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Cathy Harms is a Senior Continuing Faculty member specializing in Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Marketing Research, and holds the George B. Torrey Endowed Chair of Management Marketing. She is currently the Business and Economics Department Chair. She joined the Gustavus faculty in 2016, bringing extensive professional experience from careers in banking, product management, venture capital, and marketing management.

Her teaching philosophy is centered on preparing students for the professional world. All of her courses incorporate experiential learning, pairing student teams with non-profits and businesses to develop marketing strategies, conduct market research, or implement digital marketing campaigns. This approach allows students to build critical skills in teamwork, project management, communication, and problem-solving. The world of marketing is constantly changing, so she brings in several guest speakers each semester to share their journey and the current marketing careers.

Beyond the classroom, Cathy manages the Content Managers for the Business and Economics Department. In this role, she oversees the creation of content for the department's social media platforms, which targets prospective students and undecided undergraduates. The content highlights departmental events, features students and alums, and educates the audience on the value of a Business, Accounting or Economics degree.

Cathy is deeply passionate about advising students and guiding them in their preparation for life after graduation. She has actively partnered with the Career Development Center to promote their services to students. As a proud alumna of Gustavus, she remains actively involved as a Class Agent and maintains close friendships established during her freshman year.

In her free time, she enjoys playing piano at a local nursing home, playing pickleball and volleyball, biking, hiking, walking in the Linnaeus Arboretum, and traveling. Her favorite role is being Nana to her four grandsons.

Sarah Ruble is a Professor of Religion and specializes in the history of Christianity in the United States. She is the author of The Gospel of Freedom and Power: Protestant Missionaries in American Culture After World War II (University of North Carolina Press, 2012). She has also published articles on topics such as gender in U.S. religious history, the American missionary movement, and Lutheran contributions to American religion. Dr. Ruble is also a frequent presenter at adult forums and lifelong learning programs. She has developed two YouTube-based curricula for adult forums, one on the history of Christianity and race in the United States and the other on the development of Christian doctrine. Both are available on her website sarahruble.com.

At Gustavus, Dr. Ruble teaches a broad range of courses in the Religion Department. She also currently serves as the Faculty Director of Assessment and as Gustavus’s Accreditation Liaison Officer. In 2025 she was awarded the Faculty Service Award for her contributions to the Gustavus community.

Elizabeth Kubek is a Professor of English, specializing in Literary Theory; Interdisciplinary and Gender Studies; Medical Humanities; and new/emerging media, including the early novel and graphic narrative (comics). While attending the University of Rochester she was the inaugural Susan B. Anthony Fellow for Women’s Studies. Originally tenured at Benedictine University, in 2019 she was hired to serve at Gustavus as Associate Provost, Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Director of General Education, also with tenure.  With two decades of experience in academic administration, she serves as Faculty Director for Student Academic Success and Director of Summer Term. Dr. Kubek is also a founding member of the President’s Council on Indigenous Relations, and serves as an ombudsman and a Kendall Center AI Fellow.  

Dr. Kubek holds multiple certifications in accessible and inclusive course design, with significant experience in online and hybrid course design and delivery, including for non-traditional student populations. Her teaching, advising, and scholarship all revolve around literacy and education as empowerment, with a focus on underrepresented groups, from contemporary non-traditional and non-neurotypical learners in the liberal arts classroom to early modern women writers discovering cities as sites of professional growth and self-invention. 

Recent presentations include sessions for The Grading Conference on asset-based, student-centered assignment design, and on fostering “AI resistance” through intrinsic motivation. Another recent conference paper, for the Pacific and Modern Literature Association, examined the theory that graphic narratives foster empathy by activating non-verbal brain systems involved in facial recognition and emotional “sense making.” Her current writing project, tentatively entitled Paramours, focuses on parasocial relationships and the function of verbal narrative as emotional “training,” from early modern romantic fictions to chatbot/human interactions. This research is also the basis for her AI/Human Relations Challenge Seminar (Spring 2027).

When not teaching she enjoys reading romance novels, watching classic and contemporary films with her family, and disappearing down Reddit rabbit holes.

Sharon Marquart is a Professor of French and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and she also serves as Director of the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Program. Dr. Marquart is also affiliated with the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies Program, the Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies Program, and the Comparative Literature Program. At Gustavus, she teaches courses on global French cinema, graphic novels, and literature, as well as topics such as the Holocaust, revolution and rebellion, feminist philosophy, disability, and trauma testimony. In May term, Dr. Marquart teaches a travel course to Paris that centers the stories of marginalized communities in the city. She holds a PhD in French literature and culture from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and she has taught and studied at universities throughout the United States, Canada, and France.

Dr. Marquart’s research is located at the intersection of feminist philosophy and of literary and cultural studies. Her research has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Lurcy Foundation, and she frequently collaborates on it with students. She has published extensively on issues of gender and trauma in Nazi camp testimonies and, most recently, on the AIDS crisis in the Caribbean. Dr. Marquart is the author of On the Defensive: Reading the Ethical in Nazi Camp Testimonies (University of Toronto Press, 2015), co-editor (with David Caron of the University of Michigan) of a volume of essays published in France on Auschwitz survivor Charlotte Delbo, and her work has been published in The Routledge Companion to Literature and Trauma, French Forum, H-France Forum, The Romanic Review, Ethnologies, and various essay collections on World War II and the Holocaust. She is completing a book on care that features a chapter co-authored with her former student at Gustavus, Ellie Hartmann. Please contact Dr. Marquart for current student research opportunities related to her work.

Dr. Marquart’s interests outside of the classroom include camping, gardening, photography, all things cats, and travel, especially in the French-speaking world. She is an advocate for students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds and abilities and welcomes discussion about ways to create more inclusive and just communities on campus and beyond.

Matt Panciera is an associate professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. He truly enjoys teaching the languages - all levels of Greek and Latin - in addition to a wide range of classical studies courses; everything from Greek tragedy to Roman history. His research focuses on the incredible treasure trove of information found in the Pompeian graffiti scratched into the walls of the ancient city by its beautifully ordinary inhabitants before it was buried under the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He is extremely grateful to have been awarded on three occasions a NEH Summer Seminar for K-12 teachers where they, together with a team of distinguished scholars, explored the topic of of Roman daily life as seen in the Roman novelist Petronius and the archaeological and epigraphical remains of Pompeii. He has also worked on Roman funerary inscriptions including the epitaph of the unforgettable freedwoman, Allia Potestas.

Matt feels fortunate to have been hired on four different occasions by the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome and he is a passionate advocate for teaching and learning on site. He always finds himself experiencing ideas, making connections, and asking questions that would never occur to him without the inspiration of standing in the place where the ancient Greeks and Romans once lived their lives. He is happy to teach a class where the students "nerd out" and dive deep into the Greeks and Romans for their own sake. But ultimately he believes, both for himself and his students, the greatest benefit of spending time with the Greeks and Romans is how much we learn about ourselves and what we want to make of our own world.  

If pressed, on most days he would say his favorite classical authors to read in the original language are Homer and Ovid. He recognizes the beauty of Greek and the genius of so much that came to fruition in Athens in the 5th century BCE—the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the birth of western philosophy, tragedy (Sophocles is his favorite)—but he is more at home in Latin and loves the way that reading Petronius and Pompeian graffiti feels like looking through a window directly at the ancient Romans. His favorite classical building is the Pantheon in Rome and his favorite site is Segesta in Sicily.

Outside of work he loves to cook for his family, visit the Boundary Waters, root for all the Boston teams (but also the Vikings), play golf, and exercise.
  

Jon Grinnell is the Francis Morey Uhler Chair in Biology. He spent his youth roaming the hills of coastal California watching the hawks and admiring alligator lizards and rattlesnakes. From the time of his first borrowed binoculars he has been fascinated with wild creatures and places, and now is excited to share those with students. 

As an undergraduate he worked with the last wild California Condors before they were taken into captive breeding programs, and as a graduate student he studied the social and communication behavior of African lions in Tanzania. For years, he worked on lions in South Africa before transitioning to American bison in South Dakota. In each of these projects he eagerly involved research students, as one of his great loves is taking students out into the field to get hands-on experience with animals and ecosystems. 

Recently his attention has shifted to the plight of shallow marine habitats and regularly takes students to study the Mesoamerican coral reef in Belize. Jon feels privileged to have the chance to teach animal behavior, aquatic biology, vertebrate zoology, and other field-based courses at Gustavus, as well as the many travel courses he has led throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Jon is an avid cyclist, scuba diver, hiker, animal watcher, and bow hunter. 

Professor Julie Gilbert teaches information literacy to students across the curriculum. Her work is grounded in a deep belief that libraries play a vital role in student learning, wellbeing, and belonging, and that equitable access to information is fundamental to academic success and civic engagement. Through her teaching, research, and service, she is committed to making libraries and information accessible to all members of the campus community.

