Diane reflects on her time at Syracuse University, and the people and experiences that prepared her for leadership.
Human Development & Family Science News
Together for Better: Diane Lyden Murphy’s 45 Years of Service
Diane Lyden Murphy
Many know Diane Lyden Murphy as the Dean of Falk College, a position she has held since 2005. But her journey and impact at Syracuse extend well beyond her deanship. In many ways, her leadership in Falk College was shaped by the people and experiences in Diane’s life before Falk College even existed.
As we approach the end of August 2023 and the conclusion of her deanship, we sat down with Diane to reflect on her personal journey to academia; her calling to social policy, social justice, and feminist scholarship; and her remarkable 45 years of service at Syracuse University. Here is her story:
Moving In a Crowd
“Do you want to be a jumping hyena? Or do you want to play ball?” One of the sisters who taught at Our Lady of the Valley, a Catholic high school in Orange, New Jersey, was encouraging a young Diane Lyden to join the basketball team. It was the early 1960s, a time when women’s competitive sports were still new and most young women were cheerleaders. “The nuns were my first feminist teachers,” she said. “I didn’t know it then.”
Thanks to the nuns’ encouragement, Diane joined the women’s team, which won several state championships in northern New Jersey. “I wasn’t top of the team. But my very best friend Bernie was. She was a top shooter in Jersey. Boys would get scholarships every year. But there were no scholarships for Bernie, so she did not go to college.”
Growing up in North Jersey, there were Irish, Italian, and Polish neighborhoods. At home, she was part of a multi-generational household of first-generation Irish Catholics. Diane was the eldest of 10 children—four girls and six boys. The house was huge, and it needed to be—it was home to her siblings, grandparents, and aunt and uncle “I’ve always lived in a gang, that’s how I moved around and knew life. There were always little kids around. There was always lots of activity. We went to school, and church, and athletics. You had to do well in your own role.”
In school and at home, Diane found a mix of “old world” culture mixed with the social justice values of her Jesuit education and home upbringing. “The whole ethos and modeling and life I had was always built around issues of social justice and giving back and philanthropy, mutual aid, and leadership in that area. The concept that what you’re given must be returned,” she said.
The family went to mass every day, and they all worked by the time they were 16. “I either volunteered, or by 16 I had a job.” In high school, Diane was a hospital volunteer, often called a “candy striper.” Even there, Diane was marching to her own drum. “I kept getting into trouble because I kept on serving the people. You’re supposed to just give them their food and leave—but I kept on feeding the old people,” she said, grinning. “The nurses finally said to me, ‘You’re only supposed to leave the trays, you’re not doing the right job, you’re fired,’” she laughed. “I had a little rebel streak. If anybody said don’t, I did.”
But as traditional and new ideas of the world in the 1960s found themselves at odds, Diane found a way to preserve the best of both and still push for progress. Perhaps her biggest act of individual thinking was her decision to go to college. Diane had a knack for academia; she took three years of math, and even won a state award for her four years of Latin language education.
Although she was at a college prep school, her family did not understand why she wanted to go to college. No one in her family had earned a bachelor’s degree, and the women didn’t receive any college education. Money for higher education was reserved for the men in the family. Her father, an Irish biological orphan raised by an adoptive Polish family, had an associate degree and a stable white-collar job in traffic control. Just as Diane was finishing high school, her father was being transferred to Upstate New York. Since her family was relocating to Syracuse, Diane enrolled at Syracuse University.
A Born Social Worker
Diane became part of the progressive action movement in the community and on campus. “It was a social activist time. It completely meshed with my own mission and values. So, I became an activist scholar.” She majored in sociology at the Maxwell School and was part of the honors program. At the time, social work was not an undergraduate major.
“My parents didn’t help me financially because they couldn’t. I always worked. I worked at the bookstore, lifeguarding, water safety. I worked all through college. I did my schoolwork at home at night.” As an undergraduate student, Diane lived with her family in a big farmhouse. She shared a room with her two sisters. Second in birth order was Diane’s sister, who was following a more traditional path. And while her grandmother gave her sister a dowry, Diane only wanted books. “Grandma would say, ‘Any money I give you will not go into a book!’ It was so far from her experience as a farm child in the Catskills.”
As a senior, she received her honors degree in Hendricks Chapel. “My parents came for the first time to campus, and my father said, ‘What are you doing?’ Meaning, ‘What is this all about?’ My family always loved me and supported me, but, having never experienced it themselves, did not understand higher education.” Although her family did not understand Diane’s chosen path, she credits them with setting her on it. “My inclination to social justice comes out of my early preparation as a child. My parents showed the way,” she said. “All my brothers and sisters do this work. We’re all involved in human services: Doctors, healthcare workers, lawyers, social workers, teachers, and on and on it goes.”
While at Syracuse, Diane met Fred Murphy, a graduate student in economics at the Maxwell School, five years her senior. “He was also an activist scholar. He was employed by the City of Syracuse doing tenant organizing.” One week after her graduation in 1967, Diane and Fred were married. In January 1969, their twin daughters were born.
No Stopping Her
Diane was working at Elmcrest Children Center with a team of six women, each of whom had their Master of Social Work. “You’re a born social worker,” her supervisor told Diane. After a year at Elmcrest, she made her way back to Syracuse to earn her own M.S.W.
Diane arrived at the admissions office with her twins and was greeted with a comment she’d never forget: “‘What are you doing with those babies sitting in my office for admissions?’ he said to me. ‘I’m applying to graduate school.’ ‘And what makes you think that’s reasonable, young lady?’ I said, ‘Because women do it all.’ I was so upset, it got me charged up. I said to myself, ‘I’m really going to do this!’”
She started courses in social work in the fall of 1969. “By this time there was no stopping me. I really loved my studies in social work.” At the time, her twins were not yet 1 year old. There were no childcare services on campus for students with children, and since Fred was working full time, they went to class with Diane. “I took them to school. I brought them to class,” she said. “Still to this day my friends from graduate school talk to me about holding them on their lap. I often rode on a bike with them—one on the front and one on the back. It was a little challenging, but all my friends I met in class helped me do it.” In the M.S.W. program Diane became president of the social work Graduate Student Organization.
Diane (left) at the all-university Gerontology Center, established in 1972 by the School of Social Work. Today, it exists at the Aging Studies Institute.
Diane paid for her education through scholarships and teaching assistant stipends. These turned into formative experiences for her. “I was given the opportunity to make family-friendly structural changes for all members of the university community, working side-by-side with mentors, university leaders, and countless collaborators.”
In her first year as a graduate student intern, Diane worked with Central New York Legal Services in local family court cases. In her second year, she worked with Dr. Charles Willie, then-Dean of Student Affairs and previous chair of the sociology department whose research focused on mental health in African American families. “That was an unbelievable adventure working with him as his graduate assistant. What a privilege. He ended up being tenured at Harvard University’s School of Education. Under his mentorship, we developed and founded the Syracuse University Early Childhood Education Center.”
By the early 1970s, there was a large population of married students and families, many of whom were having children. But there were only minimal health benefits at Syracuse University. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was more than 20 years away. “Dr. Willie said to me, ‘Married students are a poverty population.’ And they were.” And although Syracuse University had the Bernice M. Wright Laboratory School, the school was a cooperative model, and it didn’t take infants. Together, Dr. Willie and Diane as his graduate assistant established the Early Childhood Education Center funded between the Department of Psychology, the School of Education, and the Office of Student Affairs. They also created a program with SUNY Upstate Medical University to help students access affordable childbirth delivery.
After completing her M.A. social science in 1976 and her M.S.W. in 1978, Diane decided to continue with a Ph.D. “Obviously I was kind of pushing against things all along, and now it became pretty obvious what the mission was. There’s no question of the intentional effort that we would make this university a model for family friendly policy.”
When Diane was a graduate student, the School of Social Work was located at “Crouse House” (left), three buildings on South Crouse Avenue, until 1974 when it moved to Brockway Hall (right).
Trained by the Very Best
Throughout her doctoral studies, Diane worked with Dean of the School of Education Burton Blatt, Doug Biklen, Bob Bogdan, Steve Taylor, and other scholars and partners at the Center on Human Policy in the School of Education. “These were the School of Education’s flagship signature moments, and we were the literal pipeline of funding from Washington. Most of the federal funding for the nation came to Syracuse University for disability studies.” In part, the Center worked on deinstitutionalization and the promotion of community care models. “This was a big part of my journey in my 30s and 40s and this movement in disability studies transformed America,” she said.
Diane’s colleagues at the Center were trailblazers for inclusive education. The Jowonio School was an early pilot of inclusive education modeling that was created by the School of Education. They integrated these models into the Early Childhood Education Center and the Bernice M. Wright Laboratory School before they became the model for the surrounding Syracuse community, and eventually the world. “Now inclusive education is mainstream. Syracuse University School of Education built that,” she said. “I am pleased to say every one of my children have been educated within an inclusive education environment. It makes a world of difference, and everyone benefits.”
All of Diane’s doctoral work was done with the Center on Human Policy. In her graduate assistant office on campus, she kept a crib for the twins where they would sleep while she wrote her dissertation.
She earned her Ph.D. in 1983 and by then, Syracuse University was truly her home. “I had a lot of good fortune,” she said. “I had been trained by the very best and got to do the work I love, which is organizing and planning social change, having the university engage in the community and the community engage in Syracuse University.” She loved academia, and she felt part of the community. And perhaps most importantly, she could see an opportunity to make change in the place she had grown to call home. “I realized I could do activist organizing within the university community and make this a better place for all,” she said. “So, I stayed, and I never left.”
Together You Create the Shift
As a member of the University Senate since 1979, Diane was deeply involved in writing new policies for the university. She and her colleagues formed policies for women’s concerns, gender pay equity, and sexual harassment. They established benefits for parental leave, adoption, domestic partnerships, and retirement. “We looked across the nation and even in Europe to see what best healthcare policies to have at a university. We adapted them, we brought them in, we pushed for them. You have to be strategic and skilled in community change and movement and organization theory—and we were. So, we’ve attended to all those things and we’re a better place because of it.
“But we can’t rest on this,” she continued. “Although there has been accomplishment, we realize there is a harsh political context to consistently work in. But the university has been responsive through its legislative and statute process, through the University Senate, our chancellors, and our provosts, and community leaders have been responsive to working towards a progressive site. That’s a gain for the entire community.”
Active in the early women’s movement in the wider community, Diane was one of four charter members of The Women’s Center, which operated consciousness raising (or “CR”) groups in Syracuse and surrounding towns. It’s still active and located on Allen Street and Harvard Place. From 1993-1994, Diane served alongside her colleague Dr. Marie Provine, a lawyer and Chair of the Department of Political Science, as consultants to Chancellor Kenneth Shaw on women’s issues.
In 1989, Diane took on a new role establishing women’s studies at Syracuse University. She recalls university leadership asking, “Why do we need women’s studies?” “Because everything else is men’s studies,” she said. She was Director of Women’s Studies for more than 16 years. Together with her colleagues, they established women’s studies as a department in the College of Arts and Sciences, and created a major, a minor, and a certificate of advanced study. “Women’s studies is an articulation of giving women the opportunity to study every subject through the lens of women and their history and contributions. It shifts the perspective by focusing on women in all academic fields. And it has created the movement of women’s perspective entering every field of knowledge without exception. This perspective is not yet universal, and there is more progress to be made,” she said.
“You do that collectively,” she continued. “Collectively means you have women that are interested in doing this and leading this as mentors in every possible place in the university and community, and together you create the shift in knowledge.”
Following Dr. Claire Rudolph and Dr. Nancy Mudrick, Diane in 1978 became the third female faculty member to join the School of Social Work. She taught macro policy and law in mental health and developmental disability policy, emphasizing the importance of building change into structures, processes, and systems. “I know as an organizer, until you build it into the structure, it goes with the wind.” She loved teaching her students how to work with people to make progress–something she’s been doing her whole life. But perhaps her biggest challenge was yet to come.
We’re Going to Build It
In 2001, Syracuse University merged the College for Human Development, the School of Social Work, and College of Nursing together to form the new College of Human Services and Health Professions (renamed the College of Human Ecology in 2007), led by Dean William Pollard, former Dean of the School of Social Work. The merge raised questions from faculty about the future of their programs. What does it mean for the formerly independent disciplines? How would the programs continue as a collective College? “It was a challenging time,” said Diane.
In the fragile early years of transition, the university began a search for Pollard’s successor. Although a dozen candidates were vying for the job, Diane wasn’t one of them. But the university leadership identified her as a strong candidate, thanks to her track record of success in leadership and community organizing. She was heavily recruited. Still, many of the university’s leaders openly expressed their doubts about the ability of the college to succeed. She recalls a conversation with one member of university leadership who said, “If I were you, I would take the job and let it fall to its own because it’s never going to work. Let it fall apart and that’ll be the end of it.”
Even Diane had her doubts. But taking the job under the assumption of failure was unacceptable to her. She would accept the job under only one vision: that it would succeed. “I remember saying to myself, ‘If I’m going to do this, we’re going to do it! If these schools must be arranged like this, then we’re going to build it so that we can live and thrive in this structure. Otherwise, all the programs will go away.’ And that’s what I said to the committee: We’re going to build this thing.” In 2005, she was selected unanimously by full faculty vote.
After being named Dean, Diane was photographed for “Woman at the Top: Dean Diane Lyden Murphy Hits the Ground Running,” a story that appeared in the Fall/Winter 2005 issue of the college’s magazine, Insights.
For Diane, failure wasn’t an option. The programs themselves—professional programs in health, nutrition, social work, human development, and others—were too vitally important to society in promoting health and equity. “I said to the faculty, ‘We’re going to take this College and make it what we want it to be. What we know it is. But we will do it. We won’t let it fail because our subject matters are too important. We can do this together—and we will do this together.’”
Diane was the perfect choice to join people together to create a new community. “I was raised in a crowd from the time I was a young person in a large family. I move in a crowd.
“I never make decision alone,” she continued. “I assume that I have other experts around me—we bounce off ideas, we have discussions, and we come to collective work that I think represents the best of everyone. And that’s guided me even to the deanship.”
As the College structure was being formed, so was its identity. With Diane at the helm, the college was built on the principles of social justice and civic engagement. It became a college where putting theory into practice is about more than just gaining practical experience, but about serving others and fostering humility and understanding in diverse global cultural contexts.
Among the merged colleges was a curriculum for sport management, written by faculty in consumer studies, one of the academic programs that had been newly introduced as part of the merge in 2001. In 2004, Falk College launched sport management built on the framework of social justice and corporate social responsibility. In many ways, a socially minded business program was ahead of its time. But the students embraced it, and since 2006 they have raised more than half a million dollars for local charities and continue to lead discussions about diversity and equity in sports.
Diane at the podium for the Falk College Complex dedication ceremony in 2015. Seated behind her from left to right are Rhonda Falk, David Falk, Chancellor Kent Syverud, Falk College Advisory Board Chair Corey Schneider, and Sport Management Advisory Council Chair Brandon Steiner.
With support from Syracuse University alumni David Falk ’72 and Rhonda Falk ’74, the College was renamed the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in 2011. The Falk College Complex, former home of the College of Law, was dedicated 2015. Falk programs which had been dispersed in eight different locations across campus were finally all together under one roof. “It’s 18 years since I became Dean, and we have built it. We are a huge success on every dimension,” she said. “We’ve done it as a collective. We’ve done it as a community.”
Today, Falk College boasts impactful interdisciplinary faculty research in human services, health, and social equity. The curriculum integrates highly effective theory-to-practice learning models for student training. Falk College created new undergraduate and graduate academic programs in food studies, esports, and sport analytics at Syracuse University, new programs public health from the legacy of the former College of Nursing, and new programs in exercise science which began in the School of Education. Students also benefit from new global study abroad programming across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
But most importantly, every year the College graduates a cohort of students who are prepared to make their communities stronger, healthier, and more just places. “When students come and study in Falk College, they’ve already made decisions about what they want to do in their life. They want to be largely involved in improving the lives of others through their professional career. They bring such joy, commitment, eagerness, and innovation. That’s the everyday lift you get from being around Falk students.”
Diane at the 2019 Syracuse University Commencement.
Accomplishment in Doing Good
Diane recalls words from a colleague and friend who said to her, “I have never seen anybody fight so hard and forget so easy. You can work with anybody.” She has grown to be admired for her ability speak truth to power in a way that maintains respect and preserves unity.
“I have an ungainly and probably not grounded sense of self confidence, and still do to this day,” admitted Diane, a self-described “straight-shooter.” But she is still inclined toward a bit of humor. Empathy and humility have been guiding principles in her life and leadership. “I don’t feel above anybody else, and I always value diverse perspectives,” she said.
For the campus community, Diane’s legacy will be her effectiveness as an advocate for change and her ability to move groups of people together for better. “It’s a sweet and lovely feeling of accomplishment in doing good.”
Diane invited her grandchildren to the stage as she received Syracuse University’s highest honor—the Chancellor’s Medal—at the One University Awards Ceremony April 21, 2023, in Hendricks Chapel.
But for Diane, her legacy is the one she shares with her late husband, Fred: Their five daughters, their grandchildren, and their commitment to their communities. “I am certainly a feminist. I get it right back at me now from five feminist daughters of whom I am immensely proud.” All her daughters work in education, health, and helping professions. All are heavily involved in civic activity, and not by accident “Fred and I raised our family in the City of Syracuse by determination. We’re urbanists.” Still today, Diane is a proud member of the Westcott community.
