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Kate Aguilar is an active part of the History Department (assistant professor of African American and Sport History); Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies; African/African Diaspora Studies; and Sport Management. She challenges students to consider not only what Black history is, but what it does in the world. Her public scholarship includes contributions to the Washington Post and TIME magazine, and she is the Film, Media, and Museum Reviews section editor for the Journal of Sport History. Her current book expands an understanding of the revolt of the black athlete into the 1980s. She is also a part of a broader community of scholars working on campus to learn more about, implement, and assess inclusive teaching pedagogies. 

Kim Frisch joined Gustavus as Vice President for Enrollment Management in 2023, where she leads Admission, Financial Aid, Marketing & Communications, and Student Accounts. With a background in organizational leadership, she brings decades of experience shaping mission-driven enrollment strategies at private institutions.

A nationally recognized enrollment management leader, Kim has been honored for innovation in marketing and enrollment planning with the Dorothy Durkin Award for Strategic Innovation by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. She is known for her strong commitment to equity and inclusion and has a proven record of increasing student diversity, strengthening net tuition revenue, and building high-performing teams that elevate visibility and impact.

At Gustavus, she is currently driving major initiatives in enrollment growth, scholarship optimization, and web and brand transformation.

Kjerstin Moody (PhD) is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Scandinavian Studies. She teaches courses in English on contemporary Nordic society, politics, cultures, literature, film, and art, as well as beginning through advanced courses in Swedish. Her published scholarship and current research includes: 20th century and contemporary Nordic poetry, literatures of migration and the environment, women’s writing, and Nordic film. Service at the national level includes the Modern Language Association's CLCS Nordic Forum, Fulbright National Selection Committee, and American Literary Translators Association, as well as peer reviewer for numerous international and national scholarly journals. Affiliate faculty in Comparative Literature, Environmental Studies, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Gustavus. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright, American Scandinavian Foundation, and U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Lauren Hecht is the Richard Martin, Timothy Robinson, and Barbara Simpson Endowed Professor of Psychological Science. She joined the faculty in 2010 and was the 2022 recipient of Gustavus’ Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching. She is a cognitive psychologist whose primary research focuses on perception and attention, how they interact, and their influence on other cognitive processes. Her student-faculty collaborations have secured grant funding and resulted in presentations at regional and international conferences. As a First-Generation faculty who directed the First Term Seminar (FTS) Program and co-founded the Peer Mentor, Academic Leader, and Teacher (Peer MALT) Program, she regularly offers an FTS and supports students through their transition to college.

Maria Kalbermatten is a linguist whose teaching and research focus on how people use language to construct meaning, identity, and humor in Spanish-speaking contexts. Her areas of expertise include Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Linguistics, Conversation Analysis, and Discourse Analysis. She is particularly interested in verbal irony, political humor, and the intersections of language, culture, and ideology. At Gustavus, she teaches Spanish language, culture, and linguistics courses that build students’ communicative skills and cultural awareness.

Her recent scholarship examines verbal irony in Spanish, the role of political satire in Argentine media, and humor as a lens for understanding social and ideological polarization. She is especially proud of mentoring undergraduate researchers and contributing to inclusive and innovative pedagogical practices in her department.

Outside the classroom she enjoys cooking, gardening, traveling, taking photographs, and creating watercolor and urban sketching artwork.

Dr. Andrew Kendall serves as Associate Director of Choral Activities as well as Conductor of the Lucia Singers and the Choir of Christ Chapel. In addition to conducting his ensembles, he teaches courses in music education methods and conducting. Prior to his appointment at Gustavus, he served as Visiting Instructor and Conductor of The Gustavus Choir during the Spring 2023 semester. He earned his DMA in choral conducting at The University of Iowa, his MM in choral conducting at Louisiana State University, and his BA in music education from Gustavus Adolphus College. He has served as conductor of The Gustavus Choir, the LSU Chamber Singers, The University of Iowa Voxman Chorale, The University of Iowa University Choir, Musicorum, The St. John's Boys' Choir, and has held church music positions in Minnesota, Louisiana, and Iowa. He is a frequent choral clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator.

