SCPS - Key Persons
Amanda Gaddam holds both a BA in English Literature and MA in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse from DePaul University. In addition to teaching, she serves as the Writing Fellows Program Coordinator for the University Center for Writing-based Learning. Her research interests include first-year composition pedagogy, writing center pedagogy, adult education pedagogy, and economic criticisms in American literature.
Amelie Prusik has an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College and a BA from Princeton University in English Literature and Creative Writing. She has written in literary, business, and professional journals and for public relations and advertising media. Her short stories have appeared in The North American Review and online at Lantern Journal. Her novel, Light Sister, Dark Sister, was published by Random House and won Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers award.
Job Titles:
- President of Scarlett Consulting
An advocate of relationship-building through networking, Anne has provided board-level leadership to organizations such as Corporate Real Estate Women and the Chicago Young Executives' Club. Anne is published regularly in industry publications: Modern Steel Construction; PSMJ's A/E Rainmaker; RainGroup's RainToday. A dynamic public speaker, Anne addresses audiences for groups such as American Institute of Architects, Society for Marketing Professional Services, and American Council of Engineering Companies.
Anne holds an MS in Communications from Northwestern University and a BS in Interior Design from Indiana University. She is an adjunct professor at DePaul University and Columbia College, and has taught Professional Speaking Skills, Oral Communication for Managers, Oral Expressions, Business Writing, and Business and Professional Communication.
Anne Scarlett, LEED AP, President of Scarlett Consulting, offers her clients hands-on attention and A/E/C industry-specific business development expertise. Her diverse insights come from over 25 years of consulting to-and working in-house for-reputable firms ranging in size, discipline, and focus.
Barbara Ridd earned her Bachelors degree in Biological Sciences from University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana and her Masters degree in Marine Biology/ Ecology from University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her expertise is coral reef ecology and has an extensive research background in ecological systems, worldwide.
Brad Harbaugh is a Double Demon, with a BA from DePaul's School for New Learning (renamed the School of Continuing and Professional Studies), and an MBA from DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, and Leadership & Change Management. He is an Associate Vice President of Marketing for VelocityEHS, a software company whose mission is to "Make workplaces safer and more sustainable." Brad is also a Chicago-based, professional actor (AFTRA/SAG). He studied improvisation at iO Theater under Del Close and traveled the country for fifteen years as an actor/writer with the award-winning comedy troupe Wavelength. A veteran of Chicago stages, WGN TV named him "One of Chicago's best physical comedians."
Bridgette Mahan has twenty years of internal and external accounting/auditing and management experience including project management and systems software/audit training.
Dr. Kisiel holds an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts (Columbia College Chicago), an MRes in Humanities and Cultural Studies (Birkbeck College, University of London), and a PhD in Literature (University of Essex, UK). Her background includes work in the fields of immigration law, training and development, creative writing, and improvisational storytelling and movement. Integrating the arts with workplace, cultural, and identity concerns, she aims to cultivate onsite and online classrooms that enable adult learners to express themselves deeply and authentically. A travel writing scholar with a focus on Illinois and Ohio Valley history and early American culture, her research and writing explores intersections between travel, culture and creativity, and perceptions of early nineteenth-century British travelers about slavery. Dr. Kisiel is also an Illinois Humanities Road Scholar who presents and writes about the struggle to keep Illinois from becoming a slave state during the early years of statehood.
Charles F. Stone is an attorney in private practice, specializing in special education, employment and personal injury law. He earned his JD from the University of Illinois.
Corinne L. Benedetto is an Associate Professor. She has formerly served as Interim Dean, Associate Dean for Operations and Enrollment Management and as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs. As Associate Professor, she has designed and taught courses focusing on human behavior and professional ethics.
She earned a PhD in sociology at the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in sociology from the Department of Sociology, History and American Studies at Rosary College. She is currently pursuing a master's in Jewish studies from the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the SCPS Resident Faculty
Dan K. Hibbler is a member of the SCPS Resident Faculty. His PhD in Leisure Behavior is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His interests focus on leisure behavior and leisure administration in urban environments related to issues of social justice.
Dan Bashara received his MA and PhD from Northwestern University's Screen Cultures program, and his BA in English from the University of Florida. He teaches courses for the DePaul College of Communication on animation, media and cultural theory, science fiction, the city in film, and the weird and fantastic.
His work explores animation in connection with other fields of visual culture, including architecture, graphic design, and cartography, and he is the author of Cartoon Vision: UPA Animation and Postwar Aesthetics (University of California Press, 2019). His primary scholarly interest is modernism in all of its forms, particularly as it engages with questions of vision, perception, and abstraction, and he is currently developing a project exploring modernism and horror in literature and visual culture.
David Hinman is a retired senior, global financial services professional. He led retail banking, commercial banking, wealth management and marketing organizations locally in Chicago and New York, nationally, and across the Pacific Rim in Asia and Australia. David holds MBAs from the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester, numerous professional certifications, inactive securities licenses and he is a retired Certified Financial Planner.
David Simpson earned his PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. His primary interests are literary and intellectual history, including classical, medieval, and Renaissance studies, as well as contemporary ethics and moral philosophy. A veteran US Army officer and former member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, he has served as a consultant in business writing and technical stock-market analysis, has written articles and reviews on topics ranging from jazz and cinema to slang and cyberculture, and published several articles on important philosophers and literary figures, including Lucretius, Sir Francis Bacon, Blaise Pascal, and Albert Camus.
