This year, Shepherd University hired four full-time professors for the new lecturer position. Two of the lecturers went to the English department while the remaining two were split between the math and the chemistry departments.
Joining the chemistry department as a lecturer is Dr. Kyle Hassler, who has been an adjunct professor at Shepherd since 2008. She has also been an adjunct professor of chemistry at Northern Virginia Community College. This semester, Dr. Hassler will be teaching chemistry 101: Chemistry in Society and the accompanying lab.
Dr. Hassler is from Purcellville, Va. and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in textile science from the University of Delaware. She then received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina.
She originally worked for U.S. Army in Massachusetts as a civilian chemist. While working there, she helped with research and studies to develop an impermeable material to protect against chemical agents.
Dr. Hassler also lived in Ft. Belvoir, Va. and worked on the Land Warrior program, the army’s first attempt at a cyber warrior. While there, she was a project manager for the development of protective clothing and individual equipment for the program.
During her time working with the Land Warrior program, she witnessed some unforgettable events. Dr. Hassler said the most memorable experience from her time working with the program “was being allowed to ride along on a C-5 aircraft with a platoon of parachute infantry…the first time soldiers jumped actually wearing body armor.”
New to the Math Department is Dr. Perry Wood, who lives in Gettysburg, Pa. and comes from. This semester, he is teaching two sections of math 108, and one section of math 105 and math 155.
He said that he likes teaching most when he can utilize real world applications. For instance, his electrical engineering came into play during one of his classes.
“In my Algebra class we went over a problem R1+R2…which is the same equation for a closed circuit,” said Wood.
Dr. Wood comes to Shepherd with a bachelor’s degree in physics from Gettysburg College, a master’s degree in astronomy from Pennsylvania State University, and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia.
Before joining the faculty at Shepherd, Dr. Wood taught at other colleges. Most recently, he worked at Pennsylvania State University: Mont Alto, where he taught electrical engineering and astronomy. He has also been an assistant professor of mathematics and physics at Wilson College, and an adjunct laboratory instructor at Gettysburg College.
Besides teaching, Dr. Wood enjoys amateur radio and has done emergency radio at events like the Gettysburg, Pa. reenactments and bike racing events. He enjoys biking and likes to take his bicycle up and down the C&O canal path. Dr. Wood is also a fan of gardening and enjoys growing fruit, vegetables and flowers in his home gardens.
With the additional budget cuts seen around campus, the department chairs would like to see more lecturer positions in the future. The lecturer position gives the students teachers with a higher education more than most adjunct professors and helps different departments manage the distribution of courses more easily.
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