Senior Staff

Phil Nichols | Amy Nichols | Annette Reed | Benjamin Fleming | Juan Jimenez | Melissa Sanchez | Alison Lalond Wyant | Brian Wyant | Robert Leary | Steve McElwee

Phil Nichols - Faculty Master

Phil Nichols is a member of the faculty of the legal studies department. He teaches courses and does research on emerging economies; nations that are going through a great deal of change. The thing he enjoys most in life is his family, with Stouffer College House a close second; he also manages to travel a fair bit. He grew up on a farm in Oregon and lived in several other places before coming to Penn.

Amy Nichols - Associate Master

Amy Nichols grew up in McLean, Virginia and completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University and her M.B.A at Georgetown. She finished her Master’s in Education in 2005. When she isn’t busy working, she is usually busy driving the kids to and from school and other activities. Amy enjoys watching “futbol” talking with Stouffer Residents, movies, and tall professors from the Pacific Northwest.

Annette Reed - Faculty Fellow

Annette is a member of the Department of Religious Studies. She teaches courses on the history of Judaism and Christianity, and writes on topics related to ancient religious identities as well as angels, demons, and otherworldly realms. She has lived in a number of cities in the US and Canada, including Ann Arbor, Tuscaloosa, Boston, Montreal, Princeton, and Toronto, as well as in Nagasaki and Tokyo in Japan. She and her husband, Benjy, have fun wrangling their rambunctious toddler, KunKun, as well as their two cats. Their apartment is filled with toys, books, and art.

Benjamin Fleming - Associate Fellow

Benjamin Fleming grew up in the prairies in Saskatchewan, Canada. He holds degrees in Art and Religious Studies, and does research on medieval Indian religions, economies, and pilgrimage. He is currently working on Penn's Sanskrit manuscript collection. In his spare time he plays the cello and sketches things around campus. He loves to cook for Annette and Kunkun, and is especially fond of organic food. His highest praise comes when Kunkun eats the food rather than throws it at him. He loves to travel to different parts of the world.

Juan Jimenez - Faculty Fellow

Juan grew up in the tropical island of Puerto Rico, a place that many consider the USA’s most southern point. In order to experience the diametric climatic opposite of the tropics, Juan attended Michigan State University (MSU) in the frigid Midwest USA and earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating from MSU, Juan enrolled at Princeton University in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and earned an M.S. and a Ph. D. His thesis and dissertation research focused on the characterization of the wake of submarines at high Reynolds numbers. Parts of his undergraduate and graduate careers were pursued at Taganrog State University in Russia and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He is presently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Medicine and Engineering at UPenn studying how the characteristics of blood flow in the cardiovascular system can lead to the development of atherosclerosis. Juan enjoys combining photography with traveling to exotic corners of our planet due to his love of the outdoors. Some of his recent travels have taken him to climb the ‘Roof of Africa’ – Mt. Kilimanjaro and Colorado’s most famous peak – Pikes Peak, and hiking the Inca trail to reach the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

Melissa Sanchez - Associate Fellow

Melissa was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where most of her family still lives. She earned a B.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University and decided to pursue a career in veterinary medicine and research. Subsequently, she moved to Philadelphia where she earned a Veterinary Medicine Doctorate (VMD) and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from UPenn. Her thesis research focused on the immune response after infection with West Nile virus in animals. She is currently an Anatomic Pathology resident at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UPenn. She loves animals, the outdoors, the beach, and warm weather, as well as traveling around the world with Juan, her husband. Some of her traveling goals include visiting the Middle East and all the National Parks in the US. She also loves to chat so stop by anytime you need a break!

Alison Lalond Wyant - House Dean

If you’re looking for Alison, stop by her office, Stouffer 142D. You’ll also run into her all over campus and the surrounding neighborhoods, often with her daughter Maeve in tow. As House Dean, Alison supervises the Stouffer Graduate Associates, advises the Stouffer Steering Committee, and manages Stouffer’s budget. Alison also serves as an academic advisor for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, a resource for students still finding their way around Penn, a listener when students could use a sounding board, someone to intervene and offer support when students are facing particularly difficult challenges, and a cheer-leader as students strive toward goals. Alison was an Associate Director at Penn’s Civic House for 3 years before joining Stouffer, and spent time before that working in non-profits, so she frequently connects students to opportunities to engage with the communities of West Philadelphia. In addition to House Deaning, Alison is currently in the dissertation-writing phase of earning a doctorate in Higher Education at Penn's Graduate School of Education, and will finish by the end of 2012. Alison commits her academic energies to questions of the service mission of universities. She's specifically interested in how college campuses influence students' social consciousness and how institutions of higher education work in partnership with their surrounding communities. She enjoys trips to Clark Park, conversations about upcoming elections, Habitat for Humanity builds, happy-ending romantic comedies, and Stouffer’s traditions, especially The Semi-formal and Thanksgiving Dinner.

Brian Wyant - Associate Fellow

Brian grew up in Bethesda, MD outside of D.C. Although currently living right here in Mayer 101 with Alison, his sports allegiance remains in Maryland with teams including the Maryland Terrapins, Baltimore Ravens, and the Green Terror at his alma mater, McDaniel College. When he's not busy consuming sports-related media or playing basketball, Brian is teaching and researching as a faculty member in La Salle University’s Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice.  He and Alison enjoy the city's Irish pubs, free newspapers, cultural festivals, and the habit of adding 'adelphia' to words associated with Philly.  You’re likely to see Brian in 1920 Commons or strolling around campus with Maeve, as well as around the House.

Robert Leary - House Coordinator

Although most of Robert’s stuff can be found in Philadelphia and San Diego, his heart is in Ohio, where he finished his undergraduate studies at Ohio University in 2010. At OU, he studied Classics, giving him an even deeper appreciation for Stouffer’s Latin motto and forcing him to be the resident Greek mythology expert among his friends - especially when the ‘Clash of the Titans’ movie remake came out. Robert loved college so much that he pursued his Master’s in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating (again) in 2011. Robert enjoys eating and Philadelphia very much, often combining the two into gustatory escapades across the city. He can be found in 142D, so feel free to stop by and chat about that or anything else.

Steve McElwee - Information Center Specialist

Steve is Stouffers College House's Information Center Specialist. Steve and his team serve as the place to go if you need answers about living at Penn. He looks forward to the new year and getting to know all the new faces. If you need anything let him know, he’ll be happy to help.