Provost's Office

Each year the University awards the Lawrence A. Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication. This prize was established in the 1984/85 academic year to reward the scholarly efforts of junior faculty. Hofstra University congratulates the recipients of the 2023-2024 Stessin Prize:

Nicholas J. Merna, PhD
Associate Professor of Engineering
Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science
Gorbenko, N., Rinaldi, G., Sanchez, A., & Merna, N. (2023). Small-caliber vascular grafts engineered from decellularized leaves and cross-linked gelatin. Tissue Engineering Part A, 29(13-14), 397-409.

Daniel P. Miller, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Cao, R., Rossdeutcher, R.B., Zhong, Y., Shen, Y., Miller, D.P., Sobiech, T.A., Wu, X., Sánchez Buitrago, L., Ramcharan, K., Gutay, M.I., Figueria, M.F., Luthra, P., Zurek, E., Szyperski, T., Button, B., Shao, Z., Gong, B. Aromatic pentaamide macrocycles bind anions with high affinity for transport across biomembranes. Nature Chemistry 15, 1559–1568 (2023).

Alex Sinha, JD, PhD
Associate Professor of Law
Maurice A. Deane School of Law
Alex Sinha, The End of Government Speech, 44 Cardozo L. Rev. 1899 (2023).
Dr. Stessin joined the Hofstra University faculty as a Professor of Management in 1958 and served continuously until his retirement in 1973. After graduation from the Columbia University School of Journalism, he worked at the New York Times and as a columnist and associate editor of Forbes Magazine. Dr. Stessin also published in a wide range of scholarly and academic media. During his lifetime and as part of his will, Dr. Stessin made substantial contributions to our University. His contribution to the endowment fund, which led to the establishment of the Stessin Prize, came with the expressed wish that the earnings from that gift be used as an incentive and reward for junior faculty who publish the results of their scholarly work.

Eligibility of Individuals

All full-time tenure-track Instructors, all full-time tenure-track Assistant Professors, all full-time tenure-track Associate Professors, and all Law School contract faculty and Physician Assistant clinical faculty in their first five years of employment at the time the work is published are eligible. Tenure designates are considered tenure track. Tenured faculty are ineligible. An individual must be employed by the University during the selection process and the work must indicate that the author is affiliated with Hofstra University.

Types of Publication

Books, monographs, journal articles and similar publications that appeared in print in calendar year prior to the award (e.g., 2020 for those awarded in the 2020/2021 academic year) are eligible. Reprints of oral presentations are excluded. The published work must identify the author as a Hofstra faculty member.

Selection Process

Each school, college, and the Library will establish a review committee of three tenured faculty members, not eligible for the award, who will review all submissions from their constituency. Each committee will rank their recommendations, recommend up to two publications, and forward those submissions to their respective Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Offices will submit their recommendation packets electronically to the Provost’s Office at provostawards@hofstra.edu for review by the Provost's Advisory Council, which will select the recipients of the awards.

For the timetable for the 2024-2025 academic year, please e-mail provostawards@hofstra.edu

Each spring, members of Hofstra’s current academic graduating classes help select the faculty members from each school and college who will receive the annual Teacher of the Year awards. The faculty members selected receive an engraved plaque, recognition in the commencement program, and a monetary award.

Hofstra University congratulates the 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year recipients:

Maurice A. Deane School of Law
Theo Liebmann, JD
Clinical Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Monroe H. Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics

Zucker School of Medicine
First 100 Weeks:
Zeinab Nassrallah, PhD
Assistant Professor of Science Education

Second 100 Weeks:
Preetha Kurian, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science
Mauro Caputi, PhD
Associate Professor of Engineering

Zarb School of Business
Ralph Polimeni, PhD
The Chaykin Endowed Chair in Accounting and Professor of Accounting

School of Health Sciences
Ibraheem Karaye, MD, DrPH
Assistant Professor of Population Health

Lawrence Herbert School of Communication
George Nicholas, MFA
Associate Professor of Radio, Television, Film

Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:
School of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts:
Christopher Dippel, MSEd, MFA
Associate Professor of Drama and Dance

Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs:
Katrina Sims, PhD
Assistant Professor of History

School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Kevin Bisceglia, PhD
Associate Professor of Chemistry

Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies
Gina Pontrelli, DHSc, PA-C
Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies

In March, graduating students are invited to vote online for the faculty they feel are most deserving of recognition as distinguished teachers. All faculty members who have taught a minimum of three (3) full years at Hofstra are eligible for the Teacher of the Year award. A faculty member who receives the award will be removed from the ballot for the following four (4) years (i.e., excluded for one four-year academic cycle). Once back on the ballot, the faculty member would be eligible for the Teacher of the Year Award after three (3) additional years. Following this procedure, both potential first time and past Teacher of the Year recipients are treated equally.

Hofstra University congratulates the 2023-2024 Mentor of the Year:

Craig Dalton, PhD
Associate Professor of Global Studies and Geography
Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Mentor of the Year Award honors a faculty member who has been nominated by students for:

• Providing guidance from idea to project development on research or a creative project.
• Demonstrating mentorship above and beyond general expectations.
• Establishing a track record for involving mentees and other students in professional
• Having a significant life-changing impact on mentees and other students in the Hofstra
• University community.

The Researcher of the Year Award honors faculty members who have demonstrated an outstanding record of scholarship and research achievement of uncommon distinction.

