Andrew Martino is Professor of English at Salisbury University. He has published widely on contemporary world literature and is a regular contributor to World Literature Today and Reading in Translation. In 2021 he was a Fulbright recipient to France.

Zachary Aidala, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychology of Bloomfield College at Montclair State University, and has served as Honors Program Coordinator since 2018. He earned a B.S. in Psychobiology from Binghamton University (SUNY), an M.A. in Psychology from Hunter College (CUNY), and a Ph.D. in Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience from The Graduate Center (CUNY). He is starting his second three-year presidential cycle as incoming NRHC Vice President, having just ended his NRHC Presidency in 2025. Trained as a neuroscientist and behavioral ecologist, his research focuses on the sensory ecology of avian brood parasites and their hosts, with a specific interest in the functional role of color vision. At Bloomfield College, he regularly teaches Statistics, Research Methods, and courses centered around the biology of behavior such as Biopsychology, Sensation and Perception, and Animal Behavior. The NRHC has served as a formative and invaluable resource for both Dr. Aidala and his students. Many changes to the Bloomfield College Honors Program have been initiated by conversations with NRHC colleagues.

Tanya Radford, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English and Co-Director of the honors program at Dominican University New York (DUNY). Dr. Radford holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Utah and a PhD in English from the City University of New York - Graduate Center. At Dominican,she teaches children’s and young adult literature, Enlightenment literature, and early American literature. Her current research focuses on representations of readers and the act of reading in children’s literature and popular culture.

When she’s not reading about reading, she enjoys hammock naps (or hammock reading followed by napping), mushroom hunting, and gardening.

Kat MacDonald is the Coordinator of the Honors Program and a faculty member in the English Department at Monroe College. She holds a Master’s degree in Mass Media and Communication from Fordham University and bachelor’s degrees in English, Communication Arts, and Women’s Studies from the College of New Rochelle. Before coming to Monroe College as a full-time faculty member (she was an adjunct first) in 2010, she served on the editorial team of Reader’s Digest. Kat just completed a four-year stint on the Executive Board of NRHC (she rotated through Vice President, President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President). Kat is also a member of the NCHC Publication Board.

Serving the students in her college’s Honors Program has been most rewarding. She believes NRHC gives students the opportunity to present their research, collaborate with their peers, and become exposed to new ideas and places. She has had the pleasure of mentoring the Student Reps since 2013, when her first student served in Niagara Falls. Subsequently, two students from her institution served at Cambridge in 2015. Her students also served as Student Representative in Pittsburgh in 2017 and Baltimore in 2019. Watching the students grow and learn is extremely satisfying.

As Secretary, Kat hopes to streamline communications and create a lasting archive/repository of all NRHC documents. Kat hopes to continue to strengthen the NRHC Journal, Illuminate. Kat believes that honors is all about the students, and NRHC is here to help make that experience unforgettable.

Dr. Michael Tasto is a Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Finance and Economics at Southern New Hampshire University. His primary research fields of interest is urban and regional economics and has been an Excellence in Teaching Nominee at SNHU in 2009 and 2010.

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He received his B.S. in Economics from St. John’s University in 2001, his M.A in Economics in 2006 and his Ph.D. in Economics in 2007 from Georgia State University. He has given numerous presentations at academic conferences, published peer-reviewed journal articles, and co-edited 2 books on entrepreneurship.

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He currently serves as Treasurer for the SNHU Professional Employees Association and was one of the lead negotiators for the Association’s 5-year faculty and staff contract (representing over 1,600 employees).

Cheryl J. Campo is the Director of Honors and Undergraduate Research at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD. She has spent much of her career as either an educator or administrator in K-12 and higher education and has also worked as a bench scientist in industry and government contract research labs, an artist/educator onstage and with youth performing arts programs, a volunteer in legal clinics, and an intern on the Hill. Dr. Campo earned a B.A. in Chemistry and M.Ed. in Secondary Education with a Science concentration from Rutgers University, an M.S. in Polymer Science from the University of Connecticut, a Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering  from Case Western Reserve University, and a J.D. from the University of Maryland. She also serves as Chair-Elect of NCHC’s Arts and Creativity Committee and Interim Secretary of NCHC’s Two-Year Colleges Committee.

