Adelphi welcomes 14 new faculty members to four of our colleges.
“Adelphi is delighted to welcome our new faculty members to our community this fall,” said Interim Provost Susan E. Dinan, PhD. “Experts from a broad range of disciplines, including audiology, English, psychology and nursing, are joining us and will expand the offerings of departments and enrich the experiences of our students and colleagues.
“Adelphi’s strategic plan, Momentum 2, promises that Adelphi will become an incubator of creativity and expression, champion research and the study of the natural world, and prepare knowledgeable and skilled professionals in fields including business, education and healthcare,” she added. “Our new faculty members, with their diversity of interests, will help us meet these goals.”
The College of Arts and Sciences has welcomed the largest number of new faculty members, with seven joining the roster in as many departments. In addition, the Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences welcomed three new members to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The College of Nursing and Public Health and the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology have each added two new scholars to their rosters.
2025–2026 New Faculty
College of Arts and Sciences
- Sonja Bozic, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications. She received her doctorate in media arts and studies from Ohio University. Previously she was an assistant professor at Goucher College and an adjunct at The New School.
- Emily Lee Luan is an assistant professor in the Department of English. She received her Master of Fine Arts in both the creative writing program and the poetry program from Rutgers University. A Pushcart Prize winner, she has been on the teaching faculty of Adelphi’s low-residency MFA program as a visiting adjunct professor.
- Andrew London is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and Art History. He received an MFA in painting at the Paris American Academy and was a visiting lecturer on visual and environmental studies at Harvard University.
- Bryanne McDonough, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics. She received her doctorate in astronomy at Boston University and was a Future Faculty Postdoctoral Fellow (Department of Physics) at Northeastern University.
- Daniel Padierna is an assistant professor of dance in the Department of Dance. He received an MFA from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Previously he was an assistant professor at Shenandoah University.
- Nora Marlow Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and a scenic and costume designer. She received a Master of Fine Arts in stage design at Northwestern University and was a visiting assistant professor at SUNY Albany.
- Isabella Vitale ’19, MS ’23, is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. She received a Master of Science degree in computer science from Adelphi and began teaching at the University as a visiting professor in 2023.
Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences
- Hannah Chun, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She received her doctorate in speech and hearing sciences from City University of New York and was an adjunct instructor at Molloy University.
- Bethany Semmler, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She received her doctorate in speech and hearing sciences from The Ohio State University. Previously, she was the augmentative and alternative communication research and outreach coordinator at Penn State University.
- Meghan Wendelken, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She received her doctorate in communication sciences and disorders from Penn State. She comes to Adelphi from Middle Tennessee State University where she was an assistant professor.
College of Nursing and Public Health
- Cheryl Zauderer ’85, PhD, is an associate teaching professor at the College of Nursing and Public Health who received her doctorate in psychology from Capella University. She is a registered nurse and was an adjunct professor of nursing at Molloy University.
- Theresa Drucker, PhD, is an assistant professor who received her doctorate in nursing science at Molloy University. A registered nurse, she began teaching at Adelphi as an adjunct professor in 2015.
Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology
- Jordan Bate, PhD, is an associate professor at the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology who received her doctorate in clinical psychology at the New School for Social Research. Before coming to Adelphi, she was an assistant professor at Yeshiva University.
- Mary Ignagni, PhD, is an assistant teaching professor who earned her doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from the City University of New York. Previously, she was an assistant teaching professor at Sacred Heart University.