Dr. Kelli M. Slunt
Professor of Chemistry and Honors Program Director
Kelli Slunt is the inaugural director of the UMW Honors Program and her responsibilities include teaching honors courses (Organic Chemistry, Honors Service Learning, and City as Text), curriculum development, program oversight, and providing high quality honors education for our scholars. If you are interested in pursuing prestigious scholarships like Truman or Goldwater, please contact Dr. Slunt.
Professor Slunt earned a BS in Chemistry from Mary Washington College and a PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry from the University of Virginia. Returning to her alma mater, she began her teaching career at Mary Washington in 1995. Dr. Slunt is a member of the American Chemistry Society United States National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) Committee and writes examination questions for the USNCO National Exam.
Dr. Slunt is married to Jeff and has two adult children. In her free time, she likes to spend time traveling with her family, completing small arts and crafts projects, or solving puzzles.
Dr. Mara Scanlon
Professor of English and Associate Director of the Honors Program
As Associate Director of the Honors Program, Mara Scanlon helps ground the Humanities curriculum and provides programming, advising, and other services. She manages many forms of communication, such as the weekly email for scholars, the program newsletter called Honors Outlook, and the web presence. In addition to Honors programs like City as Text, Capstone Prep, and weekly guided meditation, Dr. Scanlon teaches Honors-designated classes in English on the upper and lower levels.
Dr. Scanlon earned a BA in English from the University of Virginia and an MA and PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She began teaching at UMW in 1999 and offers various classes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry, women’s literature, Asian American literature, and literature of the First World War.
In her free time, Dr. Scanlon likes to read, overwatch British mystery shows, look at the moon, and bake cakes.
Ms. Kasey Morello
Honors Program Coordinator
Kasey Morello, the newest member of our team, manages Honors student records, tracks graduation requirements, helps plan events, and navigates the state bureaucracy of purchasing to keep us supplied with coffee, paper, and Honors swag. Kasey also supports the Center for Community Engagement. Kasey is a graduate of Winthrop University.
In her spare time, Kasey likes to watch moves, read, and spend time outside.
Honors Program Post-Baccalaureate Fellow