Ellen Bonaguro Named Associate Dean of The School of Humanities and Sciences

Ellen Bonaguro, a member of the speech communication faculty since 1993, has been appointed associate dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. In addition to the implementation of academic policies and procedures, her responsibilities include chairing the Technology Advisory Committee, coordinating the school’s admission activities, and overseeing the quality of academic life and education.

Bonaguro will assume her new duties June 1. She has been serving as interim assistant dean since last August, when Bill Russell left for a position with the Ithaca City School District.

"I am delighted to have received the associate dean position," Bonaguro says. "I feel that my education and experience have prepared me for the challenges I will face in this new capacity, and I look forward to continuing to work with faculty and students throughout the school."

"Ellen has been recently tenured and promoted, which shows important evidence of her strengths as a faculty member," says Howard Erlich, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. "The associate deanship requires keen academic judgment, the ability to be comfortable handling myriad tasks at once, and an abiding concern for student learning and growth. Ellen has demonstrated all this and more during her interim appointment."

Since joining the Ithaca faculty eight years ago as an assistant professor, Bonaguro has immersed herself in teaching, research, advising, and committee work. As a member of the All-College Planning and Priorities Committee, she played a key role in identifying the College’s long-range direction and future goals. In addition to chairing the subcommittee charged with revising the College’s mission statement, she cochaired the technology task group and served as the planning committee’s faculty representative on the College budget committee.

Bonaguro also formed a committee to develop a minor in health communication, which is now part of the curriculum, and for three years she had been faculty adviser for Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society of the National Communication Association. In 1999 she was honored with that organization’s Outstanding Faculty Award. Bonaguro serves on several department and school committees, and she is a faculty affiliate with the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute as well as a board member at Longview, the adult residential facility with which the College has a partnership.

In 2000 she was honored with an Excellence in Service Award, which is given annually to recognize continued and exceptional contributions to the College and the larger community. In 1998 she was nominated for an Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding subject mastery, presentation, and successful interaction with students.

Bonaguro was promoted to associate professor in August 2000. Before coming to Ithaca she was on the faculties of Northern Illinois University and Ohio University. She holds a doctorate in interpersonal communication from Ohio University, a master’s degree in health education from the University of Oregon, and a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Southern Illinois University.