Ten University of Scranton faculty members were honored with Faculty Enhancement awards for excellence in teaching, scholarship or service. The Office of the Provost and the Provost Advisory Group selected the recipients from a pool of candidates nominated by academic deans and department chairs. In addition, five faculty members who are retiring were also recognized at the event held recently on campus.
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Michael Allison, Ph.D., received the Advancing Global Learning Award, which is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated noteworthy academic leadership in integrating international issues/perspectives into the curriculum and through whose efforts, students have acquired the competencies, attributes and insights required to meaningfully and successfully participate in an increasingly interdependent world.
Dr. Allison, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, joined the faculty at Scranton in 2006. He has served as department chair for a decade and served as coordinator of the University’s Ellacuría Initiative from 2011 to 2019. The courses he teaches at Scranton cover American government and international relations and include “Central and South America,” “United States-Latin American Relations,” “Human Rights,” “Comparative Civil Wars,” and “September 11th and Beyond.” His areas of research interests include the comparative study of civil war and civil war resolution, particularly as it relates to the transition of rebel groups to political parties in Central and South America.
Dr. Allison is a two-time recipient of Fulbright awards. In 1997 he received a Fulbright Student Scholarship to El Salvador and in 2013 he received a Fulbright Faculty Scholarship to Guatemala, where he researched the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit and its transition to political party as well as United States-Central American relations in the post-Cold War period. Dr. Allison has also been an active member of the University’s Fulbright Committee, assisting students with the competitive application process.
Dr. Allison is a member of the Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) and co-organized the JUHAN Student Leadership Conference held at Scranton to help provide our students with opportunities to develop global competencies. He has also led student groups to the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice which has a history of honoring the Salvadorian Martyrs from 1989.
Dr. Allison earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and a master’s degree and doctorate from Florida State University.
Mehmet F. Bastug, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Sociology, Criminal Justice and Criminology Department, received the Faculty Senate Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, which recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates dedication to teaching graduate students in a manner that creates an encouraging and intellectually stimulating environment that promotes critical thinking and learning.
Dr. Bastug, who joined the faculty at Scranton in 2020, serves as director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Cybersecurity Master of Science Program. He teaches courses in cybersecurity and homeland security at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research focuses on cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, online radicalization, and violent extremism. He has presented at conferences and has co-authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
In 2021, Dr. Bastug was named to the 100-member Certified Ethical Hacker Hall of Fame by the EC-Council, the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants. The Hall of Fame celebrates some of the most accomplished Certified Ethical Hackers (CEHs) around the world.
Dr. Bastug earned a bachelor’s degree from the Turkish National Police University in Ankara. He earned a master’s degree from Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey, and a master’s degree and doctorate from Rutgers University. He completed postdoctoral research at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).
Lori Bruch, Ed.D., associate professor and chair of the Counseling and Human Services Department and Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., professor in the Economics, Finance and International Business Department, received the Excellence for University Service and Leadership Award, which recognizes faculty who have contributed service to the University community, particularly those who demonstrate academic leadership by effectively mentoring their junior colleagues.
Dr. Bruch joined the University faculty full-time in 1995, having previously served as an adjunct professor at Scranton since 1989. She has served as chair of the Counseling and Human Services Department since 2015. She also served as co-chair of the University’s annual Conference on Disability for more than a decade.
Dr. Bruch’s research interests include the Americans with Disabilities Act, employment of individuals with disabilities, attitudes towards persons with disabilities, professional identity for rehabilitation counselors, rehabilitation counseling curriculum, supervision and accreditation, and lifespan development. She has published nearly 20 articles in academic journals and had presented at more than 40 conferences and meetings.
Dr. Bruch is a member of many national and regional organizations, having served as a board member and chair of the Council on Rehabilitation Education, president of the National Association of Rehabilitation Leadership and president of the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Association, to name just a few.
Dr. Bruch earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Stout, and a doctorate from George Washington University.
Dr. Ghosh joined the faculty at the University in 1986. During his tenure at Scranton, he has served on numerous committees, including AACSB accreditation steering committees, Presidential search committees, several terms on the Board of Rank and Tenure, the Faculty Senate and the Curriculum Committee of the Senate, the KSOM Assessment Committee, the Henry George Lecture Committee and many more. Since 2020, Dr. Ghosh has been an active member of the General Education Review Committee. He is currently serving as the General Education Assessment Coordinator. Dr. Ghosh was instrumental in setting up the Office of Educational Assessment and currently serves as its co-director and as a faculty fellow. He also served as chair of the Economics and Finance Department for 15 years.
