Seven AU professors granted tenure among faculty promotions
ASHLAND, Ohio – Among a series of faculty promotions at Ashland University, seven professors have been granted tenure – Amy Crawford, Ph.D., and Erik Kormos, Ph.D., in the Dwight Schar College of Education; Timothy Hinkel, Ph.D., Nikita Lopatin, Ph.D., and Dennis Witherspoon, Ph.D., in the Dauch College of Business and Economics; Jody Hostetler in the Dwight Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences; and Selva Kolandapalayam Shanmugam, Ph.D., in the College of Arts and Sciences.
In addition, Rev. Jason Barnhart, Th.D., of the Ashland Theological Seminary and Robert Wyllie, Ph.D., in the College of Arts and Sciences were promoted to the rank of associate professor along with Crawford, Hinkel, Hostetler, Lopatin and Witherspoon. All promotions were approved by the AU Board of Trustees and will take effect Aug. 18, the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year.
“Our newly tenured and promoted faculty have already made a tremendous difference in the lives of our students. We are delighted to have them at Ashland,” stated AU President Jon Parrish Peede.
Barnhart joined the faculty at the Seminary in 2021 and serves as the department chair for Christian historical and theological studies. He specializes in Brethren historical theology, theology of Karl Barth, Anabaptist thought, political theology, Thomas Merton and monasticism and spiritual formation. He has more than a decade of pastoral experience in congregations and is the author of the book “Word-Spirit Communal Revelationalism: The Brethren-Evangelical Theological Epistemology of J. Allen Miller.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in religion and ethics from AU, a master’s degree in divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary and a doctorate in Brethren historical theology from La Salle University.
Crawford, a member of the department of education since 2019, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. Her areas of expertise include teacher motivation, STEM/STEAM education, working with students in low socio-economic areas and restorative practices. Her background in education includes teaching middle grades history and mathematics, and working as an academic coach, Ohio Teacher Evaluator, Ohio Resident Educator Mentor and state compliance facilitator. She received a bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Youngstown State University, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Kent State University.
Hinkel, who began his AU career in 2019, is the current chair of the department of accounting and management information systems. He teaches classes in advanced financial accounting, corporate accounting, introduction to financial accounting and managerial accounting, and his current research explores international accounting standard adoption and integration in Europe. He has received a number of honors, including the AU Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award in 2024. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in fixed income and a Ph.D. in management, both from the University of Arizona.
Hostetler, a member of the AU nursing faculty since 2015, serves as the director of AU’s online nurse educator certificate program. She teaches courses in international and transcultural perspectives, genetics in nursing and health, healthcare systems and principles and practices of assess-evaluation courses. She is also a consultant for the Ohio Board of Nursing and has served as a practical nurse administrator for high school and adult nursing programs. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ashland University, a master’s degree in education from Kent State University, and a doctor of nursing practice from Carlow University.
Kormos has been with AU as an associate professor of educational and assistive technologies since 2019. He teaches undergraduate and graduate educational technology, social studies methods and communication courses, and his research interests include educator usage and perceptions of technology, school settings and the digital divide and assessment in online learning and international education. Prior to AU, he taught middle grades and young adult social studies in Ohio and Barranquilla, Colombia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Slippery Rock University, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Cleveland State University and a Ph.D. in communications media and instructional technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Lopatin started his career in the department of economics, finance and business analytics at AU in 2019. His areas of expertise include international trade, corporate finance and applied microeconomics, and he has presented at top national and regional research conferences. He is a Certified Business Economist and a Certified Business Intelligence & Data Analyst. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia, a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from the University of London, a master’s degree in international banking and finance from the University of Durham and both a master’s and Ph.D. in economics from Indiana University.
Shanmugam joined the AU faculty and department of computer science in 2021. Her areas of expertise include software engineering and software applications, data science for intelligent systems, machine learning with applications to surveillance systems, image and video processing, virtual reality and programming languages. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Association of Computing Machinery student chapter. She was the recipient of the Young Investigator Award in the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Techno Sciences by IRNET. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in computer applications from Bharathiar University in India, a master’s degree in computer science from Bharathidasan University in India, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Anna University in India.
Witherspoon, who has 20 years of experience teaching banking and finance courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, has been with the department of finance at AU since 2019. He specializes in financial stress, financial literacy, consumer risk management and baby boomer retirement impact on the housing market. He serves as the director of the Eagle Investment Group, AU’s student-managed investment fund. He has maintained Certified Financial Planner designation since 2018. He received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Saginaw Valley State University, an MBA from Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in personal financial planning from Kansas State University.
Wyllie began his career in the departments of history and political science at AU in 2020. He teaches courses in political economy, history and political philosophy. He is currently writing a book on envy in the history of modern political thought and his research was published in “Constellations: A Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory, Perspectives on Political Science, Res Philosophica TELOS.” He received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in politics from the University of Virginia, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Notre Dame.