The College of Fine Arts and Communications Welcomes New Faculty and Staff

BYU’s College of Fine Arts and Communications will start the fall semester with 13 new faculty and three new full-time staff.

Faculty

Hilary Wolfley | Assistant Teaching Professor | Dance

Wolfley graduated with her BA in dance at BYU in 2013 and earned her MFA in dance at Hollins University in 2020. She has taught ballet for 16 years, and this year marks the beginning of her tenth year teaching classes at BYU. Previously she taught as a student instructor, adjunct faculty and visiting faculty at the university. Wolfley will be teaching courses in ballet in the fall semester.

Melissa Crowton | Assistant Professor | Design

Crowton is a BYU graduate, having earned her bachelor’s degree in illustration from BYU in 2012 and a master’s degree in illustration practice from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016. Since then, she has illustrated several children’s books and worked with the Google Doodle team. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Creative Quarterly and American Illustration. Crowton will be teaching illustration courses this fall.

Richard Fry | Associate Professor | Design

Fry received his MFA in Industrial Design from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1994 and his undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from BYU in 1988. He has been teaching at BYU since 2000 in the College of Engineering and served as chair for the industrial design program from August 2003–August 2008. He will teach industrial design courses this fall in the College of Fine Arts and Communications.

Lucas Gibson | Visiting Assistant Professor | Design

Gibson received his BFA in graphic design at BYU and earned his MFA in motion media design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has worked with branding agencies in New York City, managed a freelance business and taught university courses. His work emphasizes the experimental process, the importance of narrative, designing with math and self care as a creative tool. Gibson will teach a course in special design topics in the fall.

Bryan Howell | Associate Professor | Design

Howell is the program coordinator for the department of industrial design at BYU. He directs BYU's Center for Industrial Design Research, which primarily engages undergraduate industrial design students in exploring topics that are of individual interest and impactful on the learning experiences in design courses. He has been teaching at BYU since 2005 in the College of Engineering and will join the College of Fine Arts and Communications this fall.

David Morgan | Associate Professor | Design

Morgan received his MID in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1996 and his undergraduate degree in industrial design from BYU in 1993. He is interested in issues facing small manufacturers, production furniture and design theory. Morgan has been teaching at BYU since 2009 in the College of Engineering and will join the College of Fine Arts and Communications this fall semester.

Paul Skaggs | Associate Professor | Design

Skaggs received his MFA in Industrial Design from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2002 and his undergraduate degree in industrial design from Brigham Young University in 1980. He has been teaching at BYU since 2002 in the College of Engineering and now serves as director of the industrial design program. Skaggs will join the College of Fine Arts and Communications this fall.

Erin Bailey | Assistant Professor | School of Music

Bailey received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in choral music education from BYU. She recently received her PhD in music education from the University of Utah. Bailey is an NCVS-trained vocologist, and her research interests include music and mental health, music teacher education, vocology, general music education and choral conducting. She will be teaching choral and elementary music classes in the fall.

Brian Blanchard | Assistant Professor | School of Music

Blanchard is the Third Horn of the Utah Symphony and received his bachelor’s degree from Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He received his Master’s of Music Technology from Southern Utah University and has performed with several symphonies across the country, including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Kansas City Symphony and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Blanchard’s interests lie in the recording arts and helping students use technology to become better musicians. He will be teaching courses in horn performance this fall.

Nathan Hofheins | Assistant Professor | School of Music

Hofheins received his Bachelor of Arts in music and his Master of Music degree from BYU. He has written and arranged music for several television and cable networks, including ESPN, Fox Sports, ABC and NBC. Hofheins has also written for Warner-Chappell Production Music, one of the leaders in the music library industry. He will teach courses in jazz, commercial music and orchestration this fall.

Shea Owens | Assistant Professor | School of Music

Owens graduated from BYU with his Bachelor’s of Music degree and from Rice University with a Master’s of Music degree. He has sung in several opera performances across the world and participated in community outreach performances with Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera and Taffety Punk Theatre Company. He will teach courses as an Assistant Professor of voice and take up the Director of Opera position this fall.

Nathan Seamons | Assistant Professor | School of Music

Seamons received his associate’s degree from Snow College, his bachelor’s from BYU, his master’s from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas and his doctorate from the University of Utah. He has served as Associate Conductor for the Wasatch Winds and the Irving Symphonic Band and been a guest conductor for the Utah Premiere Brass as well as the Utah Wind Symphony. This fall, Seamons will teach courses in symphonic band.

Shawn Smith | Associate Professor | School of Music

Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from Boise State University, his master’s degree from Louisiana State University and his doctorate degree from Arizona State University. He has served as Director of Bands at the university level for fifteen years and will take up that position here at BYU. Smith has conducted pit orchestras for “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Les Misérables” and has been invited to conduct both educational and professional ensembles across the United States and the international community. He will teach courses in conducting and wind symphony in the fall.

Staff

Jamie Bibler | HFAC Building Care Area Supervisor

Rex Kocherhans | Marketing Services Manager | CFAC Marketing & Production

Rex Kocherhans graduated from BYU in 2002 with a degree in International Law and Diplomacy. He has led marketing and branding efforts at multiple companies on Inc Magazine’s “fastest growing companies” lists. He is also the founder, artistic director and board member of several leading community arts organizations. He now works as the BYU Arts Marketing Services Manager.

Riley Lewis | Marketing and Public Relations | Museum of Art

Lewis studied history and Spanish at BYU before earning an MA in Museums and Galleries in Education from University College London in 2019. He has previously worked in various education and marketing roles for the Church History Museum, the University of Oxford and the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions and currently oversees the MOA’s website, social media channels, advertising and brand management.

*If you have any additions to our 2021-22 full-time College faculty or staff, please contact Francie Jenson at (801) 422-9271 or francie_jenson@byu.edu.