Rick Johnson

Rick Johnson received a B.A. in psychology from LSU in 1969 and after two graduate degrees in university administration, switched to art and received his MFA in graphic design from UGA in 1976. He worked as an art director before leaving it behind for an internship in papermaking in Oakland, CA in 1978. He was hired to teach graphic design and book arts in the Lamar Dodd School of Art in 1979. He co-founded the Green Street Press in 1979 and his own Gemelli Press in 1980. He served as associate director of this Art School for seven years and became director of the UGA Studies Abroad in 2006. He is a photographer, papermaker and book artist.

Mary Van Nus,

Mary VanNus is Administrative Specialist for the Cortona office. She earned her undergraduate degree from Berry College with a concentration in Family and Consumer Science and Interior Design. Mary has been with the Study Abroad office since 2001 and traveled to Cortona in Fall 2007.

Kathy Audulewicz

Kathy has been the Senior Accountant for the Cortona office since 2002 and is responsible for all accounting duties for the program. She earned her Associates degree from Athens Technical College and came to the program with 15 years of experience in accounting. She traveled to Cortona in May 2007 and Fall 2008.

Jackie Olsen

Jackie is an Administrative Associate for the Cortona office. She directly assists students with applying to the program, applying for Visas, and preparing students to study in Cortona. She traveled to Cortona in Fall 2009.

Diana Daniel-Lorente

Diana has been an Administrative Assistant with the Cortona office since August 2008. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Miami with a concentration in Film Studies and Photography. Her duties consist of processing of Maymester applicants, shipping of artwork and assisting in special events.

Ben Reynolds

As Science Maymester Coordinator Ben Reynolds works year round with faculty and staff to construct the program’s itinerary. When the students arrive in Italy he oversees the group, making sure that things run smoothly. Ben received his MFA in Photography from the University of Georgia in 1996 and has been a faculty member there since 1999.

Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson manages the studio facilities, exhibitions and shipping procedures in Cortona. He earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia in Ceramics and periodically teaches Ceramics in Cortona.

Enza Valente is fluent in Italian, English, French and Spanish and earned her degree as Interpreter and Translator in English and French in 1987 at the Scuola Superiore per e Traduttori of Rome. She currently manages the office in Cortona, Italy and serves as liason with Cortona city officials, banks, authorities and suppliers.

Marco Pacioni studied contemporary Italian literature at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” where he obtained a laurea in 2000 and a PhD in 2006. After the school of specialization in philosophy at the second University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, in 2001 he moved to Indiana University, Bloomington, where he continued to study Italian literature, philology, and philosophy accomplishing a master in 2002 and a PhD in 2007.  He is the Academic Coordinator at UGA Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, where he also teaches Italian. His main publication is a book on the first printed editions of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. He also published several articles which entirely cover the tradition of Italian literature. His next project is about the visual poetics and the representation of books in the tradition of painting between Medieval and Renaissance. He works as a book reviewer for two national newspapers. He has recently started to collaborate with visual artists to realize projects which include part of his poems.