The Office of the Provost has announced the promotion of several faculty members to full professor effective the fall 2024 semester.
College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs
Craig Denison
Music, Theatre, and Dance
Music has always been the vehicle through which I understand life. Growing up, my family couldn’t afford private music lessons, but I was fortunate to have an excellent public school music program. There I learned the joy of shared community support, and music became a means of expression that enlarged my world.
After completing my undergraduate degree, I moved to Princeton, NJ, to attend Westminster Choir College and taught and directed at the American Boychoir School. Both these experiences offered opportunities to participate significantly in performances and tours with world-class orchestras and opera companies. From them I learned how the intersections of care, education, and performance reveal what it means to be human and how that meaning is empowering for young musicians.
After decades of work with these groups in schools and nonprofits, I decided to pursue my PhD in music education at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. Getting a doctorate while juggling family and full-time teaching was challenging, and it wouldn’t have been possible without my wife, Maria’s, support. The doctorate opened the door to me becoming a faculty member at IUP as assistant professor of music education, where I met collegial faculty colleagues who support each other’s work as well as dedicated student musicians. I have been fortunate to publish, present, and guest conduct as a music education professor throughout the world.
About midway through my tenure at IUP, my role as a music education professor expanded into director of Choral Activities and professor of music education. Reembracing my connection to choral leadership has proven personally rewarding as performance and teaching continually inform one another. The choirs have had many highlights, including concert series and performances with symphonies. In June 2025, the IUP choirs will be performing at Carnegie Hall under my baton, and I look forward to sharing with them the timelessness of high artistic achievement in an iconic space.
Anthony DiMauro
Art and Design
From a young age, I’ve been captivated by the world of visual problem solving and design. Growing up, I spent countless hours drawing, painting, and creating, which naturally evolved into a deep passion for visual storytelling. This love led me to pursue an undergraduate degree in studio art with a focus in graphic design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which I completed in 2006. The journey didn’t stop there; I took my ambitions to the next level by earning a graduate degree in illustration from the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York City.
My time in New York City was transformative. Working as an art director at a design agency, I had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with Fortune 500 companies, which expanded my perspective on the role of design in solving complex problems. The vibrant urban landscape of NYC, with its boundless energy and diversity, contrasted strikingly with the tranquil rhythms of country life I had known. The discrepancy between these experiences has helped enrich my understanding of design’s purpose and how it is consumed, aided, and continues to influence humanity.
Now, I channel my experience into front-end design and development for digital systems, including web and app design, UI/UX design, and JavaScript development. This new focus allows me to create intuitive and engaging user experiences, merging my love for design with the dynamic demands of digital technology.
I’m deeply grateful for the support of my wife, who has always encouraged my creative pursuits and stood by me through the late nights and tight deadlines. My parents’ unwavering belief in my potential has been a constant source of motivation. To all those who have guided and supported me along this journey, your influence is immeasurable, and I am profoundly thankful for your contribution to my growth as a designer and creative professional.
Nathan Heuer
Art and Design
Drawing appealed to me from a very early age. Even in kindergarten, friends and classmates would ask me to draw their favorite things: animals, airplanes, spaceships—anything that childhood imagination could conjure. Throughout elementary and junior high school, I kept drawing, increasingly in the margins of assignments from other subjects, but didn’t really imagine my ability to draw being the centerpiece of a career.
In high school, I considered several career paths, but I kept coming back to art. Finally, I decided to give it a go and enrolled in the illustration program at Kendall College of Art and Design. I met many inspiring professors and grew immensely from healthy competition with other talented students. My professors routinely encouraged me to consider teaching, pointing out my ability to clearly communicate techniques and concepts to my fellow students. And so, I found myself enrolling in the master of fine arts program in drawing. Upon graduation, to my surprise, I was headed to Texas for my first job as an assistant professor. Four years later I took a job at IUP.
That initial ability to draw has led to so many opportunities in my life, from gallery representation of my work in New York and Chicago, having my work shown in national publications such as New American Paintings, exhibiting work nationally and internationally, and co-authoring the forthcoming edition of the Oxford University Press textbook Drawing Essentials. But the greatest honor of my professional life has always been the opportunity to teach and pass my knowledge on to other aspiring artists and designers.
