Born and raised in southwestern Virginia, Stephanie Tolliver Hyman is a first-generation college graduate who is proud of her Appalachian heritage. Hyman has served as the Dean of Arts and Humanities and the Quality Enhancement Plan Coordinator at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College in Bowling Green, KY since 2021. Additionally, she serves as a Senior Fellow for Gateway Course Success at the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education. She holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Richmond and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Virginia?s College at Wise and is currently a doctoral candidate at Morehead State University in the Adult and Higher Education Leadership program. For more than 15 years, Hyman taught English composition and literature in community and technical college systems in the Carolinas, where she served as an award-winning teacher, department chair and writing center director. She is a published essayist and poet with pieces appearing in Luminarium, Chicken Soup for the Soul, You & Me: America?s Medical Magazine, and South Carolina Bards. Outside of teaching and writing, Hyman enjoys spending time with her family and two spoiled cats.