As winter quarter is now upon us, you may notice two new faculty members on campus, mostly present in the Performing Arts Center and Salish Hall. Both were hired to replace long-time faculty members who recently retired. We are fortunate to hire outstanding individuals who will make great contributions to their divisions and the college community for years to come!

Robin Bowles

The Fine Arts Division is pleased to announce the hiring of Robin Bowles as a tenure-track, drama instructor. Robin is from Oakridge, Oregon. He is the youngest of 6 children having 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Robin and his partner, Kenneth, have one son, Ben, and a Boston terrier, Ike. Robin is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, received his BFA in Acting from the College of Santa Fe, now called Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and his MFA in Directing from the University of Portland.

Robin spent many years as a professional actor working in primarily Seattle and Portland with stops in New York City and Albuquerque. He fell into academia when the College of Santa Fe hired him to be a guest artist in 2003 and was surprised at how invigorating working with students turned out to be. His theatrical and academic interests include early twentieth-century African American theatre, translation of dramatic works by Lope de Vega, Calderon and Mario Vargas Llosa into English, Shakespeare and musical theatre history. The first play he will direct at Green River will be Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

Jamie Fitzgerald

The English Division is pleased to announce the hiring of Jamie Fitzgerald as a tenure-track, English faculty member who will also be the new director of the Writing Center. He comes to us from Pierce College where he was English faculty for the past 5 years. Before arriving at Pierce, Jamie taught at GRCC as an adjunct instructor. He has a B.A. in English from Grand Valley State University (Michigan) and an M.A. in English rhetoric and composition from the University of Oregon. Jamie has a deep background in Irish literature and has presented papers on James Joyce at a number of conferences. He is an active member of the Community College Humanities Associations. Other interests, besides rhetoric and empowering students through language acquisition, include Science Fiction writers and world mythology.

Please join us in welcoming Robin and Jamie to Green River Community College!