While there are many people who deserve thanks for where I am today, including professors, mentors, and family, I most want to thank my two children, Roman and Violet, who have taught me more than anyone else in my life.
Christina Huhn
Language, Literature, and Writing
I have been a bookworm for as long as I remember—it’s a family trait. Growing up in Wisconsin I spent countless summers at our local libraries devouring everything I could, from Nancy Drew to Little House on the Prairie and later John Grisham and Mary Higgens Clark. Our house always had books, magazines, and newspapers to read.
As a first-generation college student, that same spirit is part of what drove my decision to enroll in college language classes for the first time, and it didn’t take long for me to find that passion. Studying abroad in Mexico showed me a whole different world than that small town I grew up in!
After completing my undergraduate degree in Spanish, I spent 10 years working in the medical insurance industry as a bilingual customer service representative, bilingual supervisor, and even working with the fraud units as a translator. As my career progressed, I could never accept a position that didn’t allow me to embrace my Spanish as part of the position.
While living in Chicago, I found my desire for a new adventure and I started grad school “just to get my master’s degree to teach at a community college.” After a few short weeks as a TA in the classroom at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL, my plans quickly shifted, and I approached my advisor to find out how to make that a lot more permanent! A PhD in foreign language education and instructional design from Purdue soon followed!
I’ve been here at IUP since 2011, and my love of reading, projects, and exploration is alive and well. I thrive on diving deep into research or tackling a new project. IUP has many first-generation students, and I relish the opportunities to share with them the world of language study!
Sharon Massey
Art and Design
Since joining the IUP faculty in Art and Design in 2014, I have had the honor of exhibiting my work in over 90 juried and invitational exhibitions, including venues in Japan, Romania, Portugal, Taiwan, Germany, Estonia, China, Poland, Mexico, Canada and throughout the US. Images of my artwork have been published in five books and in several journals, including American Craft and Metalsmith magazines. I’ve been invited to teach as a guest artist at 19 locations, including Penland in NC, Haystack in Maine, and the 92nd St. Y in New York City. My work has been acquired by numerous public collections, including the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT; the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA; and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
In addition to my scholarship in the field of jewelry and metals, I began a collaboration with an IUP colleague, Sean Derry, that has evolved into a nonprofit called Local X Change. We prioritize collaboration and civic engagement as a tactic to democratize art and technology. In 2023, we received a Moonshot grant from Remake Learning for our Studio Stream project, a mobile web-based radio station for teen participants in Western Pennsylvania. We continue to develop projects and learning opportunities that combine design, technology, and civic engagement, and have been invited to present about our work at several national and international symposia.
Finally, I am happy to be able to stay in touch with many of my former IUP students who are working in a variety of creative fields, from robotic welders to custom jewelers to arts administrators. This is the part of my job that keeps me motivated and passionate about teaching.
Nancy Pipkin-Hutchinson
Music, Theatre, and Dance
I consider myself a lifelong learner, a human filled with curiosity, creativity, multiple interests, and joy. My parents gifted me from their experiences as first-generation students, they were encouraged and pushed by their parents who recognized educational opportunities available to their children that hadn't been open to them. I was exposed to a wide variety of experiences in living life. I as an audience member went to theatre, symphonies, ballet, opera, and museums. We traveled and I was exposed to different foods, people, and cultures. Education was emphasized as important, but the doing and living of life held equal weight. I am grateful to all my teachers, professors, and mentors who willingly taught, guided, shared, and inspired me along the way. As a costumer, I demonstrate daily that “no learning is ever wasted” since I incorporate history, chemistry, mathematics, physics, sociology, art, psychology, and, yes, sewing in my creation of the garments worn by characters on stage.
In my time at IUP, I have gravitated towards taking workshops, developing programs, and serving on committees where the end goal is student success. The Difficult Dialogue Project, Green Dot, the Haven Project, IUP’s Food Pantry, the Mediation Program, DEI work, serving on the Senate and subcommittees, and partnering with the Crimson Clothing Closet all help to look at the challenges our students face and give us tools to help them develop into whole human beings. In my teaching, I give students some of the individual puzzle pieces of knowledge and encourage them to synthesize, digest, and create their own picture. Education is an equal partnership between teacher and student, both sides need to show up and participate.
My superpower springs from growing up as a duo culture kid. I remember Thanksgiving dinners my parents hosted, folding tables in the living room, visitors welcomed at our tables from all six continents. That care and kindness is their legacy. I work to follow in their footsteps.
