Jim Dahlman

Multimedia Journalism

Dahlman holds a master of fine arts degree in creative nonfiction from Goucher College, a master of arts degree in English with an editing and publishing emphasis from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor of arts degree in Bible and humanities from Milligan College (1980). He has also studied at Emmanuel Christian Seminary, Springdale College in Birmingham, England, and the London School of Journalism. Dahlman teaches courses in journalism, mass media, and writing and serves as the faculty adviser for the Stampede, Milligan’s student-run news outlet.

Dahlman is a regular contributor to Christian Standard magazine, and for almost seven years he wrote a weekly column on religion, “Face to Faith,” for the Johnson City (Tennessee) Press. His freelance articles have appeared in several American and British publications, including The Guardian (UK), the Cincinnati Enquirer, Leadership, and other publications. Prior to teaching at Milligan, Dahlman served as editor-at-large with Focus on the Family Periodicals (1998-99), founding editor of Pastor’s Family magazine (1996-98), and editor of The Lookout (1990-96).  He has attended sessions at the Salzburg (Austira) Global seminars and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a member of the Association for Educaiton in Journalism and Mass Communications, College Media  Advisers, and the Appalachian Studies Association.

An ordained minister in the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Dahlman served with congregations in England, Tennessee, and Ohion and is now an elder at Hopwood Memorial Christian Church. Dahlman is the father of two grown daughters and enjoys travel, hiking, soccer, and running. In 2013 he hiked the route of Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road from east Tennessee to central Kentucky and is working on a book about the trip.

Bruce Montgomery

Interpersonal and Public Communication

Montgomery has a doctorate degree in interpersonal and public communication from Bowling Green State University, along with a master of divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. He has taught in the Communications area at Milligan for 20 years. Bruce was in the pastoral ministry for 27 years before he joined the Milligan faculty.

Montgomery’s passion for the church has continued throughout his life. He helped found a ministry to help church leaders, Higher Ministries, and his research interests continue to involve congregational communication. He has a strong interest in storytelling, and tells stories professionally as a performing member of the Jonesborough Storyteller’s Guild. He now serves part time as an Associate Minister at Colonial Heights Christian Church in Kingsport.

Bruce and his wife Carol have been mentoring students as a team for several years. They have been married 48 years as of June 9, and are proud parents of three children, and 9 grandchildren.

Kenny Suit

Cinema

Suit holds a bachelor of arts degree from Baylor University (1987) and a master of fine arts degree from Ohio University (1990).  Before coming to Milligan, Professor Suit taught cinema at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.  His wife, Natalia, is from Poland and has a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Together they have three school-age children: Aniela, Alicya, and Karsten.  He and his family are active members of Hopwood Memorial Christian Church.  Suit is also a fellow of the Burgon Society, a British organization founded to promote the study of academic dress.

Nancy Williams

Public Relations

Nick Blosser

Visual Art

Blosser holds a bachelor of fine arts degree (1980) and a master of fine arts degree (1982) from Ohio State University. He teaches art studio and art history courses at Milligan and also oversees most of the activities associated with the Milligan College art gallery. Prior to joining the Milligan’s faculty, Blosser taught at Mount Vernon Nazarene College and later lived and worked as an artist in Washington state from 1988 to 1991. He is currently affiliated with PDX Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon and has also been affiliated with the Adam Baumgold Gallery in New York City. His work is in numerous private collections in the United States and in the Portland Art Museum. Blosser has also received several fellowships including two individual artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1985 and 1991, the second of which was for $20,000. He spent a year at the American Academy in Rome, Italy from 1984-1985 while on a Prix de Rome Fellowship.

In addition to working as an artist and teaching at Milligan College, Blosser also enjoys playing and writing his own music. He and his wife Mindy have two older children, Greta and Peter.

Richard Major

Theatre

Major holds a bachelor of arts degree in speech and theatre from Milligan College and a master of fine arts degree in acting from Michigan State University. Prior to teaching at Milligan, Major served on the faculty of The University of Mississippi. He has served on numerous committees for Milligan and was the Chair of the Area of Performing, Visual, and Communicative Arts for a dozen years. He is active in the community having served two stints on the board of directors of the Johnson City Area Arts Council and the Committee Chair for Children’s Theatre on the Board of the Tennessee Theatre Association. He is credited with founding the educational wing of Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia and served for many seasons as its Director. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Milligan College Theatre for Young Audiences. The company has performed scores of original productions throughout the southeastern United States and to date has performed for nearly 200,000 young students in the region.

He is a long-standing member of Actors’ Equity Association, the professional stage actor’s union, and has a distinguished career as both an actor and director. On three occasions Major’s directorial work has been honored by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for excellence. He is the author of Developing A Dynamic Drama Ministry and has been a featured writer for Southern Theatre, the artistic journal of the Southeastern Theatre Conference. He is a member of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education and has been a frequent presenter at their national/international conferences.

In his spare time he is an avid reader and gardener. He also enjoys going to the great art museums in the United States and loves to travel. He has been a deacon of the Hopwood Memorial Christian Church for many years. He has two children, Will and Shannon Major. He resides in Johnson City with his wife of thirty-five years, Karen Brewster.

Art Brown

Graphic Design

Art Brown is an award-winning graphic designer with over 20 years of experience in corporate and academic settings. As an art director and creative director, he created work for Fortune 500 companies and numerous national and regional companies and organizations. Brown has also served as creative services coordinator for Milligan College. His accomplishments include more than 40 American Advertising Awards and having a logo design published as part of LogoLounge 6: 2,000 International Identities by Leading Designers by Rockport Publishers in 2011. Brown holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art with an emphasis in graphic design from East Tennessee State University and has served on the communications faculty of Milligan College since 2010. In addition, Brown has been instrumental in the design and implementation of the graphic design major and minor at the college.

