Celebrating Faculty Excellence: Honors, Research, Publications, and Service 

Russell Sage College’s Office of the Provost recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of faculty during the 2024–2025 academic year. These achievements reflect the dedication, creativity, and expertise that define the college’s academic community. 

The Russell Sage College Exemplary Service Award for Faculty was awarded to Tom Gray, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry.

The Russell Sage College Faculty of the Year Award was awarded to Matthew McElligott, M.A., professor of graphic design.

The Susan Warren Beatty Faculty Research Award for Excellence in Research was awarded to Tonya Moutray, Ph.D., professor of English. 

The Terry M. Cannizzaro ’11, ’14 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award was awarded to Courtney “Scrap” Wrenn, M.Ed., MFA, assistant professor of the practice of art and art education.

Promotion to Professor

Marisa Beeble, Ph.D., Psychology

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Katrin Ramsey, Sc.D., Physical Therapy

Peter Stapleton, Ph.D., Physical Education

Julie Verette-Lindenbaum, Ph.D., Psychology

Promotion to Associate Professor

Kimberly Brayton, Ph.D., Forensic Mental Health

Kelly Brock, Ph.D., Education

Karen Balter, M.A., associate professor of the practice of health sciences, 31 years of service

Eileen Brownell, Ph.D., associate professor of business, 42 years of service

Victoria Greenwood, Ph.D., associate professor of the practice of nursing, 13 years of service

Gertrude Hutchinson, DNS, assistant professor of nursing, seven years of service

Janice White, Ed.D., associate professor of the practice of educational leadership, 12 years of service

Matthew McElligott, M.A., Visual and Performing Arts

Marisa Beeble, Ph.D., Psychology, fall 2025

Cheryl Ostryn, Ph.D., Applied Behavior Analysis, spring 2026

Elizabethe Kelley, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, spring 2026

David Baecker, MFA, Visual and Performing Arts, Sherman David Spector Professor in the Humanities (2024-2026)

Stephanie Bennett-Knapp, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, Judith A. Barnes Faculty Fellow in Communications (2025-2027)

Haidy Brown, Ph.D., Management, Emily L. Mantilia Professor in Business (2025-2026)

John Dion, DBA, Management, Lawrence Family Foundation Professorship in Economics and Business (2025-2027)

Kelli Hamm, Ph.D., Biology and Health Sciences, Lewis A. Froman Endowed Fellow (2025-2026)

Jae Kim, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, Betty Harder McClellan Distinguished Professor in Humanities (2024-2026)

Michael Musial, M.M., Visual and Performing Arts, Edith McCrea Professor in the Fine Arts (2023-2026)

Michelle Napierski-Prancl, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, The Reverend Dr. Edith Grace Craig Chair of Religion and Philosophy (2023-2026)

Patricia O’Connor, Ph.D., Psychology, Lorraine Walker Chair in Developmental Psychology

Sandra Penny, Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry, Walter Robb and Anne Gruver Robb Fellow in the Sciences (2024-2026)

Period Covered: May 7, 2024 – May 9, 2025

Professor of Theatre David Baecker, MFA, joined Hudson Valley Community College’s Fine Arts department’s advisory board. In 2024, he worked with Creative Action Unlimited and its artistic director Michael Kennedy on a Rubin Fellowship-supported project to bring the social justice work of CAU to college and high school classrooms in Rensselaer County. He starred as Jean Shepherd in Playhouse Stage Company’s production of A Christmas Story at Cohoes Music Hall. The production made several year-end “Best of” lists and is being remounted in December 2025.

Professor of Occupational Therapy Debra Collette, OTD, OTR/L, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Wendy Gaughan, OTD, OTR/L, and Assistant Professor of the Practice of Occupational Therapy Holly Lockrow, OTD, OTR/L, presented a workshop at the American Occupational Therapy Association’s annual INSPIRE Conference in April in Philadelphia. They collaborated with Utica University faculty to deliver advocacy strategies for OT workload in schools.

Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Francesca Durand, Ph.D., collaborated with Assistant Professor of Education Deb Shea, Ed.D., and Visiting Assistant Professor for the CITE Instructional Leadership program Donald James and presented their project, “Research, Remedy, and Repair: Toward a Renewed Framework for Leadership Preparation Programs” at the American Educational Researcher Association Conference in Denver. Professor Durand also participated on a panel of accreditation review experts and presented “Enriching Accreditation Evidence: Best Practices and Data Quality Measures for Collecting Qualitative Data” at the AAQEP Educational Accreditation conference in Tempe, Arizona. 

Associate Professor of Psychology Julie McIntyre, Ph.D., co-edited an American Psychological Association book, Teaching Developmental Psychology: Contemporary Activities and Approaches, with a colleague from Spelman College. This is the first volume in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology ebook collection that focuses on teaching developmental psychology courses. It is a significant contribution to the literature as only a smattering of journal articles focused on the courses have been published over recent decades. Teacher-ready copies of materials used in the activities are provided on the STP website.

