麻豆精品

Kathy Humphrey, PhD

Dr. Kathy Wilson Humphrey, PhD, is 麻豆精品鈥檚 11th president, (and the 10th of 12 siblings!) and is well known and loved for her 35+ years of visionary leadership in higher education. She鈥檚 all about inclusion, equity, and empowering students, drawing from her own journey as a PELL grant recipient. Dr. Humphrey envisions Carlow as a place of innovation and support, where everyone鈥攆aculty, staff, and students鈥攃an thrive, both academically and personally. Words she lives by: 鈥淪tart first with your own family, then move to your community, and then go out and make a difference in the wider world.鈥�

Learn More

Justin Mazzei

Before he led one of Pittsburgh鈥檚 most transformative youth arts organizations, Justin Mazzei was a kid who found clarity in creating things. He remembers a latch-hook pillow project in grade school being the first time a hands-on process made him feel calm, focused, and proud. Later, in a Catholic school classroom, he colored an elephant pink. A teacher known for being particularly strict suddenly lit up, praising the originality of his work.

鈥淪omebody took a moment to really see me,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat kind of recognition stays with you.鈥�

Art became a source of peace, identity, and possibility. It was something stable at a time when he didn鈥檛 always feel grounded. When he began exploring paths after high school, two interests kept rising to the top: mentorship and making art. Art education felt like a way to hold both.

麻豆精品 stood out immediately. It was small, relational, mission-driven, 鈥渁 place that felt like home before I even stepped on campus,鈥� he recalls. Once he arrived, the experience deepened. His professors showed him what compassionate, high-level mentorship could look like in the arts. They opened his world to creative expression, craft, interdisciplinary thinking, and the belief in art as a way of understanding yourself and the people around you.

A classmate eventually told him about a place he鈥檇 never heard of: Manchester Craftsmen鈥檚 Guild. 鈥淗e said it was like Disney World, but real,鈥� Justin laughs. When he walked in for the first time, he felt that same childhood spark, but bigger. Here was a space where young people could create, belong, and grow alongside practicing artists.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know a place like that could exist,鈥� he says.

Justin began volunteering at MCG more than 15 years ago. One role led to another鈥攕tudio assistant, teaching artist, coordinator, programming director鈥攗ntil eventually he became Executive Director. Through it all, his philosophy has stayed the same: art is a doorway. It builds confidence. It builds community. It builds hope.

鈥淲alking in here every day feels like a privilege,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 get to help young people experience the same spark that once changed my life.鈥�

Marissa McClure Sweeny, PhD

Director, Online EdD Program in Art Education, Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation Florida State University

As a child, Marissa McClure Sweeney always felt like she saw the world a little differently. Adults noticed it too. They encouraged her to express that difference through drawing, making, and imagining鈥攍ong before she understood that this way of seeing was its own kind of artistry.

鈥淚 always wondered if other kids felt this way,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淚 wanted to meet them, hear their ideas, understand how they thought.鈥�

One elementary school teacher in particular changed everything. She recognized Marissa鈥檚 vision and began bringing her into studios, introducing her to working creators, even taking her to see architectural models being built.

鈥淭hey talked to me like another artist,鈥� Marissa says. 鈥淓ven though I was in third grade.鈥�

That early respect shaped her entire career. She vowed to take children鈥檚 ideas seriously, to meet them at eye level, and to create spaces where their thinking was valued.

Everything shifted again when she became a parent. Instead of teaching children as a professional standing apart, she began making art with her own kids side by side, like peers. 鈥淲hat could we make together?鈥� she wondered. That question sparked years of exploration that led to a community-based studio program, international collaborations, a book, and eventually an exhibition.

Her work centers on a central idea: making visible the creative and intellectual labor of children, which is often hidden, underestimated, or dismissed.

鈥淐hildren should be included in the conversations that affect them,鈥� she says. 鈥淭heir voices carry weight, and we need to treat them as full participants in our shared world.鈥�

She believes that cultural spaces should be inclusive, conversational, and alive rather than silent reliquaries.

Outside the studio, Marissa finds grounding in the rhyt

Amy Bowman-McElhone, PhD

Amy Bowman-McElhone鈥檚 story with Carlow began long before she ever curated an exhibition or taught a class. Two of her great-great-aunts were among the earliest Mount Mercy students in the 1930s; immigrant women who worked in the care professions and found opportunity, dignity, and belonging in Carlow鈥檚 mission. One studied nursing and became the inaugural editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. Another pursued social work.

