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 me to further my professional development and research in the field as well as attend conferences. All of these very important endeavors provide me with additional resources and further develop my 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. I am pleased and honored to be a part of such a dynamic program and initiative. This endowment allows me to participate in activities to help ensure our students are receiving the most relevant experiences and knowledge in the ever-evolving field of finance. I am most grateful to Opportunity Bank for this thoughtful and supportive gift.

The Guido Bugni Professorship

David Hitt, Ph.D.

While at Carroll, Dr. Hitt has taught a variety of subjects ranging from introductory and specialized courses in his area of expertise, organic chemistry, to freshman-level general chemistry courses. Hitt was one of several Carroll faculty who developed and currently teach an interdisciplinary course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), Integrated Laboratory, which serves as a capstone experience for students majoring in Chemistry. He has also converted his second-semester Organic Chemistry Lab course into a CURE through the incorporation of multi-step organic synthesis projects of organic compounds relevant for ongoing research at Carroll.

Hitt’s research interests range from topics in physical organic chemistry and organometallics to chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. His research program is currently investigating the structure-activity relationships of different classes of antibiotic compounds through collaboration with faculty in the Carroll Biology department.

The Henry (Hank) Burgess Professorship in English

Jeff Morris

Areas of research or interests include: The English renaissance-specifically authors like John Milton and William Shakespeare.  He has recently published an online edition of Macbeth for Gleeditions and is currently working on editions of The Merchant of Venice and King Lear. Morris also received the Fulbright Scholarship to Egypt, in 2005, was a writer for Montana Magazine and a participant in International Milton Symposium in Grenoble, France.

"I feel blessed every day to have a place in this college. The students care about their studies and have a good time as well. The city of Helena is humble and right-sized for raising my family. There are trails that crisscross the hills south of town, so running, hiking, and mountain biking with my wife is an almost daily joy."

The Sue A. Buswell Endowed Professorship in Nursing

Meredith Krutar

Assistant Professor, earned her Master’s Degree in Nursing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. She is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner in primary care with an emphasis and love of pediatrics and women's health.

Her current clinical focus is on utilizing telemedicine to provide increased access to women’s healthcare to patients across the state of Montana. Meredith’s specialty is on fertility awareness, the Creighton Model of Natural Family Planning, and NaProtechnology.

The Father Wiliam F. Greytak Endowed Professorship for History and Humanities

Jeanette Fregulia, Ph.D.

Dr. Fregulia earned her Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno (2007) in Renaissance Italian History. Her research focuses on merchants and material, cultural, and social exchanges between early modern Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as on the role of gender in the the history of Mediterranean exchanges. In addition, she holds a Masters Degree in Middle East Area Studies from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, and continues to actively pursue research in the history of the Middle East and Islam. Dr. Fregulia's research takes her to Italy and the eastern Mediterranean.

Monsignor Joseph Harrington Endowed Professorship for Nursing

Maria Brosnan

Brosnan earned her Masters Degree in Nursing, specializing as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, at Rush University of Chicago. When she is not teaching, Maria enjoys riding her horses, spending time with friends and being outdoors.

Courses taught: Fundamentals and Health Promotion, Assessment and Health Promotion, Pathophysiology & Pharmacology, Clinical Nursing Care, Capstone Clinical and NCLEX preparation

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 me to refocus much of my work into the possibilities of others. Especially important to these funds as I’ve 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. I hope and intend for the fullness of the Catholic intellectual and justice tradition to emerge through this Professorship.

William J. Lannan Endowed Chair of Physics

Kelly Cline

Famous for his packed public lectures in which he explores, examines, and explains astronomy, physics, and mathematics, Dr. Kelly Cline is not only an accomplished lecturer but also a gifted scholar and a world traveler. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dr. Cline worked as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Stirling's Department of Computing and Mathematics in Scotland while on sabatical from his position at Carroll. While in Scotland, Dr. Cline took his public lectures "global," presenting the world of astronomy to the Ochil Hills community and arousing the same kind of enthusiasm and praise he is met with in Helena. In continuing to work from the scholarly perspective on the pedagogy of classroom voting in mathematics, Dr. Cline's work reveals a new way in which instructors can keep their students engaged in course material.

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

Gary Fischer

Being part of the Carroll College faculty is an honor in itself. Being recognized as a recipient for the Maierle and Morrison-Maierle Endowed Professorship has allowed my career at Carroll College to elevate to a level that encompasses recognition, integrity and the freedom to diversify my influence on students. With funding from the professorship, I have been afforded the freedom to pursue the development of a faculty-led course involving engineering and nursing in New Zealand, and an integrated learning course with the History Department for Water Development in the West. With regard to scholarship, myself and another local engineer were afforded the chance to prepare a professional continuing education course for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) on Water Distribution Design. I am greatful to be able to be part of these new teaching avenues, which would not be possible without the professorship funding. It has opened up a spectrum of opportunities beyond my normal duties and has added variety that might not be possible without the added funding. My career and interaction with students has been expanded and energized. I am doubly honored and greatful.

