Muriel Brown Mickles
Dr. Muriel Ann Brown Mickles is currently the Dean of Humanities and Social Science at Central Virginia Community College. She has enjoyed a long and rich tenure as an employee of CVCC and most recently held the position as Counselor for many years prior to her current appointment. Dr. Mickles earned an Associate’s Degree in Education from CVCC, her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Master’s Degree in Agency Counseling from Lynchburg College and her Doctorate of Education in Administration and Supervision from the University of Virginia.
Dr. Mickles is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Phi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology; Kappa Delta Pi, the National Honor society in Education; and Chi Sigma Iota, the International Honor Society in Counseling. She has also been active in numerous community organizations and groups including Camp Child Executive Board, Dance Theatre of Lynchburg Executive Board, the Alliance for Excellence Local and Executive Boards, the Virginia Community Colleges Association and an active participant in the Community Dialogue on Race Initiative. Dr. Mickles is currently the Project Director of the CVCC Alliance for Excellence. She is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta, Inc. Sorority.
Among her numerous awards, Dr. Mickles has been recognized on three separate occasions as the CVCC recipient of the Virginia Community College Association Showcase Award, nominated for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, recognized as an Honored Member of Empire’s Who’s Who, received the CVCC Outstanding Employee Award and was recipient of the Jessie Ball DuPont Doctoral Studies Scholarship from Lynchburg College that provided full financial support for her doctoral work at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Mickles has been married to her husband, George Mickles, for 35 years and they have three wonderful children, Bethanie, Anna and Evan. Dr. Mickles is an active member of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church where she directs and manages the New Generation of Hope Youth Choir, serves as Sunday School pianist, sings on several choirs, welcomes visitors to the church, serves with the Media Ministry and takes an active part on many church committees.
Dr. Mickles attributes her success to hard work, endurance, tenacity and allowing God to direct her path. She recognizes that prayer and support from family and friends make anything possible.
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Brian Walsh
Brian Walsh had a reputation among his instructors at Central VA Community College. He was known as the “guy who asks too many questions,” but the faculty were also thrilled that he wanted to learn all he could about Respiratory Therapy. It paid off because today Brian serves as the Clinical Research Coordinator for Respiratory Care at Children’s Hospital of Boston, the primary pediatric hospital of Harvard Medical School.
In 1995, Brian completed the Respiratory Therapy Technology Program at Central VA Community College, then continued his studies at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, and graduated from Old Dominion University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science, and later an M.B.A. from Liberty University. After working as a Senior Therapist for four years at the University of Virginia Children’s Respiratory Therapy Department, Brian became the Department supervisor. In 2005, Brian was selected as the clinical research coordinator and Faculty Lecturer until 2008, when he took the position with Children’s Hospital.
During his time in Virginia, Brian served as President of the Virginia Society for Respiratory Care, authored or co-authored over twenty publications and volunteered with local Emergency Response units. When asked why he chose pediatric care as his specialty, Brian responded, “The little ones are the most vulnerable and need the care. They don’t cause or ask to have their breathing difficulties and lung diseases, but we certainly can and need to make their lives better.”
Brian told the Class of 2008 to learn from their mistakes, to be honest and authentic, and to develop a strong work ethic. “Never stop learning. History is so important. Every person has the potential to teach you something. I occasionally work with children who have Down Syndrome. Many of them taught me the joy of life through their simple pleasure….a favorite toy, a smile, the joy of dancing in new socks.” Brian finds great joy in the life he shares with his wife Stephanie and their two children and, obviously, too, in his chosen field of work. It comes from a deep commitment to caring for others and to learning. He is, after all, the CVCC student “who asked too many questions.” We’re glad he did!
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Judy Roach Karniewicz
Judy Roach Karniewicz learned early in life that you have to work hard to achieve your dream. Her parents put endless hours into farming and running their business in Huddleston, Virginia in order to provide for their six children. At the time, no one in Judy’s family had graduated from high school. College was a dream that only existed for the well-to-do. “There was a lot of guidance given to the students from wealthy families. I wanted be a lawyer for as long as I can remember. I wanted to go to college but I just didn’t know how to do it.” So, at age fifteen, Judy got a job waiting tables and, one year later, moved out on her own. In her senior year at Staunton River High School, Judy took advantage of some early college classes offered at her school by Central VA Community College.
Following her graduation, Judy traveled to the CVCC Main Campus and met her academic advisor, Muriel Mickles. “I had no idea what you had to do to enter college. I told Muriel ‘I want to be a lawyer; just show me how to do it.’ She showed me how to select classed and courses, and then sent me to financial aid to figure out how I was going to pay for it all.”
Judy was still waiting tables, had taken a full-time office job and did some babysitting on the side. She scheduled her classes around her two regular jobs so that some days she was on campus from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., and others she worked until 9:00 p.m. then went home to hit the books until the wee hours of the morning. In 1997, Ms. Roach received her A.A.S. Degree in General Studies, and was accepted at the University of Virginia. Two years later, she graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy.
On a whim, Judy applied to the University of Florida Law School and was accepted. A friend she had made while at CVCC, Professor of Accounting John Illig, convinced Judy to concentrate her field of study to tax law. One year later, she graduated with a Masters in Tax Law from the University of Florida. In 2005, Judy married her husband Ted, a health care consultant, whom she met playing mixed league softball. She began her career with the firm of Hines, Norman, Hine, P.L. in Tampa, Florida but, within two years, Judy branched out and now has her own tax law firm of The Karniewicz Law Group.
In October of 2007,Ted and Judy became the proud parents of Madeline Elizabeth (Maddie). In her spare time, Judy gives pro bono legal support to charities such as the PET Florida Tampa and also the Family Justice Center. Even though Tampa is a long way from CVCC, Judy says she is forever grateful to the CVCC staff and faculty who have helped to bring her dreams to life.
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Michele Stone
Michele Rae Stone didn’t really care for Science before taking Biology at Central VA Community College (CVCC) with Dr. James Valentine. Michele says he “taught me to see science in a whole new light.” Today Dr. Stone serves as the Senior Scientist for Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc.
Before graduating magna cum laude from CVCC in 1994 with an A.A.S. Degree in Science, Michele served as President of the Student Government Association, president of Phi Kappa Theta honor society, and president of Students Against Drunk Driving. While earning her B.S. Degree in Chemistry at Lynchburg College in 1996, Dr. Stone received the Outstanding Senior Chemistry Student Award, and the James Lewis Howl Award from the American Chemical Society. Her Ph.D. is from the University – Baltimore, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Among her specialties are cell culture, electron microscopy, proteomics and DNA analysis.
Michele is the co-founder of Our Children, Inc., a non-profit organization working to ensure that no child in the world will have to suffer from malnutrition in the future. Several desperately poor areas of Argentina are the work sites of Our Children, Inc., with the aim of validating the impact of nutrition on the development of children.
In addition to her intense workload, Dr. Stone still finds time to teach Anatomy and Physiology at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. She enjoys giving other students the same opportunity she had at CVCC - helping them see science in a whole new light.
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