Spring 2023 faculty retirements

Recognizing several longtime CEHSP faculty members for their service

A number of CEHSP faculty members will be retiring in May. We thank them for their dedication and service, both to their fields and our CEHSP students over the past years.

Learn more about their focus and service.

Associate Professor Lynn Brice, Education

Associate Professor Lynn Brice has been working in UMD’s Department of Education since 2007. She has been instrumental in mentoring Educational Doctorate students and was recognized as UMD’s Outstanding Graduate Faculty Teacher/Advisor for 2023.

Associate Professor Mitzi Doane, Public Health and Psychology

Mitzi Doane

Associate Professor Mitzi Doane will be retiring after a 45-year career at UMD. She came to UMD having just turned 26 after completing her doctorate at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. When she came to UMD, there was only one other female faculty member in the Department of Psychology.

During her tenure at UMD, Doane taught thousands of students, especially in General and Developmental Psychology. She so enjoyed teaching those introductory classes that she continued to do so for the six years she was department head.  

In 1981, Doane became a licensed clinical psychologist in Minnesota. She did her seminal work in the area of eating disorders and created the first class on that subject within the entire U of M system. In 1983, Doane and Yvonne Prettner Solon, a graduate of the counseling program, developed the first treatment program for eating disorders at St. Luke's Hospital. 

In 1985, Doane published one of the first works devoted to how to treat those suffering with eating disorders, “Famine at the Feast: A Therapist's Guide to Working with the Eating Disordered.” That same year, Doane was selected by the American Psychology Association to be a member of a task force on revising the diagnostic criteria for all eating disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 3 Revised. The revisions put forth by the task force made it more difficult for insurance companies to deny treatment to those individuals with anorexia nervosa and the task force also developed the initial diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder.

Doane's research was truly broad. In addition to her research and writing in the area of eating disorders, she also researched mammalian pheromones and treatment protocols for sex offenders with a special emphasis on individuals with intellectual disabilities.  Her latest interest is providing counseling to people dealing with terminal illnesses.

In 1990, Doane became the dean of the College of Education and Human Service Professions (CEHSP) and served in that capacity for six years. At that time, there was serious consideration of closing both the education and social work programs. Doane worked tirelessly to advocate for both programs. To strengthen the education program, she combined all the education programs into one department. She also worked with the newly designed department to significantly increase the requirements to gain admission to the programs. She championed the uniqueness of the Master of Social Work program by stressing it was one the few advanced generalist graduate programs in the U.S. and it had a special emphasis on American Indian students and policy. 

Doane was also instrumental in securing funds for the Ruth Myers Endowed Chair in American Education and assisted the Department of Education in broadening their outreach to American Indian students, faculty and staff. Under her supervision, the CEHSP student body grew by 17 percent and all departments showed growth.

Dean Doane and Robert Bruinicks, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the Twin Cities campus, co-created the Educational Doctorate program in Educational Administration. This program enabled many to earn their doctorates, especially historically marginalized staff and faculty at UMD. The contributions of those graduates went on to truly enrich the academic programs and culture throughout the entire campus and the region.

Upon leaving the deanship, Doane returned to the Department of Psychology. However, in 2005, she transferred to the Health Education Program in what is now the Department of Applied Human Sciences. In conjunction with five other faculty in the Health Education Program, they successfully transformed the program into the first Baccalaureate in Public Health within the U of M system and received national accreditation in 2022. Doane and Assistant Professor Marzell Gray also developed a health coaching minor within the program. 

Since 2001, Doane has worked part-time at the Duluth Psychological Clinic providing outpatient group therapy and individual, couple and family counseling. In 2004, she started specializing in the treatment of gender dysphoria and helping people as they transition.

Doane married Stephen Arkulary in 1984 and they recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. Doane has two grown children, Franklin (Flip) Arkulary and Reilee Jones, and one granddaughter, Reese Marie.

