Dr. Wendy Miller retired in June 2024 from Elgin Community College (ECC) after 32 years. In her most recent position at ECC, she served as Dean of the Health Professions and Math, Science, and Engineering divisions. Under Dr. Miller’s leadership, the college opened a health and life science facility that is now home to 17 health professions degree and certificate programs. In addition to setting the strategic vision for the divisions, Dr. Miller was responsible for managing curricula, assessment, programmatic accreditations, and resources, as well as promoting faculty development.

Dr. Miller began her career in academia as the Director of the Clinical Laboratory Technology and Histotechnology programs at ECC. She is an innovative educator who challenged students to become critical thinkers and role-modeled what it meant to be a healthcare professional.

Dr. Miller is committed to helping didactic and clinical faculty engage in their instructional roles and embrace a sense of identity as educators. As part of Wendy’s retirement celebration, Elgin Community College established the Dr. Wendy Miller Be Inspired Scholarship as a tribute to her long career as a student advocate and motivational leader.

Dr. van Delden joined the Winthrop family in January 2024 as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Computer Science. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Dean of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering at the College of Charleston. He also held Chairship positions at Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of South Carolina Upstate. Originally from a small Dutch island in the Caribbean called Saba, he came to America as an international student and, in 2003, earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida, where he met his wife, Elizabeth, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist. Sebastian and Elizabeth have two daughters, Ava and Bels.

Dr. van Delden has published 30 scholarly articles in the areas of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and industrial robotics, many of which include undergraduate student co-authors. He has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including algorithms, data structures, robotics, computer vision, machine learning, artificial intelligence, parallel and distributed computing, web programming, software engineering, computer organization and digital logic, discrete structures, and natural language processing.

Dr. van Delden has been a Rotarian for almost 20 years and enjoys a great sense of fulfillment in giving back to the community in this capacity. He has held several leadership positions in Rotary, including being the President of the Rotary Club of Charleston Breakfast where he led meal packing events, community center restoration projects, clothing drives for those in need, and environmental clean-up and protection initiatives.

Dr. Ulrich earned his Associate of Arts degree from Iowa Central before pursing his Bachelor of Arts degree from Buena Vista University. He continued his education at Iowa State University (ISU) and obtained his Master’s of Education Degree in Educational Leadership. He then earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at ISU. Additionally, Dr. Ulrich holds a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Administration (Superintendent Licensure) from Iowa State University.

Dr. Ulrich has served as Superintendent of Schools for Fort Dodge, AHSTW (Avoca, IA), and Graettinger-Terril Community School Districts. His collaborative and relational leadership, along with his consensus-building skills, were the catalyst to leading over $20 million dollars of capital projects and three successful public referendums. Thriving on innovation and a drive to elevate student academic excellence, Dr. Ulrich leveraged his ability to instill trust and worked with stakeholders and the Fort Dodge School Board to implement a grade realignment to improve the systematic approach to teaching and learning. Through effective consensus building, communication and building a community coalition of support, he led the AHSTW district in developing a long-range facility plan to meet the growing population of students within the district as well as leading the districts through a whole-grade sharing agreement. Prior to his Superintendent roles, he served as Principal at Graettinger-Terril Community School District from July 2009 through June 2013. At Dallas Center-Grimes he held the positions of Student Services Coordinator, 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher, and High School Social Science Teacher.

Since August 2019, he has been an adjunct instructor at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. Dr. Ulrich inspires his passion for teaching, learning, and leadership into his students. Being an instructor at a higher education institution provides him perspective on how decisions impact the classroom and to effectively educate students.

Passionate about community involvement, Dr. Ulrich is a member of Rotary International Club and a Board of Director for the NAACP in Fort Dodge. Dr. Ulrich also serves on Advisory Boards for both Buena Vista University and Iowa State University to provide feedback on the preparedness of their future teachers. His work with the School Administrators of Iowa has been extensive including currently serving as a member of the Legislative Advocacy Committee, serving on their Executive Committee from 2016-2018, and serving as the District 3 President in 2011. Dr. Ulrich was selected for and recently completed the Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s yearlong Leadership Iowa program and currently sits on the Statewide Advisory Board for SBDC.