Dr. J.D. Bowers came to the Honors College in August 2015. He is an award-winning teacher and mentor, with ten years of Honors teaching and administration, and nearly three decades of experience in secondary and higher education, who is passionate about making sure that honors students at MU succeed in their academic and co-curricular pursuits.

He holds a Ph.D. and MA in history from Indiana University and a BA in government from The College of William & Mary in Virginia, is a 2005 recipient of a Fulbright Teaching Award, the recipient of two awards for outstanding international teaching, and also received an award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

In addition to his role as director of MU’s Honors College, Dr. Bowers is a faculty affiliate in the Black Studies Department and holds an adjunct teaching position in the Harry S. Truman Graduate School of Public Affairs as well as affiliated faculty in the Kinder Institute on Constitutionalism and Democracy (KICD) .

He maintains an active scholarly career, leading study abroad programs, teaching courses, and conducting research. Over the past six years he has led a program of study, in partnership with The Hague University of Applied Sciences (Den Haag, Nederlands), in examining the dimensions of post-genocide justice and conflict resolution, has taught numerous Honors Tutorials, and teaches an undergraduate survey course on genocide.  He is currently working on a book manuscript exploring the last fifty years of the unresolved Cyprus conflict as well as several articles on the political and cultural dimensions of post-genocide justice, is participating in a COST Action (European Council on Science and Technology) project on genocide’s political and social dimensions, and is an invited expert for the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute for their Seminar on the International Criminal Court.

Prior to coming to MU he was the Associate Vice Provost for University Honors, taught Genocide Studies, and was also the director of the Genocide and Human Rights Institute, at Northern Illinois University.

Dr. Bowers enjoys living in Columbia with his wife, Dr. Kristy Wilson Bowers, a professor in History, and their two daughters, and is an active member of the Mizzou family!

Jenelle Beavers came to the Honors College in November 2016 after eight years as an attorney with the United States Department of Justice where she earned a special commendation for her work on behalf of U.S. taxpayers.  Before working at DOJ, she was a litigation associate at a large international law firm.  She is a MU alumna and credits her professional success to her undergraduate curricular and extracurricular experiences. She serves as the Associate Director for Missouri Scholars Academy, the statewide summer program for Missouri’s most high-achieving high school students of which she is also an alumna. She strongly believes in the power of student leaders to impact their local community and the larger world.

While at MU, she participated in the Honors College, and lived in the Honors Learning Community.  She was also very active in the FIGs program, took advantage of undergraduate research opportunities, and was a member of the Chancellor’s Leadership Class, LSV and the Mortar Board Honor Society, among many other student activities.

Originally from Kansas City, MO, she holds a B.A. in English from MU and a J.D. and M.P.H. from the University of Michigan.  At Michigan, she was an editor of the Michigan Law Review as well as a student advocate for the Pediatric Advocacy Medical-Legal Cooperative Clinic.

Jenelle is thrilled to be living in Columbia again with her family.

Megan Boyer originally from Jefferson City, Missouri received her Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary College in Leavenworth, Kansas and majored in English. She has been with the Honors College since 2005, first as an Advisor and now as Assistant Director.  Passionate about working with students, Megan earned her Master’s degree in College Student Personnel Administration from Central Missouri State University. After leaving CMSU, Megan worked as a Residence Hall Coordinator at Mizzou for two years. Megan’s two major hobbies are film photography and performing as a blues vocalist with the Megan Boyer Band. Megan advises students with last names A-L.

Kristina Bradley is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and attended MU, with a double major in Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies. As an undergraduate, Kristina was a student in the Honors College and actively involved on campus. After working in Undergraduate Admissions, she continued her education at MU, receiving a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in Career Psychology and Development. With a passion for student affairs, she has gained experience working in the MU Career Center, Residential Life, Graduate Student Services, and with high-achieving students in the MU Fellowships Office. Kristina is the newest member of the Honors College advising team, and advises general Honors students with last names M-Z.