As an educator, Julie collaborates with faculty across disciplines to design instruction that supports students at every stage of their academic journey. Her teaching focuses on critical thinking, research strategies, source evaluation, and the ethical use of information in an increasingly complex landscape. She is especially passionate about demystifying research for students who may feel uncertain or overwhelmed by academic inquiry, and she strives to create learning environments that are inclusive, welcoming, and student-centered. By meeting students where they are, she helps them build confidence as researchers and lifelong learners.

In addition to her academic work, Julie is an award-winning author of books for young readers. Her writing reflects a lifelong engagement with libraries, storytelling, and literacy, and she brings this creative perspective into her teaching and librarianship. She believes strongly in the value of reading for pleasure and its role in intellectual growth, empathy, and wellness. In her role at the library, she takes particular pride in developing and curating collections, with a special emphasis on building vibrant, relevant current fiction holdings that invite students into the library as a place of discovery, connection, and enjoyment.

Julie’s research interests are interdisciplinary and evolving, reflecting the broad and changing role of libraries in higher education. She is especially interested in libraries as wellness spaces and in the ways library environments, services, and collections support not only academic achievement but also mental health, reflection, and community connection. Her work explores how libraries contribute to a holistic student experience and reinforce their importance as both intellectual and restorative centers of campus life.

A certified meditation teacher, Julie also coordinates the Gustavus Meditation Program. Through this work, she integrates contemplative practices into the academic environment and supports students, faculty, and staff in cultivating mindfulness, resilience, and balance. Whether teaching in the classroom, developing collections, supporting research, or leading meditation sessions, Julie’s work is guided by a belief in the transformative power of libraries and learning, and their central role in shaping a meaningful and supportive student experience.

Espen Fredrick is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics. A 2021 Gustavus alumnus, Dr. Fredrick earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2025 before returning to the college, bringing with him a strong commitment to undergraduate education and student-centered research.

In the classroom, Dr. Fredrick emphasizes preparing students for future careers in science and related fields through a teaching philosophy centering on helping students develop the habits needed for independent problem solving. His favorite courses to teach include electromagnetic theory and quantum mechanics, where he enjoys helping students contextualize new mathematical formalisms to build their own physical intuition.

Dr. Fredrick’s research focuses on space plasma physics, particularly the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field. His work aims to improve predictions of how and when solar wind disturbances impact near-Earth space, contributing to a broader understanding of space weather and its effects on technological systems. At Gustavus, he is interested in involving undergraduates in research that emphasizes the accessibility of computational physics and empowers students to conduct meaningful research beyond traditional settings.

Beyond teaching and research, Dr. Fredrick currently assists students who operate the Olin Observatory, helping them gain hands-on experience with astronomical instrumentation. He values close collaboration with students and sees mentoring as one of the most rewarding aspects of his role. He is excited to help students grow as scientists, problem solvers, and future leaders.

Rebecca Taylor Fremo (Professor of English) earned her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition at Ohio State University after completing her BA and MA in English at Virginia Tech. In the nearly three decades she’s spent at Gustavus, she’s served as English department chair, English co-chair, Director of Writing Across the Curriculum, and Director of the Writing Center. But Fremo’s real passion is teaching writing, and she’s been awarded the Edgar M. Carlson Award and the Swenson and Bunn Award for this work. Fremo likes nothing better than rolling up her sleeves and sitting side by side with student writers as they work through the challenges of sharing their stories. Fremo has published a variety of scholarly essays about teaching writing, but she’s most excited about her work as a creative writer. She recently completed a memoir titled Controlled Burn, which applies her observations as a gardener to her experiences raising three neurodivergent sons. Her poems and essays appear in journals including Mud Season Review, Mankato Magazine, Full Grown People, Paper Darts, and Water~Stone Review. She is also the author of one collection of poetry, Moving This Body, and a chapbook of poems titled Chasing Northern Lights. When she’s not at work, she’s probably in her garden or daydreaming about her next visit to the North Shore. She’s originally from Richmond, Virginia and still dreads the Minnesota winters–but the summers are worth it! 
 

Sarah Erickson Lume grew up near Ann Arbor, MI and had the privilege of spending summers at the international music camp, Interlochen Center for the Arts. This experience instilled in her the love of music making and she began to cultivate the artistic discipline of practicing, rehearsing, and performing within the context of a supportive community. Valuing a liberal arts education, she attended Sarah Lawrence College, outside of New York City while continuing to study oboe with Laura Ahlbeck (Metropolitan Opera) and Randall Wolfgang (New York City Ballet).

