Appointees engage in teaching, research, service and fund raising
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University announces three interim administrative positions for the 2019-20 academic year. Dr. Francene J. Lemoine will serve as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences pending approval from the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System. Scott Burrell will serve as interim director of the Mrs. H.D. Dear Sr. and Alice E. Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts and Dr. Christopher Lyles will serve as interim director of the School of Biological and Physical Sciences.
Lemoine has been a member of the faculty in the School of Biological and Physical Sciences since 2006 and has served as director since 2015. She earned a B.S. in biology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1997 and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2002. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine from 20020-2005 and at Duke University Medical Center from 2005-2006.
Lemoine has been an active published researcher in the field of microbiology and a leading fund raiser for the School of Biological and Physical Sciences having authored grants and secured private donations for laboratory and classroom enhancements. She has earned teaching and research honors from NSU, UNC-Chapel Hill, Baylor College of Medicine and University of Southwestern Louisiana, now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She was selected as one of NSU’s representatives for the University of Louisiana Management and Leadership Institute in 2018-19 and honored with NSU’s Excellence in Teaching Award for the College of Science and Technology in 2010.
Burrell has served as a professor of theatre at NSU since 1998 and as assistant director of the School of Creative and Performing Arts since last year. He was chairman and artistic director of the Department of Theatre and Dance from 2006-2018 and has been active as a director and instructor for acting, directing, playwriting, dramatic literature and voice. He earned a Master of Fine Arts in directing from Virginia Commonwealth University and earned a Teacher Training Certificate (280+ hours) in the Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA) in New York.
Burrell’s academic experience includes teaching at the School of the Performing Arts for the Richmond (Virginia) Community, New Voices for the Theater in Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University. He has been active as a presenter and has served on several administrative committees at the university.
Lyles has been a member of NSU’s School of Biological and Physical Sciences faculty since 2015. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at NSU in 2004, a master’s degree in marine and environmental biology at Nicholls State University in 2006 and a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Oklahoma in 2013.
Lyles has been an active researcher, research mentor to undergraduate students and presenter. Since joining the faculty at NSU he has served on several academic committees and been involved with alumni outreach, grant-writing and service-learning projects.
“I am thrilled to have these three individuals join the academic leadership ranks in the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Dr. Greg Handel, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “They bring tremendous experience and perspective to their respective roles and will continue to develop programs that are responsive to today’s students. Their experiences in their respective fields is invaluable for continued growth in these stellar programs.”
