I was born as raised in the Bronx. Attended public school after third grade. My family was told that I was not smart enough to attend the Catholic school everyone else in my family attended. This sounds like bad news for me, but it was a blessing to me. In fourth grade, I met my future wife. We helped each other through middle school, high school and college. I could not have done the things I have without her support. I have worked my way up the corporate ladder as I used my AAS degree to get as job as an electronics technician on a production floor. Then used my BS to get a job as a software engineer, used training to start my networking career, and finally used the MS to move into IT management. Go figure, I now work at and teach in a Catholic College. I wish I could back to the people that removed me from Blessed Sacrament in the Bronx to let them know where I ended up.
Education:
AAS Academy of Aeronautics Queens NY, Major in Electronics
BS Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry NY, Major Computer Information Systems
MS Marist College, Poughkeepsie NY, Major Computer Information Systems
Work Experience:
- Bear, Diagnostics Division Tarrytown NY, 5 years as an electronics technician
- Bear, Diagnostics Division Tarrytown NY, ten years as a software engineer in R&D
- Bear, Diagnostics Division Tarrytown NY, 3years as a Network administrator
- GreategMacbeth, New Windsor NY, ten years managing IT services in 5 US sites
- Academic Technology Coordinator, Dominican University New York
- Dominican University, New York, 20 years as Executive Director of IT
- Dominican University, New York, 18 years as an IT Instructor
Prof. Ivan is a lifelong resident of Rockland County and a graduate of Nyack HS. He and his wife have three children. Prof. Ivan is also “Coach Ivan” – as he coaches the Dominican University rowing team. He is a Director of the Rockland Rowing Association, a not-for-profit community program for youth and adults. He is also on the board of the Nyack Center.
Education:
BA, Cornell University (Economics and Soviet/East European Studies)
MBA, Columbia University (Marketing and Finance)
CFA, Chartered Financial Analysts Institute
EdD, Manhattanville University (Higher Education)
Experience:
Senior Vice President, AllianceBernstein – held various senior roles over a 27-year career at AB, including senior portfolio manager, head of business development and co-head of global marketing. Prior to AB, he worked at AIG focusing on new product development and at Kwasha-Lipton as an actuarial analyst. Author and co-author for many investment-related articles, including “Beyond Interest Rate Anticipation: Strategies for Adding Value in Fixed Income” (2000) and “Assigning a Duration to Inflation-Protected Bonds” (1999), both published in the Financial Analysts Journal. He also wrote “Managed Synthetics,” (1998) published in The Handbook of Stable Value Investing, and “LDI: Reducing Downside Risk with Global Bonds” (2012), published in The Journal of Investing.
Education:
The Colorado College, BA History
Stanford University, MA Instructional Technology
Experience:
Mary McLean-Hely has been with Dominican University New York for 8 years. In January of 2026, she became the Executive Director of Distance Education and Instructional Technology. Mary also manages Blackboard LMS and assists faculty in creating online courses and creates new online learning initiatives, faculty technology training, academic IT program coordination, as well as coordinating our work with The Acadeum Consortium and NC SARA administrative responsibilities.
Over the years, Mary has taught courses in Data Literacy, Python Programming, Principles of Systems and Technology, Project Management, and Web Development. Prior to her Executive Director role, she was the coordinator of the Information Technology Academic Program, where she oversaw curriculum development for the IT major, manages program development and approvals with the New York State Department of Education, and advised over 40 students annually on academic paths, internships, and career opportunities.
Before her time at Dominican, Mary gained extensive experience as an Instructional Designer and Educational Director, contributing to higher education and leading educational initiatives for organizations such as Teachers College/Columbia University, Farm Sanctuary, Girl Scouts USA, The College Board, Sesame Workshop, National Geographic, and others. Her work reflects a commitment to empowering learners and advancing innovative educational solutions, using emerging technology.
Carrie grew up in Texas, which might explain why she would drive from Philadelphia to Orangeburg to teach Economics.
Education:
BA – Cornell University (Government)
MA – Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (European Studies and International Economics)
Experience:
Senior Vice President – Wells Fargo – held various roles serving international corporates including relationship management and portfolio manager. Relocated to London and stayed for 15 years.
Denise relocated to NY to advance her career in Higher Ed. She’s originally from North Carolina with Jamaican heritage. Denise is the Advisor to the Caribbean Dance Crew at Dominican University. She’s “chargedup” and ready to activate. Her overall theme is “Reach Back, Lift Up”.
Education:
BS – Human Resource Management, Winston Salem State University
MS – Adult Education, North Carolina A&T State University
Experience:
Denise Dawkins is a Higher Ed Professional with over 10 years of experience and counting. Denise has held various positions for HBCUs, Minority owned-businesses, private HIED institutions, State funded agencies, grant funded organizations, and health disparity programs. Currently she holds a BS in Human Resource Management and a MS in Adult Education – HIED Administration. She comes to Dominican University with aspirations to create more efficient opportunities of office administration, build long term rapport with the student body, bond with all students, but emphasize on creating a forging relationship with the brown and black student body of Dominican, continue marketing for the Business Administration program and most importantly providing student advocacy to the body.
As a student-athlete in Track and Field and Cross-Country at Dominican University, Jovan earned All-Conference and team MVP honors in Cross-Country, received the top male senior scholar-athlete award at Dominican (4.0 GPA), and was selected as a Division II Academic All-American. He was also a Dean’s List student and competed for the Track and Field team while completing his Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance at the University of Calgary. Outside of collegiate athletics, he earned a gold medal in the 4x400m relay and 5th place in the 800m at Serbian National Championships.
Jovan teaches courses in mathematics, physics, and IT at Dominican University. Outside of Dominican, he has served as an advisor to the Virginia Tech chapter of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), and was elected to a three-year term as a member of the global SIAM Education Committee to discuss policy, curricula, and promotion of education in applied mathematics.
Education:
M.S – Mathematics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
B.A – Mathematics (Minor: Computer Information Systems), Dominican University New York B.Comm. – Finance, University of Calgary
Experience:
Jovan Žigić joined Dominican University in 2021 after earning his Master’s degree at Virginia Tech. His master’s thesis at Virginia Tech contributed new research to the fields of optimization and model reduction, developing a “splitting” algorithm for identifying an optimized basis in low-dimensional reconstruction of nonlinear dynamical systems. Prior to Virginia Tech, Jovan worked as a substitute teacher, math instructor, and math tutor in the NYC metropolitan area after receiving his Bachelor’s degree from Dominican University.
