Gene Edward Veith, Ph.D.
Provost
Professor of Literature
provost@phc.edu

Dr. Veith oversees the academic programs at Patrick Henry College, which includes working with the faculty, managing the curriculum, and administering the educational services, including the library and the registrar’s office. He also teaches literature and other liberal arts courses. He is the author of 17 books on topics involving Christianity and culture, classical education, literature, and the arts. He previously served as the Culture Editor of World Magazine. For 19 years, he was Professor of English at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he also served for six years as the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Veith has also taught at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and has been a visiting professor at the Estonian Institute of Humanities, Gordon-Conwell, Regent College (Vancouver), and Wheaton College. He also serves as the director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He has been a Fellow at the Capital Research Center and the Heritage Foundation. He received his B.A. in Letters (Literature, Philosophy, History, and Classics) from the University of Oklahoma and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, have three grown children.

Dr. Laura McCollum serves as the Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Pedagogy at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia. Dr. McCollum earned the Ed.D. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle Pacific University, M.Ed. from Southern Oregon University, and a B.A. in History & Political Science from Pepperdine University. She holds dual teaching certifications (Elementary (K-8) and Secondary Social Sciences (9-12)) in the states of California, Oregon and Washington.

Before coming to Patrick Henry College, Dr. McCollum was the Director of Assessment and Assistant Professor of Education for Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. At OWU, she co-authored a successful progress report on strategic planning, assessment and budget for North Central Accreditation. From 2002-2005 she served as the regional chairman for Teacher Education at National University in Redding, California where she provided administrative oversight for: 3 Masters degree programs, 1 Undergraduate degree program, 7 post-baccalaureate certificate programs, and 1 state certificate program. She has also been an adjunct education faculty member at: Simpson University (Redding, CA) and Seattle Pacific University (Seattle, WA).

Dr. McCollum has authored over 16 on-line education courses for multiple universities at both graduate and undergraduate levels. She has made presentations at local, regional and national meetings.  Her current research interests include: educational philosophy, teacher beliefs, integration of faith and learning, and classical Christian education. Dr. McCollum was a Kingswood Scholar at Seattle Pacific University from 1998-2000, received a 2004 National University Presidential Scholar award for her dissertation research (“A Psychometric Investigation of the Witcher-Travers Survey of Educational Beliefs (1999)”) and earned the National University School of Education Service Award in 2005.

She is married to Dr. Steven McCollum (Associate Professor of Music at Patrick Henry College) and they have two children.