Faculty, Staff — Update, In Memoriam, Welcome

Update

Dale Caldwell, executive director, Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Flor), wrote an 0p-ed titled “Family Business and Coronavirus Fears,” which was posted on roi-nj.com on March 17.

Faramarz Fatemi, emeritus, history/political science (Metro), was honored as an honorary alumnus at FDU’s first annual Evening of Gratitude on March 3 at The Park Savoy Estate in Florham Park, N.J. The distinction is awarded to a non-alumnus with a distinguished record of service, support, advocacy and commitment to the University. Debra Jones, MS’95 (Metro), president of the Alumni Board of Governors, introduced Fatemi and highlighted that “his impact and influence on his students and the University is deep and wide. For more than 40 years, he has helped FDU’s students to question, to analyze, to consider and explore.” To read more about Fatemi and about the Evening of Gratitude go to Gratitude Dinner 2020.

On Presidents Day, William “Pat” Schuber, administrative science (Metro), and FDU alumnus Superior Court Judge John “Jay” Jorgensen, BA’78 (Metro), conducted a seminar on “Abraham Lincoln and the Law” for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Schuber also provided a legal, political and historical analysis of President Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.”

Bojana Berić-Stojšić, public health and director, Master of Public Health (Flor), wrote an 0p-ed on “Coordinated Communications Key to Coronavirus Containment,” which was posted on app.com on March 6.

Catherine Bonilla, BS/MS’03 (Metro), accounting manager for financial reporting, accounting (Metro), has been promoted to University controller.

In February, Marie Roberts, fine arts (Metro), was a guest critic at Yale School of Art in New Haven, Conn., where she is doing undergraduate studio visits and critiques following her sabbatical. Two of her drawings are included in the exhibit “Reflections,” which is running through April 22 at the Alumni Room Gallery of St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Patrick Cozza, wealth management and executive-in-residence, wealth management (Flor), hosted an informational lunch about careers in wealth management at the Florham Campus on March 3. He was joined by Jennifer Page, senior advising counselor for undergraduate programs, Business Advising Office (Flor), who answered the students’ curriculum questions.

Richard Reiss, senior vice president for University advancement, was a guest on WFDU-FM’s “The Greg Herenda Show” on February 23. To listen to the show go to The Greg Herenda Show Archives.

Jeff Slavonec, head men’s basketball coach, athletics (Flor), was selected as the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Coach of the Year for leading the Devils to their first playoff appearance since the 2013–14 season. To read more go to “Slavonec Named Coach of the Year; Three Devils Named All-Conference.”

Jong-Chae (J.C.) Kim, sports administration and codirector, sports administration, Petrocelli College (Metro), presented on “Combination of Theoretical and Experiential Teaching and Learning in a Sport and Leisure Literacy Course” and “From Traits and Value Orientation to Sport Provision Diversity at College Lives in Vietnam, Taiwan and the United States of America” at the annual conference for Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA) held in Waco, Texas, in February.

Daniel Cassino, political science and director of experimental research, FDU Poll (Flor), wrote an entry on “Online Political Information Processing” for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

Ömer Topaloglu, marketing (Metro), and Dale Caldwell, executive director, Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Flor), moderated the FDU Alumni Power Panels held at the Metropolitan Campus and Florham Campus, respectively.

Greg Herenda, head men’s basketball coach, athletics (Metro), hosted a virtual coaches clinic on March 24 that focused primarily on pressure defense.

Diane Keyser Wentworth, psychology (Flor), presented on the “Gender Pay Gap” as part of the Women’s History Month celebration at the Florham Campus.

Gina Murray, advising counselor of graduate programs, Silberman College (Metro), and Anita Rivers, executive director of community relations, enrollment management (Metro), were featured on episode 4 of the Members at Work podcast. They discussed the advantages of going back to school to advance one’s education using FDU’s flexible schedules. The podcast was created by the Fort Lee Regional Chamber of Commerce to give its members a new approach to informing the community about their businesses.

The FDU Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Relations are cohosting webinars led by faculty and staff from the Metropolitan and Florham campuses. Upcoming webinars will be presented by Peter Woolley, political science and founding director, public/global affairs (Flor), “Polling Fools: How and Why We Do It,” on April 21; and by Daniel Cassino, political science and science and director of experimental research, FDU Poll (Flor), “The Masculinity Threat in Politics,” on April 28. Previous presenters were Michael Avaltroni, dean, pharmacy/health sciences (Flor), “Reasons for Hope Amidst COVID-19”; Greg Herenda, men’s basketball coach, athletics (Metro), “Building a Championship Program”; and Dale Caldwell, executive director, Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Flor), “The Small Business Stimulus: The Good, Bad and Ugly.” For more information about the webinars go to Alumni and Friends Webinar Series.

The Knights women’s track and field coaching staff won the Northeast Conference (NEC) Indoor Track and Field Staff of the Year. They are Head Coach Sharlene Milwood-Lee (AA’91, BA’95, MSA’11 [Metro]), who was named NEC Coach of the Year for the first time in her 17th season; and Assistant Coaches Pete Charles, Leroy Solomon and Dan Mecca. The Knights women’s track and field team won their first NEC Indoor Conference in 20 years — the sixth in the program’s history. To read more go to “Women’s Track and Field Coaching Staff Earns NEC Indoor Staff of the Year.”

Marnie Sperling, medical/surgical nursing (Flor), has been volunteering at the coronavirus testing drive-thru at County College of Morris in Randolph, N.J. She has also worked the call-center hotlines for Atlantic Health System as a health care provider. Prior to her volunteer work during the coronavirus pandemic, Sperling has been a medical volunteer at the Morris County Medical Reserve Corps for more than 10 years.

Richard Laughland, marketing (Flor) and writer, Sports Illustrated magazine, and Randy Zellea, founder/CEO/owner, BackSportsPage.com, cohosted an online Sports Media and Marketing Panel for the FDU community. Panelists included former NFL players turned entrepreneurs as well as marketing and public relations professionals in the sports industry.

Kathleen Stein-Smith, associate University librarian and director of public services, Giovatto Library (Metro), was featured in the North American Francophone Podcast where she talked about “The Power of Language.”

Otito Iwuchukwu, pharmaceutical sciences (Flor), is conducting online cooking demonstrations of easy-to-prepare meals and snacks that members of the FDU community can do in their own kitchens. The cooking sessions, titled “Cooking While Quarantined with Dr. O,” are being held every Thursday through May 7, from 5 to 6 p.m. via Zoom.

Matthew Togno, head athletic trainer, athletics (Flor), led the athletic training team in collecting supplies that were essential to health care workers and donating numerous masks, gloves and protective gowns to Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center to help in the fight against COVID-19. To read more go to “Devils Sports Medicine Donates Supplies to Morristown Medical.”

FDU hosted a Zoom Roundtable discussion for parents on April 2. Featured speakers from the Florham Campus were Brian Mauro, campus executive, who spoke about campus and University updates; Gary Darden,  U.S. history and chair, social sciences/history, who provided a faculty perspective on the shift to remote learning; and Michael Avaltroni, dean, pharmacy/health sciences, who talked about community health and COVID-19 trends.

In the News …

Daniel Cassino, political science and director of experimental research, FDU Poll (Flor), was quoted in two March articles: “Why Are Women Less Likely Than Men to Support Sanders?” posted on fivethirtyeight.com, and “Fox News Accused of Downplaying Coronavirus as It Moves to Protect Staff,” posted in Yahoo News and on theguardian.com.

Cynthia Radnitz, psychology and director, PhD in clinical psychopharmacology (Metro), was quoted in the article “NIH Research Involved Frightening Monkeys in Cages: Activists Say Study Has Yet to Produce Drugs or Ailment Cures,” published in The Washington Times on February 24.

Jason Scorza, philosophy/political science (Metro) and vice provost for international affairs, was quoted in the April northjersey.com article “NJ Colleges Weigh Options for Study Abroad, Sidelined by Coronavirus, to Resume in the Fall.”

Krista Jenkins, political science and executive director, FDU Poll (Flor), was quoted in the February article “Poll: Murphy Has Not Made NJ A Whole Lot Better” on njbiz.com.

John Niser, director, International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (Metro), was quoted in the article “3 Industries Most Impacted by Coronavirus: Investors May Want to Practice Social Distancing with These Three Industries” posted on usnews.com in March.

Bojana Berić-Stojšić, public health and director, Master of Public Health (Flor), was quoted in the April article “When Will Social Distancing Due to the Coronavirus End? While Federal Guidelines Suggest the End of April, Other Evidence and Expert Testimony May Paint a More Realistic Picture” posted on goodhousekeeping.com.

Patrick Cozza, wealth management and executive-in-residence, wealth management (Flor), was quoted in the article “2020’s Best & Worst Cities at Money Management” posted on wallethub.com in February.

Khyati Joshi, education (Metro), was quoted in two articles in April: “Downsizing Religion: Coronavirus Pandemic Will Shrink Holy Day Celebrations This Spring” (thedailyjournal.com, Courier Post Online, Home News Tribune and Asbury Park Press); and “Social Isolation, Safety Measures Compel New Look at ‘Lived Religion’” (Insider NJ).

Michael Avaltroni, dean, pharmacy/health sciences (Flor), was quoted in the April article “Coronavirus: 9 Ways to Help Doctors, Nurses and Hospital Workers Right Now: How to Donate Your Time, Resources and Money to Medical Professionals on the Front Lines of COVID-19” on nbcnews.com. He also was quoted in two Asbury Park Press articles in March: “Don’t Panic Over COVID-19; Just Be Prudent” and “War on Coronavirus: What Will Victory Look Like?”

Anthony Tasso, psychology and chair, psychology/counseling (Flor), was quoted in the article “Why the Baby Boomer Generation Has Been Knocked Sideways by the Coronavirus” posted on nj.com on April 11.

In Memoriam

Ibrahim Abdul-Malik, humanities (Metro), died on April 2 at the age of 96. He joined FDU in 2005. According to friend and colleague, Fr. John “Jack” Baron, University College (Metro), Abdul-Malik has been teaching in the University’s interfaith religious studies program on the Metropolitan Campus since 2005. “He was a superb pedagogue who always believed in each of our students’ potential, and he worked tirelessly to help our students achieve their goals. He relentlessly saw in our students what they very often initially failed to see in themselves.” At FDU, he team-taught numerous interfaith courses such as One God, Three Paths with Christian and Jewish colleagues. Over an academic career spanning eight decades, he served as an adjunct professor at City University of New York, director of the Bank Street College outreach program, UNESCO science adviser and as associate director of the United Nations Summer Internship Program in Geneva, Switzerland. An article about Abdul-Malik was published in The Equinox, the student newspaper at the Metropolitan Campus. To read more about him go to “Ibrahim Abdul-Malik, Pioneering Interfaith Religious Studies Teacher, Dies at 96.” A memorial in his honor will be organized in the fall semester.

Roger Kindel, retired associate athletic director and head golf coach (Flor), died on March 9 at the age of 69. He started coaching the men’s basketball team part-time during the 1977−78 season. He joined FDU full time in 1990 as assistant athletic director and head basketball and golf coach. In 1996, he was associate athletic director, head men’s basketball and golf coach, and also served as director of the Ferguson Recreation Center in 2005. He was interim athletic director from 2017 until his retirement in 2018 after more than 40 years of service. He was the head men’s basketball coach for 28 years and coached the Devils golf team from 1996 to 2018. According to Jenn Noon, director of athletics (Flor), “Roger was always one that put a smile on people’s faces, motivated people to be better but, most importantly, impacted people’s lives forever. Roger’s legacy will never be forgotten because he was a role model, confidante and second father to so many. He certainly will be missed.” He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Valerie (Zawislak) Kindel; daughter, Heidi Clark, BA’01, MAT’02 (Flor), and her husband, Robert; grandchildren, Gracie and Nate Clark; and brothers, Rudolph and Ross Kindel. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the First State Animal/Kent County SPCA, 32 Shelter Circle, Camden, Del. 19934.

Joseph Tramutola, retired law (Flor), died on March 6 at the age of 89. He joined FDU in 1962 and retired in 2001. He created the University’s Educational Program for Older Persons (now known as the Florham Institute for Lifelong Learning) and directed it from 1972 to 2001. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann; daughters, Karen D’Alessandro (Vincent); Kim Crumrine (Mike); and Karla Tramutola; and grandsons Parker and Dustin Crumrine. Donations in his memory may be made to the Mendham (N.J.) Township Library, 2 West Main Street, Brookside, N.J. 07926.

Welcome

The University welcomes new full-time and part-time employees who joined FDU as of April 6, 2020.

Welcome to Sarah Gomish, assistant women’s volleyball coach, athletics (Metro); Jaymee Highcock, assistant men’s soccer coach, athletics (Metro); Marjorie Holtz, associate director of annual giving, University advancement (Metro); John Keymer, officer, public safety (Flor); Chaeyoon Kim, international admissions counselor, international/graduate admissions (Metro); Nicole Longo, University admissions counselor, undergraduate admissions (Flor); Nancy Matthews-Zwemmer, University director of branding and marketing, undergraduate admissions (Metro); and Mikhail Shakhnovich, systems analyst, University systems/networking (Metro).