Nashville State Community College
Faculty Bio's
Donny Brazile
Donny Brazile is passionate about history. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Master’s degree in History, a Master’s degree in Education, a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Anthropology. He may even earn a Ph.D. in the not-too-distant future given the right opportunity. Mr. Brazile is living proof that even a high-school dropout can succeed. He enjoys lifelong learning, visiting the beach, utilizing the Internet, eating tasty vittles and sampling exquisite beverages. He is also one of Nashville’s hippest singer/songwriters and performs occasionally at the Bluebird Cafe, as well as other venues in and around the Nashville area.
Brian Curtis
Brian Curtis, a native of Humphreys County, received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Creative Writing from Austin Peay State University. Upon completion of his BA, Brian attended Texas Tech University and earned his Master of the Arts in English Literature.
In addition to his degrees, Brian is a member of the PCA (Popular Culture Association) and has presented at their annual conference in 2004. Brian also conducted an independent study on Graphic Novels during his Masters graduate program. Brian Curtis’ main research foci are English Romanticism, American Post Modern, film studies, and Graphic Novels.
Rhonda Lane
Rhonda Lane (Coffelt) is an instructor at the Humphreys County Center of Nashville State Community College. After serving in the U.S. Army as a musician, Rhonda earned her B. S. in Chemistry from APSU, an M.S. in Biochemistry from TSU, and is currently a PhD candidate at TSU in the Biological Sciences. Rhonda’s previous research interests included biological treatment of contaminated wastewater, yeast protein genomics, and astrobiology. Her dissertation research involves suppression of Natural Killer Cell’s ability to destroy cancer cells by environmental pollutants. Rhonda expects to complete her PhD in 2008.
In addition to her education, Rhonda also brings over 20 years of industrial experience to her classes. Rhonda has served as a Chemist, Trainer, Laboratory Director, Operations Manager, Facility Manager and Director of Treatment for several environmental consulting, transportation and treatment companies. She is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager, a licensed Grade III Wastewater Treatment Operator, and has over 10 years experience training for compliance with the Red Cross, OSHA, EPA, DOT and ISO14001 regulations.
Due to her extensive education and background, Rhonda currently teaches courses in the Biology, Chemistry and Process Control Technology departments: General Biology I and II, Anatomy and Physiology I and II, General Chemistry I and II, Fundamentals of Chemistry and Orientation to Safety.
Rhonda has been married to her husband, John Coffelt for 10 years. They have a daughter, Baylee and Rosie (their cocker spaniel) at home. Rhonda is a certified PADI Scuba Diving Instructor and dives whenever she can. She is an award winning ballroom dancer. She also plays golf and bridge in addition to singing and playing the flute. She is a Science fiction and forensic science fanatic.
Joey Leonard
Joey Leonard is the lead instructor and coordinator for the Process Control Technology program at the Humphreys County Center for Higher Education branch of Nashville State Community College. Joey graduated from East Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology with emphasis in programming and automation. Joey is a veteran of the United States Army where he served as an Electronic Warfare Intercept Control Repairer.
Joey currently resides in Waverly, Tennessee with his wife Tammy. The family has 4 daughters, Holli, Kayla, Rachel, and Kassidy, as well as the memory of their late son Brady.
Russell Streif
After graduating from high school in 1969, Russell served in the Marines. He attended college at Indiana University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in business administration. He later went on to earn both a MBA in marketing and a Master of Science in mathematics.
Russell spent over 25 years in sales and marketing. He has worked for major corporations and has owned three different businesses in the areas of transportation, computer services, and education.
With a vast knowledge of business operations and a wealth of experience in business ownership, management, information systems, and marketing, his practical and academic knowledge has allowed him to be an informative instructor in mathematics since he started teaching in 1999
Robin Cooper-Wilbanks
Robin Cooper-Wilbanks is an instructor of psychology at the Humphreys County Campus. Mrs. Cooper-Wilbanks completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Union University, where she was active in Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, Student government, and was a Lamba Chi Alpha Crescent. She went on to complete her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at Middle Tennessee State University, where she was president of Psi Chi (the national honor society for psychology) and was a graduate assistant to the Foreign Student Advisor.
In addition to being a faculty member at NSCC, Mrs. Cooper-Wilbanks works as a master’s level therapist in the private sector. Since 1990, she has worked with adolescents and their families in dealing with a range of issues from sexual offending, emotional disturbances and aggressive tendencies to juvenile delinquency. Mrs. Cooper-Wilbanks is also a trained juvenile detention officer and has worked as a court liaison in Rutherford and Humphreys Counties. She has also worked with parents as a certified facilitator in the Parent Project, which helps parents of strong-willed children. She has also completed research on the correlates of aggression in adolescent in-patient males. Recently she has been working to establish an animal assisted therapy program at the facility where she is currently employed.
Mrs. Cooper-Wilbanks resides in Benton County with her husband of 5 years, Allen Wilbanks, an alumnus of NSCC, who is a senior at Bethel University. They have a son, Bryce, who is a freshman scholar athlete at Bethel and a daughter, Courtney, who is a junior in high school. Mrs. Cooper-Wilbanks is a YMCA licensed SCUBA diver, who also enjoys films, white water rafting, reading, roller coasters, art, tennis, finding homes for abandoned pets and taking care of the family’s calico cat, all-American dog, and recently adopted kitten who thinks he is a puppy.
[Return to Humphreys Co. Homepage]