Lehman’s Graduate Community
Meet Lehman Faculty, Current Students and Alumni
Accounting
Meet Dr. Rossen Petkov
An Associate Professor of Accounting, Dr. Petkov received his Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Bulgaria, MA degree in Accounting from the McCombs School of Business of the University of Texas, and BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Rochester. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York and Illinois, as well as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). His main research interests are in accounting for internally generated intangible assets and prehistoric accounting. His main areas of practical expertise are in oil and gas, service and manufacturing and retail.
Meet Current Student, Asmir Nikocevic
Currently on track for the CPA Exam, Asmir is a tax associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He received a full-time offer from PwC in the banking, capital markets and insurance sector. He, along with other interns, researched TCJA and its effect on the capital markets industry. At Lehman he serves as a chapter leader as well as an Officer of Student Government. He is the Co-Director of Professional Development for ALPFA, and has been a member of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) for three years.
Applied Music and Music Teaching
Meet Dr. Penny Prince
Dr. Prince, a Professor of Music at Lehman College, is the Graduate Coordinator and Supervisor of the music student teachers and interns at Lehman. Dr. Prince received her BM and MM in piano from Manhattan School of Music, and upon graduation, she received the Sylvia Bruck Award. She earned her PhD in Music Education from NYU Steinhardt and was awarded the Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women’s 125th Year Fellowship. Her doctoral research focused on Co-creating Cinderella: Examining and Documenting a Collaboratory Musical Theatre Process. She is a prolific composer of musical theatre pieces, winning 14 ASCAP merit awards.
Meet Professor Michael Bacon
Professor Bacon earned a Degree in Music from Lehman College and has studied privately with American composer John Corigliano. For the past 30 years, he has established himself as one of the premier composers of film and television scores. Professor Bacon has worked on numerous projects for HBO, WNET and PBS. His scores have won three Academy Awards and numerous Emmy Awards. In addition to his career as a composer of scores for film and television, he is a member of “The Bacon Brothers” a band that he and his brother formed in 1991. The band tours extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan and has released eight albums of original material.
Meet Current Student, Esther Asibou
Esther is currently a graduate candidate in the Music MAT Program. She is an Opera singer and has been a music educator at Brilla Public Charter Schools in the South Bronx since 2017. She has been recognized as the first Fine and Applied Arts Master Teacher in her district and was awarded the 2018 Teacher of the Year at Brilla Public Charter Schools. At Lehman, Esther is the 2020-2021 recipient of The Evalyn and Stephan Scholarship. She is a member of the Lehman College Chorus and has also performed for the 2020-2021 Virtual commencement ceremonies. Esther is a founding teacher at Brilla Middle School, a founding teacher at El Camino Faith Formation program, and the co-founder of Mariah Estee Learning Centre, a K-8 school in Kumasi, Ghana established in 2008. She is an active member of National Association for Music Education (NAfME), New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), and Music Educator's Association of New York City (MEANYC). She is also the past recipient of the Longman Writing Award.
Art ED MA MFA
Meet Dr. Melissa Brown
As Chair of the Art Department, Dr. Brown also teaches graduate Printmaking, where she gives technical demonstrations of traditional, experimental and digital printmaking methods; professional formats and critical discussions of prints. Outside of Lehman, she maintains her own practice as a working painter and printmaker, and explores form, perception and repetition by layering these media. She has had recent solo shows at Derek Eller Gallery in New York, NY; Journal Gallery in Brooklyn, NY and Roberto Paradise in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Meet Current Student, Carla E. Reyes
Carla E. Reyes is a current student in the graduate MFA program with a concentration in Painting. Carla had a professional background in art education, scenic and mural painting, and mixed-media fine art. Since joining the program, she has deepened her practice and developed her body of work resulting in an international online collage residency and publication, a community grant for a public art project, and inclusion in group and solo exhibitions. She was able to form professional networks and collectives for creating artistic opportunities, and she hopes to advance her career as an art educator by transitioning into the higher and adult education field upon graduation.
