Faculty and Staff: Graduate Education

Ellen Ballock

Dean of School of Education
Professor of Education

Ellen Ballock started her career as a second grade teacher in Florida and then at the North Jakarta International School in the country of Indonesia. Prior to joining the Gordon College faculty in 2013, she also served as a teacher educator at Towson University in Maryland. She is passionate about the School of Education’s mission to prepare teachers, school leaders, and speech-language pathology assistants for making an impact on the individuals, ... more ➔

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Gregory Keller

Professor of Biology
Dean, School of Science and Health

Dr. Keller joined Gordon College in 2007 after teaching for five years at Eastern New Mexico University, where he was an Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology.

Essays written by Keller for a general audience include: "Denizens of the Autumn Air" and "A Sense of Shared (Avian) Presence." ... more ➔

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Debra Auday

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Graeme Bird

Professor of Linguistics
Professor of Classics
Linguistics Program Director

Dr. Bird is a native of New Zealand and has been teaching full-time at Gordon since 2001. His interests include Greek and Latin language and literature, Indo-European linguistics, and early English literature. He is a participant in the Harvard-affiliated Homer Multi-text Project, with a chapter in a book due out in the fall dealing with a celebrated medieval manuscript of Homer's Iliad. He enjoys exploring the connections between ... more ➔

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Susan Bobb

Professor of Psychology

Dr. Bobb joined the Gordon faculty in the fall of 2015, coming from Northwestern University where she had been a Research Associate working on the neural correlates of bilingual language processing and cognitive control. Dr. Bobb’s research program is broadly developmental, using both behavioral methods (e.g., eye-tracking; response times) and neuroscience methods (e.g., EEG) to investigate the process of learning a first or second language ... more ➔

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Nancy Capen

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Blair Cochran

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Blair has taught at Gordon since 2001. He has taught Educational Technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as methods courses in Physics. Blair currently teaches Integrating Science in the Classroom for the graduate education program. He also teaches a vocational high school Physics course, and is a full-time Physics and Astronomy teacher at Melrose High School. Blair lives in Georgetown with his family.

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Abigail Downing

Lecturer in Education

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Ian Drummond

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Ian has lived and worked on the North Shore since 2002, having originally moved here to attend seminary. He has taught undergraduate history and Latin at Gordon College since 2006, and in the graduate education program since 2012, teaching independent studies in ancient and modern history, as well as photography. Ian is also Associate Director of New Hope Tutorials, Inc., an education non-profit in Boxford that offers full-year coursework to middle- ... more ➔

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Krista Erikson

Teaching Professor

Krista Erikson is a 1991 Graduate of Gordon College. She has taught at the elementary level for over 15 years, including general education and special education classrooms. Krista earned her Masters degree in Reading from Gordon in 2011. Krista also holds a Graduate Certificate of Dylexia Studies and Language Based Learning Disabilities from SNHU. Krista is a Wilson Reading System® Trainer and an Acadience® Reading and Acadience® Math ... more ➔

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David Goss

Professor in the Practice of History

Teaching Fields:
Museum Studies, Public History, Early American Maritime and Intellectual 

Research Fields:
Museum Studies, New England Puritanism, American Revolution, New England Maritime 

Selected Publications:
The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2008).

Salem: Cornerstones of a Historic City. (Commonwealth ... more ➔

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Sarah Grant

Director of Graduate Education
Associate Professor of Education

Sarah Grant, a graduate of Gordon College, has returned to Gordon College as the Director of Graduate Education. She has spent her career in various PreK-12 roles, including teaching, instructional coaching and administration. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in middle school education and English from Gordon College, she received a Master of Educational Leadership from University of Southern Maine. Sarah completed a Doctor of Education with ... more ➔

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Michael Hildebrandt

Instructional Coach and New Faculty Mentor
Graduate Education Adjunct Faculty and Advisor

Michael moved to the North Shore in 2004 to teach at Landmark School and pursue a master’s degree in the area of moderate disabilities and literacy. He taught at Study Skills and Language Arts at Landmark until 2012 and continues to lead workshops and classes for students, parents, and teachers. Michael’s doctoral work allowed him to develop his research and practice in the areas of self-regulated learning and executive function deficits ... more ➔

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Mariann Illingworth

Adjunct in Education

Mariann Illingworth brings a wealth of teaching experience to the Gordon College Department of Education. Mariann currently teaches the English as a Second Language courses at Gordon and previously taught at North Shore Community College. She is a teacher of history, French, and ESL at Danvers High School. Her early teaching experience included teaching middle school (social studies, French, and Spanish) at North Shore Christian School in Lynn ... more ➔

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Wendy Jacobson

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Kimberly Leonard

Associate Professor Education

Kimberly Leonard, Class of 1989 (Sociology), is licensed in Early Childhood Education, Special Education, Reading, and English as a Second Language. Kim has been in the field of education for over 20 years. She has experience within all four disciplines and currently serves as Elementary Education Coordinator for Georgetown Public Schools and consults as a reading specialist at Covenant Christian Academy. She has seven years of ... more ➔

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Paul Mason

Adjunct Faculty in Graduate Education

Paul has taught over 40 years in public, private, urban, suburban and international schools including a MK mission school. Taught all levels from Middle school to graduate school. About half in Christian and half in public schools. He also spent four years in the country of Haiti training teachers. He specializes in teaching the sciences and integrating Faith and science. 