Hofstra University congratulates the 2023-2024 Researcher of the Year Award recipients:

Ehsan Nikbakht, DBA
The C.V. Starr Distinguished Professor of Finance and International Financial Services and Professor of Finance
Frank G. Zarb School of Business

Luciana Santoferrara, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biology
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Office of the Provost, in collaboration with the Faculty Development Committee has implemented a new faculty mentoring initiative. This program will focus on Mutual Mentoring, where faculty members work together on micro-grant-funded projects The program aims to strengthen faculty connections and professional development, which will ultimately benefit our students and institution.

Program Objectives:

• Support the Formation of Peer Networks: Enable faculty across all departments and seniority levels to engage in passion projects as well as navigate self-identified areas for further development or expansion.
• Enhance Teaching Excellence: Facilitate the exchange of teaching strategies, pedagogical innovations, and shared best practices within the Hofstra community to increase student engagement, motivation, and achievement.
• Promote Research Collaboration: Create opportunities for cross-departmental and inter-departmental collaboration on research projects, technologies, and other resources.
• Foster Opportunities for Career Advancement: Provide guidance throughout career milestones, such as the process of tenure and promotion and transitioning into leadership roles.
• Support Opportunities for Professional Development: Enrich professional skills needed to integrate active learning strategies both within and beyond the context of the classroom.

Program Structure:

Mutual Mentoring Program Structure and Budget: Faculty will form groups of 2-6 based upon shared interests in a mutual mentoring project and will disperse accountability amongst members to contribute to the overall success of the group. Micro-grants are offered to fund the project. All expenses must follow the guidelines of the Hofstra University Business Travel and Employee Reimbursement Policies.

Eligibility: Full-time tenure-track faculty and full-time non-tenure-track faculty on continuing appointments are eligible to participate. Faculty members interested in collaborating on projects are invited to connect through this shared spreadsheet, where proposed interests and current group members are detailed.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Quality of the Project: The proposal offers distinct benefits and opportunities for faculty different from programs already offered through the department or institution. The proposal is detailed and there is a clear alignment between the proposed activities and the intended outcomes.
• Feasibility: The proposal activities are well-planned and can realistically be accomplished within the grant period and provided budget.
• Impact: The proposal describes the benefit of faculty development and provides substantial reasoning for the sustainability of the mentoring impact over time.

Examples of Mentoring Themes: Proposals could include one or more of these themes or may fall outside them entirely. Proposals do not have to include these themes to be considered or awarded.

1. Getting to Know the Institution: Understanding the academic culture of departments, schools/colleagues, and the institution; identifying resources to support scholarship and skill building; creating a trusted network of junior and senior colleagues.
2. Understanding Tenure and Promotion: Better understanding of the tenure and promotion process – both for promotion to associate and promotion to full professor ranks, learning more about the criteria for evaluating research and teaching performance, finding support in developing the promotion dossier, soliciting feedback on the quality and quantity of work through the annual faculty review.
3. Developing a Support Network: Forging career-enhancing relationships with faculty who share similar interest, challenges, and/or opportunities. Particularly encouraged are networks that eliminate isolation, including those that support the diverse needs of underrepresented faculty, mid-career faculty, and faculty interested in future leadership roles.
4. Excelling in Research or Teaching: Developing a research/writing plan, identifying sources of internal and external funding, soliciting feedback on manuscripts and grant proposals, or setting up and running a successful laboratory.

Application Process: There is a brief application available here. One faculty member per group will submit the completed application to provostawards@hofstra.edu. The application cycle will be open once per academic year.

Please contact provostawards@hofstra.edu with questions.

The H. Alan Robinson Award is made possible through the generosity of the late Dr. H. Alan Robinson, a nationally recognized authority in reading who was a faculty member in the School of Education. The award was established to encourage and honor the highest quality of scholarly research and excellence of presentation in dissertations submitted by doctoral candidates at Hofstra University.

Presented annually, this award honors a doctoral candidate who has submitted an outstanding dissertation worthy of scholarly and professional recognition within a given academic year. Hofstra University congratulates the recipient of the 2024 H. Alan Robinson Award: Jack Miller, PhD for their dissertation titled Role Structure Complexity Within Multiple Team Membership: The Impact on Role Overload, Role Conflict, and Burnout in Leaders.

Previous H. Alan Robinson Award Winners:

2023     Ariel Adrian, EdD – Straddling Two Worlds: The Influence of Retrospective Miscue Analysis on the Reading Process and Perceptions of Wilson Reading Students
2022     Susan Turner Radin, EdD – Dance Impressions: The Power of Practice and Pedagogy on Adolescent Identity Formation
2021     Michael McGuire, PhD – Organizational Disidentification: Scale Development and Construct Validation
2020     Jacqueline Krychiw, PhD – Evaluating an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group Intervention for Suicidal Individuals with Emotional Pain
2019     Christopher Sclafani, EdD – The Corpus Linguistics Integration Approach 
2018     Steven Mazza, PhD – Effects of a PCIT-Informed Modular Treatment Program on Anxiety Disorders with Comorbid Disruptive Behavior in Early Childhood
2017     Yosef Sokol, PhD – Continuous Identity and Acute Psychopathology
2016     Susan Bostock, EdD – Children’s Literature in the Age of the App: What’s the Story?