Job Titles:
- Professor, Department Chair
Deborah Snyder has served as a professor, department chair, dean, and senior vice provost. She is active in professional organizations and consulting for organizations in leadership, communication, and strategic planning. She has written 2 books, for encyclopedias of educational technology, and was a pioneer in Internet-based delivery of education. Deborah has an undergraduate degree in psychology, an MBA, and a PhD in Organizational Communication from Wayne State University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Cannabis Studies
Donna has served as an adult learning facilitator in a wide variety of roles and settings for more than thirty years. In higher education, she was a member of the resident faculty of SCPS for 12 years and has taught in both the undergraduate and graduate programs as an adjunct faculty member for 14 years. Donna served as Dean of Academic Services at Oakton Community College from 2002-2012 where she led the effort to improve services to adult students and to implement a First Year Experience Program. More recently, Donna was Associate Vice-President for Higher Education at CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) from 2014-2016 and continues to serve as a consultant for CAEL, working with academic institutions across sectors as well as with business and not-for-profit organizations. Donna's particular areas for continuous inquiry for emotional and social competence and organizational development.
Doug Murphy is the Dean of Operations and Strategic Educational Initiatives at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. He has been a member of the part-time faculty since 1990. In 2022, he received the Excellence in Teaching Award from DePaul. His MA with a focus in Academic Strategic Planning was earned through SCPS and his BA in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Ardolino holds a B.S. in Computer Science, MPM in Project Management, PMP certification, and a PhD in Organization and Management with a specialization in Project Management. She has worked in the information technology, local government, healthcare, and privacy data sectors throughout her professional life.
She developed the Project Management Certificate Program at DePaul University and was the principal instructor of the program for over 10 years. She was an instructor and professional advisor for students seeking a degree in project management-related fields with the School for New Learning, now known as the School for Continuing and Professional Studies, and currently focuses on Prior Learning Assessments to assist students in moving forward with their academic pursuits. She continues to teach Project Management courses at the undergraduate level.
Her educational philosophy is simple: Embrace knowledge, share experiences, and maintain passion as a lifelong learner. Embrace failure as a part of the journey to success.
Elizabeth Leavy holds a Masters of Science in Women's Studies from Minnesota State University and a PhD in General Psychology from Capella University.
Ellen J. Benjamin earned her Masters in Social Work at The University of Michigan and PhD in Social Service Administration at The University of Chicago. For more than 35 years she has been involved in advocacy work on social causes, having served as an employee, co-founder and trustee of nonprofit organizations such as The American Friends Service Committee, The Midwest Women's Center, ACLU and Amnesty International USA. She currently serves on the boards of Planned Parenthood, Personal PAC and as Co-Chair of The Chicago Foundation for Womens Alumni Council. She directed two philanthropic institutions within Chicago (the Borg-Warner Corporate Foundation and The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation) and focuses her teaching and publications on nonprofit management and philanthropy. Awards received in recognition of these activities include the National Society of Professional Fundraisers' Professional Grantor's Award and DePaul University's Excellence in Public Service Award.
During the 1998/99 academic year, she taught courses on nonprofit management and women's studies as a Visiting School in Turkey through the sponsorship of the US State Department's Fulbright Commission. In 2003, Dr. Benjamin spent a semester abroad, again with Fulbright sponsorship, joining the social work faculty at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania. During 2008, as a Fulbright Senior Specialist, she taught classes on nonprofit governance, fundraising, social work ethics and research methodology in Ulaan Baatar within Mongolian State University of Education's Social Work Department. In 2013 the National Association of Social Workers named Dr. Benjamin Social Worker of the Year.
Erin Kasprzak has an BA in English and History from Bradley University and an MA in History from Indiana University - Bloomington. She is an Instructional Designer at Faculty Instructional Technology Services for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, where she supports faculty developing online and hybrid courses. She teaches technology and history courses.
Gina Orlando, MA, CH has a passion for health in body, mind, emotions and spirit and has worked for 37 years as an educator, consultant, writer, coach and practitioner in the holistic health, integrative healthcare, natural foods and disease prevention fields, helping people of all ages to make positive changes in their lives, health and "wellth." With a strong Biology background she earned her Master of Arts degree from DePaul University in the School for New Learning in 1998 as an educator and consultant in holistic health promotion and complementary medical approaches to health and disease prevention. Her Master's thesis dealt with the power of prayer and positive intention in healing as well as disease prevention. Having found that positive change can be more easily facilitated by accessing the fascinating science of the mind-body connection and subconscious mind she was certified as a hypnotherapist in 2000. She is trained in self-hypnosis, relaxation techniques, guided imagery, Emotional Freedom Techniques and other mind-body-energy techniques. Fascinated with energy medicine, which is the science of biophysics, she is trained and certified in various modalities. Feel free to explore those on her site, www.ginaorlando.com. She is intrigued with the role of spirituality in health and wellness and is delighted that science and spirit are coming together again as part of the wellness whole health paradigm at this time in our culture and world.
Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis, JD, PhD, is an adjunct faculty member currently affiliated with SCPS where she taught Workplace Law. She has also taught courses on estate planning and wills and trusts at DePaul's Law School, and from 2016 to 2019 she taught Business Ethics at DePaul's Business School (as a Joint offering of the Department of Religious Studies and Business School).
Halina Cowin holds an MBA in Marketing and Management from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She has significant marketing and advertising experience and is Director of Marketing for a Chicago-area non-profit.
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Operations
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- Assistant Dean, Operations
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- Director, Labor Education Center
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Academic Advising
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor Director of Student Support Services
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Undergraduate Programs
Job Titles:
- Program Director, Labor Education Center
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the Dean
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor Emeritus
Job Titles:
- Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing ( SCPS and LAS / English ), Adjunct Faculty Advisory Committee ( AFAC ) Representative
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Academic Advising
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- Marketing Communications Specialist
Job Titles:
- Professor and Dean Emeritus
Job Titles:
- Dean, School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Job Titles:
- Academic Advisor, PLA Core Visiting Faculty