鈥淐arlow has been shaping my family for nearly a century,鈥� Amy says. 鈥淐oming back here feels like the story coming full circle.鈥�

Her own path took root in a place that felt just as formative: the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In fifth grade, her class spent a week exploring the museum鈥檚 iconic dioramas. She remembers the uncanny stillness of those scenes. The crafted water and frozen figures transported her to a different world. During the field trip, each of the children were tasked with creating a work of art inspired by what they experienced. When Amy鈥檚 was selected to hang in the museum鈥檚 education hallway, something clicked.

鈥淭he museum felt electric to me,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淓ven as a kid, I knew I wanted to be part of spaces that could move people.鈥�

In college, it was a required design-history course that shifted everything. Suddenly, the analytical, narrative, and visual parts of her brain aligned. 鈥淓verything clicked,鈥� she says. She pivoted to a new major in art history and never looked back; earning her MA, curating university galleries, pursuing a PhD, and eventually directing a museum in Florida. But over time, she felt herself drifting from the work she most cared about: students, artists, and art itself. Carlow offered a way back to that center.

鈥淎t Carlow, the mission comes first,鈥� she says. 鈥淩epresentation, care, hospitality鈥攖hose values are centered in everything we do.鈥�

Her passion for contemporary art is rooted in what it can do: spark curiosity, shift perspectives, and open people to one another. 鈥淎rt moves hearts and minds,鈥� she says. 鈥淭o create social change, people first need to feel connected.鈥�

Outside of work, Amy spends her time hiking and biking with her family, flipping through vinyl bins, and perfecting her coffee rituals. For her, these are grounding practices that keep her connected to the wonder she helps her students cultivate every day.

Learn More

Rhonda Maneval, PhD, DEd, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Dr. Rhonda Maneval was a veteran nurse moving steadily toward hospital administration when a former professor called, asking if she could step in as an adjunct. 鈥淚 was very flattered,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I thought, where am I going to fit this in my schedule?鈥�

She made it fit, and everything changed.

Standing on the unit with a group of nursing students, she felt something shift. 鈥淚 realized that if I moved into teaching, I could influence the practice of thousands of nurses,鈥� she said. 鈥淭aking care of one patient at a time is incredibly impactful, but I could multiply the good by becoming an educator.鈥�

That moment showed her that teaching wasn鈥檛 a detour from patient care. It was patient care, but on a different scale. The joy she found in guiding and healing families expanded into guiding future nurses toward careers of skill, purpose, and compassion. 鈥淣o matter where you are in nursing or the healthcare space, you have an opportunity to make a difference every day,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat we do is extraordinarily powerful, and we don鈥檛 realize it most of the time.鈥�

Forty years into her nursing career, Rhonda says her 鈥淣orth Star鈥� still drives her: a commitment to values, ethics, and transformative work that strengthens communities. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the reasons I鈥檓 here at Carlow,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur mission aligns with who I am and what I want to do with my life.鈥�

Her dedication extends beyond the classroom. As her parents age into their mid-80s, Rhonda remains fiercely devoted to their wellbeing. It鈥檚 an extension of the same instinct she felt as a child, when she lingered after kindergarten to help classmates with their boots. 鈥淢y heart was always there,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the joy of helping others, and for many of us, it starts very young.鈥�

Learn More

Janice Nash, DNP, RN

During the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Janice Nash felt an instinct she couldn鈥檛 ignore: the pull back to the bedside. 鈥淚 was ready to walk out the door and say, 鈥業鈥檓 here 7A to 7P,鈥欌�� she said. But every morning, she reminded herself that keeping Carlow鈥檚 nursing students on track would have an even broader impact. 鈥淚 had to tell myself that helping them move forward was how I could help the most.鈥�

That tension, between caring for patients directly and preparing the next generation to do the same, has informed Janice鈥檚 whole career. She came to nursing because she loved science and 鈥渨anted to help people,鈥� but it was teaching that revealed her deeper calling. 鈥淚 realized how much I loved guiding new nurses,鈥� she said. 鈥淗elping them understand not just the how, but the why.鈥�

