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At the Helm: Academic Administration
Administrative appointments accompany recent changes to Virginia Wesleyan's academic structure
News Release | September 20, 2016
Virginia Wesleyan College President Scott D. Miller unveiled during his State of the College Address on August 23 a series of changes that elevate the College’s academic program. Among the changes are the introduction of the Batten Honors College and the structuring of Virginia Wesleyan’s academic divisions. The College now consists of three schools devoted to specific areas of study: the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities, the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and the Birdsong School of Social Science.
New administrative appointments accompanied the academic changes, which went into effect at the start of the fall semester:
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Timothy G. O’Rourke
Dr. Timothy G. O’Rourke is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Virginia Wesleyan College. He previously served, since 2007, as the College’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the College. Dr. O'Rourke holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh (Phi Beta Kappa, Summa cum laude); and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University. He has worked at nearly every level of higher education: vice president (Virginia Wesleyan College), dean (Salisbury University), endowed professor (University of Missouri-St. Louis), and department head (Clemson University). He is presently directing a four-institution Teagle Foundation-funded project on liberal arts curricular reform. He regularly teaches a first-year course on American politics at Virginia Wesleyan.
Dr. O'Rourke is co-author of State and Local Government: The Third Century of Federalism and author of The Impact of Reapportionment. His articles on electoral law have appeared in Political Geography, the Virginia Law Review, and the Journal of Law & Politics. He has testified on voting issues before U.S. Senate and House committees; the U.S. Supreme Court has cited his work as an expert witness. He has staffed electoral reform commissions in Virginia Beach and Charlottesville and the St. Peters (Missouri) Charter Commission, which drafted a home rule charter for that city. From 1998 to 2002, he directed Kids Voting Missouri, a program in which nearly 68,000 Missouri K-12 students voted alongside their parents in the 2000 presidential election. While teaching at the University of Virginia, he served as Executive Director of the Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
A Pennsylvania native, Dr. O’Rourke is a folk musician, jogger, gardener, and inveterate Pittsburgh Pirates fan. He and his wife, Judy, an artist, have five grown children and four grandchildren and reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Associate Provost
Dr. Maynard Schaus
Dr. Maynard Schaus is Associate Provost of Virginia Wesleyan College. He has a Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University (Ohio) and a B.S. in Biology from California Lutheran University. Previously at Virginia Wesleyan, he served as the Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and was the Director of Undergraduate Research. He also has taught Principles of Biology, General Ecology, Humans and the Environment, Topics in Tropical Biology, and other courses.
Dr. Schaus’ research has primarily focused on the role of fish in freshwater nutrient cycles. He has received funding from the St. Johns River Water Management District to investigate the impact of gizzard shad on the water quality of Lake Apopka, Florida. He has also involved students in research projects examining salt marsh bird community composition, runoff from green roofs, and the behavior of harvestmen (daddy longlegs) in Costa Rica and Belize. His work has been published in journals such as Freshwater Biology, Ecology, Limnology & Oceanography, and the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
Dr. Schaus is originally from Southern California and lives in Norfolk, with his wife, Kathy, and their youngest daughter. Their oldest daughter and son attend college in Washington State and Florida, respectively.
Dean of the Batten Honors College
Dr. Joyce Easter
Dr. Joyce Easter is Dean of the Batten Honors College at Virginia Wesleyan College. She received her B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University. Before joining the faculty at Virginia Wesleyan College in 2000, she was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Illinois University. She was the recipient of both VWC's Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Teaching Award and the United Methodist Church Exemplary Teacher Award. In addition to teaching chemistry, Dr. Easter also previously served as the Director of the Honors & Scholars Program.
