Twenty faculty are awarded sabbaticals for 2026–27. This group includes seven full-year sabbaticals, six sabbaticals for Fall 2026, and seven sabbaticals for Spring 2027. Projects include research and creative activity, as well as new course preparation and curricular updates. Below are summaries of the projects.
Margaret (Peggy) Beauregard, AY 2026–27
Hillyer College, Mathematics and Science
Professor Beauregard will advance her research in the field of complex systems science (complexity science). The study of complex systems helps us to understand how order and patterns can emerge from apparent chaos, without a central controller. It applies to fields like biology, economics, sociology, and computer science to make sense of real-world systems that are too complicated for traditional methods. Her primary goals are to deepen her understanding of the emerging science of complexity and its interdisciplinary applications and to develop a new course for the University of Hartford. Professor Beauregard will also continue to engage adult learners through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes and the Presidents’ College, presenting on complexity science and its applications.
Ellen Carey, Spring 2027
Hartford Art School, Photography
Professor Carey seeks to illuminate the overlooked legacy of women in the history of color photography, beginning with British Victorian pioneer Anna Atkins. Professor Carey’s research explores Atkins’ cyanotypes and photograms, which predate William Henry Fox Talbot’s photographic innovations and mark the first use of color and text in photographic books. She aims to connect 19th-century photographic origins with contemporary experimental work by women artists. Her project includes travel to major archives and museums in England, the Netherlands, and the U.S., including the Fox Talbot Museum and the New York Public Library, to study rare works and foster scholarly collaborations. She plans to develop a book, curate a group exhibition, and organize a lecture series that bridges historical and modern perspectives on gender, color theory, and visual culture.
Carmina Cavazos, Fall 2026
Barney School of Business, Business Insights
Professor Cavazos will examine how business-to-business (B2B) firms create value with arts and culture organizations (ACOs), a cross-sector collaboration that remains underexplored despite growing strategic interest. The study integrates service-dominant logic and the collaborative value creation framework with matching theory to operationalize partnership fit and trace how relationships are planned, formed, sustained, or dissolved. Research questions address the unique features of B2B and ACO contexts; how value creation is conceptualized across policy and cultural environments—particularly in Mexico; and the enablers, hurdles, and outcomes that differentiate collaborations in emerging versus developed markets.
Carmen Cotei, Fall 2026
Barney School of Business, Accounting and Finance
Professor Cotei will pursue three strategic projects focused on sustainable finance, fintech curriculum innovation, and international academic collaboration. Her research project will investigate how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance impacts the cost of capital for public firms. She will also enhance the fintech curriculum by integrating real-world applications such as AI-driven tools, supported by insights gained from the 2026 FinTech Week London, a leading FinTech industry conference. Additionally, Professor Cotei will participate in the International Teaching Week at FABIZ in Bucharest, Romania, where she will teach finance and fintech modules, collaborate with faculty, and explore opportunities for joint academic initiatives.
Robert Dryden, AY 2026–27
Hillyer College, English
Professor Dryden’s will write four chapters, which will be published collectively as a book, focusing on the English Romantic poet George Gordon Lord Byron. Each section will address the question: to what extent does the Byronic personality influence and shape the great literary characters and works conceived in the mid-nineteenth-century American Renaissance in literature. In particular, the chapters will focus on the presence of the Byronic personality as it is reinvented in the American experience. The book will chart the Byronic personality as it travels across the Atlantic, changes shape and attitude, and becomes part of the uniquely American identity.
Laura Enzor, Spring 2027
College of Arts and Sciences, Biology
Professor Enzor will explore the interactive effects of elevated temperature, ocean acidification (measured as elevated pCO2), decreased salinity, and microfibers on the physiology of eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, over a 56-day experimental exposure. Specifically, she will take a top-down approach, using whole-organism metrics (weight, length and oxygen consumption) combined with biochemical measurements of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism use, oxidative stress, antioxidant potential, and energy store utilization, to determine how factors of global climate change impact oyster energetics and survival. Results from this experiment can be used to determine population-level impacts of climate change on oysters in Long Island Sound, a species that is both economically and ecologically critical to the northeast.
