News around campus and beyond
Over the summer, the college announced several new leadership team members. They include:
Dean of Students Phillip A. Sullivan: Sullivan, who most recently served as associate dean of campus life and director of residential education and services at Oxford College of Emory University, was selected as McDaniel’s new dean of students following a national search. He assumed the role at McDaniel effective Aug. 19, 2024.
Dean of the Faculty Mary Bendel-Simso: English professor Mary Bendel-Simso has been promoted to dean of the faculty. As Professor of English at McDaniel, Bendel-Simso has taught in the English Department since 1995. She has served as faculty secretary and on various faculty committees, including two terms on the faculty affairs committee.
Assistant Dean of Faculty Development and Director of the Honors Program Chloe Watson Irla ’07: Chloe Watson Irla ’07 begins as assistant dean of faculty development and director of the Honors Program. She has taught digital art and design courses at McDaniel since 2016. She was promoted to associate professor of Art in 2022 and, most recently, served as chair of the Art Department. She also served as a special advisor to the provost on well-being initiatives.
Executive Director of the Center for Experience and Opportunity Joan Liptrot: Joan Liptrot has been promoted as the new executive director of McDaniel’s Center for Experience and Opportunity. Liptrot, who joined McDaniel in 2023 as director of international and off-campus programs, has more than 30 years of experience in education. She was previously director of service and civic engagement at Rider University.
Director of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Cathy Felmlee Shanholtz: Cathy Felmlee Shanholtz has been named the inaugural program director for McDaniel’s new Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. The program has received approval from the Maryland Higher Education Commission and is expected to begin in summer 2026, pending approval by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. Felmlee Shanholtz is working on a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Shenandoah University, where she was program director for the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy programs at the Winchester and Leesburg, Virginia, campuses and served as the division director of Occupational Therapy.
In honor of Military Appreciation Month, McDaniel has earned a gold award among the nation’s top schools for military and veteran students in the May issue of G.I. Jobs® magazine. McDaniel has been recognized as a Military Friendly® School each year since the list was first published in 2009.
Seven McDaniel bachelor’s degree recipients who majored in Elementary Education or minored in PreK-12 or Secondary Education and one graduate from the accelerated bachelor’s-to-master’s five-year Secondary Education/M.S. in Teaching were recognized as Teachers of Promise by the Maryland State Department of Education.
McDaniel’s Teachers of Promise awardees were: John Geniti III ’24, Nicole Guercio ’24, Ellie Henderson ’24, Kayla Shriver ’24, Carsyn Meckley ’24, Bryce Mitchell ’24, Brooke Windsor ’24, Savanna Kerbe ’23, M.S. ’24.
The McDaniel College Alumni Association honored six alumni as recipients of 2024 Alumni Association Awards during Alumni Weekend. This year’s recipients included:
Donald Mosby Rembert Sr. ’61, Alum of the Year
Ashley Day Gibbs ’12, Young Alumni Award
Christopher Schaber, Ph.D. ’89, Professional Achievement Award
Debbie Dale Seidel ’84, College Service Award
Ann C. Kehinde ’84, Community Service Award
Melissa Couillard M.S. ’13, Bailer Award
Robert Pick ’92, executive vice president and chief information officer for Philadelphia-based Tokio Marine North America Services, has been elected to the McDaniel College Board of Trustees. Pick is a 1992 alum who majored in History and Political Science, and his daughter, Reagan, is currently a senior with a student-designed major in French Studies.
The McDaniel College Alumni Association has been nationally recognized as an Alumni Association Inclusive Excellence Award winner by Insight Into Diversity magazine. Insight Into Diversity is the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. McDaniel is featured in the June 2024 issue of the magazine.
McDaniel is the only higher education institution in Maryland to receive an Alumni Award, which honors alumni associations’ programs, culture, and initiatives that encourage and support diversity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging for all alumni, regardless of racial or ethnic background, sexual or gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, worldview, and more.
Insight Into Diversity magazine selected the McDaniel College Alumni Association for this award due to the work of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Alumni Council to expand the active involvement of all alumni. The committee is chaired by 2024 Trustee Alumni Award recipient and Alumni Council President Elect James A. Felton III ’95, M.S. ’98.
Brian Thompson M.S. ’15, who graduated from McDaniel with a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and an Administrator I Certificate, is the 2024-25 Teacher of the Year for Carroll County Public Schools, making him eligible to be chosen as the 2025 Maryland Teacher of the Year.