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Staff

Steve M. Virgil

Director and Professor of Law

Steve VirgilSteve Virgil is the director of the Institute for Public Engagement, a three-year appointment effective January 1, 2010. He is an associate clinical professor of law and director of the School of Law’s Community Law and Business Clinic, where Wake Forest clinical students offer legal services to non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs who create new businesses in low-wealth areas in Forsyth County. For the past year, Steve has served on the Faculty Public Engagement Advisory Board and has become a familiar face in the local community. Before joining the faculty in 2008, Steve directed a similar law clinic at Creighton University School of Law; practiced law with the Urban Development Office of Cleveland Legal Aid in Ohio and the Kutak Rock law firm in Omaha; and clerked for the Honorable George W. White, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. He is the founder and general counsel of the Great Plains Environmental Law Center and a former National Association for Public Interest Law Equal Justice Fellow with the Nebraska Appleseed Center.

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  • Telephone: 336-758-5030 or 336-631-1953

Velvet E. Bryant

Assistant Director

Velvet Bryant

Velvet Bryant, formerly a Wake Forest Fellow in the Office of the Provost, joins the Institute for Public Engagement as assistant director. Her academic experience as a psychology major and women’s and gender studies (WGS) minor at Wake Forest included completing a directed study on the development of civic engagement in adolescents, attending local and national conferences on social issues, and writing published articles for the Wake Forest magazine and WGS newsletter. She also participated in the Mission of Good Hope service trip in Kayamandi, South Africa, and interned at the Experiment in Self-Reliance, Inc.  During her fellowship in the Provost’s Office, Velvet contributed to several initiatives on campus, worked with administrators, faculty and staff on various committees, and served as the interim associate director of the Pro Humanitate Center. Velvet oversees the Summer Nonprofit Immersion Program, Engaged Scholarship Initiative on Community Based Research, the Nonprofit Essentials Program and manages the various support funds for faculty development.

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  • Telephone: 336-758-3310

Norma-May Isakow

Associate Director

In August of 2o11, the Institute for Public Engagement welcomed Norma-May Isakow as Associate Director. Norma-May graduated from law school in South Africa where she practiced law, taught at the University of Cape Town, and supervised student legal aid clinics. She received an LLM degree from the London School of Economics and is admitted to the California and Colorado Bars. As Senior Research Assistant to a U.S. federal judge, she created a judicial internship program for law students.  Norma-May was Director of Public Interest and adjunct faculty at the University of Denver College of Law where she created, taught and coordinated a Public Interest Practicum program. Norma-May comes to the Wake Forest University Institute for Public Engagement from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she served as Director of UAB’s Office for Service Learning, merging her experience in community-based education with her enthusiasm for working with students.

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  • Telephone:  336-758-4021

Sharon Andrews

Faculty Director of the Ace Fellows Program and Professor of Theatre

Sharon is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Wake Forest University. She teaches directing, acting and playwriting. Prior to coming to Wake Forest she taught at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and was a founding member of Theatreworks where she directed and or performed in several plays.

In North Carolina she has directed for WFU Theatre, Twin City Stage, The U of NC School of the Arts and Paper Lantern Theatre. She recently directed Grapes of Wrath for Wake Forest Theatre and will direct Emilie, La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends her Life Tonight in the spring of 2012. As a performer, Sharon recently appeared as Kimberly in Kimberly Akimbo for Paper Lantern Theatre.

With her colleague Brook Davis, Sharon directs Wake World.

Sharon was an ACE Fellow in 2009/2010.

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  • Telephone:  336-969-4431

Aimee Mepham

Administrative Coordinator

Aimee Mepham joined the staff of the Institute for Public Engagement as Administrative Coordinator in January 2011. She also serves as Administrative Coordinator for the WFU Humanities Institute. Aimee holds a BA in English from Albion College in Albion, Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to working for the IPE, Aimee also teaches creative writing as a part-time faculty member at Salem College.

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  • Telephone: 336-758-3074

James Cornish

Coordinator for Assessment/Graduate Assistant

James Cornish graduated from Pomona College in 2007 with a major in economics and a minor in theatre.  He is currently working completing his master’s degree in mathematics at Wake Forest University. James will help develop assessment tools to measure impact of the IPE programs and community partnerships.

Wesley Harris

K-12 Education Initiative Coordinator / Graduate Assistant

Wesley Harris received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Wake Forest University, and now returns as a graduate student in the Department of Counseling. During his time at Wake Forest, Wesley was a member of the varsity cheerleading team, president of his fraternity (Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.), and actively involved with a number of programs working with students in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. He was a member of the United Way of Forsyth County’s 2006 Project Blueprint class. After leaving Wake Forest, Wesley explored the business world with the Target Corporation and Northstar Travel Media. He most recently worked as a project manager for SMMC Studios, a marketing firm based in Charlotte, NC, and as the wrestling head coach at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. Wesley is excited to work with the Institute to strengthen the relationship between Wake Forest University and the students in the wider Winston-Salem/Forsyth County community. He hopes to embody the Institute’s motto of “Engaging Minds, Empowering Communities.”