Introducing New Stonehill Faculty

Brad Bannon, Th.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Religious Studies

Education: B.A., Music, Furman University; M.Div., Trinitarian Theology and Eco-liberation Theology, Drew Theological School; L.Ph., Comparative Philosophy, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram; Th.D., Comparative Theology, Harvard Divinity School.

Experience: Following a career in financial management on Wall Street, Bannon began to study religion comparatively in hope of promoting inter-religious understanding. This path led him to move to India to study Sanskrit and comparative philosophy. Upon his return, he attended Harvard Divinity School, where his dissertation focused on Hindu-Christian comparative theology with an emphasis on social and ecological justice. Most recently, he taught courses in religion and philosophy at Boston College and Fitchburg State University. He is affiliated with a number of scholarly journals, including serving as associate editor of the Journal of Comparative Theology, and has published articles in the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies and the Journal of Dharma, among others.

His areas of interest include comparative philosophy and theology.

Jacqueline A. Beatty, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology and Health Science

Education: B.S., Food and Nutrition, Framingham State University; M.S., Physical Education, Bridgewater State University; Ph.D., Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Rhode Island.

Experience: Dr. Beatty comes to Stonehill with both academic and industry experience. As a registered and licensed dietitian, she has worked with both pediatric and adult populations in the public and private sectors, including at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She served as a teaching and research assistant at the University of Rhode Island throughout her dissertation work, which focused on exploring the effects of a weight loss intervention on metabolic outcomes and eating behaviors. She has taught Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at Salve Regina University and Johnson & Wales University. Her research has been published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, the Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Current Developments in Nutrition.

Her areas of interest include examining how the presence of health disparities affects the nutritional status of underserved populations.

Cara Bowman, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Sociology and Criminology

Education: B.A., Sociology and Spanish, Trinity College; Ph.D., Sociology, Boston University.

Experience: Bowman has taught on an adjunct basis at Stonehill since 2016; her courses include Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Marriage and Family, and Consumer Society and American Families. Her dissertation focused on the strategies parents and high school students in the Greater Boston area use to ensure their children’s college attendance and economic success. She is co-author of the book Race and Immigration, which focuses on the ways that historical constructions of racial categories have influenced immigration policy. At Boston University, she served as a graduate writing fellow and continues to be particularly focused on developing students’ writing skills through sociological inquiry.

Her areas of interest include the distinct ways that middle-class parents prepare their children to attend competitive colleges. She is interested in the intersection of economic, educational, and intimate realms, and its connection to the reproduction of social inequalities.

Moon Y. Chung, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor, Education

Education: B.A., Special Education, Ewha Womans University (Republic of Korea); M.Ed., Special Education, University of Texas at Austin; Ph.D., Special Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Experience: Chung’s graduate work and postdoctoral fellowship focused on interventions to enhance communication skills of children with disabilities. For the past two years she has worked on Project Family IMPACT (Individualization, Mobility, Poverty, Adversity, Culture, and Trauma) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, conducting methodologically rigorous research about families of individuals with disabilities with the goal of preparing teachers and providers to forge strong relationships with families. Her articles have been published in journals such as Research in Developmental Disabilities, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, and Communication Disorders Quarterly, among others.

Her areas of interest include the use of online technologies for parent training and coaching, communication interventions for young children with autism and their parents, and coaching early intervention providers via telepractice.

Stephanie M. Ernestus, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Psychology

Education: B.A., Psychology and English, Lafayette College; M.A. and Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York.

Experience: Dr. Ernestus comes to Stonehill from UCLA, where she served as a clinical specialist and supervising psychologist for the UCLA Youth, Stress and Mood Program, which is dedicated to improving health and mental health in children and adolescents and developing and evaluating treatments and services for depression and suicide prevention. She also taught at UCLA, Penn State University and the University at Albany, State University of New York, including courses on Abnormal Psychology, Childhood Behavior Disorders, and Statistical Methods in Psychology, among others.  Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, Substance Use & Misuse, and School Mental Health, among others.

Her area of interest involves identifying how the complex interconnected variables that impact children result in complex outcomes at later ages. Specifically, she identifies how different factors in a child's life influence the development and treatment of psychological outcomes such as anxiety and depression, in order to best understand how to create more effective prevention and treatment programs. 

Robin Goldberg, M.S.
Teaching Fellow, Speech Pathology

Education: B.A., Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Adelphi University; M.S., Speech-Language Pathology, Columbia University.

Experience: Goldberg, who has served as an adjunct member of the Stonehill faculty, brings a wealth of experience to the classroom and to student advising for those minoring in speech-language pathology. She has taught at the college level at institutions including Worcester State University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has served as a speech-language pathologist in the Sudbury and Boxborough public school systems, and has been in private practice. Over the course of her career, she has presented to a wide range of professional, public health, and civic organizations, and her articles have been published in Family Magazine and Pediatric Nursing, among others.

Her areas of interest include neurological speech and language disorders.

Steven F. Hubbard, Ph. D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Physics

Education: B.S., Physics, Purdue University; Ph.D., Physics, Case Western Reserve University.

Experience: Hubbard is an experienced physics professor who has served as a leader in higher education and industry. He came to Stonehill in spring 2019 after serving as a long-time faculty member and Interim Dean of The Division of Social Sciences and Human Services as well as The Division of Science and Mathematics for Lorain County Community College in Ohio. Over the course of his career, he has taught algebra-based and calculus-based physics courses, served on Ohio statewide education panels, and was elected an at-large trustee for The Ohio Academy of Science. He is the author of articles that have appeared in the Journal of the Optical Society of America B and Applied Physical Letters, among others. He holds several patents.

His areas of interest include data analytics, research and development, physics, and evidence-based practices.

Eric G. LeFlore, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Fellow, Environmental Science

Education: B.A., Environmental Studies, Connecticut College; M.S. and Ph.D., Environmental Conservation (Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology), University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Experience: Prior to arriving at Stonehill, LeFlore’s teaching and management experience included working as an instructor for Brown University’s Environmental Leadership Lab, a summer pre-college program focused on environmental studies and socially responsible leadership, and as on-site director of the program’s field course located in Alaska. He was also an instructor and teaching assistant at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where, as a graduate student, he received a Fulbright Scholarship, among other honors and awards, and developed a comprehensive study, “Pride in Our Prides: Mitigating Human-Lion Conflict in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.” As a part of this project, LeFlore established and tested novel conflict mitigation strategies, including an early warning system linked to lion GPS satellite collars.

His research interests include wildlife conservation in the age of man, specially related to human-carnivore conflict, and bridging the gap between the ecological and human dimensions of environmental studies.

Yihua Liao, M.S. 
Teaching Fellow, Chemistry 

Education: B.S., Polymer Chemistry and Physics, Nanjing University (China); M.S., Chemistry, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Experience: Liao began teaching at Stonehill in the spring of 2019. She has also taught at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where she instructed and supervised undergraduates completing laboratory modules in basic organic chemistry and biochemistry. Her industry experience includes working as a medicinal chemist for Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research, where she designed, synthesized, characterized, and made SAR evaluation of small molecule inhibitors. She is one of the inventors of several patent applications.

Her areas of interest include organic synthetic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. 

Getty L. Lustila, Ph. D.
Teaching Fellow, Philosophy

Education: B.A., History, Winona State University; M.A., Philosophy, Georgia State University; Ph.D., Philosophy, Boston University.

Experience: Lustila comes to Stonehill from Boston University, where he recently defended his dissertation, The Problem of Partiality in 18th Century British Moral Philosophy. Lustila has taught a wide range of courses, including Moral Psychology, Disability & Genetic Enhancement, Ancient Greek Philosophy, and Reasoning and Argumentation. He is currently teaching "The Examined Life," which focuses on the topics of happiness and belonging; he will be teaching "Friendship, Love, and Sex" in the Spring. 

Lustila's research interests include early modern philosophy and the history of ethics. His articles have appeared in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, European Journal of Philosophy, and Utilitas.

Joshua A. Magee, Ph. D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Business Administration/Management

Education: B.S.M.E., Acoustics, University of Hartford; M.S. and Ph.D., Physics, College of William & Mary.

