Faculty of LEHMAN COLLEGE Experts For Media 2025
ANTHROPOLOGY
CAMERON MCNEIL
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Editor of The Ch’orti’ Maya Area: Past and Present and Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao
EXPERTISE: Mesoamerican archaeology, the ancient Maya, Teotihuacan in the Maya Area, historical ecology, uncovering the senses through archaeological practice, gender studies, pollen analysis, archaeobotany, and ritual practice
EXPERIENCE: Has worked in the Copán Valley in Honduras for over 25 years investigating ancient ritual plant use and human-environmental interactions, patterns of societal collapse among the Maya, and the beginnings of the Early Classic period. Has directed excavations in the Copán Valley since 2011 and is the PI on the Proyecto Arqueológico de la Periferia de Copán (PAPC)
McNeil is currently investigating a Teotihuacan Fort in the hills above Copán
MEDIA APPERANCES: BBC | Voice of America | Atlas Obscura | El Horado (Honduras) Canal 6 (Honduras)
LANGUAGE: Spanish
VICTORIA M. DOMINGUEZ
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
EXPERTISE: Skeletal biology, bone identification, osteology, and forensic anthropology
RESEARCH: “Prevalence of drifting osteons distinguishes human bone,” in PLOS ONE
EXPERIENCE: Forensic Anthropology Unit of NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner, The Ohio State Forensic Anthropology Case Team, and The Ohio State Injury Biomechanics Research Center
MEDIA APPERANCE: Faculty Excellence Presentation 2024
LANGUAGE: Spanish
WILLIAM HARCOURT-SMITH
Associate Professor and Chair, Anthropology
EXPERTISE: Evolution, paleontology
EXPERIENCE: Resident researcher at the American Museum of Natural History; led team that discovered Homo naledi, a new species in human evolution
MEDIA APPERANCES: Science Goes to the Movies | Redefining the Origin of Our Species | Live Science
ARTS, PERFORMING ARTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT
AMY LARIMER
Professor and Dance Program Director, Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance
EXPERTISE: Dance, improvisation, body-mind wellness, somatic learning
RESEARCH: Publications include “Using Comedy Improvisation Techniques to Support Dance Training,” in The Journal of Dance Education and “Articulate Bodies: The Value of a Somatic Curriculum in a Virtual World” in The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
EXPERIENCE: Founding member of Nicholas Leichter Dance; director of The Raving Jaynes: Improvised Dance Theater, a group that uses improvisational structures from dance and theater to create fully improvised performances; creator of Tangled, a project that combines tango with improv
BARTHOLOMEW BLAND
Executive Director, Lehman College Art Gallery
EXPERTISE: Art history, public art, historical and contemporary museum issues, curation, contemporary and 19th-century American art
EXPERIENCE: Former Deputy Director and Director of Curatorial Affairs for the Hudson River Museum. Conceptualized and organized more than 50 museum exhibitions
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Bronx Times | Riverdale Press | The New York Times
COLIN HARTE
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Music
Author: The Bodhrán: Experimentation, Innovation, and the Traditional Irish Frame Drum
EXPERTISE: Ethnomusicology, music education, Brazilian music, Irish studies and music, popular music, jazz
MEDIA APPEARANCES: World Music Central
JENNIFER JOLLEY
Assistant Professor, Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance
RECENT COMPOSITIONS: Spacewalk, Krispy Kremes and Butter Queens
Author: “The Curious Case of Keiko Yamada” (NewMusicBox), “All the Rage: When Is Music a Political Action” (NewMusicBox); Contributor to Women in Wind Band (Keeton-Howard, Wagner), Original Études for the Developing Conductor (ed. Caldwell, Shapiro), and Expanding the Canon: Chorales from an Inclusive Repertoire (Murphy Music Press)
EXPERTISE: Composer of band, orchestra, opera, chamber, and vocal music
RESEARCH: Yellow Face in Opera, the intersection between music and non-musical topics including climate change, feminist history, #MeToo, politics, space, and science. Creative research includes collaboration on new musical works with individuals, ensembles, and organizations around the world that engage political and provocative subjects to create enjoyable and meaningful pieces
EXPERIENCE: Fulbright Scholar; Opera America Grant for Women Composers awardee; New Music USA board of directors; composer mentor for the National Band Association Young Composer/Conductor Mentor Project; 2024 judge for the Jeju International Composition Competition for wind orchestra; artistic review panelist for the New Music USA New Music Creator Fund; NewMusicBox steering committee member; NAfME Repertoire Diversity Task Force member; guest composer, conductor, and presenter at universities and conferences around the country
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Composer Chats with Jason Nitsch | Pete’s Percussion Podcast | Interlude | Everything Band Podcast | The Band Room Pod
JENNIFER MCCABE
Associate Professor, Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance
EXPERTISE: Working actor, theatre, acting, performing arts, and visual arts. Performance Reel
EXPERIENCE: Coaching and teaching actors for over two decades across various institutions including The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and Stonestreet Studios. Director, filmmaker, and actor—has completed 10 short films
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Teaching Tidbits (webinar), Working in the Performing Arts
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
PENNY PRINCE Professor, Music
EXPERTISE: Music education, collaborative musical theatre, college reentry post-incarceration Composer/lyricist/director of numerous musicals including Cinderella ’21, When I Get to Where I’m Going, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet; authored chapters, book reviews, and articles on music education
RESEARCH: Taking cues from students, multiple intelligences in the music classroom; reentering college after incarceration
EXPERIENCE: Founder and chair of the Lehman Reentry Committee; Honored Artist of The American Prize, 2024; winner of numerous awards for original, collaborative musical theatre and innovative teaching; mentoring junior faculty; coordinator of M.A. program in Music
MEDIA APPEARANCES: New York Times | Bronxnet TV | The Riverdale Press
RICK DESROCHERS, Professor and Theatre Program Director, Music, Multimedia, Theatre, and Dance
Author of The New Humor in the Progressive Era: Americanization and the Vaudeville Comedian and The Comic Offense from Vaudeville to Contemporary Comedy.
EXPERTISE: Comedy on stage, television, and silent film, vaudeville, new play development, devised theatre, multimedia stage performance
RESEARCH: Devised theatre mashup of Faust and Buster Keaton short silent films
MEDIA APPEARANCES: PBS American Masters Series, Mae West – Dirty Blonde
BLACK, AFRO LATINX, AND LATINX STUDIES & CULTURE
ALYSHIA GALVEZ
Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies
Author of Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico; Patient Citizens, Immigrant Mothers: Mexican Women, Public Prenatal Care, and the Birth Weight Paradox; and Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and the Struggle for Citizenship Rights among Mexican Immigrants
EXPERTISE: Cultural and medical anthropology, migration and citizenship, nutrition, foods, and chronic disease; reproductive and public health, Mexico and Mexican communities in the United States
FULL LENGTH DOCUMENTARY: ¡Salud! Myths and Realities of Mexican Migration
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Latino USA | MoMA Magazine Podcast
LANGUAGE: Spanish
BRYAN WARDE
Professor, Social Work
Author of Color Blind: Indigenous and Black Disproportionality Across Criminal Justice Systems; Inequality in U.S. Social Policy, An Historical Analysis (2nd Edition); and We the People: Social Protests Movements and the Shaping of American Democracy
EXPERTISE: Social inequality and social policy; social protest movements’ immigration, the experiences of Indigenous, Black, and Latino peoples in higher education, and disproportionality in the child welfare and criminal justice system
RESEARCH: Experiences of African American and Latino males in higher education, underrepresentation of male social workers of color, and disproportionality in the child welfare and criminal justice system
EXPERIENCE: Former director of foster care and adoption at Lakeside Family and Children’s Services
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Exchanges with Authors | Indoor Voices Podcast: Colorblind
CULTURE...(Continued)
GARY FORD
Assistant Professor, Africana Studies
Author of Constance Baker Motley: One Woman’s Fight For Civil Rights And Equal Justice Under Law
EXPERTISE: African American history from slavery to the present, African American literature, Caribbean literature, African American women’s literary expression, Afrofuturism, Black culture in the United States, Black writers, portrayals of Blackness in the media and the arts, African Americans and the law, and race and social justice
EXPERIENCE: Producer of Justice Is a Black Woman: The Life and Work of Constance Baker Motley
MEDIA APPEARANCES: New Haven Arts | BronxNet
JOSÉ HIGUERA-LÓPEZ
Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director, Mexican Studies Institute
Co-editor of the FIL Ciudad de Nueva York anthology series, Visual Database Project
EXPERTISE: Mexican and Mexican-American culture, higher education administration, educational equity and access, cultural promotion and representation, transnational communities, bilingual education, second language acquisition
EXPERIENCE: Founder and President of the New York City International Book Fair (FIL Ciudad de Nueva York); recipient of Fulbright-COMEXUS: Mexico Studies Visiting Professorship; founder of the Digital Archives and Resources Unit as well as the CUNY Mexican Studies Archives and Library; creator of the Mexican Studies Oral History Project: TV Series and Our Stories - Oral Memory Unit
MEDIA APPEARANCES: BronxNet | Norwood News | WABC | Smithsonian Magazine | New York Times
LANGUAGE: Spanish
MARIPOSA FERNANDEZ
Lecturer, Latin American and Latino Studies
Author of Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival
EXPERTISE: Creative writing, literature, Africana and Afro Latino studies, women’s and gender studies
EXPERIENCE: Performed poetry at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Essence Music Festival, Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Recipient of Letras Boricua Mellon fellowship
MEDIA APPEARANCES: News 12 | NBC News | PIX 11
LANGUAGE: Spanish
MATTHEW FRYE-CASTILLO Lecturer, English
Author of One Headlight; Published poetry, short stories, and personal essays with Newtown Literary, Best Gay Stories 2017, Understory, OPOSSUM, Pine Hills Review; Journalism featured in The Anchorage Daily News, HuffPost, Bushwick Daily, and Change Magazine
EXPERTISE: Pop culture and music, LGBTQIA+ trends, contemporary literature and visual art, DEI in Higher Education
RESEARCH: LGBTQIA+ art history; the rhetoric of Victimhood Experience: Former writer for The Anchorage Press; featured in Netflix docuseries Worn Stories; former arts editor of The Red Hook Star-Revue
MEDIA APPEARANCES: The Riverdale Press | NPR’s Hometown Alaska | A&U Magazine | Pine Hills Review
NAOMI ZACK
Professor, Philosophy
Author of Intersectionality: A Philosophical Framework, Democracy: A Very Short Introduction, and White Privilege and Black Rights: The Injustice of U.S. Police Racial Profiling and Homicide
EXPERTISE: Philosophy of race, feminist theory, justice/injustice theory, disaster ethics, history of philosophy, restorative justice
RESEARCH: Theories of injustice that extend beyond race. Author of 10 monographs and numerous papers and textbooks on these subjects
EXPERIENCE: Professor of philosophy, previously at UAlbany, University of Oregon.
MEDIA APPEARANCES: The Very Short Introductions Podcast | Hammer Museum (panelist) | Inside Higher Education | Faculti
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
NICHOLAS BOSTON
Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Studies
Author of the upcoming book The Amorous Migrant: Race, Relationships and Resettlement
EXPERTISE: Academic freedom/freedom of speech, African American/Black issues, Canada-U.S. relations, pop culture, contemporary Europe (particularly Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom), higher education, race and racism; immigration/migration, LGBTQ+ issues, media industry studies
EXPERIENCE: Recipient of fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the CUNY Research Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, and others; visiting professor in the Department of Communications at John Cabot University, in Rome, Italy; on the steering committee of the Black British Voices Project; journalism and commentary have appeared in BBC News, British Future, Calvert Journal, Gay City News, HuffPost, The Independent, Le Monde Diplomatique, New York Observer, Notes from Poland, PBS.org, The Root, Toronto Star, The Voice (UK), and Vogue
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Gay City News | Global News Toronto | The Voice | The Takeaway (podcast)
ROBYN C. SPENCER-ANTOINE
Associate Professor, History
Author of The Revolution has Come: Black Power, Gender and the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California
EXPERTISE: Civil Rights, Black power, Black Panther Party, African American women’s history, urban history, anti-Vietnam war protests, Black feminism
RESEARCH: Civil Rights and Black power post World War II; Black Freedom movement
EXPERIENCE: Recipient of a Mellon fellowship, co-editor of the Radical Teacher special Issue on “Teaching Black Lives Matter”, co-founder of the Intersectional Black Panther Party History Project, Harvard University Fellow at the Charles Warren Center, 2023-2024
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Democracy Now | Washington Post
SARAH OHMER
Associate Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies, Africana Studies, Women and Gender Studies
Co-author of “Introduction: From Solidão, to Isolation, to Solidão-rity”, Womens Studies Quarterly
EXPERTISE: Afro-Latin American studies, intersectional feminisms, black women in literature
RESEARCH: Intersection of gender, race, class, and trauma in Black women’s literature from Cuba, Brazil, and the US
EXPERIENCE: Two-time recipient of Fulbright Award, Published articles in the Zora Neale Hurston Forum, Editorial board member of several journals, Organizer of panel discussion “Black Cuir Revolutions: Reflections on Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and the Bronx”
LANGUAGES: French, Spanish, Portuguese
TERESITA LEVY
Associate Professor and Chair, Latin American and Latino Studies
Author of Puerto Ricans in the Empire: Tobacco Growers and U.S. Colonialism
EXPERTISE: Latin American and Caribbean economic history, specializing in the agriculture of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic
RESEARCH: Political affiliation and activism, colonial structures, and commodity agriculture
EXPERIENCE: Associate professor and chair in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College; interim dean, School of Arts and Humanities at Lehman College; focus group moderator in English and Spanish; former executive director, Office of International Programs and Community Engagement at Lehman College; former administrative director, Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
MEDIA APPEARANCE: C-Span
LANGUAGE: Spanish
