2013 NPSMA Board of Directors Election

RESULTS

   Cynthia Bainton

Cynthia Bainton is administrative manager of the Biotechnology and Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Science PSM Programs at Northeastern University in Boston and has been involved with the NPSMA since its establishment five years ago. Ms. Bainton joined Northeastern in 2003, when the Biotechnology PSM Program was in its very first year, and since that time has been a major influence on the growth of PSMs at Northeastern. The biotechnology and regulatory science programs now have a combined enrollment of 130 students. The two interdisciplinary programs cut across two colleges and three departments. This has given Ms. Bainton extensive experience solving both academic and administrative challenges as well as student issues. She works closely with the programs’ faculty and staff to implement program improvements with a strong emphasis on quality and service. After volunteering to serve on the NPSMA’s Peer Review Committee, in 2009 Ms. Bainton was elected to the NPSMA Board of Directors. She served as convener of the board in 2010 and currently serves as the finance officer.

Previously Ms. Bainton held positions in development and administration at the International Institute of Boston (IIB), a non-profit social services agency serving immigrants and refugees. As secretary of the Institute’s board of directors, she became knowledgeable about non-profit board governance. As coordinator of the Institute’s capital campaign, she gained experience in donor relations and event production. Ms. Bainton joined IIB after six years as an ESL/EFL teacher at EF International Language Schools in Boston and the American Language Institute in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ms. Bainton earned an MBA from Northeastern University and a BA in English from Bowdoin College.

   David Dyer

David Dyer, Ph.D., received his Bachelor of Science in Genetics from the University of California at Davis, and his doctorate in biology with an emphasis in neurochemistry/neurophysiology from the University of California at Irvine. He established the research and development department of Woodward Laboratories, Inc., focused on transdermal drug delivery systems. In his 13 years at this company he garnered 8 US patents and numerous international patents for his work. He worked closely with the company’s board of directors to guide innovation during this time as well. Following this, he served as a Medical Science Liaison for UCB Pharma, Inc., and oversaw the Phase IV clinical work for the company in Southern and Central California and Nevada in the area of central nervous system drug product development. Following his strong interest in focused training of the high technology workforce associated with the California biomedical industries, he accepted his current position of Director of the Program for Applied Biotechnology Studies in 2008 and has had the pleasure of helping the program to grow from its inception to its present success. He currently serves as a member of the CSU Fullerton Dean’s Advisory Council, and an assistant Scoutmaster for Los Alamitos Troop 658.

      Michael Morad 

Michael Morad, M.S. graduated from a PSM program in Medical Product Development Management at San Jose State University in 2010 and became involved in the National Professional Science Master's Association to develop the Association’s PSM alumni network and student outreach programs. He currently serves on the NPSMA Board of Directors.

Michael is employed by Covidien Vascular Therapies as a Quality Compliance Manager. He previously worked for Abbott Vascular as a Quality Assurance Manager, holding leadership roles in the areas of Operations Quality, R&D Quality and Product Quality. In addition, Michael worked for Stanford University Medical Center for over two years where he managed Pre-Analytical Operations for the Hospital’s Clinical Labs. In addition to his PSM degree Michael holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from San Jose State University as well as certifications for ISO 9001/13485 Lead Auditor and Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Quality Auditor and Certified Quality Manager through the American Society for Quality.

   Don Pierson

Don Pierson, Ph.D. is the Vice Provost for Graduate Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He also serves as System Coordinator of the Planning Committee for Professional Science Masters Programs at the University of Massachusetts. The professional science masters initiative is a vital component in the effort to strengthen graduate programs at the University of Massachusetts. In the past two years, the campus governance systems have approved 19 PSM programs as Options within the various science masters degrees programs.

Don earned an A.B. in Psychology cum laude from Princeton University, a Masters in Education, Research in Instruction from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He has worked for IBM, served as an elementary school principal, conducted a ten year longitudinal study of early childhood education, and directed university partnerships with urban schools and community organizations. Prior to his current position at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, he served as Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Education for 18 years and as Interim Provost for one year. He has served as Principal Investigator for numerous private foundation and public grants, including the Northeast Network STEM Pipeline (2004-2008) and TEAMS Academy for accelerated high school students to take college level courses in Technology, Engineering, Math, and Science.  Don currently serves on the NPSMA Board of Directors.

   Sheila Thomas

Sheila Thomas is the State University Dean for Extended and Continuing Education for the California State University (CSU) System.   She has nearly 30 years experience in the field of continuing higher education in both public and private institutions.  As State Dean, Sheila is responsible for facilitating workforce development, strategic communication, policy review and advocating for Extended and Continuing Education, both internally and externally.  She has administrative oversight of the Commission on Extended University and system distance learning compliance.  Sheila is a member of the California State Health Workforce Development Council, serves as the system lead for Professional Science Masters programs, and is involved in other workforce development efforts in healthcare, transportation, green and sustainability, teacher education and biotechnology.  Prior to her appointment as State Dean, Sheila served in administrative roles at California State University, Long Beach and California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and at Southern California University of Health Sciences.  While at Cal State Long Beach, she had oversight of the development of online business courses for PSM programs, and performed preliminary work on a potential PSM program in geographic information systems.  Sheila holds a bachelor’s degree from Azusa Pacific University, a master’s degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and is a doctoral candidate in higher education leadership at Northcentral University. 

   Marilyn Wells

Also in STEM, but at the graduate level, Dr. Wells Marilyn also serves as the lead administrator for PASSHE’s funded project to support undergraduate research and collaboration as a high impact practice to cut achievement gaps and increase degree production, particularly in STEM fields. The two-year project is sponsored by the Council of Undergraduate Research’s NSF-funded ($999,500) Workshop Program on Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research.

Dr. Wells also leads PASSHE’s team for the national Access to Success (A2s) initiative to lead systems change work that focuses on assessing and building capacity, managing and leveraging costs and resources, and using data to track progress toward PASSHE’s commitment to the national A2S goals. Included in this effort, Marilyn also serves as the System lead for PASSHE’s partnership the with the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California to lead implementation of The Equity Scorecard™ across all 14 PASSHE universities, and the US Educational Delivery Institute.

In addition to her role in PASSHE’s Office of the Chancellor, Marilyn holds a joint appointment as Vice Provost & Graduate Dean at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. For the Office of the Provost, she is responsible for academic program management, faculty development and collective bargaining agreement implementation, research, extended learning, academic diversity, and special projects. For the Graduate College, she serves as the Chief Academic Officer responsible for all academic, administrative, programmatic, and fiscal activities related to the delivery of high quality graduate education. In these roles, Marilyn has facilitated development of new and revised undergraduate and graduate programs, both online and face-to-face, in fields such as geo-technology, information security, professional education, and Chinese language and culture, among others. Dr. Wells also served as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2009 – 2010.

Prior to PASSHE, Marilyn held faculty appointments at Hampton University, a private, historically black institution in southeastern Virginia; the College of William and Mary; and the University of South Dakota, among others, including community colleges. Marilyn also has experience in the corporate and government sectors. Marilyn is a member of the National Professional Science Master’s Association; a charter member of the PharMerica National Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee; and member-at-large of AAUW (formerly the American Association of University Women).  

She has received the Sloan Foundation International Conference Scholar on Asynchronous Learning and Hampton University Provost’s Teaching Innovation Award. Most recently, she was a 2010 – 2011 Fellow for the Educational Policy Fellowship Program, sponsored by the Educational Policy Leadership Center and Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington, DC.

Marilyn received her PhD from Southern Illinois University Carbondale; an MS and MPH from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania; and a BS from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Marilyn daughter, Michelle, is a 6th grade, middle school student – a competitive gymnast and aspiring Biologist.