Dr. Lily Cushenbery is an Assistant Professor of Management at Stony Brook University and the director of the Leadership & Creativity Research Lab. Her work in leadership, innovation, and conflict applies science-based approaches to practical organizational problems. Her research focuses on 1) the process by which leaders overcome failures and 2) the dynamics of innovative teams. Her primary research examines the consequences of leader mistakes and mistake recovery on leader-follower relationships. Her innovation research includes constructs such as team member influence, team climate, and malevolence. Dr. Cushenbery’s consulting clients include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Del Monte Foods, PNC Bank, and both US and UK government defense agencies. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Penn State University and a B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Fresno. For more information, please visit www.theLCLab.com
Debra Sabatini Dwyer, an economist, policy analyst and teacher, has spoken on research topics related to the well-being of older workers and adolescents at risk. Her policy work assesses markets for public goods. What is common to her research, her teaching, and her way of thinking is economic thought as a philosophy. And what underlies this is rational decision-making.Dwyer is a professor of Technology and Society with interdisciplinary ties throughout Stony Brook University. She has overcome challenges associated with crossing disciplines consistent with a goal to maximize the production of knowledge for the betterment of society. This involves not only bringing together the information but also processing it into knowledge and ultimately wisdom. While she is the author of over a dozen peer-review articles as well as several book chapters, she focuses on the students as a vehicle for positive change. She is a “servant-leader” who facilitates excellence through others.
Brooke Ellison is an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University, and Director of Education and Ethics at the Stony Brook Stem Cell Facility. Brooke’s research focuses on the ethics and social justice questions of science and medicine. As a faculty member at Stony Brook University, Brooke cofounded the organization, VENTure Think Tank, to provide policy and technological solutions for ventilator users, and the Center for Community Engagement and Leadership Development, to empower underserved communities.At 11, Brooke was left paralyzed and dependent on a ventilator. Despite this, Brooke received her undergraduate and masters degrees from Harvard University, and PhD from Stony Brook University. In 2002, Brooke published a memoir, Miracles Happen, which was made into a movie, The Brooke Ellison Story, directed by Christopher Reeve. In 2014, Brooke was selected by the World Economic Forum to be a Young Global Leader, to solve help make create a better world.
Christine A. Garcia, MD, MPH is a third year resident physician and rising chief resident in internal medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Integrative Physiology and English Literature, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Illinois. Christine worked as a community health program specialist in San Diego prior to obtaining her medical degree from St. George’s University. She manages numerous research projects and participates in several resident-driven patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. Outside of her clinical responsibilities, she regularly volunteers at the Patchogue INN soup kitchen, travels abroad for medical mission trips, and is a freelance writer who has been featured in Medscape. Christine also plays an active role in teaching clinical skills to medical students and was recently selected for membership to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Medical Honor society.
Mary Garvey is pursuing a degree in Cinema & Cultural Studies minoring in Theatre and Media Arts. During her undergraduate career she was treasurer and disc jockey for WUSB 90.1fm as well as an event coordinator for RockYoFace and StonyBrooklyn (Stony Brook University’s local concert series). Under the Graduate Student Organization she pioneered an accredited internship program focused on peer teaching technical arts for concerts and events at the University Cafe. Via her experiences and involvement in the SBU music scene she gained a position as a production associate at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Angelo Lambroschino is a die-hard, red-hot, alumnus of Stony Brook University (’15). He graduated with a BA in Psychology and minors in Media Arts, Health and Wellness, and Women and Gender Studies. During his time at SBU, he was highly involved as a recognized student leader; contributing to Student Media, Student Orientation, Peer Education, and more. Angelo is investigating the effects of media and their impact on ourselves and on our culture. He has recently published his senior thesis in Women and Gender Studies titled, Mobile Mothers: Sex Education through the “Third Parent”. Additionally, the annual SSK Student Arts Festival recognized him with the Graduating Senior Award.Angelo is breaking ground in the field of Media Psychology. He currently works as an Assistant to the President for the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development in East Setauket, NY and resides in his home state of New Jersey.
Anna Lubitz graduated Stony Brook University (Class of 2014) with a BS in Biology and minored in Music (Vocal Performance). Anna is pursuing a career in Pediatric and Animal Dentistry and a dual degree: MBA in Healthcare Management and Masters in Public Health (Community Health) at SBU. She served as the Undergraduate Student Government President (2012-2013), was President of the Pre-Vet Society, JFEW Scholar/Intern and member of the SBU Marching Band. She served on the SUNY Student Assembly Executive Committee as an Undergrad University Rep (2013) and VP for the 2013-2014 year. Anna is the Co-Founder of the Elect Her Initiative at SBU, and served as the Student Liaison from 2011-2014. She currently serves on the SUNY SA as the Graduate Rep for SBU, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, SUNY Optometry and University at Albany, and is the current President of the MBA Association at SBU, and VP of OPHSA for the Program in Public Health.
