Nine new faculty members have joined Rogers State University in time for the new academic year.
The faculty appointments recently were approved by The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, the governing board for RSU.
More than 70 percent of RSU faculty members have earned terminal degrees, a statistic that is among the highest of all regional universities in Oklahoma.
New faculty members at RSU include Charles Atkins, business instructor; Kay Bolding, nursing instructor; Nancy Diede, assistant professor of nursing; Helen Farrar, nursing instructor; Ellen Feigenbaum, Spanish instructor; Susan Payne, department head and professor of sport management; Marsha LeeAnn Sipes, nursing instructor; Tommy Sellers, business instructor; and John Uzzo, associate professor of accounting.
Atkins has had a long career in management, marketing and sales at several international companies. Most recently, he served as a consultant for several technology-based businesses and taught at Oral Roberts University. In addition, he was president of Lee International Holding and vice president – international for DA, Inc., an international manufacturer of dispensing solutions and products; vice president of sales and marketing for haddComm International, Inc., a vendor of telecommunications products and services; vice president of sales for Ferry Morse Co., an international company serving the consumer industry; and vice president of sales and marketing for P.M., Inc., a manufacturing, distribution and restaurant company. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Houston and bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University in Kansas.
Bolding most recently worked as the vice president of clinical services and chief nursing officer for the Saint Francis Heart Hospital in Tulsa. She has held several leadership positions at healthcare organizations throughout the nation. Bolding earned her master’s degree in nursing and healthcare administration from Texas Woman’s University and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Florida.
Diede brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education and nearly 30 years of nursing experience to RSU. Most recently she served as an instructor at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee. Prior to her work at OSU, she served as the dean and associate professor for the School of Health Sciences at Bacone College. Diede is a registered nurse and has held several faculty and clinical positions in Oklahoma and Minnesota including work in home health and rural community health settings. She is pursing a doctoral degree in high education administration from Oklahoma State University and earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing from the University of North Dakota.
Farrar previously worked as an adjunct clinical faculty member for the RSU Health Sciences Department. Her clinical areas of expertise include mental health and gerontology. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Oklahoma and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from OU. She also earned an associate degree in applied science from RSU.
Feigenbaum recently taught Spanish at the University of Ohio Eastern and the University of Pittsburgh. She received a master’s degree in Hispanic linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Binghamton University. She also studied at universities in Chile and Canada.
Prior to joining RSU, Payne served as the chair of the Department of Kinesiology at East Central University in Ada. In addition, she served as program coordinator for the graduate program in sports administration and the head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country teams. She earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Oklahoma Baptist University. Payne earned her master’s degree from the University of Wyoming and her Ph.D. from Texas Woman’s University. Both graduate degrees are in exercise physiology.
Sellers has served as an adjunct instructor at RSU since 1995. He also has taught at Tulsa Community College, worked as a logistics manager at Atlantic Research in Dumfries, Va., and was a telecommunications maintenance officer with the U.S. Marine Corps. He received a master’s degree from Southern Nazarene University, a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Wesleyan University and an associate’s degree from RSU. His specialties include business administration, management, human resources and leadership.
Prior to joining RSU, Sipes worked as a registered nurse in both school and hospital settings, most recently at Claremore Regional Hospital. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Northwestern State University in Louisiana and is completing a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Arkansas.
Uzzo is a C.P.A. who has operated his own accounting firm in Tahlequah since 1998. He also has served as controller for the Cherokee Nation, where he supervised 30 accountants and 15 information systems employees. He was chief financial officer for Utopia Oil Co., Barnett Tank Lines, Inc., and Smith Trucking Co. He worked as a staff accountant for Arthur Young and Co. in Oklahoma City. He served on the faculties of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and Phillips University in Enid. He received doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma.