Tag: Alumni

Education Alumnus Named Superintendent of Bethel Park School District

James Walsh, Ed.D.

James Walsh, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Education (FCE&SCJ) has been named Superintendent of Bethel Park School District in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Since 2015, Dr. Walsh has been the Superintendent of the Burgettstown Area School District. Prior to his superintendent roles, he served as principal, district-wide curriculum supervisor in the Mt. Lebanon School District; the director of curriculum and student achievement in the Aliquippa School District, as well as teaching English, theater, and television production.

Additionally, Dr. Walsh serves as an adjunct faculty member at Point Park University’s School of Education. He earned is Doctor of Education with FCE&SCJ in 2003.

NSU Launches Bee Conservation Campaign: “Save the Bees at NSU”

The Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the NSU Office for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving is partnering to support NSU’s sanctuary for bee habitat, which houses dozens of beehives to promote educational activities for students of all ages on campus.

Bees have a very important role in the conservation of our planet, not to mention other medicinal and economic purposes, such as pollination of crops, fruit plants, and flowers, for example. Unfortunately, these honeybee beehives and colonies are severely threatened locally, nationally, and globally. They are dying at alarming rates, at times reaching nearly 50%, from several causes including pesticides, invasive species, loss of habitat and food, and others.

The loss of honeybees can have disastrous outcomes for our food web and environmental health. This is the reason why NSU aims to teach students about environmental stewardship and raise awareness of the importance of honeybees.

Dr. Vic Shanbhag, a professor in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, volunteers his time to maintain and develop a beekeeping initiative at NSU, purchasing equipment and supplies needed to keep the students and the bees safe. He is a certified apiarist and maintains a fair amount of beehive boxes (5-10) on campus.

Shanbhag does this out of his own pocket, which is expensive and limits the educational and conservationist impact of the project.

The Halmos College of Arts & Sciences and University Advancement are collecting donations for the “Save the Bees at NSU” crowdfunding campaign. With these donations, we will be able to cover the costs of the needed supplies and expand on the education experiences for our students.

Some of the needed supplies include two (2) storage bins ($200 each), two (2) beekeeper suits ($100), five (5) additional beehive boxes ($200 each), and other supplies.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the campaign offers wonderful incentives for all donors who donate to it by February 10 at 5:00 p.m. ET. For every $5.00 gift, NSU will email a valentine’s card to your valentine; for every $10.00 gift, we will mail them a scratch-off valentine’s card; and for every $25.00 gift, we will ship them a special bee charm pendant.

To support this initiative, please share our campaign and donate at: https://www.givecampus.com/ghlii4

Let us help the next generation to preserve our bees and our environment. Any just maybe, make some Shark honey as well.

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Professor Interviewed by NPR on Haitian Independence Day

Charlene Desir, Ed.D.

Charlene Desir, Ed.D., Professor, Department of Education, at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, was interviewed last month by WLRN NPR on Haitian Independence Day, which is celebrated on January 1st. The day celebrates the only victory in history of enslaved Africans gaining independence from their captures/colonizers – defeating Napoleon’s army.

Desir was invited by WLRN since South Florida has the largest Haitian community within the United States.  While the celebration is an intergenerational celebration of liberation, she explained that for the 2nd and 3rd generations, the Haitian Independence is an honoring of a PanAfrican Movement in the United States.

You can hear the interview here. Dr. Desir’s section starts around the 20 min mark.

For more information on Dr. Desir and her research interests please visit:  https://education.nova.edu/faculty/desir-charlene.html

NSU Alumna Recognized as one of South Florida’s Most Influential and Prominent Black Women

Breion Moses, MPA ’16, was recognized for her leadership and impact in advocating for diversity and inclusion in the community.

Breion Moses, alumna of Nova Southeastern University’s Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, is a trailblazer who continues to create equal opportunity in both her career and her community. She was recently named by Legacy Magazine as one of South Florida’s Most Influential and Prominent Black Woman, and continues to support diverse and inclusive initiatives.

Currently, Moses is CEO and founder of Seven Hillz Productions and the Seven Hillz Production Foundation. Her mission as a leader and entrepreneur is to hire as many minorities as possible, as well as partner with minority groups in the community.

“Diversity and inclusion relate to all consumers,” said Moses. “I’m building a team of professionals who identify in multiple ways. Our world is multicultural and multiracial and therefore, we should acknowledge the importance of diversity.”

Moses, who echoes the need for more black and female voices, pays it forward by providing mentorship and scholarship opportunities to students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“Our foundation [Seven Hillz Production Foundation] is dedicated to service, education, and creating awareness within the black community in hopes of sparking a new trend that will inspire people of all ages. We understand the important role education plays in leveling the playing field for all members of society,” she said.

In recognition of her impact in the community, Moses was honored by Legacy Magazine as South Florida’s Most Influential and Prominent Black Women in Business and Industry for 2020, and was previously honored as the publication’s 2019 South Florida 40 under 40 Leaders of Tomorrow. Gaining additional momentum, Moses was also recently added into the McDonald’s campaign, “Black & Positively Golden Mosaic,” and has many more initiatives in the works.

The NSU alumna believes her alma mater played an integral part in her career through its real-world business applications, and still remembers influential professors who made an impact in her life – namely, (former) NSU professor James Agbodzakey, Ph.D. and Terrell Manyak, Ph.D., both of whom kept in contact after graduation.