Meet Alum, JP-Anne Judy Giera
Born in Cleveland, OH, JP-Anne is a transgender artist based in New York City. Her work deals with her identity as a transgender woman, the politics of femininity and the rituals of womanhood. Giera primarily makes paintings, drawings and collages. Her work has been shown throughout the tri-state area at venues including Bronx Art Space, Trestle Gallery, LIC Arts Open, Dixon Place and the International Human Rights Art Festival, among others.
Meet Alumna, Sima Schloss
Sima joined our MFA program in 2014 after a decade-long career as an arts administrator and educator. As an artist, Sima does not believe in masterpieces; she believes in the truth that comes from the immediacy of a brainstorm and the sureness of first gesture. In her work, Sima combines many aspects of her personal history and surroundings as source material to create collages that reflect her perspective in the context of pop culture.
Business Finance and Human Resources (online)
Meet Dr. José Julián Cao Alvira, Finance
Associate Professor of Finance and Economics at Lehman College, Dr. Cao-Alvira obtained a Ph.D. from Cornell University, and holds Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) professional designations. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in Corporate Finance, Investments and Microeconomics at Lehman. He also teaches Financial Economics, Econometrics and Banking in a number of national and international institutions. He received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award and a Sage Fellowship.
Meet Dr. Ning Chen, Human Resources
Dr. Chen is a Professor of Management and earned a Ph.D. in Management from the University of California, Los Angeles. She also holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from East China Normal University. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on belief systems such as individuals’ belief in luck, belief in change and belief in a just world. Her recent research projects include analyzing the effects of people’s beliefs on entrepreneurial activities, as well as the role of beliefs in health-related behaviors.
Meet Alumna, Morfeia Dulgeroff, Finance
Morfeia is currently a National Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). She graduated with the highest honors (Summa Cum Laude) from Lehman College, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, and then joined the New York State Department of Tax and Finance as a Corporate Tax Auditor. Currently, she works for the OCC as a National Bank Examiner within Large Bank Supervision and is responsible for regulatory supervision of large national banks. She is also a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager and a Certified Anti-money Laundering Specialist. In May 2019, Morfeia graduated from Lehman College with a Master’s of Science degree in Business with a specialty in Finance.
Childhood and Early Childhood Education with Bilingual Extension
Meet Dr. Cecilia M. Espinosa
Born in Ecuador, South America, Dr. Espinosa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Early Childhood/Childhood Education (ECCE), where she coordinates the early childhood graduate program and the advanced bilingual extension program for early childhood and childhood education. Her research interests include biliteracy, translanguaging, collaborative research, culturally and linguistically sustaining children’s literature, teacher research and descriptive processes. Dr. Espinosa is a member of the Huck Award Committee on outstanding fiction for children, as well as a member of the Comité de Libros Infantiles de Bank Street College of Education.
Meet Current Student, Juana Tapia
From the province of Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, Juana migrated to the United States in 1994 at 15, at which time she desperately searched for schools that provided bilingual education, which was hard to find. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Lehman and studied Early Childhood Education. She became a teacher at a daycare center in the West Bronx and then became the Educational Director. One of Juana’s goals is to empower parents to become advocates for their children. Juana is currently pursuing her advanced bilingual extension while teaching in a bilingual PreK class.
Meet Alumna, Peggy Robles Alvarado
Peggy graduated with an Advanced Certificate in Bilingual Education at Lehman College. She has been a teacher at P.S. 114X Luis Llorens Torres School in the Bronx since 2009. She is a five-time International Latino Book Award winner, and a BRIO award-winning performance poet. She has been featured on HBO Habla Women, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Black Spirit Solstice Summit, Poets & Writers and The BADD!ASS Women Festival. In 2016 she was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women of the Bronx. Peggy was awarded the Hispanic Heritage Month Distinguished Alumni Award at Lehman and will serve as a teacher of teachers in the role of adjunct professor for the Department of Early Childhood and Childhood Education at Lehman.
