Anushika Athauda, assistant professor of engineering
Athauda is excited to bring over eight years of dynamic undergraduate teaching experience in physics and engineering to EMU. Before joining EMU, she served on the faculty at Virginia Military Institute, Washington and Lee University, University of Rochester, and James Madison University. Athauda is passionate about student-centered learning and brings a strong background in curriculum development, hands-on instruction, and undergraduate mentorship. Her research interests lie in exploring the structure-property relationships of materials. She holds a BS in engineering physics from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and a PhD in physics from University of Virginia.

Cherelle Johnson, instructor of business and leadership
Johnson joins the faculty with over a decade of experience in leadership development, organizational strategy, and higher education instruction. An adjunct instructor in EMU鈥檚 Business and Leadership program since 2019, she is currently pursuing a PhD in organizational leadership at Regent University, building on her MS in education and BBA in marketing from James Madison University. Johnson is also a certified HR professional (SHRM-CP), executive coach, and founder of Dream City LLC and IronDresses Inc., where she has trained leaders across the U.S. and internationally. Her teaching and research focus on leadership development, group behavior, and women鈥檚 empowerment, particularly in ecclesial and organizational contexts.

Yeimarie Lopez, assistant professor of social work
Lopez received a bachelor of social work from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a master of social work from the University of Michigan, and a doctorate in education from VCU. For the majority of her social work career, she worked alongside immigrant and refugee families throughout Virginia. Her interest in social justice, higher education, and quality assurance also led her to work in accreditation, policy, and compliance. As a first-generation college graduate, Lopez is an advocate of accessible and equitable education as a way to create a more just society.

Elizabeth Miller-Derstine, assistant professor of visual and communication arts
Miller-Derstine (director/producer) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker drawn to stories centering joy as resilience. She holds an MFA in documentary film from Wake Forest University. She approaches all her work with a deep commitment to ethical storytelling and an awareness of the extractive history of the documentary field. Her most recent short documentary Once Upon the Wetland (2025) has received Oscar qualification in the Short Documentary category. Her other notable work includes Bloom (2024), which has been acquired for educational distribution by Good Docs, and won Best Documentary at the Longleaf Film Festival, and Welcome to the Dollhouse (2020), which won Best Director at both the Atlanta DocuFest and Hoosier Films Festival.

Ann Schaeffer, associate professor of nursing
Following undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, Schaeffer was a second-degree BSN student at UVA, and then became a certified nurse-midwife in 2000 via Frontier Nursing University (FNU), to which she returned for her doctorate (DNP) in 2017. Schaeffer is a certified nurse-educator and recently added certification as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner through Radford University (2025). Schaeffer has practiced nursing in Virginia for 27 years, has attended over 1,000 births, and has provided health care in a wide variety of practice settings. She previously taught nursing at EMU for eight years, and then from 2020-2025 worked remotely as faculty in FNU’s DNP program, where she taught and mentored doctoral students in health care quality improvement. Prevention of burnout and attrition from health care professions is one of her priorities as an educator and mentor, which she believes begins upstream in the undergraduate classroom.

Bryce Van Vleet, assistant professor of psychology
Van Vleet earned a PhD from North Dakota State University in developmental science in 2025. He is a member of the Gerontological Society of America and specializes in adult development, rurality, and qualitative methodology. Prior to his doctoral work, Van Vleet earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Seattle Pacific University, a faith-based liberal arts university, and a master of science from North Dakota State. A recent convert to Anabaptism, Van Vleet looks for ways to incorporate faith into his scholarship and teaching. He encourages scholars from all walks of faith to bring their full selves into their work. His current research projects investigate queer well-being in rural America, advocate for empathy toward vaccine hesitancy in adulthood, and model how rural parents impart coping skills to their children.

EMU will mark the beginning of the academic year at Opening Convocation, held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, in Lehman Auditorium.

Dr. Tamika Jackson, assistant professor of counseling
Jackson is an assistant professor in the Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) program. Her vocational journey has led to experience in many areas including finance, congregational ministry, program development, chaplaincy, counseling, and higher education. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bowie State University, an MBA from Loyola University Maryland, a Master of Divinity/MA in Counseling dual-degree from Wake Forest University, and a PhD in Counselor Education from William and Mary. In addition to training counselors, Jackson embraces the model of practitioner-scholar through her own work as a clinical mental health counselor and her research focusing on the integration of spirituality and religion in counseling. 

Ned Parker, assistant professor of preaching & worship; Seminary chaplain
Parker received his bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College with a focus in archaeology and storytelling as a cross-discipline approach to cultural studies. His Master of Divinity is from Andover Newton Theological School. Parker has a Doctor of Ministry from Seattle University, where his studies focused on storytelling in the contexts of preaching and worship to foster deeper community. He鈥檚 been in higher education for 25 years and pastored two churches. 

John Pescatore, associate professor of engineering
, a native of Boston, holds degrees from Northeastern University, University of Cincinnati and Tennessee Technological University and is a registered professional engineer in Virginia and Ohio. He is an enthusiastic promoter of the engineering profession and is excited about joining other faculty in the mission of educating the next generation of engineers. Pescatore comes to EMU with a background in both professional engineering and academia in the U.S. and United Kingdom.

Stephanie Powell, assistant professor of Hebrew Bible
Powell holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Drew University and an MDiv from Chicago Theological Seminary. She is the author of Narrative Desire and the Book of Ruth from Bloomsbury T&T Clark Press (2018). As a feminist and literary critic of the Hebrew Bible, Powell鈥檚 research interests include the interrelationship between biblical narrative and history, with sustained attention to questions of sexuality, desire, trauma and identity formation.

For over a decade, Powell has taught courses in biblical studies, feminism and queer theory, Jewish/Christian studies, pastoral care, death and dying, and world religions. She is also the co-creator of restitutio divina, an embodied practice of biblical interpretation that builds on the insights of Somatic Experiencing coupled with the spiritual practices of lectio and visio divina. In addition to her work as a professor, Powell has worked as a professional chaplain in medical, psychiatric and academic settings.

Aundrea Smiley, assistant professor of teacher education
Smiley is a career educator with over 17 years of experience in the field. She has worked in all levels in the K-12 world, including as classroom teacher, coach, and division-level administrator (literacy coach). Prior to coming to EMU full-time she served as adjunct in the Graduate Teacher Education department for four years.

She has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in marketing/business administration from Ferrum College, a master鈥檚 in teaching from Mary Baldwin University, a graduate certificate in restorative justice in education from EMU, and a PhD in higher education administration/education leadership K-12 programs from Liberty University.

Smiley is an education consultant/RJ practitioner as well as the owner of a full-service literacy center/consulting firm.