Distinguished Alumni

Mike Cadden

Distinguished Alumni

Mike Cadden, a Doctor of Arts graduate in English Studies (1996), is Professor Emeritus at Missouri Western State University where he taught for twenty-five years. He was awarded for his teaching and scholarship at MWSU, including the Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He was for seven years department chair of the department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism. He served on the board of directors and as Treasurer, vice-president, and president of the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA). Mike published dozens of articles and four books on the subjects of children’s and young adult literature, including two edited volumes and two monographs (Ursula K. Le Guin Beyond Genre: Fiction for Children and Adults and At Arm’s Lenth: A Rhetoric of Character in Children’s and Young Adult Literature).

Mike lives in St. Joseph, MO with his wife LuAnn (ISU English graduate, class of 1993) and daughters Rose and Lillian.

Melda Beaty

Distinguished Alumni

Melda Beaty, a passionate playwright, claimed the prestigious 2022 National Black Theatre Festival's Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling World Premiere Award for her outstanding work, "Coconut Cake." The play is enjoying a two-year rolling world premiere across the country. Her theatrical journey began with the debut of her first play, "Front Porch Society," at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, TX, followed by a notable mainstage production at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

Further adding to her repertoire, her one-act stage play, "Thirty," clinched the 2025 winning play for the Fade to Black Festival and the 2022 win in Definition Theatre's Amplify II Series while also earning finalist positions in the Blackboard Play Festival and WayWard Sisters Third Annual Workshopping Women's Voices. Notably, Beaty's venture into the realm of musical theater resulted in "The Lawsons: A Civil Rights Love Story," commissioned by The Ensemble Theatre for their 2021-2022 season. In 2022, she was a Confluence Fellow with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, where she honed her latest creation, "Feebleminded." Today, she is The Fire This Time New Works Lab fellow (NY) and the Spring 2025 The Play Development Lab finalist (D.C.).

Melda Beaty's talent and dedication extend beyond her creative pursuits. As a member of the Board of Directors for the August Wilson Society, Dramatists Guild, and a contributing editor for Black Masks magazine, she actively contributes to the literary community. She resides in Chicago, Illinois, with her three gifted daughters and fulfills her role as an assistant professor of English at Olive-Harvey Community College.

Brianna Kaleel

Rising Alumnus

Brianna Kaleel continues to be an arts advocate and a researcher who pursues the unique. She has earned two Bachelors of Arts degrees, English and Studio Arts, from Illinois State University and a Masters in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University.

Brianna has worked for National Geographic, Arts Alliance Illinois, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Previously she has volunteered for several organizations including an Arts nonprofit where she was elected vice president on the board of directors. She currently lives in Crown Point, Indiana, where she collaborates as a grant panelist for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago and continues to expand her scholastic knowledge by obtaining her teachers licensure in English for Secondary Education.