Six professors at Point Loma Nazarene University are retiring this year, and each has left an impact on many students, faculty and alumni. Within their years of professing and administering, they said their time at PLNU has changed them. The six are: Michelle Riingen, dean of the School of Nursing, Karl Martin, literature professor, Rebecca Laird, interim dean of the School of Theology, Frank Marshall, associate dean of the Fermanian School of Business, Ron Benefiel, director of the Center for Pastoral Leadership and Jesús Jiménez, mathematics professor.
Michelle Riingen
Michelle Riingen began teaching at PLNU as an adjunct professor in 1998 and started full-time the following year. She taught courses at the pre-nursing, second- and third-year, graduate and RN-BSN (registered nurses who have an associate degree, seeking a bachelor’s) levels. She became the dean of the School of Nursing in 2021. Riingen, a military daughter, moved to Chula Vista in the third grade and remained in the area for most of her studies and career experience.
The Point: Do you have a favorite memory or most impactful moment from your time on the faculty?
Michelle Riingen: My experiences through Love Works, because … [it] really brought everything together for my spiritual walk and my relationship with Christ. … As far as working with students, faculty and staff … it was eye-opening to see young adults coming out of high school who had such a strong relationship with Christ. Point Loma has been a spiritual journey for me.
TP: What legacy do you hope to leave behind at PLNU?
MR: As I was called to academia, I realized the ability to teach students who then become graduates, who learned to be nurses with a foundation of Christ – that’s a legacy that I’m happy about. Because each student then goes out and touches so many other thousands of patients in ways that I could never do by myself.
TP: What will you miss the most about being a professor?
MR: The Point Loma community. … No matter what’s happening at work, no matter what’s happening at home, it’s just a true Christian community that I have been blessed to be a part of.
TP: If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
MR: If I can go back to my younger self, I would bring that scripture to even sooner – “To whom much is given, much will be expected,” and to be thankful. … I wish my younger self knew that scripture way back when.
TP: What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
MR: To be able to have time to think and really reflect and talk to him [God], where I don’t have other things clouding my mind. To get healthy so that I can serve him as long as he’ll have me here. And also hang out with my husband.
Karl Martin
Karl Martin began teaching in PLNU’s literature department in 1998. Before that, he taught at Northwest Nazarene for seven years and Arizona State for three. At PLNU, he taught all eras of American literature and African American literature. After graduating from Point Loma College with a bachelor’s in literature, he said he knew he wanted to come back as a professor. When the job opportunity opened up, Martin said he took it to give back to the department that poured into him and to be closer to his brother, who taught chemistry there.
The Point: Do you have a favorite memory or most impactful moment from your time on the faculty?
Karl Martin: President Brower decided to start asking a faculty member to speak at commencement. We’ve been doing it now since 2004, and I was the first person he asked. … [That] would be a particular memory in part because it was the last time that we had a commencement with all the undergrads in one ceremony. … It was a lot of fun and to have him have the confidence in me to ask me to do that, well, that’s so special.
TP: What legacy do you hope to leave behind at PLNU?
KM: I hope that I’ve been faithful to the task in the time that I was here, and the colleagues that I’ve taught alongside will have appreciated the work that we’ve done together.
TP: What will you miss the most about being a professor?
KM: The opportunity to have conversations with 18- to 22-year-olds about works we’ve read together. Absolutely.
TP: If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
KM: Stay faithful to the task; stay faithful to the call to teach – to be the kind of professor I want to be.
TP: What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
KM: A change in the routine; a change in the pressure of always getting ready for the next semester – always getting ready for the next class.
Rebecca Laird
Rebecca Laird returned to PLNU in 2011 to pursue academia after a number of years since receiving her bachelor’s in literature from Point Loma College alongside Karl Martin. She is an ordained minister and has served churches in New Jersey and California, as well as led many spiritual retreats. As an alumna, she stayed involved at PLNU and when a faculty position opened, they invited her to fill it. She first served as interim dean of the School of Theology from 2015-16, then again in 2023.
The Point: Do you have a favorite memory or most impactful moment from your time on the faculty?
Rebecca Laird: One of my favorite memories is the night that we did the “Women in Christianity” event to launch the Women in Christianity course, which became a gen-ed [general education] offering several years ago. … it was delightful to hear faculty – the experts in their field – echo around the theme, and for students to come and be curious. … They [Women in Christianity courses] didn’t exist back in the day. That was important to me.
TP: What legacy do you hope to leave behind at PLNU?
RL: I would hope that my legacy here is to underscore something important in the university that’s been here forever – is that we really think about the overflow of our life with God as a relational lifestyle. … That connection is what I hope people have seen in me and learned in the classes that I’ve taught.
TP: What will you miss the most about being a professor?
RL: The unexpected conversations with students. Being a professor is a seed planting endeavor. … When you get to see somebody have an idea they hadn’t had before, feel seen and heard, become confident in expressing an opinion – those moments are really the delightful part of ongoing life of a professor.
