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Meet The Faculty
Director

Janie L. Leatherman
Professor
Politics & International Studies
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Advising Committee

Alfred Babo
Co-Director of International Business
Associate Professor
Sociology & Anthropology
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Uma Balaji
Chair, Electrical and Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor
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Bryan Crandall
Associate Professor
Education
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Sally Gerard
Professor
Nursing
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David McFadden
Professor
History
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Julie Mughal
Associate Director
Humanitarian Action
Center for Social Impact
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Kathryn Nantz
Faculty Liaison for Innovative Research
Professor
Economics
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Jessica Alicea-Planas
Associate Professor
Nursing
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Melissa Quan
Director of the Center for Social Impact, Fairfield University

Melissa Quan, EdD
Director of the Center for Social Impact, Fairfield University
Melissa Quan, EdD, is director of the Center for Social Impact at Fairfield University where she has worked since 2002. As director, Dr. Quan leads the strategic growth and development of academic community engagement. Dr. Quan completed her master’s degree in education at Fairfield University in 2005 and earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2021. The International Association of Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement recognized her scholarship with the Dissertation Award in 2021. Dr. Quan has several publications that focus on professional development within the field of higher education community engagement, institutional change, and community-engaged teaching and learning. Dr. Quan is an alumna of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (1998-1999) and currently serves on the board of directors with RYASAP (Regional Adult and Youth Social Action Partnership). She is a recipient of the Lucy Katz Woman of the Year Award (2016) and the Martin Luther King Jr. Vision Award (2012), both from Fairfield University, for her commitment and work to promote social justice. She lives in Fairfield, Conn., with her husband, two children, a parent, and a pup.

David Schmidt
Associate Professor of Ethics