Literature Faculty
Principal and Literature Faculty
BA, Bryn Mawr College; PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Dean of Studies and Literature Faculty
BA, Sonoma State University; MA, Texas A&M University; PhD, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Special Educator
Spanish Faculty
History Faculty
Mathematics Faculty
Political Science Faculty
Biology Faculty
BS, Providence College; PhD, University of Notre Dame
(Dr.) Richard Kurker, Jr., is a biochemist who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and a Writing Minor from Providence College (Liberal Arts Honors Program) in Providence, RI. He earned his doctorate in Biochemistry with a specialization in protein biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, working with the bacterial oxygen-producing protein chlorite dismutase. Since completing his terminal degree, he has taught chemistry, biology, and graduate biochemistry at Manchester Community College, Quinnipiac University, and the University of Baltimore. He has also tutored online in chemistry and writing, as well as at a high school in the English Language Learner (ELL) program. In addition, he completed a postdoc at Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working on the virology and vaccine development of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV).
Chinese Language Faculty
Spanish Language & Literature Faculty
BA, Grove City College; MA, Kent State University; PhD, American University
I started teaching at Bard in 2016, but I have been interested in languages and government since I was a kid in the 1990s. This pretty much explains why I teach what I teach: Spanish and political science, the former for 9th graders and the latter for Year 1s and Years 2s. I earned a bachelor’s degree in both subjects (as well as French) from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. I then got a master’s in Spanish translation from Kent State University in Ohio, and, eventually, I finished my Ph.D. in political science from American University in Washington, DC.
Mathematics Faculty
Literature Faculty
BA, University of California Los Angeles; MA, Southern New Hampshire University
Literature Faculty
Language Faculty
BA, University of Wisconsin Madison; MA, Johns Hopkins University-School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); MA, University of Massachusetts Amherst; PhD, Beijing Normal University
Literature Faculty; Assistant Dean of Academic Life
BA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; MA, PhD, University of Iowa
Dr. Patrick Brenus Oray, Jr., received his B.A. in English from the University of Illinois (1995) and his PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa (2013). As Faculty in Literature at BHSEC–Baltimore, Dr. Oray teaches Literature of the Americas (9th Grade), First Year Seminar (Year 1) and an elective course on Theories of Social Justice and Civic Engagement. In past years he has also taught electives in play writing and historical fiction.
Literature Faculty
BA, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; MA, St. John’s College; MAT, Towson University; PhD, Catholic University of America
Mathematics Faculty
Literature Faculty
Health and Physical Education Faculty
Adjunct Faculty in Fine Arts
B.F.A. in Ceramics from Towson University; M.F. A. in Studio Art from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Lyn graduated from PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) with a MFA in Studio Art and a BFA in Ceramics from Towson University. Lyn believes that every child/young adult deserves the opportunity to succeed. She believes that test scores and past behaviors aren’t always the absolute indicator of a child’s/young adult success. If they are willing to put in the hard work, Lyn is willing to invest and support them wholly on their journey to academic and social success.
Physics Faculty
Mathematics Faculty
BS, MEd, Towson University; PhD, University of Maryland, College Park
Catherine VanNetta earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Towson University and her doctorate in mathematics curriculum and instruction at the University of Maryland. Dr. VanNetta has over fifteen years of public school teaching experience, as well as, post-secondary teaching experience in both mathematics and teacher education at the University of Maryland and the Community Colleges of Baltimore County. She has worked on several NSF grant-funded positions in teacher preparation, developed a summer math curriculum for Baltimore’s Promise Grads2Careers program, earned two fellowships in undergraduate education, and served as part of a collaborative team earning a SEMINAL (Student Engagement in Mathematics) grant. She was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Baltimore City Teacher of the Year. In her teaching, she seeks to affirm learners’ identities as “doers” of mathematics by creating a responsive classroom culture built around student ideas.
Chemistry Faculty
BA, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Technology & Design Faculty
BA, Savannah College of Art and Design; AAS, ITT Technical Institute; MA, Savannah College of Art and Design
Music Faculty
BFA, Shenandoah University; MA, PhD, Florida State University
Richard Zarou, faculty member of Bard High School Early College in Baltimore, is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. His education includes Doctoral and Master’s degrees in composition from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s degree in composition from Shenandoah University. His works have been performed at festivals such as Electronic Music Midwest, The Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, The Imagine2 Electro-Acoustic Festival, The College Music Society National Conference and international in the Czech Republic and at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in the United Kingdom. His awards include the New Music @ East Carolina University Competition in 2002 for Fragile Wraths and again in 2003 for Upon a Child. A lullaby for women’s chorus, Upon a Child has been performed frequently since its premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2002. In 2005, The Smell of Wet Dogs After a Summertime Rain, for bass trombone and CD, was commissioned by Aaron Misenheimer who performed the composition at thirteen universities and recorded the piece as the title work for a commercial CD. Zarou has also composed the music for 12 films including the feature-length documentary Breaking the Silence: Torture Survivors Speak Out.
