Eight Faculty Members Retiring from Hood College

FREDERICK, Maryland—Eight faculty members have retired from Hood College. Kathleen Bands, Fred Bohrer, Kathy Falkenstein, Ricky Hirschhorn, Vince Kohl, Terry Martin, Mark Sandona and Wayne Wold are retiring after nearly 240 combined years of service at Hood.

Bands, Ph.D., professor of education and director of the doctoral programs in organizational leadership and business administration, joined Hood in 1984. She has taught leadership development inside and outside the classroom and has served as the associate dean and dean of the Graduate School and the vice president for enrollment management. Bands also helped Hood gain its original accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teaching Education. She has completed program development and program assessment grants for the Maryland State Department of Education and Standards-Based Teacher Education programs.

Bohrer, Ph.D., professor of art and archaeology, joined Hood in 1989. He served as department chair of the Department of Art and Archaeology from 1999 to 2006. Bohrer has published two books on historical imaging, and he has more than a dozen magazine and journal articles to his name. He curated the exhibit “Antoin Sevruguin and the Persian Image,” which was on display at the Smithsonian Institute before going on a three-year U.S. tour. He has also given dozens of lectures and presentations across the country and around the world.

Falkenstein, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, joined Hood in 1981 and was chair of the Department of Biology for 18 years. She served on many college committees including the curriculum committee and the faculty personnel committee. She also actively participated in the planning of two renovations of Hood’s Hodson Science and Technology Center. Her research interests include plant physiology and molecular biology. Falkenstein has been awarded grants for research, course development, and the Summer Research Institute. She has also given numerous talks on plant biology, and she has several published works to her name.

Hirschhorn, Ph.D., professor of biology, started at Hood in 1992. She was director of the biomedical science program for many years, and she is the only Hood faculty member to be awarded a grant funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has published many peer-reviewed research publications, and she has mentored many undergraduate and graduate student research experiences. Hirschhorn has served as chair of the faculty senate three times, and on almost every faculty committee at Hood. She has led multiple revisions of the faculty code and the faculty handbook under multiple administrations, and has served on a multitude of faculty search committees.

Kohl, instructor in composition, has taught first-year composition courses at Hood since 2008. He introduced two popular literature-based classes: Humans with Insides, whose title comes from an essay by the religious philosopher William James; and Literary Encounters with the Real World. In 2013, by student request, Kohl was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Lambda Delta, the National Honor Society for First-Year Students.

Martin, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, joined Hood in 1987. He has published widely on the topics of thanatology and gerontology and developed and taught several new graduate courses in thanatology. He was instrumental in developing Hood’s Summer Institute in thanatology. Martin is also a grief therapist and maintains a private practice specializing in dying and grief-related issues. He consults with several local hospices, nursing homes and the U.S. Veterans Administration, and volunteers for Camp Jamie, a weekend camp for bereaved children sponsored by Hospice of Frederick County.

Sandona, Ph.D., professor of English, arrived at Hood College in 1990. He has served in several leadership positions, including director of the master’s program in humanities, chair of the Department of English and Communication Arts and chair of the faculty senate. His scholarly work has been in the intersection of art and literature. His collaboration with Anne Derbes, professor emerita of art history, resulted in two books on the fresco painter, Giotto, numerous journal articles, and lectures at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the University of Edinburgh.

Wold, DMA, professor of music, College organist and chair of the Department of Music, began at Hood in 1990. He is an active composer, author, performer, church musician and clinician. He is the author of three books, numerous articles and dozens of anthem and hymn texts. His published compositions number more than 400 and include works for organ, adult and children’s choirs, and various instrumental ensembles, plus a children’s musical and psalm settings and hymn tunes that appear in numerous hymnals in the U.S. and Australia. Wold has also been the concert manager and co-director of Hood’s Summer Chamber Music Festival the last few years, bringing hundreds of live concerts to campus.           

Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering more than 25 bachelor’s degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 master’s degrees programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities.

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