Eberly College of Business
Joseph Rosendale
Management
I feel incredibly honored to be writing from this vantage point, and to say that I am blessed would truly be an understatement. For the past 13 years, IUP has afforded me the opportunity to pursue meaningful research, collaborate with motivated colleagues, serve on impactful committees, and, hopefully, help educate and equip our students with the foundational knowledge and problem-solving skills needed for long-term success.
When I began my undergraduate studies, I knew that eventually I wanted to teach but was unsure of the level or specific field. Had it not been for some exceptional business professors, I am not sure what path I may have taken. I mention this briefly, because my teaching and research are informed by this experience, and I am aware of the lasting impact empowered and effective faculty members can have on their students.
When you really consider it, though, almost everything is a business. From Fortune 500 companies to a new student club with only a handful of members, nearly all organizations share common activities such as organizing resources, working within a budget, and achieving purposeful goals. The more immersed I become in the field, the more I have come to appreciate the duality of management, insofar as it truly is a combination of art and science. I enjoy exploring and teaching the balance needed to be an effective leader, both through an examination of logic and probabilities, as well as an understanding of the human condition and the specific actions driving individuals' behavior.
I'll close with some much-deserved gratitude. I thank God for directing my path, and for the opportunities He has placed before me. I am thankful for my wife, Ashley, and her support and personal passion for education. Lastly, I am very appreciative of my colleagues for their ongoing encouragement, advice, and care. Hopefully, I am able to pay these gifts forward, at least in some small way, every day.
College of Education and Human Services
Dana Hysock Witham
School Psychology, Special Education, and Sociology
I am originally from a small town in the coal region of Pennsylvania (Shenandoah). After graduating from high school (there were 78 students in my graduating class), I studied psychology at East Stroudsburg University. Going to college was an exciting but also overwhelming experience for me because I was a first-generation college student. No one in my family could help me navigate college life or financial aid. While at ESU, I took a Sociology of Women course and met a professor from my hometown—both experiences would ultimately change my life!
I took some time off from school between my master’s and PhD programs and worked as a counselor/advocate at a battered women’s shelter and as a drug and alcohol prevention specialist. I could not stop thinking about the Sociology of Women course that I took as an undergraduate, so I applied to sociology PhD programs that specialized in gender. I worked with some amazing faculty mentors in my doctoral program at the University of Delaware and had the opportunity to be a contributing writer on one of the most widely used textbooks on gender. Because of that one undergraduate course, I became a published author.
It was very important to me to get a faculty position at a university in the PASSHE system. I wanted to work with first-generation and working-class college students because that is who I was (and in many ways, still am). I love the parts of my job at IUP where I get to work closely with students. I also love that faculty members don’t have strict dress codes… you can always find me rocking a pair of Crocs!
To the professor at ESU from my hometown—Dr. Frank Tancredi—thank you for telling this working-class kid that being a college professor was a pretty good life! You weren’t wrong.
Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Alfred Dahma
Mathematical and Computer Sciences
It took a while to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew I wanted to do something important, whatever that meant to me at the time. At a very young age I sensed the importance of education and power of knowledge and wisdom. Growing up in a family with a modest income, I also understood the meaning of sacrifice and hard work. So, the decision to work my way through college was a natural one.
My first two years at college are a blur. I excelled socially, regressed academically. In fact, I regressed my way out of school. No regrets though. I made lifelong friends that have been an important and essential part of my life since 1991. One of them is sitting by my side as I type this bio. And although I suffered academically, moving away from home for a couple years and meeting people from all over helped me learn many other things I wouldn’t get from all the classes I was skipping.
Returning home from college with tail between my legs, I was determined to put my nose down and get to work. And that I did. When I picked my nose up, I had a college degree and job as the benefits specialist for General Nutrition Center. This did not feel like something important to me. It was draining the life out of me. Then, I tried working as financial analyst for a behavioral health organization. No difference. Where did I go wrong? Let me tell you. As Joseph Campbell used to say, I did not “follow my bliss.” Thinking of those words, that phrase, I decided to put everything I had in the tank to learning mathematics. Fast forward to today…I feel like I’m doing something important!
Sudeshna Ghosh
Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences
Growing up in the post-independence era in a former British Imperial city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) in India, which was witnessing the rise of strong leftist movements and declining economic and industrial prospects, I always found myself questioning inequalities and wealth disparities in communities.
In school, however, I was more intrigued by mathematics and charcoal drawing classes than anything else. I surprised myself with my scores in state and national-wide competitive engineering entrance exams, which opened up the doors for me to study architecture and urban and community planning in India. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate days, I kept exploring community issues from the bottom, and challenges of population groups who are often left out of institutional planning framework or are vulnerable to the consequences of formal planning endeavors.
My first job experience in the booming real-estate market of India further encouraged me to contemplate the complexities of modern societies with fast-changing socio-economic, environmental, political, and built-environment conditions. I quit my job to pursue a career in academia and ended up moving to the US, where I found a solid foundation to integrate my professional background with geospatial techniques and theoretical knowledge on urban societies.
I was extremely elated when I received my job offer at IUP in 2013, and even more humbled over the years with the opportunities I received here and the things I learned from the wonderful IUP community which boosted my personal and professional growth. I am forever grateful to my parents and grandparents, who only encouraged me to fly beyond conventional boundaries, and to my husband who only knows how to extend support unconditionally.
Lara Homsey-Messer
Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences
Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I was not exposed to much diversity. I had no idea that people anywhere else lived any differently from me. Then, as a freshman at one of our sister PASSHE schools—Shippensburg University—I was placed in an Honors Cultural Anthropology class as part of the general education curriculum. Each week we read an ethnography about different people from different parts of the world. We sat in a circle and discussed ideas that enthralled me. I quickly fell in love with anthropology. The following semester I decided an archaeology course would be a fun general education class too. One day, the instructor asked for volunteers in his lab. With no idea what that would entail, I quickly raised my hand. Weeks later, I was learning to make stone tools and hunting down animal parts from local taxidermists, so we could cut them with the stone tools and see what kind of microscopic wear patterns were left behind. Having already fallen in love with culture, I now fell in love with science and experimental archaeology. I continued research with this professor (and we still collaborate to this day), and it was he who encouraged me to pursue a PhD, something I would never have believed myself capable of without his mentorship.
Joining the IUP faculty in 2014 was a chance to give back to the PASSHE system what it so generously gave to me in opportunity, scholarship, and mentorship. Being an archaeologist has given me perspective and humility. Excavating sites that are 10,000 years old reminds me that humans are a fleeting footprint on a planet that is 4.5 billion years old. Excavating expertly crafted projectile points instills awe of the ingenuity of past people. And excavating the remains of their carefully buried pet dogs reminds me that while people have many differences, at the core we are very much the same: everyone loves their dog.
David Janetski
Biology
The choices that led me to a career at IUP can be traced back to a handful of early life experiences. I have always enjoyed the outdoors, and I have many fond memories of fishing trips with my dad and countless solitary hours flyfishing for trout near my hometown in northern Utah. The calm I felt during these experiences began to instill in me a deep appreciation of nature.
While in high school, I was fortunate to have a passionate zoology teacher who led the class on insect collecting and birdwatching trips throughout central and southern Utah. These field trips broadened my understanding as I learned how to find and identify many different species, and my teacher’s passion and dedication to education is an example I continue to work toward.
In college, I had my first real taste of science while working in an ecology lab processing samples of aquatic insects and surveying streams for fish. My undergraduate advisor provided critical opportunities for me to learn the scientific process, attend conferences, and gain exposure to the academic community. This was also the point that I realized I could have a career studying nature, so I abandoned my plans for medical school and instead went on to research various aspects of freshwater ecology over the next 10 years as a graduate student and post doc.
Today, I am deeply grateful to my wife and three kids who support me and are always happy to accompany me on outdoor adventures. I feel very lucky to have a career at IUP in a field that I deeply value, and I strive to pass the knowledge and inspiration I experienced in my youth to our students. I also believe that people value what they understand, so I hope that teaching others will help ensure the natural world is preserved for future generations.