Sarah worked at NYC’s Carnegie Hall before entering graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was the student of her most influential teacher, Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida (Principal Oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony). While pursuing a master’s degree in music performance, her momentum flourished both as a musician and as a reed maker. The Philadelphia style of reed making, and the resulting benefits to the oboist, is a specialty she now passes on to her own students. During this time, Sarah also attended Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and Orford Music Festival, in Quebec.

Her work in the Twin Cities includes chamber music and freelance performances as well as previous work with the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Waldorf School. Having been an oboe instructor at Gustavus Adolphus College for more than twenty years, Sarah has found teaching to be one of the most fulfilling jobs of her career. She maintains a private home studio and teaches as an adjunct faculty member at other area colleges. Her interests include Alexander Technique, optimal performance psychology, practicing the piano, and recorder, as well as running. Sarah and her husband, a visual artist and professor, have two daughters.

Mary Westby is the Program Director for the Master of Athletic Training (MAT) program. She is responsible for the oversight of MAT, including working with the Clinical Education Coordinator and Research Coordinator to ensure curricular and clinical development, and implementation of the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) standards and ensuring the preparedness of students to practice independently upon graduation. She serves as one of the primary advisors for MAT current students and prospective students interested in athletic training. She teaches Foundations in Athletic Training (ATP 500), Clinical Pharmacology (NUR 337 and ATP 537 – a joint course between MAT and Nursing students), and Therapeutic Interventions in Athletic Training I and II (ATP 511 and 512).  Her favorite topic to teach is therapeutic modalities – the application of physical agents and manual therapy to treat musculoskeletal injuries. This is also a research interest of hers along with assessment of student learning in athletic training programs. 

She is also an Instructor and Instructor Trainer for the American Red Cross, regularly certifying current MAT students, undergraduate students, and campus faculty and staff in various levels of CPR training. As the advisor for the Gustavus Athletic Trainers' Association and Iota Tau Alpha, the national honor society for athletic training, Mary gets the opportunity to encourage community and professional service among the students in the ATP. She enjoys her opportunities to interact with students and other faculty inside and out of the classroom. 

Mary is originally from Waconia, MN. She enjoys spending time with her family who are still in the area, including her niece and twin nephews. Mary, her husband and their son enjoy spending summers up north, fishing, and boating. During the long winter months Mary enjoys snowshoeing. 

She is a BOC-certified athletic trainer, licensed in the state of Minnesota and a member of the National Athletic Training Association. She is involved in the athletic training profession at the national and state level as a peer reviewer for the CAATE and a member of the Minnesota Athletic Trainers Association (MATA) Governmental Affairs Committee. She is also the co-advisor of the MATA student senate.  

Dr. Yumiko Oshima-Ryan began teaching at Gustavus in 2004. She enjoys teaching private piano lessons and establishing relationships with her students that focuses on trust and integrity. At her piano studio, students cultivate musical, technical, historical, and theoretical features of piano repertoire which they select to perform for their recital. Students focus on developing piano skills which are vital for artistic self-expression. Dr. Oshima-Ryan values mentoring students as they face their challenges, find new perspectives, and most of all, promote self-belief. All of these things ultimately provide deeper meaning and joy to their performance and creativity.

A native of Japan, Yumiko also teaches keyboard courses to students of all levels, including total beginners. Along with keyboard skills courses for music majors and minors, she offers courses on how to practice and prepare performances, as well as on wellness for musicians.

Dr. Oshima-Ryan believes musical performance is one of the most valuable opportunities students can have, and that it represents a core value in the music department of a liberal arts college. As an instructor, she also values sharing the experience of her own performances with students.

Her recordings, "Piano Works for the Left Hand - Takashi Yoshimatsu" and “From Afar,” are published by the Naxos Records label and available to stream on major digital platforms, including iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. "Piano Works for the Left Hand" was selected as a special edition in the August 2022 issue of Record Geijutsu, a top music review magazine in Japan. Dr. Oshima-Ryan hopes this album inspires and encourages people rehabilitating after injury or fighting a major illness, such as cancer. The album includes pieces which were written for the composer’s respected friend, Izumi Tateno, who lost the use of his right hand after a cerebral hemorrhage. She wants the listeners to get past the idea of the left hand as the overlooked partner of the dominant right. She wants them to see, instead, that through courage, compassion, and creativity, the limitations of human frailty can be overcome.

Recently, Dr. Oshima-Ryan started collaborating with the Department of Theatre and Dance at Gustavus by creating original music for dance performances. Performances, recordings, and lectures are available online.