Faculty and Staff

Gwen Adams holds an M.A. in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas. She was awarded a full fellowship for this program and finished her coursework through the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome in cooperation with the Catholic Studies Department. After this she mentored the Catholic Studies Undergraduate Women’s Household for its first two years. She has taught for Trinity Schools at both the Minnesota and Indiana campuses and worked four years prior to that as Director of Youth Formation at St. Boniface Parish in Lafayette, Indiana. She holds a B. A. in History from Christendom College, has interned at a small organic farm, published in St. Austin Review, presented at Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture Annual Conference, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Catholic Studies through the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham, UK.

Mr. Fraser has taught Latin for seven years and Greek for four.  His interest in the languages began in high school at St. Gregory’s Academy, where he learned that certain Latin words, such as res, could not be properly translated into English.  It bothered him that certain key Roman concepts were unintelligible outside the language.  He decided to study Classics as a way to understand these concepts that were fundamental to Roman culture.

His interest in teaching began at St. Gregory’s, too.  The teachers there shared a common intellectual life, and their friendship and their learning were integrated.  His teachers, therefore, enjoyed friendships that were both rooted in truth and delightful.  This communal delight in learning is one of the principal reasons Mr. Fraser enjoys Thomas More College; the faculty and students all share a common pursuit of wisdom.Mr. Fraser holds an MA in Humanities from the University of Dallas and an MA in Greek and Latin from the Catholic University of America.  Authors he enjoys sharing with his students include Pindar, Horace, Virgil, and St. Augustine.  Outside of the classroom, he plays folk music on a classical guitar and roughhouses with his four children.

Mitchell Kalpakgian, a native of New England, is the son of Armenian immigrants whose father escaped the Armenian genocide of 1915. He is fluent in the language and attends the Holy Cross Armenian (Eastern rite) Catholic Church in Massachusetts. A student of the whole field of literature rather than a specialist, he has been offering classes in English and Literature for the past forty-five years, teaching a variety of courses on major authors like Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton and period courses in areas like Great Books, Renaissance literature, eighteenth century literature, and the English novel. Semi-retired, he currently teaches both on the college and secondary level. He is the father of five children and ten grandchildren.A former marathon runner who competed in ten races, he continues to enjoy swimming and jogging as favorite exercises and coached recreational soccer for many years. In addition to a love of athletics his favorite pastimes include cooking and writing. A recent interest that has inspired both his teaching and writing is children’s literature. After going to graduate school in the Midwest and teaching in Iowa for thirty-one years, he returned to New England in 2000.He compares the teaching of literature to a host preparing a banquet and offering what Matthew Arnold called “the best that has been thought and said.” He views literature as a treasury of the accumulated wisdom of the entire human race, and he is most fond of Dr. Johnson’s statement on the timeless value of great literature: “The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.” His favorite poets are George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Robert Frost; his favorite novels are Anna Karenina, Tom Jones, and Pride and Prejudice; and his favorite plays are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, and The Tempest.

Mr. Denis Kitzinger is a native of Flörsheim, Germany, a town near to the approximate birth place of Einhard, the early 8th century Frankish scholar who was the noble servant to Charlemagne as well as his biographer. Having grown up in a town with rich Catholic traditions, Mr. Kitzinger shares joyful memories of St. Martin’s Day parades to the Church courtyard where St Martin arrived on horseback, cut his military-cloak in two, and shared it with a beggar – a tradition alive to this day.In his youth and early adulthood Mr. Kitzinger spent much time on the soccer field, an occupation which earned him a full athletic scholarship to a university in the South. Since he first arrived in 2002 he has lived in all four corners of the United States, from Tennessee to California, from Michigan to West Virginia to New Hampshire.From 2006 to 2007, after completing his master’s degree on the West Coast, he spent an invaluable year at the Russell Kirk Center in Michigan. From 2008 to 2010 he and his wife Sara lived in lovely Scotland where he began pursuing his doctorate with the University of St Andrews on the intellectual life of Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977). Formally invested in the history of ideas, he especially enjoys teaching subjects pertaining to history, political philosophy, ethics, and literature. In his view, the ideal of a college community as a community of learners and seekers of wisdom is beautifully realized at Thomas More College.His favorite authors include Josef Pieper, J.R.R. Tolkien, and his holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Happy and blessed to be in the United States, he is and remains an advocate of things German such as Christmas markets and, especially, German beer.