Over the years, Diane’s big family home just kept getting bigger, encompassing her family, her Syracuse neighbors, and the university community. “I feel privileged to have had the chance to practice my own values, my own mission, my own journey as I saw it with my family. To be able to execute that and to live that life comfortably and bring that to work, I mean, what an opportunity. I get to work every day at what I love to do. It is quite a privilege and I know that.”
Thanks to Diane and the progress she helped forge in favor of social justice, more people can enjoy that same privilege of shaping their own path in life and living out their own personal mission in all circles of influence–at home, at work, and in the community–instead of having to choose. After all, if Diane has demonstrated one consistent truth, it’s that change can only be achieved if it is achieved together.
Story by Valerie Pietra. Special thanks to Matt Michael for editorial collaboration and contributions and Syracuse University Archives Special Collections Research Center for research and photography.
Kay Stearns Bruening Appointed Associate Dean of Falk College Academic Affairs
Kay Stearns Bruening, Ph.D., RDN, FAND, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies in the Falk College, has been named Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Falk College effective August 1, 2023. In her new role, Bruening oversees program review, curriculum development, and accreditation for Falk College academic programs.
Previously, Bruening was an undergraduate director in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies and director of the Nutrition Assessment, Consultation and Education (ACE) Center. Bruening has also served as a program reviewer for the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) for 21 years and as a Program Representative on the ACEND Board. Most recently, Bruening was instrumental in Falk College’s early transition to ACEND’s Future Education Model and the successful accreditation under these new standards. This was a multi-year effort that started in 2019, when Syracuse University was accepted as a demonstration cohort to participate as a pilot program of ACEND’s vision to implement competency-based learning to prepare nutrition and dietetics professionals for future practice.
“Falk College is highly regarded for our curriculum, pedagogy, and student success,” says Bruening. “Throughout the college, our curriculum blends theory and research with practical experience, preparing our students for leadership and innovation in critically important professional fields. I am thrilled to serve in this new capacity as Associate Dean and advance Falk College as a leader in education and professional practice.”
Employment outcomes for all majors and the ability of students to seek additional educational goals are excellent throughout Falk College. Accredited programs and license-bearing degrees have an outstanding level of success. Falk College meets, and often exceeds, standards for four accrediting bodies: Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics, Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education, Council on Education for Public Health, and Council on Social Work Education. Falk’s professional programs are consistently among the nation’s strongest in licensing exam pass rates.
“Kay brings a wealth of expertise in educational instruction and design,” says Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D., Dean of Falk College. “Her work in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies has kept this program at the forefront of nutrition and dietetics education, as evidenced by our accreditation and favorable licensing exam pass rates. Falk College is privileged to have her leadership in a new capacity as Associate Dean.”
Bruening’s teaching and research interests center around medical nutrition therapy, and she is published in dietetics education. She has collaborated with international dietetic education programs in Chile, South Korea, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and collaborates with local medical researchers on detection of adult malnutrition and developing food-based programs for adult weight management and related comorbidities. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, belongs to three dietetic practice groups, and completed advanced training in child and adolescent weight management. She holds a courtesy faculty appointment with the Department of Medicine at Upstate Medical University, where she is a co-instructor on an elective nutrition course for medical students.
She earned a Ph.D. in clinical nutrition from New York University, M.A. in nutrition from Syracuse University, and B.S. in biology from St. Lawrence University.
Kay succeeds Eileen Lantier, R.N., Ph.D., who is concluding her 17-year tenure as Senior Associate Dean of Faculty, Curriculum, and Alumni on August 24, 2023. Under Eileen’s leadership, Falk College has successfully launched a wide range of new residential and online academic offerings, sustained accreditation with its four accrediting bodies, and achieved remarkable student outcomes from its signature theory-to-practice model.
Eileen has served more than 39 years at Syracuse University as a faculty member and administrator. Prior to her role as Senior Associate Dean in Falk College, she taught nursing at Syracuse University and championed the use of educational technology in healthcare. Prior to her work in academia, she led a professional career in nursing, working in several area hospitals and clinical settings. She earned a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S., all from Syracuse University. Eileen will retire in January 2024.
“I have served with Eileen since the very beginning of my deanship in 2005. Eileen has demonstrated extraordinary leadership to the great benefit of Falk College and has been instrumental both in developing new academic disciplines at Syracuse University–such as public health, food studies, and sport management–and maintaining excellence and accreditation in our longstanding professional licensing programs,” says Murphy. “Falk College thanks Eileen for her service and lasting positive impact at Syracuse University, her passion for excellence in education, and her deep personal commitment to our students and their success.”
At the end of August 2023, Murphy concludes her tenure as Dean of Falk College, a position she has held since 2005. She is succeeded by Jeremy S. Jordan, a seasoned academic with extensive experience in sport and recreation management. Jordan’s appointment as Dean of Falk College begins September 1, 2023.
Video: Career Immersion in NYC
In November, human development and family science students traveled to New York City for the inaugural dedicated Human Development and Family Science New York City Career Immersion Trip. Thanks to donor support, this trip will take place annually and offer students an opportunity to connect with alumni and career pathways of human development and family science, such as education, youth development, healthcare, and public policy. For the inaugural trip, students met professionals at The Center for Discovery (Monticello, NY), City Year, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and Urban Dove Charter School, and visited the Tenement Museum and a Broadway show. At the Lubin House, the home of Syracuse University’s New York City operations, students heard from alumni working in healthcare, including Andres Moreira, Laurie Koller, and David Bochner.
Remembering Robert Moreno
The Department of Human Development and Family Science is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Robert Moreno, who was an Associate Professor in our department from 2001 to 2016 and served as Department Chair for eight years. Dr. Moreno taught courses in early education and intervention and cross-cultural perspectives on child development. He published research on familial and cultural influences on children’s learning among Latino families. On behalf of our community, we extend our heartfelt sympathy to Dr. Moreno’s family and loved ones.
Faculty and Staff of the Department of Human Development and Family Science
Jeremy S. Jordan Named Dean of Falk College
Jeremy S. Jordan Named Dean of David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.