In sharing her advice to current NSU students, Moses offers the following words of wisdom:

“Be the best you know you can be; seek out people you admire for them to assist you in your journey. Find your tribe of people who believe in you and invest in yourself. Do not allow circumstances to hinder you from your success and where you know you want to be. One favorite quote of mine is, “Life offers you so many doors, it’s up to you which one to open and which one to close.”

HCAS Alumnus is Named Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at University of Pittsburgh-Bradford

Tony Gaskew, Ph.D., doctoral graduate of the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Institute (HCAS) has been named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh Bradford, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Gaskew is a Professor of Criminal Justice and served as the Director of the Criminal Justice Program. He spent over 20 years in law enforcement. In 2016, he was one of ten US educators invited to the White House to participate in a Roundtable on Criminal Justice Reform.  Gaskew was a recipient of the 2014 NSU Distinguished Alumni Award. His honors include the Fulbright-Hays Fellow for a research project in Egypt and the Academic Fellow in Terrorist Studies in Israel by The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He was named a University of Pittsburgh Faculty Diversity Fellow and Teacher of the Year by The National Society of Leadership and Success. Gaskew is the founding director of the nationally recognized UPB Prison Education Program. Gaskew received the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (DHS) Beacon of Dignity Award at Columbia University in 2015 for his outstanding dedication to equality and human rights. He is the book series editor of Critical Perspectives on Race, Crime, and Justice. He has been a featured speaker at DCRS’ Social Justice Roundtable.

His latest book recently published by Lexington Rowman & Littlefield is Stop Trying to Fix Policing: Lessons Learned form the Front Lines of Black Liberation. For more information please see: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498589505/Stop-Trying-to-Fix-Policing-Lessons-Learned-from-the-Front-Lines-of-Black-Liberation

 

NSU, United Healthcare, and HOPE South Florida Partner to Give Back to the Homeless

The remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the values highlighted on MLK Day have historically been a foundation for service to the community. It is often regarded as a catalyst to give back to charities and nonprofit organizations through one’s time and talents.

That catalyst was the motivation behind Lori Halpern’s plans to create care kits for HOPE South Florida, a local organization that supports the homeless in our community.

Lori is UnitedHealthcare of Florida’s Executive Director of Medicare Dual Special Needs Plans. There, she has received much support from her associates and her employer to continuously give back and to lead Day of Service initiatives with her family. This year, Lori and her family chose to support the homeless through HOPE South Florida.

Lori was able to amplify her service by connecting with Nova Southeastern University (NSU) through to the power of social media and networking. She shared her plans to support HOPE South Florida as a Day of Service initiative on her social media. This is where her fellow Leadership Broward alumna and NSU Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, Barbara C. Sageman connected with Lori to join forces.

NSU, which is hosts an annual Global Day of Service, encourages the university’s alumni, friends, and partners to serve their communities with an act of kindness or service project.

In the spirit of service and collaboration, NSU supported Lori’s mission and donated 1,000 pairs of socks to Lori’s care kit drive. Such teamwork and joint forces helped Lori and her family create more than 50 care kits for HOPE South Florida’s mobile shower program in addition to the 1,000 pairs of socks. The socks, coincidentally, were initially received by NSU to help the homeless in October of 2020.

The NSU Global Day of Service supports and promotes several NSU-led service projects, as well as more than 12 community-submitted projects. For more information, visit https://www.nova.edu/alumni/events/Global%20Day%20of%20Service.html

Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumnus Named FOMA President

Marc G. Kaprow, D.O.

NSU alumnus Marc G. Kaprow, D.O., M.H.A., FACOI (‘01), of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine will be installed as president of the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association (FOMA) in February. The FOMA serves and represents approximately 10,000 osteopathic students and physicians in the state of Florida.

To learn more about FOMA, click here.

Education Alumna Named 2021 Florida Superintendent of the Year

Diana L. Greene, Ph.D.

Diana L. Greene, Ph.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, has been named the 2021 Florida Superintendent of the Year.

Greene joined Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), the 20th largest school district in the nation, in 2018. Since her tenure, DCPS’ academic performance has continued to improve, and the district is now within one percentage point of becoming an ‘A’ district under Florida’s school grade accountability system. Additionally, under Dr. Greene’s leadership the district’s graduation continues to increase.

During her 33-year career as an educator, she has spent time as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal as well as in curriculum development, staff development and in senior executive leadership. Prior to becoming Superintendent at DCPS, Dr. Greene served as Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services in Manatee County.

Greene earned her bachelor’s from the University of North Florida, her master’s in educational leadership with NSU in 1993, and her doctor of philosophy at Capella university.

She will represent all Florida superintendents at the American Association of School Administrators Virtual 2021 National Education Conference February 18-19, where she will be recognized and honored for her public education service in Florida.

 

NSU Alum Richard Mansell Ready to Become European Tour Regular

 

Come next year, expect to see plenty of Richard Mansell on the Golf Channel. Just over three years removed from his playing days at Nova Southeastern, the former national champion and three-time All-American recently finished the season ranked fourth on the Challenge Tour, and as a result, has been given exemption to compete in 75 percent of the European Tour’s events in 2021.  (FULL STORY)

 

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