Five Women Join the Faculty at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa

Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, enrolls about 1,000 graduate students and slightly more than 1,200 undergraduates. The college recently announced the appointment of nine new faculty members. Five of the new hires are women.

Dobrusia Bialonska is a new assistant professor of biology. She was a visiting assistant professor at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Dr. Bialonska holds a Ph.D. in biology from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Laura Kinnaman was hired as an assistant professor of physics. For the past two years she was a visiting professor of physics at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Dr. Kinnaman holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Notre Dame.

Jessica LaPaglia was appointed assistant professor of psychology. She was an instructor at Iowa State University in Ames and previously worked as a teaching assistant at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. She earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Iowa State University.

Amber Harris Leichner was named an assistant professor of English. She was a lecturer at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and at the Billings campus of Montana State University. Dr. Leichner holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska.

Kari Varner is a new assistant professor of nursing. She has served as a nurse practitioner at clinics in Macy, Nebraska, and Le Mars, Iowa. Since 2010, Varner has been serving as an instructor in nursing at St. Luke’s College in Sioux City, Iowa. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska.