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Faculty and Staff of the Honors Program



  • Dr. Andrew Wisely, Director
    Modern Foreign Languages: Associate Professor of German
    Morrison Hall 203.5
    254-710-7162
    Andrew_Wisely@baylor.edu

    Dr. Wisely joined the Baylor faculty in 2003, and has directed the Honors Program since 2006. He teaches all levels of German and co-directs the Baylor in Germany program. He holds a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis and a BA from Wheaton College in Illinois. His research and teaching interests lie in 19th and 20th-century German and Austrian literature, culture, history, and intellectual life. His two books are Arthur Schnitzler and the Discourse of Honor and Dueling (1996) and Arthur Schnitzler and Twentieth-Century Criticism (2004). Currently his research is concentrated on perpetrator/victim dynamics in trials for Nazi crimes of violence, especially the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial of 1963-65. One of its defendants, the physician Dr. Franz Lucas, is the focus of a biography.


  • Dr. David Ryden, Faculty Assistant Director
    Associate Professor of Mathematics
    Sid Richardson 345F
    254-710-6574
    David_Ryden@baylor.edu

    David Ryden grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1998, he graduated with a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Missouri-Rolla, which is now known as the Missouri University of Science and Technology. After a postdoctoral appointment at Tulane University, he joined the faculty at Baylor University in 2002. Dr. Ryden's research is in continuum theory, with periodic excursions into related areas such as dynamical systems.


  • Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities in the Honors Program
    Morrison Hall 204
    David_Jeffrey@baylor.edu

    David Lyle Jeffrey has been Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University since 2000 and Guest Professor at Peking University (Beijing) since 1996 and Honorary Professor at the University of International Business and Economics (Beijing) since 2005. Jeffrey graduated from Wheaton College and received his PhD from Princeton in 1968.

    Among the honors he most values include being made inaugural Professor of the Year in Arts and Humanities at the University of Ottawa in 1995, election to the Royal Society of Canada in 1996, being chosen for the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Conference on Christianity and Literature in 2003, and invitation from St Andrews University in Scotland to give the Andrew Laing Lecture on the occasion of the 65th Anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien's Laing lecture in 2004.

    Jeffrey teaches courses on medieval literature, the Bible as literature, medieval exegesis, biblical hermeneutics and literary theory, biblical tradition in the arts, art and biblical theology, literature and philosophy, and aesthetics.

    Jeffrey is known as a medievalist and as a scholar of biblical tradition in Western Literature and art. His books include A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature (1992), The Early English Lyric and Franciscan Spirituality (1975); Chaucer and Scriptural Tradition (1984); English Spirituality in the Age of Wesley (1987; 1994; 2000); The Law of Love: English Spirituality in the Age of Wyclif (1988; 2001); People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture (1996) ; Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture (2003). He has edited William Cowper: Selected Poetry and Prose (2006) and, with C. Stephen Evans, a co-authored book on The Bible and the University ( 2007). Most recently he has published Christianity and Literature: Philosophical Foundations and Critical Practice (IVP, 2011), co-authored by Gregory Maillet, edited The King James Bible and the World it Made (Baylor University Press, 2011) and written Luke: a Theological Commentary (Brazos Press, 2012).

    His articles have appeared in Chinese as well as western academic journals, including Foreign Literature (Beijing), the Journal for Biblical Literature Studies (Henan) and the Journal of Christian Culture Studies (Renmin). Currently he has a wide range of article in both Chinese and English venues, including forthcoming chapters for the Cambridge History of Literary Criticism and Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible, and a series of articles on Christianity and Marxism as well as Christianity and Confucianism in China. His western articles have appeared in such journals as the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Shakespeare Studies, Viator, Christianity and Literature, Interpretation, The American Benedictine Review, Franciscan Studies, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Church History, The University of Toronto Quarterly, Religion and Literature, Shofar, Nova et Vetera, Modern Theology and Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education. His current project is a book on the role of art in the development of Christian doctrine, entitled Arts of the Holy.


  • Dr. Victor J. Hinojosa, Associate Professor in the Honors Program
    Alexander Residence Hall 102 (HRC)
    Victor_Hinojosa@baylor.edu

    Dr. Hinojosa joined the Baylor faculty in 2003 and the Honors Program in 2007. He earned a B.A. in economics with a minor in philosophy from Baylor University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. He teaches courses in Political Science, the Honors Program, and in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. Dr. Hinojosa's primary research is in Latin American Politics and U.S.-Latin American relations. He also has research interests in religion and politics, both empirically (how religion shapes political attitudes) and normatively (how Christians should think about international relations). His book, Domestic Politics and International Narcotics Control, was published by Routledge in 2007, and his articles have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Mennonite Quarterly Review. His current book project explores the use of terrorism in Colombia's internal conflict. Dr. Hinojosa serves on the Advisory Board of Baylor's Center for Christian Ethics, the board of directors of the Ekklesia Project, and World Hunger Relief, Inc.


Dr. Corey joined the faculty of the Honors Program in 2007. She earned a B.A. in classics from Oberlin College, an M.A. in art history from Louisiana State University (LSU), and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from LSU. At Baylor, she has taught courses in Great Texts and Political Science as well as in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. Her book, Michael Oakeshott on Religion, Aesthetics, and Politics, was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2006. She is currently President of the Michael Oakeshott Association, and in 2009 hosted the Association's meetings at Baylor. She is an organizer of the upcoming Michael Oakeshott meetings which will take place at Colorado College in September of 2013. She pursues a variety of interdisciplinary research interests, from the educational and political thought of Oakeshott and Eric Voegelin to the art and politics of eleventh-century Italy.