Experience: Magee comes to Stonehill with a background in experimental nuclear/particle physics, with experience working with large datasets, data visualization, statistical inference, and developing physical models to impact project outcomes. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he served as a member of the post-doctoral research staff and headed an analysis team composed of more than two dozen scientists across six institutions. He has been the instructor of record for college-level calculus, applied math for non-majors, and advanced undergraduate labs. He is also CEO of Crusaders for Kids, a nonprofit that sends Batman to children’s hospitals and schools to provide joy, toys, and art supplies to inspire children and their families to continue their fight.

His areas of interest include data analysis (Python, C++, MySQL), computer modeling/machine learning (scikit-learn, NLP, Monte Carlo), and web development (flask, HTML, CSS).

Oltiana Muharremi Pelari, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor, Business Administration/Accounting 

Education: B.S., Business/Managerial Economy, Sapienza University of Rome; M.S., International Business and Economic Cooperation, University of Bari Aldo Moro (Italy); Ph.D., Finance, University of Tirana (Albania).

Experience: Pelari is an accounting and finance expert who has taught at Bay State College, Newbury College, and the University of Vlora (Albania). She has taught a wide range of courses, including Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, Management of Small and Medium Enterprises, International Accounting, and Financial Reporting and Analysis, among others. Her industry experience includes working as a loan officer specializing in microcredit products and services. Her articles have been published in leading journals, and she is a member of the editorial boards and reviewer of the Applied Finance and Accounting, Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, and Journal of Accounting and Management.

Her areas of interest include accounting, microfinance, taxation, risk management, insurance, and financial economics.

Pankaj Nagpal, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor, Business Administration/Accounting 

Education: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee; M.B.A., Finance and Marketing, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (Mumbai, India); M.S., Information Systems, Boston University; Ph.D., Management (Business Administration), Case Western Reserve University.

Experience: Nagpal has taught at the University of Puerto Rico and Connecticut State University, in addition to serving as a teaching assistant during his doctoral program. He has taught courses including Managerial Accounting and Cost Control, Accounting Information Systems, Advanced Forensic Accounting, and Applied Business Research. His articles have appeared in several national conferences of the American Accounting Association (AAA), and quality journals such as Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management. Before entering academia, he has worked for corporations including Fidelity Investments, and Procter & Gamble. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).

His areas of research include IT-related disclosure, management controls, corporate governance, and cybersecurity.

Mona Rowan, M.A.
Teaching Fellow, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures 

Education: B.A., Communications and Public Relations, B.A., French and Spanish, and M.A., Foreign Languages/Education, Rhode Island College.

Experience: Rowan has taught Arabic at Stonehill College since 2013. A native of Lebanon, she came to the United States after civil war broke out in 1977. She taught high school French and Spanish for a decade; in 2008, she began teaching French, Spanish, and Arabic at the college level at Quincy College and then at Wheaton College. At Stonehill, she teaches all levels of Arabic and is the Arabic program director.

Her area of interest is working with communities to encourage children studying a foreign language as early as pre-school to ultimately compete in the global economy.

Anand Sitaram 
Assistant Professor, Biology

Education: B.S., Biochemistry, Southern Methodist University; Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Pennsylvania.

Experience: Dr. Sitaram has served as an adjunct faculty member at Becker College and Northeastern University while engaged with his postdoctoral research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He has taught courses that focus on microbiology, developmental biology, and genetics and molecular biology. In 2017, he was selected by the American Society for Microbiology as one of 65 teaching fellows to take part in a highly focused training program to help participants deepen their understanding and strengthen their skills for science teaching positions at community colleges, minority-serving institutions, or regional or state colleges.

His areas of interest include cell and molecular microbiology.

Beck M. Strah,  Ph.D. Candidate
Teaching Fellow, Sociology and Criminology 

Education: B.A., Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage; M.A., Criminal Justice, University of Seattle; Ph.D. Candidate, Criminology and Justice Policy, Northeastern University.

