Six full-time faculty members join Westminster College

Westminster College is happy to welcome six new faculty members this fall, bolstering the institution’s already high-caliber community of educators.

Adam Blumenthal, assistant professor of mathematics. Blumenthal recently earned his Ph.D. in mathematics with a minor in computer science from Iowa State University, where he served as a teaching assistant. His research interests include extreme graph theory, domination theory and combinatorial algorithms. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Auburn University. Blumenthal can be reached at blumenam@westminster.edu.

Rebecca Graham, assistant professor and instructional design and technology librarian. Graham holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the iSchool at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign with a focus in online instruction. Her areas of interest include digital accessibility including creating screen-reader accessible course materials, video captions and designing courses that reduce barriers for students with ADD, dyslexia, autism, anxiety, color blindness and low vision. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Western Illinois University-Quad Cities, where she minored in database design. Graham can be reached at grahamrn@westminster.edu.  

Kandice Hartner, lecturer in the School of Communication. Hartner has served as an adjunct at Westminster since 2016. She earned her M.A. and M.F.A., both in interdisciplinary design, from Chatham University. She is a 2012 alumna of Westminster, where she received a B.A. in media arts and public relations. She can be reached at hartnekn@westminster.edu.

Loreen Huffman, lecturer of psychology. Most recently, Huffman was professor of psychology at Missouri Southern State University where she had been serving since 1996. She also spent six years teaching at Rutgers University. Her research interests include successful aging and the use of memoir-writing to promote successful aging. Huffman holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Rutgers University and a B.S. degree in individual and family studies from Pennsylvania State University. She can be reached at huffmalr@westminster.edu.

Mohammad Hashemi Joo, assistant professor of finance and economics. He recently completed his Ph.D. in finance from Florida International University, where he served as an instructor. His research interests are in the fields of corporate finance, corporate governance, behavioral finance and fintech. He earned his M.S. in finance from the University of Texas at San Antonio, his M.B.A. in finance from Multimedia University in Malaysia and a B.S. in industrial engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in Iran. He can be reached at hashemm@westminster.edu.

Latifa Zoulagh, lecturer of modern languages. Zoulagh comes to Westminster from Salem State University in Salem, Mass., where she was assistant professor of Arabic and French. Previously she taught at the University of South Carolina, Meredith College and the University of Oklahoma. She also taught high school French in Morocco and worked in the private sector as a translator and interpreter. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, her M.A. from North Carolina State University and her B.A. from the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah in Morocco. She can be reached at zoulagl@westminster.edu.

Pictured clockwise from top left are Adam Blumenthal, Rebecca Graham, Kandice Hartner, Latifa Zoulagh, Loreen Huffman and Mohammad Hashemi Joo.

More Stories