FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 

SMC Hires 4 New Faculty Members 

Reid Austin

Cole Cheek

Pam Hutto

Lori Merck

SPARTANBURG, SC – Spartanburg Methodist College is pleased to announce the recent hiring of four new faculty members. 

Reid Austin has been hired as a Professor of English and is teaching Introduction to Writing, Composition I, and World Literature this fall.

Austin is an Upstate South Carolina native who grew up in Spartanburg County and graduated high school in Laurens County. He previously taught in adjunct instructor positions at Piedmont Technical College, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Midlands Technical College, Spartanburg Community College and Greenville Technical College. Austin received a Bachelors of Arts in English from Wofford College in 1994. He earned a Master’s in English from Clemson University in 1997 and a Master’s of Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina in 2000. Austin lives in Greenville.

Cole Cheek has been hired as a Professor of History and Anthropology and is teaching Western Civilization I and American History I this fall. 

Originally from Fountain Inn, SC, Cheek grew up in Mississippi. He received a B.A. in History in 2002 from Millsaps College, with a Minor in Classics. He earned a Master’s in History from Mississippi State University in 2005, and is currently working on a Ph.D. in History with an emphasis on American Indians and Anthropology. He previously served as an adjunct instructor for three years at Holmes Community College in Mississippi. Cheek and his wife Amanda live in Spartanburg.

Pamela Hutto has been hired as a Professor of Sociology and is teaching Introduction to Sociology and Social Problems this fall.

Ms. Hutto received a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology in 1991 from Florida State University. She also earned a Master’s in Family, Child and Consumer Sciences in 2001 and a Master’s in Sociology in 2006, both from Florida State University. Prior to coming to SMC, Ms. Hutto conducted supervisory trainings and managed grant initiatives for the state of Florida, and she handled state contracts for the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology. Her previous educational experience is as an adjunct instructor, teaching College Success courses at Tallahassee Community College and serving as a tutor in the athletic department at Florida State University. While earning her second Master’s, she taught Family Problems and Social Change at FSU. Ms. Hutto resides in Spartanburg.

Lori Merck has been hired as a Professor of Spanish and is teaching Spanish 101, 102, and 201 this fall. 

Mrs. Merck is a Spartanburg native and a 1993 graduate of Dorman High School, where she taught Spanish for 11 years after finishing her undergraduate degree from Converse College. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Spanish, with a minor in Secondary Education. As part of her undergraduate studies, she spent a summer abroad at the Complutense University of Madrid. She received her Master’s in Spanish from Furman in 2001. She and her husband live in Moore, SC, and have three children.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 98th year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, contact Brian Fulkerson, Director of Public Information, at (864) 587-4254.

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