New Faculty 2018-19

It’s always a bit sad when a beloved professor moves on to another experience or retires, but the good news is the opening left behind in the department means a chance to meet a new beloved professor. Five new faculty have joined the ranks at PUC this year: Julianna Boydston (nursing), Tara Hargrove (communication), Kiwon Kwak (exercise science), Willy Logan (history), and Sandra Ringer (nursing). 

Name: Julianna Boydston

Title: Assistant Professor of Nursing

Education: BSN and MSN from University of San Francisco

Professor Boydston is a Napa Valley native, accustomed to the beautiful scenery surrounding PUC. After welcoming their first child into their lives, Boydston says she had been looking for a career closer to home. 

“I decided the time was now to begin a career in academia,” she says. “I have always loved education and teaching in the hospital setting; I am now excited to have the opportunity to educate our newest generation of nurses.”

Prior to coming to PUC, Boydston was a registered nurse at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, working as a bedside nurse in the pediatric cardiac ICU taking care of critically ill infants, children, and adults with congenital heart defects. 

“Nursing is not only a profession, but a calling for most,” says Boydston, “and I am pleased I will be able to work with students who share that calling.”

Name: Tara Hargrove

Title: Associate Professor of Communication & Basic Course Director

Education: MA in communication studies, Colorado State University

Professor Hargrove grew up in Colorado, which fostered a love of mountains persisting to this day. This fact, along with a draw she’s always felt to the beach, made PUC’s location ideal for Hargrove and her family. 

“Mostly, though,” she admits, “I prayed and prayed for God’s leading, and He brought me here.”

Skydiving is actually responsible for getting Hargrove interested in teaching; when she chose not to attend college out of fear of her public speaking class, a friend took her skydiving.

“My friend reminded me there are a lot of things in life we fear at first but if we push ourselves it can be fun and rewarding,” she recalls. “I loved the feeling of overcoming my fear, so I took public speaking and found it was actually exciting to get up and share my opinions and ideas and people actually listened. Now I love helping others overcome their fears, and watching them face something challenging and succeed.”

Her most recent job was teaching courses for Southern Adventist University, also serving as their basic course director and executive director for the student-run live comedy sketch program, Studio 4109.

Name: Kiwon Kwak

Title: Instructor of Exercise Science

Education: B.S. in exercise science, Pacific Union College; M.S. in kinesiology—exercise science, California Baptist University

He may have been born in Seoul, South Korea, but PUC is not a new place to Professor Kwak; he attended college here, and recalls his professors joking with him on graduation day that they might see him back on campus someday. Their sense of humor was more foretelling than expected.

“After I graduated from PUC, I went straight into personal training and coaching, and really enjoyed educating and teaching people about fitness and health, but got frustrated with the business side of training,” he admits. “I still continue to train individuals in my free time, but my true passion lies in teaching future generations about strength and conditioning, exercise physiology, and health/fitness.”

Kwak is excited to note not much has changed since his student years; he enjoyed his time at PUC so much he is happy to find the welcoming atmosphere and friendly people exactly as he remembered.

For the past three years Kwak has been living in Loma Linda, running his own personal training/strength and conditioning business while attending grad school full time. 

Name: William “Willy” Logan

Title: Assistant Professor of History

Education: B.S. in engineering (concentration in mechanical engineering), Walla Walla University; Ph.D. in history of technology from Auburn University 

“As should be obvious from my mismatched degrees, I didn’t always intend to become a historian,” Logan points out. “I had always loved history, but I wanted to be an engineer and work for NASA or an aerospace firm, and then maybe someday down the road make the transition to writing books about history. It was late in my college career that it occurred to me that I would be happier if I skipped the middle step and went straight to grad school to study for a Ph.D. in history.”

Though he heard about PUC his entire life (his mom and several uncles are PUC alumni), Dr. Logan somehow never knew that the college was on a hill. His post-twilight arrival to the campus for his interview had him wondering if he’d missed a turn somewhere, as the road continued to climb. Fortunately, it wasn’t a game-changer, and Logan decided to stay.

“I wanted to serve a diverse, inclusive student population and be able to more fully integrate faith and teaching than I could at a secular institution,” he says.

Before deciding to come to PUC, Logan was teaching courses at Walla Walla University in history, technology, and engineering, as well as serving as a freshman mentor and substitute teaching for the local public school. Prior, Logan worked for three years in a study abroad program in Jaipur, in western India, where he learned Hindi.

Name: Sandra Ringer

Title: Assistant Professor of Nursing

Education: A.S. in nursing, Southern Adventist University; B.S. in nursing, Grand Canyon State University; M.S. in nursing with emphasis in leadership in health care, Grand Canyon University

At the age of 10, Sandra Ringer found an old book on her family bookshelves called “Whispering Halls,” about a nurse and her journey at Washington Adventist Hospital in the 1940s.

“There was something in this book that lit a spark regarding the nursing profession,” she says, “and I knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be a nurse.”

Until recently, Professor Ringer and her husband, David, lived in Alberta, Canada, where he was the administrative residence hall dean at Burman University. The licensing and visa laws for out-of-country schooled nurses were complicated, so she worked in the IT department at the university while going to school full time. 

When it became evident that becoming a licensed nurse there was not going to happen for a long time, the Ringers began to pray for God’s leading. He led them right to PUC. They are pleased to be much closer to their son, and Professor Ringer is happy to be practicing nursing again.