DYSON DIGITAL DIGEST
SPRING 2023
Breaking Barriers: STEM Students Reaching New Heights through CSTEP Grant
Four students describe the impact the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)—a grant that provides resources to STEM students from underrepresented groups—has had on their undergraduate experience and their lofty plans for the future.
Art as a Magnifying Glass: Research Award Winners Explore Global Issues Through Film, Theater
Dyson students who received research grants took interdisciplinary approaches to examine contemporary issues, producing a film on Ukranian refugees in Ireland and exploring conflict resolution through a unique genre of theater.
Three Dyson Students Selected for Prestigious Jeanette K. Watson Fellowship
Three Dyson students have been selected for the prestigious Jeanette K. Watson Fellowship, a three-year cohort experience that connects students from 12 New York City partner institutions to funded internship opportunities across the country and abroad.
Trans-Atlantic Connections: First-year Experience in London Bonds Students to Each Other, Pace
Students in Pace University’s First-year Experience in London program study British literature from the heart of London, explore world-renowned theaters and museums, and form lifelong bonds to each other and to Pace.
The Consultant Centered on Cultural Inclusion: Dena Mekawi ’15
MS in Publishing alumna Dena Mekawi ’15, a 40 Under 40 awardee from the Arab America Foundation, uses her business consultancy to elevate underrepresented communities in media and advertising.
Revitalizing One Pace Plaza East
This past December, Pace University announced plans to transform One Pace Plaza to include new academic spaces, a modernized residence hall, and a new state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center that will serve its performing and creative arts programs and act as a central gathering space for our community and our neighborhood.
Dean’s Message
A Dyson education connects you to the world. Today, it’s more important than ever for students to graduate with a global perspective, cultural competence, and the critical thinking skills that are borne from stepping outside one’s comfort zone.
Dean’s Message
A Dyson education connects you to the world. Today, it’s more important than ever for students to graduate with a global perspective, cultural competence, and the critical thinking skills that are borne from stepping outside one’s comfort zone.
Dyson Notes
Dyson Notes
Alumni News
Nabiyah Be, Acting, is playing Simone Jackson in Daisy Jones & The Six on Prime Video.
Nick Buzzell ’05, Communications, CEO and co-founder of NBTV, has joined the board of directors for the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation.
Dominique Fishback, Theater Arts, is starring in Swarm, a new Donald Glover horror series, on Prime Video.
Ciara Gannon ’16, MPA, has been named director of community boards and legislative affairs for the Bronx Borough President.
Seneca Forch ’19, Peace and Justice Studies and Political Science, was hired as a policy advisor and media attaché at the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United States.
Meredith Gray ’18, Publishing, was recently promoted to editor for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
Matthew Iannone ’21, ASDS, played Cassio in Othello with the New Place Players at Casa Clara in Manhattan.
Angela Laurito ’20, Economics, was hired as an associate inventory planner at American Eagle Outfitters.
Brandon LeBlanc ’13, History, was hired as an ESOL instructor for the International Language Institute of Massachusetts.
Leanna (Morgan) Simmons ’84, Psychology, was recently appointed to the Bermuda Ministry of Education’s newly formed Education Reform Unit.
Nicole Wiitala ’13, Communication and Media Studies, was named partner at Stanford Heisler Sharp, LLP.
Samantha Williams ’20, Musical Theater, performed a solo show as part of Holmdel Theatre Company’s Broadway at the Barn series.
Faculty News
Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Art Charlotte Becket’s (MFA) exhibit “Interference” is on display at 125 Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan as part of Art in Buildings.
Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Emily Bent’s (PhD) recent articles include “When Girls Lead: Changing the Playbook of Climate Justice” (with Tsun-Chueh Huang ’20, Art and Peace and Justice Studies) in Girlhood Studies Journal; “This is Not Another Girl-Power Story: Reading Emma Gonzáles as Public Feminist Intellectual” in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society; “Reflections on Expanding Girls’ Political Capital at the United Nations” in Girlhood Studies Journal; and “Unfiltered and Unapologetic: March for Our Lives and the Political Boundaries of Age,” in Jeunesse, Young People, Texts, Cultures.
Assistant Professor of Biology David Boerma, PhD, co-authored “By a Whisker: The Sensory Role of Vibrissae in Hovering Flight in Nectarivorous Bats” in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Michael Finewood, PhD, published “Institutionalizing Barriers to Access? An Equity Scan of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Incentive Programs in the United States” in the Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning.
Assistant Professor of Economics Mary Kaltenberg, PhD, had the article “Invention and the Life Course: Age Differences in Patenting” published in Research Policy.
Associate Professor of Chemistry Elmer-Rico E. Mojica, PhD, authored a paper entitled “Beskar, Spotchka, Rhydonium and Other Chemistry Lessons from Star Wars Series The Mandalorian” in The Chemical Educator.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Monica Palta, PhD and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Anne Toomey, PhD co-authored “Towards a Pedagogy of Social-Ecological Collaborations: Engaging Students and Urban Nonprofits for an Ecology with Cities” in Urban Ecosystems, an article about an experiential learning-based class that they ran at a small park in northern Manhattan in fall 2021.
Associate Professor of Political Science Timothy Waligore, PhD, served as a co-editor for Rectifying Historical Injustice: Debating the Supersession Thesis.
Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies Melvin Williams, PhD, co-authored a book chapter in Race/Gender/Class/Media: Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers with Michael Huertas ’23, Communication and Media Studies, entitled “Hip Hop’s White House Guest: Jack Harlow and White Rap Authenticating Strategies.”
Associate Professor of Mathematics Meng Xu, PhD, co-authored “Daily Covid-19 Infected Population Densities in Italian Provinces Follow Taylor’s Law” in Mathematical Population Studies.