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Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza

Associate Professor in Practice of Education
Director of Academic Innovation and Strategic Partnerships

Dr. Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza serves as the Director of Academic Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, and Associate Professor of Practice. Her background and expertise include civic engagement research & practice, organizational consulting, PreK-12 schools and higher education professional development on subjects such as educational practices, policy, administration, and leadership. She has authored numerous papers and peer reviewed publications.  ... more ➔

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Michael Molnar

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Heidi Mongeau

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Heidi Mongeau's passion for teaching and learning has inspired her to teach at various levels in public education. She started her career as a middle school social studies teacher where she taught World History, American History and Civics. After 12 years at the middle school level, she took a new position as a high school teacher. During her four year tenure in this position, Heidi taught various courses including; American History, Youth ... more ➔

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Kathleen Mort

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Kathy has been teaching at Gordon since 2008 and currently serves as the Director of Curriculum and Training with Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission and DELTA Ministries International. For over thirty years Kathy worked in public middle and high schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. She has served in various administrative positions including district-wide professional development coordinator, assistant principal ... more ➔

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Priscilla Nelson

Richard F. Gross Endowed Professor

Priscilla Nelson, Class of '74, returned to Gordon's Education Department after twenty years of combined experience as a public school classroom teacher, an elementary Christian school principal, and an adjunct professor at Gordon. Priscilla pursued advanced study at Boston University and the University of Massachusetts. This enables her to prepare teachers of reading using the most recent scientifically based research. She served as a ... more ➔

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Maria Perez

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Dr. Maria Perez's focus and concentration has been the study of principal leadership and school climate. She is an ardent promoter of 21st Century skills and adheres to a multi-sensory/multi-modal approach to education; one which includes social entrepreneurship, social-emotional well-being, arts integration, music, movement, innovation, collaboration, and creativity. Maria currently teaches Human Growth and Development graduate courses at ... more ➔

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Margaret Pickett

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Rebecca Pitkin

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Elissa Rader

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Elissa Arndt Rader, Ph.D. CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and reading specialist with experience providing instruction and intervention in language and literacy to students Prek-8th grade in Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree from Gordon College, her master’s degree from MGH Institute of Health Professions and her doctorate degree in Reading and Language Arts from Florida State University. Elissa has worked ... more ➔

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Mary Riso

Director, Education Administration
Adjunct Instructor

Dr. Mary Riso is the Director of Education Administration for the School of Education. She is an Adjunct Instructor in the Undergraduate Department of Biblical Studies, and also teaches a variety of newly developed writing courses in the Graduate Education program. She is the author of The Narrative of the Good Death: The Evangelical Deathbed in Victorian England (Routledge) and Heroines: Great Literary Characters and What They Have to Teach U ... more ➔

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Joshua Robinson

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Elizabeth Scottron

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Abigail Sullivan

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Oleksiy Svitelskiy

Professor of Physics

A condensed matter physicist by training, Dr. Svitelskiy's research includes the propagation of acoustic waves through ferroelectric materials, as well as optical interferometry using NEMS sensors for mass spectrometry. He has also studied the elastic constant of materials in high magnetic fields and low temperatures. 

A native of Ukraine, Professor Svitelskiy speaks Ukrainian, Russian, and English. He enjoys fishing in ... more ➔

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Doris-Ann Vosseler

Adjunct in Graduate Education

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Marie White

Adjunct in Graduate Education

Marie is an educational psychologist who has been engaged in research on help-seeking since introduced to the topic by Barry J. Zimmerman in the early years of her doctoral research. After years of investigating help-seeking,  standards-based education, teacher educational practices, she has turned her attention to self-regulation in the context of socialization and home-schooling. Her work also includes designing and teaching courses in& ... more ➔

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Kim Winsor

Licensure Officer
Adjunct in Graduate Education

Kim Winsor began her career in the Boston Public Schools followed by a year at Holliston High School moving to Lexington Christian Academy in 1980. Hired as the librarian, Kim found that the academy gave her the opportunity to initiate new programs and take on new responsibilities. She has been a classroom teacher— teaching all grades 6-12, Director of Special Education, Middle School Director, Director of Studies and Associate Head of School. ... more ➔

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