Dr. Zebulon Miletsky teaches African-American History at Stony Brook University where he is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies. He is a specialist in recent African-American History, history and politics of “mixed race” issues, as well as African-American and Latino contemporary cultural expressions, including Hip Hop. He is the author of numerous articles, essays and most recently a book chapter that appeared in the anthology “Obama and the Biracial Factor: The Battle for a New American Majority” which traces the contested meanings throughout history of terminology for multiracial people and the role that this historical legacy of “naming” plays into how President Obama is read as African American, but still asserts a strategic biracial identity through the use of language, symbols, and interactions with the media. Miletsky who is half-Jewish (white) and African-American/Afro-Caribbean, has done a great deal of genealogical research for a book manuscript in progress and is in the process of researching his own family tree. He lives in Brooklyn.
Emily Nocito will be entering her final year as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University. She is working towards her Bachelors of Science in Coastal Environmental Studies, with a minor in Ecosystems and Human Impact. She is active on her campus and is involved in the Environmental Club and Marine Science Club, as well as serving as President of SBU Chapter of Friends of Fire Island National Seashore. As a C2C Fellow through Bard College, she has attended workshops on sustainable businesses. She is serving as a Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women Scholar (JFEW), a two-year program focused on international relations and global policy. Through JFEW, she will spend the summer of 2015 as an intern at Global Partnership Forum’s Oceans Sanctuary Alliance. Emily also served as a research assistant and intern in the Sustainability Studies Program’s Earthworm Ecotoxicology lab.
Margot Palermo, a Professor at the College of Business at Stony Brook University, teaches Business Ethics and directs the Business Honors Program. Margot’s expertise has been in experiential learning with outside organizations including Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cintas, Long Island State Veterans Home, Make A Wish Foundation and more. Margot was with Merrill Lynch for over 20 years. She was the Manager of the International Equity Desk and was responsible for pioneering and developing the International Private Client Trading Unit at Merrill Lynch with offices in New York, Hong Kong, and London. She started as a Financial Advisor in Manhattan and was invited into the Residential Vice President Program to manage offices around the world. Margot holds a M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from New York University and a B.S. in Public Relations and International Affairs from Boston University. She has done philanthropic throughout her career and is a mother of four.
Dawn Pappas has worked at Stony Brook University for a little over 19 years. She holds an AAS in Advertising Art and Design from Farmingdale State University, a BA in Communications, Visual and Media Arts from Empire State University, and a Masters in Science in Human Resource Management with a minor in Training and Organizational Development from Stony Brook University. Dawn is a Design, Print, and Communications Specialist, and a Fine Artist. Her work is hanging in homes and restaurants all over LI, and has been seen globally. She has won numerous design and journalism awards for the work she has done with UUP and Undergraduate Admissions. She is an elected official of the University Senate for the Environment, UUP Women’s Concerns Committee, and the PEG Board. Dawn is also a Certified Green Dot Trainer in Power Based Personal Violence, and Bystander Intervention, and Certified by the State Department of Justice in Sexual Violence Prevention.
Sue Ryan recently completed her 29th season as Stony Brook’s head women’s soccer coach in 2013. Under Ryan’s guidance, the 2013 Seawolves won their first-ever America East regular season title after tying for the best record in the conference. In 2012, Ryan led Stony Brook to its first-ever America East tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Seawolves tied a program record with 12 wins in 2012 and became the first six seed in America East history to win the conference championship, knocking off the top three seeds on the road to secure the title.Over the course of her storied career, Ryan has established Stony Brook as one of top programs not only in the America East, but also in the Northeast Region, and has led SBU to at least the America East semifinals in six of the last eight seasons.
Irene Virag is a Pulitzer Prize winner who left the newsroom for the garden path. In her almost-30-year career, she shared the Pulitzer for local reporting as a member of a Newsday team and was a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing and explanatory journalism. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard and her work has been honored by The Newswomen’s Club of New York, The American Horticultural Society and The Garden Writers Association. One of her stories about her battle with breast cancer was included in the American Society of Newspaper Editors “Best Newspaper Writing of 1998.” She received a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is the author of two books, “We’re All in This Together – Families Facing Breast Cancer” and “Gardening on Long Island with Irene Virag.” She teaches narrative journalism in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University.
Tracey L. Walters is Associate Professor of Literature in the Department of Africana Studies at Stony Brook University where she also holds an affiliate appointment with the Department of English, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Cultural Analysis and Theory. Dr. Walters works in the areas Black Women’s Literature, Black British literature, and Pan African Literature. Dr. Walters has published numerous articles on Black women’s literature and three books: African American Women and the Classicists Tradition: Black Women Writers from Wheatley to Morrison (2007), an edited collection Zadie Smith: Critical Essays (2008), and an ebook Zadie Smith (2012). Walters is currently working on a multimedia project on domestic workers and an edited collection on Bernadine Evaristo.