Susan Geisert is originally from Kearney, Nebraska. She received her B.S. degree in Journalism—News Editorial and her M.S. degree in Mass Communications from Oklahoma State University. Susan worked as an Academic Advisor for the School of Journalism at OSU for 15 years before moving to Columbia. Susan now advises Pre-Health Professions students with last names M-Z.

Darcy Holtgrave completed a B.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University, an M.F.A. in Poetry from George Mason University, and a PhD in Folklore from the University of Missouri. Her research interests include health belief systems, narrative theory, and online communities; a portion of her dissertation research, an exploration of YouTube vlogs about bipolar disorder, appears in the edited volume Diagnosing Folklore: Perspectives on Disability, Health, and Trauma. In her spare time, Darcy enjoys taking classes at the Craft Studio and punching trees in Minecraft. She advises Pre-Health Professions students with last names A-L.

Born and raised in Columbia, Ava has been a lifelong Mizzou Tiger. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from MU and then went on to attend DePaul University in Chicago, graduating with a Master of Science degree in non-profit management. While in graduate school she held an internship at the Adler Planetarium in the Office of Advancement. From that role she gained experience in fundraising and was hired at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the stewardship and donor relations team. There she managed over 300 donor funded scholarships and helped to steward friends and alumni of IIT through events on campus.

In the summer of 2015, Ava returned home to Columbia. For the next two years she worked in the Office of Advancement at Mizzou on the talent management team, the group in charge of hiring and training the development staff at MU. In the summer of 2017, she came on board at the Honors College as the Scholars and Fellows Coordinator. In this role she is responsible for the leadership and development programming for undergraduate participants in thirteen research, artistry, and leadership programs through the Honors College.

A winner of the William T. Kemper Award, a Purple Chalk Award, and a WI Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching, Dr. Rachel Harper has taught at MU since 1996 and in the Honors College Humanities Series since 1998. She hopes no one does the math and figures out how old she really is. She also feels awkward writing about herself in the third person. [Forges ahead anyway] Dr. Harper is the current Director of MU’s Writing Center and the Coordinator of the Honors Humanities Series.

Originally from Champaign, Illinois, Dr. Harper holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of Missouri and a B.A. in English and Spanish from Illinois Wesleyan University. She teaches all four semesters of the Honors Humanities Series and regularly lectures on Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Melville’s Benito Cereno in the third semester of the series. She also teaches an honors writing intensive course every semester on “The Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing,” which all undergraduates must take before being considered for a position as a writing tutor.

Currently, she is working on a critical edition of Jean Kenyon Mackenzie’s 1928 novella The Trader’s Wife and various articles related to tutoring writing and teaching, including ones on applying acting theory to tutoring with Dr. Greg Foster and on the ending of Don Quixote that was inspired by her teaching in the Humanities Series.

When she’s not doing all of the above or serving on a million committees, she’s chasing her three small children. And drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Neima Shahdadi is originally from Jefferson City, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from MU in 2007 and joined the Honors College staff in November of 2015. Neima coordinates prospective student visits, processes applications, plans events, and works with Dr. Bowers on various tasks and projects. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two-year-old daughter, reading, cooking, watching films and television, running, and occasionally writing.

Emily Hannemann is a current freshman at MU and is majoring in Journalism. In the future she hopes to work in corporate communications or to write for a magazine. In her free time, Emily enjoys running, swimming, reading and writing articles.

Cole Young is currently a Sophomore majoring in Social Work and minoring in Leadership & Public Service and Women & Gender Studies. He is very involved in the LGBT community, where he is on staff at the LGBT Resource center, does OUTReach Panels and co-leads a club for Trans+ students on campus. Cole is a site leader for a MAB spring break trip.

Bailey Sampson hails from Springfield, Missouri. She is an Honors College student working toward a degree in journalism at MU. An avid lover of words, Bailey is excited for her journey as a Mizzou student while pursuing her many interests, including painting, graphic design, and writing.