Honors and Awards

Honors and Awards 2021-22

• William Paterson was nationally recognized for being among the top LGBTQ-friendly campuses in 2022 by the Campus Pride Index, a national listing of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The University earned a score of 4.5 out of a possible 5. The Campus Pride Index is an overall indicator of institutional commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs, and practices. (June 2022)

• Robb Rehberg, professor of kinesiology, was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Hall of Fame—the highest honor in the athletic training profession—for his influence on and advancement of the profession within the State of New Jersey. Rehberg is also a medical consultant and coordinator of the ATC (Athletic Training Certified) Spotter program for the National Football League and was a spotter for the 2022 Super Bowl. (June 2022)
  

• Head baseball coach Mike Lauterhahn was named New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Coach of the Year. This is Lauterhahn’s second NJAC Coach of the Year Award; he previously won in 2012. (May 2022)
  

• The Pioneer Baseball Team captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament Championship and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than 20 years. (May 2022)
  

• Senior baseball outfielder Dan Carter was named the 2022 NJAC Bill Dioguardi Player of the Year, as well as selected to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-American Second Team and d3baseball.com All-American Third Team. Colin Lombardo, a senior infielder, was named a d3baseball.com Fifth Team All-American. The team received the ABCA Team Excellence Award. (May 2022)
  

• The Pioneer Softball Team earned national academic recognition, ranking No. 44 in the country for team GPA. Fifteen players were recognized as National Fastpitch Coaches of America All-American Scholars. (May 2022)
  

• Four William Paterson voice students, Janais Martinez ‘22, Alejandro De Los Santos ‘23, Thomas Jefferson ‘23, and Salvatore Montero ’23, were accepted into summer 2022 opera music festival programs in Europe. Martinez was selected for the Trentino Music Festival in Trentino, Italy. De Los Santos, Jefferson, and Montero were accepted into the Prague Summer Nights Festival held in Tabor, Czechia and Prague, Czechia. (May 2022)
  

• Antoinette Arce ‘22, a public relations major, was one of four recipients of the 2022 Changebuilder Scholars Award presented by Engage New Jersey for her outstanding civic engagement. (May 2022)
  

• Miryam Wahrman, professor of biology, Nicole Davi, professor of environmental science, and Richard Kearney, research and electronic resources librarian, were the recipients of the 2022 Faculty Excellence Awards. Wahrman received the 2022 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching; Davi received the 2022 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression; and Kearney received the 2022 Faculty Award for Excellence in Service. (May 2022)
  

• Colleen DeNoia-Grace, MEd ’22, was selected as graduate student Commencement speaker. DeNoia-Grace earned a master of education degree in special education, with an endorsement as a Teacher of Students with Disabilities. (May 2022)
  

• Brian Wheeler ’22 was selected as the undergraduate student Commencement speaker He earned a bachelor of science degree in marketing, summa cum laude, with a minor in economics. (May 2022)
  

• Donna Minnich Spuhler, director of campus activities, service, and leadership, won the Distinguished Advisor Award from the National Society for Leadership and Success for her role as advisor to the University’s student chapter of the organization. (May 2022)
  

• William Paterson’s student chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success was named the organization’s 2022 Chapter of the Year. The award is given in recognition of demonstrating continuously excellent leadership to its members, campus, and community. (May 2022)

• Paul VonDohlen, professor of mathematics, received the 2022 Sr. Stephanie Sloyan Award for Distinguished Service from the Mathematical Association of America, New Jersey Section. (May 2022)
• Caelan Cardello ‘22, a jazz performance major, was selected as one of five finalists for the prestigious Cole Porter Fellowship presented by the American Pianists Association based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The award is presented every four years to an American jazz pianist following the organization’s unique 13-month competition process. (April 2022)

• Brandon Vallone ‘23, a psychology major, became the 2022 U.S. Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles National Champion. Vallone was one of the four top college bowlers from across the country to compete in the men’s division at the Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois. The competition aired on CBS Sports Network. (April 2022)

• Lydia Albuquerque, DNP ’18, assistant professor of nursing, was elected as a Distinguished Fellow by the National Academies of Practice, a non-profit organization that advises governmental bodies on the healthcare system. (April 2022)

• The Men’s Basketball Team reached the NJAC Tournament quarterfinals and was selected for the Eastern Conference Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament, reaching the championship game. (March 2022)

• Marina Budhos, professor of English, was awarded a 2022 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship. This mark’s her third fellowship from the Council, after previous honors in 2007 and 2013. (March 2022)

• Sean K. Wilson, associate professor of criminal justice, was awarded the Coramae Richey Mann Leadership Award at the 2022 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Conference. The award, the highest honor presented by the Minorites and Women section of ACJS, is given for contributions to the emerging body of knowledge about gender issues in criminology and criminal justice and impact on criminal justice on a national level. (March 2022)
  

• WPSC-FM radio station won four awards at the 82nd Annual Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) awards virtual ceremony.. The station won awards for Best Sports Director: Steven Mulder; Best Program Director: Vont Leak; Best Morning Show: Vont Leak, Justis Gregg, and Suzette Ramirez; and Best Campus News Coverage: Marissa Banks, Isabel Birritteri, and Johan Yamoza. The student-run WPTV television station won two awards: Best Comedy Program and Best Social Media Director (TV), Marissa Banks. (March 2022)

