Saint Francis welcomes 13 new full-time faculty members to Loretto this fall in nine different programs.
One of these new teachers is Associate Professor of Theatre April Beiswenger.
For Beiswenger, it is a homecoming: she earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Francis.
“I’m so excited to provide students with sort of a different view of how theater works for them,” she said.
After graduating from Saint Francis, Beiswenger earned master’s degrees from Villanova (Theatre Arts) and West Virginia (Design).
She taught at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin from 2009-25 in the school’s Theatre Studies Department, while also serving as a scenographer.
Beiswenger taught a wide variety of different courses at St. Norbert, including Visual Storytelling, Design for Performance, History of Clothing and Fashion, and Introduction to Creativity.
I am a very practical teacher,” said Beiswenger. “I want the students ‘in it.’
“I am not going to be like ‘just watch me do it.’”
Beiswenger has worked professionally for multiple theatre companies, including Evergreen Theatre, Peninsula Players, Mountain Playhouse and South Park Theatre.
“Theater allows us to see that human beings are amazing in their infinite changeableness and their infinite panoply,” said Beiswenger. “We are all so different, but we’re also essentially the same.
“Theater is a reflection of life.”
Beiswenger encourages anyone who might want to get involved in theater at Saint Francis to visit her, regardless of their past experiences.
“Come talk to me and we’ll see where you can fit in. We have a need for everybody.”
Below is a list of the new faculty members at Saint Francis in 2025-26:
- Alaa Abu Mallouh, Assistant Professor of Finance
- April Beiswenger, Associate Professor of Theatre
- Scott Brandenberger, Clinical Instructor of Physician Assistant Sciences
- Jacob Hauser, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
- Justin Grant, Instructor of Practice, Aviation Maintenance Technician
- Kristen Hollenback, Instructor of Education/Program Coordinator
- Amy Kowalski, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing
- Susan Mihalhevic, Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing
- Jeri Reid, Clinical Instructor of Physician Assistant Sciences
- Bernadette Sherman, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing
- Brianna Toth, Clinical Instructor of Exercise Physiology
- Christian Zanin, Instructor of Practice, Aviation Maintenance Technician
- Vicki Davis, Instructor of Practice/Admin. Director, Patient Care Technician
