Geneal Cantrell joined the Education department of Furman University in 1999. At Furman she serves as the Coordinator of the fifth year Teacher to Teacher program. In this capacity she acts as a liaison between the university and partnering schools and school districts. A graduate of Lander University (B.S.), Clemson University (M.A.), with post graduate work at other area institutions, Geneal spent 22 years in the public school system. Geneal is also employed part-time at Spartanburg School District Six where she is the Coordinator of the district’s Induction and Mentoring program. She has presented at numerous state and national conferences sharing topics such as teacher retention, mentoring, service learning, building communities in the classroom, motivation, and stress management. Geneal and her husband co-authored a book, Teachers Teaching Teachers: Wit, Wisdom, & Whimsey for Troubled Times with Peter Lang Publishers. She enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, and her beagle, Maggie.
Dr. Lorraine DeJong has been a member of the faculty at Furman since 1995. She holds the rank of Associate Professor and is Coordinator for the Department of Education’s Early Childhood Program. Lorraine teaches several courses including Human Development, Service Learning in the K-12 Schools, and a series of courses in early childhood including: Teaching and Learning in the Early Primary, Preschool, and Infant-Toddler Years. Dr. DeJong received her doctorate in Child Development from Florida State University and her BA and MAT from Cornell University in New York. Before coming to Furman, she was a public school teacher in the State of Florida where she taught children and adults ages early childhood through college for over 15 years. One of her most memorable teaching positions was to serve as Director of an Early Childhood Program serving infant children born to teenage parents for Leon County Schools in Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. DeJong has written many articles in the fields of early childhood education and teaching pedagogy, including two in the journal of Young Children that relate specifically to the care and education of young children born to teenage parents. She is past president of the South Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children and serves on the Professional Development Panel for NAEYC. When not at work, Lorraine enjoys her family which includes her husband of 20 years, her two teenage daughters, a devoted dachshund, and a lively shitzu!
Dr. Harris M. Heath joined the faculty in the Department of Education at Furman University in September 1997. A former principal and school superintendent, he coordinates the school leadership program at Furman. His primary area of interest is the principalship. A graduate of Benedict College (B.A.), New York University (M.A.), and Duke University (Ph.D., 1974), Dr. Heath spent thirty years as a K-12 teacher, administrator, and professor in higher education before coming to Furman. He frequently conducts sessions on team building, leadership, and conflict management for schools, local school boards, and community boards and organizations. He has worked closely with several Upstate school districts in South Carolina to offer district-sponsored principal preparation programs in collaboration with Furman University.
Dr. Nelly Hecker, a faculty member at Furman University since the fall of 1979, has served as Chair of the Department of Education and Director of Teacher Education since 1999. With a Bachelor of Science (1963) and Masters (1964) degrees from Springfield College and Ed. S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1978) degrees from The University of Georgia, her area of specialty is Literacy Education. In 1962, as part of an exchange between the United States and Uruguay, she received a two-year Fulbright Scholarship to study in Massachusetts. Throughout her teaching career, Dr. Hecker has been interested in student and teacher development and in supporting the consistent use of effective teaching practices. Her presentations at state and national conferences highlight curriculum innovations, the use of children's literature in the classroom, and content area reading strategies. Dr. Hecker has had a broad range of teaching experiences in bilingual schools, elementary grades, and higher education. She has authored or co-authored children's literature articles and, at the request of the International Reading Association, co-authored the Evaluation of Lectura y Vida, the Spanish language literacy journal. She has participated in curriculum development institutes on the use of case study methodology to facilitate reflection and decision-making. As Co-Director of the Library of Congress Adventure of the American Mind Grant at Furman (2000-2007), she worked with in-service teachers (K-12) interested in developing effective skills to use online resources from the Library of Congress in their classrooms.
