Dr. Matthew Krepps
Dr. Caroline Maher-Boulis
Dr. Austin Patty
Dr. Lori West
The Lee University Board of Directors has awarded four faculty members promotions in rank from associate professor to professor: Matthew Krepps, Caroline Maher-Boulis, Austin Patty, and Lori West.
Dr. Krepps came to Lee from the University of Kentucky in 2002 as an adjunct professor of chemistry. He now teaches general, analytical, instrumental, and inorganic chemistry courses, as well as astronomy. Since earning his doctorate in inorganic chemistry, Dr. Krepps has written several articles for publication in scientific journals.
He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Community Advisory Panel for Olin and Lonza chemical companies, along with the American Guild of Organists. He has also been a presenter at multiple regional and national ACS meetings.
Apart from chemistry, Dr. Krepps is the Lee Cycling Club sponsor.
Dr. Maher-Boulis joined the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 2004. She earned her doctorate from Florida State University and her bachelor’s from the American University in Cairo.
Prior to her arrival at Lee, Dr. Maher-Boulis worked for a TV commercial production company and as a private mathematics tutor in both Sudan and Egypt. Since her arrival at Lee, she has helped to start the Mathematics with Actuarial Emphasis degree and created an internship program for mathematics majors. She also serves as the chair of the Cultural Diversity Committee at Lee.
Due to her efforts, the university will host, for the first time, the annual conference of the Southeastern section of the Mathematical Association of America in March 2019.
Dr. Patty joined Lee’s School of Music in 2006 as an assistant professor. Prior to Lee, Dr. Patty taught at Eastman School of Music, where he also earned his doctorate. He has presented at regional and national music theory conferences on changing meter, rhythm, and form, among other topics. In June 2017, Dr. Patty served as director of local arrangements for a three-day conference, “Pedagogy into Practice: Teaching Music Theory in the Twenty-First Century.”
Along with Professor of English Dr. Arden Jensen, Dr. Patty leads a two-week musical missions trip to Japan every other year.
Dr. West joined Lee’s Natural Science and Mathematics faculty in 2006. She earned her doctorate from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and her bachelor’s degree from Maryville College. Prior to her arrival at Lee, Dr. West conducted post-doctoral research in the nutrition department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and taught at Maryville College as a visiting professor.
Dr. West has served as program director for four recently funded Tennessee Higher Education Committee grants and as a mentor for many student research projects at Lee. She has also served as event coordinator for the local Science Olympiad tournaments, a competition for middle and high school students.