Walter J. Thompson studied politics and philosophy at Georgetown University and the University of Notre Dame. Before coming to Thomas More College, he was Associate Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria, where he also served as Vice President (1996–2001) and Academic Dean (2001–2006). He has taught a wide range of courses in the humanities, philosophy and theology. His research interests include ethics, politics, natural philosophy and theology in the Thomistic-Aristotelian tradition. He is a past winner of the Matchette Prize for Young Scholars of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. Mr. Thompson, his wife Ruth, and their seven children live in Amherst, NH.View Mr. Thompson’s CV (PDF)

Léonie Caldecott was educated at the French Lycée in London and Oxford University, where she read French and Philosophy. The winner of the Catherine Pakenham Award for Young Women Journalists, she has since written for secular newspapers and magazines as well as religious ones on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Sunday Times, Village Voice, New York Times Book Review, Il Sabato, Communio, Catholic World Report, Inside the Vatican, National Catholic Register, Touchstone and The Chesterton Review, and a regular column for the Catholic Herald. Two of her articles have been reprinted in The Best Spiritual Writing series. She contributed to the BBC TV series Women of Our Century, and wrote the book that accompanied it. She also contributed to several collections, such as Makers of Modern Culture (RKP) and British Catholic Heroines (Gracewing). She has written on Blessed John Henry Newman and St Therese of Lisieux for CTS. Her most recent book is What Do Catholics Believe? (Granta 2008) and she is the author of Divine Comedy: a Theresian Mystery Play, performed at the Oxford Oratory in the fall of 2009. The mother of three children, she lives in Oxford with her husband Stratford, with whom she co-founded the Centre for Faith & Culture and co-edits the journal of the Centre, Second Spring. As a catechist and mother she has engaged in many initiatives for young people, including the book series “Second Spring Catechesis.”

Andrea Assaf has worked as a freelance journalist in Rome since 2002, writing for Inside the Vatican magazine, Our Sunday Visitor, the Wall Street Journal Europe, Zenit International News Agency, NewsMax, H2onews, Chronicles Magazine, and blogging. She has given commentary on Vatican-related news stories for BBC World, DeutscheWelle, and Global Journalist radio. At the funeral of Pope John Paul II she offered live commentary for BBC radio on a rooftop overlooking  St. Peter’s Square, witnessing history unfolding as Cardinal Ratzinger presided over the ceremony. Six years later, Andrea covered the beatification of John Paul II from that same piazza. In addition to her freelance work, she assists her husband Tony with the Vatican Studies Center and the Rome Program of The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. In 2003 she began the Vatican Forum lectures series as a way to bring Church experts together with members of the media, students, and scholars in Rome. Today she coordinates and hosts the Vatican Forum each semester for the Rome Program students to introduce them to the work and world of the Holy See. Andrea is a graduate of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the International Institute for Political and Economic Studies in Greece, and the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. Andrea, her husband Tony, and their two little children split their time between the urban chaos of Rome and a wooded homestead in Remus, Michigan.

Tony Assaf studied philosophy, theology, and oriental studies in Rome, receiving his B.A. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2000. He also received an International Masters Certificate in Management and Communication for Cultural Politics from the Libera Universita di Santa Maria Assunta in 2004. During his years in Rome, Tony has worked for the United Nation’s World Food Programme, the Italian news agency AdnKronos, the Italian television company RAI, as an on-call translator for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as a co-founder and researcher for the Italian think-tank Middle Eastern Geopolitical Observer. He also worked as a personal assistant to Cardinal Opelio Rossi at the Casa Internazionale del Clero and as a volunteer for Caritas Internationalis. In the field of communications, he has written for Inside the Vatican magazine, interned in the Arabic section of Vatican Radio, founded and edited the Arabic version of Zenit News Agency, served as Arabic editor, translator and speaker for H2onews, and now translates for the Arabic edition of Aleteia.org. Tony is a native speaker of Arabic and is also fluent in Italian, French, and English with an academic knowledge of Latin, Greek, and the Siro-Aramaic liturgy, the language spoken by Our Lord. He has taught Arabic to Italian and English speakers as a private tutor. Tony is a Maronite rite Catholic who has had the privilege to serve for Blessed John Paul II, read in Arabic at Papal Masses, and pray privately with then Cardinal Ratzinger.  Tony oversees the Rome Program and directs the tours and activities of the Vatican Studies Center in Rome, where he is also enrolled in graduate studies at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI). When not braving the traffic of Rome, Tony enjoys driving his tractor on his farm in Michigan.

Pamela Bernstein joined Thomas More College in 1983 as a secretary to the President, and later became bookkeeper and assistant to the Admissions Director. In 1990, she was promoted to Business Manager and in 1996 was given the title of Business Manager/Assistant Registrar. Her responsibilities include all aspects of the Business Office, assisting the Registrar, and other various duties of the College. Ms. Bernstein grew up in the Nashua, New Hampshire area and attended the New Hampshire Vocational Technical College for Accounting and Business Management.

Valerie Burgess has been with Thomas More College since the Spring of 2007, bringing with her more than a decade of Executive Assistant experience. She has worked for such well-known companies as Brookstone, Gardeners Eden, and Lindt & Sprungli, USA. With Brookstone, she assisted the Operational Vice President of Seasonal & Outlet Business; and then the Vice President of Store Operations.  When Brookstone acquired Gardeners Eden, she was promoted to Executive Assistant to support the President and Vice President of that acquisition. Most recently, Valerie worked for Lindt & Sprungli, USA, reporting to the Director of Store Operations as well as the Vice President of Retail.

Aja Cowhig received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in 2011. For her junior project, an intensive semester long study of a great work, she chose The Consolation of Philosophy by Saint Boethius. Her senior thesis was on the attainment of happiness through friendship as seen in the novels of Jane Austen and supported by the works of Aristotle. In the summer of 2011 she was honoured with a scholarship for the Edmund Campion Fellowship Programme. The programme entailed one week in NH and two weeks at Oxford University studying the Catholic Literary Revival in England. Aja is from British Columbia, Canada. In addition to studying, she enjoys traveling, outdoor activities, and spending time with family and friends.

Clint Hanson has over 30 years of experience in higher education, serving as director of Financial Aid for several educational institutions including Franklin Pierce Law Center, New Hampshire College, and Nathaniel Hawthorne College. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Assumption College, his M.Ed. in History from Worcester State College, and completed advanced graduate study at Vanderbilt University. Mr. Hanson has been recognized for his leadership by the New Hampshire School Boards Association with the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Award (1996) and by the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA) with the Outstanding State Representative Award (2006). In addition to his work at the College, Mr. Hanson was the president of the New Hampshire Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NHASFAA), a member of the EASFAA Training Committee, a trustee for the NHHEAF Network Educational Foundation, and a trustee for the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation. He also continues to serve the community as chairperson and chief contract negotiator of the Pembroke School Board (NH), president of the New Hampshire School Boards Association Board of Directors, and member of the Local Government Center Board of Directors

Carolyn McKinney received a B.A. in political science from Calvin College. While at Calvin, she participated in the highly regarded Witherspoon Fellowship at the Family Research Council. After graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked as an events coordinator and graphic designer for the Bill of Rights Institute. She then moved on to the Heritage Foundation, where she served as community activism coordinator and advertising assistant for Townhall.com. In 2004, she launched her own design and marketing firm which provides services primarily for small to medium sized non-profit organizations. She began working with Thomas More College in 2006, and resides in Amherst, New Hampshire with her husband and four children.

Charlie McKinney began his career at the Bill of Rights Institute in 2000, which was, at the time, a newly-created non-profit organization in Washington, DC with less than a million annual budget. After four years as lead development officer, he left the Bill of Rights Institute having helped increase fundraising revenue to nearly $3 million. Charlie later became Director of Development at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Wilmington, Delaware, a national non-profit dedicating to reviving an appreciation for Western civilization and the liberal arts at colleges and universities across the country. In 2006, Charlie joined Thomas More College to establish and run the College’s development department. Thomas More College has witnessed a four-fold increase in fundraising revenue since his arrival. In 2009, Charlie was promoted to his current position, where he also oversees the College’s marketing, media, and admissions efforts. Charlie also serves as Chief Operating Officer for Sophia Institute, which encompasses the College’s publishing division, Crisis Magazine, and Catholic Exchange.  Charlie, his wife, and four children live in Amherst, New Hampshire.

Mark Schwerdt graduated from Christendom College in 2002 with a B.A. in Philosophy. In 2004, he received a Master’s Degree in the Humanities from the University of Dallas. While studying for his graduate degree, he completed coursework at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, which included taking an intensive course on the epic tradition offered by the Teacher’s Academy. He went on to post-graduate work in Clinical Psychology at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences where he studied under Father Benedict Groeschel. Mark has counseled autistic children and at-risk youth, offered guidance and college counseling services to high school students, acted as a House Father and teacher at St. Gregory’s Academy in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and taught classes in juggling, study skills, and rhetoric. He also assisted in the compilation of The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic Collegewhile working at the Cardinal Newman Society. Prior to his arrival at Thomas More College, Mark handled event planning, intake operations and marketing for a law firm in Virginia. Mark grew up on Cape Cod and is very happy to be back in New England. He loves playing music for his wife, Emily, and their son, Finnian.