Further Community. More Connections.

LVC’s professors are focused on your success. They’ll challenge you in the classroom and connect you with fieldwork, internships, research, and resources that will prepare you for the success that comes next.

Dr. Elizabeth Sterner, chemistry

My student researchers and I make materials that display useful and surprising behaviors. I have three main project lines, all of which focus on controlling molecular structure, polymer structure, and polymer processing to achieve new material properties. The first project is working on rubber composites that could be used for puncture-resistant and inherently antimicrobial surgical gloves and gowning. The second project seeks to generate new impact-resistant plastics by engineering the way the polymer chains can vibrate on the molecular level. The third is designing all-solid-state rubbers that are super-soft (easy to stretch) and super-tough (hard to break) at the same time, with an eye toward applications in soft robotics and wearable sensors.

Dr. Kathryn M. Whiteley, criminal justice

Studies gender and violent crime. Volunteers as a Pennsylvania Prison Society Official Visitor. Producer of the documentary Until We Have Faces (2019), which features perspectives of incarcerated women.

Dr. Tom Dompier, athletic training

Researches injury and injury prevention. Named a 2018 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Several opeds published in USA Today.

Dr. Rachel Albert, psychology

Director of LVC’s Baby Lab. Researches language development and has been featured on NPR and in Scientific American.

Recent Faculty Honors

Dr. Christopher Dolan, political science

Received a U.S. Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to the Republic of North Macedonia. South East European University in Tetovo will be his host institution, where Dr. Dolan will conduct research in rule of law, security sector reform, and Euro-Atlantic security through the grant which runs through June 2022. His previous Fulbright award was with the University of Pristina in Kosovo (2019–20).

Dr. Daniel Pitonyak ’08, physics

Received a three-year, $164,862 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund his theoretical nuclear physics research. The grant will support ongoing student-faculty research as his team seeks “to map out a 3-dimensional image of the internal structure of visible matter.”

Dr. David Lyons, mathematical sciences

Received the fifth National Science Foundation grant of his career, enabling him to surpass $1 million in support for student-faculty work in his interdisciplinary (mathematics, physics, and computer & data science) Mathematical Physics Research Group during the past 15 years.

Dr. Grant Taylor, creative arts

Joined Emilie Shuler, an outpatient recreation therapist, to design an online art therapy program for veterans coping with isolation and depression during COVID-19. The virtual Vantage Point: Telehealth Photography Program focuses on COVID-related issues through personal phone camera photos. An online presence and exhibit published during Spring 2021.