Brown is also an accomplished artist. His works have been exhibited in numerous juried exhibits nationally and internationally, including two “New Impressions” exhibits at Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Linus Galleries in Los Angeles; the FL3TCH3R Exhibit at Reece Museum in Johnson City, Tennessee; Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley, Minnesota; the International Pavilion Gallery at Ulsan University in South Korea; New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale, Australia; and Design College Australia in Brisbane.

Kellie Brown

Orchestra

Dr. Kellie Dubel Brown has been a member of the Milligan College music faculty since 1998 and serves as chair of the music department, director of the strings program, and conductor of the Milligan College Orchestra. Dr. Brown is a frequent clinician and performer throughout the country and serves as the assistant conductor and assistant concertmaster of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist Dr. Brown has performed several world premieres including An Encounter for Violin and Piano by Jane Perry. She also has conducted numerous world premieres including Three Genres by John Grubb and Genesis by internationally renowned composer Kenton Coe. Her passion for and expertise in musical theater has made her in demand throughout the region as violinist, conductor and music director. She has performed in pit orchestras for numerous shows and operas at the Barter Theatre and other regional venues including Oklahoma!; Cabaret; Chicago; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tender Land; La Bohème; Carmen; Susannah; Amahl and the Night Visitors; The King and I; The Spitfire Grill; Next to Normal; Les Misérables, and Anne of Green Gables. Her musical theater and opera conducting credits include Oklahoma!; Little Women; Secret Garden; Cinderella; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Music Man; Hansel & Gretel; Bye Bye Birdie; Beauty and the Beast; Godspell; Thoroughly Modern Millie; and Annie Get Your Gun.

In addition, she has written numerous compositions, arrangements, and articles and is a recognized authority on music in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. She has presented her lecture “Alma Rosé and the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz: Lessons on Tolerance and the Triumph of the Human Spirit” throughout the United States. As an author, she has written numerous articles published in journals such as the American String Teacher, Music Educators Journal, Contributions to Music Education, and the Tennessee Musician. Her first book, An Annotated Bibliography of Musical Fiction, was published in 2005 by Edwin Mellen Press. She is also a contributor to the book Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra, Vol. 2, published by GIA.

Dr. Brown studied at Furman University, East Tennessee State University, and Appalachian State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in music education, a master’s degree in violin performance, and a doctoral Degree in higher education administration, with an emphasis in music administration.

Noah DeLong

Vocals

Dr. Noah DeLong is a versatile musician who has found success as a conductor, educator, tenor soloist, collaborative pianist, and church musician. He joined the music faculty of Milligan College in 2011, where he conducts the Concert Choir, an auditioned choir of 36 singers that regularly tours the U.S. and performs with regional orchestras, and Heritage, a select a cappella ensemble. He also teaches conducting, applied voice, music theory, aural skills, and secondary music methods, and is the faculty sponsor for Milligan’s collegiate NAfME chapter. In addition, he has performed with the Tennessee Chamber Chorus, a professional ensemble based in southeast TN, since June 2014 and was named interim artistic director in September 2015.

DeLong studied choral conducting at The University of Iowa under Dr. Timothy Stalter, and completed his D.M.A. degree in December 2015. His research focuses on the choral music of the Italian-American composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He also holds a B.A. in music and mathematics from Taylor University and a M.M. in choral conducting and vocal performance from Ball State University.

Recent conducting credits include The Testament of Freedom (Thompson), Messiah (Handel), and the U.S. premiere performance of Stabat Mater (Cecilia McDowall) with the Milligan Concert Choir, Milligan Orchestra and Festival Chorus. He has also conducted many festivals throughout the area and co-founded the Men in Song and Women in Song Festivals, held annually on Milligan’s campus.

In addition, DeLong’s performance credits include leading operatic roles of Tamino in The Magic Flute and Alfred in Die Fledermaus, as well as tenor soloist in performances of Handel’s Foundling Hospital Anthem and Messiah, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat in D Major and Coffee Cantata, Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.

DeLong is a member of ACDA and NAfME and serves on the advisory board for the Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy. Previously, he served as the Assistant Choral Director at Earlham College and Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church (P.C.A.) in Muncie, Indiana.

Anne Elliott

Piano

Elliott holds a bachelor of arts degree in piano performance from Coastal Carolina College (1975), a master’s of church music in piano/accompanying (1982) from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a piano pedagogy certificate (2005) from East Tennessee State University. She was the recipient of the Honors Award Certificate in Piano and Accompanying from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1982 and Teacher of the Year award from the Appalachian Music Teachers Association in 2008. Elliott joined the Milligan music faculty in 1999 and serves as keyboard specialist teaching piano, accompanying, piano pedagogy and piano as secondary. She is also the founder and director of the Milligan Women’s Chorale.

In addition to teaching piano on the collegiate level, Elliott has maintained a private piano studio in several states. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and Music Teachers National Association. Over the years of active membership in the local chapter of Appalachian Music Teachers Association she has served in several offices of the executive committee.

Elliott is founder and director of Highest Praise vocal ensemble of Central Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee where she is also the Chancel Choir accompanist and the church pianist. Her husband, Gene, is the Executive Pastor at Central Baptist. They enjoy traveling in the states and abroad.