Upon retirement, Doane will continue to provide psychological counseling and she is currently studying to be certified as a death doula to provide comfort and companionship to people who are dying. 

Doane started a scholarship in her name, the Dr. Mitzi Scholarship. It will be focused on students who are active in service both within and outside the university and it will rotate between a junior or senior in public health and psychology.  

Associate Professor Lake Dziengel, Social Work

Lake Dziengel with spouse Kären and dogs
Lake Dziengel with spouse Kären and their dogs.

Associate Professor Lake Dziengel is retiring May 2023 after 11 years as faculty in the UMD Department of Social Work. 

After receiving a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, Dziengel spent several years working as a clinical social worker in Minneapolis, followed by 11 years as clinical social work faculty at the University of St. Thomas while working on a doctorate.

Dziengel worked for four years at St. Cloud State University before being hired in 2012 for a tenure track position with the UMD Department of Social Work. Dziengel served as curriculum director on a federal Health Resources Services Administration Behavioral Health Workforce Training Grant from the beginning, assumed Principle Investigator responsibilities in 2014 and subsequently wrote proposals for 4-year federal funding awards of more than $600,000 in 2017 and $900,000 in 2021. Of this, nearly $1 million has been dedicated to MSW student stipends and other financial supports and greatly enhanced the graduate program’s mental health content.

Dziengel primarily taught advanced and clinical content courses in the graduate program, revised content in core and elective courses, and authored new electives focused on grief and loss and healthcare and social work practice. Dziengel served as the department director of graduate studies and MSW program director from 2016–2020 before going on sabbatical. 

In addition to research and publications, Dziengel also served on LGBTQIA Commissions at the National and University level and served for many years on the Minnesota Board of Social Work Advisory Council.

A self-professed lifelong social worker, Dziengel is planning to take some time off before considering a return to clinical social work. Dziengel and their spouse enjoy all Duluth and North Shore outdoor amenities with their Siberian huskies.

Professor Ken Gilbertson, Environmental and Outdoor Education

Ken Gilbertson demonstrating fly fishing

Professor Ken Gilbertson will be retiring in May after 47 years of teaching at UMD. He started teaching first aid and biology lab and will close out his time as head of the Department of Applied Human Sciences.

Some of Gilbertson’s proudest accomplishments/moments include:

  • Founding the UMD Outdoor Program, which he went on to direct for 17 years.
  • The moment the Environmental and Outdoor Education program, which he designed, was approved by the Board of Regents—"to see the plans for that major be approved and put into action."
  • Watching the Master of Environmental Education program grow from a tiny part of the Master of Education program and then seeing it develop into an internationally-recognized standalone graduate program in environmental education.

Another major career highlight for Gilbertson has been the team of colleagues he gets to work with, including Julie Ernst, Tim Bates, Matti Erprestad, Mark Zmudy and Elizabeth Boileau. “They are top-notch people, top in their field, and I got to have a hand in hiring every one of them,” he says. “That is gardening at its best ... planting a seed and watching it grow to maturity.”

During retirement, Gilbertson plans to: get outside into empty spaces more, listen to a bull elk bugle, fly fish more in secluded places, ride his horse and try new activities (he started ice climbing this past winter). He also plans to travel to Finland, be more active in wilderness protection and “figure out how to live life at its fullest while avoiding being hectic.”

Associate Professor Roxanne Biidabinokwe Gould, Education

Roxanne Gould

Associate Professor Roxanne Biidabinokwe Gould is retiring after 9 years of service with UMD with the Department of Education and the Ruth A. Meyers Center for Indigenous Education. She also spent 9 years as a faculty member with the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Gould has worked in Indigenous education for 38 years and has “had the privilege of working with Indigenous scholars, knowledge holders and activists all over the world on every continent except Antarctica.”  

For the first half of her career, Gould worked in Pre-K-12 education, including the creation of a Dakota and Ojibwe language immersion school. The second half of Gould’s career has been in higher education with a focus on Indigenous eco-feminist education as well as land and water pedagogy.  

“My goal was always to do work that was useful and needed in Indigenous communities and to create non-Indigenous allies who will teach the truth to the thousands of students they will inspire over their careers,” says Gould. “As a scholar, my work has primarily been on informal education with an emphasis on land justice, developing Indigenous relations across borders, water rematriation, food sovereignty and sacred site restoration.”

Over her time at UMD, Gould has helped to raise over $1.5 million for her research and these projects.  

Gould’s retirement plans include serving on the Makoce Ikikcupi Dakota land justice project and finishing her book “Rematriating Her Lifeblood: Decolonizing Our Waters By Restoring the Balance.” 

She also plans on gardening, pow wowing, camping, working on water rematriation and spending time with family and friends. 

Associate Professor Helen Mongan-Rallis, Education

Helen Mongan-Rallis at the cabin in a green kayak

Associate Professor Helen Mongan-Rallis began teaching in the UMD Department of Education in the fall of 1989.

Many of Mongan-Rallis’ proudest accomplishments during her career involve her “passionate commitment to teaching and to striving to meet the needs of every single one of my students.” 

Mongan-Rallis was deeply honored to become a University of Minnesota Distinguished Teaching Professor when she was awarded the University of Minnesota Horace T. Morse Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education in 1995. 

Twenty-three years later, she was again recognized for teaching by being awarded the 2018 UMD Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

“When I think back on the highlights of my work at UMD, the first image that comes to mind is seeing my students' faces, especially when they have had ‘aha’ moments or struggled to accomplish something and have finally achieved their goals,” says Mongan-Rallis. “Teaching has always been the source of my greatest joy at UMD. I will retire as excited and passionate about teaching as I was when I began teaching at UMD as a 29-year-old, brand-new assistant professor in 1989.”

During her career at UMD, Mongan-Rallis participated in three different study abroad programs: the first was as a faculty member teaching in the UMD Study in England Programme in Birmingham, England during the Fall of 2000. Then in the Spring of 2004, she led UMD’s Study in Sweden Program at Växjö University, Sweden. Her final study abroad experience was as the director of the University of Minnesota Study in England Programme in Worcester, England. “Each of these experiences was most certainly among the most inspiring and rewarding of my teaching career,” she says.

Mongan-Rallis is also proud of her work as a member UMD’s Intercultural Leadership Development (ILD) team, led by Paula Pedersen. “It was deeply meaningful for me to participate in this campus-wide initiative to facilitate groups of staff, faculty, and administrators in developing our intercultural understanding and skills,” she says. “Dr. Pedersen and I also began offering a faculty development semester-long workshop called the Intercultural Pedagogy Community of Practice (ICPCP). My participation in the ILD and ICPCP groups from 2014 until 2020 was without a doubt the most meaningful and transformational professional development experience of my career. What I learned from my co-facilitators and from the participants of these groups has profoundly shaped all aspects of my life, not only in my various roles at UMD but also in how I interact with people in any context.”

Outside of academia, Mongan-Rallis says, “My proudest and most important accomplishment is seeing our daughter Kaitlin grow up to be a kind, caring, principled, loving, smart, and delightful young woman, entering her senior year of college next year at St. Kate's.”

Mongan-Rallis and her wife Kathryn will split their time in retirement in Minnesota and Florida. They have a condo in Fort Myers where they plan to winter and a cabin on Barrs Lake north of Duluth where they’ll spend summers. They plan to spend a significant amount of time playing pickleball (already they play at least once a day and sometimes twice!). Mongan-Rallis will also pursue her other passions, such as biking, kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, camping, photography, reading and travel. 

In winter, Mongan-Rallis still plans to take trips up north to the cabin in Minnesota to cross-country ski and snowshoe. She’s excited to improve her photography skills and to teach cell phone photography & computer lessons to other retirees. She will continue to serve as a volunteer firefighter and first responder in North Star Township near Duluth and will also volunteer at the local food shelf in Fort Myers.