Retired Faculty

Alan Rogers’s tenure with Westminster spans over 5 decades. He joined the faculty at Westminster College as an Accounting professor in 1978. Alan spent the next 38 years sharing his extreme passion for accounting curriculum with the students he dedicated his professional career to. Alan is a gifted, enthusiastic, and dedicated teacher. He has a keen talent of simplifying accounting concepts and creating interest by illustrating tangible and memorable examples. Outside of his continually high-energy classroom, Alan has spent countless hours mentoring and helping thousands of students succeed in their academic and professional endeavors.

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Alan’s professional accomplishments are many. They include numerous advising and teaching awards such as being named the Utah Accounting Educator of the Year, Professor of the Year by the students at Westminster, and a recipient of the Westminster Excellence in Teaching Award. Alan also established the Westminster Tax Institute as the place for professional growth in accounting. Through the years, countless CPAs, public and private accountants, and business students have had their lives touched by this dedicated and caring teacher.

Alan is loyal friend, loving husband, supportive father, and adoring papa. Alan’s wicked sense of humor, strong will, and endless support of friends and family helped him proudly survive a hard-fought battle with cancer. He spends his free time traveling with his wife Marsha, playing with his grandchildren, and serving those in need. Alan never passes up on an opportunity to encourage strangers to begin and finish their education, and jumps on every opportunity to teach. Alan has made an indelible mark in the Westminster community and will forever be remembered for his incredible teaching methods and love for his students and for Westminster.

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Barbara Smith completed her doctorate at Texas A&M University in 1996. She joined Westminster’s psychology department in August that year. Barbara taught courses in child development, adolescent psychology, parenting, among many others. Her research interests ranged from attachment styles to adolescent reading choices and high-impact learning practices. She served as chair of the Psychology program and as coordinator of the college’s Learning Communities and the First-Year Mentoring Program. Continuing her focus on improving the first-year student experience, she was also instrumental in creating WCore, the college’s innovative and transformational liberal education program.

Bob was the Dean of the School of Education from 2007 to 2014. During this time, he helped to implement faculty initiatives that created the Educational Studies major and the Master of Arts in Community Leadership, which expanded the Master of Arts in Teaching program. Bob came to Westminster after 30 years at Brown University in Rhode Island, where he was on the education faculty and served as associate dean of the college. He earned his BA in Psychology at Occidental College and his PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Chicago. After retirement, he and his wife Sarah returned to Rhode Island where he runs road races, hosts international Fulbright students at the various colleges in the state, and volunteers with an income tax assistance organization.

Chris Cline was a pillar of the Westminster community for three decades, serving mightily as a master teacher, a devoted faulty colleague and a determined collaborator. As a Physics professor, he was an early adopter, in mid-90s, of active learning techniques. Techniques almost universally adopted in science classrooms by now, but were very uncommon, and even cutting-edge nationwide, at the time. Chris has provided the physics program, and the science programs more broadly, a vast amount of expertise and leadership in the quest to help students learn and grow as thinkers. He was also an avid supporter of student athletics and student performance in music and theater. Chris was a hard working, dedicated educator that plowed ahead focused on student success, with a vibrant sense of humor and unending curiosity.

Christopher Quinn completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was appointed to a faculty position at Westminster in 1994 and served as the Director of Music throughout his career at the College. A winner of the Gore Excellence in Teaching Award with more than 40 years of experience as a professional educator, he taught a wide range of classes, including Aural Skills, Music Theory, and Choral Conducting. He built the Music program from a small minor to a thriving major, in part through his work as conductor of the Chamber Singers and the Community Choir. These popular ensembles toured widely, singing in such world-class venues as Carnegie Hall and Notre Dame Cathedral. Dr. Quinn composed Westminster’s alma mater and conducted the Chamber Singers every year at Commencement. In 2014, he was named the Florence J. Gillmor Professor of Music in recognition of his impact and commitment to Westminster College.

Colleen Sandor hails from Buffalo, New York and is a long-suffering Sabres hockey fan. She earned her BS from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York in 1986 and her PhD in counseling psychology from the U of U in 1996. Dr. Sandor completed psychoanalytic training at the International Institute of Psychoanalytic Training (IIPT) in 2014 and is currently the co-chair of IIPT. Dr. Sandor joined the faculty in 2002 and co-founded the MSCMHC program in 2007. She was chair of Psychology from 2007-2013 and chair of MSCMHC from 2014-2020. Dr. Sandor teaches Individual Counseling, Substance Abuse Counseling, and Multicultural Counseling. She also supervises and mentors students helping them learn and grow into young professionals in the field. Dr. Sandor also writes about diversity issues, specifically psychoanalytic couples therapy with LGBTQ patients, couples, and parents.

