Seven Hood Faculty Members Awarded Promotion and Tenure

Seven Hood College faculty members have been awarded promotion and/or tenure by the Board of Trustees. Faculty selected to receive promotion and/or tenure have demonstrated their ability to be excellent teachers and have shown their commitment to the mission of Hood College through scholarship and service.

Approved for promotion and tenure:

• Aaron Angello, Ph.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of English
• Yulu “Cherry” Liu, Ph.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of biology
• Kimberly Morse-Jones, Ph.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of art history
• Nisha Manikoth, Ed.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of organizational leadership
• Jacob Muldowney tenure and promotion to associate professor of studio arts
• Evelyn Nieves, Ph.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of nursing
• Brooke Witherow, Ph.D., tenure and promotion to associate professor of communication arts

Aaron Angello, Ph.D. 

Angello is an interdisciplinary scholar, teacher, and artist whose teaching is met with high student engagement and incorporates ‘ungrading’ practices to support student learning. He demonstrates exceptional creative scholarship with national recognition, innovative and highly engaging teaching, strong departmental leadership and unanimous departmental support.

Angello’s work includes plays that have been performed by various theatre groups, multiple poetry publications, and the founding of two theatre companies. During his time at Hood, he assumed the role of Program Director of the Creative Writing MFA program and played a key role in revitalizing the Hood College Theatre (HCT) program.

Yulu “Cherry” Liu, Ph.D.

Lui joined Hood’s biology department after completing postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical school. She often tailors instruction to different student populations, using active-learning strategies, problem-based labs, and hands-on exercises. Her collaborative teaching with colleagues has led to improved course design and student engagement. Her scholarship is characterized by a successful, student-centered research program in cell and molecular biology.

Internally, she has served on multiple committees and has consistently volunteered for recruitment, orientation, and advising activities at Hood. Externally, she has helped build strong partnerships with other nearby colleges and universities, and local biotech organizations.

Kimberly Morse-Jones, Ph.D.

Morse-Jones’s teaching is generous and student-centered, fostering critical thinking, original analysis and deep engagement with visual culture. She teaches across undergraduate and graduate levels, has developed multiple new courses and encourages learning outside the classroom through study trips, including a co-led 2026 winter term trip to Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Prior to joining Hood’s community, Morse-Jones had already published a single-authored book, a co-edited volume, and multiple peer-reviewed articles. Her work integrates teaching and research, involving students directly and preparing them for graduate study. Within the department, she has been instrumental in curriculum revision, program development and the proposal of a new museum studies minor.

Nisha Manikoth, Ed.D. 

Manikoth is an exceptional and student-centered educator who has a deep commitment to mentoring graduate students, and who fosters critical thinking, research skill development, and civic engagement. She maintains a clear, active, and respected research agenda focused on organization learning, leadership, belonging, sustainability and equity. Prior to joining Hood, she ran her own consulting business.

Her scholarship includes peer-reviewed journal publications, conference presentations, invited contributions, and co-editing a special issue of Human Resource Development International. Beyond the college, she is highly engaged in the Frederick community through Leadership Frederick County, where she developed and leads a long-standing leadership curriculum.

Jacob Muldowney

Muldowney has extensive experience teaching studio art across multiple institutions and diverse student populations, fostering artistic growth even in demanding courses. His pedagogy emphasizes individualized instruction, clear objectives, rigorous standards and sustained one-on-one mentorship.

His work has appeared in more than sixty national and international exhibitions, including highly competitive juried shows, solo exhibitions and institutional collections. He has received multiple state and national awards, served as a juror and curator for exhibitions and delivered public lectures. His active professional practice directly benefits students, who learn from his example as a working artist and encounter his creative process.

Evelyn Nieves, Ph.D. 

Nieves has made significant contributions to the nursing program such as redesigning key courses, piloting a new Adult Health III course and developing curriculum change to improve student success by distributing heavy content across multiple courses. Since joining Hood, she has converted her dissertation into multiple manuscripts, completed a Watson Caring Science leadership program and presented at conferences.

She has taught the first online MSN core course, currently serves as the course coordinator for Adult Health courses, reintroduced ATI assessment systems to strengthen licensure preparation and received state-level teaching recognition awards. Nieves’ research focuses on Caring Science, Hope Theory, palliative care, and heart failure.

Brooke Witherow, Ph.D.

Witherow’s classes are well-organized, interactive, and focus on real-world issues, preparing students for careers in public relations, crisis communication and digital marketing. She has had a transformative effect on the Communication Arts program by expanding the Public Relations concentration, serving as the main organizer of high school media day and leading the CMA and IMC academic program reviews.

As a published author in the area of crisis communication, Witherow has engaged undergraduate students in her research. Her level of service as a pre-tenure faculty member has been exceptional including service on the Academic Judicial Council and High-Impact Practice taskforce as well as chairing the Academic Standards and Policy Committee.

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