Now more than twenty years into teaching at Carlow, Janice is continually reminded of the reach of that work. 鈥淚 run into former students in hospitals, in grocery stores... everywhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l tell me, 鈥楧on鈥檛 you remember? I failed that test, and you told me it was going to be OK.鈥� Those little interactions matter more than they know.鈥�

Recently, when asked to estimate how many students she has supervised or taught over her career, the number surprised even her. 鈥淔ifty graduate every year鈥� that鈥檚 about a thousand students I鈥檝e touched in some way,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淣o wonder I can鈥檛 remember every name instantly.鈥� But the stories stay with her: the students who doubted themselves, the ones who came back years later to say thank you, and the many now leading with the same steady reassurance she once offered them.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the joy of helping others,鈥� Janice said. 鈥淎nd sometimes we don鈥檛 realize the impact we鈥檙e having until years later.鈥�

Learn More

Kunal Bhanot, PT, PhD, FAAOMPT

Dr. Kunal Bhanot鈥檚 path to physical therapy didn鈥檛 begin with a childhood dream. It began with a story carried forward through his family. Growing up in India, access to healthcare education was limited, and physical therapy was still a young profession. Kunal had always been strongly encouraged to become a doctor; a hope passed down from his mother, who once dreamed of medical school herself. But it wasn鈥檛 until he visited a new spinal cord rehabilitation hospital that he discovered what healing could look like beyond medicine. He watched therapists standing in a warm-water pool, helping patients move again, sometimes for the first time in months.

鈥淭hat day opened a whole new world to me. I didn鈥檛 know this profession existed, but I knew immediately it fit who I am.鈥�

He went on to earn his physical therapy degree, then came to the United States for advanced training. Along the way, he realized that what drew him to PT was the belief that healing involves presence, dignity, and time. His career became rooted in rehabilitation, and eventually in teaching, where he could share not just clinical skills, but a philosophy of care. Today, he leads Carlow鈥檚 Doctor of Physical Therapy program, shaping practitioners who lead with empathy as much as expertise.

Kunal describes his professional path as guided by an invisible hand: 鈥淲e make all the plans we want, but God takes us where we鈥檙e meant to go. I thought I was choosing a career, but this career was choosing me.鈥�

Learn More

Ken Smythe-Leistico EdD, MSW, LSW

Ken Smythe-Leistico didn鈥檛 begin his academic journey expecting to work in social services. He originally majored in accounting, until he noticed a pattern: 鈥淧eople often came to me to talk through their problems, to see things from a different perspective. That鈥檚 when I realized this was where I was meant to be.鈥�

A formative summer working with youth completing community service reshaped how he understood compassion. He went in expecting to teach or guide and instead learned the power of presence, dignity, and listening. The experience revealed how profoundly a small act of grace can alter a life鈥檚 direction. At Carlow, Ken helps students prepare to enter professions where empathy is a form of courage. He describes his work now as paying forward the same steadiness that others once offered him.

Outside of work, Ken is often in the kitchen: 鈥淐ooking is how I transition from work Ken to home Ken,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where I process the day and reconnect with my family.鈥� He often cooks alongside his daughter, experimenting, adjusting, and layering pieces until they become something whole, much like the work of helping others move toward healing.

Learn More

Mickenna Ansell

Mickenna Ansell grew up in Mercer County, PA, where access to medical and therapeutic care wasn鈥檛 always guaranteed. She remembers families, people she knew and loved, having to choose between the electric bill and a prescription refill.

鈥淚 knew early on that I wanted to do something with underserved communities, even before I knew I wanted to go into psychology.鈥�

A single eight-week psychology class in high school changed the direction of her life. It was the first time she learned about resilience, neuroplasticity, and how healing can be supported through care and community. She followed that thread through advocacy work, inpatient behavioral health settings, and into her doctoral program, where she found the perfect intersection of compassion and community practice.

Today, Mickenna works with children and families in settings where trust, encouragement, and belonging matter deeply. Her work is fueled by the same belief that shaped her early life: that everyone deserves a chance to feel seen, supported, and able to grow.

Outside of work and her doctoral studies, she decompresses through music, audiobooks, and creativity. She鈥檚 almost always joined by her two cats, Figaro and Repete, and her dog Molly. Her pets have been with her through years of classes, commutes, and study sessions.

鈥淎t this point they should probably receive honorary degrees,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been through every course I鈥檝e taken.鈥