Class Notes, Summer 2024

1963

A retrospective exhibition of artwork by Ben Jones, The Universe of Ben Jones, was on view in the Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery at New Jersey City University during the spring 2024 semester. Also on view was Constellations, which featured artworks by 20 artists who have been mentored and influenced by Ben Jones. Both exhibitions were part of a year-long Mellon Foundation-funded collaboration between William Paterson University and New Jersey City University in celebration of Jones as a William Paterson alumnus and NJCU professor emeritus of art. Both exhibitions were on view in the William Paterson University Galleries during the fall 2023 semester.

1978

Margaret Miller sponsored the Montville Township Women’s Club’s recent Dance & Donate event, which resulted in the donation of 283 prom dresses to the non-profit project Self-Sufficiency's Sister-to-Sister Prom Shop. She also was appointed chairwoman of the Montville Zoning Board of Adjustment.

1983

Michael Carter, MEd ’88, head football coach at Bloomfield High School, was named the Super Football Conference’s “Coach of the Year” in the Freedom Red Division for 2023…Donald Generals, MA ’88, was named one of Metro Philadelphia's 2024 Black Power Players. The Black Power Players list highlights community leaders, innovators, and politicians from different industries and organizations across Philadelphia. Generals is president of Community College of Philadelphia.

1984

Joseph Cercone was named as an editor for the Journal of Medical Optometry.

1988

John D'Alessandro was appointed CEO of Honey Stinger, a company that makes sports nutrition products.

1992

Gwendolyn Pough was appointed associate dean of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University. In this role, she will work with college leadership to strengthen its commitment to promoting intellectual openness and maintaining a community that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds and perspectives. A scholar of feminist theory, African American rhetoric, women’s studies, and hip-hop culture, Pough is the Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and a professor of women’s and gender studies at Syracuse.

1994

Tommie Patterson, the head basketball coach at JFK High School in Paterson, was recognized for achieving 300 career wins. Patterson, an alumnus of JFK High School where he was a basketball standout, returned to coach his alma mater in 2015. Patterson, who played basketball at William Paterson, was inducted into the William Paterson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

1995

Christopher Giovannielli was appointed to the board of directors of the Architectural Glass and Metal Certification Council. He is director of global project management at Kawneer, a global building materials company.

1997

Danielle Green completed her PsyD in organizational leadership psychology at William James College in December 2023. She is chief operating officer at The Opportunity Network.

2000

Lyn Lowndes was selected to join the Saluting America’s Band organization to march in the 2023 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Lowndes, the band director at Richard Butler Middle School and the marching band director for Butler High School, joined 400 band directors from across the country.

2002

Glenn Felson was appointed as senior vice president of sales at Genea, which provides innovative property technology solutions.

2004

A recently published research study led by Dr. June Cade calls for a new policy to protect children with special needs. Cade’s study, “Child-centered Pedagogy: Guided Play-Based Learning for Preschool Children with Special Needs,” appeared in the Cogent Education Journal with support from the Skylands Research Institute at Sussex County Community College, where she teaches as an adjunct professor of early childhood education.

2005

Brian McCarthy, MM ’07, released his new jazz album, After/Life, in May 2023. The album features his band, the Brian McCarthy Nonet. He is based in Vermont.

2006

Filmmaker Lauren Krattiger, and her fellow filmmaker Carly Blake, created X Fan Retrospective, a documentary featuring exclusive interviews with nearly 100 original cast and crew members of the iconic show The X-Files for its 30th anniversary. They held a screening event in New York City that included a discussion with showrunner Chris Carter. The filmmakers’ dedication to The X-Files community earned them invitations to numerous events including the Washington, DC Comic Con and the 30th anniversary X-Files Convention in Minneapolis. In addition to preserving the legacy of the iconic television series, the pair use event appearances to raise funds for Morris County's JBWS, a private, nonprofit agency that provides safety, support, and solutions for domestic violence victims...Lauren Agnew and her husband Brian Agnew received TAPinto’s Rookie of the Year award for their TAPinto East Orange/Orange franchise. The award recognizes the top-performing new franchise. Lauren, who serves as owner and managing editor of the online publication, is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at William Paterson.

2009

Carlos Cano, MA ’17, has been appointed director of undergraduate admissions at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. He previously served as director of admissions communication and marketing at Georgian Court University.

2011

Brian Canever has published his first book, Big Head on the Block, a collection of 16 stories about growing up, messing up, and longing for something more. The book features essays he first published in his Substack newsletter, Storytime with Big Head. Canever is the content marketing manager for the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he is also an adjunct professor of journalism and public relations…Holley Cornetto has published two books, We Haunt These Woods (June 2022) and They Are Cursed Like You (June 2023) and is currently working on her third. Her short fiction has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Flame Tree Press Newsletter, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Collective Realms Magazine, among many others.

2014

Matt Miczulski is an investments editor at Finder. Before joining Finder in 2021, he covered everything from finance news and banking to debt and travel for FinanceBuzz. His expertise and analysis on investing and other financial topics have been featured on CBS, MSN, Best Company, and Consolidated Credit, among others.

2015

Virginia Fasulo, MAT, a high school science teacher at Lodi High School, received a Milken Educator Award. The Milken Educator Awards were created in 1987 by philanthropist and education visionary Lowell Milken and are considered one of the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition programs. Fasulo is the first-ever recipient from Lodi Public Schools. In addition to teaching, she leads Lodi’s biology and astrophysics clubs, a pre-med club, and a HOSA-Future Health Professionals chapter.

2017

Kevin Vega was selected for the 2023-24 Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program to Peru. He is one of only 20 U.S. citizens selected for the program, which dispatches expert K-12 teachers from the United States to participating countries around the globe. Vega, who is a history and social studies teacher at Princeton High School, will work in Peru for five weeks, starting in July. Stationed in the city of Ayacucho, and spending time in various classrooms and schools, he will lead seminars and workshops, review academic study plans, and suggest evaluations and assessments to measure learning outcomes.

2023

Frantz Charles released his second book, New Watchers: The Dead Sea Scroll, in July 2023. He released his first book in 2020 and is now writing his third. He also won the Silver Literary Titan Book Award for 2023…Katerine Hernandez was selected as a member of the third Social Justice Fellows Program cohort for the Memorial Foundation. She is one of fifty emerging leaders nationwide who will engage in a virtual eight-week curriculum centered around advocacy, community organizing, and public policy. She is a media and curation project manager for TED Conferences.