BOONE, N.C. — Four Appalachian State University faculty have been accepted into the 2020 BRIDGES Academic Leadership for Women program sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The theme of this year’s program is “Leading in a Time of Transformation.”

Faculty selected for the 2020 BRIDGES program:

• Dr. Megen Culpepper, assistant professor in the A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).
• Dr. Leah Hamilton, associate professor in the Department of Social Work, Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS).
• Dr. Vicky Klima, professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, CAS.
• Dr. Rachel Wilson, associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Reich College of Education (RCOE).

BRIDGES is an inclusive professional development program for women in higher education who seek to gain or strengthen their academic leadership capabilities. It is designed to help women identify, understand and build their leadership roles in the academy.

Through the program, participants work toward the following:

• Developing insights into leadership, with a particular focus on the special skills and attributes women bring to their leadership roles.
• Acquiring an understanding of the many facets of colleges and universities.
• Refining and improving their cross-cultural communication skills.
• Creating a program of personal and professional development to benefit themselves and their institutions.

This fall, participants in the 2020 BRIDGES program will engage in four weekend sessions focused on topics such as organizational structure and behavior, financial resources, human resources, implicit bias, networking and strategic negotiations.

More on the 2020 BRIDGES participants

Dr. Megen Culpepper

Culpepper, who joined the A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences (CFS) as an assistant professor in 2014, said the BRIDGES program will provide her “tools to bring people together who may not agree and to empower woman early in their education just as I was by my wonderful mentors.”

She continued, “One of my biggest missions in mentoring my students is to help them find their voice. This is true for all of my students, but I have seen the female students struggle more in being heard. They have a difficult time finding out how to express themselves in a forceful way.”

Culpepper teaches classes in analytical and introductory chemistry, as well as biochemistry. Earlier this year, she was selected as the recipient of the Undergraduate Research Mentorship Excellence Award, conferred by Appalachian’s Office of Student Research.

Culpepper received her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Kansas in 2009, after which she joined the laboratory of Dr. Amy C. Rosenzweig at Northwestern University, where she was awarded a National Institute of Health postdoctoral fellowship for her research.

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Dr. Leah Hamilton

As an associate professor of social work at Appalachian, Hamilton teaches social welfare policy courses and conducts research related to family financial stability and basic income. She is co-author of the book “Incorporating Intersectionality in Social Work Practice, Research, Education and Policy.”

Through the BRDIGES program, Hamilton said she aims to explore challenges presented by higher education and best practices in academic leadership, as well as the avenues through which she can best serve Appalachian.

Hamilton’s career goals include making education more accessible to nontraditional students and addressing the barriers created by institutional and individual bias. She currently serves as basic income news and volunteer recruitment officer for the Basic Income Earth Network and as board vice president for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

She served as a foster care case worker for five years before earning her Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Arkansas. She also holds a BSW from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and an MSW from the University of Denver.

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Dr. Vicky Klima

Klima, a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, said she is looking forward to developing new tools through the BRIDGES program that will allow her to strengthen and support the Appalachian Community. She also hopes to expand her network of colleagues and mentors.

Klima has held various leadership roles at Appalachian, including serving as honors coordinator for the Department of Mathematical Sciences and chairing several university committees. Since 2019, she has served as a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) academic mentor in the Honors College.

She is interested in questions concerning mathematical structure and pattern, and her research interests include the representation theory of Lie algebras, symmetric spaces for Lie groups over finite fields, algebraic music theory and algebraic voting theory.

Klima joined the Department of Mathematical Sciences faculty in 2003 and was promoted to associate professor in July 2009 and full professor in July 2014. She earned her B.A. at Erskine College and her M.S. and Ph.D. at North Carolina State University. In 2017, she was recognized with the Appalachian State University School/College Excellence in Teaching Award.

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Dr. Rachel Wilson

Wilson is an associate professor in RCOE’s elementary education program. She teaches courses related to science education, including Science and Science Teaching in the Elementary School and Environmental Literacy in 21st-Century Schools and Society.

“I am interested in learning more about different leadership models in higher education and how women leaders can approach their positions with the perspective of transformation, rather than authority,” Wilson said. “These changing times call for leaders who can work with others, being mindful of equity, excellence and quality in the work that we do in higher education.”

Wilson’s research interests focus on the use of multiple modes of representation in science teaching and sociocultural influences on student participation in science, due in part to her teaching experiences in both Santa Barbara, California, and rural Guyana, South America, as well as in local elementary schools.

She holds a Ph.D. in science education, along with an interdisciplinary qualitative studies graduate certification from the University of Georgia.

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About the Beaver College of Health Sciences

Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS), opened in 2010, is transforming the health and quality of life for the communities it serves through interprofessional collaboration and innovation in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical outreach. The college enrolls more than 3,600 students and offers 10 undergraduate degree programs, nine graduate degree programs and four certificates across six departments: Nursing, Nutrition and Health Care Management, Public Health and Exercise Science, Recreation Management and Physical Education, Rehabilitation Sciences, and Social Work. The college’s academic programs are located in the Holmes Convocation Center on App State’s main campus and the Levine Hall of Health Sciences, a state-of-the-art, 203,000-square-foot facility that is the cornerstone of Boone’s Wellness District. In addition, the college supports the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness and has collaborative partnerships with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program, UNC Health Appalachian and numerous other health agencies. Learn more at https://healthsciences.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About the Reich College of Education

Appalachian State University offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls more than 2,000 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs, with offerings that span multiple fields — from teacher preparation, counseling, and therapy, to higher education, school and student affairs administration, library science, educational leadership and more. With over 10,000 alumni employed in North Carolina public schools, there is at least one Reich College graduate in every county in the state. Learn more at https://rcoe.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.