I am especially proud of our latest issue of SJNY Magazine.

This edition coincides with the 375th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the order which founded our University over one hundred years ago. The stories within these pages reflect the legacy set forth by the Sisters, reinforced by our commitment to excellence.

As we look back on the history of the Sisters, we not only honor those who founded St. Joseph’s University, New York in 1916 (then known as St. Joseph’s College for Women), but those who have and continue to dutifully serve our community as educators, administrators, alumni and faculty.

The award was presented on stage during SJNY’s 2025 commencement ceremony to mark the 375th anniversary of the founding of their order, and in recognition of the enduring legacy, extraordinary efforts and profound influence that the sisters have had in the fields of education, ecology, justice and spirituality.

For nearly four centuries, congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph have left an indelible mark on the world and its people — including the nearly 49,000 alumni whose lives have been shaped by an education at St. Joseph’s University, New York.

As a high school senior from upstate New York, Christopher Armstrong III ’28 did not have St. Joseph’s University, New York on his “list.” It was a Bears coach interested in his volleyball talents who played a role in Armstrong’s decision to commit to the University’s Brooklyn Campus, sight unseen.

“During my senior year of high school, the men’s volleyball coach reached out to me and put St. Joe’s on my radar. He was very thoughtful and thorough during the recruiting process. He took the extra steps like connecting me with advisers and students that were taking the same major I wanted to study. When decision day came around, I hadn’t visited campus yet, but with the affordability and location of St. Joe’s I chose to commit, and I am so glad I did,” Armstrong said.

While the allure of New York City and cost of attendance swayed his decision, faculty support at St. Joseph’s solidified that choice.

The desire to be an educator was inspired by Sasso’s mother, who is a third-grade teacher.

“When I was younger, I loved helping her set up her classroom and listening to the stories she shared with me throughout the school year. Those experiences inspired me to follow in her footsteps,” said Sasso. “She often told me I would make a great teacher one day after seeing how naturally I connected with younger family members, and her encouragement continues to guide me on my journey.”

Sasso chose St. Joseph’s for its smaller class sizes and one-on-one connections with professors, not knowing that the decision would shape her into the person she is today.

What began as a journey to earn a B.S. in Therapeutic Recreation turned into a lifelong career with St. Joseph’s, contributing along the way to help the University get to where it is today.

“I had a great experience as a student,” said Dr. Lamberta. “The college back then was student-centered, as it still is today, and I think that was really important. All of the professors were there, and still are, to support students and truly wanted to see us succeed.”

Currently serving as a full-time professor and chair for the Departments of Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Hospitality and Tourism Management, Dr. Lamberta began her teaching career in 1984 at SJNY as an adjunct professor teaching program planning and leadership skills.

At the same time, she was building her career at the YMCA, where she would hold various positions for 17 years, while also earning a master’s degree and later a Ph.D.

Now an award-winning author and director of the Brooklyn Writers Foundry, the Brooklyn Campus’ MFA in Creative Writing program, Johnson also serves as an assistant teaching professor for the program, teaching graduate-level fiction writing workshops and mixed-genre craft classes, and advising student theses. In addition, he founded the program’s literary journal, Writer’s Foundry Review.

“I’m a first-generation college graduate, so I have a deep appreciation for what a liberal arts education can bring into someone’s life,” said Johnson. “I love sharing knowledge and imparting wisdom while building a supportive and harmonious community. That’s what teaching’s all about.”

After graduating from the University of Virginia with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in 2011, Johnson worked in a series of visiting writer and adjunct instructor positions before finding his way to St. Joseph’s in 2017. He was originally an adjunct professor, teaching courses for the MFA and ACES (Academic Center for English Language Studies) programs, as well as pre-college summer classes on the Brooklyn Campus.

Jessica Scher Lisa, Psy.D., associate professor of child study and Harry Voulgarakis, Ph.D., BCBA-D, assistant professor of child study, had a successful submission of their research and subsequent presentation at the American Psychological Association (APA) conference in Denver in August 2025 entitled “Impact of the SDARI Program on Loneliness and Sense of Belonging for Autistic Youth.”

Kerry Ann Conde, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, director and program coordinator of the ABA Graduate Programs, recently had a patent approved for which she is the innovator and principal investigator for. The patent is for AI-Assisted Treatment Optimization that leverages recent advances in artificial intelligence to enable generating new analyses and insights based on comprehensive data sets that include treatment fidelity data related to patients. Additionally, Dr. Conde was invited to lead a staff training webinar for Blue Water Behavior Consulting entitled “Parent Training and Coaching: How to Support the Whole Family.”