Jeremy S. Jordan, a seasoned academic with extensive experience in sport and recreation management, has been named the next dean of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The announcement was made today by Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter. His appointment, effective September 1, was approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.
“Jeremy Jordan brings a combination of academic leadership experience and hands-on industry knowledge that will be a boon to Falk College and its professional programs—from food studies to marriage and family therapy to social work,” Provost Ritter says. “I look forward to working with him, especially on important initiatives like the launch of the esports degree and the expansion of the sport management program.”
Jordan is currently the vice provost for faculty affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he is also a professor and Ed Rosen Senior Research Fellow in the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management’s Department of Sport and Recreation Management. He is the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative, and has also been the director of the Sport Industry Research Center and the Millard E. Gladfelter Research Fellow.
Jordan’s research focuses on the impact of sport participation and events on individuals and communities, as well as the social, environmental and financial impact of sport events and organizations. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and has participated in more than 65 funded research projects.
Before joining Temple in 2008, Jordan held faculty positions at the University of Miami, Mississippi State University and the University of Memphis, and served as the athletic director at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. He earned a Ph.D. in sport management from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in exercise and sport science from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from La Sierra.
“I am honored to have been selected as the next dean of Falk College and look forward to becoming a member of the Syracuse community,” Jordan says. “The college is known for its academic excellence, impactful research and commitment to community engagement. I admire the culture and rigor of the college and Syracuse University, and I look forward to contributing to the success of both with the support of the students, staff, faculty and alumni.”
The dean search committee, convened by Provost Ritter in February, was co-chaired by Falk College faculty members Mary Graham, professor of sport management and faculty athletic representative, and Katherine McDonald, associate dean of research and professor of public health.
“I am grateful to the committee members for their hard work in recruiting a talented leader like Jeremy Jordan to join our campus community,” Provost Ritter says.
Jordan succeeds Diane Lyden Murphy, who is concluding her tenure as dean of the Falk College, a position she has held since 2005. She has served 45 years at Syracuse University. “Diane has truly left her mark on Falk College, shepherding it from its early days and overseeing multiple successful initiatives,” Provost Ritter says. “I thank her for her service and her incredible contributions to the college and the University.”
Equity, Beauty, and Culture
Falk alumna advocates for equity through beauty, culture writing
Thalía Henao found her voice through writing. As a freelance beauty and culture writer, she advocates for equity by celebrating and empowering diverse identities and cultures. “In my writing I am able to add elements of advocacy for marginalized communities because of my educational background and I am extremely grateful and recognize how much more impactful it makes my writing,” Henao says. She is published in Allure, WMagazine, and Latina Magazine.
Before her career in writing, she started her journey at Falk College—a first generation student—majoring in child and family studies, now known as human development and family science. During her time at Syracuse, Thalia traveled to Trinidad and Tobago with Professor Jaipaul Roopnarine and to South Africa. “I went to Falk College because I wanted to have a deep understanding of both my community and the global community we are a part of,” she says. “I majored in Child and Family Studies because I knew that getting a degree in this field would provide me the educational background to advocate for marginalized communities, and I can confidently say that this is true today.”
After graduating from Syracuse University in 2016, she went to Harvard University, where she completed a master’s degree in prevention science and practice with a minor in community engagement. While at Harvard, she traveled to India.
Today, Henao uses her global education and experiences to fuel her writing. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Thalia and hear more about her personal journey:
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about where you are from, where you grew up, or where you consider “home”?
A: I’m from Cambridge, Massachusetts, but my parents are from Medellin, Colombia. Growing up in Cambridge was kind of like a dichotomy because the city is home to some of the biggest universities in the world like Harvard and MIT, but it also has small pockets of low-income communities that exist within public housing buildings.
I grew up in Newtowne Court, a project development across the street from MIT and in the 90’s there was a lot of violence in this part of the city. I think this gave the area a really bad rep even though it was mostly targeted crime. Despite this, I’m really grateful to have been raised there. I was exposed to so many different cultures and backgrounds. My neighbors were from all parts of the world like Haiti, India, and Puerto Rico.
At home, my parents were really intentional about passing on Colombian traditions and making sure it was a part of my identity. I’m grateful to have grown up very well-rounded and connected to my culture.
Q: What are one or two of your favorite memories from your time at Syracuse?
A: Two of my favorite memories of Syracuse University were being a part of the TRIO program, Student Support Services (SSS), and working with my guidance counselor Robert Wilson. After being accepted to Syracuse, SSS reached out to me about applying for the program since I had been a part of another TRIO program, Upward Bound. Deciding to go to Syracuse was made easy by SSS, because it meant that I had support while being at SU, both financially and academically.
I have many favorite memories with Mr. Wilson, but my ultimate favorite one was during the accepted students’ weekend when my family and I met him. It’s a memory that’s ingrained in my, and my family’s, mind forever.
We were walking into the Schine Student Center as Mr. Wilson was walking out and he immediately recognized me and said “Thalia!” At this point, I hadn’t met him in person yet and I had no clue who he was. He introduced himself to my family and I and it was such a warm welcome.
I’m a first-generation college student who didn’t get to visit any schools and this moment was comforting to me since at this point Mr. Wilson was really the only person I knew. Being a first-generation college student was very hard. Nobody in my family had navigated the college education system, much less even lived on a campus, but Mr. Wilson was there for me the entire four years. I am very, very grateful for that.
Q: When did you decide to pursue writing and what was it that drove that decision?
A: I think writing was always in me, but I really stepped into it last year. During high school, my best friends and I had blogs where we would share poetry, fun images, and random stuff. I also took photography throughout my four years of high school and I unknowingly, but definitely, was telling stories about beauty and culture through my photography. I even won a gold key for my photography portfolio for the 2012 Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards.
I also did some community service in a small rural town in the Dominican Republic that ultimately inspired me to pursue a degree in youth and family development. But even throughout college, I would write here and there about beauty and culture in my free time, and of course many research papers on human development and cross-cultural contexts for my classes at Falk.