Dr. Ghosh and Aram Balagyozyan, Ph.D, associate professor of economics, finance and international business, have researched and published multiple issues of the Brennan Barometer, which looks specifically at the economy of NEPA’s Wyoming Valley. The publication analyzes the Wyoming Valley’s job and housing market, as well as the cost-of-living impact inflation has had on household purchasing power in the region, among other factors. Dr. Ghosh is frequently quoted in local, regional and even national media outlets discussing the NEPA economy.
Dr. Ghosh earned a bachelor’s degree from Presidency College in India, a master’s degree from the University of Calcutta and a master’s and doctorate from State University of New York, Buffalo.
Gerard Dumancas, Ph.D., received the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award, which is presented to a faculty member who makes extraordinary efforts to enhance student learning and who practices teaching as a form of scholarship.
In 2023, Dr. Dumancas received the University’s Excellence in Integrating Diversity in Learning Award, which recognizes a faculty member whose efforts to integrate diversity in the curriculum have enriched the students’ learning experiences. Also in 2023, he was selected as a Visiting Faculty Fellow by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Dr. Dumancas, associate professor of chemistry, joined the faculty at Scranton in the spring of 2022. Over the course of his academic career, he has generated more than $2 million in external research funding from the NSF, Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Board of Regents. He has published nearly 100 research products in the form of journal articles, book chapters, books and intellectual property disclosures related to his research in the development and applications of chemometrics and spectroscopic techniques in food and biological applications. He is the recipient of a five-year, $1.158 million National Science Foundation funded Noyce Scholars grant to support future STEM high school teachers in high-need school districts.
At Scranton, Dr. Dumancas serves as a faculty fellow in the Office of Education Assessment and as a community-based learning faculty fellow, where he is collaborating with the Lackawanna River Conservation Association and is combining research and teaching by implementing novel analytical chemistry experiments for use in his lab classes.
In addition, Dr. Dumancas is serving as the faculty lead for a Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation grant, which is a program that takes a comprehensive approach to student development and retention. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines.
Dr. Dumancas earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of the Philippines and a doctorate from Oklahoma State University.
Madeline Gangnes, Ph.D., received the Sustainability Award, which recognizes the efforts of a faculty member who strives for excellence in teaching about sustainability and who makes extraordinary efforts to introduce that essential concept into the curriculum.
Dr. Gangnes joined the University faculty in 2020 as an assistant professor in the Department of English and Theatre. She serves as co-moderator of the University’s Mu Omicron Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society. She is also a member of the University’s Ecological Education working group and the Cry for the Poor working group, both of which support the University’s Laudato Si’ initiative. At Scranton, she has developed two courses that support the newly revised environmental science major and the environmental and sustainability studies concentration: “Literature and the Environment” and “Climate Fiction.”
Her research interests include the intersections of 19th-century British literature and culture, visual studies, digital humanities and book history. She is particularly interested in the image textuality of Victorian periodicals, especially illustrated serialized fiction. Her scholarly work has been published in journals and collected volumes, including the Victorian Periodicals Review, the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comic, INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, Studies in Comics and Art and Science in Word and Image: Exploration and Discovery. She has served as the assistant editor of Studies in Comics and as the editor of Sequentials.
Dr. Gangnes earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound, a master’s degree from the University of Dundee in Scotland and a doctorate from the University of Florida.
Michael Landram., Ph.D., received the Community-Based Learning Award, which is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in community-based learning (CBL) pedagogy as demonstrated by meaningful integration with course or program content that incorporates integration of theory with practice, direct engagement with community members, and personal and critical academic reflection.
Dr. Landram, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, joined the faculty at Scranton in 2015. His research interests include the measurement of the neurological and cardiovascular stresses associated with various training loads, competitive endeavors, and recovery in athletic and clinical populations.
At Scranton. Dr. Landram has developed an ongoing community partnership with the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Scranton, through which, for nearly a decade, senior students in the kinesiology program engage in meaningful learning experiences while helping older adults meet their physical activity needs. During this Community-Based-Learning (CBL) experience, students are matched with a JCC participant to design an individualized physical activity program based on their fitness assessment, a needs-based analysis and their physical activity goals. Over the course of 12 weeks each semester, students, along with their faculty mentor, evaluate and monitor individual physical activity sessions and review and modify goals as appropriate. Dr. Landram also incorporated into the course meaningful opportunities for student and participant reflection.