Dan Byrne received his PhD in geophysics from Columbia University in 1991. After teaching in France and Mexico, then working as a computer programmer, he came to Westminster in 1997 as the faculty technology liaison/web developer. In 2000, he accepted a faculty appointment in the Computer Science program. In addition to teaching many classes in computer science, he taught geology, biology, environmental studies, and art. His research focused on cybersecurity, cryptology, and computational physics. In addition to his numerous professional accomplishments, he was an accomplished sculptor and an imaginative writer. Dr. Byrne retired in 2020.

Diane completed both her BS and MS in nursing at the University of Utah. Before joining Westminster in 1985, she worked as a staff nurse at Cottonwood Hospital (prior to its closing) and as the public health nursing director in the Tooele County Health Department.
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Diane started at Westminster as an adjunct teacher and became full-time faculty in 1987. Over her 29 years at Westminster, she taught Community Health Nursing, Nursing Leadership Capstone, and various May Term Study Experience courses, including Complementary Healing, Wellness, and Massage. She also accompanied other faculty and students on trips to both India and Thailand.

During her time at Westminster, she served on Strategic Planning Committees and served as the faculty chair. In 2013, she received the Excellence in Teaching award.

While a faculty member, Diane served on the Utah State Board of Nursing. This role helped her offer additional opportunities for students to learn about the larger world of nursing. Diane remains active with the Utah Nurses Association as co-chair of the Government Relations Committee and sings in the Westminster Community Choir.

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Diane Van Os began teaching in the School of Nursing in the fall of 1981. Diane has served under seven presidents, seen the Westminster campus double in size and witnessed growth from 400 students with 25 faculty to over 2,700 students and 130 full time faculty. She has served in leadership positions of Baccalaureate of Nursing Program Director, Interim Dean for the School of Nursing on two separate occasions and faculty chair. As baccalaureate program director Diane played a central role in the School of Nursing doubling its annual enrollment from 45 to 90 students.  
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Diane’s areas of nursing expertise are in child health nursing and community health nursing. She has a deep passion for both and has dedicated her academic life in the pursuit of these disciplines. Diane combined her interest in social advocacy and community nursing and in 1990 developed the May term class “The Truth about AIDS”.  She has taught this class for the past 25 years.  In 1992 Diane developed the May term class “Issues of the Homeless”. Diane has taught this class for the past 23 years. Her students and community have greatly benefited from her interests.

Diane’s areas of nursing expertise are in child health nursing and community health nursing. She has a deep passion for both and has dedicated her academic life in the pursuit of these disciplines. Diane combined her interest in social advocacy and community nursing and in 1990 developed the May term class “The Truth about AIDS”.  She has taught this class for the past 25 years.  In 1992 Diane developed the May term class “Issues of the Homeless”. Diane has taught this class for the past 23 years. Her students and community have greatly benefited from her interests.

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Gretchen Siegler joined Westminster in 1994 to teach in the social science program. She taught professionally since 1983, along with conducting archaeological and ethnographic research. Her PhD specialty was in the anthropology of religion and social movements, but she was hired as a “generalist” because she also had a background in psychology and sociology. She immediately created an anthropology minor while developing and teaching classes related to diversity in the sociology major.

...Gretchen served as the program chair of Social Science program for 7 years. Then, she served as division chair of the social sciences for 7 years until the dissolving of divisions and the social science major replaced the justice studies major. She played a large part in the development of the justice studies major and took a smaller role in the development of the environmental studies major and gender studies minor. Along with supervising many internships, theses, and senior seminars in anthropology, sociology, social science, justice studies, and environmental studies, she developed and taught 30 courses, along with 13 innovative courses during the May Term Study Experience.
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Helen Hodgson earned her PhD in nineteenth-century American literature from the University of Denver. Helen then came to Westminster in 1987 as an adjunct faculty member in the English program and the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business. In 1992, after helping to design the Master of Professional Communication (MPC) program, she joined the full-time faculty as the chair of that program.

...Over the next 25 years, Helen taught undergraduate and graduate classes in such topics as professional and technical writing, organizational communication, professional editing, and business writing. She cofounded the Rocky Mountain chapter of the American Medical Writers Association and taught medical writing workshops for biotechnology companies across the country. In 2015, she was awarded AMWA’s Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Hodgson retired in 2018.
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Cid Seidelman graduated from the University of Utah with a Ph.D. in Economics in 1987 and continued to have an astounding career in higher education and the community. Cid’s service for the Westminster community has spanned decades and roles, leaving a large legacy. Cid has fulfilled the role of Director of the MBA Program (1987 – 1990), Dean of Business School (1990 – 2003), and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs (2003 – 2014). He has championed education quality, internationalization, commitment to improvement, and transferring skills to benefit the wider community. Cid has made an immense mark on economic research as well, publishing over 25 journal articles and serving as a journal reviewer, presenter, and consulter. Cid’s dedication to students’ experiences and success is not lost on the Westminster community and we are grateful for his steadfast service and commitment to making the world a better place. 

After 15 years of K-12 teaching in Michigan public schools (Lansing, Cheboygan) and in Germany with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (Wiesbaden, Augsburg), Janet Dynak returned to Michigan State University to complete her PhD in Teacher Education/Literacy in 1990. For the next 7 years, she taught as an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Western Michigan University, receiving associate professor status with tenure in 1996. Her national and regional presentations and publications, many written in collaboration with teacher education candidates and their mentors, centered on a 3-semester, high school-based teacher education program in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The teacher education candidates became members of the high school team, completing their coursework and student teaching on-site.

...In 1997, the West and Salt Lake City beckoned, and Janet joined the faculty at Westminster College. During her 19-year tenure at Westminster College, Janet taught graduate and undergraduate courses, and for 7 years, served as Dean of the School of Education. As dean, she led the School of Education’s effort to apply for and receive national recognition through the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). Other accomplishments include several collaborative publications and presentations on mentoring of novice teachers and two federally funded, university/school district partnership grants for recruitment of general education and special education teachers. Janet was promoted to full professor in 2006 and was named professor emeritus in 2016.
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Dr. Jerry Van Os started as an adjunct professor of accounting at Westminster College in 1983. In 1988, he started as a full-time associate professor of accounting and later, in 1991, became a full professor of accounting. In addition to serving as an admired and respected teacher, Jerry served as an administrator for 23 years, in roles as varied as MBA director, director of competency-based programs, and associate dean of the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business. 

...When asked to reflect on his time at Westminster, Jerry mentioned he has appreciated his many opportunities for professional growth and his multiple and varied international travel experiences. But Jerry has perhaps most appreciated his key role over the last 12 years of his tenure in developing, growing, and managing the project-based programs at Westminster. Students have long appreciated Jerry’s willingness to offer advice and serve as a mentor. Jerry is known for his saying: “At Westminster, each student is our only student,” and he treated each student encounter with that motto. Colleagues credit and value Jerry’s vast institutional knowledge, leadership, and dry sense of humor.   
Jerry has many hobbies and interests outside of Westminster, but right now he’s focused on one thing: his family, children, and grandson. 
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John graduated with a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Florida and completed his education journey with a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Utah in 1985. John has served various roles at Westminster, including professor, committee chair, directed study supervisor, and more. He has helped innovate teaching across campus and developed new courses for student success. John has been given multiple awards for his dedicated service to the Westminster community. In 2022 and 2024, John was awarded the Manford A. Shaw Publication Prize. In 2014 and 2020, John earned the coveted Professor of the Year award, highlighting his impact on students, staff, and faculty on campus throughout the years.

...John has published over 15 journal articles pertaining to his work in economics and social justice. He has served on the board of various journals and helped colleagues as a reviewer and editor. John frequently writes commentary for the Salt Lake Tribune, and we look forward to continuing being able to read his work. We appreciate all the hard work and care John has brought to the Westminster campus, and will greatly miss him. 
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After a first career as a high-school science teacher, Judy Hall earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M University. In 1990, she accepted a faculty position in Westminster’s Biology program. She taught courses in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, bacteriology, genetics, ornithology, and more. Judy served on the board of Tracy Aviary for many years, and her ornithological expertise led to invitations to lecture and teach in Guiana, Brazil, and other countries. Both in Utah and abroad, she developed captive breeding programs for threatened and endangered species. Dr. Hall served as chair of the Biology program and helped launch the Environmental Studies program. She was also instrumental in developing Westminster’s successful Undergraduate Research program. She retired in 2016.

Ken Meland finished his time at Westminster in December 2019. Ken taught in the Management program at the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business since the fall of 1985. He taught virtually every management course in the curriculum along the way and is the only faculty member who taught in all 3 areas of management: strategy, operations, and organizational behavior. In addition to teaching, he kept busy with several other capacities: management division chair multiple times; trip leader for MBA cohorts, including trips to Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, and 5 separate tours of China; serving on college-wide committees; and delivering segments of the Leadership Certification program, training managers from companies such as Mountain America Credit Union and Discover Card.