Counselor Education
Meet Dr. Stuart Chen-Hayes
Dr. Stuart Chen-Hayes has worked in middle school, college, mental health, substance misuse, couple and family, and sexuality counseling in his 40-year career. He is in his 25th year in Counselor Education at Lehman College and has also taught at Shi Jien University and National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan. He has provided over 200 professional presentations and authored 55 refereed book chapters and journal articles, including three (3) co/authored books. He is a past president and co-founder of Counselors for Social Justice. His research, writing and advocacy interests include implementing and evaluating K-12 school counseling programs, advocacy and counseling with queer and trans youth and families, college access and affordability counseling, union leadership and advocacy, and anti-racism/anti-oppression work. His teaching style is social constructionist, and he flips his classes to focus on collaborative interaction, discussion, and creating new knowledge.
English
Meet Dr. David Hyman
Associate Professor David Hyman directs the MA program, drawing on his comprehensive knowledge of everything from ancient Greek to the Bible to spaghetti westerns, with a particular scholarly focus on Marvel comics.
Meet Dr. Melissa Castillo Planas
Assistant Professor Melissa Castillo Planas of the English Department received her BA from New York University, her MA from Fordham University and her Ph.D from Yale Univesity. She is the editor of the anthology, ¡Manteca!: An Anthology of Afro-Latin@ Poets, co-editor of La Verdad: An International Dialogue on Hip Hop Latinidades, the author of the poetry collection Coatlicue Eats the Apple and co-author of the novel, Pure Bronx.
Meet Current Student, Ashley Ortiz
In the MA English program, Ashley’s graduate thesis is on Shelley’s Frankenstein. Last term she did Readings in Writing Theory, where she analyzed her own trajectory into the academy, interviewing important mentors along the way, and developing sophisticated insight into how writing informs culture and community in every way.
Meet Alumna, Neisha Anne Greene
Neisha Anne Greene, from Barbados and Yonkers, NY, graduated in May 2014 and is now an impressive, and eloquent, speaker of her journey through the educational system to where she is now – Director of the Writing Center at American University.
Health Education and Promotion (online)
Meet Prof. Jessie Gonzalez
Mr. Gonzalez started his career in the health education field in 1995 as a peer intern at the Hetrick Martin Institute. Upon completion of his graduate degree at Lehman College, he took a supervisory position at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was hired as an adjunct within the Department of Health Sciences. Currently enrolled in an MSW/PhD program at Yeshiva University, his overall goal is to teach full time at the college level. Mr. Gonzalez develops health education and health communication strategies in the emergency room area. As an adjunct, he is able to not only bring the skills developed in the classroom, but also bring in actual field work experiences.
Meet Current Student, Nancy Outsen
Currently an academic counselor for the healthcare union 119SEIU, Nancy guides students attending or looking to return to school. She currently holds a Master’s in literacy education, and was looking for a program that would combine her prior education with health care. As a mother of four, and working full time, attending college in person would have been difficult for Nancy. Lehman’s Master’s program for Health Education and Promotion is fully online. The professors are knowledgeable and quick to respond to students’ needs and encourages them along the way. Nancy has thoroughly enjoyed her experiences at Lehman College and it has spurred her to become an asthma educator.
Meet Alumnus, Francisco DeCristo
The Master’s in Health Education and Promotion provided Francisco with the insight needed to explore his true potential as a public health professional, and believes it is truly unique. He is currently a Community Health Organizer for the Montefiore School Health Program where his duties include planning, implementing and creating various health programs, helping provide health services to various students across the Bronx and collaborating with various stakeholders to ensure that health services are being provided for his target population. He believes that people must constantly examine themselves to ensure that they are living a life of balance and discipline.
