People

A native of Illinois, I attended Northern Illinois University and received a Ph.D. in African History from Northwestern University. I have been at Virginia Tech since 2005.  Since the early 2010s, much of my research has focused on refugee history and studies, particularly in Eastern Africa. I work closely with students on undergraduate research projects and numerous service efforts, such as working with immigrant and refugee learners. I’ve had the great pleasure to work closely with Elimisha Kakuma (EK), a college access program in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Teaching and mentoring EK students, and serving beside the EK cofounders, has been enriching and an honor.

Deirdre Hand is the Community Engagement Specialist for the Center for Rural Education and the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies, is a two-time graduate from Virginia Tech and is an educator with a Master’s in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction, with a concentration in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). She grew up in Radford, Virginia, and moved to Floyd County as a teenager, and calls Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Mountains home.  Deirdre has more than 14 years of experience teaching English to speakers of other languages around the world, with highlights including serving as an English Language Fellow through the U.S. State Department in Indonesia, an ESL teacher in Washington D.C. Public Schools, a teaching and research instructor at Virginia Tech, an EFL teacher in the Czech Republic and Ireland, serving as Lead Teacher of a Scholarship Program in Rwanda, working as the English Department Coordinator of a non-profit school in Guatemala, and most recently co-founding Elimisha Kakuma, a university-access program in Kakuma Refugee Camp, in Kenya.  Her passion is promoting educational access to all, especially immigrants, refugees, and other forcibly displaced people.

Marianne Hawthorne is the Office Administrator for the Center for Rural Education and the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies. She has worked at Virginia Tech in Fiscal Operations since 2001. She spent 17 years with the Center for Power Electronic Systems as Fiscal Tech and Administrative Assistant to the Center Director and five years at the National Security Institute and Hume Center as a Senior Fiscal Tech. She received her BS in Business from Radford University. Marianne came to the New River Valley for college and has stayed in the area ever since.

I am an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Consulting and Analytics. I am a first-generation college student from South Sudan and Kenya. I am an alumna of Elimisha Kakuma's class of 2023 and later joined the Center to stay connected with both organizations. I work closely with the Center as a social media intern, leadership team member, and event organizer.