The Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division offers excellent programs of study for students planning to enter professional careers in science, mathematics, medicine, engineering, teaching, or simply rounding out a good liberal arts education. Students desiring to seek advanced degrees in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, etc. are encouraged to consider the opportunities available through the Caney Cottage Scholarship Program. This competitive scholarship is available to qualifying students who are accepted into graduate or professional schools. Download the Caney Cottage Brochure here (pdf). Also, take a look at our Science and Math Brochure (pdf), which introduces you to some of our standout students and relates their experiences at ALC.
Degrees Offered
The major in Biology provides students an excellent background in the biological sciences. The scope of the program and the variety of course offerings serve well students who wish to enter nursing, medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, forestry, industry, graduate studies, and research.
The major in Biological Science Education prepares students to teach Biology in grades eight through twelve. In addition to the curriculum requirements outlined in the catalog, students pursuing this degree must meet the criteria for admission to the Teacher Education Program and Student Teaching. Upon completion of this program students must meet other specified Education Professional Standards Board requirements in order to secure certification.
The major in Mathematics Education prepares students to teach Mathematics in grades eight through twelve. In addition to the curriculum requirements outlined in the catalog, students pursuing this degree must meet the criteria for admission to the Teacher Education Program and Student Teaching. Upon completion of this program students must meet other specified Education Professional Standards Board requirements in order to secure certification.
This minor is designed for those students with an interest in mathematics.
To assist students transferring from Alice Lloyd College to professional programs in Pharmacy, direct transfer agreements have been established with the University of Kentucky and West Virginia University. Similar agreements to assist students transferring from Alice Lloyd College to professional programs in Engineering at the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and West Virginia University have also been established. Students may complete two years of study in Pre-Engineering or Pre-Pharmacy and transfer directly to the chosen university for completion of the appropriate degree in Pharmacy or Engineering. For further details, please contact the Pre-Engineering advisor, Pre-Pharmacy advisor or the Vice President for Academics/Dean of the College. Students interested in these pre-professional programs should establish their program with the designated advisor at the beginning of their studies at Alice Lloyd College.
Meet Our Faculty
Dr. Yeary graduated from Alice Lloyd College in 1985 with a degree in Math/Physical Science. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Kentucky. After completing his studies at UK, Dr. Yeary worked for the Teknor Apex Corporation in Brownsville, TN, Remington Industries in Benton, TN, and for the Thomasville Furniture Company/Founders Furniture in Appomattox, VA as a Process Improvement Chemist. Subsequently, in 2000, he accepted a professorship at Alice Lloyd College where he is currently the chair of the Natural Sciences & Mathematics division.
Along with his duties as Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Yeary serves as the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee, as well as on the Caney Scholarship and Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) committees. He is deeply involved in other campus programs and activities. Dr. Yeary is an active and longtime member of the American Chemical Society and has won a number of awards, including the Teaching Excellence & Campus Leadership Award and ALC’s 10-Year Service Award.
Dr. Yeary has co-authored and published two academic papers: “On the Importance of Carbocation Intermediates in Bimolecular Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions in Aqueous Solution” in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (1993) and “Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes” in Nanomaterials: Inorganic and Bioinorganic (2008). He has also participated in various research activities at the University of Kentucky and has given recent scientific presentations at the Carbon Society Workshop and the International Conference on Carbon (both in Seattle, WA) and at the Appalachian College Association (ACA) Summit. From 2004-2012 he served as a summer research associate with the Center for Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky where he worked on a variety of projects in material science.
Dr. Janelle Pryor serves as Professor of Biology at Alice Lloyd College. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology, graduating cum laude, from Muskingum College (New Concord, Ohio) in 1984. She also received minors in Chemistry and Computer Science. An excellent student, Dr. Pryor was a member of the Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society. Two years later, she went on to garner a master’s degree in Botany from Ohio University, as well as earning a Ph.D. in Environmental and Plant Biology.
Dr. Pryor completed additional graduate coursework at Mississippi College and earned a second Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She is a proud member of the Phi Kappa Phi Interdisciplinary Honor Society.
She is active in campus activities in which she is a faculty sponsor of the Allied Health Club and the IMPACT Club.
Dr. Hamilton serves as Professor of Biology in the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Alice Lloyd College. He received his bachelor’s degree in Ecology from the University of Guelph in 1986. Dr. Hamilton received his Ph.D. in Botany from The Ohio University in 1991. He served as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor of biology in the Department of Biology at Mississippi College from 1991 through 2009. Dr. Hamilton has served as Professor of Biology at Alice Lloyd College since 2010.
Dr. Hamilton has published 19 papers in peer reviewed journals and symposia. He has conducted 10 workshops for high school teachers in the area of Molecular Biology and Ecology. He has mentored dozens of undergraduate and graduate student researchers. Dr. Hamilton has authored 3 successful grant applications to the National Science Foundation and participated in a successful grant application to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has made dozens of presentations of his scientific work to academic societies and symposia. Dr. Hamilton has also served on the education committee of the Ecological Society of America, served as a Biology Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research, and served as chairperson and vice chairperson of various sections at the Mississippi Academy of Sciences on numerous occasions.
Dr. Sigrid Greene is Assistant Professor of Physics at Alice Lloyd College, teaching courses in physics and astronomy. She received her B.S. in Physics from the University of Osnabrück (Germany) in 1996 and holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, HI).
Last year (2012), Dr. Greene became a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Dr. Patrick Greene is Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Physics. He received his B.A. from the University of California Santa Cruz and his M.S. from the University of Hawaii. In 2002 Dr. Greene was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.
Dr. Billy Haigler serves as Assistant Professor of Biology and Chemistry at ALC. He received his B.S. and B.A degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as a Ph.D. in 1986.
Dr. Leszek Rzepecki is Professor of Mathematics at Alice Lloyd College. He attended the University of Warsaw (Poland) where he received an M.A. in Mathematics Education in January of 1985. Later, Dr. Rzepecki was awarded a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Rzepecki claims nearly thirty years of teaching experience, having taught in his native Poland, the University of South Carolina, and John C. Smith University (North Carolina) prior to coming to Alice Lloyd. He has also participated in various conferences and seminars, including the NATO Seminar on Complex Potential Theory at the University of Montreal, the Seminar on Financial Mathematics at New York University,and the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics in San Francisco.
In 1999 his paper on the boundary behavior of “non-isotropic” potentials in the unit ball of Cn was published in Complex Variables, Theory and Application: An International Journal.
Ms. Marsha Neace serves as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Alice Lloyd. Prior to teaching at ALC, she taught courses in physics, mathematics, and computer science at Evarts High School, The June Buchanan School, and Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, KY. She holds an M.A. in Secondary Education from Georgetown College and has completed additional graduate hours in Mathematics and Physics from her alma mater Georgetown, the University of Kentucky, Converse College, and the University of Virginia.
Ms. Neace graduated magna cum laude and is a six-time inductee in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Interestingly, she was also an online reviewer for the NASA website PUMAS.
