Steven Zurlo, R.N., BSN

Steven is the Clinical Coordinator for the Nursing division. He is a proud alum of Bloomfield College’s nursing program (1998). Within the healthcare field, he has worked as an Emergency Room RN at Clara Maass for over 19 years and he also works as an instructor with Clara Maass’ education department. In addition, he works with a medical IT company developing and providing training for electronic medical records (EMR) documentation to emergency department staff around the country.

Along with his work in the healthcare field, Steven is also a member of the Bloomfield Fire Department and holds the rank of Captain, and is the acting Deputy Chief for his shift. He holds certifications in Disaster Medicine and Management, Level 2 Fire Instructor, and as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B). In his personal time, he volunteers in the community by working with the Boy Scouts of America and Bugles Across America.

Steven is thrilled to now be working here because he can give back to the school that has given him so much opportunity. Bloomfield College encourages students to perform at their peak potential which is a philosophy Steven fully embraces. In his role at the college, he has the ability to directly affect the level of learning experiences Nursing students have through the different clinical sites they attend.

Rebecca Walter, Ph.D.

Dr. Walter has been with Bloomfield College since 2012. The courses she teaches include: Anatomy and Physiology 1&2, Biomechanics, and Vertebrate Morphology.

Dr. Walter has a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Utah. Her graduate thesis was entitled “The Biomechanics of Galloping and Acceleration in Dogs.” She currently uses Bloomfield College’s Motion Capture System in her research on the biomechanics of human walking and running.

GJ Lee

BFA, New Jersey City University
MPS, ITP, Tish School of Arts​

GJ Lee is a multidisciplinary artist and game designer. She uses a practiced-based research approach to explore and understand complex subjects. The results mostly take on the form of games, installations, and performances. Her works and collaborations have been exhibited and played at Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch, La Gaite Lyrique, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and The Museum of the Moving Image.

She is the co-founder of The Sheep’s Meow, an independent game development studio and community organization that focuses on making game creation inclusive and accessible. She’s co-organized and produced community-driven events such as the NJ Arcade and NYC Arcade– some of which are the largest of their kind.

She has a BFA in Painting and Drawing with a co-major in Mathematics from NJCU and an MPS from NYU Tisch's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Courses taught:
CAT 209 - Digital Game Design
CAT 208 - Visual Design for Games
CAT 408 - Pre-Capstone: Game Development
CAT 420 - Capstone

Christie Cruise, Ed.D

Dr. Cruse holds an Ed.D in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, an MS in Organizational Leadership from Mercy College, and a BA in Psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Dr. Christie Cruse joined the Business Department at Bloomfield College in Fall of 2015. Prior to joining Bloomfield College, Dr. Cruse taught as an adjunct professor in the Business Department at the following institutions: Marist College, SUNY Cobleskill, Dominican College, SUNY Rockland Community College, and Thomas Edison State University. Courses taught include: Strategic Management, Ethics and Management, Human Resource Management, Exploring Business and Management, Essentials of Management, Introduction to Business, Foundations of Leadership, and Perspectives on Education.

Dr. Cruse worked for the Walt Disney World Company for three years in the Guest Relations Department. The position focused on creating a continuous positive and memorable experience for guests through a commitment to growth and change. Dr. Cruse provided trainings to other cast members on Disney’s culture, heritage, values, and mission.

Her career also included the position of Director of Academic Support Services at SUNY Rockland Community College. In that role, she spearheaded the redesign of twenty-two high failure and withdrawal rate courses, revised curriculum, and developed and facilitated faculty trainings. In addition, Dr. Cruse developed three online courses in the field of Business.

Dr. Cruse has presented at conferences in six different states on the topics of Management, Diversity & Ethics, Leadership, Decision-Making, Effective Communication, Motivation, Team Building, the First-Year Experience, and Academic Support Services. In September 2011, Dr. Cruse was chosen as a recipient of the Rockland County 40 Under 40 Award which recognizes 40 individuals under the age of 40 in Rockland County that have made a positive impact in the community and in their workplace.

Dr. Cruse volunteers at Make A Wish Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In May 2008 and January 2010, Dr. Cruse served as a staff supervisor for the BRIDGES to the Dominican Republic Service Project. BRIDGES takes groups of college students on a two-week service trip to the remote mountains of the Dominican Republic. Participants assist the rural community to improve their schools, homes, roads, and means of income.

Steven Kreutzer, Ph.D.

Dr. Kreutzer earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Union College in Schenectady, NY and the Masters of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Computer Science from Northwestern University. At Northwestern, he performed research in both Software Engineering and the applications of Graph Theory to Fault Tolerant Computing.

Prior to joining Bloomfield College, Dr. Kreutzer had a successful twenty-five-year career in industry working for AT&T Bell Laboratories, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and AIG. Early in his career, he worked on software projects as a programmer, business analyst, architect, and project manager. Later in his career, he led internal consulting groups that helped turnaround troubled projects and organizations, improve business processes, and perform technology due diligence on potential acquisition targets and strategic partnerships. In his last major role in industry, he led a software development organization that supported more than one thousand users in the U.S. and U.K. As a technology executive, Dr. Kreutzer has worked on many international projects which included working for several months in Germany and Ireland and travelling to India, Thailand, France, England, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada.

At Bloomfield College, Dr. Kreutzer is the coordinator for the Computer Science program. He has taught the following courses:

1. CMP 100 Computer Literacy

2. CMP 102 Fundamentals of Computer Literacy I

3. CMP 120 Cyber Crime

4. CMP 126 Programming I

5. CMP 226 Programming II

6. CMP 228 Data Structures

7. CMP 300 Systems Analysis and Design

8. CMP 330 Database Management

9. CMP 333 Special Topics: Advanced Data Structures and Algorithms

10. CMP 336 Database Implementation

11. CMP 460 Applied Systems Development Project

He has also revised the curriculum by adding courses in cybercrime and mobile applications development and by arranging for special topics classes to be taught in ethical hacking, electronic medical records, data visualization, and user interface design.

Dr. Kreutzer has attended many computer science conferences. He is also a member of several professional societies including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, Consortium for Computing Sciences in Education (CCSE), and the Computer Science Teachers Association. Dr. Kreutzer is an editor of The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges and the papers chair for the CCSE Eastern Region Conference.

Suhaib Obeidat, Ph.D.

Dr. Suhaib A. Obeidat joined the Department of Computer Science at Bloomfield College in the Fall of 2014 as the coordinator of the Network Engineering program. Prior to that, he held the position of Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Math and Computer Science Department at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC.

His research interests are in the area of Wireless Networks, more specifically, in designing protocols for the transmission of human speech over wireless ad hoc networks using opportunistic cross-layer designs. Currently, Dr. Obeidat’s teaching interests are in Networking Technology, particularly the Cisco Network Administration curricula, web programming for 2and 3tier architectures, and computer programming. He takes special pleasure in tackling new topics and sharing them with his students.

Abraham Gomez-Delgado

Abraham Gomez-Delgado is an Assistant Professor in the Creative Arts and Technology division at Bloomfield College. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and performance artist born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Bandleader Abraham Gomez-Delgado, of Peruvian descent, left his native Puerto Rico as a child and relocated to the US. He leads the experimental Latin music group Zemog el Gallo Bueno as well as co-leads the avant-latin jazz big band Positive Catastrophe and has a Performance Art group under the name Eje.

Gomez-Delgado is also a vocalist in his own compositions as well as in composer saxophonist Fred Ho’s Green Monster Big Band. Currently, he teaches Sound Art and production at Bloomfield College in New Jersey and is composing a Plena suite entitled Debrujo, Debrooho, debrewjo. •Recently he was awarded the New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation (2010). •Abraham has been awarded a Meet The Composer MetLife Grant (2010) •USArtists International Award, National Endowment for the Arts grant (2010).

Gomez-Delgado has his MFA with honors from Bard College and holds a BFA from Mass College of Art.

Peter Gordon, M.F.A.

Peter Gordon is Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Technology Program.

Prof. Gordon attended the University of California, San Diego (B.A. Liberal Arts-Music) and Mills College (M.F.A. in Electronic Music and Recording.) He comes to Bloomfield College with a long career as a composer, producer, recording artist and arranger and his professional experience inform his teaching classes in music composition, production, and improvisation.

Gordon’s music transcends genres – it is heard in the concert hall as well as on the dance floor. Gordon has received the Obie Award for his work in musical theater and the Bessie Award for his compositions for dance, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. He has also been received visiting artist grants from DAAD (Berlin) and Japan-US Friendship Commission. He has composed four operas, released numerous recordings on major and independent labels, most recently a retrospective album on DFA Records, and he has performed internationally with his Love of Life Orchestra.

Laura Nova, M.F.A.

Laura Nova is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture, video, sound, performance, and installation. The social dynamics of human interaction are at the center of her current practice, engaging the public in a social practice. These interactions integrate her research interests in the history of performance, participatory art, fluxus, absurdist objects and the Dada movement. Her work was included in the Independent Curators International exhibition Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art and Limited Run at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT for which she received a National Performance Network Grant.

Nova is a recent recipient of the Fund for Creative Communities and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant to produce The Crescendo Project, an automated praise-singing machine, as part of the Annual Big Brother Big Sisters of New York City 5K Race in Riverside Park.

She received her B.F.A. and B.A. in art and history from Cornell University and M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a Jacob Javits Fellow. She lived and worked in London as a Rotary International Scholar and completed Associate Research at Goldsmiths College. Nova is an Associate Professor in the Creative Art and Technology program at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Activities done with students:

“In Practice” visit with artists, designers, musicians, game makers, animators and filmmakers in their professional working studios. Network with the professionals who work for various creative industries and arts institutions. Artist workshops with LoVid, Saya Woolfalk, Karina Aguilera Skvirsky and Liselot Van der Heigden Studio Visits with Kenseth Armsteadm Jillian McDonald, Sanford Biggers, LoVid, Dannielle Tegeder, Pablo Helguera, Liselot Van der Heigden

Lynne Oddo, M.A.

Lynne Oddo is an artist who emerged in the early 1980’s from the first college in the country to offer a Master’s degree in electronic arts. NYIT, home to the Computer Graphics Lab, Inc., was known as a research center that attracted artists and scientists from all over the world, many who made contributions to the world of new media. Lynne’s undergraduate degree in Ceramic Sculpture from the State University of New York at Potsdam gave her the opportunity to continue her studies at the University of Siena, Italy, where she developed a love of painting and architecture.

Along with many years spent dancing, it was not a far stretch to her eventual interests and practice in motion, environments, and 3D space. Lynne works in various traditional and contemporary new media, generally drawing from a synthesis of classical form while integrating the more personal, romantic notion of expression.

She has had the privilege to exhibit in numerous galleries, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Philadelphia Museum of Science, as well as, invited to show with artists like, Manfred Mohr, Isaac Victor Kerlow, Marc Wilson, Romare Bearden, Red Grooms, Jack Youngerman, and Richard Anusckiewicz.

In 2011 she established the first 3D Motion Capture Studio in the Bloomfield College Library – still the only one of its kind in a NJ college. This studio has allowed the all students at the college to explore and experiment while grasping complex concepts in kinesiology. It is a place for any motion artist, animator, game designer, scientist, and/or athlete, to build data content for their practice.

She divides her time between NYC and upstate NY, where she has converted a 2500 sq. ft. barn into an experimental working studio.

Thomas Toynton, M.S.

Tom Toynton graduated Summa cum laude from Bloomfield College in 2003 with a BA in Creative Arts Technology: Interactive Multimedia. That same year he helped found the Game Development program, and then took over as program coordinator in 2005. He also holds an M.S. in Information Technology and is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Media at Columbia Teachers College.

His research interests are games and systems thinking and socially constructed learning environments. Tom has combined over 20 years of training and teaching experience with his life-long love for storytelling and games, and believes that the key to effective education is through compelling content and engaging classroom activities that students can personally relate to. His artistic passion is dynamic storytelling through interactive technology and game environments, and he continues to work on both modding and PnP RPG projects in his spare time.

Tom is a member of the Education SIG of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and an advisory panel member of the Northern NJ Chapter of the IGDA. His current professional projects include the development of a board game that facilitates PnP RPG experiences, an educational board game that teaches the concept of The Commons and several game projects for the Polar Climate Change Education Partnership being funded by the National Science Foundation.

Karen P. Fasanella, Ed.D.

Dr. Fasanella received an Ed.D. from Seton Hall University in Educational Administration and Supervision. She received her Principal/Supervisor Licenses after participating in an Educational Administration and Supervision Licensure program at Saint Peter's University. In addition, Dr. Fasanella holds an M.A. in Literacy Education/Literacy Specialist and a B.A. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from New Jersey City University. In addition to licenses as Principal and Supervisor, Dr. Fasanella has been awarded licenses in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and as a Reading Specialist.

Dr. Fasanella has served as an educator and administrator in the PreK-12 setting in both public and private schools. She has also served in higher education as an adjunct professor for over 15 years. As an adjunct, Dr. Fasanella has served Manhattan College, William Paterson University, Caldwell University, and Saint Peter's University teaching pre-teaching candidates to Doctoral Candidates, serving also as Doctoral Dissertation Mentor. She most recently served as Associate Dean for Academic Success and Associate Professor at Felician University.

As principal, Dr. Fasanella created a Professional Teaching Portfolio for evaluation purposes. For her efforts, Dr. Fasanella was awarded the Today's Catholic Teacher Innovations in Education Award. Dr. Fasanella was also named Distinguished National Principal by the United States Department of Education. In addition, the National Catholic Education Association awarded Dr. Fasanella the Distinguished Principal Award.

Mary Porcelli, M.Ed.

Mary Porcelli has been teaching Bloomfield College education students since 2005, first as adjunct faculty then joining the college full time in 2012 as the Coordinator for Student Teaching and Field Experiences. She earned a B.S. in Marketing from Fordham University and her M.Ed. in Education from the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. She is certified as a New Jersey early childhood and elementary school teacher. She has over twenty years of experience in the field of education, having worked as an Elementary School Librarian, Teacher, Assistant Director in charge of the program at a public early childhood program in East Orange, and Executive Director of a parent-cooperative preschool in Piscataway.

Mary serves on the board of NJEEPRE (New Jersey Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia) as Member-at-Large and NJAEYC (the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children) as Affiliate Council Representative and past Co-President. She has a deep interest in the Reggio Emilia approach to education and has traveled to Italy to visit the schools and study this philosophy. She attended the Project Zero Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mary has presented at conferences both national and local, as well as at the Castle Conference held at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England by AERA’s (American Educational Research Association) Self Study of Teacher Education Practices special interest group.

Angela Conrad

Ph.D., with honors, English Literature, Drew University, May 1999
Dissertation: The Wayward Nun of Amherst: Emily Dickinson and Medieval Mystical Women
M. Phil., with honors, English Literature, Drew University, May 1997
B.A. German Language and Literature, Georgetown University, May 1988

What I teach:

Angela Conrad is Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Bloomfield College. She is author of "The Wayward Nun of Amherst: Emily Dickinson and Medieval Mystical Women" (Garland, 2000) as well as numerous articles on feminism and American Literature. She is recognized nationally as a scholar on the fiction of Willa Cather. She regularly teaches survey courses on American Literature and Shakespeare from a gender-studies perspective. Dr. Conrad also explores the monstrous with her students in courses on the Gothic and Fantasy genres as a way to uncover unconscious fears of otherness in the modern world. As a member of the Humanities Division, she has worked hard to preserve the relevance of all the disciplines in the field as well as to help link the content of Humanities courses to each other. The Humanities Division builds bridges between the study of human culture in all its aspects by connecting to all the other divisions of study at Bloomfield College.

Esther (Miller) Dillard, M.S.

M.S. Communications Science, Syracuse University, August, 1992 B.A. English, SUNY Buffalo, December, 1990

Esther (Miller) Dillard is an Associate Professor of the Communications Concentration in the Humanities Division at Bloomfield College. Before coming to Bloomfield, Dillard was a reporter and anchor in several television markets including her hometown of Buffalo, NY. Television stations she's worked for include: WGRZ-TV Buffalo (NBC), WCBS-Philadelphia, KTVU (FOX) San Francisco, and WEYI-Flint ( NBC).

Currently, she manages students who contribute content to the campus radio station WBCR. See more about the station at this link - www.live365.com/stations/wbcr.

Last semester students in her Broadcast Journalism class produced their own hour-long show featuring reports on campus events and news.

Dillard also takes pride in Bloomfield seniors who present a final example of what they've learned in many of her classes with their final senior presentation called the Communications Capstone. Each capstone is a 10-minute student-produced documentary. Students research topics, interview individuals, shoot video and edit a completed production. Some of their projects can be seen soon on her website.

Dillard is currently developing two video projects expected to be completed in 2016. In the summer of 2015, she collaborated with the Bloomfield Sciences Department and Dr. Gregory Edens to produce a short educational film on Chemical Engineers who have influenced our world.

She's also helping to produce another video project with directors of Bloomfield Colleges' Creative Place Making Initiative. And finally, she’s working with an independent NY-based company that services parents of children diagnosed with autism. This small company called Melody of Autism provides support for parents and caregivers with seminars, teaching material as well as in-home child care services. They are working with Dillard on producing a short series of videos for their website.

Brandon D. Fralix

Ph.D. in English from Drew University (NJ) in 2011
Dissertation: “Cymru and the Court: The Welsh in Seventeenth Century Masques”
M.A in English from Clemson University (SC) in 2003
Thesis: “Claiming Identity: Acquiring Language in Lyly’s Gallathea”
B.A. in English from Presbyterian College (SC) in 2001

What I teach:

I am a long time member of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), and the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA), and I regularly present at these organization's annual conferences. Much of my research is focused on the National Census of Writing, a survey of 900 institutions of higher education that asks how writing programs are taught and administered. For this work, I have received an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant and the Extraordinary Service Award from the CWPA.

Jonterri Gadson, M.F.A.

Jonterri Gadson is the author of the chapbooks Pepper Girl (YesYes Books, 2012) and Interruptions (MIEL, 2014). She has received scholarships and fellowships from Cave Canem, Callaloo, Bread Loaf, University of Dayton and University of Virginia's Creative Writing MFA program.

Her poetry has been published in Callaloo, Los Angeles Review, Cream City Review and other journals. She is the assistant poetry editor for The Rumpus. Her full length poetry collection, Blues Triumphant, is due out with YesYes Books in 2016

Fiona (Freddie) Harris Ramsby, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Rhetoric and Composition. The University of Utah, May 2015
Dissertation: Theory in the Body: Language and Power on the Rhetorical Stage
M.A. Rhetoric and Composition. California State University San Bernardino, Sept. 2007
Outstanding Thesis Award: The Habermas/Foucault Debate: Implications for Composition.
B.A. English/Linguistics. Highest Honours. California State University San Bernardino, Sept. 2005.

What I teach:

Areas of research include rhetorics of the body and performance, classical rhetorics, critical discourse analysis, ethnography of performance, and critical literacy. She also specializes in developmental writing, multi-modal writing, and exploring the intersection between pop culture and theory. Dr. Ramsby is particularly interested in conducting research with Bloomfield students, as well as collaborating with students on a new theatre project at the College. Recent publications include: With Bloomfield College students Steven Hawkins and Shammoi Brown, “I Prefer Ladies with More Experience”: Sex, Death, and the Post-feminist Demon.” Death in Supernatural: Essays on the Television Series. McFarland Publishing Company (Forthcoming Fall 2017). Also, with Bloomfield student Mubarak Muhammed, “Warning! Monster Metaphors and the Urban Black Body.” Monsters and Monstrosity. The Inter-Disciplinary Press. (Forthcoming Spring 2017)

Glen Hayes, Ph.D.

Glen Alexander Hayes is Professor of Religion and has been on the Faculty since 1980. He is a historian of religions and specializes in the cultures and religions of South Asia. Dr. Hayes has traveled throughout Asia and translates yoga texts from Sanskrit and Bengali into English. A dedicated road bicyclist, Dr. Hayes has also been a guitarist for many years.

He received his Ph. D. in History of Religions from The University of Chicago in 1985, where he studied Sanskrit with J.A.B. van Buitenen and Bengali with Edward C. Dimock, Jr. His dissertation examined body symbolism and cosmology in medieval Bengali Tantric traditions. Author of numerous essays on the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā Tantric traditions of Bengal, he has also published translations of Bengali Tantric texts in Religions of India in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press,1995), Tantra in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), and Yoga in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011). He explored the uses of religious metaphor in essays in Yoga: The Indian Tradition (New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003) and Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity (Albany: SUNY Press, 2005). A contributor to Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism. (Leiden: Brill, 2011), he also prepared the entry on (Hindu) "Tantra" for the Oxford Bibliographies Online.

In addition to his specialization in medieval Bengali Tantra, his research interests include contemporary metaphor theory and the cognitive science of religion. He serves as Chairperson of the Steering Committee of The Society for Tantric Studies (STS) and was a founding Co-chair of the Tantric Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion (AAR).

Laura Warren Hill

Ph.D., US and African American History. Binghamton University, 2010
Dissertation: Strike the Hammer While the Iron is Hot: The Black Freedom Struggle in Rochester, NY, 1940-1970
M.A. US History. The State University of New York College at Brockport, 2001
B.A. History and English. Minor in Women's Studies. The State University of New York College at Geneseo, 1998

What I teach:

Laura Warren Hill is an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of the History Department. She specializes in African American History and Africana Studies and teaches classes that focus on the history of race, gender, class, and social movements. She is currently working on a book entitled, Strike the Hammer While the Iron is Hot: The Black Freedom Struggle in Rochester, NY, 1940-1970 (Cornell University Press). Her past publications include an edited collection, The Business of Black Power: Community Development, Capitalism, and Corporate Responsibility in Postwar America and several articles on Malcolm X in Rochester, NY. Professor Hill encourages all students to take classes in History and Africana Studies so they might better understand the course of their own lives.

Martha J. (Martie) LaBare, M.A.

M.A. Rhetoric and Writing, University of Tulsa B.A. Vanderbilt University Institute for Educational Management, Harvard University Poetry Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Princeton University

Martha LaBare is Associate Professor of English and is enjoying teaching full-time after teaching only part-time during a career as an academic dean. As dean, she led the faculty’s work as a national model for grant-supported work in faculty and curriculum development for diversity, democracy and liberal education.

She teaches writing, literature and experienced-based interdisciplinary courses. She encourages and expects students to be engaged and to explore individual interests in assignments, to pursue subjects and develop skills in many ways.

She values Bloomfield’s location and puts a high priority on getting students to events and places in the metropolitan area. In the Spring 2015 semester alone, her students went in small groups to plays (Black Angels over Tuskegee, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Elephant Man, My Name is Rachel Corrie and The Rap Guide to Religion); films (Selma, Vincent Van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing and Little Brother films with director Nicole Franklin); museums (The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, incl. the Jacob Lawrence show, “One-Way Ticket”; The Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design; The Brooklyn Museum); and readings (Black Poets Speak Out; Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison reading from her new book, God Help the Child; and African writers at the PEN World Voices Festival).

In 2015 she received the Joyce Carol Oates Faculty Excellence Award.

Creative publications: Shooting Star and Other Poems; poems in literary magazines; collaborations with artist/scientist Hamer Dodds, poems in exhibits Green to Red, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2009, and Sikurluk, Shetland Museum, Shetland, Scotland, 2009-2010.

Academic publications include First-Year Civic Engagement: Sound Foundations for College, Citizenship and Democracy, editor (The New York Times and the University of South CarolinaPress, 2008); “Demanding, Attracting, and Developing Diversity Leadership” and co-author “Diversity as Shared Practice” (Diversity Digest, 2005). “Institutional Transformation for Multicultural Education” in Promoting Diversity Classrooms: Innovative Responses for the Curriculum, Faculty, and Institutions, with Stuart Lang (Jossey-Bass, 1992). She has taught workshops for the New York Times on using the newspaper (print and online) in the university classroom.

Ada McKenzie

Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2007
Master of Arts, Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2005
Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, Columbia University, 2000

What I teach:

Ada McKenzie Thomas is Assistant Professor of World Literature at Bloomfield College. Prior to joining the faculty at Bloomfield, she was Assistant Professor of English at the College of The Bahamas. As a comparatist, she researches a variety of literary traditions, specializing in the multilingual literatures of the African Diaspora. She is the recipient of several awards, including a Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women. Recent publications include “Sankofa’s Songbirds: African American Children as Culture Bearers in Jazz-Infused Children’s Literature (Identity Quest: African Youth in Contemporary Literature and Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 2013). She is currently working on a manuscript based on her dissertation, entitled “Eleggua’s Crossroads: Creolization, Possession, and Performance in Caribbean Literatures and Cultures.” Dr. McKenzie Thomas’ background includes experience in the public humanities, as she has worked at cultural institutions including Penn Center—a National Historic Landmark Site in the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

Jeanne Nutter, Ph.D.

Ph.D , Communication,Howard University
M.A., Communication ,University of Cincinnati
B.A., Speech and Theater, University of Cincinnati

What I teach:

Jeanne Nutter, Professor of Communication, is the Coordinator of the Broadcast Journalism Concentration. She has been teaching at Bloomfield College since 2001. Early in her career, she worked in the public affairs department of WNBC-TV and the advertising department of the NBC Radio Network. In 1998, working with Hagley Museum and Library, Dr. Nutter helped create an exhibit and pilot documentary film on P.S. duPont and the African American School rebuilding program. She has collected over fifty hours of oral histories of African Americans in Delaware. This has resulted in several short films: Littleton Mitchell: Human Rights Warrior, Conversation with Luther J. Porter , Conversation with Jane E. Mitchell: African American Nurse, Conversation with Reverend Maurice J. Moyer: Civil Rights Activist and Conversation, Dr. Eugene McGowan: African American School Psychologist and Community Leader and Edward Loper: African American Painter. A Separate Place: The Schools P.S. duPont Built, a full-length documentary, has aired on WHYY-TV and won an Honorable Mention in the 2003 Wilmington Film Festival and a Best Video Documentary Production in the 2012 Black International Cinema in Berlin, Germany. She has published Growing Up Black in New Castle County an oral history of African Americans. During 2016 she co-produced a series of six documentary films entitled Voices of the Elders: Stories of African Americans in Delaware. This project was a collaboration between the Historical Society of Delaware and WITN22 -TV. In March of 2002, Jeanne Nutter was inducted into the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame. The Delaware State Education Association awarded Dr. Nutter one of the 2004 Humanities and Civil Rights Awards. In 2015 she was awarded the James H. Gilliam, Jr Humanitarian Award by the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and in 2016 she was awarded the Oral History of the Mid-Atlantic Region Pogue Award for outstanding and continuing contributions to oral history.

Paul M. Puccio

M.A. and Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
A.B., St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia

What I teach:

Paul Puccio is Professor of English and Cyrus H. Holley Professor of Applied Ethics. He regularly teaches classes in 19th- and 20th-century British literature and Western European literature. His teaching practice weaves together guided classroom conversations and frequent reflective and personal writing. At the heart of Dr. Puccio’s teaching is a desire to stimulate the imaginations of students, to help them recognize the depth dimension in their lives – the dimension that permeates the capacity for everything from innovation to wonder to sympathy. He is the author of several articles about the British school novel, contemplative learning and teaching, composition pedagogy, and music theatre. His current research examines the Christian teaching that shaped the values and relationships at boarding schools in Victorian England. He is also a contributing editor of Everything Sondheim, and he is dramaturge for 4th Wall Theatre, a professional company in residence at the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College. As Holley Professor, Dr. Puccio organizes lectures and forums about ethical issues across the work and life of the college.

Jim Murphy, Ph.D.

Dr. James Murphy graduated from Manhattan College with a BS in Biology (Teacher Preparation). He earned an MS and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Sackler Institute of the New York University School of Medicine, graduating in 1994. Dr. Murphy joined Bloomfield College the same year.

In the past Dr. Murphy has studied both the molecular biology of cancer and the molecular biology of parasitism in insects. These days he focuses on the chemical modification of proteins in peas. Specifically, Dr. Murphy is interested in the effects of deacetylase inhibitors on pea root meristems. This research has resulted in publications, numerous student poster presentations as well as a recent GenBank sequence report for the Vitamin B12 Independent Methionine Synthase mRNA, accession number “KJ890480” that can be found at the website for the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Bloomfield College students have been coauthors on all these reports. This sequence will allow Dr. Murphy’s group to infer the amino acid sequence of the Methionine Synthase and investigate chemical modification of its amino acids, such as acetylation.

Dr. Murphy usually teaches the General Biology courses, “Diversity” and “Cell.” As well as the upperlevel Biochemistry II and Bioseminar.

Grace Cook, Ph.D.

Grace Cook is currently the Freshman Mathematics Coordinator and an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Bloomfield College. She has been a part of the college since 2013. She is a member of the Mathematical Association of America, Golden Key, Kappa Delta Pi, and Delta Phi Epsilon. She also consults for ETS and the New York City Department of Education. She has previously taught at the high school and collegiate level and worked as a test developer, statistician, and engineer

Dr. Cook has a Ph.D. in General Education from Walden University (2014) Dissertation Title: A Case Study of Curriculum Based Organizational Change in an Elementary Teacher Preparation Program, a M.S. in Applied Mathematics, a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics from Stevens Institute of Technology (2001), a B.S. in Mathematics, Minor in Literature from Stevens Institute of Technology (2001), and is a New Jersey and Maryland Certified Teacher in Mathematics

Gregory Edens, Ph.D.

Professor Greg Edens joined the Division of Natural Sciences and Math in September 2013 after having worked seven years in industry. Prior to that, he had more than seven years’ experience teaching general, analytical, and instrumental chemistry.

Dr. Edens earned his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Purdue University, his Master's degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Illinois, Chicago, and his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

Since his college freshman days, Edens has loved General Chemistry because of the breadth of topics covered. He enjoys learning new things each time through and strives to improve his teaching each year to inspire students, to give them a good foundation for upper-level science courses, and particularly to prepare them for Analytical Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, which he also teaches.

In Summer 2015 he supervised two students in a research project to determine mercury in fish. The students found that chunk light tuna has less mercury than solid white albacore, while Ahi tuna has very high levels of mercury. With the support of a NASA grant, one of the students will study the geographic distribution of mercury as implicated by levels in fish.

He enjoys listening to classical music, playing the piano; and gardening, cooking and riding bicycles with his wife. Ask him about a book that has changed his eating habits and improved his health. He enjoys reading chemistry journals, as well as textbooks about physical chemistry and thermodynamics.

Leila Koepp, Ph.D.

Dr. Leila Koepp is currently the Biology Coordinator in the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and is a full professor at Bloomfield College. She has been part of the college since 1982. She has previously taught at several institutions including Montclair State University, Farleigh Dickenson University, and Upsala College. She held positions as a bacteriologist at several hospitals including Flow Memorial Hospital in Denton, Texas and Overlook Hospital in Summit New Jersey.

Dr. Koepp has a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology from Rutgers University, formerly University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ), Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (1982). Dissertation title: The Molecular Basis for the Biological Activity of the Slime Glycolipoprotein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BI, a M.S. in Microbiology from North Texas State University, Denton, Texas (1970), a B.A. in Biology from Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania. (1968).

At Bloomfield College she taught many courses including General Biology, Clinical Physiology, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Genetics, Developmental Biology and has developed an Immunology course which has been added to the curriculum and which she has taught in the past and continues to teach as needed. Presently she mostly teaches multiple sections of Microbiology to biology majors and nursing students. She also has transformed the genetics curriculum to reflect multicultural/multiracial issues and introduced a course for non-majors that deals with Biotechnology and Human Affairs.

Most of her research during her graduate studies focused on the investigation of the molecular basis for the pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which has resulted in multiple publications in scientific journals.

She has investigated and cloned the SPO7 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with Dr. David Kabak at UMDNJ and has presented the results at several scientific meetings.

She has been involved with student research which focuses on bacterial leaf scorch (BLS) of oak trees in Northern NJ. The disease is caused by Xylella fastidiosa bacterium which infects the xylem of the leaves leading to leaf scorching and eventually death of the trees. Samples of oak leaves were collected and PCR analysis was conducted on these samples. The leaves were also analyzed by SEM with positive results for the bacterium.

In 2014 she published a book “Topics in Grief” which could be found on Amazon in honor of her late son David Koepp. She also has a blog TopicsInGrief.com

Demetris Nicolaides, Ph.D.

Demetris Nicolaides is a theoretical physicist and a book author.

In college, he enrolled in a five-year program that would allow him to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees in physics simultaneously. He obtained these degrees plus a bachelor's in mathematics (through a double major), cum laude, but in 3½ years. He continued his studies and earned a second master and a Ph.D. in physics from the City University of New York. He was first in his physics class and for it received the Paul Klapper Physics Award "as the outstanding physics major." He was also awarded Certificates of Honors in both physics and mathematics.

Dr. Nicolaides is now a professor of physics at the Division of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bloomfield College where he teaches physics and astronomy. He loves teaching and he is grateful to his students whose thirst for knowledge keeps him improving.

He has a passion for science and also philosophy. His scientific research covers a broad range of diverse topics. In physics, he investigates the properties of matter near the critical point of a phase transition. In the philosophy of physics, he examines, mainly, Presocratic natural philosophy and modern science in light of each other. He believes that all things in nature, even the apparently different, share a subtle underlying commonality, which he strives to find.

Professor Nicolaides has authored many scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented his research at conferences nationally. His book, In the Light of Science, a Library Journal bestseller, is an accessible presentation of the history of science and of science itself. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the International Association for Presocratic Studies.

Maria Vogt, Ph.D.

Dr. Vogt is Professor of Chemistry. She obtained her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her specialty is Organic Chemistry and she has a minor in Biochemistry.

Between receiving her B.S. and M.S. degrees, Professor Vogt first worked as a research assistant at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the area of electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). Subsequently, she worked as a Medical Technologist at Milwaukee County General Hospital, in the area of Special Chemistry.

Following completion of the Ph.D. degree, Professor Vogt spent four years as a Research (postdoctoral) Associate at the Ben May Laboratory for Cancer Research at The University of Chicago, investigating aspects of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Professor Vogt’s multiple research experiences resulted in a total of 45 scholarly, reviewed publications in journals including “Synthesis,” “Journal of Organic Chemistry,” “Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,” “Cancer Research,” “Zeitschrift fuer Naturforschung”, and “Organic Synthesis,” among others.

After completion of the postdoctoral studies, Professor Vogt obtained a faculty position at Rutgers University Newark. Rutgers’ focus was on research, rather than teaching, resulting in her arrival at Bloomfield College.

At Bloomfield College, Professor Vogt teaches a number of courses. These include seminar classes, Organic Chemistry lectures/laboratories, Biochemistry lecture/laboratory, and the chemistry course required of nursing majors. After many years in research, her focus has turned towards providing the best possible education in the classroom. She feels it is impossible to do two things very well. One can either be an excellent researcher or an excellent pedagogue. Professor Vogt prefers to be in that “pedagogue” category.

At the College, Professor Vogt has sponsored numerous undergraduate research projects. Her areas of interest include instrumentation and method development of experiments to incorporate into the undergraduate laboratory experience. Her students have participated in numerous poster sessions and have obtained scholarships from the American Chemical Society and the Independent College Fund of New Jersey.

Professor Vogt spends a lot of her time teaching and helping students. Her office has been called “Grand Central Station.” She advises many science majors, including the chemistry, Preprofessional (medical, dental, podiatry, physical therapy, physician assistant, pharmacy), Allied Health Technologies, Medical Laboratory Science, Medical Imaging Science, etc. majors. However, she does have a life outside of the College. She and her husband love to travel. Favorites include Montana (in the summer) and Florida (in the winter). Travel generally does not include “touristy” activities. With her husband, she has been into mines, collected fossils/minerals, gone horseback riding and visited ghost towns, just to name a few. Her favorite memories include snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park and a visit to the Corning Museum in the Finger Lakes region of New York. When at home, her major interest is in “fussy plants.” She loves orchids and treating them with benign neglect to get them to rebloom.

Karen Luchka

Professor Luchka earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bloomfield College and the Masters in Business Administration from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member in 2016, Professor Luchka taught as an adjunct professor here for several years, and spent 15 years working as an accountant within the pharmaceutical industry.

Courses taught include Principles of Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Cost/Managerial Accounting, Taxation for Individuals, and Corporate Taxation.

Professor Luchka is a Certified Public Accountant, with an active license in the state of New Jersey. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Accounting Association, and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, where she serves on the Student Programs and Scholarships Committee and is a member of the Accounting Educators Community. She also serves as a volunteer faculty mentor for first-year students here at Bloomfield College.

Yuichiro Nishizawa

Yuichiro Nishizawa is an associate professor and the chair of the Division of Creative Arts & Technology.

Professor Nishizawa attended Rhode Island School of Design (BFA in Film/Animation/Video) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Post-Baccalaureate Certificate and MFA in Art and Technology).

Working with the diverse population of students and like-minded peers at Bloomfield College fuels Nishizawa. He regards his position as a privilege. He is “committed to the practice of knowledge as trans-disciplinary, teaching/learning as non-hierarchical, experiential and collaborative, and education as critical reflection, liberation and social action.”

He has enjoyed teaching regularly the following classes:

Nishizawa, born in Tokyo, is interested in the complexity of the technological influences on and beyond everyday experience. He employs a wide array of media and methods in his work and inquiry. His hope is to provide an experience that brings the viewer to questions, furthers their own spirit of inquiry, engages their curiosity, and prompts them to imagine. His innate interest in function and form, conjoined with his investigation, has also led him to pursue furniture design and fabrication.

Harry Franqui-Rivera

Ph.D. in Caribbean and Latin American History, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Masters in Military and Diplomatic History from Temple University
B.A. in History from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
G.E.D. from the Departamento de Instruccción Pública de Puerto Rico

What I teach:

Professor Fanqui-Rivera specializes in Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Latino and Latin American History focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries. Among other interests he studies the condition of Puerto Rican veterans and service members and their impact in society; the role played by military service and institutions on nation-building projects and in the development of national identities; imperial-colonial relations, race, gender, class, and nation. He's also involved in Oral History and Digital Humanities Projects and in the production of short documentaries. He has several academic articles on these topics and two forthcoming books: Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952. University of Nebraska Press. Fighting on Two Fronts: The Experience of the Puerto Rican Soldiers in the Korean War. Centro Press. He is a published author, public intellectual, cultural critic, and blogger. He blogs and publishes in academic and news outlets such as the Huffington Post, Centro Voices, Latino Rebels, 80 Grados, Focaal, Process: A Blog for American History, and U.S. Studies Online. He served for over a decade in the U.S. Army and the National Guard and Reserve. His academic work can be found at http://www.academia.edu/. “History is not a Walt Disney production.” HFR

Dunja L. Trunk, Ph.D

B.A., Indiana University of Pennsylvania
M.S., Ph.D., University of Florida

What I teach:

Research Interests:

Factors impacting memory and learning in young and older adults

Neddie Serra, Ed.D., C.N.E., M.S.N., R.N.

Dr. Neddie Serra received her Ed D in Healthcare Education:Nursing: from Nova Southeastern University (NSU), Miami FL in 2001. She has a Master’s degree in Community Health Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pace University, Pleasantville New York Dr. Serra has been in the field of nursing education for over 25 years. She is certified as a Nurse Educator by the National League for Nursing (NLN).

Dr. Serra joined Bloomfield College in 1991 as an instructor in Pediatric Nursing and was here until 1996 when she left to pursue her terminal degree. Prior to her appointment as the Chairperson of Nursing at Bloomfield College, she taught at William Paterson University (WPU) in Wayne, NJ as an associate professor. Dr. Serra has worked to develop numerous courses throughout her career including on line offerings.

Dr. Serra became the chairperson of the Division of Nursing at Bloomfield College in 2004. At that time she led faculty toward a curriculum change that was necessary for the success of the nursing program. In 2005 she successfully led the faculty through the arduous accreditation process receiving a full 10 year accreditation without conditions or recommendations. Since her tenure here at Bloomfield College the student NCLEX success rates have become one of the most notable among all the baccalaureate programs in the state of New Jersey.

Dr. Serra is a member of several professional organizations including the New Jersey State Nursing Association; The American Nurses Association; Sigma Theta Tau International; The NJ Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs in Nursing (also serving as Treasurer); The National Association of Hispanic Nurses (where she is also a board member of the NJ Chapter.) She has also received a governor’s appointment to serve on the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing.

Dr. Serra has presented at several conferences and has received several grants that have benefitted students at institutions where she has taught.

Marianne Flood, Ph.D., R.N.

Professor Marianne Flood graduated from New York University with a Master’s and PhD in Nursing Research. She received an undergraduate degree in Nursing with a Bachelor’s in Science from the University of New Hampshire. She currently teaches in the Division of Nursing at Bloomfield College a variety of courses with an emphasis on Nursing Research and Senior Capstone. She has been actively involved in several research projects over the past 5 years employing students as research assistants to engage in the scholarly work of research. Some of the projects/publications include “The public’s perception of visible body art on healthcare providers,” “The effect of inclusion of geriatric content in clinical case studies across the nursing curriculum,” The relationship between background music in the classroom, attitudes towards nursing research and academic achievement,” and “The relationship of participation in an internship/externship program between junior and senior years as a nursing student and ease of transition to the professional nursing role.” Most of these research projects have been presented at public forums including Sigma Theta Tau Research Day, Englewood Hospital Research Day, Meridian Health Research Day and the New Jersey State Nurses Association Annual meeting. CSLE, Donald Ross and PBI grants from Bloomfield College funded several of the research studies.

Professor Flood is a “Faculty Leader” in the nursing Honor society, Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Epsilon Chapter. She is also a member of the New Jersey State Nurses Association and the American Nursing Association. She is a member of the National Gerontological Nursing Association and is a former member and founder of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.

She is also the chairperson of the curriculum committee in the Division of Nursing and is responsible for writing major portions of the CCNE accreditation report. Professor Flood served on the Middle States Accreditation Committee for the College and contributed to writing Standards 11 and 12 related to general education.

Professor Flood serves as the chairperson of the Admissions and Enrollment collegewide committee and as the faculty representative on the Retention Task Force. She advises 2025 nursing students yearly and serves as an academic reference for many graduates for new nursing positions, nursing promotions, and graduate schools.

Phyllis More, Ph.D., R.N.

Professor Phyllis More received her Ph.D. in Nursing Research from New York University in 1987. She has a Master’s degree in Nursing Education from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Cornell University New York Hospital School of Nursing.

Dr. More has been actively engaged in the field of nursing for over 40 years. She is certified in Community Health Nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and participates regularly in activities of the Association of Community Health Nurse Educators. In addition she successfully passed the written examination and is a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) by the National League for Nursing. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, New Jersey State Nurses Association, National League for Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing for which she has served as secretary and member of the executive board of the Alpha Upsilon Chapter.

Since coming to Bloomfield College in 1977, Dr. More has taught courses at all levels of the curriculum to both RN students seeking to complete the BSN and to traditional prelicensure students. Having extensive clinical experience in Community and Public Health Nursing as well as community based Pediatrics, in recent years she has focused on integrating a changing paradigm of health into senior level courses. Dr. More has had a major role in conducting several selfstudies of the Division of Nursing for continued accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.