Congratulations to the members of the faculty who were awarded promotions by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees at its May meeting.
The biographies of the faculty members were provided by their respective schools.
The following assistant professor was promoted to associate professor.
Mark Addona
Roy H. Park School of Communications
Department of Strategic Communication
Mark Addona (M.F.A., Savannah College of Art and Design) teaches courses in strategic communication, including advertising, graphic design, and brand communication. A highly student-engaged teacher, he emphasizes hands-on, project-based learning that connects classroom work to real-world clients and professional practice. His creative and scholarly work centers on visual communication, design, and emerging technologies such as AI, integrating industry experience into his teaching and advancing student learning in applied, practice-based communication fields.
The following 14 faculty members were promoted from associate professor to professor.
Jack Bryant
Roy H. Park School of Communications
Department of Media Arts, Sciences, and Studies
Jack Bryant (M.F.A., Boston University) teaches screenwriting, media history, and emerging media courses, from foundational writing to advanced thesis work. An accomplished creative practitioner, he has written and produced multiple feature films with national and international distribution. His work spans screenwriting, script consulting, and media production, bringing current industry practice into the classroom. His teaching is widely recognized for its rigor, mentorship, and lasting impact on students’ creative and professional development.
Peter Johanns
Peter Johanns (M.S., Syracuse University) teaches television studio production, directing, and media performance courses, emphasizing hands-on, experiential learning in complex production environments. An award-winning documentary filmmaker, his work has received national distribution on PBS. His creative practice also includes widely viewed social media video production, reaching millions of audiences and informing his teaching of contemporary media storytelling, audience engagement, and digital platforms. He is widely recognized for his exceptional teaching and sustained impact on student learning and success.
Kari Brossard Stoos
School of Health Sciences and Human Performance
Department of Health Sciences and Public Health
Kari Brossard Stoos (Ph.D., University at Buffalo) is an exemplary teacher-scholar whose work centers on microbes, mechanisms, and reproductive health. She delivers high-impact undergraduate and graduate teaching, innovative courses, inclusive mentoring, and skills-based, service-learning experiences. Her internationally recognized scholarship advances One Health and antimicrobial resistance through interdisciplinary, globally collaborative research, supported by major funding and a Fulbright. She provides extensive institutional, professional, and community service, including COVID leadership, advising, and public health partnerships.
Amy Frith
Amy Frith (Ph.D., Cornell University) is a public health educator and scholar demonstrating sustained excellence in teaching, research, and service. She leads a broad, inclusive undergraduate teaching portfolio emphasizing food insecurity, maternal and child health, and global health. Her impactful scholarship advances food access and community health through collaborative, well-funded nutrition and global health-related research published in top journals. She also provides extensive leadership through advising, mentoring, curriculum development, departmental chairship, and long-standing community partnerships.
Hongwei Guan
Hongwei Guan (Ph.D., Indiana University) integrates theory, scholarship, and service into his teaching through active, practice-based learning that prepares students for professional and global engagement. His strengths include experiential pedagogy, inclusive and culturally immersive coursework, and innovative international and service-learning initiatives, particularly in winter sports and global sport contexts in China. He demonstrates adaptability by developing new courses, leveraging technology to inform course redesign, and retooling expertise to meet evolving curricular needs while fostering hands-on, high-impact learning experiences.
David Salomon
School of Humanities and Sciences
Department of Art, Art History, Architecture
David Salomon (Ph.D., University of California) has taught a wide range of courses, serving the Architecture area with flexible creativity. Students praise his sense of humor, his ability to inspire imaginative thinking, and the support he provides for those seeking careers in architecture. His research involves architectural design, history, and theory, and his recent work includes a co-edited catalog, a curated exhibit, numerous articles, and book chapters—an output reviewers call “formidable” and “extraordinarily original.” He has served as chair of AAHA, co-director of Innovation Scholars, and a member of an H&S strategic planning task force, among other activities. Colleagues call him “an exemplary citizen,” “gracious and collaborative,” and a model department chair who helps his colleagues weather challenges.
Ali Erkan
Department of Computer Science
Ali Erkan (Ph.D., Lehigh University) teaches courses at all levels of the CS curriculum, with an impassioned dedication to student learning. His colleagues call him a transformative educator, and alumni gratefully recall his concern for them as full human beings, not just students of computer science. His research interests include geographic information systems and computing education, and reviewers praise the innovative approaches he brings and the interdisciplinary nature of his scholarship. As chair of CS, he oversaw the creation of an AI major, a Data Science major offered collaboratively with Mathematics, and the first micro-credentials at IC. Colleagues call him boundlessly enthusiastic, with a “strong sense of fairness and academic rigor.”
Ellie Fulmer
Department of Education
Ellie Fulmer (Ed.D., University of Pennsylvania) has taught multiple courses for Education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, while demonstrating a deep commitment to faculty excellence across the college. Students describe her as engaging, inspiring, and deeply humane, noting that she serves as a model they wish to emulate in their future lives as teachers. Her scholarship focuses on student engagement with mathematics textbooks as well as biases in educational texts, and she has published in both areas, earning praise from reviewers as a scholar who contributes meaningfully to important dialogues in education. As Director of Equity-Focused Teaching and Learning in the CFE, she has richly advanced IC’s commitment to inclusivity and equity in and outside of the classroom.
Jen Spitzer
Department of English
Jen Spitzer (Ph.D., New York University) has taught courses that span the English curriculum while contributing to the ICC and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Students call her brilliant and compassionate, declaring that she is “like sunshine in the classroom” and creates spaces “where intellectualism and joy coexist.” Her recent scholarship includes a book, Secret Sharers: The Intimate Rivalries of Modernism and Psychoanalysis ; articles that explore transatlantic modernism; and public-facing essays about death, illness, and mourning that reviewers call “proof of why the study of language, literature, [and the] humanities…matter.” Her service includes chairing her department and sitting on the steering committee for WGSS. Here, too, her colleagues say she exhibits unwavering kindness, responsibility, and collegiality.
Jason Freitag
Department of History
Jason Freitag (Ph.D., Columbia University) has taught 22 global history courses serving not just History but the ICSM and Slow Read programs. His goal is to put students on a lifelong journey of cultural discovery and they respond gratefully, praising his success in kindling their curiosity and bringing history vibrantly to life. His scholarship focuses on South Asia and the British Empire, and his current research project, which won him the Robert Ryan Humanities Professorship, concerns the life and death of an early 19th century Mewari princess and her example of female heroism. His good citizenship has benefited communities within and outside IC, including his work chairing the Strategic Planning Process Design Team and serving on the board of Ithaca City of Asylum.
Ted Galanthay
Department of Mathematics
Ted Galanthay (Ph.D., University of Colorado) teaches courses to a wide-ranging audience, including business, natural sciences, and math majors. He earns applause for his personalized approach and his ability to make math courses collaborative and fun. His scholarship focuses on mathematical ecology, modeling, and dynamical systems. He has published widely, often with undergraduate co-authors. His collaborative spirit is also clear in his service. As chair of Mathematics, he worked with Computer Science to develop a shared Data Science major, and he facilitates an Interdisciplinary Speaker Series that bridges disciplinary divides. Colleagues describe him as “a very accessible and trusted fellow” who has made “a lasting and positive impact” on IC.
Christopher House
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Christopher House (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh) teaches courses that serve Religious Studies as well as CSCRE, and he leaves an enduring impact on students, who report that he teaches them resilience and inspires them as a “voice of conscience.” His research interests are in Black Pentecostal rhetoric, rhetorical theology, and Black church studies, and he has published widely, prompting reviewers to call him one of the leading voices in his field. His service is intertwined with his teaching and scholarship: he is Chapel Associate for IC, and he engages extensively with the community as a member of the Southside Community Center and the NYS Clemency Advisory boards, and as Senior Pastor for the Christian Community Church in Ithaca.
Kelley Sullivan
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Kelley Sullivan (Ph.D., University of Rochester) offers courses that span the Physics curriculum, and her post-tenure journey involved embracing compassion as integral to her teaching and infusing her classroom with pedagogies focused on access and inclusivity. Students respond with glowing praise, commending the accepting instructional space she fosters and her ability to convince them they can master physics. Her scholarship manifests the same values, in the form of an NSF S-STEM grant and articles on pedagogy. Reviewers attest that her innovations have the potential to revolutionize physics instruction. She serves as vice-chair of Faculty Council and on the All-College Tenure and Promotion Committee, and she co-hosted a Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. Colleagues describe her as someone who “makes you proud to work at IC.”
Jennifer Kay
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Department of Music Performance
Jennifer Kay (D.M.A., Boston University) serves as department chair and has taught voice at the college since 2007. An internationally active masterclass clinician and adjudicator, she has presented invited masterclasses in Ireland, China, and across the United States. Her teaching emphasizes healthy vocal technique, stylistic versatility, and individualized mentorship.