Mary Fister, Fall 2026
Hillyer College, English
Professor Fister will edit and compile a fourth collection of poems titled One Lustrous Wall, and complete a full draft of a memoir titled Coming Back From Nothing. One Lustrous Wall includes poems that focus on the death of both her parents, as well as being diagnosed with and overcoming cancer. Coming Back From Nothing chronicles that cancer diagnosis, as well as many rare complications that challenged a recovery. It will conclude by describing how she regained her physical and emotional strength by joining a dragonboat racing team for cancer survivors and their supporters. Finally, she will fully market her third collection of poems, titled There Is A Here And A There, and her Young Adult novel titled Last Holly Knew.
Mako Haruta, AY 2026–27
College of Arts and Sciences, Mathematics
Professor Haruta will develop a course-specific GPT for M144 Calculus I, serving as an AI tutor to strengthen student learning, engagement, and retention. Because ChatGPT’s pattern-based calculus solutions often contain unnoticed errors, students need a tutor trained exclusively on departmental materials. The model will be built from syllabi, lecture notes, problem sets, and selected open resources to ensure accuracy and alignment with course pedagogy, while avoiding unverified online content. During the sabbatical year, she will curate and digitize course materials, build and refine the GPT, and prepare it for classroom use. In Fall 2027, the custom calculus tutor GPT will be piloted in her course and at least one additional section to evaluate its effectiveness in supporting conceptual understanding and problem-solving.
Gilda Lyons, Spring 2027
The Hartt School, Music Composition
Professor Lyons will transition her evening-length contemporary concert work Corazón de Esperanza, commissioned by Esperanza Arts Center, to film. Composed, sung, and conducted by Professor Lyons with percussionist Benjamin Toth, Chair of Hartt Percussion, and the Dalí Quartet, the work is a series of musical portraits shining a light on the current humanitarian crisis in Nicaragua. Interweaving reflections on Nicaraguan culture and identity told in the words of those who have lived them, Corazón de Esperanza premiered in Philadelphia’s Teatro Esperanza in May 2024. In 2026-27, Professor Lyons, Professor Toth, and the Dalí Quartet will return to Esperanza Arts Center as artists-in-residence and will be joined by cinematographer Talal Jabari (GoCapture, Inc) and his team for the filming of the work, which will enter post-production in spring 2027.
Mala Matacin, AY 2026–27
College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology
The Association for Women in Psychology (AWP), founded in 1969, is the only professional organization solely dedicated to feminist psychology. For over four years, Professor Matacin has served as AWP’s archivist, collecting and depositing materials from members, particularly those who were the pioneers of feminist psychology. To date, there are two written histories about the organization (1969-1991 and 1991-2008). Professor Matacin will be working with Professor Christine Smith (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay) to write the third history of the organization (2008-current) and co-edit a special issue of The Psychology of Women Quarterly, dedicated to the history of feminist psychology. The special issue of this journal will help preserve the history of the organization for current and future scholars.
Ivana Milanovic, Spring 2027
College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Acoustical Engineering
Professor Milanovic will use high-fidelity computational simulations to investigate vortex formation and wake transitions in flows over delta wings and bluff bodies. These studies will be conducted in collaboration with international partners at Coburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany and with researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center. In parallel, Professor Milanovic will integrate artificial intelligence into simulation-based learning environments, enhancing inquiry-based learning and preparing students for complex, open-ended engineering challenges through direct engagement with advanced computational methods. The sabbatical will strengthen faculty scholarship, support curricular innovation, and contribute to raising the University’s visibility in simulation-based engineering education.
Kristamarie Pratt Branciforte, Fall 2026
College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, Rehabilitation Sciences
Professor Pratt Branciforte will complete data analysis, prepare manuscripts, and disseminate findings from two ongoing related projects: Athlete Functional Assessments, associated with the “Keep Her Playing” Conference, and an Injury Risk Stratification study in collaboration with the Center for Musculoskeletal Health at the Bone & Joint Institute (BJI). These projects involve interdisciplinary collaboration with clinicians in the Hartford Healthcare Rehabilitation Network and engineers in the Motion Lab at BJI. A secondary focus of the sabbatical is to strengthen a long-term scholarship agenda with clinical collaborators and to initiate new projects involving University of Hartford athletes in collaboration with Hartford Healthcare’s Campus Care initiative.