History
Meet Professor Robyn Spencer
Professor Spencer’s work focuses on Black social protest after World War II, urban and working-class radicalism and gender. She is the author of the book "The Revolution Has Come: Black Power, Gender, and the Black Panther Party in Oakland" (Duke University Press, 2016) and is currently working on a book about Black liberation politics and the movement against the Vietnam War. In recent years she has been a visiting scholar at Yale University and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
Meet Alumnus, Timeen Wood
Timeen is a volunteer for a community and development nonprofit, and graduated from Lehman College with a Master’s degree in History in 2020. His work in the graduate program included a historiographical essay assessing various interpretive approaches to the Aztec and Peruvian civilizations and their responses to the Spanish armies of the early sixteenth century. His capstone project focused on the military strategy of the Ancient Egyptians under the leadership of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom. He is preparing to pursue a PhD in Egyptology, with an emphasis on Egypt's military history.
Meet Alumnus, Paul Mah
After early retirement from a successful budget management career in the public and non-profit sectors, Paul developed an interest in studying history later in life. While in the program, he learned different historical methods, from British Colonial America to Modern Britain, World Revolutions, Golden Age Spain and the Gilded Age/Progressive Era. His professors' encouragement and support galvanized his desire for further study. He is currently a 3rd-year History PhD student at Stony Brook University, SUNY.
Human Performance and Fitness
Meet Dr. Brad Schoenfeld
An Associate Professor in Exercise Science, Dr. Schoenfeld is the Director of the Human Performance and Fitness graduate program. He is an internationally renowned fitness professional and widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on body composition optimization. Currently, he writes the "Ask the Muscle Doc" column for Bodybuilding.com, as well as serving as the Sports Nutritional Consultant for the New Jersey Devils hockey organization. Brad earned his Master’s degree in exercise science from the University of Texas, Permian Basin and his PhD in health promotion and wellness at Rocky Mountain University. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and serves on the editorial advisory boards for several journals.
Meet Current Student, Aston Earl Francis Jr
As a former New York City Police Officer and a United States Army Veteran, Aston decided to pursue his passion for health, fitness and exercise by getting an undergraduate degree at Lehman College. “I am so happy that I did,” he says, “All the faculty in the exercise science program made me feel welcome and made every effort to help me achieve my goals.” When he graduated with his BA in May 2019, he was excited to hear that Lehman College was initiating a Master’s degree program in Human Performance and Fitness. According to Aston, the program has been living up to his high expectations. He has served as co-author on several papers.
Meet Alum, Derrick Van Every
Derrick Van Every applied to Lehman's MS in Human Performance program after completing a Bachelor of Human Kinetics from the University of Windsor in Canada. Derrick had an amazing experience completing his Master’s degree with Dr. Schoenfeld as a mentor. He was able to learn and become a better scientist, while collaborating and publishing research with some of the top researchers in the field. Thanks to his work at Lehman College, Derrick was accepted into a PhD program in Kinesiology at McMaster University, one of the top schools in the world. The program also helped him develop lifelong friendships. Derrick plans to continue to develop a career as a researcher/educator in Health and Fitness.
Human Rights Education and Transformative Justice
Meet Dr. David Fletcher
Professor Fletcher has served as an administrator and faculty member since 1985. He received his BA from Appalachian State University, his MS Ed from the University of Michigan and his PhD from New York University. He currently focuses his energies on teaching and implementing restorative practices and justice, which he began in 2012. He has been co-organizer of three Restorative Justice Conferences at Lehman and was a lead organizer for the 2012 conference.
Liberal Studies
Meet Dr. Timothy Alborn
Dr. Alborn holds a Ph.D from Harvard and has taught history, social theory and business ethics. In addition to teaching at Lehman, he also served as Dean of Arts and Humanities between 2009-2012. His acclaimed interdisciplinary scholarship makes him an ideal mentor for MALS students and also an ideal instructor for the core course on the social sciences. His many connections at Lehman and throughout CUNY have enabled him to provide individualized advising for MALS students, and helps students find courses that reflect their interests, exceed their expectations and prepares them for academic success.
Meet Current Student, Allison Blount
A counselor at the Jordan J. Mott Middle School in the Bronx, Allison uses art to enable students to overcome personal and academic obstacles. A longtime teacher, counselor, missionary and community organizer, Allison came to the program with the goal of writing a graphic novel about British missionaries in Africa during the nineteenth century. After taking courses in history, painting and fiction writing, he is completing his Master's Thesis, which is the first installment of "Tribesboy," an exciting and inspiring tale of adventure.