After my master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, I moved to Los Angeles to work on an early childhood research study at UCLA and at one point even took an internship with a fashion stylist. But by this time, I felt pretty lost, like I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose. I thought maybe I could pivot into the corporate world and figure out my path there, so I moved back to my hometown and took a role in human resources at a youth sports company.
Unfortunately, the youth sports company went bankrupt during the pandemic, but my then-manager had been communicating with us that this would likely happen. So, a week before the company went down, I saw a position in HR at a company where a friend was working and she referred me. I applied on Monday and had two interviews that same week. On Friday, my current company went bankrupt and by the following Monday I had an offer for my new position.
When I accepted the offer and got my new hire package I realized the company, Condé Nast, was a big media powerhouse that is home to some of the brands that I grew up with like Vogue, Allure, and Vanity Fair. I joined the board of the Latin Employee Resource Group and for a year worked on programming for employees and advocating for Latin representation within the company.
There was a voice that kept calling me to explore writing more, but for a while I was too afraid to listen to it until I finally gave in and pitched my first published story focused on the intersection of beauty and culture to Allure, which went live last year, and things have been pretty organic since then. It feels very full circle for me. I think it’s a testament to the fact that you can’t outrun your purpose.
Q: Who or what are some of your sources of inspiration for your writing?
A: My mom is my biggest source of inspiration in my writing. She inspired my first article for Allure about the 90’s dark lip liner-light lipstick look. Unfortunately, I grew up with a lot of shame around brown aesthetics. I really wanted to assimilate into “American” culture when I was younger and often asked myself why my family couldn’t be “more American.” I know I wasn’t the only one who felt this way while growing up.
As an adult however, Latin culture is my biggest source of pride and inspiration, and through my writing I reclaim that power and am driven by what once felt like shame. Belonging to a “minoritized” community has meant that our aesthetics have been made fun of, called “cheap,” and been discarded. In the last decade, we have seen these aesthetics become mainstream, but unfortunately, with no credit to the communities that inspired these trends. My work is centered around reclaiming and celebrating the contributions of Black and brown communities and individuals.
Q: Why is writing about beauty and culture important?
A: Writing about beauty and culture through an intersectional lens is so important because it acknowledges the people who have succumbed to erasure within mainstream media. I think about young generations who are growing up and seeing trends in mainstream media and they should know that their moms, grandmothers, aunties, tias, etc., took so much pride in and were incredibly brave to wear their natural hair, line their lips, and wear big hoops.
The people in these marginalized communities unknowingly created a legacy that challenged Eurocentric standards of beauty and have ultimately laid the foundation for the more inclusive beauty culture we enjoy today.
Q: What impact do you want to have through your writing? What is your goal?
A: My goal is that people feel seen in the work that I do that goes beyond just writing. I want marginalized communities to feel empowered, find comfort, and heal from the impact of racism and discrimination. That’s a really big goal, but even if one person can see their beauty and feel empowered in the work that I do, that’s enough for me.
You can find Thalía Henao’s work in Allure, WMagazine, and Latina Magazine. Learn more about the Department of Human Development and Family Science.
Professor García joins American Sociological Association (ASA) Council
Catherine García, Falk College assistant professor of human development and family science, was recently elected to serve as a Council Member of the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) Section on Aging and the Life Course (SALC). Over the course of her 3-year term, which begins August 2023, Professor García will be involved in a range of responsibilities, such as organizing the Roundtable Sessions at the annual ASA meeting, as well as serving on the Student Paper Award Committee and the Distinguished Scholar Award Committee.
At Falk College, Professor García teaches classes in midlife development and gerontology, and aging across the lifespan. García is a trained gerontologist, population health scientist, and research methodologist who focuses on Latiné aging and health in the United States and Puerto Rico, with a focus on life course epidemiology, the environmental context, variation within Latiné identity, and the sociogenesis of health problems. Her research has been generously supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health, published in high-ranking journals in Gerontology, including The Gerontologist, Journals of Gerontology, Journal of Aging and Health, and Innovation in Aging to name a few, and has led to several awards, including the Emerging Scholars and Professional Organization (ESPO) Interdisciplinary Paper Award, the ESPO Poster Award, and the Minority Issues in Gerontology Poster Award from the Gerontological Society of America.
For more information about Professor García, please visit the Department of Human Development and Family Science or the Aging Studies Institute at Syracuse University.
Congratulations Class of 2023
Along with Dean Murphy, the entire Falk College community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners and friends, congratulates to the Class of 2023! Falk College’s seven academic departments and schools represented 529 degree candidates, including:
- 321 undergraduates;
- 155 masters candidates;
- 50 students earning certificates of advanced study, and;
- 3 Ph.D. students.
Through the month of May, departments across Falk College honored student achievements and celebrated the graduating Class of 2023, which are detailed on individual department websites.
Falk College Convocation was held Saturday, May 13 at Lally Athletic Complex. Falk College Convocation, other college convocations, and the May 14 Syracuse University Commencement ceremony, were recorded and are available to view on the Syracuse University commencement website and is also included below.
Falk College Convocation | Saturday, May 13 | 5:30 p.m. ET
Syracuse University Commencement | Sunday, May 14 | 9:30 a.m. ET
Syracuse University’s Highest Honor
Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy Receives Chancellor’s Medal
Before presenting Falk College Dean Diane Lyden Murphy with the Chancellor’s Medal, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud said “I can’t imagine what this place would be like today without her work, but I’m certain it would be a less accomplished, less just, and less human place.”
Diane Lyden Murphy, dean of the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, received Syracuse University’s highest honor–the Chancellor’s Medal–at the One University Awards Ceremony April 21 at Hendricks Chapel.
The Chancellor’s Medal is awarded to individuals in honor of their trailblazing and extraordinary contributions to the University, to an academic body of knowledge, or to society. Dean Murphy, who was appointed Dean of the College of Human Services and Health Professions (now Falk) in May 2005, checks all three boxes.