• Business professors Robert L. Laud, Andrey Kretinin, Stephen C. Betts, and Ana Cristina Siqueira were selected as recipients of the Bright Idea Award, sponsored by the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University. Laud, Kretinin, and Betts were recognized for their research paper, An Integrated Model for Large-Scale Social Entrepreneurship: Addressing Global Water Supply Problems. Siqueira was honored for her article, A commons strategy for promoting entrepreneurship and social capital: Implications for community currencies, cryptocurrencies, and value exchange. (March 2022)

• For the 12th year in a row, William Paterson University was recognized as a military-friendly school in the Guide to Military Friendly Schools, honoring those institutions that are implementing best practices and policies to recruit, develop and support student veterans, with the goal of providing them the tools they need to successfully move into the next chapter of their lives. (February 2022)

• The Women’s Swimming and Diving Team captured its 18th consecutive College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American Award. (February 2022)

• The longstanding relationship between the College of Education and the nearby Paterson Public School District was recognized with a 2022 Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement Award, bestowed by the National Association of Professional Development Schools. (February 2022)

• For the 14th consecutive year, William Paterson University’s Cotsakos College of Business was included in The Princeton Review’s guide to the top graduate business schools, which ranks programs across the nation based on graduates’ career outcomes, admissions selectivity, student surveys, and academic rigor, among other factors. (January 2022)

• Ana Cristina Siqueira, associate professor of management and director, Center for Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Cotsakos College of Business, received the Award for Excellence in Social Entrepreneurship, Practice, and Service from the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (January 2022)

• The University received full accreditation for its Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology Program from the American Psychological Association (APA). The program was fully accredited for ten years, with an effective date of December 2, 2021. (December 2021)

• Student-run radio station WPSC-FM (88.7) won the 2021 Marconi Award for College Radio Station of the Year. The prestigious Marconi Awards are presented by the National Association of Broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement by radio stations and individuals. (November 2021)

• The College of Education received the 2021 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). (November 2021)

• William Paterson is one of 15 institutions around the country, and the only institution in New Jersey, selected to participate in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Transformation Accelerator Cohort. The program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is designed to help institutions eliminate race, ethnicity, and income as predictors of student success. (November 2021)

• William Paterson ranked in the top 3 percent of 1,549 institutions in the country in the 2021 Social Mobility Index, created by CollegeNet to measure the extent to which a college or university educates more economically disadvantaged students at lower tuition and graduates them into good-paying jobs. (November 2021)

• The Field Hockey Team reached the ECAC Tournament quarterfinals. Academically, 14 players were named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Academic Squad with six as Scholars of Distinction. The team received the NFHCA National Team Academic Award. ((November 2021)

• The University is one of 27 colleges and universities across the country selected to join the first #RealCollege Institutional Capacity-Building Cohort of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, an initiative designed to focus on how colleges can support the basic needs of vulnerable students. (October 2021)

• Student Natalia Rybak was one of 12 recipients of the first RIA Talent Advantage Student Scholarship, awarded by Schwab Advisor Services and the Charles Schwab Foundation. Rybak received $10,000 for the 2021-22 academic year and was matched with an advisor/mentor from Schwab Advisor Services. (October 2021)

• Sylvaria Oyinkolade, a doctor of nursing practice student, was selected as the doctoral-level recipient of the 2021 Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley Memorial Scholarship Award presented by the New Jersey League for Nursing. (October 2021)

• Honors College student Maxwell Johnson ’22 presented his research during the annual Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference (CEMERS) at Binghamton University. CEMERS, founded in 1966, is one of the oldest and most recognizable international meetings for medieval and renaissance studies. (October 2021)

• William Paterson University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling master of education degree programs, housed within the Department of Special Education, Professional Counseling, and Disability Studies in the College of Education, were granted accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (September 2021)

• William Paterson University jumped to no. 26 in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of top performers on social mobility among 171 northern regional universities in the 2022 edition of Best Colleges. The University moved up 12 spots from no. 38 in the 2021 edition. and from no. 65 in the 2020 report. In addition, William Paterson tied for no. 6 of the same 171 regional universities in the Best Colleges category of “campus ethnic diversity.” (September 2021)

• The University’s Summer Learning and Profession Development Program garnered a 2021 HR Innovation Award from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR); the award recognizes innovative thinking in higher education human resources, especially models that can be adapted for use on other campuses. (August 2021)

• Nicholas Hirshon, assistant professor of communication, received the 2021 David L. Eshelman Outstanding Campus Adviser Award, presented by the Society of Professional Journalists. This marked the second time Hirshon has won the award since 2019, making him the first two-time winner in the 43-year history of the award. (August 2021)

• Francisco Díaz, associate vice president for student development, earned the 2021 Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service to NASPA for Region II. The award honors a member who has served in leadership roles at the state, regional, national, and/or international levels of NASPA for a sustained period of time and demonstrated outstanding achievement to the student affairs profession and Region II over an extended period. (August 2021)
  

• Caelan Cardello, a senior majoring in jazz studies, was awarded the Sixth Annual Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Future Jazz Master Scholarship, a $5,000 award for rising jazz stars pursuing an academic degree in jazz studies. A pianist and composer, Cardello was selected as the sole winner of the competition by a panel of National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) jazz master judges based on his talent and potential as a jazz performer and composer. (July 2021)

• Kathleen Malu, professor, educational leadership and professional studies, served as an English language specialist for the U.S. Department of State’s American English Teachers’ Corner program. Malu has been running workshops for the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar to help English Club leaders learn different ways to motivate people in the clubs, which is one of the ways people there might choose to learn English. (July 2021)