The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is a commonwealth in political union with the United States located at a strategic location in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 14 islands.

The CNMI is approximately 1,458 miles southeast of Tokyo, Japan; 1,654 miles east of Manila, Philippines; 1,703 east of Taipei, Taiwan; 1,900 miles southeast of Hong Kong; 2,200 miles southeast of Seoul, Korea; 2,900 miles north of Sydney, Australia; and 3,200 miles west of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Meet our powerful faculty and staff

At the University of Loyola, getting the right people for the job is a key step in providing excellent education for our students. Our faculty members and staff work beyond traditional boundaries to maximize the learning experiences of future health care leaders.

Our current and reserve pool of academic and general staff include doctors of medicine, doctors of philosophy, registered nurses, lawyers, financial experts, veteran educators and community volunteers who all have passion for making a difference in the lives of others.

Here are some of them:

Dr. E. Roland Brown
Instructor, English/English as a Second Language
University of Loyola at CNMI

Dr. E. Roland Brown is a former principal at Northern Marianas Academy and later at Ladera International School of Saipan (LISS). Most recently, he has founded the Saipan American Education Foundation (SAEF). He is also serving as principal of SAEF school and a professor at the newly opened University of Loyola on Saipan.

He helped establish and run English language centers in Japan, Oregon, Georgia, Utah and Idaho, and has developed curriculum for distance learning, in-classroom use and online instruction. He has presented for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conferences in Mexico, Utah, Oregon and Korea.

He holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Idaho and a TESOL certificate from the University of Utah. His bachelor and master degrees are in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics with an emphasis on TESOL.

In 2006, Dr. Brown was contracted by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins to do illustration for a medical textbook.

Dr. Brown traveled to Colombia, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua and Iraq because of his father’s job as a United States diplomat. He also lived in Asia for six years and was intensively involved in English as a Second Language (ESL) program development and teacher training in Japan for TDK, in Taiwan for Shih Chien College, and in Korea for Sook Myung Women’s University.

Dr. Brown has taught ESL for both private and public high schools. At the university level, he has taught not only graduate ESL courses, but also Japanese language speech communication, English composition, technical writing, writing for publication, and foreign language teaching methods.

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Peter J. Coleman, J.D.
Instructor, Political Science
University of Loyola at CNMI

Peter J. Coleman is a lawyer, a financial advisor, an educator, an active community volunteer and founder of a soccer organization for youth and adults, among other things.

He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California in 1991. He established his own law offices in Houston, Texas a year after graduation and later became a consultant at Windsor Consulting Inc. also in Houston.

As a registered representative of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), he was district manager for American Express Financial Advisors in Houston and later became an independent financial advisor.

Since 1997, he has been a faculty member and college counselor at Marianas Baptist Academy. He conducts classes in civics, United States history/AP United States history, world history/AP world history, English grammar and composition, Calculus I, Algebra II, AP economics, and speech.

He has been an attorney-coach for mock trial teams and the Attorney General’s Cup since 2005. He was included in Who’s Who Among American High School Teachers for 2004-2005, and Saipan’s VFW Teacher of the Year for 2005-2006.

Coleman is an active community volunteer. He was a member of the World War II 60th Commemoration Steering Committee, and a director and officer for Saipan International School’s Board of Directors between 2004 and 2006.

He founded the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA), a youth and adult soccer organization which sent CNMI teams to the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) tournaments in China in 2006 and Guam in 2008. As the founder, he assisted in the formation of the first youth, men’s and women’s national football teams in the CNMI.

As executive committee member and former general secretary of NMIFA, Coleman facilitated membership not only in the EAFF but also the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The NMIFA’s acceptance into the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) will be the final step for the organization.

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Perry C. Conner, MBA
Instructor, Algebra
University of Loyola at CNMI

Perry C. Conner remains active in education on Saipan despite his retirement, conducting workshops and training for a select group of students and small businesses. He is someone who believes in education as a valued lifestyle.

He provides tutoring services for students and adults who want to improve their speaking, reading, writing and math skills, as well as for those who want to prepare for SAT, Praxis, driver’s license, citizenship and other tests. Conner also provides financial advice to small businesses.

He taught Accounting, Math and Management at Northern Marianas College, and English and Math at Marianas High School on Saipan.

In Hawaii, he taught English and Math at Pahoa High School, as well as accounting, finance and management at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. He also taught personal finance for the Pacific Afloat College Education (PACE) for the United States Navy.

As a businessman in California, Conner engaged in financial planning, investment advising and real estate development, finance, and management. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California-Berkeley.

Conner served as coach for the U8 Matansa soccer team (Northern Mariana Islands Football Association or NMIFA), and is a former president of the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School’s Parent-Teacher Association in San Roque.

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Larry L. Wright, A.A., B.S., M.Ed.
Instructor, Sociology
University of Loyola at CNMI

Larry L. Wright has been an educator since 1982 in various states and territories – Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Guam, Tinian and now, Saipan. He has taught adult education, as well as mathematics, music, reading and English for college, high school and elementary students.

Wright holds a Master of Education degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma in May 1984. He earned an Associate in Arts degree in Sociology from Oklahoma City Community College in August 1983, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education from Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana in December 1981.

In December 2006, he completed additional studies in Educational Administration and Supervision at the University of Guam in Mangilao, Guam.

Before joining the University of Loyola at CNMI, Wright was personnel supervisor at Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino from December 2007 to September 2008, and a math/music teacher at Tinian Junior and Senior High Schools from September 2006 to July 2007.

Between August 1993 and December 2005 on Guam, he was an education specialist at the University of Guam, and taught at Guam Community College, George Washington High School, Guam International Christian Academy, Inarajan Middle School, Piti Middle School, Sylvan Learning Center and Southern High School. He was also a band director at Inarajan Middle School and Dededo Middle School.

Prior to coming to the Marianas, Wright worked as an educator and musician in Cambridge and Boston in Massachusetts; Oklahoma City and Edmond in Oklahoma; San Antonio and Houston in Texas; and Grambling, Louisiana.

He served in the United States Army from June 1972 to June 1975. A Vietnam-era veteran, Wright served with the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson in Colorado.

He was named one of “Outstanding Young Men of America in 1985/1987.” Besides a passion for educating adults and children, Wright is also a professional musician.

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Arnaldo F. Laus, M.D.
Instructor, Biology/Chemistry
University of Loyola at CNMI

Dr. Arnaldo F. Laus earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines at the age of 26. He passed the Philippine Physician Licensure Examination with a rating of 82.85 percent in August 2006, and the United States Medical Licensure Examinations (USMLE) Steps 1 and 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge) with ratings of 99 for both exams in 2008.

It was also from the University of the Philippines where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology degree, after completing his research thesis regarding Dengue virus at St. Luke's Medical Center, which earned him the Best Undergraduate Thesis in Biology Award for 2001.

He developed the medical curriculum of the University of Loyola at CNMI and taught Biology and Clinical Pharmacology to nursing students at its sister school -- St. Ignatius Health Science College in Manila.

Prior to teaching, he was a resident physician at Clinic Systems Inc.-Alabang Medical Clinic.

Dr. Laus spent his clinical internship at the UP-Philippine General Hospital from May 2005 to April 2006. In 2004, he was a clinical observer at three medical facilities in California – the Gettysburg General Pediatrics Clinic in Merced, the Gettysburg Allergy Clinic in Fresno, and the Children's Hospital Central California in Madera.

On Saipan, he enjoys the pristine beaches and the tranquility of island life.

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Elena Alexandranova, M.D.
Instructor, Chemistry/Biology

Dr. Elena Alexandranova received her Medical Degree (M.D.) in pediatrics and Certificate of Pathologic Anatomy from the Vladivostok State Medical Institute (now Vladivostok State Medical University), Vladivostok, Russia in 1987 and 1989, respectively.

From 2004 up to time prior to her joining the University of Loyola, she was an instructor in the Science, Mathematics, Health & Athletics Department of the Northern Marianas College in Saipan. Aside from teaching Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Chemistry and Microbiology at the NMC, she was also responsible for performing comprehensive assessments of the college’s courses and degree programs. She was involve in the NMC’s college accreditation assessment in May, 2008.

Prior to coming to Saipan, she was involved in a variety of medical and scientific works in Russia. These include stints as a Clinical Pathologist at the Primorsky Regional Diagnostic Center and at the City Pathoanatomical Bureau of Vladivostok, and as a Medical Engineer at the Russian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Oceanology Laboratory of Biologically Active Substances). She was also tapped as a Pathologic Anatomy instructor to medical students of the Vladivostok State Medical Institute.

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Lee R. Francia
Chief Financial Officer
University of Loyola at CNMI

After 21 years of solid experience in the banking business, Lee R. Francia has joined the University of Loyola at CNMI as its chief financial officer.

Francia had held key positions during her stint at Home Federal Bank in San Diego, California, Bank of Hawaii, and Bank of Saipan. She was Bank of Saipan’s assistant vice president and manager of its Credit and Collections Department, a position she held for seven years until the middle of 2008.

A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, Francia is also a part owner of Asia Pacific Express Remittance or APEX (formerly Pinoy Express). APEX is the first and longest existing remittance center on Saipan, being in the business for over 20 years.

Francia’s extensive background in banking and finance, coupled with her impeccable marketing skills, makes her a powerful addition to the University of Loyola at CNMI.

She is also the president of JL Finance Co. Inc., a new Saipan-based firm primarily engaged in real estate and consumer finance business focusing on small and medium sized enterprises.

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Rick V. Brien
Graphic Designer
University of Loyola at CNMI

Rick Brien has over 13 years experience as a graphic designer and graphic artist developing designs for commercial artwork including posters, books, booklets, annual reports, newsletters, brochures, flyers, business cards, business and school forms, and calendars.

As graphic designer for Pacific Times from 2006 to 2007, he was in charge of all aspects of the newspaper’s page layouts and creative designs. At the Marianas Variety where he worked from 2000 to early 2006, he was responsible for newspaper page layouts and conceptualization and execution of advertisements, along with developing designs for commercial artwork for posters, flyers, brochures, booklets, etc.

Prior to coming to Saipan, Brien was graphic artist at PWU-LEARN Center where he also taught Windows OS, Microsoft Office and desktop publishing applications. He also worked at GIS Center, and Madison Automotive Parts, all in Metro Manila, Philippines.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration majoring in Computer Science from Central Colleges of the Philippines. He is highly proficient in Macintosh & Windows applications – CS Applications, Adobe Pagemaker, Corel Draw and Microsoft Office.

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Meet our powerful faculty and staff