TP: If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
RL: Don’t hesitate so much. … I would say my temperament and working in theological spaces, which are until recently quite gendered, I’ve been more reluctant to step into more public leadership roles. I didn’t get ordained until I was 35. I think if I were to talk to my earlier self, I would say, “Consider yourself qualified. Go ahead, step into the arena.”
TP: What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
RL: Freedom and flexibility. I have done some coaching with the Center for Pastoral Leadership – I’ll do some of that. I’ll go back and do more writing. I’ll travel more. And I’m going to be the group lead for the Experience Scotland next spring.
Frank Marshall
Frank Marshall joined PLNU as an adjunct professor in the Fermanian School of Business (FSB) in 2015, then became full-time in 2017, teaching graduate and undergraduate business management courses. While he didn’t begin his career in academia, he found himself teaching a few night classes at the University of Phoenix. While pursuing his doctorate in business management at George Fox University, he heard about a job opening at PLNU and connected with his previous professor, Ken Armstrong, who worked at PLNU at the time, about applying. He became associate dean of the FSB in 2020.
The Point: Do you have a favorite memory or most impactful moment from your time on the faculty?
Frank Marshall: For me, the most impactful moment was working with Bruce Schooling, who was before me, and he was my mentor. He gave me a road map of, “Here’s what you need to do since you’re coming to academia.” That was most impactful on me; the most impactful for me was I ran the Enactus Club [for undergraduate business students], and we took on some real-life clients. … Our goal was to work with immigrant entrepreneurs here in the United States, and that’s what we did.
TP: What legacy do you hope to leave behind at PLNU?
FM: Developing relationships with students, with the faculty, with people around us and community members. … In the short period of time we’re with them, how do we influence them to do something different? … I’m hoping that when people remember me, [they think] we had a good relationship.
TP: What will you miss the most about being a professor?
FM: Being in front of the students and teaching with them, getting to hear their stories and getting to help them find the career that they want to get to.
TP: If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
FM: I need to not give my parents as much grief as I gave them growing up as a wild teenager. My mother prayed for me daily, my godmother prayed for me daily, and I think it’s with the grace of God that have me here today.
TP: What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
FM: Right now, I drive from Camarillo, Ventura County, so it’s 183 miles. So, looking forward to that and not driving. I’m looking forward to waking up every day and having coffee with my wife in the morning, working with an 11-month-old Bernedoodle, Mable, and a 12-week-old Goldendoodle, Marge. We built a garden room, growing our own fruits and vegetables. And hanging out with – I have two granddaughters. I’m looking at starting a business – I bake – to sell to [places] who sell beer and wine, but don’t do desserts.
Ron Benefiel
From Pasadena College and Point Loma College, Ron Benefiel received his Bachelor of Arts degree, then a master’s in religion. He served as a pastor in Los Angeles, CA, for over 20 years and was invited back to PLNU to teach sociology and theology in 1996. He also served on PLNU’s Board of Trustees from 1991-96. In 1997, he helped found the Church of the Nazarene in Mid-City, where some PLNU courses are now taught. He was the dean of the School of Theology from 2011-15, and now serves as the director of the Center for Pastoral Leadership. He retired about three weeks ago.
The Point: Do you have a favorite memory or most impactful moment from your time on the faculty?
Ron Benefiel: When I came here [in 1996], it was an opportunity to start a church. Got a couple other professors in the religion department, and the three of us co-pastored and started the church [Mid-City]. … That’s still where I’m part of today.
TP: What legacy do you hope to leave behind at PLNU?
RB: I don’t think about legacy much, because a legacy makes it sound like it’s about me. I think in terms of how the mutual impact of relationships, courses that I’ve taught, where we are learning together with students. … I think not too much legacy, but the privilege of interacting in a community where I believe in the mission of the place, the people of this place and how we have the opportunity to grow together.
TP: What will you miss the most about being a professor and an administrator?
RB: In some ways, what I’ll miss is having a place to hang my hat – is an office. … This feels more like a dot on the line for me because I just had lunch with friends, my son is here on staff and I have granddaughters in the Early Childhood Learning Center. But what’s interesting is there’s not any place to hang my hat, so that’s kind of a funny thing to miss.
TP: If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
RB: To enjoy and participate in as much as possible – the wide range of community life, cultural events, sporting events, lectures – this is a culturally rich place. … To not miss out on that.
TP: What are you most looking forward to in retirement?
RB: What I’m looking forward to and what I’m experiencing is to do a lot of the same things that have been really important to me, without any sense of time orientation where it has to be done today. … It’s kind of a different way of thinking about time, but I’m looking forward in that time to prioritizing a lot of time with friends and family.
Jesús Jiménez
Jesús Jiménez began teaching in PLNU’s mathematics department in 2003. Before that, he was a teaching fellow at the University of Utah as a graduate student from 1984-89, then was a professor at the University of California Riverside from 1990-92. He received his bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his doctorate from the University of Utah. Jiménez did not respond for a comment.
Angelica Moser