“This medal is given for the very things Diane has always done here: extraordinary contributions to the University, to the community, to academic knowledge,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said before presenting the Chancellor’s Medal to Dean Murphy. “She’s done those things, but she’s also done one thing that’s even rarer and worth celebrating and I can say this from experience, she has consistently and faithfully had the courage to speak up.
“She’s had the courage to speak up, including to chancellors, when things are not right, when they could be better, and even more rare is that after speaking up she has the integrity to roll up her sleeves and actually work to make them better,” Chancellor Syverud added.
Dean Murphy was one of several 2022-23 award recipients who were honored at the April 21 ceremony. Watch the video of the Chancellor’s Medal presentation here:
Dean Murphy received four degrees at the University and joined the faculty in the School of Social Work in 1978. Prior to her appointment at Falk, Dean Murphy served 17 years as director of the Women’s Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Dean Murphy’s many contributions to the University include co-authoring the University’s sexual harassment policy; initiating studies of gender pay equity; developing adoption and domestic partner benefits; and creating a family-friendly environment for students, faculty, and staff.
Chancellor Syverud started his remarks by reading a news release from January 1973 about Dean Murphy’s appointment as a personnel intern in the Office of Student Affairs who would “specialize in the problem of married students.” She served as a liaison between married students and the administration and from that work arose the first childcare center on campus.
“There have been a lot of initiatives in the last 50 years at Syracuse University to help people and populations in our community,” Chancellor Syverud said. “There have been precious few where Diane Lyden Murphy has not been present and accounted for in support of doing the hard work and listening and doing the problem-solving and speaking up to make things better.
“We talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and support for survivors, Diane was there often before most of the world had developed the vocabulary to describe the problem and the opportunity,” Chancellor Syverud added. “Going back to that first press release, Diane never regarded married students as a problem, she never regarded these things as problems, she regarded them as opportunities. And boy, she’s made an impact on this University! I can’t imagine what this place would be like today without her work, but I’m certain it would be a less accomplished and a colder and less just and less human place.”
The Chancellor’s Medal is the latest in an extensive list of awards Dean Murphy has received while at the University, including the Excellence in Graduate Education Award from the Graduate School, the Francis McMillan Parks Women of Influence Award, and a Chancellor’s Citation. In 2005, the Women’s Studies Program established the Diane Lyden Murphy Women’s Studies Activism Award in her honor.
Class of 2023 HDFS Awards
Class of 2023 Honored with Human Development and Family Science Awards
Many of this year’s HDFS student award winners displayed their research at a poster presentation in late April in Falk 335.
The Falk College Department of Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) would like to congratulate its Class of 2023 award winners! Here’s a list of the winners, a description of the award, and comments about the awardees from HDFS faculty:
Undergraduate Student Awards
Falk College Scholar – Madison Roberts
“Madison is completing two minors in Nutrition and Public Health and is part of the Renée Crown Honors Program. On top of her impressive academic performance in the classroom and participation in student activities (such as serving as a peer educator and being the president of the HDFS Honor Society), Madison has demonstrated a unique degree of accomplishment in the field of scholarship. She has participated in several research projects through SOURCE and Honors. In February, she presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference, a national poster presentation event that examined developmental and personality predictors of engagement with diverse viewpoints. She is currently completing an honors thesis on parental communication styles regarding marijuana usage across rural and urban contexts. She will start a speech pathology master’s program at the University of Buffalo in the fall.”
Falk College Marshal – Kyra Schlanger Birenbaum
Department Marshal – Catalina Maria Mac Laughlin
Senior class marshals have excelled during their time on campus and exemplify the spirit of the senior class. The selection committee assesses the nominees on scholarship, academic honors, student organization involvement, and campus/community service.
“Kyra is completing a minor in Disability Studies and is part of the Renée Crown Honors Program. On top of her excellence in the classroom, Kyra has been deeply involved in the Falk College and University communities. At the University level, she has served on the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence and served as a peer educator at the Barnes Center. At the college level, she has served as a Falk Ambassador and Honors Ambassador and mentor. She has participated in several research projects through Honors and SOURCE. In February, she presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference, a national poster presentation event that examined developmental and personality predictors of engagement with diverse viewpoints. She is currently completing an honors thesis examining perceptions of parenting in the disability community.”
“Catalina has excelled in the classroom and has made numerous contributions to the department and University. She has served as a team leader for peer education in the Barnes Center and on the COVID-19 task force. She has served in leadership positions with Camp Kesem and Ottothon, and she is a member of La L.U.C.H.A. (Latinx Undergraduates Creating History in America).”
Bernice M. Wright Memorial Award – Madison Roberts
Awarded to an outstanding undergraduate student in HDFS in memory of Bernice M. Wright, former Dean of the College for Human Development (1964-1973). The award criteria include GPA, co-curricular experiences related to the HDFS field, campus involvement, awards/recognitions received while at Syracuse University, research/scholarship activity, and leadership experience. (Madison Roberts’ bio information listed under the Falk College Scholar section).
Elizabeth Manwell Memorial Award – Catalina Maria Mac Laughlin, Kyra Schlanger Birenbaum
Awarded to the outstanding senior student(s) in HDFS with the highest academic average in the major. (Catalina Maria Mac Laughlin and Kyra Schlanger Birenbaum bio information listed under Falk College/Department marshals’ section).
Florence B. Potter Memorial Award – Samantha Anne Stahlbrodt
This award was established by the New York State Federation of Home Bureaus and presented to a student in HDFS who resides in New York State within a county of home bureaus. The award criteria include GPA, leadership experience, co-curricular experiences related to the HDFS field, campus involvement, awards/recognitions received while at Syracuse University, and articulated potential in the field of HDFS.
“Samantha has a perfect 4.0 GPA and is excelling in her work to become a child life specialist. She is currently working at a competitive practicum at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse and will soon be doing a practicum at Golisano in Rochester. She does all of this while also managing the demands of being a student-athlete on the cheerleading team.”