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836 Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
BLOCKCHAIN, CRYPTO & AI
JORGE SILVA-PURAS
Provost and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs and Student Success
EXPERTISE: Higher education administration, economic development, entrepreneurship and education, AI in business and education
EXPERIENCE: Attorney for multiple Fortune 500 companies. Appointed by President Obama as Administrator for US Small Business Administration (SBA) Region II (NY, NJ, PR & USVI). Former provost at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Served as Chief of Staff to Puerto Rico’s Governor Acevedo Vilá and held senior government positions, including Secretary of Economic Development & Commerce, Executive Director of the PR Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) and President of the Economic Development Bank for PR (EDB)
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Univision | Telemundo
LANGUAGE: Spanish
SEAN STEIN SMITH Associate Professor, Accounting
Editor and Author: The Emerald Handbook on Cryptoassets: Investment Opportunities and Challenges; Shifting from Accounting Practitioner to Academia: Tactics, Tips, and Strategies for the Transition
EXPERTISE: Crypto assets, fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, automation, audits, fraud
EXPERIENCE: Host of LEAP Into Business Podcast, serves on the Advisory Board of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, former visiting research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, member of the NJCPA Board of Trustees and Fairleigh Dickinson University Board of Governors, advisor to Hyperion, and strategic advisor to Crescent City Capital
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Forbes | FOX 5 New York | Institute of Management Accountants Podcast | CGTN | NJCPA IssuesWatch Podcast
BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ALEXANDER NÚÑEZ-TORRES
Associate Professor, Finance, Information Systems, and Economics
EXPERTISE: Banking systems, corporate finance, asset pricing, mergers, and financial literacy
RESEARCH: Published in journals including Journal of Financial Economics, International Finance, and Research Finance Letters
EXPERIENCE: National Dominican Day Parade board member and co-chair of their Scholarship Committee
LANGUAGE: Spanish
DENE
HURLEY
Dean, School of Business
EXPERTISE: International finance and trade, labor markets, gender in management, macro and microeconomics
RESEARCH: International trade and exchange rate issues, particularly between Asia and U.S.; the role of gender in business and management
EXPERIENCE: Former director of Maritime Research for the Journal of Commerce’s Port Import Export Reporting Service (PIERS), former economist for the Seychelles Ministry of Finance
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Westfair Business Journal | The Ticker
JANE MACKILLOP Dean, School of Continuing and Professional Studies
EXPERTISE: Continuing education, workforce development, small business support, entrepreneurship, economic development, ESL and adult literacy, bachelors and master’s programs, correctional education
EXPERIENCE: Credit and non-credit program development, dean of continuing and professional studies at CUNY and SUNY colleges, degree programs for adult and returning students, education/training for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adults, economic development, grant writing, and fundraising
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Bronx Times | The Riverdale Press
JOSE GOMEZ-GONZALEZ Associate Professor, Finance, Information Systems, and Economics
EXPERTISE: Emerging markets, financial economics, real estate finance, housing and consumer economics
RESEARCH: Published over 60 academic papers in journals such as World Development, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Finance Research Letters, and Emerging Markets Review
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Razón Pública
LANGUAGE: Spanish
JUAN J. DELACRUZ
Associate Professor, Finance, Information Systems, and Economics
EXPERTISE: Health economics, immigration, economics of education, Hispanic and Mexican diasporas
RESEARCH: Economic determinants of health and education among Hispanics in the United States
EXPERIENCE: Faculty affiliate at the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, former vice-president of Communications at the American Society for Hispanic Economists, former director of the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Univision | Americano Media
LANGUAGE: Spanish
LAWRENCE FAUNTLEROY
Director, Experiential Learning, School of Business
EXPERTISE: Transformational leadership, experiential learning programs, career development and social mobility, technology
EXPERIENCE: Host of LEAP Into Business Podcast; former IT executive in the healthcare industry; director, CUNY 2X Software Engineering
MEDIA APPEARANCES: The SHIFT Podcast | Bronxnet Digital Conference
PATRICK TORMEY
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Management and Business Innovation
EXPERTISE: Retailing, marketing, direct response marketing
RESEARCH: Scholarly articles on topics ranging from retail analytics to retail merchandising
EXPERIENCE: Former contributing editor for Fashion Mannuscript.
MEDIA APPEARANCES: CNBC | News 12
FITNESS AND NUTRITION
BRAD SCHOENFELD
Professor, Exercise Sciences and Recreation
Author of Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy
EXPERTISE: Sports nutrition, body composition training (muscle hypertrophy and fat loss), resistance training variables
RESEARCH: Ranked world’s #1 researcher on resistance training by ExpertScape. Over 300 published peer-reviewed studies
EXPERIENCE: Former champion natural bodybuilder; consultant to numerous strength and conditioning programs in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Premiership Rugby League; former sports nutrition consultant to the New Jersey Devils hockey organization
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Men’s Health | New York Times | Washington Post
DOUGLAS OBERLIN
Assistant Professor, Exercise Sciences and Recreation
EXPERTISE: Exercise physiology, nutrition, diabetes, trans athletes
RESEARCH: Various aspects of exercise and nutrition as they relate to health, metabolism, mood, and cognition; includes both human and animal studies
RECENT ARTICLES: “Sex differences and athletic performance. Where do trans individuals fit into sports and athletics based on current research?” “High Intensity interval Training in Healthy Males Does Not Improve Markers of Insulin Sensitivity.” “One Bout of Exercise Alters Free-Living Postprandial Glycemia in Type 2 Diabetes”
EXPERIENCE: Clinical exercise physiology and exercise training in high-risk populations
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Health News
JACOB EUBANK
Assistant Professor, Exercise Sciences and Recreation
EXPERTISE: Recreational behavior, higher education administration, student affairs, college student well-being, campus recreation
RESEARCH: The impact of recreation and physical activity on the college student experience in the areas of stress, well-being, sense of belonging, academic success, life satisfaction, and motivation
RECENT RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS: “Building sense of belonging through informal recreation participation” “Resilience through recreation: How college students’ recreational behavior at a Hispanic-serving institution in New York City mediated negative emotions after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic” “The faculty aren’t alright: Faculty stress increased over the first year of COVID-19”
EXPERIENCE: Deputy Chair, Department of Exercise Sciences and Recreation and Co-Program Director of Recreation Education and Therapeutic Recreation at Lehman College; formerly an administrator in campus recreation, University of North Carolina Wilmington
NURSING, HEALTH, AND WELLNESS
BRENDA HERNANDEZ-ACEVEDO
Assistant Professor, Nursing
EXPERTISE: Nursing education, research, and simulation; community health nursing
EXPERIENCE: Former nursing program administrator, qualitative and quantitative researcher, peer reviewer, home care nursing and discharge planning
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Univision
LANGUAGE: Spanish
CARMEN
MUGUERCIA
Lecturer, Nursing
EXPERTISE: Patient care, healthcare, nursing simulation
EXPERIENCE: Healthcare professional with 25 years of experience, including 15 years in nursing education
MEDIA APPEARANCE: CBS
LANGUAGE: Spanish
CINDY BAUTISTA-THOMAS
Assistant
Professor,
Social Work
Author of School Social Work: A Direct Practice Guide, Second Edition
EXPERTISE: Social work practice and education, professional development, and mental health
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Social Work Blog | Canvas Rebel
LANGUAGE: Spanish
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
ELGLORIA HARRISON
Professor and Dean, School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing
Author of Neonatal Respiratory Care Handbook
EXPERTISE: Health disparities, health equity, asthma research, community-based research, and environmental impacts on health
RESEARCH: Aging anxiety and physical activity outcomes among middle and older age African Americans— Physical Activity and Health
EXPERIENCE: Former Chair, District of Columbia Board of Respiratory Care. Former Executive Director for Health Services at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. Former Associate Dean for College of Agriculture Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) at the University of the District of Columbia.
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Bronx Times | BronxNet | CUNY TV Asian American Life
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDILTRUDYS RUIZ
Vice President and Chief Information Officer
EXPERTISE: Information technology in higher education, cybersecurity, AI in education, digital innovation, IT infrastructure, governance and compliance
EXPERIENCE: Recipient of numerous recognitions, including the CUNY 2011 Ribaudo Award for Information Technology Excellence, the Jane N. Ryland Fellowship from EDUCAUSE, the Bronx Community College 2012 “Extra-Mile” Award, and multiple CUNY IT awards, among others
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Leading Change Institute
LANGUAGE: Spanish
ELIN WARING Professor, Sociology
Author of Crimes of the Middle Classes; White Collar Crime and Criminal Careers; and Russian Mafia in America: Crime, Immigration and Culture
EXPERTISE: College student retention, data science, criminal justice interventions, mass incarceration, social organization
RESEARCH: Explores causes of retention issues for college students, white collar crime, organized crime, and social organization
EXPERIENCE: Served on the Board of Directors and as resident of Open Source Matters, Inc, leads Data Science Minor at Lehman Collège
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Diverse Education (Completion Rates) | Diverse Education (Retention & Persistence)
FERNANDO DELGADO
President, Lehman College
EXPERTISE: Higher education, institutional accreditation, strategic planning
RESEARCH: Latinx identity, intercultural communication, and sport in society; published three dozen articles and book chapters on topics including: social movements, political communication, sport and culture, Latinx culture and identity
EXPERIENCE: Nearly 30 thirty years of experience as an academic administrator and faculty member at institutions including Arizona State University and University of Minnesota Duluth; lectured at Universität Trier, Universidad de Madrid Complutense, and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
MEDIA APPEARANCES: LEAP Into Business Podcast | Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | News Tribune
LANGUAGE: Spanish
JERMAINE A. WRIGHT
Vice President, Student Affairs
Author of “Equity as an outcome: the use of performance information to address the achievement gap in higher education for men of color”
EXPERTISE: Student learning and development, equitable and inclusive practices in higher education, performance measurement and improvement in higher education, public management, and social equity
RESEARCH: Public Administration, academic achievement, equity
EXPERIENCE: Founding University Associate Director of the CUNY Black Male Initiative (BMI). Served as the Interim University Associate Dean of Special Programs at CUNY as well as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Southern Connecticut State University
MEDIA APPEARANCES: News 8 | NY1
KELLY MANSFIELD BROWN
Vice President, Institutional Advancement
EXPERTISE: Higher education fundraising and development, donor engagement, alumni relations
EXPERIENCE: Higher education advancement leader with 30 years of expertise in enhancing institutional reputation through strategic planning and innovation
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Norwood News
KENNETH SCHLESINGER
Professor, Associate Dean and Chief Librarian
Coauthor of Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Handbook for Academic Libraries
EXPERTISE: Library management, open educational resources, strategic planning, performing arts collections, intellectual property, digital preservation, international librarianship
EXPERIENCE: Former board president of the Independent Media Arts Preservation and Theatre Library Association; recipient of the Louis Rachow Performing Arts Librarianship Distinguished Service Award
LANGUAGES: Spanish, French
HIGHER EDUCATION...(Continued)
RICHARD FINGER
Vice President, Enrollment Management
Author of “Presenting Post High School Options to Students” in Experiential Activities for Teaching Career Counseling and for Facilitating Career Groups (Vol.III)
EXPERTISE: Student success; enrollment, retention, and recruitment; credit for prior learning; reverse transfer; college bridge and access programs; and academic policy
RESEARCH: Frequent presenter on higher education leadership (particularly staff career development), student retention and persistence strategies, monetizing improved enrollment and student outcomes, and humane approaches to managing college receivables
EXPERIENCE: Faculty member in the School of Business; member of the National Academic Advising Association’s (NACADA) Professional Development Committee, institutional lead on the American Association of State Colleges and Universities ‘Student Success Equity Initiative’
MEDIA APPEARANCES: The Riverdale Press | PIX 11 | NY1
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
POLITICS AND POLICY
BENJAMIN HOLTZMAN Assistant Professor, History
Author of The Long Crisis: New York City and the Path to Neoliberalism
EXPERTISE: U.S. history with a focus on New York City, social movements, capitalism and neoliberalism, politics, and race, class, and inequality in cities
RESEARCH: Private security and policing in Modern American History, modern homelessness in Journal of Social Housing, and affordable housing in Journal of Urban History
EXPERIENCE: Recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Award to support his second book, “Smash the Klan”: Fighting the White Power Movement in the Late Twentieth Century
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Featured guest on Tom’s Big New York Show
DENNY SANTOS
Director, Compliance and Operations, Office of Student Affairs
EXPERTISE: Student support programs, Title IX student support, campus housing, childcare services commencement, SPARC training
RESEARCH: Higher Education with a focus on the Latino student experience and EOP programs
MEDIA APPEARANCE: NY1 Noticias
LANGUAGE: Spanish
DEVRIM YAVUZ
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Author of Democracy and Capitalism in Turkey: The State, Power, and Big Business
EXPERTISE: Turkish politics, business and democracy/authoritarianism, state capacity and pandemics, states and global development, political sociology, capitalism and democracy
RESEARCH: The state’s role in development and how its relationship to business affects democratization; the impact of state capacity on pandemic interventions
EXPERIENCE: Years interviewing Turkish business leaders about attitude toward democracy and Turkish politics
MEDIA APPEARANCE: New Books Network
LANGUAGES: French, Turkish
EILEEN MARKEY
Associate Professor, Journalism and
Media Studies
Author of A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura; Editor of Without Compromise: The Brave Journalism That First Exposed Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and the American Epidemic of Corruption, a collection of work by investigative journalist Wayne Barrett. Forthcoming: A work of narrative nonfiction on the fight to save The Bronx in the 70s and 80s
EXPERIENCE: Collected and edited investigative reporter Wayne Barrett’s work for Without Compromise
MEDIA APPEARANCES: The Irish Echo | America Magazine | The Daily Beast | New York Daily News | PBS | Vital City
JENNIFER LAIRD
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Co-Author of “Surviving a Shut-Off: U.S. Households at Greatest Risk of Utility Disconnections and How They Cope”
EXPERTISE: Poverty, inequality, energy insecurity
RESEARCH: Uncovering socially stratifying factors that have previously been overlooked: 1) Households most at risk of experiencing utility disconnections; 2) Decline in job stability for Black public sector workers during the Great Recession; 3) Vulnerability of immigrant children to changes in safety net policies; 4) Contribution of taxes and transfers to poverty differences across U.S. states
MEDIA APPEARANCES: New York Daily News | Washington Post | New York Times
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
JULIE MAYBEE
Professor and Interim Associate Dean, Arts and Humanities
Author of Making and Unmaking Disability: The Three-Body Approach and Picturing Hegel: An Illustrated Guide to Hegel’s Encyclopaedia Logic
EXPERTISE: G.W.F. Hegel’s dialectics and logic, African philosophy, philosophy of disability and disability studies
EXPERIENCE: Affiliated faculty member in the Department of Philosophy, CUNY Graduate Center; former chair of the Philosophy department; coordinator, Disability Studies minor; former consortial associate professor in the Disability Studies master’s program, CUNY School of Professional Studies; former chair of the American Philosophical Association Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers
MEDIA APPEARANCE: UConn Today | Blavatnik School of Government (presenter) | Dialogues on Disability | Biopolitical Philosophy
STANLEY RENSHON Professor, Political Science
Author of 20 books including the award-winning High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition and The Real Psychology of the Trump Presidency
EXPERTISE: Political science; psychoanalytic practice; presidential leadership and decision making; citizenship, immigration and American national identity
RESEARCH: Published dozens of journal articles related to presidential psychology and political leadership
EXPERIENCE: Certified psychoanalyst; served as a government advisor on matters of national security including issues of immigration, national attachment, leadership assessment; and decision-making
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Australian Broadcasting Corporation | NPR | UPI
PRIMARY EDUCATION
CECILIA M. ESPINOSA
Professor and Chair, Early Childhood and Childhood Education
Co-author of Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers
EXPERTISE: Early childhood education, bilingual education, multilingual learning, biliteracy, children’s literature
RESEARCH: Bilingual children’s writing; translanguaging, descriptive processes, and children’s literature that affirms and nurtures children’s multiple identities
EXPERIENCE: Coordinator of Advanced Bilingual Extension Birth to Grade 6 certificate at Lehman; affiliated faculty for the New York City Writing Project (NYCWP), member of the Descriptive Inquiry Philosophy Study Group, and chair of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature in Fiction (National Council of Teachers of English)
MEDIA APPEARANCE: CBS New York
LANGUAGE: Spanish
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
HARI PANT
Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences
EXPERTISE: Water pollution, environmental science, biogeochemistry, global change impact on sediment/soil and water quality, biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur, and ecological indicators
RESEARCH: Biogeochemical cycles, sediment/water quality, ecological indicators, global change
EXPERIENCE: Author/coauthor of 36 research articles, and guest reviewer of over 40 books/journals
MEDIA APPEARANCES: Wasting Our Waterways | National Geographic Magazine
JOSEPH RACHLIN
Professor, Biological Sciences
EXPERTISE: Fish ecology, aquatic ecology, fish and invertebrate sub-fossils
RESEARCH: More than 65 peer-reviewed publications on aquatic ecology with special emphasis on fish and invertebrates in coastal and freshwaters of New York State
EXPERIENCE: Director of Lehman College Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research
JULIO GALLEGO-DELGADO
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
EXPERTISE: Malaria, infectious diseases, organ damage, translational medicine, mosquito-borne transmitted diseases, coevolution
RESEARCH: Pathology of severe malaria, infectious diseases, biomarkers discovery, development of new therapies. List of peer-reviewed publications can be found here
Latest publications include “Metabolomic and chemometric analyses of St. John’s wort and related Asian Hypericum species linked to bioactivity”
EXPERIENCE: Former research scientist at NYU
MEDIA APPEARANCE: El Universal
LANGUAGE: Spanish
MATT O’DOWD
Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy
EXPERTISE: Space, black holes, galaxy evolution, astrophysics, explaining complicated theories in easy-to-understand language
EXPERIENCE: Host and writer of PBS Space Time, frequent guest on Science Goes to the Movies on CUNY TV and on StarTalk radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson
MEDIA APPEARANCES: PBS Spacetime | Star Talk, A Taste of Space with Matt O’Dowd and Neil deGrasse Tyson | NY Times | Radiolab
MELISSA DERI
Associate Professor, Chemistry
EXPERTISE: Radiochemistry, radiotherapy in health care, medically relevant isotopes, chemical education
EXPERIENCE: Pioneering study and practice of radiochemistry in The Bronx for biomedical science applications, Deri’s lab features the only radiation detector in the CUNY system capable of gamma spectroscopy, recipient of multiple fellowships and awards from the U.S Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, Founder of The Deri Lab
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Isotope Research
RENATO GHINI BETTIOL
Associate Professor, Mathematics
Author of “Lie Groups and Geometric Aspects of Isometric Actions”
EXPERTISE: Mathematics (differential geometry, geometric analysis, curvature, topology)
RESEARCH: Published more than 30 papers
EXPERIENCE: Recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, and CUNY Feliks Gross Award, published over 30 research papers on curvature and global shape of smooth manifolds, co-organizer of the weekly CUNY Geometric Analysis seminar since 2018, and 2023 CUNY Symposium on Recent Trends in Nonlinear and Geometric Analysis
MEDIA APPEARANCE: Faculty Excellence Presentation 2023
LANGUAGES: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT: Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836 Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
YURI GOROKHOVICH
Professor, Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences
EXPERTISE: Earth science, natural hazards and disasters, earth data science, GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
RESEARCH: Forty-two peer-reviewed articles in journals and 50 conference abstracts and presentations; prediction of hurricane-caused landslides in Caribbean and Central America
EXPERIENCE: Former manager of Geographic Information Systems group at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Quality and Control; Landslide modeling, geology of coasts, glacial geochronology, hydrologic modeling, earthquake impact assessment, and geoarchaeology
MEDIA APPEARANCES: BronxNet | CUNY Radio Newsmakers (2008) | “New Scientist” Journal (2005)
LANGUAGES: Russian, Italian
TO CONNECT WITH THESE PROFESSORS AND MANY OTHERS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mercedes Diez, Director, Communications & College Relations mercedes.diez@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-213-4836
Richard Relkin, AVP, Communications & Marketing richard.relkin@lehman.cuny.edu | 917-763-9410
ABOUT LEHMAN COLLEGE
A perennial national leader in promoting social mobility, Lehman College of The City University of New York serves as an intellectual, economic, and cultural center for the Bronx, New York City, and beyond.
Lehman sits on a tree-lined 37-acre campus where it supports more than 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students, another 14,000 students in continuing and professional programs, and over 90,000 alumni.
As a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution in The Bronx, Lehman College educates a diverse population of students. The college offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and professions.
For a complete list of our accolades, visit our website.
LEHMAN COLLEGE FAST FACTS
952**
Students
DEMOGRAPHICS
*Undergraduate and Graduate ** Full-Time and Part-Time
Arts and Humanities
Business
Continuing and Professional Studies
Education
Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing
Natural and Social Sciences
250 Bedford Park Boulevard West
Bronx, NY 10468
lehman.edu