Academic Leaders

Dr. Mengel joined the University of Portland as provost on July 1, 2023. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Vanderbilt University; a master of philosophy in theology (Church history) from the University of Cambridge; and a master of arts and a Ph.D. in medieval studies from the University of Notre Dame. He was a visiting doctoral student at Justus Liebig University in Germany and attended the Institute for Management & Leadership in Education at Harvard University.

In addition to his administrative position as provost, Dr. Mengel is also a professor of history. His research and teaching focus on medieval Europe, especially on the city of Prague under the rule of Emperor Charles IV. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship and the Marshall Scholarship, among many other academic recognitions. His scholarship has appeared in several leading academic journals and has been presented at conferences around the world.

Elise M. Moentmann, Ph.D., came to the University of Portland in 1998. She has previously served as associate dean for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, chair in the Department of History, and director of the Summer Salzburg Program. She has also chaired or served on numerous University and Academic Senate Committees.  She has taught courses in Modern European history, Modern East Asian history, and Urban history.  She is a member of the following scholarly and professional organizations: American Historical Association, Society of French Historical Studies, Society of Architectural Historians, National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).

Dr. Moentmann received her bachelor of architecture and master of arts (history) degrees from Louisiana Tech University and a Ph.D. (history) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Cara Hersh, Ph.D., is assistant provost for undergraduate scholarly engagement and career readiness. Her office oversees the Career Education Center, the Honors Program, fellowships and grants, and undergraduate research. In addition, she is a professor in the English department; her scholarship focuses on medieval literature. Dr. Hersh joined the University of Portland in 2006 and served as an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences for two years before becoming assistant provost in 2022.

Dr. Hersh received a bachelor of arts in English from Haverford College, and her master of arts and Ph.D. in English from Duke University.

Michael Johnson, Ph.D., is assistant provost for institutional effectiveness. He oversees the Office of Institutional Research which provides data collection, analysis, and reporting support for the entire campus community. He serves as UP’s accreditation liaison officer to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Additionally, Dr. Johnson is a world historian whose research and teaching interests focus on the relationship between sports, imperialism, and decolonization in Oceania. He has been at the University of Portland since 2017 and previously served as the coordinator of assessment & accreditation and the director of institutional research.

Dr. Johnson earned a bachelor of arts in history from Lafayette College, and a master of arts and Ph.D. in history from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

‎‎Dr. Prucha joined the Clark Library at the University of Portland in 2019 as the head of collection services. She has served in a variety of positions in libraries during her career as a librarian, including serving as archivist for the American Choral Directors Association, cataloger/archivist at Logan University in St. Louis, MO, and library director at State Technical College of Missouri. Her accomplishments include serving as president of the Missouri Library Association and she continues to serve the academic library community through committee service for the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL).

Dr. Prucha received her bachelor of arts degree in intercultural communication and French from the University of Oklahoma. She holds a master of arts degree in French pedagogy and a master of arts in library & information science (MLIS) from the University of Arizona. She was awarded her doctorate in education from Lindenwood University in St. Louis, MO. Her research interests include the professional status of librarians and library support staff. She currently serves as the interim dean of the Clark Library.

Dr. Banschbach joined the University in 2022. She had previously served as associate provost and dean of Sciences & Education at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Dr. Banschbach also previously held faculty and academic leadership positions at Roanoke College in Virginia and Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. Her accomplishments include a State Council of Higher Education Outstanding Faculty Award for Virginia and a Fulbright-Nehru grant for work in India. Recently, she also served as president of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences.

Dr. Banschbach received her bachelor’s degree and PhD, both in biology, from Pomona College and the University of Miami, respectively. Her recent research and teaching have been in environmental studies and science, so she will also have an appointment as a tenured Pprofessor in UP’s Department of Environmental Studies.

Dr. DeVaughn joined the University in 2021. He previously had been a faculty member at the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he served in various leadership roles at the institution, including faculty director of the MBA Program and research fellow in the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship. His scholarship has centered on organizational learning and entrepreneurship, as well as the delivery of business education.

Dr. DeVaughn received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University, his master of business administration from Indiana University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining St. Thomas, he served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota and enjoyed a successful career in the private sector with corporations including Ralston Purina, PepsiCo, and Fleet Financial Group (now Bank of America).

Joane T. Moceri, PhD, MN, RN, is dean of, and professor at the University of Portland, School of Nursing and Health Innovations (SONHI). Dr. Moceri completed her Ph.D. in nursing science at the University of Washington in 2006 and a master of nursing with an emphasis on communities, populations, and health degree at the University of Washington Tacoma in 2000. She joined the faculty of University of Portland in 2012 after teaching at the University of Washington and founding a community college nursing program. She also served as the dean of the SONHI between 2015and 2018. Her research interests include bias in the nursing workplace, increasing underrepresented populations in nursing, and emergency nurses’ knowledge and attitudes about pain.

Dr. Watzke, joined the University as dean of the School of Education in 2010. He was appointed as dean of the Graduate School in 2019.  His research and work have focused on the development and support of teaching communities, teacher performance assessment, professional development and educational policy. Affirming the belief that theory should be connected to practice, he maintains his teacher certification in foreign language education. Dr. Watzke is a founding member of the International Society for Language Studies, a 501c(6) non-profit, organized in 2002 by scholars united in their goal to create an interdisciplinary society of scholars and practitioners from fields such medicine, law, the arts and social sciences engaged in language studies. He earned his bachelor of arts, master of arts, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Iowa.