Dr. Mary-Beth Krogh-Jespersen, chancellor , and Dr. Charles Patrick, chief academic officer, are pleased to announce the addition of five new faculty members at Penn State Worthington Scranton.
"These individuals bring a great deal of experience in their academic fields, as well as in higher education and research," Dr. Patrick said. "We are very pleased that they have joined Penn State Worthington Scranton and I look forward to working with them."
Jim Frese, DBA, CLU, ChFC, MS (Taxation) has been hired as an instructor in business administration.
He has served in the U.S. Air Force as an emergency actions controller, Command Control Division, and received the USAF Commendation Medal for meritorious service, which required FBI top secret clearance. He has spent the past 20 years working in the securities and insurance industries.
Dr. Frese completed his doctorate in finance from Nova Southeastern University. He earned his master's degree in taxation from the University of Baltimore, a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, and an associate's degree in business management from Ball State University.
He has also earned several professional designations from the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA, including the distinguished Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designations. He has also held the general securities (Series 7), life insurance, and real estate licenses.
Jim has owned or operated a number of businesses and specializes in turnaround management.
In recognition of his outstanding scholastic achievements, Dr. Frese was invited to membership in Sigma Beta Delta, an international honor society in business, management and administration. He is also a member of the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics.
Agnes Kim, Ph.D., joins the campus as assistant professor of physics, where she will teach and develop courses in physics, astronomy and math.
She received her doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a master's degree in astrophysics and a bachelor's degree in physics from Iowa State University.
Prior to joining the Worthington Scranton faculty, Dr. Kim served as an associate professor of physics at Georgia College and State University, where she was also the physics program coordinator. While at GCSU, she was the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Scholarship Award.
She has also served as the assistant academic director for The Summer Science Program, a residential enrichment program for gifted high school students at the New Mexico Institute of Technology; as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Texas at Austin; and as adjunct professor at DeVry University.
Dr. Kim is also the recipient of several research grants, including a NASA Kepler Guest Observing Program Grant and the PhysTEC Targeted Teacher Training Site Grant and is a member of the American Astronomical Society.
Melissa Labuda, Ph.D., has been hired as an instructor in Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS).
She received her bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in counseling psychology, with a specialization in marriage and family therapy, from Penn State University.
She earned her doctorate in general psychology from Capella University.
Dr. Labuda's research interests include online dating; love and relationships; military families; and resiliency in children and adults.
Yili Lian, Ph.D., has been hired as an assistant professor of business administration.
He received his doctorate in finance from Baruch College, City University of New York; a master of philosophy degree in business from the Graduate Center, City University of New York; a master of arts degree in finance from Peking University and his bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of International Business and Economics.
Prior to joining Penn State Worthington Scranton, Dr. Lian taught at Baruch College.
He received the 2012 Southern Finance Association's Outstanding Ph.D. Paper Award; the Baruch College Job Market Travel Award (2012); and the CUNY Graduate Center Conference Presentation Award (2012); as well as a CUNY University Fellowship; and Peking Unviersity's Outstanding Student Award.
Donna R. Volpe, RN-BC, MSN, has been hired as an instructor in nursing.
Ms. Volpe, a nurse educator, received her Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Nursing from Thomas Edison State College, as well as her Nurse Educator certificate. She also received an Associate's Degree in Applied Science in Nursing from Middlesex County College.
In addition, Ms. Volpe has national certifications in perinatal nursing and childbirth education.
Prior to joining Penn State Worthington Scranton on a full-time basis, she worked as an adjunct obstetrical nursing instructor.
She has also served as nurse manager of the Labor and Birth and Antepartum Testing Units at Moses Taylor Hospital; director of Maternal-Child and Perioperative Services at Newton Medical Center in Newton, NJ; director of Maternal-Newborn Services at Easton Hospital, in Easton, PA; and as an assistant nursing care coordinator in Labor and Delivery at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ.