Dr. A. Scott Henderson has been a member of Furman University’s Education Department since 1998. He is also Director of Program Development and Evaluation, as well as Furman’s Director of National/International Scholarships. His formal academic training includes a B.A. in history and international affairs from Florida State University (1984); an M.A. in history from the Johns Hopkins University (1985); teacher certification in secondary social studies from the University of Virginia (1986); and a Ph.D. in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo (1996). Prior to his appointment in the Education Department, Dr. Henderson taught American and world history in the Chesapeake City [ Virginia] schools (1986-1989); was an instructor of English and Western culture at Yamagata Women’s Junior College in Yamagata, Japan (1989-1990); and was an adjunct instructor in Furman’s History Department (1996-1998). Dr. Henderson teaches undergraduate and graduate education courses, and also supervises student teachers. He was the founder and coordinator of Furman’s Teachers As Scholars program (1999-2004). He was the President of the South Carolina chapter of the American Association of University Professors (2005-2007), and has served on the boards of the National Association of Fellowships Advisers (2007-2011), the Urban History Association (2005-2008), the Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (2004-2007), and the Interfaith Forum (2007-2010). His published scholarship includes “Building Intelligent and Active Public Minds: Education and Social Reform in Greenville County During the 1930s” (2005); “World Literature and Multiculturalism in High School Curricula” (2002); Power and the Public Interest (2002 [editor]); “Understanding Cities: An Overview of Urban Social Theory” (2002); and Housing and the Democratic Ideal (2000). Dr. Henderson was a Baruch (2004) and Truman (1982) Scholar, and was a 2002 recipient of Furman’s Meritorious Advising Award (2002) and Teacher of the Year Award (2002).
Dr. George B. Lipscomb, an assistant professor in the Education Department, has been at Furman since 2002. He received his B.A. with Honors in History from Davidson College in 1990, his M.A. from Wake Forest University in 1992, and PhD. from the University of Florida in 2003. A former middle and high school social studies teacher, he currently instructs elementary, middle level, and secondary social studies methods, curriculum and technology, and geography among other courses. Dr. Lipscomb has served the last two years on the board of the South Carolina Council for the Social Studies and helped to organize the SCPSSE (South Carolina Professors of Social Studies Education). He has also presented workshops around the state on “Using Technology in the Social Studies Classroom” and served on panels to review the SC Social Studies Curriculum Standards and the End of Course US History test. He enjoys soccer, golf, basketball, downloading music, and spending time with his wife and two sons. Dr. Lipscomb's web site.
Dr. Jungkang Miller joined Furman University in the fall of 2003 and teaches in the TESOL graduate program. She earned a Ph.D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in TESOL from New Mexico State University. She holds a M.A. degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a B.A. degree in English literature and linguistics from Kyungpook National University, in Daegu, South Korea. Dr. Kim has been working with students and teachers in culturally and linguistically diverse educational settings. She taught English in Korea and in the U.S. in public schools, a college ESL program, and a community-based adult ESL program and currently works with teachers of English language learners. The areas of her research interests include TESL/TEFL, Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and adult ESL literacy. 
Dr. Lesley Quast, a faculty member at Furman University since fall term 1976, served as the Director of Partnerships and Special Projects as well as National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Coordinator from 1999 to 2006. Previously, Dr. Quast served for five years as Chair of the Education Department and Director of Teacher Education. She is presently the Assistant Academic Dean of the university. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology (1969) from St. Andrews Presbyterian College; her Master of Education degree in Emotional Disturbance (1971) from Virginia Commonwealth University; and her Ed. D. in Learning Disabilities (1977) from the University of Alabama. Additionally, she spent one summer at the University of Salzburg studying German, and one year doing doctoral internships and courses in Emotional Disturbance through the University of Virginia. While psychology and special education have provided the foundation to her teaching and preparation of educators, Dr. Quast has for over 32 years focused on appropriate education of students with exceptionalities within the context of typical classrooms. Her research interests in the effects of child abuse and neglect, depression in adolescents, renewal in teacher education, and preparing teachers to be culturally responsive, have resulted in annual national and state conference presentations, as well as journal publications and a book chapter. One of her main areas of scholarship throughout her career has been the writing of grants for innovative programming for students with exceptionalities, preparation of all educators to effectively teach those with exceptionalities, and enhancing teacher quality through renewal of teacher education programs. She has brought almost 2.5 million dollars to Furman University in grant funding over the past 30 years. In addition, Dr. Quast has held international and state leadership positions in the Council for Exceptional Children. She was a charter executive committee member of the South Carolina Network for Educational renewal and served as the liaison between South Carolina and the National Network for Educational Renewal from 1991-2006.
Dr. Shirley A. Ritter, has been a faculty member at Furman University since the fall of 1984. With a Bachelor of Science in Education (1970) degree from Indian University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Educational Studies (1981) degree from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and a Ph. D. (1984) from The University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), her area of specialty is Special Education. Her public school teaching has been in both the US and Australia. Throughout her career, Dr. Ritter has been interested in effective teaching practices for all students, especially those receiving special education services. Her presentations at state, national and international conferences highlight collaboration and inclusion for students with special needs. She is also conducting a longitudinal research project on a, now young woman, born with agenesis of the corpus callosum. She is past president of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. She has held leadership position in other Divisions of CEC, as well as in CEC, and participates in other organizations whose goal it is to improve educational services for students with special needs. She reviews manuscripts for Teacher Education and Special Education, Remedial and Special Education, and the Journal of International Special Needs and Education. When not at the office you might find Dr. Ritter working in her yard or hiking on a trail!
