Dean’s Office Staff

Mercy Cannon earned her Ph.D. in English with a specialization in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literature from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2005. She started her career at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas as the writing center director before becoming an assistant professor of English at Austin Peay State University. There she served for six years as the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Letters and for three years as the department chair for Languages and Literature. Mercy moved from Clarksville, Tennessee with her husband, Paul Stansel, and their two children, Cannon and Amelia.

John P. Bowes has worked at EKU since 2006 when he joined the faculty as an assistant professor specializing in Native American history. From 2018 to 2021 he chaired the Department of History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies and then served as interim dean of CLASS for one year before taking on the role of associate dean. He earned his B.A. at Yale University and his Ph.D. at the University of California at Los Angeles. Prior to his arrival at EKU, he held the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. John lives in Lexington, Kentucky with his wife, Sarah, and daughters, Callie and Reese.