The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University welcomed 17 new full-time faculty members in 12 different academic departments at the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year.

The new staff members include:

Arein Duaibes, mathematics

Duaibes will be teaching math for liberal arts, introduction to statistics, calculus I and differential equations. Her research interests include mathematical physics and graph theory. Duaibes brings a decade of teaching experience, including a year as an assistant professor at Bard Early College DC.

Hansol Goo, theology

Goo is a theologian in the field of contemporary sacramental theology and immigration. She earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and her licentiate degree from Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Samantha Grayck, languages and cultures

Grayck recently completed her Ph.D. in German Studies at Georgetown University. She has published work on genre theory, life writing and dialogical subjectivity, and served for two years as the editorial assistant to Gegenwartsliteratur: A German Studies Yearbook.

Jason Harris, theater

Harris will teach theater design and technology courses. He previously was an interior designer for Ashley Furniture Industries, and before that taught and worked in theater and live entertainment at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Avila University. Harris holds an MFA in theatre design and technology from University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Shuoshuo Hou, economics

Hou recently received her Ph.D. in economics from Temple University in Philadelphia. Her research interests are macroeconomics, with an emphasis on the role production networks play in business cycles and long-run economic growth. Hou will teach introductory economics and macroeconomic theory.

Adam Kluck, music

Kluck has taught throughout the country from Virginia Tech most recently to universities in Colorado, Wyoming and Iowa. He holds bachelors and master's degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research specialties are choral music of James MacMillan and choral music of Dmitry Bortniansky. He will teach women's chorus, all-college choir, applied piano and chamber music.

Jinwoong Lee, accounting and finance

Originally from South Korea, Lee came to the United States in 2016. He completed an accounting Ph.D. program at Kent State University, with a research focus on information system topics in accounting. Lee will teach  accounting information systems and intermediate accounting.

Wendy Nevarez, nutrition

Originally from Northeast Wisconsin, Nevarez lived in El Paso, Texas, for the past eight years. She is a registered dietitian with expertise in renal nutrition and nutrition counseling techniques. Nevarez holds a Master of Science degree in nutrition from New Mexico State University, where she also completed her dietetic internship. She is teaching intro to nutrition, nutrition education and senior nutrition seminar this fall.

Claire Otteson, chemistry

Otteson grew up in the Twin Cities and just moved back to Minnesota after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. Her research, in synthetic organic and supramolecular chemistry, focused on the development of a family of fluorescent organic molecules, cycloparaphenylenes and their applications in biological environments, including imaging, sensing and delivery of materials. This fall, she is teaching CHEM 125 and CHEM 201.

Ryan Picone, music

Picone is a guitarist, composer and teacher who graduated with a Musical Arts doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He has taught at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s since fall 2022, where he taught all guitar related classes, and joins the full-time staff this year. Picone specializes in several aspects of compositional performance methodologies, including solo/group improvisation and gestural approaches in musical creation. He will direct the jazz ensemble and continue his work with the CSB and SJU guitar program.

Alexa Roemmich, biology

Roemmich is teaching BIO 101 and microbiology this year. She attended St. Olaf College as an undergraduate, received her Ph.D. from the University of California-Irvine using drosophila to model voltage-gated sodium channel-mediated epilepsies, and is most recently joining the faculty from a postdoc at the University of Minnesota researching a role for Cyclin D in aging using C. elegans.

Christine Shikutwa, global business leadership

Originally from Kenya, Shikutwa holds a Ph.D. in supply chain technologies from Purdue University. Her research interests center around: social innovation, supply chain management and operations. Shikutwa will teach decision-making analytics in business and operations and supply chain management.

Vijay Tida, computer science

Tida is from Andhra Pradesh, India, and received his Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his MS degree in computer engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and his undergraduate degree in electronics and communications engineering from KL University. He will teach CSCI 150 and his current research interests include designing optimized algorithms and privacy-preserving deep-learning models especially for healthcare applications.

Andrew Towsey-Grishaw, music

Towsey-Grishaw is the director of orchestra and will teach private lessons on violin and viola. Before joining the faculty, he was visiting lecturer of strings/orchestra at California Lutheran University. His doctoral studies were at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, focused on viola performance, instrumental conducting and culturally responsive music education.

Srikanth Vemula, computer science

Vemula received his Ph.D. from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. He has worked as a game programmer in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Jakarta with roots in India. His passion lies in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), exploring intricate dynamics between humans and machines. He will teach introduction to computing (Python) and problem-solving (Java).

Clinton Warren, global business leadership

Warren joins CSB and SJU from the University of Minnesota, where he spent five years as a sports marketing and sales lecturer. He also earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and spent a combined eight years at Illinois State University and Eastern Illinois University teaching sports marketing as well. His research focuses on service marketing innovation and design with a particular emphasis on spectator sports. Warren will teach courses in marketing and business analytics.

Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, School of Theology

Zsupan-Jerome comes from the staff at Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary, where she worked as director of ministerial formation for the past two years. She earned her doctorate from Boston College in theology and education. Her research explores social communication, digital culture and ministerial formation.