Brian Acord

MBA, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

PEP Course(s) Taught: MGT 2750-Launch Your Business

Brian Acord is an adjunct professor for The Mill Entrepreneurship Center and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Salt Lake Community College, as well as the program manager for the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers Program. He also is an advisor/mentor and Program Services Coordinator for refugee/minority business owners via the Salt Lake Center of Opportunity Partnership (Co-Op). In his free time, Brian coaches for USA Lacrosse and USA Hockey, runs a podcast ( www.StrangersYouKnowPodcast.com), serves on the board of directors for Common Thread ( www.commonthreadut.com) and is actively involved in the nonprofit Nomad Alliance ( www.NomadAlliance.org).

Christopher Bradbury

PhD, Geology, University of Utah
MS, Geology, University of Utah

PEP Course(s) Taught: GEOG 1000-Physical Geography, GEOG-1300-World Regional Geography, GEOG 1700-Natural Disasters

Christopher Bradbury is the Coordinator for Salt Lake Community College's Prison Education Program, member of the Utah Reintegration Program steering committee, and teaches physical science courses in the Utah State Correctional Facility. He also is adjunct faculty at both Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College. His research interests include, but are not limited to, investigating how climate change during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition impacted human populations in Utah at that time, as well as investigating the regressive phase of Lake Bonneville. He has published in numerous top-tier scholarly journals, including American Antiquity, Chemical Geology, PLOS ONE, Quaternary Research, and Utah Archaeology. Helping people to succeed in their academic and personal goals is his passion.

Rod Buhler

MS, Information Security and Assurance, Western Governor's University

PEP Course(s) Taught: CSIS 1020-Computer Essentials, CSIS 2010-Business Computer Proficiency

Rod Buhler is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Information Systems at Salt Lake Community College. Over the last 50 years, he has gained extensive experience in the computer industry and has witnessed the evolution of technology firsthand. However, what truly excites him is teaching. He is a dedicated and experienced teacher who has invested a significant amount of time in educating others about technology and its applications. Rod takes immense pleasure in sharing his knowledge and expertise with others and is proud to have helped inspire and shape the minds of many students over the years.

John Perry Christensen

PhD (ABD), History, University of Utah

PEP Course(s) Taught: HIST 1700-American Civilization, HIST 1510-World History since 1500, HIST 2700 – US History to 1877, HIST 2710 – US History Since 1877

John Perry Christensen teaches history at Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College, and Utah County Academy of Sciences. His students in SLCC's Prison Education Program refer to him as "Professor C" (though, as he is a dissertation away from completing his Ph.D. in history at the University of Utah, they may be referring to him as "Doctor C" in the next year or so.) His dissertation—tentatively titled "Raising Workers: Work, Class, and American Psychiatry, 1912-1972"—explores how psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric social workers conceptualized work's relationship with mental health and hygiene during the twentieth century. His academic areas of interest include—but are not limited to—American labor history, the social history of medicine, addiction, and the War on Drugs. He believes in using the study of the past as a medium through which to do social work.

Ann Davis

BS, Zoology, Brigham Young University
MS, Applied Mathematics, California State University Northridge
EdD, Educational Leadership, University of California at Los Angeles

PEP Course(s) Taught: MATH 1050 College Algebra, MATH 1040 Intro to Statistics, MATH 1035 Quantitative Reasoning

Ann Davis is an adjunct mathematics professor at Salt Lake Community College. She began her teaching career at SLCC in the early 90s with only her BS. When she moved to Southern California and tried to teach adjunct there, she quickly learned that she needed an MS in math to do so. So, she went back to school at the local community college and audited math courses until she ran out. Transferring to CSUN allowed her to complete her MS and get hired at Pasadena City College as a full-time professor. She spent 20+ happy years in this career. Upon retiring and returning to Utah, she found she missed teaching too much and came back to SLCC, where her journey began. She loves the symmetry of coming full circle. When asked what she does for a living, she will say, “I am saving the world one math student at a time.” Her teaching philosophy is that she is not teaching her students math. Rather, she is teaching her students that they can learn math. Once they learn this, there is no holding them back! As Plutarch once said, the mind is not a vessel to be filled. It is a fire to be ignited. Ann has taught many, many different students from all walks of life. She finds the PEP students to be the most delightful and motivated students to work with in her career.