Dr. Easter's research focuses on natural product biochemistry, such as the detection and isolation of bioactive compounds from marine invertebrates from the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Marine invertebrates are a rich source of substances with antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory properties, and therefore potential lead compounds for new pharmaceuticals. She is also interested in the integration of green chemistry into the pharmaceutical industry, both in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and the identification of potential renewable pharmaceutical feedstocks. She has been involved in pedagogical research and curriculum reform for more nearly 20 years as a member of Project Kaleidoscope, the American Chemical Society, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the POGIL Project. She has developed innovative teaching materials and developed inquiry-based experiments for her biochemistry and organic courses.
Dr. Easter is originally from northern New Jersey and the Finger Lakes region of New York. She currently resides in Virginia Beach with her husband, Loran.
Dean of the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities
Dr. Travis Malone
Dr. Travis Malone is Dean of the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities at Virginia Wesleyan College. He received his Ph.D in Theatre from Bowling Green State University, his master’s degree from Kansas State University and his bachelor’s degree from Sterling College. His previous roles at Virginia Wesleyan have included Humanities Division Chair and Coordinator of the Theatre Department. In addition, he teaches courses in Directing, Technical Theatre, Acting, Theatre of Diversity, Acting for the Camera, Theatre History, and study away courses in Theatre.
As a theatre and film professional, Dr. Malone has directed and acted in productions across the country. He worked in Los Angeles writing television commercials for Disney, Fox, and Rhino Records; producing music videos for Disney; and developing creative content for DVDs and trade show promotions. A proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society, he continues to act and direct in the Hampton Roads area. His main research areas include the intersection between film and theatre, musicals on stage and screen, and assessment in undergraduate theatre programs.
Dr. Malone lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, Becky, and their three children.
Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Dr. J. Christopher Haley
Dr. J. Christopher Haley is the Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Virginia Wesleyan College. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins and his B.Sc. from Washington and Lee. He has served as Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and as the coordinator of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, which he helped to found. Prior to his arrival at Virginia Wesleyan, he taught at Miami University (Ohio), and during the summer, he continues to serve as the Assistant Director of Miami's Geological Field Station in Wyoming. He teaches geology courses at Virginia Wesleyan as well as the course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The use of GIS in geologic mapping and earth science education is a primary interest of Dr. Haley’s, and he received funding from the US Geological Survey to have students use GIS to update the mapping of southwestern Montana. He has also been an author on three awards from the National Science foundation, to fund the renovation of Virginia Wesleyan’s Blocker Hall science laboratories, to obtain a Scanning Electron Microscope with an Elemental Detection System (SEM-EDS), and to outfit a GIS lab. The SEM-EDS has been utilized in his recent research involving Virginia Wesleyan undergraduates, allowing them to determine the elemental composition of various geological samples.
Dr. Haley lives in Portsmouth with his wife, Helena Russell.
Dean of the Birdsong School of Social Science
Dr. Robert B. Albertson
Dr. Robert B. Albertson is Dean of the Birdsong School of Social Science at Virginia Wesleyan College. He received his B.A. in History, M.B.A., and also his Ph.D. in Urban Studies from Old Dominion University. At Virginia Wesleyan, he has previously served as Chair of the Social Sciences Division, Associate Dean of the College, and Coordinator of the Department of Management, Business, and Economics. Dr. Albertson has taught at Virginia Wesleyan since 1979 and was recognized in four recent consecutive editions of "Who's Who Among America's Teachers."
Dr. Albertson has been deeply involved in civic and historical organizations, including the Olde Towne Civic League and the Olde Towne Foundation. He authored Images of America: Portsmouth, Virginia (Arcada Publishing Company) to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the city of Portsmouth. Dr. Albertson was the first recipient of the Emily N. Spong Historic Preservation Award. He has been active with the Board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Hampton Roads and the "Virginia Beach 2007" commission, where he had a leading part in the ceremonies commemorating the first landing by the English explorers in 1607.
Dr. Albertson is a member of Phi Alpha Theta (History), Sigma Beta Delta (Business), Pi Alpha Alpha (Public Administration), and Phi Kappa Phi (Academic Excellence). He lives in Portsmouth with his wife, Lorraine.