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Gustavus is driving sustainability forward with zero-waste goals, solar power initiatives, and a robust campus composting program.

John C. Volin, PhD serves as the 18th President of Gustavus. 

Following a postdoctoral fellowship in plant physiological ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Volin accepted a faculty position at Florida Atlantic University, where he rose to the rank of full professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and served as the director of the Environmental Sciences graduate program. Volin joined the University of Connecticut in 2007 to head the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, advancing to serve as Vice Provost of Academic Affairs. From 2020-2025, Volin served as the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Maine, where his portfolio included oversight of more than 1,000 faculty and staff and a budget of over $250 million. Volin is recognized as a national leader in using evidence-based practices to support holistic student wellbeing. He serves on the Executive Committee of the LearningWell Coalition and is a co-founder and senior advisor of LearningWell magazine.

Born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Volin holds a BS in botany and biology and an MS in agronomy from the South Dakota State University, and a PhD in forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Volin and his wife, Valeria, have five children and six grandchildren.

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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.

Paschal Baylon Kyiiripuo Kyoore is a professor of French, African/Caribbean Studies. He specializes in French literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Francophone Literatures of Africa and the Caribbean. He teaches a range of courses in French and in English. For courses taught in French, his "Francophone African/Caribbean Literatures & Cultures" course that he introduced many years ago marked the beginning of the French program shifting away from focusing on only France and French culture. Francophone cultures have since been the mainstream of courses offered by the French program, and this has made the program more attractive to students. Prof. Kyoore finds it pedagogically and professionally very enriching to teach about the cultures of francophone communities at all the levels of French courses. Also, he founded the African/African Diaspora Studies program, with the collaboration of colleagues, and also created a course in English.

Prof. Kyoore was the first Director of the African/African Diaspora Studies program. He has also served in other administrative positions such as being a co-chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures. One other service he renders to the institution is through his involvement with student organizations such as the Pan-Afrikan Student Organization (PASO). He is often invited to do an African xylophone performance at the annual Africa Night celebration organized by PASO; one of the student organizations event that attracts a large community crowd.

Besides journal articles and reviews, Prof. Kyoore has published three collections of folktales, two in English and one in French, and three critical works. He is currently working on a book on womanhood in Dagara folklore and culture. The Dagara are an ethnic group in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. He was a recipient of the Gustavus Faculty Scholarly Achievement award; an acknowledgement of his contributions to scholarship at the international level. Also, he was a finalist for a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and do research abroad. His research focuses mainly on gender issues, the historical novel, and African folklore.

Anna Hulseberg has more than 20 years of experience teaching Gustavus students information literacy, which the Association of College & Research Libraries defines as “the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning” (Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education). Anna’s teaching ranges from course-integrated library instruction sessions to individual and group research consultations. She works with students in a variety of disciplines over their time at Gustavus, from First Term Seminars to upper level courses in the majors. Anna’s work also includes building a library collection that reflects the range of liberal arts scholarship and supports student research within the College curriculum. Over the years, she has enjoyed helping Gustavus students work to attain their full potential, with a special emphasis on facilitating their dispositions as lifelong learners and ethical consumers and creators of information.

Anna’s areas of research include information literacy, librarians in mentoring and advising, and librarianship as a profession (with an emphasis on electronic resources management). Her research has been published in journals such as College & Undergraduate Libraries, the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, and College & Research Libraries News, and presented at venues including the American Library Association Annual Conference, Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference, and the Brick & Click Academic Library Conference. Anna is active in library science professional associations, having served on the boards of the Minnesota Library Association and its Academic and Research Libraries Division.

Anna’s involvement in the College has included service on a number of faculty committees, including the Faculty Personnel Committee, Faculty Development Committee (past chair), and Academic Operations Committee (past co-chair). She participates in collegial management of the Library and Archives department as co-Program Assessment Liaison (PAL) and on departmental committees. Anna works to celebrate Gustavus students’ achievements in the liberal arts as a past officer and active member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

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.  

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Yurie Hong is Professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies and affiliated faculty in the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies program. Her teaching and research explore how stories, myths, and social structures from ancient Greece can help us think more deeply about ourselves, our relationships, and the world we live in. She regularly teaches ancient Greek language at all levels, courses on ancient Greek myth, culture, and society, and courses connecting the ancient world to contemporary questions and experiences.

Hong’s research centers on women, gender, and representations of pregnancy and childbirth in ancient Greece—especially the ways ancient people understood reproduction, family relationships, and social roles. Her scholarship examines topics such as the maternal-fetal relationship in ancient medical texts, the use of pregnancy and birth as metaphors for creativity and critical thinking, and the experiences of citizen, immigrant, and enslaved mothers in classical Athens. She has also published and presented widely on inclusive pedagogy, teaching about sensitive subjects such as race and gender violence in antiquity, and the personal and political relevance of classical studies today.

More recently, her work has explored connections between ancient and modern experiences, including reflections on identity, family history, democracy, and civic life. For example, she has written about arranged marriage and the myth of Persephone through the lens of her Korean grandmother’s experience as well as about political structures and crises in both American and Athenian democracy.

Across her scholarship and teaching, Hong encourages students to ask difficult questions: How do narratives shape the ways people understand themselves and others? Which perspectives are included or excluded from the stories societies tell? What can ancient cultures reveal about contemporary communities and institutions? In her classes, students are encouraged to bring their own experiences and perspectives into conversation with the ancient world to cultivate intellectual curiosity, ethical reflection, personal growth, and a deeper sense of connection to their communities and the wider world.

Hong has received the Society for Classical Studies Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Classics at the College Level, the Gustavus Faculty Service Award for work on the Faculty Task Force to revise the academic program, and the Mankato YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for leadership and community engagement. 

Outside the classroom, Hong enjoys finding unexpected ways to connect popular culture and the ancient world. She is known for occasionally developing mini-obsessions with a film, television series, book, or Broadway musical—and then finding creative ways to bring those interests into her teaching.