UMUC Asia - Faculty Biographies

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TIMOTHY WAGONER Location: Distance Education
Dr. Wagoner received his B.A. in liberal arts from Seattle Pacific University and his M.A. in education from Chapman College. In addition, he earned an M.Div. in counseling from Southern Seminary and a Ph.D. in religion and the psychology of religion from Baylor University. He has taught at Troy State University, the United States Air Force Academy, and Baylor University. A chaplain in the United States Air Force, Dr. Wagoner joined the Asian Division faculty in 1998 and has taught in Okinawa and for several years in the UMUC distance education program.

THOMAS WAHL Location: Distance Education
Mr. Wahl earned his B.A. in humanities from Seattle University where he remained to earn a B.S. in business administration. He subsequently earned an M.A. in communication from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Mr. Wahl taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has also been an instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, providing classes in resume writing and helping departing Air Force members develop their interviewing skills. Mr. Wahl joined the Asian Division faculty in 1998 and has taught in Okinawa and in the distance education program.

TOMI WAHLSTROM Location: Distance Education
Dr. Wahlstrom received his B.A. in psychology and his M.A. in human resource management from Hawaii Pacific University and his Doctor of Management from Colorado Technical University if Colorado Springs, Colorado. He also earned a certificate in quality management from Hawaii Pacific University. Dr. Wahlstrom has taught at several institutions including the University of Southern Colorado, the State University of New York College at Oneonta, Rollins College, American Intercontinental University, Edward Waters College, and at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland. He held administrative posts at several of these institutions, and also has a variety of professional employment and consulting experience in psychology and management. He joined the UMUC faculty in 2004 and has taught in Korea and the distance education program.

ROBERT WALKER Location: Okinawa
Dr. Walker holds a B.A. in political science from Goddard College, a J.D. from Vermont Law School, and an L.L.M. in tax law from Boston University Law School. While on a Fulbright International Fellowship (in conjunction with the University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Economics IRIS project), Dr. Walker taught for two years at the Kazahkstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and for the American Bankers Association. Dr. Walker was a practicing attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel (International and General Litigation Divisions), Internal Revenue Service, in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the bars of the State of New York, the District of Columbia, the United States Tax Court, the Federal Court of Claims, and the United States Supreme Court. Dr. Walker has extensive additional professional experience in government and industry as an attorney working in tax, estate and trust law. He has taught in Okinawa and Korea since joining the UMUC faculty in 2002.

JOHN WALSH Location: Guam
Dr. Walsh holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in education, both from Fordham University, an S.T.B. and S.T.M. in theology from Woodstock College in Woodstock, Maryland, and a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He taught for approximately twenty years at Guam Community College and the University of Guam. During many years of residence in Micronesia, Dr. Walsh also taught at Xavier Jesuit High School on Chuuk Island; worked with Peace Corps volunteers on skills for teaching English as a second language; was a Jesuit missionary, working in the outer islands of Yap; and taught at Dededo Junior High School. He has published a number of articles, mostly dealing with his research on various aspects of Micronesian languages. Dr. Walsh has taught for UMUC Asia on Guam since August 1999.

ELIZA WARREN Location: Distance Education
Ms. Warren received her B.A. in English and M.F.A. in English and creative writing from the University of Memphis, where she also earned a Certificate in Literature. Her M.F.A. thesis was a work of poetry entitled The Texture of Skin. Ms. Warren taught at the University of Memphis and Memphis College of Art and was nominated twice for meritorious teaching awards. She taught creative writing at the California Department of Corrections while serving as Artist in Residence for the California Arts Council Artists in Classrooms Program. She also taught at the University of Nevada at Reno. Ms. Warren has conducted poetry workshops for elementary and secondary schools, served as poetry editor for the River City Journal of Contemporary Culture at the University of Memphis, and has been a judge in a variety of writing contests. She has experience as a health educator with non-profit organizations in Thailand, China, England, and throughout the United States. Ms. Warren joined the UMUC faculty in 2001, and has taught in Korea and in UMUC's distance education program.

SARA WEINSTOCK Location: Distance Education
Ms. Weinstock earned her M.F.A. in theater from the University of California at San Diego and her B.A. in oral communication from the University of Central Oklahoma. She has experience as a stage manager for several local and regional theaters in the United States, including the Lyric Theater of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Massachusetts. More recently, she worked as the production coordinator for a California firm distributing animated films theatrically, and on television, the Internet, and home video/DVD. Ms Weinstock joined the UMUC faculty in 2003 and has taught in the Tokyo area.

RAY WEISENBORN Location: Korea
Dr. Ray Weisenborn comes to UMUC Asia with over twenty years¿ experience teaching at the university level. Dr. Weisenborn received his M.A. in speech and theatre from Eastern New Mexico University and his Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University. His rich career has taken him around the globe. Notably, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Egypt, the Executive Director of the Korea Fulbright Commission, and most recently was at Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait serving as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of mass communication. Dr. Weisenborn has also taught for UMUC Europe and joined UMUC Asia in 2009.

MERVIN WHEALY Location: Okinawa
Dr. Whealy earned a B.A. and M.A. in education from Fresno State College, an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Seminary, an M.A. in history from Wake Forest University, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has extensive teaching experience in both the Asian and European Divisions of UMUC, having initially joined the Asian Division in 1979 and rejoining UMUC in Asia most recently in 1993. He has also taught at several other institutions including Chapman College, Hancock College, Orange Coast College, Santa Ana College and the University of Nevada at Reno, as well as Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland, one of the institutions of the University System of Maryland. During three years with UMUC in Europe Dr. Whealy taught in Germany, Italy, and the Azores; in Asia he has taught at numerous locations in Japan, Korea, Kwajalein, and Okinawa.

DAVID WHITE Location: Okinawa
Dr. White earned a B.S. and M.A. from Indiana State University and a Ph.D. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, all in geology, and took post-doctoral work at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He has taught at Indiana State University, the Belen Campus of the University of New Mexico, Metro State College, in Denver, and the Community College of Denver. Dr. White has extensive professional experience in geology in the United States and overseas with organizations such as the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, New Mexico; the Directorate General of Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia; the U.S. Geological Survey; Echo Bay Exploration Co., Spokane, Washington; and with his own firm carrying out geological studies in the western United States. He has published a book and many professional articles based on his research. Dr. White first taught for UMUC Asia in 1998, rejoining the faculty in 2001, and has taught in Korea, Kwajalein, and Okinawa, and in the distance education program.

MARY WHITE Location: Okinawa
Ms. White earned a B.A. in Biology/Geology and a B.S. in Geology from Chapman College. She completed some graduate work at Stanford University in Geology but changed her major and earned a M.S. in Technical Communication from the University of Colorado at Denver. As a geologist, Ms. White has worked in the Western U.S., Saudia Arabia and Okinawa, Japan. As a technical communicator, she has written, edited, and published scientific papers, websites and educational and informational materials. Ms. White joined UMUC Asia in 2007 and teaches in Okinawa.

DENNIS WHITFORD Location: Distance Education
Dr. Whitford earned a B.S. in oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy, an M.S. in oceanography, an M.S. in meteorology, and a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School. While in the Navy, he served onboard surface warships, as a naval aviator, and as a meteorologist and oceanographer, retiring with the military rank of Captain. Dr. Whitford has more than twenty-five years practical experience as an oceanographer and meteorologist, with voyages on nearly all the world's oceans and many of its seas. He used oceanography and meteorology to track hostile submarines in the Pacific Ocean during the Cold War, led a one-year at-sea oceanographic expedition in the Indonesian Archipelago to explore previously uncharted waters, and served as a leader of scientific organizations conducting worldwide ocean surveys and providing global oceanographic and meteorological forecasts. Dr. Whitford has also been a professor of oceanography and department chair of the Oceanography Department at the U.S. Naval Academy, directing the largest undergraduate physical oceanography program in the United States. He is the recipient of various awards, was an Arleigh Burke Scholar and a U.S. Jaycees Outstanding Young Man of America, was selected to command several Navy organizations, is cited in Whos Who in America and Whos Who Among Americas Teachers, and is the author of many research publications.

DANA WIGGINS Location: Distance Education
Ms. Wiggins holds a B.A. in history and educations and an M.Ed. in secondary social science, both from Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia, and has taken additional graduate study toward the doctorate in history at Georgia State University. Her dissertation will deal with southern culture and social history as expressed in country music after World War II. Ms. Wiggins has taught at Georgia State University, Georgia Military College and Central Texas College and has additional teaching experience at the secondary level in Georgia an with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Yokosuka, Japan. She joined the UMUC faculty in 2004 and has taught in Yokosuka and in the distance education program.

ANITA WILLIAMS Location: Distance Education
Dr. Williams is an Education and Business Technology lecturer. She graduated Southeastern Louisiana University with a B.A. in Business Education, an M.B.A. from Southern Louisiana University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Administration from University of Southern Mississippi. She recently moved from Washington. Dr. Williams taught at Western Washington University, Everett Community College, and Skagit Valley College. Dr. Williams joined the UMUC Asia faculty in 1999 and began teaching in the distance education program in 2000.

