Legacy Roll Call

Grossmont College treasures the institutional memory of its many dedicated past faculty, who are more than a legacy to us. Here in the English Department, language arts educators have always been innovators at the front lines of shifting paradigms and transformative learning technologies, and many of us owe our choice of profession to past English professors whose values for rigor, compassion, and innovation have become the foundation for our own ethos as educators. This archive, then, was developed in part as a testament to the enduring influence of our past English faculty.

 

The term "past faculty" is used throughout these pages to identify any full-time instructor who accepted an offer of salaried employment in the English Department but who is no longer working full-time. Below is a roster of these educators. The vast majority of them were tenured faculty who retired after many years of devoted service. (Some even return to the department as part-time emeritus instructors.) Included, however, are faculty who ended their Department tenure for one of the following reasons:

 

[T] Transfers

From 1961 to 1968, Grossmont Junior College contracted faculty with multiple teaching skill sets so that they could instruct in two (or more) related disciplines. Consequently, some of our earliest faculty members began their tenure teaching for the English Department but retired while in service to another department or program. As our department developed into an umbrella of specialized language arts programs, one of them, the ESL Program, broke away in 2006 to become a stand-alone department. Consequently, ESL instructors hired in or before 2006 are given due consideration in this archive as contributing members of the English Department. Faculty who retired in other departments are labeled along with their chosen disciplines. Dates shown memorializ these instructors' service to the English Department only and do not reflect actual date of retirement from the District.

 

[A] Administrative Transitions

Some of our English faculty began their career in a full-time teaching position, then transitioned into an administrative or governance position, effectively ending their tenure in the English Department. These individuals are labeled in the roster accordingly.

 

[D] Departures

Marked below with the letter "D," a very small number of instructors chose to leave their tenured positions or never completed their tenure track in the first place, either because they elected to pursue other careers or because they accepted positions elsewhere. In the rarest of cases, some instructors were forced to resign. Regardless of their circumstances, all have contributed in their own way to the growth and legacy of the Grossmont College English Department.

 

Department Chairs

Faculty who served as Chairs to the English Department are highlighted on the chart below. All dates shown reflect Department tenure and not years served as Chair. For a more comprehensive look at the English Department's history of leadership, visit "Past Chairs" in the Archive menu.

 

Faculty Profiles

Over the course of 2021, this archive will restore and expand its Faculty Profiles section about our past English Department faculty, including overviews of their professional teaching awards and accomplishments, educational background, selected bibliographies of their publications, additional faculty photos, and more.

 


 

 

English Department Faculty, 1961 to present

Joan Ahrens

Joan Ahrens

2005-2018

A

Dorothy AlexanderDorothy Alexander

1964 - 1981

Ruth Anderson Ruth Anderson

1970 - 1999

Chair

Carol Duffy BakerCarol Duffy Baker

1968 - 1991

 
 

Judy BarkleyJudith Barkley

1965 - 1999

John Barnier John Barnier

1970 - 2003

Assistant Chair

Jack BarrangerJack Barranger

1970 - 1979

D

James K. Bell

James K. Bell

1961 - 1963

D

Patricia BennettPatricia Bennet

1987 - 2006

T: ESL
Virginia BergerVirginia Berger

1991 - 2006

T: ESL

Peter BradleyPeter Bradley

1971 - 1999

Stanford CarlsonStanford T. Carlson

1967-1992

 
 

Robert DanielsonBob Danielson

1961-1986

Chair

Fidelia DickinsonFidelia Dickinson

1966-1966

D

Anthony DingTony Ding

2000-2017

Mary DonnellyMary Donnelly

1983 - 2003

Chair

Michael EvansMike Evans

1969 - 2003

Barbara FaberBarbara Faber

1963 - 1965

D

Leone FinalleLeone Finalle

1963 - 1972

Martin GerrishMartin Gerrish

1961 - 1964

T: Theater
 
 

Vesta GibbsVesta Gibbs

1964 - 1993

Ryane Harris

Ryane Harris

2005-2006

D

Catherine Harvey Cathy Harvey

1992-2018

Nancy Herzfeld-PipkinNancy Herzfeld-Pipkin

2000 - 2006

T: ESL

Oralee HolderOralee Holder

1990 - 2019

Chair
Marilyn IvanoviciMarilyn Ivanovici

1999 - 2011

a.k.a. Marylin Estep

Susan JensenSue Jensen

1995 to 2010

Elizabeth JuulElizabeth Juul

1964 - 1967

D

 
  Kamla Kapur Kamal Kapur

1992 - 2006

George KirazianGeorge Kirazian

1962 - 1986

Chair

Charline LamonsCharline Lamons

1961 - 1983

Chair

Glenn LaneGlenn Lane

1967 - 1991

Dorothy LedbetterDorothy Ledbetter

1970 -1994

Harold LoumeauHarold Loumeau

1966 - 1967

D

Homer Lusk Homer Lusk

1969 - 2004

Chair

Jack LynchJack Lynch

1964 - 1983

 
   

Elaine McLevieElaine McLevie

1975 - 1979

A

Joseph Medina Joe Medina

1990 - 2012

Linda Mitchell Linda Mitchell

1996 - 2013

Stephanie MoodStephanie Mood

1991 - 2012

Robert MooreRobert Moore

1966 - 1981

Chair

Sylvia MusikSylvia Musik

1964 - 1979

   
   

Lloyd NorwoodLloyd Norwood

1968 - 1976

D

Nelson PalerNelson Paler

1990 - 2004

Chester PalmerChester H. Palmer

1961 - 1965

D

Z. Dean Parks Z. Dean Parks

1964-1991

A

Chuck PassentinoChuck Passentino

1995 - 2006

T: ESL

Scott Pearce Scott Pearce

1977-1999

Len PellettiriLen Pellettiri

1968 - 1986

 
 

George PeranteauGeorge Peranteau

1966-1967

D

Evan Phillips Evan Phillips

1962-1965

D

Gary Phillips Gary Phillips

1995 - 2011

Chair
Ray Reynolds Ray Reynolds

1961 - 1968

T: Journalism
Glenda Richter Glenda Richter

1968 - 1997

Chair

John SaettiJohn Saetti

1962 - 1965

T: Humanities

Qais SakoQais Sako

2001-2018

Jane SpoonerJane Spooner

1962 - 1963

T: Speech
 
 

Fred StollenwerkFred Stollenwerk

1967 - 1991

Chair

Marie Sweadner Marie Sweadner

1964 - 1986

Frank VittorC. Frank Vittor

1966 - 1982

Chair

George Washington

Geo. M. Washington

1961 - 1965

T: Spanish

 

Sources

The following images appearing on this page have been used with permission:

  • Stanford T. Carlson (The Hockaday School, Dallas, TX)

  • Fidelia Dickinson (Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives at the Copley Library of the University of San Diego)

  • Jack Lynch (Legend Yearbook, El Cajon Valley High School)

  • Kamal Kapur (© author Kamla K. Kapur)

  • George Peranteau (Archives, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL)

  • C. Frank Vittor (University Archives Photograph Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University)

  • George M. Washington (El Recuerdo Yearbook, Grossmont High School Museum)

Likenesses used under public domain or copyright exemption under FAIR USE act for purposes of education and archival preservation include the following:

  • Ryane Harris
  • Elizabeth Juul
  • Harold Loumeau

All remaining faculty photos, property of Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District or Grossmont College English Department.

 

Thanks

Considerable gratitude is owed to numerous individuals and agencies for their contributions of media content and institutional memory, or for their help in securing permissions for use of archival images that have helped to build the Grossmont College English Department Archive. Please visit the Acknowledgments page to find out who they are.