academic advising
Advisor of the Year
The award, developed by the Academic Advising Committee, recognizes a faculty member from each college and a graduate faculty member who has had a positive influence on undergraduate students through academic advising.
academic advising
2026 Advisor of the Year Award Winners
The University of Findlay is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Advisor of the Year award. The award, developed by the Academic Advising Committee, recognizes a faculty member from each college and a graduate faculty member who has had a positive influence on undergraduate students through academic advising.
This year, the University received 330 nominations from students, and a winner was selected from each of the University’s six colleges and the newly added Graduate category after careful review by a committee.
2026 Advisor of the Year are:
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences:
Todd Beitzel, M.S.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Chair of Justice Sciences
College of Business:
Brandon Miller, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Teaching in Finance and Economics
College of Education:
Kerry Teeple, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Education
College of Health
Professions:
Susan Watters, D.H. Sc.
Associate Professor of Teaching in Sonography, Director of Sonography Programs, and Chair of Diagnostic Services Department
College of Pharmacy:
Lauren Forsythe, Pharm.D.
Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy and Assistant Director of Camps
College of Sciences:
Alexis Siomka, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Teaching in Animal Science
Graduate:
Jennifer Theriault, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Education and Chair of the Doctor of Education Program
The winners receive a one-year NACADA membership and will now go on to compete for the University’s Faculty Advisor of the Year award, which will be announced later this fall.
“Each of the faculty have been awarded this high honor because of the relationship building that they have done with their advisees. I have said for many years that when this relationship building is done correctly it is one of the most rewarding and unique bonds that an advisor and their advisee will have. Advising can have such a great impact on students when they are here, but also when they graduate and enter the workforce as alumni.”
-Glenn Miehls, director of academic advising
2026 Advisor of the Year Nominations
See below for a complete list of this year’s nominees. * College Winner
Rie Aoki
Todd Beitzel*
Leah Brant
Elizabeth Buchanan
Jacob Burmeister
Valerie Escobedo
Beverly Fanning
Hiroaki Kawamura
Allison Kiefner Burmeister
Kathy Mason
Greg Mott
Paul Pape
Cynthia Stroud
Patti Abels
Scott Freehafer
Maria Gamba
Tuan Le
Brandon Miller*
Kirby Overton
Ekpen Owie
Jaclyn Schalk
Andrea Simmons
Eric Stoller
Carla Treadway
Amy Kochendoerfer
Mary Heather Munger
Melissa Recker
Kerry Teeple*
Mark Willeke
Carrie Wysocki
Stephanie Born
Daniel Carter
Debra Copas
Cara Davies
Troy DeLamatre
Jessica Ellerbrock
Tina Fournier
Megan Gonyer
Mackenzie Hug
Alexandra Korsog
David Pettigrew
Kimberly Shern
Jessica Siebeneck
Robin Walters-Powell
Susan Watters*
Bart Welte
Sandra Earle
Lauren Forsythe*
Jason Guy
Nicole Horstman
Michael Isei
Rachel Kahle
Julie Oestreich
Shantanu Rao
Ryan Schneider
Erin Alava
Steve Aranyosi
Daniel Baczkowski
Victor Flores
Brittany Friesner
Craig Gunnett
Bethany Henderson-Dean
Jill Jewett
Brad Johnson
Kim Lichtveld
Alex Lovins
Meri Marsh
Brandon Morin
Art O’Brien
David Orosz
John Payton
Lauren Sandhu
Helen Schneider
Alexis Siomka*
Mark Smith
Carol Stitt
Nate Tice
Lauren Vaccaro
Brian Whitaker
Chris White
Blake Winter
Patti Abels
Abigail Allen
Stephanie Anderson
Kadee Anstadt
Mario Baker
Stephanie Born
Timothy Burkart
Debra Copas
Mark Drnach
Sandra Earle
Jennifer Fennema-Bloom
Mary Jo Geise
Nabarun Ghose
John Gillham
Scott Grant
Jason Guy
Rebecca Herr
Nicole Horstman
Angie Huber
Sandra Kleman
Kim Lichtveld
Julie McIntosh
Megan McLaughlin
Chris Moser
Mary Heather Munger
Ekpen Owie
Laura Perry
Amy Phillips
Lori Prusnek
Kelli Recker
Jaclyn Schalk
Nichole Schroeder
Joon-Young Song
Jennifer Theriault*
Melanie Thurmond
Kyle Wagner
Ryan Waldschmidt
Nicolle Wheeler
Robyn Wilhelm Carrie Wysocki