KEVIN WILLIAMS Location: Japan
Kevin Williams took his B.A. in English, his master¿s in international business studies from the University of South Carolina, and his J.D. from Howard University. Mr. Williams has taught at the university level for over 5 years at Langston University in Oklahoma, University of Central Oklahoma, ITESM in Guadalajara, Mexico and WSI in Seoul, Korea. He has served as a consultant for Fortune 100 companies, entrepreneurs and non-profit entities. Outside the classroom, Mr. Williams enjoys practicing aikido and judo and holds a black belt in each. Mr. Williams joined UMUC Asia in 2009.

DAVID WILLS Location: Okinawa
Mr. Wills earned his B.S. in computer science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his M.S. in computer science from New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has taken additional graduate work in computer science at the University of Minnesota. He has taught at New Mexico State and the University of Minnesota, and during academic year 1990-91 in UMUC's European Division, at sites in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Mr. Wills has professional experience in the computer field with a number of organizations including the National Security Agency; Dynalectron Corporation, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; the department of physics at New Mexico State University; the New Mexico Solar Energy Institute; and the IBM and Honeywell corporations. He has taught in Korea and Okinawa, and in the UMUC distance education program, since joining the Asian Division faculty in 1996.

CHRISTINE WILSON Location: Japan
Dr. Wilson holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc., both in biology, from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She took additional graduate work at the University of Guelph, in Canada, as well as graduate work toward the doctorate in biology at Johannes Gutenberg Universatät in Mainz, Germany, where she was awarded her Ph.D. Dr. Wilson has taught at several institutions including three in Pennsylvania: Thiel College, the Shenango Valley Campus of Pennsylvania State University, and the Community College of Allegheny County. She also taught with UMUC in Europe, and at West Virgina State University. She has been a lab technician at Johannes Gutenberg Universatät in Germany. Ms. Wilson joined the UMUC Asia faculty in 2004 and has taught in Singapore, Misawa, and the UMUC distance education program.

JAMES WISSEL Location: Distance Education
After completing a B.A. in English from UMUC's European Division, Mr. Wissel went on to earn a B.S. in business and management from UMUC in Europe and an M.B.A. in administration and information systems from the University of Pittsburgh. He took additional graduate work toward his doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Wissel began teaching computer studies and business management classes for UMUC in Europe in 1987. He spent considerable time teaching in northern Italy, where he had earlier served as a Maryland Field Representative, and taught at other locations including Hungary and Bosnia. In 1999, he transferred to the Asian Division, teaching in Japan and Korea and in the UMUC distance education program.

PETER WODARZ Location: Okinawa
Mr. Wodarz holds a B.S. in English and German from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and an M.A. in literature from The American University. He has taught at The American University, and also at the secondary level. Mr. Wodarz has a wide variety of experience teaching English as a second language, having taught ESL to adult students in Washington, D.C., to international students aged ten to sixteen in Minnesota, and to Japanese children and adults in Osaka, Japan. He joined the UMUC faculty in May 1993 and has taught at numerous different locations in Korea, Japan, and Okinawa.

ANDREW WON Location: Okinawa
Mr. Won holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from George Washington University, and an M.S. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in applied mathematics, both from Johns Hopkins University. A certified electronics engineer, he was employed by Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland for seven years. He has extensive experience in developing networking solutions for a Westinghouse LAN; engineering, testing, and troubleshooting radar communications systems (RF and microwave); and designing digital circuits. Mr. Won also designed and assembled PC boards for electronic guidance systems, and modified and implemented software testing packages for the US government. His training includes concepts of advanced radar systems and documenting operations specifications for radar test sets. He joined the UMUC Asia faculty in 1994, and taught at numerous locations throughout Korea before relocating to Okinawa in 1997, teaching also in the UMUC distance education program.

JAMES WYATT Location: Japan
Dr. Wyatt earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Northeast Louisiana University. His Ph.D., also in English, is from the University of Kentucky, where his research was concentrated in Middle English literature; his dissertation involves an analysis of Malory's 'Tale of Gareth.' He has taught at Northeast Louisiana University and the University of Kentucky, and also at Lexington Community College, Lindsey Wilson College, and Prestonburg Community College. Dr. Wyatt joined the Asian Division in 1993 and has taught in Korea, Guam, and the Tokyo area, and in the UMUC distance education program.