New to the NRHC Web Coordinator position, Dr. Campo is excited to engage with the honors community in the northeast region and beyond by maintaining and further developing the website for optimized communication between all interested stakeholders. As such, she welcomes feedback and suggestions from visitors regarding ways in which the website can better inform connect, and support honors constituents.

Dr. Diana H. Polley currently serves as Director of the Martinson Honors Program and Associate Professor of English at the United States Air Force Academy. In her role as Director, she is charged with overseeing curricular and experiential learning opportunities for USAFA’s 350 honors cadets, or “Scholars”—those cadets who are not only top academic achievers but are also intellectually curious, lifelong learners, and interested in applying their intellect to engage with and elevate those around them. In addition to her administrative work, she has intellectual interests of her own, particularly regarding the shifting paradoxes of America, then and now. Her research has focused on American literature and culture of the long 19th century, the American West, the digital humanities, and honors. Her book, Echoes of Emerson, won the 2018 Robert Penn Warren—Cleanth Brooks Award for Outstanding Literary Criticism. She is currently in the process of working on a digital critical edition of J. Hector St John de Crèvecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer (1782). In addition, she is performing preliminary research for a monograph, “Cowboys and Capitalists,” which traces shifts in masculinity—as portrayed in American literature and culture—from the inception of the “new” American West in the early 19th century, through its industrial development in the 19th century by robber barons, and its “closure” in the early 20th century. She spent the majority of her academic career (and life) in the northeast and is looking forward to reengaging with and serving the northeast honors community in her role.​​

Chris Brittain is the Academic Administrator of the Early College Department at Ocean County College. He graduated from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 2010 with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Communication Media and in 2012 with a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Higher Education Administration. He has been working with Honors Programs in the Northeast Region for fifteen years, and served as the NRHC Web Coordinator from 2016-2019 and NRHC President and Conference Chair in 2021.  In addition to his involvement with the Northeast Regional Honors Council, he spends much of his time pursuing interests in photography and event-planning.

Dr. Alison McCartney

Sarah Roe, Ph.D., is a professor of history and philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University, as well as the Director of the Honors College. She earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy at University of California, Davis, specializing in philosophy of science and ethics.

Dr. Roe’s scholarship and teaching interests focus on the intersection of science and values, including the history of science, underrepresented minority groups and science, and biomedical ethics. Dr. Roe is also the Director of the Research Center on Values in Emerging Science and Technology.

Nathaniel C. Dent is a junior honors psychology student from Norristown Pennsylvania. Alongside his academic research on somatic healing and trauma, Nathaniel serves as an Assistant Resident Director and represents his peers on Kutztown's Honors Advisory Council. As a first-generation student, Nathaniel is committed to peer mentorship, student advocacy, and building collaborative campus spaces. He is thrilled to serve as a Student Representative for the NRHC, aiming to embrace regional connection and empower student leaders across honors programs.

​Sai Sravani Nimishakavi is an incoming third year undergraduate student at the University at Albany, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with double minors in Psychology and Computer Science. She is a member of the Honors College, serving as both an Honors College Ambassador and the Programming Committee Chair on the Honors College Student Governing Board. Sravani conducts undergraduate research under Dr. J. Andrew Berglund at the RNA Institute, focusing on a multisystemic, muscular disorder called Myotonic Dystrophy. She volunteers as a Biology tutor, serves as a Peer Advisor for the Pre‑Health Advising Committee, and is also on the executive boards of the Pre‑Medical Club, Neuroscience Club, and UAlbany Hasya, an Indian classical dance team. Sravani is excited to bring her perspective and leadership to the NRHC Executive Board as the student representative and contribute to a stellar 2027 conference.

​Awurabena Ofori-Amo is a first-generation Ghanaian sophomore in the Honors College at Southern Connecticut State University, pursuing a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Computer Science through the Accelerated Graduate Pathway. She serves as the Student Government Association Vice President and as a Career Peer in the Office of Career and Professional Development, where she is passionate about fostering inclusive communities and supporting student success.
Outside the classroom, Awurabena conducts neuroscience research at the Yale School of Medicine and aspires to become a physician-scientist through an MD-PhD program. Her research interests include consciousness, postictal states following epilepsy, and the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence. In her free time, she enjoys reading, golfing, staying active in the gym, and traveling.
As a Northeast Regional Honors Council Student Representative, Awurabena looks forward to creating meaningful opportunities for students to connect, collaborate, and feel inspired to pursue their own academic and personal journeys just as she did.