Three LU faculty members promoted
Three Lakeland University faculty members were recently promoted by the LU Board of Trustees, and two were awarded tenure.
Stewart joined the Lakeland faculty in 2017 after serving for three years at Parkland College. He has distinguished himself as a gifted and innovative educator, dedicated to academic rigor and student growth. He has pioneered strategies for student engagement in multiple course formats and thoroughly revised the communication curriculum to meet the changing demands of his field and the needs of LU students, including the integration of Cooperative Education in the major.
Stewart has mentored students in several student organizations, including the Student Government Association, and is recognized by peers and students for his dedication to academic advising. He has served on multiple committees and recently became president of Lakeland’s AAUP chapter.
Karls joined Lakeland in 2015 after completing his Ph.D. and post-doctoral research at Marquette University. He is a dedicated and serious teacher with a passion for working with fellow faculty to improve the Lakeland experience for all students. An expert in human physiology and biochemistry, Karls regularly incorporates applied research utilizing human kidney cell lines into his biology courses so that students can actively connect their knowledge to the world around them.
Over the past five years, Karls has served on various task forces and committees to address some of Lakeland’s most pressing educational issues, including institutional research protocols, textbook access issues and the academic experience of our Cooperative Education model. He has set himself apart as an academic advisor who is committed to developing innovative and successful graduates.
Gencheva joined Lakeland’s faculty in 2010 and became a full-time assistant professor in 2012. She is a well-respected teacher whose commitment to developing subject matter expertise is matched only by her support for the success and well-being of her students. She is a world-renowned and award-winning scholar in ancient history and late antiquity who has used her work and accomplishments to introduce students to the research process and to promote LUJ in Japan and abroad.
Gencheva has actively contributed to the LUJ community, most notably with the Vox Humana project, through which she organized a team of students to work with Hansen Disease museums in Japan. The students translated descriptions of museum exhibits from Japanese into English for foreign visitors, a project that was formally recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Health.
