Seven New Faculty Join Lee’s College Of Arts And Sciences

Lee University welcomed 15 new faculty members to its campus this fall, seven of whom have been added to its College of Arts and Sciences. 

Dr. Sarah Bumps joins Lee’s business department as an assistant professor of accounting. She comes to Lee after teaching accounting and business law at Regent University. Her business experience is varied and includes non-profit and project accounting. 

Dr. Bumps earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Arts from Regent University. She earned her Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Christian University. 

Dr. Brent Ferrell, a Lee alum, returns to campus as an assistant professor of chemistry in the Department of Natural Sciences. Dr. Ferrell has been an instructor of chemistry and biochemistry since 2012 at the University of Northern Colorado. He has also spent three years as a laboratory teaching assistant at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Ferrell’s involvement as a chemical education researcher led him to receive the National Honors Society Student Research Award in 2014 from the University of Northern Colorado. 

Dr. Ferrell earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Northern Colorado, his Master of Science from the University of Kentucky, and his Bachelor of Science from Lee University. 

Coty McFarland joins the business department as an associate lecturer in business. He has served as the director of quality assurance/new product introductions for Whirlpool Corporation since 2008. Prior to this, he was the director of engineering for the North America region for Whirlpool. During his time at Whirlpool/ Maytag Corporation, he assumed leadership of the Cleveland Technology Center overseeing 88 employees. 

Mr. McFarland received his MS at UTC and his BS from Francis Marion University. 

Dr. Allison Pierce joins the business department as an assistant professor of business administration. She has most recently worked with Century Life Pharmacy developing a pharmaceutical business plan and has also served as division president for the central division of Sava Senior Care. Prior to this, Dr. Pierce spent 10 years with Life Care Centers of America serving as senior vice president of people development. 

Dr. Pierce has won numerous awards including the 2003 National Young Businesswoman of the Year and 2003 Governor’s Outstanding Achievement Award for the state of Tennessee. She was also selected to lead a subcommittee for the Bush Administration to address the national labor issues related to the nation’s healthcare profession. She earned her PhD from Northcentral University and both her Master of Business Administration and a BS from UTC. 

Joshua Rio-Ross joins Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as a visiting lecturer in mathematics. Prior to Lee, he worked as an adjunct instructor of mathematics at Southern Connecticut State University. While in graduate studies at the University of Missouri, Mr. Rio-Ross received the Mathematics Department Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2011, he received the Peggy N. Null Award for Research Writing and was in the chaplain program for three years at Oral Roberts University. He served one year as the Yale Divinity School Marquand Chapel minister and was a fellow at the Rivendell Institute at Yale University.  

Mr. Rio-Ross received an MA from Yale University and an MA from the University of Missouri. He earned a BS in English literature and a BS in mathematics from Oral Roberts University. 

Dr. Michael Ray Smith joins Lee’s Department of Communication Arts as a professor of public relations. Prior to Lee, he served as a professor in the School of Communication and Media at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Dr. Smith was selected as the first university-wide award recipient for teaching excellence at Campbell University and was named one of the top 50 journalism professors in 2012. In addition to authoring eight books, he has been a reporter and editor and worked in mainstream newspapers such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and contributed freelance articles to periodicals such as The Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA TODAY. 

Dr. Smith earned his PhD from Regent University, his MS from Shippensburg University, and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland. 

Ashlee Stephens joins Lee’s Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as a visiting lecturer in mathematics. She most recently served at Eastside High School as a student teacher.  Prior to her time at Eastside, Ms. Stephens was at Greenville Technical College as a mathematics adjunct instructor. She was a National Merit Finalist in 2008, a recipient of the University of Louisiana, Monroe Emerging Scholars Program in 2008, and received 2nd place in the Department of Chemistry at the ULM Ninth Annual Student Research Symposium. 

Ms. Stephens earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Clemson University and her BS from ULM.