Professor of English Tonya Moutray, Ph.D., will present “Nuns on the Run: William Wordsworth’s Memorials of a Tour on the Continent (1822) and Dorothy Wordsworth’s Continental Journals of 1820” at the Wordsworth Summer Conference Bicentenary at Rydal Hall, UK, in August 2025. Her chapter, “Taking the Veil: English Fashion and Female Religious, 1790-1830” will be published in Female Religious and Narratives of the French Revolution, 1789–1850: Identity, Memory, and History, edited by Cormac Begadon, Gemma Betros and Sarah Barthelémy (Boydell and Brewer, 2025).

Professor of Sociology Michelle Napierski-Prancl, Ph.D., presented a paper, “Gen X Parents, Gen Z Names: A Qualitative Exploration,” at the Pacific Sociology Association annual meeting.

An active learning Open Educational Resource course coauthored by Assistant Professor of Physics Sandra Penny, Ph.D., was formally published through the Science Education Research Center. This is a full semester of a college-level physical and earth sciences curriculum that targets future teachers with a complete set of student and instructor resources. Professor Penny spent three years on this National Science Foundation-funded project that involved two pilots, multiple rounds of peer review, and countless hours. The course is currently being taught at RSC as SCI104: Physical and Earth Sciences.

Assistant Professor of Nutrition Selina Preyer-Blakney, MS, RDN, provided data on food insecurity in the Russell Sage community and implications on students’ health and success for a successful grant from the Bank of Greene County in support of the Gator Claws-It, a resource aimed at addressing food insecurity at Sage. The grant was a collaborative effort across departments and individuals: Interdisciplinary Studies Department Administrative Assistant Maverick Douglas wrote the grant application with guidance from Director of Corporate, Government and Foundation Relations Starlyn D’Angelo. Associate Director of Career and Self-Discovery Center Jennifer Morrill and Assistant Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Nana adoma Owusu-ofori provided background and budgetary information and Assistant Professor of Geography Ali Schaeffing, Ph.D. provided oversight and history of the Claws-it.

Assistant Professor of Geography Ali Schaeffing, Ph.D., received an Albany County Legislature Women’s Health Education Grant for her project, “Welcoming Wellness: Building Access to Inclusive Health Education for Refugee and Immigrant Women.” In April, she was a panelist for “Building Blocks of Innovative, Refugee-Centric, Campus + Community Engagement” at the University at Albany’s Institute for History and Public Engagement symposium. In May, she and a colleague from Hudson Valley Community College presented on refugee resettlement initiatives at C2UExpo, Canada’s national conference on academic and community engagement, and in 2024, she was a panelist at the Every Campus a Refuge Gathering, hosted at Russell Sage.

Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Rupali Singh, PT, Ph.D., was an invited reviewer for a manuscript, “Impact of Physical Activity on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” submitted to the journal Psycho-oncologie. Her pilot study on the effects of low-level laser therapy on painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy was selected for a platform presentation at the American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Sections Meeting in Houston, and DPT students Madison Barnhart, Erin Fouracre, Julia Murray, and Evelyn Gile presented this research at the February 2025 conference as part of their Broughton Fellowship. Professor Singh’s manuscript, “COVID-19 Effects on Well-Being and Academic Performance in Physical Therapy Graduate Students: A Cross-Sectional Study” was accepted for publication by the Indian Journal of Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy.

In 2025, Professor of History and Political Science Harvey Strum, Ph.D., delivered a paper on New York’s 1808 election and chaired a foreign policy session for the Midwestern Political Science Association conference; delivered a paper, “Impact of the Embargo on New York City, 1807-09,” served as section chair for international relations and American foreign policy, organized two panels on international relations and was a member of the executive committee for the New York Political Science Association conference at Vassar College; delivered a paper about the Canadian Press and the 1908 American presidential campaign at the Zoom session of the International Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences conference; presented on a 1806 British attack on American vessels in New York Harbor for the New International Virtual Association; published a piece on the British Navy’s 1806 seizure of American sailors for the New York Archives magazine and delivered a presentation as part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Russell Sage. His scholarly activities in 2024 included a paper, “1807 Election in New York and Chaos,” for the National Social Science Association virtual conference; “Federalist Resurrection” and “Upstate Jewish Response to the Russian Pogroms of 1903-06” for the New International Virtual Association; a piece about New York City and the Embargo Act of 1807 for the Gotham Center for New York City History’s blog; and “Bryan, Canada, and World War I” in the New International Virtual Association’s spring proceedings. 

Assistant Professor of Psychology Julie Verette-Lindenbaum, Ph.D., received a Distinguished Service Award from the International Association for Relationship Research for her leadership as chair of the association’s teaching committee from 2018 to 2024. The award was presented at the IARR’s 2024 conference in Boston. Her coauthored article, “Is There a Sexual Stereotype Linking Casual Sex with Low Self-Esteem?” appeared in Sexuality & Culture in April 2025, and she presented on the same topic at Russell Sage College’s Research Cafe, also in April. Her coauthored chapter, “Teaching Relationship Science” is forthcoming in the Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships (3rd ed.); “Self-Esteem as a Proxy Variable in Inferences about Sexuality and Romantic Desirability Among Emerging Adults” has been submitted to the Journal of Sex Research; and her coauthored article, “Effects of Political Polarization on Friendships and Family Relationships Prior to the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election,” is under review for publication. 

Instruction and Reference Librarian Regina Vertone presented “Where Are the Stats? Best Practices and Intrigue about Statistics” at the Interlibrary Loan IDS Annual Conference at UAlbany in 2024.