Indiana Wesleyan University welcomes eight new faculty members to the College of Arts and Sciences on the residential campus in Marion, Indiana, for the 2012-2013 school year.
The new faculty are: J. Michael Dennis, assistant professor of church music; Annie Moore, assistant professor of art history; Isai Jess Munoz, assistant professor of music; Todd Williams, assistant professor of music education; Amanda Drury, assistant professor of youth ministry; Sameer Yadav, post-doctoral fellow in the John Wesley Honors College; Tara Renbarger, assistant professor of biology; and Jessica Briggs, life coach coordinator for the School of Life Calling and Integrative Learning.
"IWU faculty and administrators are grateful to have this remarkably talented group of scholars join us this fall," said Darlene Bressler, vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "We seek out professor who embody IWU's commitment to academic excellence and a true passion for developing students in character, scholarship and leadership. We are excited to see the ways in which these new members of the College of Arts and Sciences' faculty will mentor students and enrich our academic community."
The new faculty members come to IWU from a wide variety of educational backgrounds, including Oxford University, Yale University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Duke University and the Indiana University School of Medicine. Drury is a 2002 IWU alumna and the wife of John Drury, assistant professor of theology and Christian ministry at Wesley Seminary at IWU.
Briggs will serve on the inaugural faculty of the new School of Life Calling and Integrative Learning, which begins operating this fall. She comes to IWU from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, where she was the assistant director of leadership programs in the Kravis Leadership Institute.
"The School of Life Calling and Integrative Learning will enhance our capacity to help IWU students pursue their life calling while making wise educational decisions in preparation for their first career steps," Bressler said.
Fall semester residential classes began September 3.
(Pictured, from left to right: Amanda Drury, Annie Moore, Todd William, Sameer Yada, J. Michael Dennis, Jess Munoz)