Lee University welcomed 15 new faculty members to its campus this fall, seven of whom have been added to its College of Arts & Sciences, five to the School of Nursing, two to the School of Music, and one in the School of Religion.

Dr. Sarah Bumps joins Lee’s business department as an assistant professor of accounting. She comes to Lee after teaching accounting and business law at Regent University. Her business experience is varied and includes non-profit and project accounting.

Bumps earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Arts (MA) from Regent University. She earned her Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Christian University.

Dr. Brent Ferrell, a Lee alum, returns to campus as an assistant professor of chemistry in the Department of Natural Sciences. Ferrell has been an instructor of chemistry and biochemistry since 2012 at the University of Northern Colorado. He has also spent three years as a laboratory teaching assistant at the University of Kentucky. Ferrell’s involvement as a chemical education researcher led him to receive the National Honors Society Student Research Award in 2014 from the University of Northern Colorado.

Ferrell earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Northern Colorado, his Master of Science (MS) from the University of Kentucky, and his Bachelor of Science (BS) from Lee University.

Coty McFarland joins the business department as an associate lecturer in business. He has served as the director of quality assurance/new product introductions for Whirlpool Corporation since 2008. Prior to this, he was the director of engineering for the North America region for Whirlpool. During his time at Whirlpool/ Maytag Corporation, he assumed leadership of the Cleveland Technology Center overseeing 88 employees.

McFarland received his MS at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and his BS from Francis Marion University.

Dr. Allison Pierce joins the business department as an assistant professor of business administration. She has most recently worked with Century Life Pharmacy developing a pharmaceutical business plan and has also served as division president for the central division of Sava Senior Care. Prior to this, Pierce spent 10 years with Life Care Centers of America serving as senior vice president of people development.

Pierce has won numerous awards including the 2003 National Young Businesswoman of the Year and 2003 Governor’s Outstanding Achievement Award for the state of Tennessee. She was also selected to lead a subcommittee for the Bush Administration to address the national labor issues related to the nation’s healthcare profession. She earned her PhD from Northcentral University and both her Master of Business Administration and a BS from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Joshua Rio-Ross joins Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as a visiting lecturer in mathematics. Prior to Lee, he worked as an adjunct instructor of mathematics at Southern Connecticut State University. While in graduate studies at the University of Missouri, Rio-Ross received the Mathematics Department Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2011, he received the Peggy N. Null Award for Research Writing and was in the chaplain program for three years at Oral Roberts University. He served one year as the Yale Divinity School Marquand Chapel minister and was a fellow at the Rivendell Institute at Yale University.

Rio-Ross received an MA from Yale University and an MA from the University of Missouri. He earned a BS in English literature and a BS in mathematics from Oral Roberts University.

Dr. Michael Ray Smith joins Lee’s Department of Communication Arts as a professor of public relations. Prior to Lee, he served as a professor in the School of Communication and Media at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Smith was selected as the first university-wide award recipient for teaching excellence at Campbell University and was named one of the top 50 journalism professors in 2012. In addition to authoring eight books, he has been a reporter and editor and worked in mainstream newspapers such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and contributed freelance articles to periodicals such as The Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA TODAY.

Smith earned his PhD from Regent University, his MS from Shippensburg University, and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland.

Ashlee Stephens joins Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as a visiting lecturer in mathematics. She most recently served at Eastside High School as a student teacher. Prior to her time at Eastside, Stephens was at Greenville Technical College as a mathematics adjunct instructor. She was a National Merit Finalist in 2008, a recipient of the University of Louisiana, Monroe (ULM) Emerging Scholars Program in 2008, and received 2nd place in the Department of Chemistry at the ULM Ninth Annual Student Research Symposium.

Stephens earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Clemson University and her BS from ULM.

Dr. ChoEun Lee joins the Lee University School of Music as an assistant professor of collaborative piano/vocal coaching. She most recently served as collaborative pianist/vocal and instrumental coach/opera music director at California State University. Prior to that, she served as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Southern California for three years and at the University of Cincinnati for three years prior to that. Dr. Lee was chapter vice-president of the San Bernardino/Riverside Chapter of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers from 2015 to present.

