RLA 2024-2025 Cohort

Joining us for the 2024-2025 cohort of the Rutgers Leadership Academy are 34 Fellows who represent all four chancellor-led units. Their capstone project posters are linked here.

Deneen K. Blow (she/her)
Senior Director of Administration
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine & The Center for Dermatology
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nominator: Phil Mesisca

Christine Cahill (she/her)
Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Advisor
Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences
Nominator: Dilafruz Nazarova

Itzamarie Chévere-Torres (she/her)
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Advancement
University Academic Affairs
Nominator: Henry Turner

Letitia Dean
Associate Director, Research and Sponsored Programs
Office for Research
Nominator: Diane Ambrose

Kandace Diedrick
Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs
School of Business, Rutgers Camden
Nominator: Oscar Holmes IV

Malica T. Dock
IRB Assistant Director
Office for Research
Nominator: Hila Berger

Katy Gray (she/her)
Assistant Dean, Douglass Discovery & Academic Programs
Douglass Residential College
Nominator: Leslie Danehy

Jesus E. Gualario
Manager, Administrative Services
School of Health Professions
Nominator: Karen Shapiro

Daniel B. Horton (he/him)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology; Pediatric Rheumatologist
Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nominator: Brian Strom

Manuel “Manny” Jimenez
Associate Professor
Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nominator: Brian Strom

Matthew Keller
Assistant Director Business Operations and Animal Facilities
Office for Research
Nominator: Jeetendra Eswaraka

Krista Klein (she/her)
Acting Associate Dean
Honors College
Nominator: Anne Newman

Regina Koury
Associate University Librarian
Rutgers University Libraries (Camden)
Nominator: Caroline Muglia

Fina Liotta
Associate Teaching Professor & Undergraduate Coordinator and Advisor
Chemistry, Newark School of Arts and Sciences
Nominator: Frieder Jaekle

Zoe Makropoulos
Assistant Director
Rutgers Future Scholars
Nominator: Kim Williams

Joann “Jo” Choi Messina (she/her)
Associate Teaching Professor & Assistant Director of Business and Technical Writing
Writing Program, English, School of Arts and Sciences
Nominator: Lynda Dexheimer

Jennifer Gladys Mulle (she/her)
Associate Professor
Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nominator: Martin Blaser

Gregory L. Peck (he/him)
Associate Professor of Surgery & Associate Professor of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy
Acute Care Surgery and Clinical Epidemiology & Surgery
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Nominator: Brian Strom

Danielle Phillips-Cunningham
Associate Professor
Labor Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labor Relations
Nominator: Adrienne Eaton

Donnell Pierre
Associate Director, Advisement Center
School of Nursing
Nominator: Kyle Warren

Caryn Radick (she/her)
Digital Archivist, Special Collections and University Archives
Rutgers University Libraries
Nominator: Adriana Cuervo

Nadia Rago-Iddrisu
Department Administrator, Academic Success
School of Nursing
Nominator: Kyle Warren

Doaa Rashed
Teaching Professor, Department of English
Director, Language Engagement Project
School of Arts and Sciences
Nominator: Thomas Stephens

Aaron Stanley Reevey
Associate Director, Access & Administration
Rutgers Future Scholars
Nominator: Kim Williams

Amy Rockman
Director, Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence
Office of Clinical and Health Affairs, Rutgers Health
Nominator: Vicente Gracias

Julie E. Roncinske (she/her)
Assistant Dean III
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Dean’s Office
Nominator: Suneeta Ramaswami

Michelle Ruidiaz-Santiago (she/her/ella)
Executive Assistant
School of Public Health
Nominator: Paul Duberstein

Nuria Sagarra
Professor and Department Chair
Spanish and Portuguese, School of Arts and Sciences
Nominator: Laura Ramirez Polo

Phoebe Stapleton
Associate Professor
Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Nominator: Debra Laskin

Melissa Vargas (she/her)
Associate Director, EOF
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Nominator: Nancy Cintron

Kristen Victorino (she/her)
Associate Professor, Speech-Language Pathology Program
Rehabilitation & Movement Sciences, School of Health Professions
Nominator: Celeste Domsch

Kate Woodside (she/her)
Senior Program Coordinator
New Ventures, Office for Research
Nominator: Barbara Bender

Julia Zappi
Senior Data Analyst
Data, Analytics & Business Intelligence, Office for Research
Nominator: Christopher Perkins

Li Zhang
Associate Professor
Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Rutgers Business School
Nominator: Jay A. Soled