Nazli Sila Alan
Dolan School of Business
Finance Department

Dr. Nazli Sila Alan is a professor of finance with expertise in market microstructure. Her research focuses on price discovery process, market volatility, and the specifics of how a stock market works. She has been published in top peer-reviewed journals such as Review of Financial Studies and The Journal of Portfolio Management, and she has presented her work at several national and international conferences. On campus, she has served in several committees, most recently as the chair of the University Advancement Committee. She is also the faculty advisor to the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) that manages close to $400,000 as part of the University endowment.

Stephaney S. Morrison
Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions
Counselor Education Department

Dr. Stephaney S. Morrison is a member of the counselor education faculty at Fairfield University. She is a licensed professional counselor in Connecticut and a nationally certified counselor. Her research area examines the many factors that impact immigrant and refugee families and children in the U.S. Her second line of research examines the person-centered approach in an equity, diversity, and inclusion classroom for counselor trainees. She has published her articles in peer-reviewed counseling and inter-professional journals, and has published book chapters on these topics. She is currently completing her book on school-based family counseling with immigrants and refugees. She has served on numerous counseling and school counseling committees at the state and national level, as well as at Fairfield University. She currently serves as a member of the GSEAP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and is co-chair of the Oxford International School-Based Family Counseling Research and Intervention Team. In her sustained work, she is highlighting the challenges faced by immigrants and refugees by presenting at counseling and inter-professional conferences, talks, seminars, and workshops. She is the faculty advisor for Fairfield University Gamma Lambda Chi chapter of the Chi Sigma Iota International Counseling Honor Society.

Adam Rugg
College of Arts and Sciences
Communication Department

Dr. Adam Rugg is a critical media studies scholar whose research primarily focuses on the intersection of sports, media, and social issues. His work has so far centered on critically interrogating how sport leagues and teams leverage pressing social issues in their philanthropic efforts and general marketing strategies in ways that reaffirm existing power structures and social ideologies in U.S. society. His work has been published in journals such as Communication & Sport, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Popular Communication, and Critical Public Health. In the classroom, his teaching interests also include explorations of digital news and information platforms as they relate to consumption patterns, misinformation, and political and cultural discourses. On campus he is currently the executive secretary of the Academic Council as well as the co-director of the Sports Media Program. 

Jillian Smith-Carpenter
College of Arts and Sciences
Chemistry and Biochemistry Department

Dr. Jillian Smith-Carpenter is a biochemist with an expertise in peptide chemistry. She has written research articles that characterize self-assembled peptide structures, including four articles with undergraduate student co-authors, and articles in the field of chemical education. The current focus of her research laboratory involves controlling chemical reactions on the surface of supramolecular structures. Dr. Smith-Carpenter’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the CT NASA Space Grant Consortium, and she is a team member in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence Program IE3 Learning Community.

Jie Tao
Dolan School of Business
Information Systems and Operations Management Department

Jie Tao is an assistant professor of analytics in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business. Dr. Tao received a doctoral degree in information systems from Dakota State University. He also holds two master’s degrees in information systems and management sciences from both Dakota State University and University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. His recent research interests include deep-learning and text analytics, as well as process mining and analytics. He has published several papers in prestigious Information Systems journals, such as ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Information Systems Frontiers. He also presented research articles at multiple international academic conferences, and received the Best Paper Award at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-52’ 2020). Dr. Tao is also an active member in information systems professional communities in the information systems/data analytics domain. He received the Association for Information Systems (AIS) ATLAS award for his services to AIS in 2013. He also served as the faculty advisor for one of the top 10 student teams in IBM WAGC 2016. Dr. Tao is currently a certified instructor for Nvidia Deep Learning Institute.

Sally Gerard
Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Nursing Department

Dr. Sally Gerard is an advanced practice nurse with national certification as a diabetes care and education specialist. She has been in academia for more than 15 years while maintaining her clinical practice as a diabetes educator. Her research expertise focuses on inpatient glycemic control and improving patient outcomes. Academically, she has created and led graduate programs focused on healthcare leadership and has received national awards for advancing the newest role in nursing, the clinical nurse leader. She has presented her academic and clinical scholarship in numerous peer-reviewed publications as well as national and international conferences.  

Shannon Harding
College of Arts and Sciences
Psychology Department

Dr. Shannon Harding is a behavioral neuroscientist/behavioral endocrinologist who uses rodent models to study clinical conditions including autism spectrum disorder and anxiety disorders. She regularly mentors undergraduate students in her research laboratory, and has presented findings at regional, national, and international conferences and in peer-reviewed scientific journals. To enhance student learning, she has developed service learning and short-term study abroad courses. Dr. Harding is a former director of the Magis Core, and the recipient of the 2019 Fairfield University Distinguished Faculty/Staff Award and the 2010 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award.

