Faculty & Staff

Gayle A. Levy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of French & Honors Program Director
Phone: 816-235-2820
E-mail

Gayle Levy began her life-long love of French at the age of five when she learned how to say "jus d'orange" in kindergarten. She honed her francophilia as an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley and during her graduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, and the Ecole Normale Superieure-Ulm in Paris. Currently, her research centers on French resistance fighters during World War II who then went on to fight in the wars of decolonization.  Prof. Levy was named director of the Honors Program in 2004. She loves helping to organize the program and meeting and working with these exceptional students. She is particularly proud of the way the students have taken leadership roles in and helped shape the Honors Program initiatives, especially the Honors-Kauffman School Partnership, Lucerna, and Colloquium.

John Herron, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History & Honors Program Associate Director
Phone: 816-235-2546
E-mail

Having had enough of the picture perfect weather of southern California, John Herron arrived at UMKC in 2003. He is an an Associate Professor of History with a research interest in American environmental studies. Among his books are: Human/Nature, Science and the Social Good, and the forthcoming Heartland Green.  Interested in working with UMKC's most ambitious students, Dr. Herron began with the Honors Program as Faculty Fellow.  He has led the honors-only Summer Study Abroad Program to Sweden, and he hopes to add a second study abroad site for honors students in the near future. He is always available to meet with students who have questions about the program, study abroad opportunities, or American League baseball.

Melisa Rempfer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology & Honors Faculty Fellow
Phone: 816-235-8850
E-mail

Melisa Rempfer, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, teaches General Psychology, PSYCH 210 (including an honor's section) and graduate courses in clinical psychology. She received her undergraduate education at the University of Iowa and completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Kansas. Dr. Rempfer's research and clinical expertise relate to serious mental illness and cognitive assessment.  For AY 2012-13, she will be working closely with the Honors Colloquium. Dr. Rempfer also serves as faculty advisor for the Honors Student Advisory Council (HSAC).

Frances Connelly, Ph.D.
Professor of Art History & Honors Faculty Fellow
Phone: 816-235-2989
E-mail

Frances Connelly teaches art history and specializes in the art of 19th and 20th-century Europe. She taught the honor's section of Art History 110 fall 2011 semester.  As an undergraduate at Wake Forest University, her coursework was focused in English literature, creative writing, studio art, and cultural anthropology. A few years later, she discovered that art history was a marvelous way to bring these diverse interests together. Dr. Connelly's research explores the cultural role of images, and this has led to publications on primitivism, the globalization of art, and the role of the grotesque in modern art.  Dr. Connelly serves as faculty advisor for Lucerna, UMKC's undergraduate research journal. 

Brenda Bethman, Ph.D.

Director, UMKC Women's Center

Acting Director, Women's & Gender Studies Program

Brenda Bethman has served as Director of the UMKC Women's Center since 2007.  In addition, she serves as Acting Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program.  Dr. Bethman teaches classes for the Honors Program, the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and the Women's and Gender Studies Program.  She has presented and published on social media, assessment, women's leadership, women's literature, Elfriede Jelinek, Marlene Streeruwizt, Ingeborg Bachmann, and feminism.  Dr. Bethman teaches the Honors 350 class, an honors tutorial.

Linna Place, Ph.D.

Director, International Academic Programs

Linna Place is responsible for the administration of IAP's programs and activities and is IAP's principal contact with community and international partners. In addition, Dr. Place oversees UMKC's participation in nationally competitive, prestigious awards programs. In this capacity, she provides information and support for those UMKC students who are interested in pursuing any of the major national fellowships and scholarships, including Rhodes, Fulbright, Mitchell, Goldwater, and Truman. She provides both practical advice on the process itself and access to resources in the university community, which facilitates the application process. Dr. Place teaches the Honors section of A&S 100 - Methodologies in the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Theories and Applications. She also holds a faculty appointment in the Department of History as Research Associate Professor.

Michael McDonald, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies

Before coming to UMKC, Michael McDonald taught for 21 years at Rockhurst University. Dr. McDonald received his BA and MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City; he received his doctoral degree from the University of Kansas.  Dr. McDonald's research focuses on the rhetorical and organizational aspects of communication.  Areas of interest include organizational rhetoric, intercultural communication, political communication, interpersonal communication, and qualitative methods. He teaches the honors section of Communication Studies 110.

Lynda Payne, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of History and Sirridge Missouri Endowed Professor in Medical Humanities and Bioethics (School of Medicine).

Lynda Payne serves as Director of the Uppsala, Sweden Summer Study Abroad Program for the university. She received her MA from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and her A.S.N. from SUNY, Albany, New York. Her diploma in Applied Social Sciences (Social Work) was awarded by the University of Surrey, and her Ph.D. was awarded by the University of California-Davis. Dr. Payne's areas of study and research include the history of British medicine, masculinity, and emotions 16th to the 19th centuries.