(Posted May 6, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Five members of the Juniata College faculty received promotions in the 2001-2002 academic year at the annual Juniata College Board of Trustees spring meeting.

Mary Hague, assistant professor of politics, was promoted to associate professor; David Lehmann, assistant professor of geology, was promoted to associate professor; John Matter, assistant professor of biology, was promoted to associate professor; Emil Nagengast, assistant professor of politics, was promoted to associate professor; and Russell Shelley, Elma Stine Heckler Assistant Professor of Music, was promoted to associate professor.

Hague joined the Juniata faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor after working as a visiting assistant professor at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. from 1995 to 1996. She also was a faculty member at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg, N.C. from 1994 to 1995 and a visiting assistant professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. in 1994.

She earned a bachelor's degree in politics from Wake Forest University in 1984. She earned a master's degree and a doctorate in political science in 1987 and 1994 respectively, both from Boston College. She teaches courses on Congress and the Presidency, political interest groups and political parties and electoral campaigns.

She recently published the essay "Municipal Parks in New York City: Olmsted, Riis, and the Transformation of the Urban Landscape, 1858-1897" with co-author Nancy Siegel, curator of the Juniata Museum of Art, in the book "Transformations of Urban and Suburban Landscapes."

Lehmann came to Juniata in 1997 after working in the private sector as a geologist and an environmental and engineering consultant. He operated his own consulting firm from 1995 to 1997. From 1993 to 1995, he worked for Huntingdon Engineering and Environmental in Middleport, N.Y. and Rochester, N.Y.

He earned a bachelor's degree in geology and writing from Juniata College in 1983. He went on to earn a master's degree in geology in 1986 and another master's degree in technical writing in 1987 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He earned a doctorate in geology from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.

Lehman's research interests center on the paleontology and sedimentary geology of the Appalachian region and northeast United States. In addition to the courses he teaches in geology, he also teaches and helped develop Juniata's Remote Field Course, an interdisciplinary summer course in Utah and Colorado.

Biologist John Matter joined the Juniata faculty in 1997 after working as a postdoctoral researcher at Clemson University's Institute of Wildlife and Environmental Toxicology. Matter teaches courses in environmental toxicology and zoology and specializes in herpetology, the study of amphibians and reptiles.

He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Missouri in 1983. He went on to earn a master's degree in biology from St. Louis University in 1987, and a doctorate in biology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. in 1995. In addition to his postdoctoral work at Clemson, Matter also was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of South Dakota from 1994 to 1995.

He is a member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists League and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Nagengast came to Juniata in 1996 as an assistant professor of politics. He teaches courses on international law and human rights, European politics, U.S. foreign policy and modern Germany. He also advises the college's Model United Nations student club.

Nagengast received Juniata's Beachley Junior Faculty Award in 2000 (The award is now known as the Henry and Joan Gibbel Award for Distinguished Teaching by a faculty member with fewer than six years of service.) He earned a bachelor's degree in German and political science from Middlebury College in 1984. He went on to earn a master's degree in political science from the University of Kansas in 1990 and a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996.

During his studies, Nagengast also attended Karl Marx Universtat in Leipzig, East Germany, the Krasnodar Russian Language Institute in the former Soviet Union and Johannes Gutenberg Universtat in Mainz, West Germany.
Before coming to Juniata, he worked as a teaching fellow at the University of Pittsburgh from 1995 to 1996 and as an instructor at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for International Studies in 1994 and 1995.

Shelley joined the Juniata faculty in 1990 as an instructor in music. He is conductor of the Juniata College Concert Choir and the Juniata College Choral Union. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1997. He teaches courses in music appreciation, music theory and applied aesthetics.

He earned a bachelor's degree in music education and sacred music from Baptist Bible College in Clark's Summit, Pa. He went on to earn a master's degree in vocal performance from Mansfield University and earned a doctorate in music education from Penn State University. He received the college's Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1997.

Shelley directs Juniata's Alumni Choir and also serves as conductor of the State College Choral Society and the State College Madrigal Singers. Prior to coming to Juniata, Shelley was an instructor of music at Penn State from 1988 to 1990. He also worked as a music teacher at Ross Corners Academy in Vestal, N.Y. from 1986 to 1988.

Shelley is the Repertoire and Standards Committee Chair of the American Choral Directors Association-Pennsylvania and is past-president of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Choral Association. Other professional affiliations include the Music Educators National Conference, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.