Dr. Renita Schmidt is the newest member of the education faculty. She completed her doctoral degree in Language, Literacy, and Culture at The University of Iowa in May, 2005, after teaching elementary school in a variety of rural public schools across Iowa for about fifteen years. As an elementary teacher, she worked as a teacher member of the Iowa cohort of the New Standards Project and as a facilitator for several state and regional conferences on portfolio assessment. As a doctoral student at The University of Iowa, she taught elementary literacy methods courses and children’s literature and also worked as a research assistant on the Exemplary Literacy Teaching Archive, a DVD of exemplary literacy teaching practices. She was a recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award and the Pi Lambda Theta Outstanding Doctoral Student Award at her past university. Currently, she is establishing a research agenda that combines her interests in qualitative research, teacher education, the politics of literacy, and children’s literature. Her dissertation, Broken Trust: Teachers’ Talk about Teaching Literacy in Times of Mandates, is about the construction of “teacherhood” in elementary reading and language arts classrooms and how the social politics of teacher identity constructs teachers’ ways of being teachers. She is excited about working and learning with teachers in South Carolina !
Martha Shaleuly came to Furman in 1996 to fill a one-year appointment as an instructor in the areas of elementary/early childhood education. During that year Furman was selected to receive state funds for the purpose of developing the SC Teaching Fellows scholarship program and Martha was selected as director of that new program. Prior to her work in higher education, she worked with young children teaching kindergarten, primary grades and special education including teaching social studies to children with specific learning disabilities and a self-contained class of first graders. After finishing Coker College with a BA in Elementary Education, she completed her Masters of Education at the University of South Carolina with Early Childhood her specific area. She co-authored Nurturing Those Who Nurture Children, a training manual for early educators and also made chapter contributions to A Gallery of Portraits in Service Learning. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Recruitment, Retention and Advancement of Educators. Working with diversity on the Furman campus she is a member of NCBI team and has recently completed training with the Santa Cruz and Cognitive Coaching Mentoring programs to enhance her work with Furman’s senior block and fifth year teachers in their classrooms.
Dr. Judy Stuart is an Associate Professor at Furman University . She came to Furman in 1999. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Louisiana Tech University and a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of New Orleans . Other experience in South Carolina includes teaching at Lander University in Greenwood and teaching at League Academy in Greenville County Schools. Dr. Stuart has been actively involved in working with professionals in special education and other related service providers in a variety of ways. In addition to serving as Faculty co-advisor for the State Council for Exceptional Children (SC/CEC), Furman’s Chapter of CEC, and Furman’s Circle K Club, she is the State Treasurer for the Division of Early Childhood of SC/CEC. Her interests are centered on children with special needs and their families. She shares her passion through involvement with the community and in projects with Furman students. Dr. Stuart has previously served on the Development Council for Greenville Memorial Children’s Hospital and the Board of the Mental Health Association of Greenville County. During her tenure at LSUMC, she was director of training for an integrated early intervention center. While at Tulane University, she coordinated a number of special education programs and served as a consultant for Tulane Hospital for Children, and as a development member for Children’s Hospital of New Orleans .
Dr. Michael Svec was born in Berwyn, Illinois, a near west suburb of Chicago. In 1988, he graduated from the University of Illinois-Urbana with a degree in physics. After graduation he remained in Urbana and taught at University High School and Parkland College resulting in discovering a teaching vocation. Dr. Svec earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction (secondary science) from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1994. After graduation, he was an assistant professor of education at Rockhurst College in Kansas City until joining Furman University in 1998. As a member of Furman’s Education Department, Dr. Svec teaches all levels of science methods, perspectives on American education, and supervises field placements. He also teaches graduate courses in astronomy and physics for teachers. His professional activities include professional development of teachers, physics education, developing science curriculum, international science education, and inquiry in the K-12 classroom. He is serving on the board of the Roper Mountain Science Center. During the winter/spring of 2005, Dr. Svec was a Fulbright Scholar in the Czech Republic teaching science education courses at Ostrava and Palacky Universities.