Rachel Francom

PhD, Educational Psychology, University of Utah

PEP Course(s) Taught: MATH 1040-Introduction to Statistics

Rachel Francom is an Assistant Professor at Utah Valley University. Dr. Francom conducts research into how to teach and learn new concepts, especially in the subjects of math and science. She also researches how psychosocial variables affect learning and the ideological foundations that underpin modern educational systems. She teaches math courses for the SLCC PEP.

David Hubert

PhD, Political Science, University of Connecticut.

PEP Course(s) Taught: POLS 1100—Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics

David Hubert is the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement and Professor of Political Science at Salt Lake Community College. He serves as a faculty for institutes conducted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and is the author of Attenuated Democracy: A Critical Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics .

Darin Jensen

PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

PEP Course(s) Taught: ENGL 1010-Introduction to Writing, ENGL 2010-Intermediate Writing, ENGL 1100-Diversity in Popular US Literature

Darin Jensen is a first-generation college graduate who is deeply invested in the democratic mission of the community college. He teaches reading and writing in a variety of contexts and is the editor of Teaching English in the Two-Year College , a national peer-reviewed journal dedicated to literacy studies in the two-year college.

James Martin

EdD, Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Utah
MFA, Theatre Arts, University of Idaho at Moscow

PEP Course Taught: Introduction to Theatre

James Martin is a retired public school educator where he taught grades K, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, served as an assistant principal and principal, supervised principals, and supported school improvement at the Utah State Board of Education. James has been the Executive Director and Artistic Director of Wasatch Theatre Company, a resident theatre at the Regent Street Black Box at the Eccles in downtown Salt Lake, since 1997. James is thrilled to be working with Salt Lake Community College and the Prison Education Program. James has a 22 year-old son, an 88 year-old father who lives with him, three dogs and 2 cats. James loves to read and do theatre!

Carrie Rogers-Whitehead

MLIS, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

MPA, University of Texas-Arlington

PEP Course(s) Taught: BUS 1050-Fundamentals of Business, BUS 2200-Business Communications

Carrie Rogers-Whitehead has been an adjunct instructor at Salt Lake Community College since 2015. She founded Digital Respons-Ability in 2016, a mission-based company that teaches tens of thousands of K-12 students, parents, and educators around the world digital citizenship. Her company has been the Utah state provider of internet safety education since 2019 and they recently won a 2022 Tech & Learning award for their teacher certification program. Carrie is an award-winning author of 7 books, most recently Deepening Digital Citizenship: A Guide to Systemwide Policy and Practice with the International Society for Technology in Education. She is a Utah Business 40 under 40 award winner and enjoys helping SLCC students know more about business and entrepreneurship. 

Diane Walker

PhD, Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah

Teaching BIO1010

Diane Walker is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Biology Department at Salt Lake Community College. She spent her 30-year career in various roles in academia, biotechnology, medical textbook publishing and as a contractor for the US government. She has conducted research in basic and applied science, specializing in neurobiology, genetics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biomathematics and machine learning. She is keenly interested in teaching and sharing the joy of learning hard things with her students. Dr. Walker aims to emphasize relevant and relatable scientific topics and foster critical thinking and communication skills in the classes she teaches.

Sherri Wittwer

MPA, University of Utah

PEP Course(s) Taught: POLS 1100-Introduction to US Government and Politics, POLS 2100-Introduction to International Politics

Sherri Wittwer's work includes mental health and housing policy and advocacy work in the non-profit, government, and corporate arenas. This includes providing support, education and advocacy for individuals affected by mental illness and their families, as well as systemic work through the development of policy, programs, and evidence-based services. She loves teaching at the prison because of the intelligent, engaged, and thoughtful students there.