Farhad Rassekh, Fall 2026
Barney School of Business, Business Insights
Professor Rassekh will write a book, Innovation and Economic Growth: Theory, History, and Evidence. The term innovation in the book’s title encompasses innovative ideas – inventions and discoveries – that expand the productive capacity of the economy. Innovative ideas manifest in virtually every sphere of life, including education, finance, management, government, science, medicine, technology, farming, and manufacturing. Crucially, a question that arises here concerns the circumstances under which innovative ideas are conceived, germinate, grow, and flourish. The sabbatical project – while firmly rooted in economic theory – will explore these circumstances and draw on the empirical and historical evidence.
Natasha Segool, AY 2026–27
College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology
Professor Segool will research and write a graduate textbook entitled: Evidence-Based Counseling Practices in Schools: Skills for Promoting Mental Health, Learning, and Student Success. This text will be published as an open educational resource (OER) designed for graduate students beginning their counseling training. Using an applied approach, the textbook will scaffold graduate student skill development from meeting and developing professional relationships with clients, to developing treatment plans, and implementing therapeutic strategies based on sound psychological science. This text will be an essential contribution to graduate teaching in the disciplines of school psychology, school counseling, and school social work.
Olga Sharp, Fall 2026
College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology
Professor Sharp will develop a new graduate course, tentatively titled AI in Human Resource Management, for the Master's in Organizational Psychology program that will address unique implications for talent acquisition and performance management. She will also reimagine an existing undergraduate course in Cultural Psychology as a short-term study abroad course, which would allow students and faculty to study and explore different regions of the world. Finally, Professor Sharp will work on translating “Red Men in Red Square” by Dr. Claude Smith into Russian.
Hemchandra Shertukde, AY 2026–27
College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor Shertukde plans to revise three of his previously published engineering textbooks, integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent algorithms to align with evolving global curricula. These books – currently used in core Electrical and Computer Engineering courses – will be updated to reflect developments in power systems, digital controls, and distributed photovoltaic grid transformers. The revised editions will be published through DDI Publishing. The project aims to enhance student learning and curriculum relevance in the age of AI.
Jiali Jenna Tang, Spring 2027
Barney School of Business, Accounting and Finance
Professor Tang will explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in accounting. Her project, AI in Accounting – How Should CPA Firms and Higher Education Co-shape the Future?, will examine current AI applications in major CPA firms, assess future opportunities and challenges, and address the disconnect between industry practices and academic instruction. Through literature review, surveys, and interviews, she will analyze ethical implications, limitations of AI, and the new skillsets required for accounting professionals. The goal is to develop actionable recommendations for reshaping accounting education to align with the AI-driven future of the profession.
Margaret Tarampi, AY 2026–27
College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology
Professor Tarampi will dedicate the year-long sabbatical to intentionally blurring the lines between the disciplines of psychology, neuroscience, visual art, and dance – a convergence research approach. This interdisciplinary project will explore how people perceive and think about space, both individually and collectively, in complex environments. Collaborations will include psychological and neuroscientific research at Leiden University (Leiden, Netherlands), visual art practice at Poor Yorick Studios (Salt Lake City, UT), and movement-based inquiry with Mutual Dance Theater (Cincinnati, OH). The sabbatical aims to generate new frameworks for understanding spatial cognition through creative practice, public engagement, and scholarly dissemination.
Diane Verrochi, Spring 2027
College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions, Nursing
Professor Verrochi will explore one of the major challenges in health promotion: a lack of understanding in the general public around the complexity of health promotion and health care. While most understand the function of hospitals and clinics, there are many less obvious businesses and services that either support or hinder health within a community. A clearer understanding of these factors would benefit health professionals and pre-professionals as well as policy makers and the general public. This project will create a tabletop simulation to challenge its users to think critically about the impact of community design and resources on health, whether in classroom, professional, or other settings.
Yang Yang, Spring 2027
College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, Civil, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering
Professor Yang will develop finite element (FE) models to simulate debonding failures at multiple interfaces in reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Mortar (FRCM). He will develop a more generalized model to predict failures within the FRCM, such as the slips between fibers and mortar or rupture of fibers. Professor Yang will validate finite element models, the experimental data in terms of failure modes, initial stiffness, peak load, and ultimate deflection, and will develop guidelines regarding the selection of material models, calibration of material properties, issues associated with interfacial modeling, and techniques to improve computational convergence. He will also draft a journal or conference manuscript to disseminate the guidelines and research findings during the leave.