...Ken also taught 5 times at Donghua University in Shanghai when the institution had a project-based partnership with Westminster. He enjoyed the camaraderie of his colleagues and the thank-you notes he received from advisees throughout the years, and he valued the relationships he made with faculty partners at Donghua. The most important lesson he learned from teaching at Westminster is to provide the best learning opportunity he could. In retirement, Ken hopes to reactivate all of the hobbies that have been lying dormant and looks most forward to traveling.
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Lesa Ellis graduated from Westminster College before earning a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Oregon. She joined the faculty of Westminster’s Psychology Program in 2002 and founded the Neuroscience Program in 2007. A winner of the Gore Excellence in Teaching Award, she taught courses such as Advanced Topics in Neuroscience, Human Brain Development, and Research Methods in Neuroscience. She also developed the popular WCore class, “Yep, Brains are Cool!” She mentored many students in the McNair Program, often collaborating with them on research projects investigating the processing of emotional stimuli, among other topics. As a passionate advocate for educational equity, Dr. Ellis received a Campus Leadership Award, as well as an Unsung Hero Award from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Mary Jane Chase approached her career at Westminster in reverse, beginning as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (1999–2013), then moving to a professorship in the History program. Through all the challenges and triumphs that she faced as dean, including the construction of the Meldrum Science Center and the launch of new programs such as the McNair Scholars Program, the Neuroscience major, and the Gender Studies minor, Dr. Chase remained involved in her field of study, French Renaissance history. When she joined the teaching faculty, she brought fresh approaches to learning. For instance, she embraced Reacting to the Past role-playing games, and she collaborated with students on original research into the religious geography and iconography of Amiens. Dr. Chase retired in 2020 and returned to her native state of Michigan, though she still roots for the Stanford Cardinals and the Westminster Griffins.

Michael Pacanowsky came to Westminster as the professor of business innovation in August of 2013. He served as the founding director of the Center for Innovative Cultures, which organized dozens of high-quality events over the years to host speakers and discussions about strengthening organizational culture. Every season featured a signature gathering, drawing attendance from local, national, and international business leaders: Collaborative Culture Summit in the fall, Summer Inquiry, and Tools and Practices workshops every spring. Local business leaders also had the opportunity to gather monthly at the Center for Innovative Cultures’ Culture Roundtable discussions.

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Michael’s goal when he arrived was to write a book about W.L. Gore & Associates, and that book—The Thriving Organization: An Exploration into the Deep Dynamics of High-Performing Organizational Cultures—was published in 2019. He is proud that he included research about other high-performing organizations that he had the chance to study through his connections at the Center for Innovative Cultures.

As for teaching, his most important takeaway is an old dog can learn new tricks. He doesn’t see himself as actually retiring, as he is deeply committed to the mission of the Center for Innovative Cultures—helping organizations thrive by unleashing the talent, passion, and potential of people at work.

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After earning his doctorate in Theatre Arts, Playwriting at the University of Utah, Michael Vought joined the faculty of Westminster College in 1996. Together with Nina Vought, he built the Theatre Program from a small minor into a thriving major that emphasizes the integrated wellness of the whole artist. He taught classes in Acting, Directing, and Dramatic Theory and Criticism, as well as the legendary May Term class, Vegan Revolution, which gave students the opportunity to cook delicious and healthful meals in the Voughts’ home kitchen. He directed more than fifty theatrical productions at Westminster, including Challenger Deep, for which he authored the script. The Voughts co-founded the Salt Lake Fringe Festival in 2015. Michael Vought received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Utah Theatre Association. 

After earning her MFA in Theatre Arts, Scenic Design at the University of Utah, Nina Vought joined Westminster College in 1995 as Technical Director and Resident Designer. She accepted a full-time faculty position in Theatre Program in 2005. Together with Michael Vought, she built what had been a small minor into a thriving major that emphasizes the integrated wellness of the whole artist. In addition to classes in technical theatre, she regularly taught The Performer’s Body and The Yogic Experience, which helped generations of students discover the profound interconnections of body and mind. She designed costumes and sets for more than fifty theatrical productions at Westminster. The Voughts co-founded the Salt Lake Fringe Festival in 2015. Nina Vought earned a Lifetime Dedicated Service Award from the Utah Theatre Association. 

