Eight Lee University faculty members have recently been awarded tenure by Lee’s Board of Directors. Lee President Paul Conn congratulated the faculty members after the January 11 board meeting, praising them for their excellence in teaching and investments in the lives of their students. The faculty members include James Frost, Mike Iosia, Stacey Isom, Bill Kamm, Sherry Kasper, Alexander Steffanell, Lisa Stephenson and Christine Williams.

James Frost began his career at Lee as a part-time teacher in 2003 and became an assistant professor of music in 2007. He currently serves as Director of the Opera Theatre and teaches applied voice. Prior to Lee, Frost performed in regional theaters in the United States and lived in Germany for 20 years, where he gained professional experience at various opera houses, including the Stadttheater Hildesheim, Oper Bonn, Oper Leipzig in Germany and the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, Austria.

Frost earned his BM and MM in Vocal Performance from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his BBA from Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Mike Iosia was welcomed to the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Secondary Education as an assistant professor of exercise physiology in 2007. Before Lee, Iosia was a post-doctoral research fellow in exercise and sports nutrition at Baylor University. He was a strength and conditioning coach for nine years at the NCAA Division IA level with stops at Auburn University, Tulane University and spent his last year of his doctoral work as an intern in the Crimson Tide weight room.

Iosia earned his PhD from the University of Alabama, his MEd from Auburn University, and his BS from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Stacey Isom became an assistant professor of creative writing for Lee’s Department of Language & Literature in 2007. Her plays include “On the 8’s,” “California Dreamin’,” “Smokin’ Devils,” “Letters to John Lennon,” “Touching Aurora,” and “Dough & Cookies.” Isoms plays have received readings, productions or awards from 3rd Course Theatre, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, the O’Neill Center (semi-finalist), the EstroGenius Festival, the Barter Theatre’s Festival of Appalachian Plays & Playwrights, First Stage LA, the Playwright’s Theatre (Dallas), and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

Isom earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University.

Dr. William (Bill) Kamm became a faculty member in 2007 when he joined the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary and Special Education as an assistant professor. Prior to Lee, Kamm served as an administrator for Lake Park Academy in North Carolina and for private Christian schools in Ohio and Kentucky. He received his principal’s certification from the University of North Carolina.

Kamm earned his EdD from Liberty University, his MA from Appalachian State University and his BS from Concordia University.

Dr. Sherry Kasper joined Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as an assistant professor of biology in 2007. Before Lee, she was a post-doctoral research assistant in the Department of Surgery at the UTK Graduate School of Medicine. In 2006 Kasper received the Mead Johnson Award in the Endocrinology and Metabolism from the American Physiological society as well as the post-doctoral Caroline tum Suden/Frances A. Hellenbrandt Award for best abstract research.

Kasper earned her PhD from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and her BA from Maryville College.

Dr. Alexander Steffanell was welcomed into the Department of Language and Literature in 2007. Prior to joining Lee’s faculty, he taught at Universidad del Atlantica until 2000 in Colombia, South America, Miami University in Ohio, and then transferred to the University of Florida in 2003. Since arriving at Lee, Steffanell has been involved in organizing cross cultural trips in Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Colombia. Steffanell recently had a book published in Bogota, Colombia, and has also published a variety of Spanish American literature and language articles in academic journals in the United States, Germany, and Colombia.

Steffanell earned his PhD from the University of Florida, his MA from the Miami University of Ohio, and his BA from Universidad del Atlantico, Colombia.

Dr. Lisa Stephenson joined Lee’s Department of Theology in 2007 as an assistant professor of systematic theology. She is the co-chair for SECSOR’s “Women, Gender and Religion” group, and the Coordinator of Lee’s RELG200 program. For her dissertation she studied and wrote about the role of women in the church, which was published in Brill’s Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies series. In 2012 she received Lee’s Excellence in Scholarship Award.

Stephenson earned her PhD from Marquette University in religious studies, and her MA and BA from Lee University.

Dr. Christine Williams joined Lee’s Department of Communication Arts in 2007 as an assistant professor of theatre. She has directed, produced, or designed over 20 theatre productions. At Lee she has directed “The Chairs,” “The Trojan Women,” “An Ideal Husband,” “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “My Fair Lady” and “Tartuffe.” She has published articles on Tudor theatre history and presented papers at several national and regional conferences.

Williams earned her PhD and MA from Bowling Green State University and her BA from the University of Dallas.