15 of the 16 new full-time faculty members. Courtesy of UNotes.
The Universty of Hartford recently hired 16 new full-time professors who represent different countries, different backgrounds, different fields of study, different interests and different experiences in research and academia. Some of them have been adjunct faculty members at UHa for 28 years and others are working at UHa for the first time.
As for where these professors will be teaching, they are spread out among the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), the Barney School of Business, the College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions (ENHP), the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture (CETA), and The Hartt School. The names of the 16 professors are as follows.
Donald May is a visiting lecturer at the Barney School within the Department of Accounting and Taxation. May was a public accountant for 29 years then taught at Suffolk University, Providence College and Northeastern University. He teaches taxation, auditing, fraud examination, accounting information systems and more.
Kristin Comeforo is an assistant professor at the School of Communications in A&S. With an MBA in global marketing and a PhD in communication, she has worked in advertising, trade marketing and media firms and taught at Berkeley College for 15 years before coming to the University of Hartford.
Yingcui Li is a new Biology professor in A&S. Li has published research in the field of cell and developmental biology in several prestigious academic journals and has received various scholarly awards. Prior to joining the UHa community, Li taught at the School of Dental Medicine at UConn Health Center.
Dawn Neese is a visiting assistant professor in Psychology (A&S). For 13 years Neese worked with adolescents and young adults with eating disorders or health-related issues. She recently spent two years in Landstuhl, Germany working with active-duty military service members and their families.
Cesar Rodriguez is a visiting instructor and Jackie McLean Fellow in the Department of Sociology in A&S. Rodriguez is currently examining the connections between inner-city schools and the incarceration of students of color. With a strong interest in social justice, he will teach about gentrification, mass incarceration and popular culture.
Paola Sacchetti is also a new biology professor in A&S. Sacchetti was born in Italy, earned her bachelor’s degree in biology in Detroit, then completed her postdoctoral training in Europe. She is committed to treating people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease.
Adam Silver has also entered the Department of Biology as a strong advocate of undergraduate research. His research, focused on the identification of genes that are required to colonize the leech digestive tract, earned him three fellowship awards from UConn and one from Yale.
Kelly Tahaney Weber has been an adjunct faculty member at UHa since 2003 and is now a full-time professor in Psychology and the new Associate Director of the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology here at the University of Hartford. Weber is also a co-managing partner and co-owner of Counseling Affiliates, LLC.
Leonard Heroux Jr. is now a full-time professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Nursing (ENHP). He was an adjunct professor at the University of Hartford for almost 30 years while also working at Hartford Hospital. Heroux is particularly interested in “the seamless integration between the digital world and patient care.”
Zahra Ladhani is a new assistant Health Sciences professor. Ladhani used to be a technical advisor for various health institutions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has extensive experience planning and managing primary health care programs. She is currently writing a book for the World Health Organization on community-based educational strategies.
Dawn Roller joined us as a visiting professor in within the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences in ENHP last May. She received her BS in physical therapy from UHa in 2001 and joined the staff of the Center for Motion Analysis at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in 2004.
Teresa Twomey is a visiting professor also entering the Department of Health Sciences and Nursing. She has served on the board of several nursing institutions, and her specialties are neonatal intensive care nursing and helping children with special health care needs.
Sigridur Osk Bjarnadottir is a visiting assistant professor in CETA within the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering. He was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, and his research interests are hurricane risk assessment, including the impact of climate change on hurricane frequency and intensity.
Eoin King joined CETA as well as a professor of Mechanical Engineering. King was an acoustic consultant for an Irish civil engineering firm, where he worked with the National Roads Authority and developed the largest and most complex strategic noise maps in Ireland to date.
Karen Cook is new to the Hartt School as an associate professor of Music History. On top of an impressive teaching career, Cook is a practicing singer, conductor and instrumental performer of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary repertory.
Javon Jackson joined the Hartt School as a jazz professor. He is notable in the jazz world for various reasons, including his tour with legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey and also winning the Benny Golson Award from Howard University.