Message from Michael Brogan, DPT, PhD
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College
As senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, it is my pleasure each year to recognize the scope of faculty excellence at Daemen, where exceptional teaching and active scholarship go hand-in-hand. I invite both the campus and larger communities to learn more about the exciting, high-quality research, scholarship, creative activity, and meaningful professional service that is undertaken at Daemen. My congratulations to all of the scholars, scientists, professionals, and researchers whose work is highlighted in the following pages.
Dr. Erica Frisicaro-Pawlowski, associate professor of English, was named Outstanding Faculty Member at President Olson’s State of the College Address in August 2020. Frisicaro-Pawlowski has teaching expertise in rhetoric and composition, and her recent scholarship explores relationships between writing instruction and matters of rhetorical ethics, information literacy, and visual literacy. Since joining the college in 2008, she has served as writing coordinator, where she has developed Daemen’s first-year writing offerings by integrating information literacy and writing instruction across courses and revising the developmental writing curriculum. Over the years, she has worked to strengthen college-wide writing initiatives by facilitating faculty development workshops on writing pedagogy and offering curricular and instructional support for teachers of writing across disciplines.
In 2018, she was appointed as the first director of faculty development for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), where she has assisted in the development of the Academic Leadership Institute and collaborated on faculty support initiatives including annual orientations for new faculty, a summer faculty writing group, and the development of a faculty learning community on Teaching & Learning in Diverse Classrooms. Her additional contributions to the college include service on the Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS), the Educational Policy Committee (EPC), the Faculty Senate, the Middle States Steering Committee, and the Tenure and Promotion Committee. Frisicaro-Pawlowski has served as a reviewer for Composition Studies, Computers and Composition, and the International Journal of Library and Information Science. She is a member of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Assembly on Expanded Perspectives for Learning.
Dr. Frisicaro-Pawlowski is a graduate of Nazareth College (B.A.), Duquesne University (M.A.), and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Ph.D. in English with a specialization in rhetoric, composition, and professional writing).
n 2020, Dr. Kathleen Murphy, professor of chemistry, retired after a teaching career at Daemen that spanned 42 years. She grew up near Saginaw, MI and obtained a B.S. degree in chemistry from Central Michigan University. She went on to receive a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Vermont and did postdoctoral work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before joining Daemen in 1978. Murphy devoted her time to developing strategies for students to strengthen their problem-solving skills, while teaching general, analytical, and physical chemistry. Former President of the College, Dr. Robert Marshall, recognized Murphy as Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year in 1989.
Murphy’s contributions were pivotal during a time when the college transitioned into health-related areas and during a major expansion of her department. She chaired the Natural and Health Sciences Division for fifteen years (1986–2001) and secured funding for the Natural Science Research Center laboratory. Murphy served as the U.S. project director (2004–07) for a U.S. Department of Education FIPSE program as part of a cooperative exchange in higher education entitled “Biotechnology in Healthcare.” The program involved an international exchange of science students from Daemen, Germany, Ireland, and Finland. Murphy also served a term as department chair of the Natural and Health Science Department (2007–10).
Her initial research focused on solid-state conductivity in polymers. This work evolved to incorporate interdisciplinary research with a political science colleague. Murphy’s projects with Daemen undergraduates have spanned from wound healing research to environmental chemistry projects, resulting in numerous publications and presentations. Murphy also published two books: Study Guide to Accompany Chemistry: The Molecular Science (2001) and, very recently, Thermodynamics Problem Solving in Physical Chemistry: Study Guide and Map (2020).
In recognition of her outstanding service and accomplishments, the Daemen College Board of Trustees has granted Dr. Kathleen Murphy the distinction of professor emeritus.