Alison E. Kris
Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Nursing Department

Dr. Alison E. Kris is a nurse-researcher focused on the quality of care and quality of life for residents living in nursing homes. Her program of research includes investigating the effectiveness of reminiscence interventions to improve mood and memory in residents with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Most recently, her efforts focused on advocating for the needs of residents in long-term care during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, Alison currently serves as chair of the Fairfield University Institutional Review Board. She serves as a board member of United Methodist Homes, the Connecticut Coalition to Improve End of Life Care, and the International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice.

Margaret McClure
College of Arts and Sciences
Psychology Department

Dr. Margaret McClure is a clinical psychologist with expertise in serious mental illness, long-term effects of childhood trauma, and intimate partner violence. Her primary research focuses on cognitive correlates of serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia spectrum disorders and personality disorders, as well as treatments for these impairments. Dr. McClure is the author of 35 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and more than 40 national and international conference presentations. She is the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerney Endowed Chair in Health Sciences, chair of the Psychology Department, co-director of the University Honors Program, and director of the School of Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. She serves on the steering/program committees for Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Health Studies. She is the president of Fairfield University’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Zeta of Connecticut, and she is faculty advisor to Fairfield’s Psi Chi chapter. 

Camelia Micu
Dolan School of Business
Marketing Department

Dr. Camelia Micu is a marketing professor who holds a PhD degree from the University of Connecticut. Since her employment with Fairfield University in 2005, she has taught a variety of marketing courses, such as "Principles of Marketing," "Marketing Research," "Digital Marketing," and "Customer Value" (graduate), among others. Her research interests include advertising effects and effectiveness, consumers' regulatory goals, cross-cultural consumer behavior, and social media, with a focus on brand-related content generated by social media users. She has published her research in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as Psychology & Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. She previously worked in the corporate sector at Coca-Cola. On campus at Fairfield, she served as the interim director of the MS in Marketing Analytics and Strategy program, and is the chair of the Marketing Department. 

Michael Pagano
College of Arts and Sciences
Communication Department

Dr. Michael Pagano is a physician assistant (PA) emeritus who worked in surgery, emergency, family, and occupational medicine. His interdisciplinary research explores interpersonal and organizational health communication, health professional pedagogy, medical record authorship, end-of-life communication, and medical marketing ethics. He has presented his work at international and national conferences, and has published in many peer-reviewed journals, including Health Communication, Clinical Simulation in Nursing, and Communication Law Review. This year he published Understanding Health Care in America: Culture, Capitalism, and Communication. At Fairfield he serves on the MPA, Health Studies Minor, and Health Professions steering committees and was a two-term director of graduate studies in the Communication Department. He is a senior editor of Health Communication and an American Journal of Health Behavior Review Board member.

Rajasree Krishnankutty Nair Rajamma
Dolan School of Business
Marketing Department

Dr. Rajasree K. Rajamma’s  research is focused on consumer psychology and decision-making associated with areas such as healthcare, marketing channels, and communication media (e.g., social media). She is also passionate about her research in the field of marketing education. Her research has been published in many peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Case Research Journal, and Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, among others. She has presented her work at reputed national and international conferences such as the American Marketing Educators’ Conference, Global Marketing Conference, and Academy of Marketing Theory and Practice Conference, among others. She was recently elected program chair of the Academy of Collegiate Marketing Educators’ Conference 2022, and she serves on the editorial boards of journals such as International Journal of Marketing Studies.

Kris F. Sealey
College of Arts and Sciences
Philosophy Department

Kris F. Sealey works at the intersections of continental philosophy, critical philosophy of race, Caribbean philosophy, and decolonial theory. Her work is published in leading journals such as Critical Philosophy of Race, Levinas Studies, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, and Continental Philosophy Review. Dr. Sealey works on various initiatives dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion in professional philosophy, including directing the Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI), a summer immersion experience for under-represented undergraduate students with an interest in pursuing a PhD in philosophy. Her most recent book, Creolizing the Nation (Northwestern University, 2020) offers a decolonial option for thinking nation, community, and belonging in the context of the historical violence of the Western Hemisphere. She is currently working on two edited volumes: Creolizing Sartre and Creolizing Critical Theory: New Voices in Caribbean Philosophy (both slated to be published with Lexington University Press).