Lee received her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) at the University of Southern California, a Master of Music (MM) from the University of Cincinnati, and a Bachelor of Music from Kyung-Won University, Korea.

Dr. José Ruiz joins the School of Music as an assistant professor of music business. Ruiz most recently served as a film scorer, commercial music composer, and music supervisor for Hayden5Media, LLC, where he was a composer, arranger, and producer of music for nationally-publicized television and internet commercials. Prior to that, he served as a national music education consultant, researcher, curriculum/program developer and motivational speaker. Ruiz received a Latin Grammy Award and is the recipient of 42 International Downbeat Student Music awards.

Ruiz earned his PhD and Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of South Florida and his MM from the University of Miami.

Jeannie Duff joins Lee’s School of Nursing as a lecturer in nursing. A registered nurse (RN) since 1995, Duff most recently served with Tennova Healthcare in Cleveland as a charge nurse of the pediatric unit. Prior to Tennova, she was the clinical care coordinator at Woods Home Health in Etowah, Tennessee, and has also served as an occupational health nurse at McKee Foods, a skilled wing supervisor at Life Care of Collegedale, and an RN at Family Home Care in Cleveland.

This past spring semester, Duff served as part-time faculty at Lee University teaching lab and clinicals. She earned both her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Jacksonville University.

Dr. Brenda Jones joins the School of Nursing as an assistant professor of nursing. She is a certified nurse-midwife, family nurse practitioner, advanced practice nurse in Tennessee, advanced RN practitioner in Florida, and has a multistate license RN in Tennessee, Georgia, and California. She has served as adjunct nursing faculty for the University of Miami teaching nurse-midwifery students and at Gulf-Coast University for nurse practitioner students. She has been a childbirth instructor/educator for 20 years and the medical director of a maternity home for unwed mothers.

Jones received her PhD from Walden University, her MSN from the University of Florida at Gainesville, and her BSN from the University of South Florida.

Jessica Price joins the School of Nursing as a lecturer in nursing. She comes to Lee from Sweetwater Hospital Home Health where she has served as a community health nurse from 2012 to present. She has more than six years of clinical experience in both intensive care and community health nursing.

Price earned her MSN from Southern Adventist University and her BSN from Tennessee Wesleyan College.

Dr. Barbara Richardson joins the School of Nursing as an assistant professor of nursing. She has been most recently employed with Indian River Medical Center Cardiology in Vero Beach, Florida, as an advanced registered nurse in cardiology. Prior to this, Richardson served in primary/urgent care, mobile units, Correctional Health, Home Health and Labor & Delivery. She also taught as a Clinical Professor for Medical –Surgical Nursing I at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She is Board Certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support. She has taught nurse practitioners at the Master and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) levels utilizing her strong practice background.

Richardson earned her DNP from the University of Florida, and both her MSN and BSN from Florida Atlantic University.

Kathleen Rose joins the School of Nursing as an assistant professor of nursing. Rose has been serving as associate professor of the Chattanooga State Community College Nursing Program for the past 10 years. Prior to this, she served as coordinator for the licensed practical nurse to RN transition summer program and paramedic to RN transition summer program at Chattanooga State. Since 2013, she has been an online instructor for East Tennessee State University. Rose received the Innovations Award for the Tennessee Board of Regents in 2008 and the Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center Faculty Excellence Award in 2005.

Rose received her MSN from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and her BSN from Ball State University.

Kevin Snider, a Lee alum, returns to campus as a visiting lecturer in ethics in Lee’s School of Religion. Snider has taught theology and Christian ethics part-time for the university since August 2013. He has also been a graduate teaching assistant in Systematic Theology. He is a member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the Society of Christian Philosophers. He served in the National Guard as a Cavalry Scout and in the United States Army Reserves.

Snider earned a Master of Arts (MA) and a BA from Lee University. He also earned the Master of Divinity at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary.