New Academic Year Celebrated by Honoring and Welcoming Faculty

On the eve of each new academic year—before the bustle that naturally comes with new and returning students—St. John’s University always takes a moment to pause and reflect on the critical contributions made by its faculty, honoring their service and welcoming its newest members.

The 2025 Faculty Recognition Ceremony, held September 2 in the D’Angelo Center on the Queens, NY, campus, welcomed new faculty, and honored dozens more newly tenured or receiving special honors.

In his welcoming remarks, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of St. John’s, noted that according to St. Thomas Aquinas, happiness cannot come from being honored “because the activity of being honored is not in the honorees, it’s in the honorers.”

He continued, “What we’re doing today is the activity of honoring you—for your virtue, for your good work—and it’s entirely appropriate that we do this.”

Fr. Shanley elaborated that while St. Thomas said happiness cannot be derived from being honored, “it is what is received from people who know what they’re talking about. What [honorees] receive when they receive honor is what they deserve from people who have nothing better to give. There’s nothing better that we could give to you.”

He added, “What we do today is an important part of what we do with an academic community. We recognize and honor experience among us.”

Simon G. Møller, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, University Distinguished Professor, and Provost Endowed Chair, believes the first week is the best of the academic year. 

“This week is special because we welcome new students, and we welcome back continuing students—and then we get to do this. We get to welcome new colleagues and celebrate our seasoned colleagues and their achievements throughout the years. So, to our new faculty colleagues, you have been invited to join St. John’s because of your scholarship and research and dedication to our mission.”

Dr. Møller stressed that faculty are the driving force in ensuring students’ success. “Our students come to us with big dreams and much hope. Many of them are first-generation college students whose families have sacrificed much for them to be here.”

Dr. Møller noted that their parents have entrusted their children’s futures to St. John’s faculty—which is a sacred duty. “We have to deliver on the promise that we have made to these students.”

He added, “We must listen to our students. They’re young. They need our help. We must show them that we care and we’re with them on this journey at St. John’s.”

Kimberly E. Ng ’12Pharm.D., Associate Professor/Industry Professional, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences—and recipient of the Faculty Excellence in Student Engagement Award—was grateful to be honored.

“My work with students has primarily been in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences as Faculty Adviser for the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists,” she explained. “Every year we’ve been able to coordinate an annual showcase, which allows me to connect hundreds of students with over 60 programs throughout the northeast coast, in hopes that our students can match with those programs for their postgraduate training aspirations.”

She added, “That day is really inspiring for us as faculty members.”

New faculty member Caitlin Roberts, RN, MSN, Assistant Professor/Industry Professional, Department of Nursing, has a long history with St. John’s as her grandfather was an adjunct professor many years prior. She is eager to begin working with students in the state-of-the-art St. Vincent Health Sciences Center.

“Everyone has been so nice and welcoming,” she said. “It’s really great to see.”

As a Catholic, Alejandro Hernández De la Lanza, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Business Analytics and Information Systems, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, wanted to work for a Catholic institution. “I was familiar with the Vincentian charism because my wife got her M.B.A. from DePaul University,” he noted. “This was very intentional.”

Eric A. Akuoko, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The School of Education, also noted the importance of the University’s Vincentian mission as a deciding factor for joining the faculty here. “As a minority member, it is something with which I closely identify.”

He added, “I have taught at other universities, and the students here are amazing. Coming from an African background as I do, when the students are respectful and responsible it makes the learning process so much smoother. That’s a great starting point.”