Faculty Information

David Braasch, Full-time instructor
Larenda Mielke, Full-time instructor
Karen Schwelle, Full-time instructor

Luisette Behmer, Part-time instructor
Pamela Guntharp, Part-time instructor
Margorie J. Maclin, Part-time instructor
Nancy Mayer, Part-time instructor

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David Braasch
M.A. (TESL), Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

David began his teaching career at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1990. After that, he taught at the SUNY-Buffalo/Chinese Culture University Intensive English Institute in Taipei, and served as the Academic Director of the Chinese Culture University Intensive English Institute (IEI), and as the Academic Coordinator of the Chinese Culture University /Leicester University (England) MBA program.

His next step was with the International Trade Institute's Professional Training Center in Taiwan, where he was an instructor, curriculum designer, and liaison between the Institute and Manchester Business School (UK). He also trained graduate students for completion of Cambridge University's prestigious Business English Certificate.

Beyond his university experience, David has partnered with Emerson, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, AT&T, Texas Instruments, Panasonic, Pfizer, and Solae, where he designed and taught a wide range of employee development programs.  

He has been with Washington University since July 2005, where he has taught courses in the Olin School of Business, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, and the School of Medicine.

Recently, he presented at the MIDTESOL Conference in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is currently developing the Corporate ESL Program at Washington University.

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Larenda M. Mielke
M.A. (Cross-Cultural Education, TESL emphasis)
Wheaton College Graduate School

Larenda M. Mielke began teaching with the English Language Programs at Washington University in August, 2004. She has been on the faculties of the College of DuPage, Evergreen College, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Memphis, and the University of Denver. She has also been a full-time consultant with LinguaTec, a high tech consulting company meeting the needs of Silicon Valley’s non-native speakers in the engineering and management fields. Larenda was the higher education associate chair for the board of CoTESOL (Colorado Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) in 2004, and has presented at CaTESOL (in California), Rocky Mountain TESOL (in Colorado), and MidTESOL (in the Midwest).

Larenda enjoys collaborating with faculty members in various university departments, including schools of communication, business, and biological science. She specializes in teaching presentation skills in classes tailored to the academic and professional interests of the students. These classes include the study and practice of group dynamics as applied to the academic environment in the United States. Larenda’s other specialty is research writing for the sciences; she teaches the IMRAD format with an emphasis on clarity and style at the Washington University School of Medicine.

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Karen Schwelle
M.A. (TESL), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.A. (German Literature), Indiana University at Bloomington

Karen Schwelle joined the ELP faculty in 1998 and has been teaching since 1994. Her overseas experiences include having studied in Vienna, Austria as an exchange student and having taught in Magdeburg, Germany as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant for English and American Studies. She has served on the Executive Board of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL) and is currently chair-elect of the English for Specific Purposes Interest Section of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Karen has taught ten of the courses offered by the ELP. Courses taught most recently include ELP 101, Advanced Pronunciation I and ELP 1411, Rhetoric, Writing, and Reading. She also team-teaches Expository Writing Fundamentals, an EComp course for non-native English speakers, with an instructor in the English Department. In the summer intensive English program, she teaches Reading and Writing for Legal Study for incoming LL.M. students and has developed courses and workshops geared to the needs of international graduate students in WU's Olin School of Business and George Warren Brown School of Social Work. In addition to teaching, Karen tutors undergraduate and graduate students in writing and pronunciation and serves as a four-year academic advisor for the College of Arts & Sciences.

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Luisette Behmer
M.A. (Secondary Education and ESL), University of Puerto Rico

Luisette Behmer has been teaching ESL since 1973 and has been teaching at WUSTL since 1988. In Puerto Rico, she taught on the summer faculty of the Sacred Heart High School, part-time at Sacred Heart College, and at the University of Puerto Rico (Humacao Campus). She has also worked as a clinical supervisor and coordinator in the Teaching Techniques Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and conducted TA training workshops through the Office of Instructional Resources on that campus.

Of the courses offered by the Program, Luisette has taught reading and speaking/listening in ESL 126, the summer intensive English program. She has also taught ELP 1301, Conversation and Pronunciation; ELP 1311, Grammar, Writing, and Reading; and ELP 170, Oral Presentation Skills for the Non-Native English Speaker.

In addition to teaching ESL part-time, Luisette is the coordinator of the Host Family Program, OISS contact for the Be Our Guest dinner program, and the editor of The International Voice, the newsletter of the Office for International Students and Scholars.

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Pamela Guntharp
M.A. (TESL), Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Pamela Guntharp has been a part-time instructor at Washington University since 2003. She studied at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where she also was an instructor in the ESL Writing Program. She has taught ESL since 1993 and has travelled throughout Asia and Africa, including Azerbaijan and Ethiopia, in each of which she lived and worked for two years. In addition to teaching part-time at WUSTL, Pamela is currently a part-time instructor at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. She is a member of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL).

Of the courses offered by the ELP, Pamela has taught ELP 1301, Conversation and Pronunciation; ELP 1302, Listening and Speaking; ELP 175, Academic and Professional Seminar Speaking Skills; and ELP 201, Speaking and Grammar II. She has also taught in the ELP's summer intensive English program.

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Margorie J. Maclin
M.A. (TESL), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Margorie Maclin joined the English Language Program in 2004. She teaches research writing for students and employees on the WUSTL Medical School Campus and on the Hilltop Campus. She is a member of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL).

While Margorie has taught a variety of adult ESL courses at four different institutions, her focus has been academic writing for international graduate students. She has also taught academic writing for native English speaking students and served as a writing consultant.

At WU she has taught ELP 211, Research Reporting, Grammar, and Editing I; ELP 212, Research Reporting, Grammar, and Editing II; ELP 115, Writing Workshop for Non-Native English Speakers; ELP 1311, Grammar, Writing and Editing; and ELP 1411, Rhetoric, Reading and Writing.

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Nancy Mayer
M.A.T. (English), Webster University in St. Louis
Graduate certification (TESL), Southeast Missouri State University

Nancy Mayer has been a part-time instructor at Washington University since 1996. She studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, Summer 1976. She has been teaching ESL since 1984. Nancy has been on the faculties of St. Louis University, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, and the University of Missouri at St. Louis. In addition to teaching part-time at WUSTL, Nancy is currently a full-time lecturer at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, where she has taught since 1999. She is a member of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL).

Of the courses offered by the ELP, Nancy has taught ELP 1311, Grammar, Writing, and Reading; ELP 1404, Speaking With Grammatical Accuracy; ELP 1411, Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric; and ELP 200, Speaking and Grammar I. She has also taught in the ELP's summer intensive English program.

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