FranU Welcomes New Faculty Members

FranU proudly welcomes new faculty members this fall, continuing our commitment to building a community of scholars that educate and form Franciscan servant leaders.

School of Nursing

Alicia Bates

Dr. Alicia Bates has been a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner since 2012. She earned both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2017, she received her PhD in Nursing Education and Administration from William Carey University. While Dr. Bates has nursing experience in cardiology, her true passion is diabetes. She is a Certified Diabetes Educator and continues to practice in an outpatient diabetes management clinic. She is a professional member of the American Diabetes Association, as well as the American Association of Diabetes Educators. In her spare time, Dr. Bates enjoys spending time with family and friends, decorating, traveling, and spinning. She is happy to join FranU as an assistant professor in the Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner Program and looks forward to her new journey into academia.

Callie Dorn

Dr. Callie Dorn received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Southeastern Louisiana University and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesia from Texas Christian University. Dr. Dorn is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and has practiced with Anesthesiology Group Associates since 2014. She joined FranU this summer as an assistant professor. She is a wife and mother of two boys, and native of Baton Rouge.

Leon Gallow

Dr. Leon Gallow received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McNeese State University, and later went on to receive his Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Northwestern State University. He completed a Doctorate in Nursing Practice in 2017 from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Gallow has been a nurse practitioner for the past 12 years, with the last 6 providing services to uninsured and under-insured patients in a federally qualified health center. In his spare time, Dr. Gallow enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, and traveling. Dr. Gallow is excited to join FranU as an assistant professor in the Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner Program and looks forward to serving and educating our future leaders.

Janice Hall

Janice W. Hall is a faculty member in the Undergraduate BSN program in the School of Nursing. Her expertise is in the field of Neuroscience Nursing and she teaches Fundamentals in Nursing Practice. She received her Master of Science in Nursing, specializing in Nursing Education, from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) endorsed by the American Association of Neuroscience Nursing (AANN). Ms. Hall is a member of the AANN and Epsilon Nu chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She is also a volunteer manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing (JNN).

School of Heath Professions

Michael Ludwig

Dr. Michael Ludwig holds a PhD in anatomy from Penn State University and is a classically trained anatomist. He completed a number of cadaveric dissections for the education of the medical students at Penn State University College of Medicine, and has published several peer reviewed publications and poster presentations. Dr. Ludwig teaches Structural and Functional Anatomy, as well as Neuroanatomy.

Kelly Rodriguez

Dr. Kelly Rodriguez specializes in the management of neurologic injuries and is a certified neurologic clinical specialist. She completed her graduate degree in physical therapy in 1999. Since that time she has extensively worked with traumatic brain injury, vascular accident, spinal cord injury, and vestibular disorder patient populations. She completed the Brown Fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and her post graduate DPT in December 2017. Dr. Rodriguez primarily teaches Neuroanatomy, Neurologic Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation with Prosthetics, and Physical Therapy Seminar.

School of Arts & Sciences

Shaun Blanchard

Dr. Shaun Blanchard joined FranU in August 2018 as Assistant Professor of Theology. A native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Shaun received his BA in Religious Studies and History from UNC in 2009. He then attended Oxford (Blackfriars) for a Masters in Theology (Modern Doctrine). After working in college ministry on the campus of the University of Wisconsin and then teaching at St. Thomas More Academy in Raleigh, NC, Shaun returned to Wisconsin for a PhD in Theology at Marquette University. He joined the faculty at FranU after defending his dissertation in 2018. Currently, Shaun teaches Church History and Introduction to Theology. His first book, on eighteenth-century Catholic reform movements that impacted the Second Vatican Council, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2019. The second book, co-edited with Ulrich Lehner, is an anthology of translated sources of the Catholic Enlightenment, due out in 2020.

Elaine Purdy

Dr. Elaine Purdy is Assistant Professor and Program Director, Master Health Administration at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. Prior to joining FranU, Dr. Purdy held various positions at Vanderbilt and Louisiana State University. She served as Director of Customer Relations and Quality Performance Improvement for Patient Access Services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and as Director of Recreation and faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology. Dr. Purdy’s educational background includes a bachelor’s and master in education from Northeast Louisiana State University, an MBA degree from Tulane and a doctorate in healthcare administration from Central Michigan University.