MC welcomes four new educators for 2019-20 academic year

Aug. 20, 2019

This fall, Maryville College welcomes to its campus one associate professor, two assistant professors and one visiting lecturer, bringing the total number of full-time faculty members to 78.

“The College has many great things to offer, but really at the heart of what we do is teaching. Naturally we seek to hire individuals who are professionally qualified in their areas of expertise, but they also have to be skilled and passionate teachers,” said Dr. Daniel Klingensmith, interim vice president and dean of the College. “These new faculty all bring new strengths to our curriculum, and I’m confident that they will serve our students well.”

In the College’s Division of Behavioral Sciences, Angela Myers joins the faculty as an associate professor of American Sign Language-English Interpreting. Myers earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University in Ft. Wayne, Ind.; a bachelor’s degree in Sign Language Interpreting from the University of New Mexico; and a master’s degree in Deaf Education from Western Maryland College in Westminster, Md.

Previously, Myers was an associate professor at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind., where she taught American Sign Language, Interpreting and Deaf Studies. She served as program chair from 2007 until 2018. She has also worked in private practice since 1995, providing sign language interpreting services to individuals and agencies on a contractual basis in the following settings: medical, business, religious, legal, K-12 and secondary educational, theatrical and performance, video relay service center, social service and mental health.

Dr. Nikki Hilton joins the Division of Behavioral Sciences as an assistant professor of psychology. Hilton holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from New York University and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

A licensed psychologist, Hilton most recently served as a clinical assistant professor of psychology at East Tennessee State University and an adjunct clinical assistant professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her dissertation title is Predictors of heterosexual siblings’ acceptance of their lesbian sister or gay brother.

In the College’s Division of Social Sciences, Dr. Rayanne Streeter joins the faculty as an assistant professor of sociology. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., and she holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in sociology, as well as a certificate in women’s and gender studies, from Virginia Tech. Her dissertation title is Are All Bodies Good Bodies? Redefining Femininity Through Discourses of Health, Beauty, and Gender in Body Positivity.

Previously, she was an instructor at Virginia Tech, where she taught courses on social research methods, introductory sociology, gender relations, and dating, marriage and divorce. Her teaching interests include research methods, introductory sociology, sociology of gender, social inequality, sociology of culture and popular culture, and sociology of the body. She is the co-author of Gender in Film and Video (Routledge, 2018).

Dr. Kristin Riggsbee joins the Division of Health Sciences and Outdoor Studies as a visiting lecturer in health promotion. Riggsbee earned a bachelor’s degree in human ecology/food, nutrition and dietetics from Tennessee Technological University and a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences with an emphasis on community nutrition from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her dissertation title is A Multi-Method Measurement of Adolescent Food Environments and Related Health Behaviors: Community, Home, and School Environment. She also holds a practical nursing diploma from Tennessee Technology Center of Nashville.

Since 2016, Riggsbee has served as an adjunct faculty member at Maryville College, where she taught introduction to nutrition, community health and issues in health. In addition to serving as a graduate research assistant and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Tennessee, she also has worked as a licensed practical nurse in a rehabilitation setting, office setting and long-term care facility.

Promotions, Title Changes and Reassignments

  • Dr. Cynthia Gardner has been appointed chair of the Division of Education
  • Dr. Traci Haydu has been appointed chair of the newly-formed Division of Health Sciences & Outdoor Studies and professor of exercise science
  • Dr. Sharon May has been named chair of the Division of Social Sciences
  • Dr. Neil Norman has been reappointed as visiting lecturer in English
  • Dr. Sam Overstreet has been appointed chair of the Division of Languages & Literature
  • Skip Savage has been named lecturer in chemistry
  • Will White has been reappointed as visiting lecturer in American Sign Language
  • Dr. Chase Worley ’11 has been reappointed as visiting lecturer in mathematics
Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”