James Filippelli
B.A. – St. Leo College – Theatre/Speech & English Education
M.F.A. – Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Performing Arts Administration
P.D. – Professional Diploma – Fordham University
Educational Administration
Ed.D. – Manhattanville College – Educational Leadership
Dr. James Filippelli retired as an English and Performing Arts teacher after over 35 years at Walter Panas High School in the Lakeland Central School District. The Performing Arts Center at the high school was recently named in his honor, thus renaming the facility as the Dr. James Filippelli Performing Arts Center. Dr. Filippelli began his career at Dominican University in the fall of 1979, initially directing only for The Aquin Players theatre group. In 1980, he developed the entire theatre curriculum that exists today and has grown through the years. He served as an Adjunct Instructor of Communications from 1980 through the fall of 2016. In 2016, he was appointed an Assistant Professor of Fine and Performing Arts. In 2022, he was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. He developed the Theatre Minor and co-collaborated with colleagues to develop the Film-Studies Minor. He is presently working with colleagues to develop a dance and music minor. In his 45-year association with Dominican, Dr. Filippelli has had the pleasure to direct many main-stage musical productions involving students from all of the fine arts disciplines – art, music, dance, and theatre.
Regina Alvarez
B.A. – Biological Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York
M.A. – Biological Sciences, subprogram Plant Science, Lehman College, City University of New York
Ph.D. – Biological Sciences, subprogram Plant Science, Graduate Center, City University of New York
Dr. Alvarez joined the faculty at Dominican University in August 2017. She teaches General Biology, Ecology and Botany, among other courses. Prior to teaching at Dominican, she taught for the City University of New York. Before coming to academia, she worked for 19 years for the Central Park Conservancy, the managers of Central Park in New York City. She started as a gardener and worked her way up to Director of Horticulture and Woodland Management. Her focus was on native plants and ecological restoration. Her research focuses on the flora and ecology of urban environments. Dr. Alvarez is also an instructor of botany at the New York Botanical Garden, where she teaches Plant Physiology, Plant Morphology and Introduction to Plant Science.
Kerry Zona
Andrew Burns B.A., M.A.T., Ed.D.
B.A. – The State University of New York
M.A.T. – The State University of New York
Ed.D. – Union University
Dr. Burns is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. His research interests include media’s effects on communication, social media communication, and semiotics of film and television. He is the campus advisor to the Alpha Gamma Phi chapter of the National Communication Association’s honor society, Lambda Pi Eta. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 he was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Grant. Among the courses he teaches are Documentary Film, Broadcast Journalism, and Digital Media.
Jennifer Sassano
B.A. – SUNY, Potsdam
M.A. – SUNY, Potsdam
Ed.D. – Mathematics: Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Sassano earned a combined BA/MA in Mathematics, summa cum laude, as an undergraduate at SUNY Potsdam. Following graduation, she taught junior high and high school mathematics for two years, earning permanent NYS teaching certification for Math 7-12. She then completed two years of graduate work and teaching at SUNY Binghamton before accepting a teaching position at Dominican University in 1992. While teaching at Dominican, she earned a doctorate in the College Teaching of an Academic Subject (Mathematics) from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Sassano teaches a variety of classes, including those in the Algebra/Calculus sequence and in the History of Mathematics. She also designed the Discrete Math class for the department. In 2007 she became the Mathematics Coordinator for the University and in 2023 she became the Director of Math & Sciences Division. Dr. Sassano oversees the Mathematics Placement Examinations for the University. She is also the Faculty Sponsor for the University’s chapter of the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
James Reitter
B.A. – SUNY Oswego
M.F.A. – CUNY Brooklyn
Ph.D. – University of Louisiana Lafayette
Professor Reitter has been teaching in higher education for over two decades, specializing in Creative Writing, 19th Century Literature, Folklore, and Film Studies. He has published articles and/or chapters on Charles Dickens, Civil War poets, human/animal interaction and symbolism, and zombies in film. He is also the author of Scratched Records, an ekphrastic book of poetry and art, and co-author of Speculative Modernism: How Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Conceived the 20th Century. In addition, he actively publishes poems ina variety of print and online publications and is currently Editor-In-Chief for Masque and Spectacle, a biannual arts and literature online journal.
Outside of his academic interests, he is an avid birder and naturalist, enjoys listening to and playing a diverse array of music, and regularly watches cartoons.
Tanya Radford
B.A. – English: University of Utah
M.A. – English: University of Utah
Ph.D – English: City University of New York – Graduate Center
Tanya Radford is Assistant Professor of English and Co-Director of Honors at Dominican University, where she teaches beginning and advanced writing courses, early American literature, Enlightenment literature, and children’s and young adult literature. She completed her B.A. and M.A. degrees at the University of Utah and then earned a Ph.D. in English from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. Her doctoral research focused on affective response in 18th Century literature, and her current research continues that work by considering the cognitive and social benefits of leisure reading and the representation of reading, books, and libraries in works for young readers. She has published on Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey. In addition to her role as co-director of honors at DUNY, Dr. Radford serves on the executive board of the Northeast Regional Honors Council as well as the NRHC’s student journal – Illuminate – as part of its editorial team.
Margaret E. Mulligan
B.S. – Mathematics: University of Scranton
M.S. – Mathematics: Seton Hall University
Professor Mulligan has been a full-time faculty member in the Mathematics department since 2002. She came to the college from the corporate world.
