Friends University is pleased to welcome the following new faculty to campus this fall.
Andrea Vázquez Aguirre
Andrea Vázquez Aguirre is serving as visiting lecturer of dance. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Conservatory of Dance in Mexico and her Master of Fine Arts from SUNY Brockport. She is an interdisciplinary dance artist with a passion for ballet, modern and contemporary dance, and folk dance traditions. She was a scholar under FONCA (the Federal Council for Culture and Arts in Mexico) and has danced in several professional companies in Mexico and the United States. She creates work and teaches movement through Laban/Bartenieff lenses. She is co-director along with her creative and life partner, James J. Kaufmann of Another River Interdisciplinary Ensemble. She is currently making plans for The Nutcracker and the spring ballet performances at Friends University.
Sean Cash
Sean Anthony Cash is now serving as assistant professor of business management and program director of business management, but has served since 2010 as an adjunct instructor of marketing. He received his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and his MBA from Webster University. He became the program director for the undergraduate business management program in the College of Adult and Professional Studies earlier this year. His career in business and entrepreneurship has included starting, managing and exiting four separate businesses in his career. He has held leadership roles in small businesses as well as Fortune 100 companies while specializing in marketing, new product development and implementing business growth strategies.
Dr. Rebecca Culver-Turner
Dr. Rebecca Culver-Turner will serve as program director of the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program in Wichita. She has served as the KC site clinical director and KC clinical internship supervisor for the university’s MFT program in the Kansas City area. She graduated from Ozark Christian College with a bachelor’s in Biblical literature and psychology, from Abilene Christian University with a Master of Marriage and Family Therapy and from Kansas State University with a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy. She serves on the MFT Advisory Committee for the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board. In 2016, she was elected to serve on the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Elections Council. Her clinical, research and teaching specialties are trauma, attachment trauma, gender variance and the transgender population, and multicultural competency.
Craig Curry
Craig Curry is the new visiting lecturer of music. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. He is the founding director of the Friends University Jazz Vocal Ensemble, which has developed a national reputation for excellence. In 2017, Curry was named composer-in-residence at Friends University in recognition of his work as a highly regarded and widely-published composer and arranger. With hundreds of published pieces, Curry’s music is regularly performed across the U.S. and abroad. His recent choral publication “Jazz Gloria Deo” received an “Editor’s Choice” award from music retailer J.W. Pepper. A versatile and skilled pianist, Curry frequently ministers in area churches performing with vocalist and Friends alumnus Earnest Alexander.
Dr. Shelly Hoffman
Dr. Shelly Hoffman is serving as assistant professor of physical education. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from Southwestern College. She has taught elementary physical education for the Wichita Public Schools for more than 20 years and was named the National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 2014. Dr. Hoffman has also worked for many years in the recreation community and has a great deal of coaching experience within numerous sports. She has coached four-year-olds through high school students and traveled throughout the Midwest with competitive teams.
Dr. Ana Jurcak-Detter
A native of Bethlehem, Pa., Dr. Ana Jurcak-Detter is teaching biology this fall. She received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from SUNY Oswego and her master’s and doctoral degrees in biological sciences from Bowling Green State University. During her academic studies, she was a member of the Laboratory for Sensory Ecology for both her master’s and doctoral degrees. Her research focused on animal behavior, specifically understanding the sensory environment of predator-prey interactions. She was also part of the NSF-funded Northern Ohio Alliance – Alliances for the Graduate Education and the Professoriate and participated in many STEM outreach events.
Dr. Jim Long
Dr. Jim Long, associate professor of finance, is originally from Bismarck, N.D., where he served as associate professor and chair of graduate studies at the University of Mary. He received an MBA and master’s in business management from the University of Mary and his Ph.D. from Capella University. His dissertation focused on the impact of leadership on job satisfaction. Since his move from North Dakota, Dr. Long has been leading business operations for a large Wichita parish. Dr. Long will instruct students in finance, economics and other business courses.
Friends University, a Christian University of Quaker heritage, equips students to honor God and serve others by integrating their intellectual, spiritual and professional lives.