Ruth Tolley Award – Jacqueline Grace Autorino
This award honors Ruth Tolley from the Women of the University Community and is presented to a woman who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement. The award criteria include GPA, clearly stated career goals consistent with the HDFS field, and co-curricular experiences related to the HDFS field.
“Jacqueline is doing excellent in the classroom. On top of her HDFS major, she is minoring in psychology. She is actively involved in several important co-curricular activities, including The Women’s Network, HDFS Honor Society, and Active Minds, where she works to promote mental health across campus. She is also working at the Wish Charity, where she helps women with mental health needs establish lifestyle changes.”
Selleck Award – Anna Katherine Kim Waters
Awarded to the senior student in HDFS with the highest cumulative GPA.
“On top of her excellent work in the classroom, Anna Kate has been involved with several important initiatives at the University, including serving as vice president of Alpha Phi Omega, the co-education national service fraternity. She has worked closely on research that develops curriculum to help promote mindful eating in preschoolers and has been a co-author on research presentations that came from that work. She has also served as a parent educator in the Children’s Consortium, where she visited homes of Head Start families to provide resources for parents.”
Shannon Davis Memorial Award – Halimeh Abdel-Aziz
Awarded to an undergraduate senior student in HDFS with a demonstrated interest in child development whose academic, aesthetic, and professional interests most closely embodies that of Shannon Davis, a student who died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The award criteria include GPA, co-curricular experiences related to child and family development, articulated career goals in the field of early childhood education or related setting, and career interest in providing services for young children.
“Halimeh has excelled in the classroom. Her interests directly align with early childhood education as she runs the Discovery Learning childcare center in Clay, New York. She has also served as a volunteer at Elmcrest Children’s Center in Syracuse.”
Graduate Student Awards
All-University Doctoral Prize – Dickson Mukara Matsantsa Ong’ayi, Ph.D.
Awarded to doctoral students in each of Syracuse University’s 11 schools and colleges who have demonstrated originality, contribution to the field, creativity, methodology, soundness, and quality of writing in their dissertation.
“Dickson was honored for his dissertation focusing on whether paternal depressive symptoms were associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms through intimate partner violence and paternal rejection. This study, which focused on families in Kenya, is important in providing information that can be useful in developing parenting interventions in this context. The research was funded by a prestigious Patricia L. Engle Dissertation Award from the Society for Research in Child Development.”
Graduate Department Marshal – Dickson Mukara Matsantsa Ong’ayi, Ph.D.
Selection of the Graduate School marshal is based on a review of nominees’ research and other academic accomplishments, as well consideration of the student’s past service to the department and University.
“Dickson has a distinguished record of research accomplishment focusing on family processes, particularly among families in Africa. In addition to his dissertation work, Dickson has authored or co-authored several papers and book chapters. He has also taught The Developing Infant course and served as a teaching assistant for several classes.”
All Graduate School Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award – Sanum Shafi
This award recognizes teaching assistants who have made distinguished contributions to Syracuse University by demonstrating excellence in significant instructional capacities.
“Sanum received this award due to her extensive experience as a teaching assistant (TA) and course instructor. In addition to serving as a TA for numerous courses, she has taught courses on human sexuality, children, and media. In these courses, she received positive feedback for encouraging participation, facilitating discussion, and providing helpful feedback to students. She also infused diversity, equity, and inclusion topics into the readings, and challenged students in their thinking about difficult topics.”
Dean Edith Smith Endowed Dissertation Grant – Sanum Shafi
The Dean Edith Smith Endowed Dissertation Grant was established to provide financial support to facilitate the scholarship of doctoral students in HDFS. The grant is designed to increase the flow of talented graduate students into academic careers and support HDFS students who show potential for excellence.
“Sanum received this award to fund her dissertation focusing on parental determinants of Islamophobic attitudes in offspring, which fits into her broader research interests on the development of prejudice.”
HDFS Doctorate Award for Research Excellence – Qingyang Liu
The HDFS Doctorate Award for Research Excellence is presented to a doctoral student who has excelled in academic achievement, research practice, and leadership activities.
“Qingyang Liu has an impressive research record for a third-year doctoral student. She is co-author on eight publications, and has several more under review, including three as first author. She has also presented her work at several professional conferences. Her research broadly focuses on how early life experiences impact children’s self-regulation and adolescent health outcomes, and she demonstrates a high degree of methodological skill.”
Alice Sterling Honig Award – Kristen Davis
The Alice Sterling Honig Award is presented to a graduate student who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship in child development and family studies. The award recognizes the legacy of the late Alice Sterling Honig, Professor Emerita in HDFS.
“Kristen Davis has excelled in her first year as a doctoral student. She has been involved in two interdisciplinary research projects, one with Associate Professor Kamala Ramadoss (HDFS) and Assistant Professor Bhavneet Walia (Public Health), and another with Department Chair and Associate Professor Rachel Razza (HDFS) and Department Chair and Associate Professor Lynn Brann (Nutrition and Food Studies). She also serves as an editorial assistant to Pearl S. Falk Endowed Professor Jaipaul Roopnarine for the ‘Caribbean Journal of Psychology.’ Her research interests include the development of health-related behaviors in children from a socioecological perspective.”
HDFS Master’s Award for Research Excellence – Chloe Ludden
Awarded to a master’s student who has excelled in academic achievement, research practice, and leadership qualities.
“Chloe Ludden recently defended her dissertation, which focuses on the impact of parental separation during adolescence on young adult relationship satisfaction. This work is novel, as there are relatively few studies that use longitudinal data to examine childhood or adolescent predictors of adult relationship satisfaction.”
HDFS Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award – Xiaoyu Fu
Awarded to a graduate student who demonstrates a strong commitment to teaching and learning.
“Xiaoyu Fu has served as a teaching assistant for many courses and taught a class on midlife and gerontology. In this class, she created an innovative assignment that required students to think about how to apply theoretical principles to real-world situations. She also used multiple methods to promote class discussion.”
Interested in a career in human development? Learn more about its academic programs, research, experiential learning, and career opportunities.
Page 6 of 24