Each year, this CBL project serves 50-60 of our students and 35-40 adult participants from the JCC, providing at least 1,000 contact hours per year.
Dr. Landram is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Physiological Society, and is a certified USA Olympic weightlifting coach.
Dr. Landram earned a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University, a master’s degree from Appalachian State University and a doctorate from University of Rome “Foro Italico” in Italy.
Prof. Ian O’Hara received the Excellence in Advancing Interdisciplinary Study Award, which recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates noteworthy academic leadership in promoting and strengthening cross-disciplinary or interdepartmental teaching and learning endeavors.
Prof. O’Hara, assistant professor and research and instruction librarian in the Weinberg Memorial Library, has created several research guides for the University, including the Ability, Disability, and Accessibility Resources Guide and the Race, Racism and Anti-Racism Resources Guide.
Prof. O’Hara serves on the Library’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee, and has been influential in the establishment of several innovations in the library that make it a more equitable and welcoming environment. His research interests include critical information literacy, new and emerging technologies, principles and applications of software design and web application development, among other areas.
Prof. O’Hara joined the staff at Scranton as a serials/electronic resources clerk in 2013. He earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and a master’s degree in software engineering from Scranton. He also earned a master’s degree in library science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
Kimberly Pavlick, Ph.D., received the Integrating Mission and Justice into the Curriculum Award, which recognizes a faculty member whose special efforts ensure that students have a keen understanding and appreciation of the realities of the world, including pressing justice issues in a local, national and global context.
Dr. Pavlick, assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media, joined the faculty at Scranton in 2005. Her teaching and research focuses on effective writing for various media platforms, journalism and broadcasting. Well known with students for her boundless energy and exacting standards, Dr. Pavlick includes in her courses projects that simulate the realities of professional communication fields and stimulate the interest and motivation of the students. She ensures students have a keen understanding of the realities of the world including pressing justice issues in a local, national and global context. She integrates seminal issues of justice into her teaching as well, so that students possess the awareness, competence, skills and insights to critically reflect on prevailing social, political, economic and cultural issues, and be able and willing to take action on behalf of justice.
Most recently, Dr. Pavlick has established an ongoing relationship with the Gino Merli Center to record the stories of Scranton area veterans. Through the Community-Based-Learning (CBL) project, students meet with veterans and practice the skills that they have learned in her course by documenting and recording their experiences. Feedback on the project indicates that the veterans appreciate the opportunity to speak with young people, while the students learn of real-world events through the eyes of those who have experienced them.
At Scranton, Dr. Pavlick has served as the NCAA faculty athletics representative and as a faculty mentor for the field hockey team.
Dr. Pavlick earned a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University, a master’s degree from The University of Scranton and a doctorate from Marywood University.
Hank Willenbrink, Ph.D., received the Excellence in Scholarly Publication Award, which is presented to a faculty member who has attained distinction in scholarship or creative activity.
An associate professor in the Department of English and Theatre at Scranton, Dr. Willenbrink’s most recent book, “Performing for the Don: Theatres of Faith on the Trump Era,” was published by Rutledge Press in 2023 and is the culmination of several years of scholarly work. His scholarly research focuses on religious performance and playwriting.
In addition to academic research, Dr. Willenbrink is a creative writer and performer. His play, “The Boat in the Tiger Suit” premiered at The Brick in New York City on 2013 and was published by Original Works Publishing in 2014. His play “18” won the Corwin Award for Best Short Play from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. His monologues have been featured in Monologues for Men by Men, More Monologues for Men by Men, and Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2014.
At Scranton, Dr. Willenbrink has developed and led three interdisciplinary, community-engaged projects featuring students: “Proprioception” in 2015; “The Porches Project” in 2019; and “1902” in 2023. In each project, student writers performed research on their community through historical documentation or via community story gatherings. The research collected was then used to create dramatic works, which were developed and performed.
Dr. Willenbrink joined the faculty at Scranton in 2004. He has served as director of the Theatre Program and director of First Year Seminar Development. He has served on numerous committees including the Slattery Center Faculty Executive Committee and Humanities Initiative, Honors Council: Community-based Learning Advisory Board and Laudato Si' Education for the Environment Working Group.
Dr. Willlenbrink earned a bachelor’s from Colgate University, a master’s degree from the University of Vermont, and a doctorate from Syracuse University.
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Also recognized at the award ceremony were five retiring faculty members, each of whom have served the University for decades: Brigid Curtin Frein, Ph.D., associate professor, in the Theology/Religious Studies Department, who joined the faculty at Scranton in 1988; Irene Goll, Ph.D., associate professor in the Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Department, who joined the faculty at Scranton in 1988; Edward M. Scahill, Ph.D., associate professor in the Economics, Finance and International Business Department, who joined the faculty at Scranton in 1989; Daniel J. West, Ph.D., professor in the Health Administration and Human Resources Department, who joined the faculty at Scranton in 1990; and Michael M. Costello, J.D., faculty specialist in the Health Administration and Human Resources Department, who joined the faculty at Scranton full-time in 2014, having previously served as an adjunct professor.
During her tenure at Scranton, Dr. Frein served as departmental chair; interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and coordinator for freshman seminar for the College of Arts and Sciences, among other committees and positions. Her research interests specialize in the New Testament and she has published numerous articles on the Gospels. She is an active member of the Catholic Biblical Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University and a doctorate from Saint Louis University.
Dr. Goll was named as a Alperin Teaching Fellow and a Burkavage Fellow at Scranton. She has published numerous articles that examine corporate social responsibility as an important component of a firm’s culture, philosophy or ideology in prestigious management journals such as Organization Studies and Industrial Relations. Dr. Goll earned a bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from Temple University.
Dr. Scahill served as the director of the University’s Center for Economic Education for decades. He has published articles in numerous journals, including the Journal of Economics Teaching, Journal of Economics and Economic Education, Journal of Finance and Economics and the International Review of Economics Education. He has made contributions to “Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics” (all eight editions), “Intermediate Macroeconomics” and “Money and Banking,” co-authored by R. Glenn Hubbard and Anthony Patrick O’Brien. He was also named as a regular contributor on microeconomics to The Wall Street Journal’s Weekly Review. Dr. Scahill received the University’s Alperin Teaching Fellowship and the Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education from the Freedoms Foundation for his program, “Teaching Economics by Teaching Baseball.” He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree and a doctorate from The State University of New York at Binghamton.
Dr. West served as the chair the Health Administration and Human Resources Department for two decades, in addition to serving a several University committees. During his tenure at Scranton, he planned and conducted dozens of study abroad tours for graduate students and faculty to countries as diverse as Bolivia, Slovakia, Haiti and China. A well-respected teacher and scholar with specialization in international health care, globalization, multiculturalism and diversity management, Dr. West holds a professor in public health appointment at Trnava University, as well as a visiting professor appointment at the University of Matej Bel, Slovakia and affiliated faculty at Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Trnava University, Slovakia. He was recognized as an International Fellow at Scranton and received the John L. Earl III Award for service to the University, the faculty and the wider community in 2021. Dr. West earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a doctoral degree from the Pennsylvania State University.
Prof. Costello served as program director of the University’s Graduate MHA Online program. During his tenure at Scranton, he received the Faculty Service Award from Hanley College and the Provost’s part-time Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, as well as the University’s Frank O’Hara Award for University service. He also served as president of the University of Scranton Alumni Society. His teaching and publishing interests are in the areas of health law and policy, health economics, international health care, long-term care administration, and clinical and administrative ethics. He holds an adjunct faculty appointment at The Commonwealth Medical College and the University of Central Florida. He also holds visiting professorships at Trnava and St. Elizabeth Universities in Slovakia and the University of Georgia in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton, a master’s degree from Ohio University, an MBA from The University of Scranton, and a juris doctorate from Southland University.
“On the days where we host the children for summer programming, I begin the day by checking in with my supervisor. I inform the other interns and volunteers about the itinerary for the day, and we head over to the youth programming building. There, I lead activities with the children where they learn to play and communicate appropriately, discuss their transition to the United States, and gain a positive outlook on themselves and their changing lives. Some days, we take the children on field trips to museums, zoos, or parks, and we have special guests come in to talk to the children about their experiences as refugees. At the end of the day, we discuss how the day went, individual clients and their progress, and our plans for the next day of programming.” 
The three-month opportunity allows the business management major from Scranton, Pennsylvania to build on experience she gained in 2023 at the academy’s Inaugural event in Memphis, Tennessee and to explore Indianapolis, Indiana. 