Meet Alumna, Cathy Cabrera-Figueroa
Cathy was an administrative assistant at Weill Cornell Medical College for twenty years before returning to higher education as a MALS student in 2015. With a focus on Latin-American and Women's Studies, she took courses in history, literature, sociology and anthropology, culminating in a capstone project on Latina storytelling traditions. In 2018 she was admitted to the CUNY Graduate Center PhD program in History, where she has full funding through the inaugural Miranda Fellowship for excellence in Puerto Rican History. Bronx resident, mother of two, lifelong learner and scholar-in-the-making, Cathy stands for everything that is best about MALS.
Literacy Studies
Meet Prof. Limor Pinhasi-Vittorio
Professor Pinhasi-Vittorio’s research focuses on writing development across all ages and with various populations as a tool for critical thinking, academic and personal growth. Throughout the program she integrates critical literacy as a social justice act. For example, she has developed a unique course utilizing a writing workshop model that teaches about best practices in writing instruction while also supporting our candidates’ own writing skills.
Meet Prof. Diana Behan
A nationally board-certified teacher, Professor Behan has an abundance of experience as a former literacy coach and a teacher in the New York City public system, particularly in the Bronx. She has a wealth of knowledge in Literacy curriculum and instruction, and offers a plethora of strategies that are essential for every teacher’s tool box.
Meet Current Student, Leah Clark
A new candidate in the Literacy Studies program as of fall 2019, Leah serves as a middle school art teacher and as her school’s librarian. She is using the knowledge she is gaining from her courses at Lehman to bolster her school’s reading program. Since she is seen as a literacy leader and a highly effective teacher in her school, she is uniquely positioning herself to influence the literacy practices of others.
Meet Alumnus, Charles Gallo
A graduate of our Literacy Program in 2010, Charles was an assistant principal who wished to better understand literacy. Currently, he is the Principal of a Charter School that is a model for literacy development, and is currently working towards opening other schools built on this model.
Mathematics (Pure)
Meet Prof. Victor Pan
Trained in Math, Professor Pan worked as a Visiting Scientist at the IBM Research Center from 1977-1979. In 1978, he published a paper on Matrix Multiplication, which broke Strassen’s record of 1969 after almost a decade of stagnancy. Donald E. Knuth, a foremost Computer Scientist, rated Professor Pan's work as the best in all Theoretical Computer Science in 1978. Since then, Professor Pan worked in Computer Science Departments at SUNY Albany from 1979-1989 and from 1991 to the present in Lehman College and the CUNY Graduate Center.
Meet Alumna, Ebony Peguero Valdez
In 2019, Ebony graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Middle and High School Education at Lehman College. While completing her undergraduate degree, her curiosity and intrigue for Pure Math increased to the point of pursuing a Master’s degree in this area. In 2022, Ebony obtained her Master’s degree in Pure Math at Lehman College and became an 8th-grade Math teacher for the DOE in District 9. During her Master’s in Pure Math, she also started to work as an assistant coordinator for the “Supplemental Instruction Program” at Hostos Community College (an academic support program that holistically facilitates study sessions and ensure students’ academic success in their math courses). Ebony developed a great interest in Complex Analysis from her graduate courses, and she is now preparing and looking forward to pursuing a Doctoral degree in Mathematics with a research area in Complex Analysis.
Meet Alum, Davis Montero
Davis Montero initially graduated from Lehman College with a Bachelor's in Computer Information Systems. After graduation, he pursued a career in teaching. Davis earned his Master's in education and became a high school math teacher for NYC public schools for three years. Davis' career then moved on to become a special educator for a Catholic high school. His love for math pushed Davis to pursue a degree in Pure Mathematics at Lehman College. Davis was very excited to return to the classroom as a student. He enjoyed taking courses in complex analysis and number theory and is very excited to learn more! Davis hopes to pursue a PhD in Math to one day help discover the mystery the world of math still has for us.
Middle and High School Education
Meet Dr. Sherry L. Deckman, Social Studies
Dr. Deckman is an Assistant Professor of Education at Lehman College. Her research explores how educators are formally prepared to work with students from diverse race and class backgrounds and how educators address issues of race, class and gender inequity in schools. She was recently interviewed by The Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education about her paper, Managing Race and Race-ing Management: Teachers’ Stories of Race and Classroom Conflict.
Meet Prof. Adam Yuro, Teaching Spanish
Professor Yuro has been an adjunct instructor for the Middle and High School Education program at Lehman since 2017. He received his BA from Vassar College and his MA from Hunter College/CUNY. He teaches methods and courses for Teaching Spanish, as well as supervises the student teachers in the Teaching Spanish program. Prior to Mr. Yuro's arrival at Lehman, he taught Spanish and Italian for 33 years on the secondary level. He is also a world language education consultant for Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES in which he specializes in differentiated instruction.
Meet Current Student, Hector Cordones, Social Studies
Born in the Dominican Republic, Hector moved to New York City when he was 24 years old. Although he could speak some English words, he did not learn to write in English until after he arrived in the city. He worked a variety of jobs, and began his studies at Bronx Community College, and later transferred to Lehman College. Upon graduation, he accepted a position working as a salesman in one of the top food industry companies in the United States. In 2015 he decided to become a teacher, enrolled in the Social Studies Education Program at Lehman, and graduated in 2018. Today, he is a Social Studies Teacher in a local Bronx high school.
Meet Current Student, Andrea Beltre, Teaching Spanish
A current student in the Teaching Spanish program. Her dream is to become a teacher and to share and preserve her native language with her students.
Nutrition
Meet Prof. Sharon Puello
Professor Puello is a part of the Lehman College community through and through! She completed both her Bachelor's in Anthropology, Biology and Chemistry as a student in the Macaulay Honors College at Lehman and an MA in Health Education & Promotion. It wasn't until doing her fieldwork experience in the MA program that Professor Puello decided to pursue the Registered Dietitian (RD) path. Subsequently, she completed a BS in Dietetics, Foods and Nutrition, as well as the Dietetic Internship (DI) program at Lehman. Since earning her RD credentials, Professor Puello has worked for the Health and Hospitals Corporation of the City of New York in various roles, including an acute care dietitian at Jacobi Medical Center and an outpatient pediatric dietitian at North Central Bronx Hospital. Professor Puello’s work in these areas enabled her to go for and obtain advanced certification as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) and Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC). Professor Puello’s favorite role in her current position at Jacobi Medical Center is precepting Lehman College Dietetic Interns. You can find Professor Puello quoted on various online health outlets such as Eat This Not That, Verywell Health, Livestrong, and Men's Health.
Meet Alumna, Prof. Dina R. D’Alessandro
Dina R. D’Alessandro, MS, RDN, CDN is a Registered Dietitian and dedicated nutrition professional with over 20 years of experience in the culinary, corporate, and healthcare industries, and the founder of DishWithDina, a virtual wellness and multimedia platform. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition from CUNY-Lehman College, where she is an adjunct lecturer of undergraduate and graduate nutrition studies. For the past four (4) years, she worked at the Lehman College Student Health Center as the on-campus dietitian. In her private practice, Professor D’Alessandro specialties include high-risk prenatal counseling, diabetes prevention, and chronic disease management for newly diagnosed clients. She was featured in U.S News and Today's Dietitian and was a presenter and panelist in a variety of CUNY and other professional and wellness conferences. Since 2016, Professor D’Alessandro has been a mentor to hundreds of students and a preceptor to dozens of dietetic interns from across the country.
Organizational Leadership (MSOL)
Meet Prof. Jill Roche
An education advocate, Professor Roches previously worked closely with Manida Street tenants to organize a Tenants Association and demand safe and healthy living conditions. In 2013, she served as an Education Pioneer Fellow in Bridgeport, Conn and subsequently worked as a communications and policy consultant in the public education sector. She later returned to Hunts Point as an executive director. She believes that the MSOL program is a special opportunity for students to learn macro-level thought processes necessary to lead a group successfully. Gaining an understanding that management decisions are grounded in research on organizational best practices, and the skills to create and implement new initiatives using a fully thought-out process including theory of change, contributes to both students’ professional journeys and the nonprofit sector as a whole.
Meet Current Online Student, Janelle L. Swift
Born, raised, and educated in the Bronx, Janelle earned her BA in Psychology in 2019 at Lehman and is now in the process of earning her Masters of Science in Organizational Leadership. The curriculum and staff at Lehman challenges her academically, professionally and emotionally enabling her to examine who she is today, while nurturing the vision of who she will become. Embarking on this journey online affords her the convenience of pursuing her educational goals while achieving other life goals.
Meet Prof. Amanda Perez
Professor Amanda Perez started her career in the non-profit sector twenty years ago, supporting and evaluating programs for nearly fifteen of those twenty years. She worked with a variety of programs, including education, supportive housing, senior centers, mental health, workforce development, shelters, after-school, early childhood, eviction prevention, general preventive, anti-violence, and programs that serve justice-involved youth. During Professor Perez’s time evaluating programs, she led several teams that worked to develop program evaluation infrastructures that helped organizations communicate the impact their programs had on their client population. She currently leads a team of 20 program evaluators in the Bronx, working to assess programmatic successes and evaluate program risks while providing professional development and capacity building.
Meet Current Student, Richard Guevara
Richard completed a BA in Sociology from Binghamton University more than twenty years ago. Since then, he developed real-life work experiences, professional development, and mentorship. Returning to academia was not a simple decision. However, the MSOL program perfectly combined the practical and theoretical studies necessary to compete and stay relevant in a rapidly changing society. The curriculum focused on hard and soft skills that sharpen one's ability to execute the decisions required in a modern workplace. For Richard, the courses were both challenging academically and emotionally enriching. The program demands time management, discipline, and interdependence which are prerequisites for becoming an emerging leader in any field. Richard is certain that had he encountered this program sooner in his career, he would have made the same decision.
Meet Alumna, Catherine Lopez
A member of the inaugural class of 2018, Catherine successfully earned her degree in one year which helped her solidify her role as a vital professional in the public service field. Catherine recently celebrated 17 years of service at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The MSOL program has helped her to further learn, develop, and grow as an emergent leader. Catherine is a member of the Emergent Leadership Council at NYPH, having earned an MSOL degree has better equipped her with the knowledge and skills to continue to positively affect New York’s communities through advancements in health equity.
Spanish Literature
Meet Dr. Juan Jesús Payan
Dr. Payan holds two doctoral degrees: one from University of Cadiz and one from UCLA. His research focus is the theories and developments of fantastic aesthetics in the European and Latin American context during the 19th century. Dr. Ramírez Rojas specializes in 20th and 21st century Latin American poetry, contemporary narratives and cosmopolitanism literary constructions.
Meet Current Student, Luis Zapatacorea
Born in Nicaragua, Luis moved to the U.S. as a teenager, completed his High School education in New York before and served as a U.S. Army member for several years. After his military service, Luis decided to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a teacher. At Lehman, Luis developed the necessary skills to understand the complex cultural and literary manifestations of the Hispanic World and to integrate this knowledge into effective teaching practices. His passion and dedication allowed him to complete his initial New York State Public School Middle and High School Certification and he is currently finishing his M.A. in Spanish. He has started working as a High School Teacher.
Meet Alumna, Sharina Maillo-Pozo
Sharina obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Lehman College with minors in Spanish Literature and Psychology. She developed a great passion for Literature during her time as an undergraduate student and she decided to pursue a Master’s in Spanish Literature. The graduate courses nourished her interest in academic research, and provided her with the tools for starting a career in academia. She pursued a doctoral degree in the program of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages at the The Graduate Center/CUNY. Dr. Sharina Maillo-Pozo is currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish/Latinx Studies at the University of Georgia.