Todd Beer comes to Lake Forest College as an assistant professor of sociology. An expert on the relationship between domestic environmental NGOs and transnational organizations in Kenya, Todd has been pursuing his PhD degree in sociology at Indiana University. A recipient of the Sutherland Teaching Award at Indiana, he holds an MA degree in Social Science from Humboldt State University and a BFA degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Scott Edgar joins the Department of Music from the University of Michigan, where he recently completed his PhD in music education. He has previously taught at Adrian College and Concordia University, and has many years of experience teaching music at the middle school and high school levels. His research interests include child development and the role of social and emotional learning in music education. At Lake Forest College, Scott will be responsible for developing a music education program and supervising the concert band.

A specialist on Nietzsche’s views of ancient philosophy, Daw-Nay Evans joins the Philosophy Department from DePaul University, where he recently completed his PhD in philosophy. Along with expertise in nineteenth and twentieth century European philosophy and the history of ancient philosophy, Daw-Nay’s interests include Africana philosophy and the philosophy of race and ethnicity. Daw-Nay has previously taught at both DePaul University and as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to his PhD degree, Daw-Nay also holds an MA in philosophy from Virginia Polytechnic and State University and a BA in philosophy from George Mason University.

After a three-year absence, Ramon Gonzalez Hernandez returns to Lake Forest College for a two-year appointment as an assistant professor of economics and business. In 2008-09 he held a similar post at the college, before leaving to take up the position of advisor to the governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. Ramon holds a PhD degree in economics from Florida International University and an MA degree in economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He completed his undergraduate degree in economics at Mater et Magistra Pontifical Catholic University, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

A specialist in antebellum and Civil War era American history, Assistant Professor Jake Lundberg will be joining the Department of History from the University of Notre Dame, where he has been a visiting scholar since 2011. Before his appointment at Notre Dame, Jake served for three years as an assistant professor of history at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT. He holds MA, MPhil and PhD degrees in history from Yale University and completed his BA degree in history at Connecticut College.

A member of the Education Department since 2009, Desmond Odugu was recently appointed to a tenure-track position in the department.  An expert on education language policy in multilingual societies, he holds a PhD degree in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies and an M.Ed in educational psychological from Loyola University Chicago. He also holds an MA degree in Philosophy from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria and a BA degree in philosophy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Evan Oxman, who has been a postdoctoral fellow in politics at Lake Forest College since 2010, was recently appointed to the position of Uihlein Assistant Professor of American Politics. A political theorist whose work focuses on the relationship between constitutionalism and popular sovereignty, he holds MA and PhD degrees in politics from Princeton University and a BA degree in political science from Duke University. Before coming to Lake Forest, Evan completed a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University.

Fatima Rahman joins the Department of Politics having recently completed her PhD in political science at the University of California, Irvine. A specialist on state institutionalized Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, Fatima has previously taught at Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA and the University of California, Irvine. She has an MA degree in political science from the University of California, Riverside and a BA in Political Science-International Relations from the University of California, San Diego.

Ben Zeller, who will be joining the Department of Religion in the spring, is currently completing a Fulbright scholarship at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. Prior to his Fulbright, Ben had served for five years as an assistant professor of religious studies at Brevard College in North Carolina. An authority on new religious movements in the United States, Ben holds a PhD in religious studies from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School. He completed his undergraduate degree in religious studies at the University of Rochester. 

News Contact