Colleges

Assistant Professor Katy Sell of the College of Education has found Arizona to be magnetic — her family moved out of the state three times during her childhood but kept coming back. She also looks for ways to make her teaching magnetic with an informal style designed to keep students engaged.

There’s nothing quite like sharing your passion with others, and that’s exactly what Doctoral Learner Eugene Frimpong did as he returned to his alma mater in Ghana West Africa to give a seminar. He hoped to preach and excite his audience with the topic of data analytics.

Dr. Randall Downs loves music, so it’s easy to see why he loves his role as Worship Arts Coordinator for the College of Theology. He has been a worship pastor for more than two decades and also plays in a folk group. And then there’s the hobby that he finds entertaining.

The leaders of TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity and its talented emcee, Caleb Duarte, introduced this year’s lineup for the Feb. 21 TEDx event at Ethington Theatre on Tuesday night. But its president could give a talk of his own. Justin McLean said his experience in the student-run organization led to a job even before his April graduation.

Marcie Burger’s love of technology has made her a natural fit for the Online Full Time Faculty in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She strives to make the online classroom as much like a traditional classroom as possible, and she also has a passion for helping those in need become more balanced, self-confident and independent.

GCU graduate Kara Morrow surprised a visitor from home at the Washington, D.C. office where she works for Arizona Senator Martha McSally. It was none other than GCU President Brian Mueller. She told Mueller she’s glad she chose GCU even though she had scholarship offers from several elite colleges. It’s also another example of how Government Program faculty members open doors for students.

Alison King, Assistant Professor in the College of Fine Arts and Production, says she’s an introvert, but she has a lot to say about a lot of things — especially history and Southwest architecture. And she certainly applies that energy to teaching. “I tap into emotion to make ideas stick and encourage people to care,” she writes. “I’m told my enthusiasm is infectious.”

How does a guy go from working retail to a CEO of one of Arizona’s largest behavioral health organizations. GCU graduate Steven Sheets, President and CEO of Southwest Behavioral and Health Services, said GCU set him up for success with “unique and individual learning.”

College of Humanities and Social Sciences students volunteer to check in on vulnerable adults that the court has deemed incapacitated and make sure their guardians are properly caring for them. For some who become court visitors through the University’s partnership with the Guardian Review Program of Maricopa County, the experience has been especially eye-opening and meaningful.

Dr. Valerie De La Torre, Instructor of Theology for Grand Canyon Theological Seminary, is a Grand Canyon alumna and is thrilled to be back on campus in an online teaching capacity. She loves it when students get a concept, and check out her little secret about Ethington Theatre.