After graduating from the University of Scranton with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Magna cum laude, she worked at Bellcore (now Ericsson Technologies) for 12 years. As a Member of Technical Staff, she worked in the software division supporting outside plant engineers in the various telephone companies. She went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Seton Hall University, graduating with honors.
Professor Mulligan began at Dominican University as an adjunct instructor in January 1990 teaching Statistics in the Weekend College Program. She then taught the basic Math sequence in the ACCEL program for many years.
In addition to her degrees, Professor Mulligan holds NYS Teacher Certification for grades 7-12. She has been both a middle school and high school substitute teacher and taught as a long-term substitute for 5th grade and Advanced Math for eighth graders.
Lydia Maynard
B.S. – Virginia Tech (Mathematics)
M.A. – Virginia Tech (Education)
Ph.D. – Teachers College, Columbia University (Mathematics Education)
Dr. Lydia Maynard joined the mathematics department at Dominican University in 2012 after earning her doctorate in Mathematics Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. During the time she was working on her degree, she worked as an adjunct instructor in Manhattan at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Beyond the classroom, Dr. Maynard’s interests include community service and music. She has traveled to Honduras, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Mexico to volunteer with local groups. She has also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity on two separate occasions — to Philadelphia and Baltimore, to help construct affordable housing for families in need. She has also volunteered with Dominican University students to go on Midnight Runs to bring food to the homeless on the streets of Manhattan. She also directs the a capella group on campus, Pitches and Cream. The group has performed at various school events, a Rockland Boulders game and even at a Mets game at Citifield.
Kathleen Hickey
B.A. – Queens College, CUNY
M.S. – Queens College, CUNY
Ed.D. – Teachers College, Columbia University
As an educator for 40 years, Professor Hickey has taught a variety of students, ranging from traditional-aged students to returning adults, both undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests include reading and writing with special emphasis on “remedial” work at the college level. She was instrumental in revamping Dominican University’s Freshmen Writing Sequence to accelerate students with their remediation so they could swiftly proceed with their college careers.
Additional research interests span the gamut from at-risk students to multicultural aspects of literature. She is a member of NCTE—National Council of Teachers of English, the NYCLA—New York College Learning Association, and NADE—the National Association of Developmental Educators. Yearly, she judges The Global Undergraduate Awards, an international competition of undergraduate papers from around the world. Additionally, each fall, she participates in the NCTE Day of Writing, submitting entries for their National Day of Writing.
Her outside interests include traveling, attending plays, reading, listening to all genres of music, and generally being active.
Colleen A. Evans
B.S. – Chemistry/Biology: Ouachita Baptist University
M.S. – Organic Chemistry: University of Missouri
Ph.D. – Higher Education: Seton Hall University
Professor Colleen Evans joined the Science Department as an adjunct professor in 2003, became an instructor in Chemistry in the Science Department in 2007 and was promoted to assistant professor of Chemistry in 2015. Professor Evans has taught General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Analytical Chemistry courses.
Professor Evans’ research interests are focused on developing new and general synthetic organic methods for use in the design of novel compounds of biological and medicinal interest. The main current emphasis is twofold: 1) the application of selective thionation reactions to compounds of biological interest such as heterocyclic compounds and short peptides and 2) the development of novel thionating agents that are selective and practical for use in a wide variety of synthetic transformations. Professor Evans has also educational research interests which include retention of science students at the undergraduate level, exploration of innovative teaching methods and curriculum design to enhance the learning experience of science students, and increasing the number of science majors who become middle school and high school science teachers
One avenue of thionation reactions has been applied to serotonin receptors HTR1A/2 partial agonist/antagonist small molecules such as the clinical candidate adatanserin which led to the discovery of a novel agent thioadatanserin with EC50 of 6.7 nM against 5-HTR1A and IC50 of 62.3 nM against 5HTR2A as a potential agent for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Thioadatanserin was further modified by a novel tandem dialkylation reaction giving unexpected analogues. The structure of one analogue was determined using X- ray single structure crystallography.
In another project, research is being carried out with our undergraduate research students to discover covalent peptidomimetic inhibitors of calpain enzymes as potential treatment of diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
Recently, she discovered a novel thionating agent which was termed TMPT whose X-ray crystal structure indicates high degree of symmetry that may be useful in achieving desired selectivity in thionation reaction. The scope of this novel thionating agent is being actively investigated.
Professor Evans spearheaded the curricular design and implementation of the new chemistry minor which was first offered in 2015. She has also served on the curriculum committee, freshman directorate, and adhoc committee charged with developing College-wide Educational Goals and Learning Objectives. As a coordinator of Science Department Seminar Series (2012-2015) she brought scientists from diverse disciplines to campus to speak and meet with Dominican University students. Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Dominican University Institutional Review Board.
Prior to joining Dominican University, Professor Evans’ scientific career started in 1984 as a synthetic chemist in the Agricultural Products Department at E. I. Dupont de Nemours (Wilmington, DE) working on the important class of sulfonyl ureas herbicides. In 1987, she then joined the Medicinal Chemistry Department of BioChem Pharma (Quebec, Canada) as a research scientist and was involved in the discovery of Epivir licensed for the treatment of AIDS and hepatitis B infections.
Professor Evans is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship – Kiel, West Germany (1980-1981) and co-recipient of Prix-Galien Research Award (1996)