  • Dr. Lynne Hinojosa, Assistant Professor in the Honors Program
    Alexander Residence Hall 103 (HRC)
    Lynne_Hinojosa@baylor.edu

    Dr. Hinojosa began teaching in the English Department at Baylor in 2003 and joined the Honors Program in 2008. She earned her MA and PhD in English at the University of Notre Dame, after completing a Masters in Humanities at the University of Dallas. She completed her BS at Wheaton College (Illinois). Dr. Hinojosa's scholarly interests include late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century English literature and culture, the novel, literary history, and the relation of religion to culture. Her book, The Renaissance, English Cultural Nationalism, and Modernism, 1860-1920, was published by Palgrave in 2009. She also has published essays in journals such as the Journal of Modern Literature, Christianity and Literature (forthcoming), and Clio: A Journal of Literature, Philosophy, and the Philosophy of History. She is currently working on a book that examines the treatment of Puritanism and morality in modernist British novels of the early twentieth century.


  • Dr. Lisa Baker, Clinical Professor in the Honors Program
    BSB A212
    Lisa_Baker@baylor.edu

    Dr. Baker graduated from Baylor in 1976 and returned in Fall 2007 as a temporary lecturer in the Department of Biology. She now serves the Honors Program as Clinical Professor with an affiliation in the Department of Biology. Dr. Baker received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in Family Studies and her M.D. from the University of Oklahoma.


Dr. Bill Neilson joined the Honors College in 2012. He graduated from Baylor University in 1976 with a degree in Chemistry. He attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School graduating in 1980. He completed a general surgery residency at Parkland Hospital in 1985. Dr. Neilson received an MS in Healthcare Management from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2010. He holds clinical faculty appointments at the UT Southwestern Medical School and Texas Tech University Health Science Center. He was the managing partner and president of the Amarillo Surgical Group which served as the surgery faculty for the Texas Tech Amarillo Campus for many years. In addition, he was the residency program site director for Parkland residents rotating in Amarillo.

For the past several years, he has been the Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Baptist St. Anthony's Health System (a Baptist/Catholic co-ministry). He served as a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee for the TTUHSC Amarillo Campus. Dr. Neilson has been involved in medical mission work in Belarus and holds an honorary medical degree from the Gomel State Medical University.


  • Dr. Albert Beck, Admissions and Advising Coordinator
    Morrison Hall 203.3
    254-710-6470
    Albert_Beck@baylor.edu

    Dr. Beck joined the Honors Program staff in the summer of 2007. He earned bachelor's degrees in History and Education from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a master's degree in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill, and a Ph.D. in Religion, Politics, and Society from Baylor University. Dr. Beck's roles include advising current and prospective Honors Program students, administering and developing Honors curricula, and coordinating courses for students in the Honors Program. His research interests are in the history of evangelicalism and Christian education, and he regularly teaches World Cultures IV in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core.


  • Courtney DePalma, Honors Program Advisor
    Honors Residential College Program Director
    Alexander Hall 101
    254-710-7826
    Courtney_DePalma@baylor.edu

    Courtney DePalma joined the Honors Residential College staff in the fall of 2010. She earned her BA in Linguistics from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA and her MA in Language and Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. Mrs. DePalma's research and teaching interests lie in the areas of Second Language Writing and Writing Center Practice. Mrs. DePalma has taught First-Year Writing and English as a Second Language courses at the basic, intermediate, advanced, undergraduate, and graduate levels, and she is the former Director of the Writing Center at the University of New Hampshire. As Program Coordinator of the Honors Residential College, Mrs. DePalma's roles include coordinating events, advising students, managing the budget, and supervising the operation of the Honor Residential College.


  • Erin Stamile, Pre-Health Honors Program Advisor
    Baylor Science Building B111.1
    254-710-3659
    Erin_Stamile@baylor.edu

    Erin Stamile joined Baylor University in 2009 as staff in Academic Support Programs. She received her BS in Psychology from Geneva College in Pennsylvania, and her MS in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Baylor. Mrs. Stamile has worked for the Office of the Provost and the School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University, and joined Prehealth Programs staff in 2012. In this role, Mrs. Stamile provides resources and support to students who are in both Honors and Prehealth Programs. For more information on Prehealth Programs, please visit www.baylor.edu/prehealth.


  • Sarah Marcum, Part-time Honors Program Advisor
    Morrison Hall 203.9
    254-710-7861
    Sarah_Marcum@baylor.edu

    Ms. Marcum joined the Honors Program in the fall of 2003. She has worked with college students in a variety of roles and settings: career counseling, personal counseling, leadership development, educational programming, and directing an internship program. She earned her BA in English and Art from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, and her MS in Counseling and Student Development from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Mrs. Marcum advises students in the Honors Program and works extensively with the Honors Student Advisory Council to plan events and special seminars for Honors students. Mrs Marcum also coordinates Honors Book & Film Clubs, and the Freshman Reading Project. She has also taught "The Examined Life I: Human Development and College Life" for the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC).


  • Diane Haun, Honors Program Coordinator
    Morrison Hall 203.4
    254-710-1119
    Diane_Haun@baylor.edu

    Diane Haun was born in Dallas, Texas, moved to Waco in 1990, and has worked at Baylor since 2001. She and her husband, Jerry, are the proud parents of two Baylor Bears (Classes of 2006 and 2008). Mrs. Haun advises seniors to ensure that they meet graduation requirements, administers the budget, supervises the functions of the Honors Program office, keeps central records, and generally coordinates the program. Mrs. Haun previously worked with the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC).