LaDonna Taylor earned her Bachelor of Science from Trevecca Nazarene University with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Music. She earned a Master’s of Science in Education – Administration and Supervision from Tennessee State University. She served as a satellite campus director with Nashville State Community College for 6 ½ years. During that time the campus grew from 90 students to over 800 students. She was instrumental in moving the campus from its original location on Foster Avenue in Nashville to the Global Mall in Southeast Nashville. She has taught mathematics full time with Nashville State Community College and Volunteer State Community College, and part time with Trevecca Nazarene University. Her favorite courses to teach are Basic Algebra, Mathematics for the Liberal Arts and College Algebra. Her research for her Master’s degree was math anxiety and the impact it has upon students career choices. She has a passion to help students that struggle with mathematics to become successful in math and fulfill their educational pursuits.

Since moving to Sumner County, she works with Sumner County Election Commission as a poll worker during elections. Other than teaching math, she enjoys music, sewing, gardening, hiking and spending time with her family.

Alyssa Burlingame joined the Cumberland family in Fall 2024 as a professor of Business Communications.

She is the founder and CEO of Daisy & Dahlia Branding Co., where she helps businesses talk to their ideal customers in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.

Prior to having her own business, Alyssa gained wide-range experience in copywriting, real estate, business, marketing, journalism, and more. She has studied in Washington, D.C., which is where she fell in love with marketing, content strategy, and helping people do business well.

When she’s not teaching or working, Alyssa can be found spending time with her loved ones in Columbia, Tennessee. Her favorite things are iced coffee, books, and all things bee-themed.

Ethan is a Lebanon native and recent Cumberland University graduate. Having spent the better part of five years attaining his undergraduate degree in Business Administration, and his master’s degree in the same, he has returned to Cumberland University as an adjunct instructor. A silly goose at heart, Ethan is excited to be able to give back to the place that gave him so much, and to help give new students as positive an experience as he had when he was in their shoes.

As of August 2024, Ethan works primarily at Best Buy in Mount Juliet, where he helps many people, yes possibly including you, find the computer they need to succeed.

Bruno Padovani is a manufacturing and engineering professional, and is currently the President of ANCONATEK, Inc., a manufacturing productivity consultancy. Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised mostly in New Jersey, he has a diverse industry background, primarily in food processing, having held jobs in engineering, maintenance, R&D and manufacturing management. In his younger years, Bruno Padovani was an active duty naval officer who served on a nuclear powered cruiser and on an amphibious assault ship, and then transitioned to the Naval Reserve where he eventually retired as a commander in 1996. In his civilian life he worked at Kraft, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company and at the Ferrara Candy Company, eventually transitioning into private consulting work in 2017. Bruno Padovani received an engineering BS from the US Naval Academy, a Technology Management MS from the Stevens Institute of Technology, a Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University, and a professional engineering license from the State of New Jersey.

Bruno lives with June, his wife of 35 years, in Mount Juliet. They have one child, Philip, who lives with his wife Susan, also in Mt. Juliet. Bruno is active with the Middle Tennessee Boy Scout Council helping them develop a STEM focused scouting program, and is involved with his local American Legion chapter, most recently running their HS Oratorical scholarship program.

Julie Martin  is a native Nashvillian who has spent the last 35 years serving students and parents as an educator and administrator.  She has a husband and 2 grown children. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Welch College and her Master’s from Vanderbilt University. She taught math at Hunters Lane High School, Stratford High School and Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School from 1988 to 2003, before going to the MNPS Central Office (Support Hub) to serve as the District K-12 Mathematics Director, the Exceptional Education Math Coordinator, then as the STEM Coordinator.  She served 3 years in Williamson County Schools, first as the District K-5 Math and Science Specialist, then as an assistant principal at Lipscomb Elementary school. She returned to MNPS in 2014 as a consulting teacher for Head Middle Magnet, then for Nashville School of the Arts.  She then spent 6 years as the Curriculum and Instruction Principal for Glencliff High School. Along the way she served on 2 State Math Standards Revision Committees, edited middle and high school math curricula for the SpringBoard division of the College Board and various textbook companies, and created content for the TDOE’s rollout of Common Core Standards support materials.  She also served as a national trainer for the College Board and as a PD facilitator for the TDOE, MNPS, WCS, The Learning Curve, and various math resource companies.  She retired in 2022, but continued to work as the Curriculum and Instruction Principal at GHS on a 120 day contract, then as numeracy coach at Hume-Fogg on another 120 day contract last year. Some of her favorite things to do are spend time with her 4 grandchildren, sing, play the piano, hike, watch movies, camp, and kayak.  She loves people and is an extrovert.  She is passionate about education, math education in particular, and doing everything she can to ensure that every student feels comfortable, competent and confident in their math abilities.  She believes that every person is a “math person” and it’s her job to help them realize and tap into that.  She is excited to be joining the math faculty at Cumberland as an adjunct instructor.