Michael W. Magee, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, published “Christians Have More Self-Compassion Than Atheists…but also More Grandiose (Not Fragile) Narcissism,” in the journal Pastoral Psychology. The findings suggest that Christians, on average, report both higher levels of self-compassion and higher levels of grandiose narcissism compared to atheists, while both groups reported similar levels of fragile narcissism and shame.

Jason Ostrowe, Ph.D., assistant professor of criminal justice, conducted an independent study alongside SJNY student Julia Czubak, researching cybercrime coursework offered by criminal justice programs in the state of New York compared to the rest of the nation. The article titled “A Comparative Analysis of Cybercrime in Criminal Justice Education: Taking Stock of New York State and the Nation,” was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal: The New York State Journal of Applied Research in Criminal Justice, Vol. 2, Fall, 2025.

David Siegel, Ph.D., assistant professor of social sciences and political science has a forthcoming article titled “Between Marx and Foucault: Blending Critical Epistemologies in the Study of Neoliberalism,” in the peer-reviewed journal Critical Review. At the Northeastern Political Science Association annual meeting in November 2025, Dr. Siegel also presented an original research paper on the political theory of tyranny and constitutionalism in the work of Nietzsche and Dostoevsky. It was at this same conference that he was invited to serve as chair and discussant on a panel about Russian authoritarianism and military conflict.

Joseph Svec, Ph.D., assistant professor of social sciences and sociology, published several articles centered around the intersections of aging, cognitive health and family caregiving. These include “Feeling unappreciated? The impact of perceived unrewarded on the psychological wellbeing of caregivers” in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and “Cognitive Impairment and Contexts: Examining the Intersections of Social Activity Participation and Neighborhood Perceptions” in the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, among others.

Eric Shyman, Ed.D., chair and professor of child study, is the author of two upcoming articles. The first, to be published in Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, reports the results of a content analysis of published research on culturally and linguistically diverse students with learning disabilities. The second, to be published in the European Journal of Special Needs Education, was an invited review of the forthcoming book Liberal Perspectives on Inclusion by Professor Joseph Mintz.

Konstantine Rountos, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, published a book chapter titled “Toward a Sustainable One Ocean: Evaluating Life Below Water Through the Lens of One Health (Ecology Introduction)” along with fellow associate professor Kestrel Perez, Ph.D., and a colleague from the American Fisheries Society Estuaries Section.

Andrew Rogers, M.B.A., D.B.A., assistant teaching professor of business, co-authored and presented a paper entitled “The Impact of Course Modalities and Student Demographics on Academic Performance and Retention – A Comparative Study of Graduate Business Students” at the 52nd Annual Northeast Business & Economics Association (NBEA) Conference in Galloway, New Jersey.

Phillip Dehne, Ph.D., executive dean of the Brooklyn Campus and professor of history, presented “The Globalization of Economic War During the First World War” at the 2025 Symposium, Beyond the Trenches at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Oct. 23-25. He also recently wrote book reviews that were published in The Journal of First World War Studies, The Journal of British Studies and H-Albion.

Sparling learned early on that passion and determination can take you a long way. From the moment he enrolled at St. Joseph’s, he knew he wanted to pursue a legal career.

Choosing to stay close to home, Sparling attended St. Joseph’s after being awarded the Medaille scholarship for academic excellence. He quickly realized that “failure is not an option” was more than a saying. It would become his mindset.

“You had to have good grades to keep the scholarship, and one semester I didn’t do so well. That pressure to not fail was something I learned. I think I had that character trait already, but St. Joe’s helped to reinforce that,” Sparling said.

He took advantage of the University’s sociology, psychology and social studies courses to prepare for law school where he made the law review. In one class at St. Joe’s, he read Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker,” a biography of Robert Moses, an urban planner who used the power of state and local politics to advance New York’s infrastructure.

A personification of the American Dream, Dr. Bellegarde arrived in Miami, FL in 2002 from Port Au Prince, Haiti, her eyes wide to all the possibilities her new home would offer. That said, reaching her full potential would be anything but easy. As the daughter of political refugees, Dr. Bellegarde discovered she would have to work twice as hard only to have twice as many doors closed due to her status.

Overcoming the language barrier would serve as the first challenge. She eventually became fluent in both English and her native languages of Haitian Creole and French. However, more obstacles would follow. While she excelled academically, Dr. Bellegarde shared that she sometimes felt directionless as many labeled her as a refugee.

Become an Alumni Association leader.

On behalf of the Brooklyn and Long Island Alumni Boards, we hope you enjoy this issue of the SJNY magazine and feel connected and engaged with our alma mater.

There are a number of events and volunteer opportunities available for alumni and we ask you to please consider participating when and where it’s possible. Our Alumni Association and University are stronger together. We are here for you and we want to hear from you!