Experience: Strah brings to Stonehill his hands-on experience as a corrections deputy for two years combined with his doctoral studies and teaching. As a Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern, he taught Criminology and Introduction to Criminal Justice and coordinated internships and he has also served as adjunct faculty at Seattle University and Boston University. His articles have been published in journals including the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation and the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology. He is co-author of the forthcoming book, Criminal Psychology: History, Practice, Research, and the Future.

His areas of interest include corrections, gender and crime, and the impacts of punishment and prisonization. 

Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Education  

Education: B.A., English, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; M.Ed., Special Education, Lesley College; Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, Boston College.

Experience: Stringer Keefe serves as director of graduate education for Stonehill’s Education Studies Department. She has held faculty appointments in higher education for 18 years. Her work in teacher education is situated under Research Innovations in Teacher Education (RITE), which includes several current projects, including Project TEER, a group of teacher education scholars and practitioners who collectively research issues related to teacher education, education reform, policy, and politics. She is Principal Investigator of the  Inclusive Catholic Education Research (ICER) Project, and co-principal investigator on a multi-year research study of new Graduate Schools of Education (nGSEs).  Stringer Keefe was a key architect of the Massachusetts Autism Endorsement and serves as president of the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children. She is the co-author of the award-winning Reclaiming Accountability in Teacher Education, which received the American Educational Association Exemplary Research on Teaching and Teacher Education Award, the American Educational Association Critics' Choice Award and the Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She is also co-author of Remixing the Curriculum: The Teacher’s Guide to Technology in the Classroom, a collaboration with a K-12 practitioner colleague.

Her areas of interest include teacher education/preparation, particularly preparation for diverse student groups and educational contexts, as well as teacher education policy initiatives and reforms.

Craig Tichelkamp, Th.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Religious Studies 

Education: B.A., Philosophy and Religion, Truman State University; M.T.S., Theological Studies, Emory University; Th.D., Harvard Divinity School.

Experience: Tichelkamp has taught the theological traditions of Catholic Christianity and its neighbors on an adjunct basis at Stonehill since 2016. A theologian and medievalist by training, his translation and introduction of a Latin commentary on the “Song of Songs” is forthcoming in the series Victorine Texts in Translation; he also written an article on medieval and Reformation scriptural interpretation for the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. He is SafeZone certified to support LGBTQ+ students and is a first-gen faculty resource person. He recently worked with the Office of Intercultural Affairs on a speaker series bringing scholar- and community-educators to campus in conjunction with his course, Catholicism and Indigenous Religions in the Americas. When not at Stonehill, he teaches Latin at Harvard Divinity School.

His research interests include medieval mystical theology and scriptural interpretation.

Daniel C. Ullucci, Ph.D. 
Visiting Associate Professor, Religious Studies  

Education: B.A., Religious Studies, Boston University; M.A. and Ph.D., Religious Studies, Brown University.

Experience: Ullucci first taught at Stonehill in spring 2019. He previously served on the tenured faculty of Rhodes College, and has also been a visiting faculty member at Boston College, Wesleyan University, and Colby College, among others. He is the author or co-editor of three books. He has also written many articles that have appeared in leading journals as well as book chapters. His teaching covers a wide range of topics, including introductory courses in philosophy and religion as well as advanced courses focused on the origins of Christianity, rhetorical techniques and methods and theories in the study of religion.

His areas of interest include the development of early Christianity and the interaction between early Christian groups and traditional Mediterranean religions.

Sinead Walsh, Ph.D.
Lecturer and Lab Instructor, Chemistry 

Education: B.Sc., Chemistry, and Ph.D., Physical Organic Chemistry, University College Dublin.

Experience: Walsh was an adjunct member of the Stonehill faculty from 2011-2015, teaching practical organic chemistry skills and laboratory techniques. She previously served as director of US operations for Program Management Information Services Ltd., and as a process development chemist for Rhodia ChiRex and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Her work has been published in the Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry and the Journal of the Chemistry Society Perkins Transactions 2. She is a long-time parent volunteer at Adams Montessori School in Quincy, where she has served as treasurer and president of the board of directors.

Her areas of interest include developing and optimizing the laboratory curriculum and collaborating with faculty and lab technicians to ensure students obtain the best learning experience possible.