Briar Cliff University Names New Emeriti Professors

July 11, 2022

Briar Cliff University Board of Trustees approved four professors as Emeriti faculty, Barbara Condon, PhD, RN, Tom Kleen, MS, Rick Petersen, EdD, MSN, and Paul Weber, PhD. The honor is given to retired instructors to recognize their committed service to Briar Cliff University. 

Condon served Briar Cliff from 2003-2020. She began as an assistant professor and advanced to a Full Professor before retirement. She taught in all of Briar Cliff’s nursing programs, undergraduate, masters, and doctorate. Condon served as department interim chair for nursing, along with being a member of the promotion and tenure committee, and the faculty development committee. 

She also served on the Board of Directors for Sunrise Manor retirement Community and donated to many different charities such as the Ronald McDonald House, ALS, Walk for the Cure, Clare Guest House, UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s, and Chad’s House. 

Kleen began teaching at Briar Cliff in 1980 and taught 41 years before retirement. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Briar Cliff and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. Kleen came out of retirement to support instruction needs while the university onboarded new faculty during fall of 2021.  Kleen served as the coordinator for the computer science major and was responsible for creating and implementing the major with his hire. He continued to revise the curriculum as recommended by the Association for computing Machinery (ACM) to maintain standards for Briar Cliff graduates.

Dr. Petersen served from 2006 to 2022 and taught classes at the undergraduate and graduate level. Petersen served as the chair of the department for over a decade, along with the director of the graduate nursing program. Under his leadership, both master’s and doctoral level nursing programs received accreditation through the CCNE and approval through Iowa’s Board of Nursing.

Dr. Weber began his tenure as an instructor in 1980 and advanced to full professor before retiring in 2021. He served as the department chair for 30 years, and taught lower, and upper level organic, biochemistry, radiologic technology, and medical laboratory sciences. He was most notable for taking students to an exploration trip to Black Hills during the summer. 

Recently, Dr. Weber and another Biology faculty member led a dozen students to a national conference in San Diego for students to present their work, with two student research groups receiving conference-wide awards and recognition.

“Dedicated, compassionate, selfless, are words to describe the characteristics of Emeriti Professors,” shares Dr. Todd Knealing, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs.  “These professors have devoted their lives to students, with no expectations of receiving anything in return. Barbara, Tom, Rick, and Paul are incredibly deserving of this honor, and we are grateful for all they have done to support our community and their continued support of Briar Cliff University.”