Sudipta Majumdar
Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics
It goes back to those days in India when I wasn’t sure about my career path until I met my high school chemistry teacher. He not only helped me find love for chemistry, but also taught me how a teacher can influence students’ future destination. My aspiration brought me to the United States, and I received my PhD in chemistry from Wesleyan University. It was the early days of biofuels research, and I was thrilled to receive an opportunity to pursue such research for British Petroleum at a state-of-the-art research facility. However, my desire of becoming a teacher brought me back to the academia and took me to NYC to work at Columbia University. Finally, an opportunity came to fulfill my lifelong career goal, and I joined IUP as an assistant professor in 2014.
The last 10 years at IUP has been a wonderful rollercoaster ride full of hard work, excitement, despair, and hope. I have been lucky to have the continuous support of wonderful colleagues and stuff. Of course, my students play the most important role in this journey. I cannot think of any better motivation for doing my daily job other than my students. Now, I can look back and understand what motivated my high school teacher to inspire me to my journey, and I thrive to do the same for my students every day.
At the end, none of these would have been possible without the support of my family and friends. Mostly, I am in debt to my parents for their unwavering love and support throughout my life. Lastly, I cannot complete this statement without thanking my loving partner, Jeremy, whom I met in NYC. He left his Manhattan life to move with me here, which we call our home.
Stanley Sobolewski
Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics
That the physical world is knowable and predictable has always been a fascination with me. I recall the excitement I felt in high school using equations to calculate where a thrown ball lands. From there I majored in physics in college; my advisor, Dr. Erwin Delano, helped me get through the rough parts. He once commented that occasionally I offered a brilliant solution. That is me—sporadically brilliant.
After college, I went straight to graduate school at the University of Buffalo. The university awarded me a teaching assistantship, and in this position, I enhanced my understanding of physics. As teachers know, when you must explain so that all understand, your knowledge also expands. The following summer, I worked at a summer camp teaching sailing to teens. It was an extremely rewarding experience; returning to the university, I switched to the science ed program and got an MEd as well as New York State certification in secondary physics, chemistry, mathematics, and general science. I taught high school for a few years in upstate New York.
Early in 1992, I received a letter from a professional organization about a position opening at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The job description fit me exactly; all I had to do was finish my PhD thesis. Never hearing of that place, we took out the map to find Indiana, Pennsylvania. I drove down for the interview on April 22, 1992; they offered me the job at the end of the day. Later that spring, Dennis and Sandy Whitson were very accommodating, as my wife Kimberly and I looked for a place to live.
Kim, our toddler son, and I moved down to Indiana, Pennsylvania, that August and found the town very friendly and welcoming. Throughout that time, Kimberly has been incredibly supportive of my endeavors and life as an academic.
As a physics educator, I supervise student teachers; that is one of the most rewarding parts of my position. It gives me great satisfaction to experience the teacher-candidate develop skills to pass skills to their students.
Michael Tyree
Biology
A few evenings ago, I was binge watching gardening on YouTube. My six-year-old asked me, “why do you like plants so much” and I didn’t have an answer for her. Working with plants has been, for me, about consistency and small course corrections. It doesn’t take big acts to be successful with plants, it just takes small actions and time. I can’t think of a less stressful lifestyle.
Applied plant ecology was a natural fit for me, blending my curiosity and a love of nature into a single career path. I chose forestry with a focus in biology as an undergraduate. After earning my BS from Penn State I chose to further my education with an emphasis in plant physiological ecology at Virginia Tech. The experience forever changed the way I see and question the world.
Following graduation, I took a teaching and research position at Louisiana Tech, knowing that I wanted to move back to Pennsylvania when the opportunity arose. The Biology Department at IUP was the perfect fit for me. It allowed me to blend my passions of teaching, plants, and forest restoration research into a career. I am so lucky to be here, to work with great faculty and great students. I have the room to conduct meaningful research and contribute to my field while working with fantastic students and teaching classes that I am passionate about. In addition to my teaching and research role, I am the curator of the A.G. Shields Herbarium and accepted a position as co-director of the Allegheny Arboretum. More plants… bring it on!
I still don’t know how to explain all this to my six- or eight-year-old next time they ask.
Promotions were also announced for the following faculty promoted to associate professor:
Associate Professor
College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs
Leo Yan, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religious Studies
College of Health Sciences
Erin Clark, Allied and Public Health
Lei Hao, Allied and Public Health
Jacqueline Heisler, Allied and Public Health
Adam Katchmarchi, Allied and Public Health
Elaine Little, Nursing
Meigan Robb, Nursing
Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Sarah Emel, Biology