José Wilches

Professional Faculty and Assistant Professor of Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy

• Phone: 309-794-7842
• Email: josewilches@augustana.edu
• Office: Hanson 204A

Dr. José Wilches’ professional experience spans consulting and construction, where he has worked across various sectors, including industrial, buildings and infrastructure. Recently, his focus has shifted toward research in structural engineering and building consulting, with two primary areas of interest: seismic bridge engineering and compost structures. Beyond his academic pursuits, he is the founder and incumbent president of the Building Everyone’s Future Foundation (www.construyendoelfuturotodos.org), which provides training and support for children, youth and women in marginalized Afro-American communities.

Thomas Hammar

Part-Time Assistant Professor of Accounting

• Phone: 309-794-7542; 309-235-4703
• Email: tomhammar@augustana.edu
• Office: Sorensen 261

Tom Hammar is a 1976 graduate of Augustana where he majored in accounting and economics; he received his M.B.A. from St. Ambrose University in 1988. He can also be reached at tom@hammarcpa.com.

Jonas Björk

Visiting Professor of Scandinavian Studies

• Phone: 309-794-8280
• Email: jonasbjork@augustana.edu
• Office: Denkmann 112

Dr. Jonas Björk has taught journalism at Indiana-Purdue in Indianapolis for 35 years, earning five excellence-in-teaching awards. His research has focused on the Swedish immigrant press in the United States and on the presence of U.S. media and popular culture in Sweden. He is the co-author of two books and single author of numerous journal articles and book chapters and has collaborated with colleagues in Sweden, Finland, Canada and Germany on various research projects. In 2012, he was the Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in American Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. Dr. Björk has been a member of the advisory committee for the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center for more than 20 years.

Melissa Baker

Professional Faculty, Instructor and Clinical Supervisor

• Phone: 309-794-7273
• Email: melissabaker@augustana.edu
• Office: Brodahl 210

Melissa Baker rejoins Augustana this fall as full-time professional faculty, following a year as a part-time clinical supervisor during the 2021-2022 academic year. Her career journey began in adult neurological rehabilitation settings in Chicago. Transitioning through pediatric outpatient therapy to school-based speech-language pathology services, she has gained extensive experience across diverse clinical environments. Her current clinical passions center on language and literacy, integrating literacy-based approaches into speech and language therapy, and early childhood language development. Outside of work, she is an avid reader and enjoys traveling to support her children’s pursuits.

Specializations: Public Safety

Hisham Bravo Groover

Assistant Professor of Music

• Phone: 309-794-7411
• Email: hishambravogroover@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 28

Hisham Bravo Groover is the Director of Orchestral Studies and Violin instructor at Augustana College. Additionally, he serves as Assistant Conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles.

Before moving to the Quad Cities, Mr. Groover lived in Minnesota where he served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Conductor of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS), Music Director and Conductor of the Buffalo Community Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre. Additional experiences include roles as Associate Conductor of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra (CO), Assistant Conductor of the Arapahoe Philharmonic (CO), Assistant Conductor of the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre (CO), and Conductor of the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra (IA).

Mr. Groover displays impressive versatility in his concerts, equally at ease with pops and educational programs as he is with masterworks. He has also conducted and assisted in numerous opera productions, including Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus. Thoughtful in his programming, he aims to create concerts that resonate with modern audiences. In 2024, he curated and conducted a program that integrated the music of Hildegard von Bingen, Steve Reich, and Charles Ives with Mozart’s Requiem.

Abroad, Mr. Groover has competed in two international conducting competitions. In 2023, he was invited to the 1st International Ferenc Fricsay Conducting Competition in Szeged, Hungary. In 2022, he was a semi-finalist in the Princess Astrid International Music Competition in Trondheim, Norway.

As a violinist, Mr. Groover studied with several pedagogues, including Michel Boris Zaitzeff, Ching-Yi Lin, and Mark Rush. As a conductor, he has had the privilege to study with Leonid Grin, Kevin Noe, William LaRue Jones, and his principal mentor, Mark Russell Smith.

Specializations: Orchestra, Violin

Lisa M. Seidlitz

Professor of German; Chair of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

• Phone: 309-794-7657
• Email: LisaSeidlitz@augustana.edu
• Office: Denkmann 110

Lisa Seidlitz received her Ph.D. in Germanic studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003, where she specialized in linguistics, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, and language teaching. Her dissertation dealt with functions of codeswitching, or language alternation, in foreign language classes. She earned her master's andbachelor's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Seidlitz teaches a variety of classes, including all levels of German language and culture, German film, and linguistics. Her recent academic work has focused on development and assessment of curricular innovation in German studies. She is active in the American Association of Teachers of German and recently served as the president of the Northern Illinois chapter of that group.

When not teaching, she enjoys baking, cooking, watching independent and foreign films, traveling, and spending time with her husband and daughter.

Specializations: German language, German film, German culture, Teaching German, Foreign language pedagogy

Irene Karedis Borys

Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Brand Communication

• Phone: 309-794-7721
• Email: ireneborys@augustana.edu

Irene Karedis Borys leads Augustana's Office of Communication and Marketing, a multi-talented team of 12 staff members who serve enrollment marketing, brand strategy, campus and alumni communications, media engagement and event management. As assistant vice president, Borys oversees the planning, development and execution of the college's marketing and brand initiatives with primary responsibility to shape the college's brand and promotion strategy. 

Borys previously held roles at the Childress Agency, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and UnityPoint Health. Before coming to the Quad Cities, she held roles in marketing for more than six years after nearly four years in government relations in Washington, D.C.

Specializations: Communication and marketing, Public relations

Justin Bankert

Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics

• Phone: 309-794-7480
• Email: justinbankert@augustana.edu
• Office: Hanson 204C

Dr. Justin Bankert’s research is focused on creating and analyzing computer simulations of the effects of circumbinary accretion disks on the evolution of the orbital characteristics of the central binary. He started his teaching career as a visiting assistant professor at Angelo State University. He then worked as an assistant professor at Troy University. Family concerns brought him back to the Midwest where he worked as an adjunct professor at Oakton College. Dr. Bankert is excited to join the Augustana community as a visiting assistant professor.