Peter Conwell received his PhD in physics from the University of Utah. Then, Peter worked for 2 decades as a research scientist on academic and commercial teams investigating artificial intelligence, neural networks, and speech recognition. In 2003, he joined Westminster’s Physics program, where he taught physics for scientists and engineers, optics, analytical mechanics, electrodynamics, electronics and electric circuits, and other classes. He helped lead the program’s adoption of research-based active learning methods to improve student engagement and success. He published the open source textbook, Mathematical Tools for Physical Sciences, and served for many years as director of the 3-2 Engineering program. Dr. Conwell retired in 2020.

Richard Collins, Professor of economics, finds it ironic that he is leaving Westminster College amid the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing how he began his time at another pivotal time in world history: 2 weeks before 9/11. Rich was one of the original members of the newly constituted Faculty Senate and served on the original Planning and Priorities Committee. He fondly remembers many trips abroad for May Term Study Experiences and MBA trips, gathering with colleagues at school receptions, and interacting with students outside the classroom.

...Richard is most proud that all 3 of his kids completed a Westminster education and notes that his wife, Betsey, also earned her master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner at Westminster. He points out that he is the only one in his family without a Westminster degree The most important thing he learned from teaching at Westminster? If Richard can instill confidence in students’ ability to learn and apply the academic lessons to the real world, their potential to impact the world is unlimited. Rich looks forward to skiing, hiking, and camping, as well as continued travel abroad during his retirement.
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Rob Patterson graduated from the  University of Utah with a BA Finance degree. He completed his MBA with an international emphasis at Brigham Young University. He later became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Prior to joining Westminster full-time in 2004, he had over 20 years of finance, industry, and leadership experience. His experiences, ranging from owning his own business to working as a finance officer for two of the world’s largest organizations (General Electric and BHP Billiton), gave him unique perspectives on organizations of varying sizes. His last full-time industry experience was with Franklin Covey, where he was the CFO of Franklin Covey’s International Businesses, then later Vice-President of International Strategic Projects.  He also managed the Canada, Mexico, and Brazil offices. He was able to enrich the classroom with real-world personal experience and practical knowledge. 

...At Westminster, he had the opportunity to develop several new finance courses, including the senior finance capstone course. He regularly taught international finance, investments, financial modeling, and entrepreneurial finance at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His priority was engaging with students in a fun and meaningful way and was twice voted favorite professor by the graduating senior class. Integrated into his advanced investments class was the CFA Institute Investment Challenge. The competition teams he coached were consistently in the top three teams in the state, winning the state competition twice. He maintained an executive coaching practice while teaching at Westminster. 
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Ronald M. Mano, PhD, CPA, CFE has a long and storied accounting career in Utah. His Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and his MBA are from the University of Utah, where he later returned as a faculty member for 12 years after working at Hansen, Barnett & Maxwell CPAs (now Eide Bailly) and Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young) in Salt Lake City. He received his PhD from the University of Nebraska.

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Dr. Mano served as the Willard L. Eccles Fellow at Weber State University, and during his 25 years at Weber, he spent 10 years as the Accounting Department chair. After “officially” retiring at Weber, he took a position at Westminster College and “officially” retired here in 2020. He continues to teach one class per semester at Westminster in an adjunct capacity. In 2022, he will enter his 50th year of college teaching.

Dr. Mano is the author of over 100 professional and academic journal articles, and he has presented over 100 times to professional and academic audiences. In 1992, he was awarded the Outstanding Educator award by the Utah Association of CPAs. In 1994, he was given the John S. Hinckley Fellow Award at Weber State University for “Excellence in Exemplary Teaching, Outstanding Scholarship and Extraordinary Service.” In 2015, he received the Excellence in Scholarship award from the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business.

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Steve has a Bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon) and an MBA from the University of Utah. He also completed a year of post-baccalaureate studies in accounting and passed the 1981 CPA examination. After several years working for community development organizations in Portland, he managed a micro-finance program in a very rural area of Burkina Faso as a Peace Corps volunteer. After his volunteer service, he spent the next five years as Associate Peace Corps director for programs in Burkina, Ghana, and Benin. He spent the next year as a founding staff member of the first Peace Corps program in Russia. Upon his return to America, he was managing director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at the University of Utah.

...At Westminster, Steve designed, implemented, and managed the Practice/Experience Program at the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business. This program is designed to ensure that every undergraduate student does either an internship, a team-based consulting project, or a career planning class. He has also taught 12 other classes in Management and Accounting, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has co-led student study trips to China, India (twice), and Mexico. He was one of the faculty leaders to integrate service learning in the curriculum across campus. He has been Westminster College faculty chair, and a faculty fellow. He retired in 2018.
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