Category: SharkBytes

Wade Evans, M.S, a graduate of NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, ands Social Sciences (CAHSS) is the Director, Planning and Program Design at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. There he leads a team responsible for the development and Congressional Notification of $1.4B in Department of Defense Building Partner Capacity programs. Wade is a Captain in the United States Naval Reserve and is the Commanding Officer of the Commander Naval Surface Forces Atlantic Reserve Headquarters unit. Wade received his M.S. in National Security Affairs in 2014.

“The Nova National Securities Master’s degree program was excellent and would highly recommend for other mid-career professionals in the defense, intelligence, diplomacy and policy sectors. In addition to high quality instruction, I was able to interact with a diverse group of students. Soon after I completed the program I was selected to be the first government civilian Chief, Office of Military Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar and the time spent discussing complex regional and cultural issues one on one with faulty was very useful.”

Prior to NSU, Evans held a number of positions in and out of uniform focused on terrorism, international relations and military planning. Prior education included a B.S. in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy and graduate level professional military education programs at the Air Command and Staff College and Joint Forces Staff College.

Michael Fonkem, Ph.D., graduate of the doctoral program in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in NSU’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS), has written an article, “Conflict and Crisis in the Cameroon Anglophone Region,” available in E-International Relations available at https://www.e-ir.info/2018/11/11/conflicts-and-crisis-in-the-cameroon-anglophone-region/. He also wrote a book chapter, “Resistance and the Nationalist Pathos: Southern Cameroons’ Exiles Write Bac,” in Post-Colonial Cameroon: Politics, Economy, and Society, Lexington Books, (2018), edited by Joseph Takougang and Julius A. Amin.

Fonkem is an associate professor in the Department of Human Services Leadership in the College of Education & Human Services at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He has authored numerous articles and was a Fulbright scholar in 1995-1996 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Previously he was in the diplomatic service in the Foreign Ministry of Cameroon. His teaching and research interests include refugees, migration, and human services; social issues and solutions; and conflict analysis and resolution. Fonkem is an Executive Council Member of The Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Victoria Jones, B.A., graduate of the bachelor’s program in History in the Department of History and Political Science in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), credits a 2015 internship at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale with exposing her to museum studies.

“I discovered my passion for public history and museum studies and it was during a study abroad with Dr. Kilroy that I became interested in archives and special collections, specifically,” she said.

Since graduating from NSU in 2016, Jones began work on an M.A. in History at the University of North Florida. She anticipates completion at the end of 2018. She recently participated in a fellowship at Jacksonville’s Museum of Science and History, where she worked on a project involving one of the museum’s collections. She also completed a summer internship in corporate archives at Southwest Airlines’ headquarters in Dallas. The internship focused on archiving the company’s history and culture by preserving materials both physical and digital. This historic content is available to the airline’s employees and customers.

“This internship was an amazing chance to work in an archive that not many people are granted access to,” Jones said. “My team and department were fantastic and I learned not just about archive management and aviation history, but also about working in a corporate environment.”

Derick McKoy, Ed.D.

Derick McKoy, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Fischler College of Education has been named Principal at the Maritime and Science Technology Academy commonly referred to as MAST Academy located on Key Biscayne.

Derick has over thirty years in education, starting his career as a middle school science teacher. Additionally, he has held several leadership roles, including elementary and middle school principal, and an assistant high school principal.  He has also collaborated with community agencies to create after care programs for at risk children.

Derick earned his doctorate of education at FCE in 1996.

Great ideas can be born under the most mundane circumstances. NSU alumnus Alexander Lafortune got the idea for his new business while a student at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Alone in his dorm room one evening, Lafortune accidentally knocked his toothbrush into the toilet. Frustrated by the inconvenience, he wondered why replacing or buying a new toothbrush was not as easy as ordering a pizza.

In October 2018, Lafortune launched Fortune X, a monthly oral care subscription service www.fortunexbox.com based in South Florida. The company’s goal is to help customers improve their oral hygiene and save time by having products regularly shipped to them.

“Dentists recommend that everyone replace their toothbrush every three to four months,” said Lafortune, whose company sells a variety of toothbrushes, replacement bristle heads, toothpaste, and whitening products. “People tend to forget or they don’t have time to buy a new toothbrush. Fortune X wants to take away those worries and create a new lifestyle…College students are a huge market for us. We understand that most college students do not have cars or time.”

Lafortune graduated in 2018 with a B.A. in Business Administration and a minor in Human Resources Management from NSU’s Huizenga College.

“I’ve aspired to become an entrepreneur since I was in high school,” he said. “Through my four years at NSU, my business degree helped prepare me in numerous ways. The business program had outstanding professors who were professionals in their fields. All had one goal in common: To make sure they prepared us to become the best when we entered the real world. The encouragement they gave me as a student motivated me to pursue my business.”

Jeffrey Scarpiello, M.S. is the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education (FCE) 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. On November, 5 he presented and held a book signing on his book, The 10 “C” Leadership Principles of Excellence – Working Toward the Benefit of the Team, at the Don Taft University Center Club Room.

Scarpiello is a medically retired service-disabled Air Force Veteran with over 20 years of veterans’ advocacy, policy and strategic planning experience. Currently, he works for Optmum Serve – United Healthcare as the Virginia Market Lead, where he is responsible for the development and oversight of a Request for Proposal (RFP) on a federal contract with the Veteran Benefits Administration valued at $6.8 billion that would provide medical disability examinations to veterans and service members.

He has worked for two national veteran non-profit service organizations, the federal and legislative branches of government and in the private sector on behalf of Veterans.  Jeff is a graduate of the Department of Veterans Affairs Leadership VA, class of 2010, where he was the Class “Moose’ and President. In 2013, he was selected to attend the prestigious Partnership for Public Service Excellence in Government Fellows Program. In 2015, Jeff was the recipient of the Partnership for Public Service Citizen in Action Award for a homeless pilot project initiative leveraging partnerships to help cover move-in costs for homeless veterans to help make their new house a true home. Scarpiello earned his Master’s in Leadership with FCE in 2012.

To learn more about his book, please visit: https://outskirtspress.com/the10cleadershipprinciplesofexcellence

T. Sharis Robinson, graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education, was named a 2018-2019 Influencer of the Year by the International Association of Women (IAW).

Ms. Robinson is currently the Dependency Director at the Children’s Home Society of Florida. She works repeatedly to improve the lives of children and families in the state of Florida, while working closely with the judicial system and organizational partners to promote change in the child welfare system. Ms. Robinson’s motto is “positive output encourages feedback.” In the future, she hopes to become more involved in policy making decisions for the protection of children in Florida and create more awareness about the issue of child welfare in communities.

Ms. Robinson earned her Masters of Organization Leadership at the Fishler College of Education in 2014.
https://nsunews.nova.edu/international-association-of-women-honors-fce-alum-as-a-2018-2019-influencer-of-the-year/