Belinda Nuth Sloboda, assistant professor of interior design, brings decades of experience—from residential design to creating spaces for special needs—to the classroom. She inspires students to explore diverse career paths while sharing her expertise and industry connections.
Foreign languages professor Jean-Louis Dassier sees language learning as a transformative, deeply human experience. At IUP, he helps students find their voice in another language, explore diverse perspectives, and embrace curiosity as the key to growth—inside and outside the classroom.
Abbie Adams loves everything about anthropology. She loves the way it explains so much but leaves more to explore. And as a faculty member teaching it, she encourages her students to dive in and see what’s possible.
For Roger Briscoe, college is about more than classes and term papers. It’s about finding your people and your places. And as the executive director of Student Inclusion, he makes sure every student has that opportunity.
For Francisco Alarcón, math isn’t just numbers and equations. It’s a language that can solve problems in many ways, and it has infinite possibilities. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
International student and American Language Institute instructor Alexandra Krasova spoke at commencement and is the recipient of the Graduate Student Outstanding Research Award, the IUP Outstanding Leader Award, the Promising Future Interdisciplinary Researcher Award, and the Teaching Associate Faculty Recognition Award.
For Karen Scarton, interior design isn’t just about making a space look nice. It’s about the feelings and emotions that result from good design. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
If you have a story, Tanya Heflin would like to hear it. As a faculty member in the Department of Language, Literature, and Writing, she loves to exchange stories. Learn more about her in the week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Had Holly Branthoover stayed in law school, her life certainly would have taken a different turn. Instead, she found her true passion in counseling and has never looked back. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
What amazes Curt Porter the most about English, and languages in general, is how they are critical to every facet of human life. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Chemistry explains a lot of the mysteries of our world, and that’s one of the things Avijita Jain likes most about it. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
When Sean McDaniel graduated from college, he didn’t know what he didn’t know. But a chance to teach English in Spain led him down a path he never expected to travel. Learn more in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
For IUP faculty member Sean Derry, finding innovative ways of making things is part of the challenge and the appeal of art. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Because of the technology and further exploration it involves, Jana Villemain has never lost interest in biochemistry. As a faculty member at IUP, she enjoys sharing that passion. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
For Matthew Vetter, reading and writing are about more than the words on the page. They’re about the impact those words have on our lives and our world. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
For Cuong Diep, studying molecules and proteins is where it’s at. It’s not only given him a career, but also has led to the kind of research that changes lives. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
There are laws of science, but true science changes. That’s what excites John Benhart, a professor in IUP’s Department of Anthropology, Geospatial, and Earth Sciences. Learn more about him in this Meet Our Faculty feature.
As a faculty member in IUP’s Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance, Rosemary Engelstad sees every day how her life’s work impacts her students. It’s something she holds sacred. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Jonathan Warnock has always been into rocks. But that interest led him to a curiosity about the Earth, what affects it, and why it is how it is. Learn more about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
From a young age, Jackie Heisler wanted to help people, and, having a sister with asthma, she found the best way to do it. Now, as a member of IUP’s Allied and Public Health Department, she shares that passion for helping.
On one hand, Nate Heuer loves how the world of art never stays the same. On the other, he loves its core principles that took root centuries ago. Learn more about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
One of the things Tracey Cekada loves about safety sciences is that jobs in the field are everywhere, and she has helped put IUP graduates in many of them. Learn more about her in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
As a professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development, Brittany Pollard-Kosidowski loves everything about her job—from the creativity required to the commitment to helping. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty Feature.
When Gwen Torges was an undergrad, going after a master’s degree and teaching at the college level seemed like pursuits for someone else. But then she tried them both, and her life changed direction.
Waleed Farag’s career can be compared to a quote from Mark Twain: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty.
Suneel Maheshwari always knew his father was someone special. A leading academic in the accounting and finance field, S. N. Maheshwari passed along his expertise to his son, who is now sharing it in the Eberly College of Business.
Before becoming a faculty member in the Department of Nursing, Janis Barner worked in the field. Now she shares her experiences with her students, helping them get into one of the country’s most needed professions.
Of all the things that could have sent him in his life’s direction, getting hit by a car when he was a kid did the trick for Gian Pagnucci. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
It’s said that the truth often changes over time, but facts remain. When Tamara Whited first understood this, she made a career chasing the elusive historical truth. Learn more about her in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
A former kindergarten teacher, DeAnna Laverick realized the impact teachers can have when some of her former students enrolled at IUP to become teachers. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Chris Schaney went to graduate school and landed in the world of geographic information systems. He now shares his passion as a member of the IUP faculty. Learn more about him in this week’s installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Like many people, Nurhaya Muchtar was on a career path that ended up leading her elsewhere, and she found a career she never expected. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Getting involved as an undergraduate helped show John Lowery what the world of higher education has to offer. He’s now sharing those lessons with his students. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
When Erin Reed learned how a good meal can positively affect people, she knew she had found her career path. Learn more about this Academy of Culinary Arts chef instructor in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
Since he was little, Josiah Townsend has been curious about anything that lives and breathes. He took that curiosity and made a career for himself. Learn more about him in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
As a speech-language pathologist, Kacey Cowburn knew she could help people. But by becoming a faculty member, she extended her reach well beyond what it was before. Learn more about her in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
A summer job in college turned out to be more than a way for Jeff Larkin to earn some cash. It introduced him to a career in conservation biology. Learn more about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
At first, Crystal Machado thought she should avoid teaching and should study business. But soon after earning her first college degree, she started listening to the voices that said otherwise. Learn more in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
For Veronica Paz, accounting is more than numbers at the bottom of a ledger. It’s a language that explains in great detail what happened and why. Learn more about her in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
As a child, Justin Fair learned that chemistry has many practical applications, including in national defense. He used his knowledge to serve his country. Now he shares that expertise with students. Learn more in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
She probably had no way of knowing it at the time, but Lydia Rodríguez’s childhood set her up for the career she now has. Learn more about this Department of Foreign Languages professor in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Alida Merlo’s first job was as a juvenile probation officer, but her thirst to know more led her to a career teaching criminology at IUP. Learn more about the 2020-21 Distinguished University Professor in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Zach Collins knows that nobody picks up an instrument for the first time and is a virtuoso. It takes time and consistent effort, and that’s what he enjoys about teaching. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Why are we here? What’s the meaning of life? These are questions Leo Yan tackles every day with students in the philosophy classes he teaches. Learn more about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Whether you know it or not, if you are curious about people, you are a sociologist. Christian Vaccaro turned his curiosity into a career in IUP’s Department of Sociology. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
For Geoffrey Tickell, a faculty member in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems, the best part of teaching comes when students grasp something they had struggled with before. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Dan Lee enjoys a good crime story. But what really interests him is the motivation behind the crime, and he shares that enthusiasm for learning with his students every day. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
It wasn’t until she got to college that Andrea Palmiotto found what she wanted to do with her life. Once she discovered anthropology, she made it her life’s work. Learn about her in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Charles McCreary began studying French when he was 12. Today, as a faculty member in IUP’s Department of Foreign Languages, he uses that knowledge to share cultures from other countries. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.
Zach Cheever knows what it’s like to find your people. It happened when he first got involved in music, and it continues as director of the IUP Marching Band. Learn about him in this installment of Meet Our Faculty.