Ms. Tillema started at Florida Tech as a community volunteer disc jockey at WFIT in 1975 and then became a grill cook at the Sub Café and a flight student from 1993 to 1997.

She earned degrees in English Creative Writing, Composition and Rhetoric, and General Business, and after twenty years of combined teaching and consulting experience, she is eager to show her gratitude to Florida Tech and to help others earn better grades and positions in life.

Dr. Natalie M. Dorfeld was born and raised in Greenville, Pennsylvania, home of the parachute.In her free time, she enjoys anything and everything involving a blatant disregard for personal safety, such as skydiving, petting sharks, and training for marathons / Ironman competitions.She resides in Palm Bay with her wonderful husband, a plethora of cats, and a Heinz 57 mutt.

• Ph.D., English / Composition & TESOL, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2007
• M.A., English, Slippery Rock University, 2002
• B.S., English / Writing, Slippery Rock University, 1998
• B.A., Philosophy, Slippery Rock University, 1998

Professional Experience

Dr. Natalie M. Dorfeld is currently an Assistant Professor of English in the School of Arts and Communication at the Florida Institute of Technology.She has taught American literature, creative writing, business writing, public speaking, and ESL classes at Thiel College and Penn State University (Shenango).Additionally, she works as a freelance writer for Salem Press and serves as an advisory board member for Wadsworth Publishing and Pearson / Allyn & Bacon Publishing.

Educational Background

• Florida Institute of Technology, M.S. Computer Education
• Northwestern University, M.A., English
• University of South Florida, B.A. English

Professional Experience

Prior to coming to Florida Tech, she taught for Schiller College and the University of Maryland in Germany, and at Brevard Community College. She taught AP English Language and AP English Literature classes at Melbourne Central Catholic for 30 years and served as a Reader for the College Board for those exams.

Dr. Stanfield holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Development and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of South Alabama and an MA and BA in English from Jacksonville State University. He is an Assistant Professor of English and the current coordinator for the Writer’s Den. He has been involved in assessment, faculty development, and teaching at the University of South Alabama, Black Hills State University, and Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Stanfield is also the author of six novels.