Emma Brunton ’19 is an instructor in the Health and Exercise Science Department. She recently returned to her alma mater after receiving her master's in Community Health Education from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her professional expertise centers on preparing future health and physical education teachers and coaches through evidence-based, purpose-driven practices. Currently, her work focuses on athlete development, leadership training, and incorporating mental health and functional movement into sport. She has led important cross-divisional service initiatives, including the Mental Health Club and Hope Squad, to promote student well-being and support. Brunton received the Golden Apple Award in 2021 and the Section 1A Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2021 and 2025. Outside of academic work, she enjoys weight lifting, painting, reading, and spending time with her husband, family, friends, and dog.

Karrin Meffert-Nelson teaches clarinet, chamber music, and courses within the music education curriculum. She maintains an active performing career as Principal Clarinetist with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and performs as a freelance musician with the Minnesota Orchestra, Northrop Ballet Orchestra, and in productions at the State and Orpheum Theaters. She has also performed with the St. Louis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and has served as guest Principal Clarinet with both the Quad City Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra.

A founding board member and clarinetist for Minnesota Winds, Meffert-Nelson contributes to the leadership of the professional wind ensemble. An experienced clinician, she regularly adjudicates regional solo and ensemble contests and works with the woodwind sections of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Dr. Meffert-Nelson holds a DMA from the University of Minnesota, an MM from Northwestern University, and a BM from St. Olaf College.

Thomas has over 35 years of international professional fundraising experience including 20 years at Gustavus. His career is marked with a successful track record of campaigns for a variety of non-profit organizations throughout the United States as well as overseas.  

The Advancement Office at Gustavus includes responsibility for the annual fund, major gift fundraising as well as alumni and parent engagement. As Vice President, Young led his team through two successful comprehensive campaigns for physical initiatives as well as endowment growth. The campaigns generated over $400 million of documented commitments to the College including the largest commitments in the history of the College.

His position at Gustavus includes responsibility for representing the College in Sweden and has been instrumental in maintaining the College’s relationship with the Nobel Foundation and the Royal Court. He has helped recruit three Board members from Sweden and raised nearly $5 million from Swedish sources.

Ying Diao is an ethnomusicologist and cultural anthropologist whose work centers on the intersection of sound, media, and religion, with a particular focus on music, minority, and transnational cultural production in the China–Southeast Asia borderlands. She is the author of Faith by Aurality in China’s Ethnic Borderland: Media, Mobility, and Christianity at the Margins (University of Rochester Press, 2023). She was the 2022–2023 SSRC Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellow, during which she explored artistic innovation and community engagement of Ragamala Dance Company, exploring how South Indian diaspora artists navigate the U.S. performing arts industry to make their culturally rooted art forms accessible to contemporary audiences while challenging stereotypes about tradition, creativity, and community. She holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, an MA in Theory of Literature & Arts from Fudan University, and a BA in Chinese Language & Literature from Tsinghua University.

Carlos Mario Mejía Suárez is a professor of Spanish with a PhD from the University of Iowa. He teaches elementary and intermediate Spanish, along with courses on Latin American literature and culture. He also contributes regularly to LALACS, Comparative Literature, and Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies. Mejía Suárez has published numerous scholarly articles on Latin American literature and is the author of "Escrituras de lo diabólico" (2021). He has also published short stories in various print and online journals. His creative work includes the novellas "Antonieta de muchos nombres" (2024), "La máquina de Hotefes contra las tebiras" (2024), and novel "El señor de las erratas" (2025). His short stories have received  honorable mentions from Revista Archivos del Sur (2024) and the Plentitudes Short Fiction Prize (2025). His most recent research and writing focus on memory, nature, environmentalism, and contemporary Colombian literature.

Dr. Laura D. Triplett began her Gustavus career in 2008 with a faculty appointment in geology. Now established in the department of Environment, Geography and Earth Sciences, she teaches courses related to earth surface processes, environmental geochemistry, hydrogeology and climate change. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications on topics as varied as reconstructing past water quality conditions in lakes and rivers, quantifying impacts of invasive species on freshwater geochemical cycling, and creating state-wide landslide susceptibility maps. In all her research, Dr. Triplett seeks out collaborations with community stakeholders. And, Dr. Triplett has involved Gustavus students in almost all aspects of her research program from designing preliminary studies, to executing major multi-year projects funded by external foundations and government agencies, to presenting findings at national scientific conferences.