Dr. Troy M. Terry is the new Director of Graduate Studies in Education, coming to Furman in July 2005. His entire career spans a gamut of educational experiences including teaching high school English and Drama, and serving as a middle school assistant principal and an elementary principal. Dr. Terry is a literacy and service-learning advocate and has presented at county, state and regional meetings on integrated literacy programs in the elementary school, creating an exemplary writing school, service learning, curriculum integration, teaming, reading and writing across the curriculum, grant writing, and humanities-based curriculum. Dr. Terry has authored or edited three publications on curriculum integration: ARISE – Integrating Service Learning into the Curriculum 9-12; ARISE: Service Learning at the Middle Level; and REACH: Integrating the Collaborative Humanities. Dr. Terry completed a doctoral dissertation on the 21st Century Learning Grant’s after-school programs and how they affect individual student achievement on the SC PACT test in 2004. Dr. Terry’s first experience at Furman was serving as an adjunct instructor of service-learning methodology. He has been recognized by a Furman University summa cum laude graduate as a “Master Teacher” and participated in that former program’s recognition weekend, where he received an award from the student and from Furman President, Dr. David Shi. A teacher, actor, writer, director, singer and performer, Dr. Terry has directed or performed in over 50 school, community, and regional musical or dramatic productions. His documentary on the Holocaust, “Remember the Children,” won 1st place as the best Humanities Project at Clemson University in April 2003. Dr. Terry lives near Clemson with his wife, Melissa, and their four children.
An Assistant Professor of Education at Furman University since 2002, Dr. P. L. Thomas taught high school English for 18 years at Woodruff High along with teaching as an adjunct at a number of Upstate colleges. He holds an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education (1983) along with an M. Ed. in Secondary Education (1985) and Ed. D. in Curriculum and Instruction (1998), all from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Thomas has focused throughout his career on writing and the teaching of writing. He has published fiction, poetry, and numerous scholarly works since the early 1980s. Currently, he works closely with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the SC Council of Teachers of English (SCCTE). His major publications include a critique of American education, Numbers Games (2004, Peter Lang); a text on the teaching of writing, Teaching Writing Primer (2005, Peter Lang); and books in a series edited by Thomas, Confronting the Text, Confronting the World—his most recent volume being Reading, Learning, Teaching Margaret Atwood (2007, Peter Lang). He has also recently published a work with Joe Kincheloe (McGill University), Reading, Writing, and Thinking: The Postformal Basics (2006, Sense Publishers), and is currently drafting a book on Ralph Ellison along with working with authors for others books in his series. He will be a column editor for English Journal beginning the fall of 2008. His scholarship and teaching deal primarily with literacy and empowering people for social justice through education.
Staff
Lori Law, department assistant and caretaker for the education department, was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. While taking night classes at a local community college, she worked full-time at an eye doctor’s office. After a short time she found her interests were more in tune with the newspaper business and found a job with “The Enquirer.” From there she moved into more challenging work as a legal secretary working her way up to the office manager of a very prestigious Palm Beach law firm. After moving to Travelers Rest, South Carolina, she had the fortunate opportunity to join the Furman’s Education Department in September, 1995. And the education department was fortunate to get her. Lori is the “greeter” and troubleshooter. No problem or situation is too big for her. If a crisis arises, Lori immediately takes the reins and does whatever is necessary to solve that particular conundrum. She is the cohesiveness that keeps the department in one piece and running smoothly for everyone. Lori keeps the department on track and on task and guides those who enter the department with her interminable good spirit. Long ago travelers assured their safety through the forests by carving wood spirit images on their walking staffs. The legend and tradition of carved walking sticks to help travelers and visitors lives on in many forms. With a welcoming smile Lori watches over the education department and is ready to lend a helping hand providing safe passage to those who visit, those who stay, and those who journey afar.
Charmaine Moore joined the Furman University Education Department in July 2003 as the Education Analyst. In this capacity, she works closely with the students majoring in a field of education in compliance with state, federal, and national accrediting body reporting requirements. Charmaine is responsible for a variety of reports including: Professional Education Data System (PEDS); the joint AACTE/NCATE report; Title II report; Student Teacher Report; and Program Assessment Reports. Prior to joining Furman, she served as the Assistant Director of Georgia’s pioneering HOPE Scholarship Program, where she developed the undergraduate PROMISE and HOPE Teacher Scholarship programs currently under the HOPE umbrella. Charmaine graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology (1984). When not commuting from Greenwood to Travelers Rest, she enjoys her family time, gardening, and a good game of Scrabble.
