Centenary College Adds New Faculty 

Hackettstown, N.J., October 5, 2009 – Centenary College is pleased to announce the addition of seven new faculty members this semester in the following programs: Business, Education, History, Mathematics, Sociology and Theatre.

“It was necessary to hire additional faculty members to accommodate the growth that our programs have experienced recently,” says Dr. James Patterson, Centenary College’s vice president for Academic Affairs.  “Their expertise, background and passion for their subject matter make them excellent additions to the Centenary family.”

The new faculty members are as follows:

Emily Williams Anderson – Assistant Professor of Education.  Anderson’s previous positions include serving as an adjunct instructor at Centenary College, as well as certification coordinator in the Education Department. She also served as assistant director for academic transitions, first-year programs and was a research assistant for the Strategic Advancement Department.

Anderson holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Lehigh University College of Education and is matriculating in Lehigh University College’s Learning Sciences and Technology program. She is also a certified Teacher of Social Studies (K-12).

Aaron R. Bachstein – Instructor of History.  Previous positions include serving as adjunct professor of Western European and American History at Warren County Community College and Centenary College. Bachstein is currently researching newly discovered memoirs and papers of General Daniel E. Sickles.  He has also researched, compiled and authored the Regimental history of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, using original correspondence, manuscripts, military documents and the personal diary of John Hazeltine, Captain, Company E.

Bachstein holds an MA from Villanova University and resides in Bethlehem, Pa.

Frances Craig Congdon – Assistant Professor of Education.  Congdon was an independent consultant, interim director of field placements and teaching assistant for Rutgers University.  Congdon was also an assistant professor of Education at Centenary College from 1996 to 2001.  In addition, she was a classroom teacher for the Tewksbury Township Schools in Califon and was a coordinator and teacher of the Gifted and Talented Program

Congdon holds a M.Ed. in Reading from East Stroudsburg University, as well as an education specialist degree from Rutgers University and resides in Pittstown, N.J.

Stephen Davis – Assistant Professor of Theatre.  Davis has been a freelance director, actor, teacher and fight choreographer.  He has directed educational tours for Kean University, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ), and the American Globe Theatre (AGT) in New York City.  At Kean University, he taught acting improvisation, stage makeup, and a class entitled “Kean Players on Tour.”  At the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, he had been a stage combat instructor for the Summer Professional Training Program for five years.  As a teaching artist for Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey, he taught playwrighting, acting, and on-camera acting.  For Primary Stages in New York City, he developed and taught in-school video residencies, entitled “Primary Voices,” which have been taken to four different New York City high schools.

He holds an MFA in Theatre from University of South Carolina and resides in Hackettstown.

Kitsy Dixon – Assistant Professor of Sociology.  Dixon previously served as a visiting assistant professor of Sociology and was a housemaster for the Summer Institute for the Gifted in Atlanta.  She was also a lecturer at New Jersey City University, as well as a lecturer for Buffalo State College and an instructor for Niagara University.   Dixon was also a youth coordinator for Longview United Medical Center and assistant hall director for State University at Buffalo.

Dixon holds an MA in American Studies at State University at Buffalo and is working toward a D.M.H. in Medical Humanities from Drew University.  Dixon resides in Hackettstown.

Heather Hamilton Pelletier – Temporary Assistant Professor of Business.  Pelletier was an adjunct Business professor at Centenary, as well as career services coordinator.  She also was a business teacher for Mansfield High School in Mass.

Pelletier holds an MBA from Johnson and Wales University and resides in Allamuchy, N.J. 

Krassi Lazarova – Instructor of Mathematics.  Lazarova previously served as the assistant chair of Department of Liberal Arts and Science at Berkeley College and was a part-time consultant with W. W. Norton Publishing Company.  She was also a faculty member at Pope John XXII High School in Sparta.  She spent a year at the University of Houston as a postdoctoral research scientist and was an environmental scientist at the Air Protection Division, U.S. EPA, Region III, in Philadelphia.  Lazarova holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Drexel University and a MS in Physics from Sofia State University in Bulgaria.  She resides in Landing, N.J.