JASON SPEARS
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Ms. Snelling is an adjunct instructor in chemistry. Her bachelor’s degree is from Vanderbilt University where she did research in phosphorus polymers. She then attended the University of Illinois (IU), where she discovered that she enjoyed teaching more than research.
Ms. Snelling received a Master’s degree from IU and taught full time there. Her next position was analyzing water samples for the State of Illinois. Along the way she met and married the love of her life. When he finished his doctoral degree, they moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
While in Louisiana, Ms. Snelling started a toy company. Later she discovered she missed teaching. She served as an adjunct at three Cailfornia colleges and two in Tennessee. After 20 years, she gave up the toys and went to work at Volunteer State Community College, where she served in the combination position of laboratory assistant technician and instructor. She began at Cumberland University in the fall of 2023.
Dr. Snelling joined the faculty at Cumberland University in the fall of 2023, as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry. His wife Debbie also joined the chemistry faculty as an Adjunct Instructor of Chemistry.
Dr. Snelling graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Arizona State University. He conducted two years undergraduate research that resulted in the first computer program that allowed chemists to view and manipulate true 3D renderings of organic compounds. He was a founding member of Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional chemistry fraternity and was also a member of Sigma XI, The Scientific Research Honor Society.
After graduating, he went on to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and in 1981 earned a Ph.D. in both Organic and Analytical chemistry. His research centered on innovative mass spectrometry ionization and detection techniques for high molecular weight antibiotics. A major project was to build a novel hardware and software interface for pulse photon detection of extremely weak ion signals. It was later commercialized as the P.A.D. (Post Acceleration Detector) by Kratos. But without a doubt, his greatest achievement was meeting and marrying his wife Debbie who was also a chemistry graduate student, studying x-ray crystallography of air sensitive inorganic molecules.
After graduation in 1981, Dr. Snelling joined Exxon’s Research and Development Laboratory in Baton Rouge to modernize their conventional mass spectrometry facility and build a new research facility. In 1989, Dr. Snelling left Exxon for Unocal’s Science and Research Facility (Union 76), in sunny southern California (but he sure missed the Cajun cuisine in Baton Rouge). There he designed and built a state-of-the-art analytical facility to analyze geochemical biomarkers from core samples to support worldwide exploratory oil drilling operations.
In 1993, Unocal sold their Research and Science facility and Dr. Snelling joined Amway in Ada Michigan to run their quality control and research analytical facilities. This management position was unique because most of the chemists reporting to him only had BS or MS degrees. Significant time was spent mentoring these chemist and Dr. Snelling realized that he particularly enjoyed this facet.
Based on his experiences at Amway, 1996. Dr. Snelling switched careers and joined Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, TN as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. For the next 21 years, he helped to design the new Chemistry building, websites, instrumentation acquisition and maintenance, and wrote all of the labs for the General and Organic chemistry sequences. He was greatly aided in these efforts by having his wife Debbie by his side as the department’s laboratory technician and adjunct instructor.
Catherine J Williams is a Florida native who has lived and worked in Tennessee for the last 35 years. She joined Cumberland University as an adjunct lecturer in Mathematics during summer 2023. Prior to this she taught middle and high school mathematics for 21 years in Wilson County, TN, Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County School System, TN and in Tampa, FL. In addition to these teaching experiences, she worked for Vanderbilt’s Peabody College supervising Secondary Math Education majors during their teaching practicums and taught high school mathematics in a homeschool tutorial.
She is the mother of two daughters, one a Music Therapist and the other a college student. She is very active in the music ministries of First Baptist Church Nashville where she accompanies a children’s choir, sings in the adult choir, plays in the adult handbell group and each year teaches Vacation Bible School and Music Arts Camp. She is the wife of an Electrical Engineer who practices in the Nashville area.
Mike Dillon is a long-time business executive having worked for Fortune Five Hundred companies such as Tractor Supply Company, Land O’Lakes, Cracker Barrel and United Airlines. Mike is originally from Indianapolis; Indiana and his career specialization is in negotiations and project management. In his career, Mr. Dillon, a two-time buyer of the year, has led several high performing teams on both the retail buying and sourcing sides of the business.
In addition to buying, Mike has is experienced in retail operations and supply chain. Mike has taught since the fall of 2023.
Dr. Barbour began her teaching career in 2000 as a high school mathematics teacher. After twelve years in the classroom, she became mathematics coach, and then moved into administration in 2013.
Dr. Barbour attended Tennessee State University and received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She also attended Capella University where she received a Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership in Educational Administration. Dr. Barbour completed 18 hours of graduate-level mathematics courses to become an adjunct professor.
Dr. Barbour enjoys traveling, listening to music, and spending time with her family. She is married with two daughters and two granddaughters.
Dr. Ora Denton is an Adjunct Instructor at Cumberland University. Her educational journey began by earning her Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Management from Christian Brothers University. She decided to further her education and enrolled at Webster’s University where she obtained both her Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Science (MS) in Information Technology Management. In 2022, Dr. Denton received her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Northcentral University.
Dr. Denton has worked in Information Technology as a Senior Business and Technical Analyst for over 20 years and has worked for various corporations in such industries as Health Care, Manufacturing, Park and Recreations, and Cloud Security. She also worked as a Chair for the School of IT at ITT Technical Institute overseeing the Cyber Security, Networking and Program Management Programs. Where she not only managed the staff and administration for those programs and also served as a professor teaching students about the fundamentals of IT including coding, processing, malware, software application, Microsoft Office as well as how to apply those fundamentals in different positions within the field of IT.
She has over 15 years of teaching experience. Dr. Ora Denton is extremely dedicated to continuing the educational pursuits of others and has the necessary hands-on experience to provide her students with pertinent insight that can help propel their professional endeavors.
Troy Simpson brings over two decades of experience as a human resources practitioner to his role as adjunct instructor. He spends his time working in his profession and volunteering with organizations that equip individuals and teams by celebrating strengths and pursuing their full potential. As a leader within the retail, healthcare and supply chain industries, Troy has extensive experience in employee relations, talent acquisition, performance management, leadership development and succession planning.
He serves as speaker faculty and panelist at multiple industry and academic conferences. Troy currently holds the position of Senior Director of Human Resources Shared Services and Operations at Dollar General Corporation. He is enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi’s PhD in Human Capital Development program. Troy and his family reside in Lebanon, Tennessee.