has more than 40 years of experience in veterinary practice, academic and community education, and the study of human-animal interaction. She is a well-known national and international speaker on the relationship between people and animals including the impact of human-animal interaction on specific human populations and the well-being of animals employed in therapeutic interventions for humans.

She received the Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award in 2005 and the Distinguished Virginia Veterinarian Award in 2006. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from The Ohio State University in 1982.

The Dr. Jerry Pohlman Endowed Professorship in Entrepreneurial Business

ANNETTE RYERSON, PH.D.

Dr. Annette Ryerson is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Business Department at Carroll College. She also teaches entrepreneurship courses and is faculty coordinator for the Entrepreneurship Certificate. She advises Carroll’s ZinnStarter club for entrepreneurship and is co-advisor for the Special Olympics club. Annette’s professional experience includes six years as a faculty member at Black Hills State University and a decade of pharmaceutical sales with Merck. Her areas of expertise include personal selling as it pertains to women, tourism marketing and economics, and case-based applications related to marketing, marketing research, and marketing pedagogy. She enjoys teaching those new to the field of marketing and also those who want to dig deeper into specific marketing areas. Annette has marketing consulting experience and has been published numerous times in various journals and reviews as well. 

Byron & Irene Roberts and Albert & Marie Nix Endowed Professorship in Engineering

RECEP BIRGUL, PH.D., P.E., M.ASCE

The Roberts-Nix Professorship in Engineering offers Dr. Recep Birgul invaluable support and resources that enable him to excel in his dual roles as a full-time professor and as the Faculty Advisor for the Carroll ASCE Student Chapter, dedicated to serving the Carroll student community.

As a professor, Dr. Birgul’s primary goal is to provide exceptional engineering education for Carroll students. In his role as the Faculty Advisor for the Carroll ASCE Student Chapter, he has the privilege of guiding Carroll students on the path to success in competitions such as the annual concrete canoe and steel bridge contests, hosted by various universities each year. The financial support from the Roberts-Nix Professorship allows him to dedicate a significant portion of his time and effort to effectively fulfill these responsibilities. Furthermore, it provides him with the opportunity to engage in professional development activities crucial for maintaining his professional engineering licensure in the State of Montana.

Dr. Birgul wishes to express his profound gratitude for the unwavering support he receives from the Roberts-Nix Professorship. With the resources it provides, he is empowered to make a direct and positive impact on Carroll students, translating this support into exceptional service for the Carroll community. 

The Clarence A. (Bud) Ryan, Steve Ryan and Joe Pat Ryan Distinguished Professorship in Chemistry Endowment

CATHERINE PHARR, PH.D.

Professor Pharr grew up in Idaho and is a Carroll College alum, graduating with a degree in Chemistry in 2003. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then began teaching at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. In 2011 she returned to Carroll College, this time as a professor. Professor Pharr studies reactive intermediates called carbenes. These intermediates are prevalent in interstellar space and can give clues as to the formation of the earliest complex molecules. They are also used in many carbon-carbon bond forming reactions including for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, polymers, and plastics used every day. Professor Pharr is using the Ryan Distinguished Professorship to fund summer and academic-year undergraduate research with students. This spring she and one of her research students, Tyler Dailey, will travel to the National American Chemical Society Meeting in New Orleans to present their work. These meetings attract over 10,000 scientists from all over the world. 

Dr. James and Joan Schneller Endowed Professorship in Catholic Mission and Identity

KATHERINE GREINER, PH.D.

Dr. Katherine Greiner received a Ph.D. in Theology and Education from Boston College in 2017. She earned her M.T.S. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 2007 and her B.A. in history and theology from Carroll College in 2005. She taught theology at Mt. St. Joseph Academy in Boston, MA from 2007-2011. Her dissertation, “There is a Wideness to God’s University: Exploring and Embodying the Deep Stories, Wisdom, and Contributions of Women Religious in Catholic Higher Education,” focuses on questions concerning Catholic identity, charism, and mission in Catholic colleges and universities founded and sponsored by women Religious congregations.