Before K, Askew was a technical staff member at Dupont Research from 1984–91. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Gordon College, served as a research and teaching assistant at Princeton University, and acquired a master’s degree and Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter and materials physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Karyn Boatwright, Psychology / Women, Gender and Sexuality 

Boatwright has been a psychology faculty member at K since 1998. Beginning in 2017, she partnered with the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Michigan in conducting a Feminist Psychology of Women course, addressing the importance of reproductive health services for all. Students in that class yearly write, direct and produce a theatre piece titled, Pro-Voice Monologues: Stories of Reproductive Justice presented at K in front of a live audience before conducting an interactive panel discussion with local leaders. Her other recent courses have included Introduction to Psychopathology, Feminist Psychology of Women, History and Systems of Psychology and Counseling Psychology: Theory and Practice.  

Boatwright was a psychotherapist in private practice before working in higher education. Her professional memberships have included the Society of Counseling Psychology, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, the Counseling Psychology Section for the Advancement of Women, the Association of Women in Psychology and the Society of the History of Psychology. She holds a master’s degree in community and agency counseling and a doctorate in philosophy from Michigan State University. 

Andy Mozina, English  

Mozina studied economics at Northwestern University and attended Harvard Law School for a year before earning a master’s degree in creative writing from Boston University. He then completed a doctorate in English literature at Washington University in St. Louis, moving to Kalamazoo to teach literature and creative writing at K after graduation. 

His classes at K have included an introductory course in creative writing, a first-year seminar titled Co-Authoring Your Life, and intermediate and advanced courses in fiction. Outside the classroom, he served as the faculty advisor of The Cauldron—an annual publication of student art and written creative work. He also earned the Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Outstanding Achievement in Creative work, Research or Publication from K in 2010–11. 

Mozina’s first novel, Contrary Motion, was published in 2016. He also wrote a book of literary criticism titled Joseph Conrad and the Art of Sacrifice along with two short-story collections, The Women Were Leaving the Men, which won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award; and Quality Snacks, which was a finalist for The Flannery O’Connor Short Fiction Award. In 2023, he released his latest novel, Tandem. 

Tom Rice, Art and Art History 

Rice, the Jo-Ann and Robert Stewart Professor of Art, is a multimedia artist who has worked in drawing, painting, video and performance while teaching at K for the past 32 years. 

In 2019, Rice received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in visual arts that allowed him to research the realities of fossil-fuel extraction and create mixed-media art at the University of Alberta in Canada. That art was featured in an exhibition titled Tipping Point earlier this year at Western Michigan University. He earned the Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Outstanding Achievement in Creative Work, Research or Publication from K in 2001–02. 

Rice’s commissioned works have included pieces for the Xerox Corporation and the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial. His work has been exhibited at the South Bend Regional Museum of Art, the Evansville Museum, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Kalamazoo Institute of Art, the Lansing Art Gallery, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, the Urban Institute of Art and the Kresge Art Museum. 

Enid Valle, Spanish 

Valle served on K’s faculty for 36 years, joining the College before it had a Spanish department. She concludes her career as a professor of Spanish, having also served the College as chair of the Departments of Romance Languages and Literatures, Spanish Languages and Literatures, and German Studies. Her classes have ranged from a course dedicated to Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, to Woman Artists and Innovators, a 400-level course she taught this spring. 

Within her professional memberships, Valle fulfilled roles as vice president (2006–07) and president (2007–08) of the Ibero-American Society for 18th Century Studies (IASECS). She also has been a member of the American Society for 18th Century Studies and the Modern Language Association. 

Valle holds degrees in comparative literature including a bachelor’s from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, and a master’s from the University of Michigan. She also holds a Ph.D. in romance languages (Spanish) from the University of Michigan. 

RETIRING STAFF

Grace Alexander, Facilities Management 

Alexander began working at K as a part-time custodian in 2016. Two months later, she was promoted to the full-time role she held until retiring this May. Colleagues said her kind and caring demeanor helped her build relationships across campus. She could be counted on to properly clean any space assigned to her while leading with team spirit. 

Charles Hines, Facilities Management 

Hines was a custodian for almost 10 years. His co-workers said he came to work with contagious positivity. His congenial energy and flexibility helped him build and maintain relationships with students, faculty and staff. 

Rod Malcolm, Admission 

Malcolm was serving as the Office of Admission’s senior associate director when he retired. Over his nearly 26 years at K, he fulfilled roles including coordinator of international admission, coordinator of student of color recruitment and Posse Scholarship liaison. He also played a critical part in establishing a Toyota Success Fund scholarship that brings first-generation IDEA schools students from South Texas to the College. 

Malcolm volunteered as the Young Men of Color student organization advisor and participated in campus events such as Black Joy Week, Cafsgiving and Monte Carlo while also playing on several intramural teams. Colleagues said he has been everything that is good about K. 

Jacqueline (Jackie) Srodes, Center for Career and Professional Development 

Colleagues said that in more than 21 years of service before retiring from the Center for Career and Professional Development, Srodes played crucial roles in career coaching, meeting with more than 1,000 students and alumni during that time. She helped grow the Career Ambassador program and partnered with faculty to present in classrooms on subjects such as creating professional documents and preparing for interviews.  

Margie Stinson, Information Services 

Stinson began her employment at K as a part-time programmer and analyst before fulfilling a full-time role and eventually retiring after nearly 15 years of service. Colleagues have credited her with an ability to methodically support the departments and projects to which she was assigned through her deep knowledge, attention to detail and documentation skills. They also noted she helped end-users to ensure system functionality, testing and configuration.  

Melvin Williams, Facilities Management 

Williams retired from K in February after more than 17 years as a custodian. Colleagues said he could strike up a conversation with anyone he encountered, and his flexibility, good judgement and authentic efforts ensured that the occupants of his buildings were happy.