Faculty & Staff

Bárbara Sánchez Guardiola comes to Neumann University with an advanced degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College and extensive organizational and administrative experience. She managed internal operations and a child health outreach program for Public Citizens for Children and Youth and has also provided bilingual translation services to a variety of businesses and organizations. As an administrator, she has experience ensuring details and quality control and she has a strong commitment to Neumann’s values. 

Amanda Breen earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Temple University in 2010 and her MPH from Drexel University in 2013. Her research focuses on stereotyping and discrimination and person perception using an intersectional approach. She teaches social psychology, psychology of gender and scientific reading and writing in psychology. In her free time, she enjoys running, spending time with her son and playing softball.

Sarah received her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College where she studied the synthesis of complex natural products. It was here that Sarah developed her passion for teaching and mentoring undergraduate students in a small, liberal arts environment. Prior to teaching at Neumann University, Sarah was a post-doctoral researcher at University of the Sciences where she investigated the synthesis of anti-HIV drugs. Her interests remain in the development of novel treatments for diseases. When Sarah is not teaching science, she likes to spend time traveling, watching football, and enjoying the outdoors with her husband Nick, their son Alex, and their dog Buddy.

Dr. Corso enjoys teaching students in first-year composition, in literature courses that satisfy the Core requirement, in courses for the English major and Writing minor, and most recently, in interdisciplinary study- abroad experiences. Her dissertation, How to “Let Them Write Together”: The Effects of Social Styles on Written Products of College Entry-level Collaborative Writers, includes research-based rubrics for assessing writing. She served as an editorial advisory board member for professional journals, including Kairos, A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, The Journal of Writing Program Administrators, the Journal of Delta Epsilon Sigma (DES), and the International Journal of Learning. For two journals, she served in leadership roles: reviews editor for Kairos, and co-editor for DES. For the Council for Accreditation of Education Programs (CAEP), she serves as a reviewer for English and English Language Arts undergraduate and graduate education certification programs. Periodically, she judges the national writing competition for undergraduates sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English. Certified as a member of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project, a subsidiary of the National Writing Project, Dr. Corso engages writers in writing across genres. Her ongoing scholarly research continues to examine feedback for revising processes, specifically the effects of strategically situating an oral presentation between draft and revision for writers to secure direction from an audience of peers. Her papers and presentations include examining connections between information literacy and writing, and the psychoanalysis of narrative in the fiction of contemporary American authors. She edited a volume on fiction of Alice McDermott, yet to be published, and in 2015, she published a collection of her poetry, Tendered to Us in Love.

Maria Teresa de Gordon
Associate Professor
English and Spanish
B.A., University of Delaware
M.A., University of Delaware
Ed.D., Wilmington University
610-361-5388
degordom@neumann.edu

Dr. de Gordon lived in Spain where she taught English at the Universidad de Granada and brings many dynamic cultural aspects to the classroom. Over the years, she has been an advisor to the HOLA club bringing cultural events to the campus such as the Latin Thanksgiving Dinner, salsa lessons, and Spanish cooking classes. Her research interests include stereotypes, perception, multicultural issues, language acquisition, and pedagogy.

Few faculty can claim such a diversity of experiences. He has practiced biology from various perspectives: the chemical structure of enzymes, the environmental fate of pesticides, the metabolism of drugs in race horses, the biochemistry of insecticide resistance. He also has familiarity in bionomics of grouse, cancer research, environmental analysis, laboratory management.

Dr. DiMarco knew he wanted to be a college math professor since the ninth grade. A Graph Theorist in graduate school, he has shifted his research interest to statistics. David has consistently sought to further mathematics education at Neumann University.

This herpetologist has published many articles on animal behavior and communication, and currently teaches ecology, genetics, human anatomy & physiology, and introductory physics. While on sabbatical in 2005-2006, he lived in Guatemala with his family, where he introduced an environmental curriculum by which children, through the capture and identification of larval insects, monitor stream quality. Locally, he is active with several environmental organizations. In 2001, he received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. Glass has been involved with journalism and public relations since childhood- if you count his Red Bank Register route.

Founder of the Neumann University Criminal Justice Program, this retired Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) brings reality to the classroom through his law enforcement experiences and knowledge of the subject areas taught. He considers his most important job to be preparing Neumann University students for their chosen careers in criminal justice.

 

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		Brinda Govindaraju Assistant Professor Biology M.B.B.S., Coimbatore Medical College, India M.D., Educational Commission of Foreign Medical Graduates 610-361-5293 govindab@neumann.edu
Dr. Brinda Govindaraju taught Anatomy and Physiology as an adjunct at Neumann for seven years. In 2012, she received the Part-Time Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.  Before coming to Neumann, she was a general practitioner in India after earning her degree from Coimbatore Medical College. She has volunteered as a teacher for a local Indian association for six  years. She’s an avid reader and often donates blood. In her free time, Brinda enjoys gardening and spending time with her two daughters.

 

Professor Holmstrom is an artist whose work has been exhibited nationally. His recent awards include; Appointment to the CAA Education Committee, Honorable mention 2016 Delaware Individual Artist Fellows, Division of the Arts, Delaware State Arts Council, and First Place, Oxford Arts Alliance National Juried Show 2015, Oxford Arts Alliance Gallery, Oxford, PA. His work has been exhibited at Tyler Art Gallery, SUNY, Oswego; Mint Museum Uptown, Levine Center for the Arts; Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts; The Hoyt Institute of Arts; Rosenthal Gallery, Fayetteville State University; The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA; Omaha Center for Contemporary Art; Montclair State University Art Galleries; Chautauqua Art Association Galleries, Chautauqua Institution; Erie Art Museum.

An internationally known coloratura soprano who has performed in the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, "Dr. Yuki" shares international teaching techniques with Neumann students as a result of her involvement with the International Chamber Music Festival in Evian, France, and her lectures in Japan. Dr. Yuki is also director of the Neumann University Concert Chorale. Her joy in music inspires both beginning and experienced singers at Neumann University, and her professional achievements as a soloist and lecturer enrich the learning experience for her students. According to Dr. Yuki, "Singing offers a challenge to all singers: How do we express our feelings with our voices? My role is to help voice students convert their internal feelings into external expressions via their voices. Everyone who has a voice can polish their instrument and create music if they wish to."

Jim Kain teaches writing and literature because he thinks it can change our lives and our world – in a good way. He believes in the influence of the creative arts in developing our potential as vital members of the human community; and writing is one of the creative ways to find our voice and vitalize our world. He teaches core writing, creative writing, and nature writing, and loves to teach the Romantic, Victorian and Modern British & Irish authors. He is the author of three books of poetry, Coming to my Senses, Curved Space & the More Delicate Times, and Conversing with the Spirits, and one novella, Sweet Tempo.

This statistician teaches courses such as mathematical statistics, business statistics, and college algebra in addition to introductory statistics. In 2007, he received Neumann University’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

Claudia Marie Kovach
Professor
English and French
B.A., Seton Hill University
M.A., Purdue University
Ph.D., Purdue University
610-558-5573
ckovach@neumann.edu

Former dean of the Division of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Kovach serves as Executive Director of the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Catholic Scholastic Honor Society DESNational@neumann.edu. She has published and presented internationally on writers such as Isabel Allende, Margery Kemp, Voltaire, and Amy Tan; she accords special attention to the medieval (and timeless) Tristan legend and its possibilities in tandem with contemporary literary theory. Her avocations include Chinese folk dance, competitive figure skating and ice dancing, and Tang Soo Do karate.

Sr. Elaine Martin, OSF
Adjunct Professor
B.A., Our Lady of Angels College
M.S.S., Social Science, Syracuse University
Ph.D., Politics, The Catholic University of America
610-558-5586
emartin@neumann.edu

Sister Elaine Martin, OSF has been a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for many years. She has been a full-time faculty member at Neumann University since 1975, and is currently an adjunct professor. In 1977 she received a grant from the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia Mission Fund to permit Neumann students to do service learning with the Indians of the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. She received Neumann’s first “Excellence in Teaching” Award in 1988. Sr. Elaine’s most recent articles are in The Journal of the Middle States Council for the Social Studies and The AFCU Journal: A Franciscan Perspective on Higher Education.

Dr. Mastropaolo was an adjunct at Neumann for two years teaching a variety of courses such as Physical Science, Environmental Studies, Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology. He also served as the Science Laboratory Manager at Neumann University for one year. Before his time at Neumann University, Dr. Mastropaolo received a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech where he studied bacterial interactions during an infection and spent four years working on soil microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mastropaolo has an interest in working with undergraduate students in a laboratory setting in order to prepare them for careers in science. He will be working with other Neumann and SEPCHE (Southeastern Consortium of Higher Education) faculty to expand undergraduate research opportunities for students in the Sciences. When he is not teaching science he likes to spend his time with his three children swimming and doing karate.

Dr. Colleen McDonough received her doctorate in Psychology from Lehigh University and has been a full-time faculty member at Neumann University since 2005. She currently serves as the faculty advisor for Neumann’s chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. Dr. McDonough is the Arts and Sciences Section editor of the Neumann University Catalyst, and has received numerous grants and awards over the years, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship. She can be heard on her weekly NU radio show, “Your Brain on Politics” with her colleague, Dr. Ramona Palmerio-Roberts. Dr. McDonough teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses at the university, in the traditional face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats, and has served on dissertation committees in Neumann’s doctoral programs. Her favorite classes to teach include Behavioral Science Statistics, Evolutionary Psychology, and General Psychology. She enjoys supervising undergraduate research projects, and welcomes students who are interested in assisting with her research. She regularly presents her work at local and national conferences, and actively publishes her work. Her current research interests, collaborative projects with several other NU faculty members across several disciplines, focus on media bias and the psychology of influence, stereotyping, and attribution. Of secondary interest is pedagogical research and how we can effectively deliver course content and assess learning.

Dr. McMonagle, also known as "Doc" by many of his students, served as Deputy Legislative Director for a US Congressman on Capitol Hill before running for Congress and later for Delaware County Council.  Dr. McMonagle earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Temple University and his MPP in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago.  An expert in American Government and Public Policy, this educator brings a wealth of practical and scholarly experience into the classroom -- preparing students for a variety of skill-based careers or for graduate studies starting in their freshman year at Neumann. His book, Caribou and Conoco, explains the political and social variables that have been driving important public policy debates on energy and the environment.

Mr. Miller has taught at Neumann since 2000 and been the full-time History instructor since 2013. A native of Delaware County, Mr. Miller attended college at Villanova University and earned teacher certification from Widener University. He started his professional career as a newspaper reporter. He also has worked at West Virginia University, Messiah College, Widener, and Delaware County Community College. Mr. Miller has published a novel on the Civil War (2004) and a history of Williamson College of the Trades (2017). He is a volunteer interpreter at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, and an associate member of the Marine Corps League.

This multidimensional teacher sees mathematics, like music, as a creation. It is not found or discovered, but created. It is not a creation that we can hold or see, but it is there--like music. The difference: music is fed through feeling, through the heart; mathematics, instead, is music of the mind.

This semi-professional musician writes in the areas of metaethics, evolution and ethics, and environmental ethics. He is the author of five books, and his work has appeared in a wide variety of scholarly journals. He teaches a broad range of philosophy courses, including the Philosophy of Music. About one of his courses, a student recently wrote: “Before I took his class, I was just like ‘the sky is blue and it’s blue because I see blue,’ and now after taking his class I’m like, ‘the sky is blue, but why and what is blue?’

Kathryn Montalbano is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Media. Her research interests include the history and political economy of mass and digital media institutions, religion and media, surveillance, and feminist media studies. She teaches courses related to mass and digital media and communication research methods. She received her Ph.D. in communications from Columbia University in 2016, and her B.A. in English literature with a minor in sociology from Haverford College in 2009.

This mathematics and statistics instructor follows the philosophy that curriculum and pedagogical methods should always be student-focused. In his spare time, Ryan can be found running, cycling, swimming, and watching Law and Order on TV.

Dr. Maria G. Traub is Associate Professor of French and Italian in the Division of Arts and Sciences. In the fall of 2005, she was named Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French Government for services rendered in the domain of French culture. A frequent traveler abroad, she strongly advocates speaking more than one language in today's world. In addition, she has studied voice in France and Italy and enjoys sharing her expertise with arts majors.

Dancer, choreographer, educator, and biology teacher, this clinical laboratory specialist received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005. Before coming to Neumann, she worked in the highly technological field of laboratory medicine. Her major research interests have been in the areas of hematology and immunology. She has given numerous presentations on such topics such as leukemia, coagulation disorders, and the immune response. Integrating technology into her teaching practice is a special area of interest and she continues to give presentations in innovative uses of technology in the classroom. In the past, she designed self-paced instructional units and instructional videotapes for microscopic work.

Dr. Yönten received his Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from University of Delaware in 2011. He got his BA and MA degrees from Bogazici University (Istanbul/Turkey) in 1999 and 2002 respectively. His research interests include international migration, multilateralism, and Turkish foreign policy. Since 2003, Mr. Yönten has been involved in a large scale project aiming to build a dataset of all multilateral treaties since the establishment of the modern nation-state system. The dataset is useful to examine distributional aspects of institutionalized cooperation over time and space, and hegemony and leadership in institutionalized cooperation. Mr. Yönten teaches a range of courses in international relations and comparative politics including Current Problems in World Politics, US Foreign Relations, Politics of Developing Nations, and Research Methods in Political Science.