Faculty
Outstanding Faculty
The Faculty at The Women's College is comprised of full-time faculty and adjunct instructors from the academic units at the University of Denver. Our faculty gets tremendous satisfaction from teaching at The Women's College. Instructors say that teaching here is one of the most fulfilling professional experiences in their careers.
Through their teaching, our faculty challenge students to explore and understand the topics in the context of their worlds, as well as the larger world to which we belong. Students from The Women's College easily engage and contribute to this process with their various perspectives, making for an extraordinarily rich teaching and learning environment.
Faculty Profiles
Over 75 faculty members from the University of Denver faculty community are selected each year to teach in the programs offered at The Women's College. Below are profiles of some of our faculty leaders.
Linda Cobb-Reiley Ph.D.
Law and Society
As Director of the Law and Society Program at The Women's College, Professor Cobb-Reiley coordinates the program's interdisciplinary curriculum with the University of Denver's Division of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. She also teaches law and society courses for The Women's College and is an Associate Professor in the University of Denver's Mass Communications & Journalism Studies Department where she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in media law and regulation, free expression issues and Internet law since 1984. Professor Cobb-Reiley's research interests include First Amendment history, and the impact of new technologies on the regulation of communication. She serves on a number of University committees and is a former President of the DU Faculty Senate.
Margo Espenlaub Ph.D.
Foundations, CORE, Gender and Women's Studies
Professor Espenlaub serves as Associate Director for Student Development. She directs and teaches in the Foundations for Academic and Professional Development course sequence, Thematic Core, and Gender and Women's Studies minor. Professor Espenlaub works with students and faculty on educational development across the curriculum, is Faculty Coordinator for the student Writers Club, and Editor of The Weekender, the college's semiannual publication. She is a member of the University's Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Board, Penrose Library Renovation Advisory Panel, and Faculty Senate. Professor Espenlaub earned The Women's College Faculty Spirit Award in 2000 and the Professor of the Year Award in 2006.
Elizabeth Henry Ph.D.
Mass Communication
Professor Henry is a lecturer professor in the University of Denver's Department of Mass Communication and has taught Mass Communication classes at The Women's College since 1997. Previously she taught in the University foundation and core classes. Professor Henry is especially interested in ecocriticism (environmental ethics and theory and nature writing). Professor Henry has taught courses at the University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, and Kirkwood Community College. Elected by Women's College students, Professor Henry was named Professor of the Year in 2000.
Warren Kuehner MS
Information Technology Studies (ITS)
As Director of the Information Technology Studies Program at The Women's College, Professor Kuehner works with a steering committee of DU faculty in Information Technology and an Industry Advisory Board to continually review and renew the curriculum. He has taught courses in ITS and its predecessor, Applies computing, at the Women's College since 1999. Prior to joining The Women's College, Professor Kuehner worked for USWest International, Hewlett-Packard, and was on the faculty of Metropolitan State College. He is the faculty advisor to the ITS student group, DU Women in Information Technology (DU-WIT).
Robert McGowan Ph.D.
Business and Management
Professor McGowan has been teaching Management and Business courses at The Women's College since 1985. He is a professor in the Department of Management at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. His area of focus is in corporate strategy, telecommunications and cable policy, and economic development. Elected by students, he was chosen as The Women's College Professor of the Year in 1994. He serves as the adviser to The Women's College Student Business Group.
Nantiya Ruan, JD, MSW
Law and Society
Professor Ruan is a Lecturer in the Law and Society Program where she teaches courses in Legal Literacy and Dimensions of Justice for The Women's College and assists with curriculum development and student advising for the program. Professor Ruan also teaches courses at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and supervises law student work in the College of Law's Civil Rights and Disability Law Clinic. Her legal experience includes representing plaintiffs in litigation of gender and race discrimination, disability access and other public interest claims as well as representing employees in individual and class action litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Professor Ruan received the Faculty Spirit Award at The Women's College in 2006.
Carol Zak Dance Ph.D.
Human Communication
Professor Zak-Dance is an Associate Professor in the University of Denver's School of Communication and has taught Communication courses at The Women's College since 1984. Elected by Women's College students, Carol received the Faculty Spirit Award in 1996, 1997, and 2004. She was recently honored with a 2004 Woman of Achievement Award from the Association of Women in Communication.