The Mandeville Endowed Professorship in Accounting

Belle Marie

The Mandeville Endowed Professorship In Accounting has been instrumental in supporting accounting students in a broad variety of activities including student participation in the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy Center for Public Trust (NASBA CPT) Ethical Leadership Certificate Program, student attendance at accounting conferences and networking events with the Montana Society of CPAs (MSCPA) and Helena Chapter of MSCPA, student access to FASB/GASB Codification for student research of current accounting issues, book scholarship awards for senior accounting students, and sponsorship of Carroll College Business Department lectures such as Cynthia Cooper, best-selling author, corporate whistleblower, and Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year, whose team unraveled the largest corporate fraud in history at WorldCom. None of these activities would be possible without the support of the Mandeville Endowed Professorship in Accounting.

James J. Manion Endowed Chair in Biology

Brandon Sheafor, Ph.D.

Dr. Sheafor's areas of interest include the physiological ecology of vertebrates, amphibian decline, adaptation to high altitude environments.

He 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

Marie Suthers, Ph.D.

Dr. Marie Suthers has more than 25 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

Annette Ryerson is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Business Department at Carroll College. 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 time in various journals and reviews as well. She advises Carroll's Enactus club.

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

John L. Scharf, Ph.D.

The Roberts-Nix Professorship in Engineering provides me with the support and capacity that I need in order to work most effectively in serving our Carroll students as the Director of Carroll's Engineering Programs and as the Lead Faculty Advisor for our Carroll Chapter of Engineers Without Boarders - USA. As Director of Engineering, my work focuses on providing nothing less than the best engineering education and professional opportunities for Carroll students and alumni. As Faculty Advisor for Carroll EWB, I am able to develop incredible educational, professional development and global service opportunities for Carroll students in engineering, as well as for those in many other disciplines. The Roberts-Nix salary stipend allowed me the time to devote a significant portion of my work toward successfully fulfilling both of these responsibilities. I am extremely grateful for the Roberts-Nix support I receive. With the work I am enabled to do, the Professorship translates directly into excellent support for, and service to Carroll students.

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

Dr. John Rowley

Professor Rowley grew up in Montana and attended Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) in Kalispell, Montana before transferring to the University of Alaska (UAF) Fairbanks to complete his Bachelors's degree.  Professor Rowley attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, Maryland where he studied the mechanisms of interfacial and interparticle electron-transfer within high-surface-area metal-oxide thin films under the guidance of Professor Gerald J. Meyer.  After graduating from JHU, Professor Rowley worked with Professor Bruce A. Parkinson as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wyoming on the SHArK project and the simultaneous acquisition of attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and UV-Vis spectra on dye-sensitized single crystal electrodes.

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

Katherine Greiner

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.

Keith and Margaret Hansen Endowed Professorship in Biological Sciences

Theresa McHugh, Ph.D.

Theresa McHugh, Ph.D., joined the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2018. Theresa earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Notre Dame, and graduate degrees (M.S. and Ph.D.) from Northern Arizona University. She spent one year as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) in Flagstaff, AZ, studying microbial ecology through stable isotope probing. Theresa was also a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Moab, UT, where she examined the influence of atmospheric water vapor on soil carbon fluxes. Theresa's research generally explores how environmental conditions impact the composition of soil microbial communities and the key processes that those microbes mediate. Prior to coming to Carroll, Theresa spent two years on the faculty at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. She enjoys science outreach and outdoor adventures of all varieties.

Gregory V. Roeben and Susan F. Raunig Endowed Professorship in Social Justice and the Human-Animal Relationship

Eric Daryl Meyer, Ph.D.

Dr. Eric Daryl Meyer grew up in the mountains of Colorado. As a theologian with strong interests in the land, wild places, and ecological degradation, his research focuses on all the ways that the Christian theological tradition draws boundaries between human beings and nonhuman animals––and how to bridge those boundaries. He earned a Ph.D. in Theology from Fordham University in 2014 and taught at Fordham and Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles) before coming to Carroll.

At Carroll, he offers a range of courses, from "Ecological Theology" to "Healthcare Ethics" to "Ecologies of Religion: Humans, Animals, and Nature." His publications include an article on the "Political Ecology of Human Dignity" and a book entitled, Inner Animalities: Theology and the End of the Human (Fordham UP, 2018).

Outside of the academic world, he has worked in wilderness education, environmental advocacy, and outdoor recreation for over a decade—including years in Montana as a member of a ski patrol and a wildland fire crew.