Administration
Julie Mostov, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor of Liberal Studies (GSAS ‘85)
Julie Mostov joined NYU in August 2017 as the first woman dean of Liberal Studies, bringing years of experience in global engagement, deep grounding in the liberal arts, and a commitment to interdisciplinary research and teaching. In addition to her many scholarly achievements, Dr. Mostov spearheaded a wide range of global initiatives and international research and academic partnerships for Drexel University as Senior Vice Provost of Global Initiatives and Professor of Politics and, earlier, as Director of International Area Studies and Women’s Studies. She has also been a long-time member of the University of Bologna’s Network on Europe and the Balkans and a regular visiting professor in its graduate programs.
A political theorist by training, Dean Mostov is a well-known scholar on Southeastern Europe. Her research explores notions of soft borders and transnational citizenship, and focuses on the politics of national identity, sovereignty, citizenship, and gender. Publications related to these themes include her book Soft Borders: Rethinking Sovereignty and Democracy; the co-edited volume, From Gender to Nation; and book chapters such as “Soft Borders and Transnational Citizens” and “‘Our Women’/’Their Women’: Symbolic Boundaries, Territorial Markers, and Violence in the Balkans,” and thought pieces such as “Populism is always Gendered and Dangerous for Women and Democracy.” She has presented her interdisciplinary research with a focus on Southeastern Europe at universities and conferences in many parts of the globe. She served as a consultant for both the U.S. and the EU during the breakdown of Yugoslavia and designed and implemented State Department grants in support of democratic transitions and women’s leadership in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Her earlier scholarship in democratic theory includes such works as Power, Process, and Popular Sovereignty, “Endangered Citizenship,” and “Democracy and the Politics of National Identity.” In addition to her academic engagement, Dean Mostov has been a long-time activist and advocate for women’s rights, serving - among other roles - as Chair of the Board of Women Against Abuse, Pennsylvania’s largest agency addressing domestic and intimate partner violence. She is the recipient of major awards for her advocacy to end gender-based violence from Women Against Abuse and Women’s Way.
Billy Helton, M.S.
Associate Dean, Fiscal Affairs and Administration
Billy Helton is Associate Dean of Fiscal Affairs and Administration for Liberal Studies and oversees program fiscal and administrative functions and operations. He received his M.S. from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Adedamola Osinulu, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Adedamola Osinulu, Clinical Associate Professor, joined LS in 2015 and regularly teaches African Global Cultures, Global Works and Society in a Changing World, and Global Works and Society, Modernity. His academic career and scholarship are motivated, in his own words, by a strong, life-long commitment to the peoples of the African Continent. His book project, City Aflame: Making Pentecostal Space in Lagos, examines how, on the outskirts of that Nigerian city, Pentecostal organizations have constructed massive campuses that frequently draw hundreds of thousands of city residents. Based on fieldwork at three major sites, he argues that these organizations consciously contrast their impressive infrastructure and social services against the failures of the modern post-independence African state in an effort to create a sense of efficacy around their discourses and practices. He earned his MA and PhD in Culture and Performance from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Culture and was the recipient of a fellowship from the Michigan Society of Fellows. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked professionally as an architect and gained additional credentials in Project Management after joining NYU. In LS, he has distinguished himself not only as a teacher and scholar but also as an engaged colleague and an enthusiastic participant in LS's efforts to globalize and decenter our curriculum.
Chair of Global Cultures since the fall of 2020, he has been actively collaborating with colleagues to promote the re-integration of Global Cultures into the Core Curriculum. As the new Associate Dean of Liberal Studies, he is eager to further our strategic goal of “foster[ing] truly interdisciplinary, global, and engaged curricular and learning spaces.”
To this end, he received a Global Opportunity Grant, for a symposium entitled, Decolonizing the Liberal Arts Curriculum to take place in June 2023. The project should increase LS’s visibility across NYU’s global network and advance this strategic goal.
Jonathon White, M.B.A.
Associate Dean, Students
Jonathon White earned his M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business and his B.A. from Cornell University. His career has been dedicated to student affairs in higher education, including academic advising and support, study abroad and international programs, internship and career services, student engagement and activities, honors programs and fellowships, admissions and recruitment, and financial aid. Originally from Flint, Michigan, Jon has lived in New York City since 1998 and has previously worked at institutions such as The New School and NYU Stern School of Business. Jon joined Liberal Studies in 2015.
Kevin M. Bonney, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean, Faculty Development and Program Advancement
Kevin M. Bonney is Assistant Dean of Faculty Development and Program Advancement and Clinical Associate Professor in Liberal Studies. He joined Liberal Studies in 2014 and has taught Life Science, Living in the Anthropocene, Plague Politics: Governing the Global History of HIV/AIDS, and People, Planet, Profit: An Introduction to Sustainability. He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Northwestern University where his research focused on the immunopathology of Chagas disease. Since then his primary scholarly focus has shifted to biology education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning. His work has been published in a number of academic journals including The American Biology Teacher, American Journal of Pathology, Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease, Current Molecular Medicine, Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, Parasite, and PloS One. He also published a textbook titled Biology: Textbook and Activities for the Flipped Classroom (Cognella Publishing, 2017), which uses case studies and other active learning strategies to facilitate the flipped classroom teaching method. As Assistant Dean, he represents Liberal Studies Academic Affairs on a number of committees with oversight of the core curriculum, program learning outcome assessment, academic integrity, faculty grants and awards, and new faculty orientation and mentorship. He also leads faculty development workshops for Liberal Studies and organizes the Annual Liberal Studies Student Research Colloquium.
Allison Michaud, M.A., M.B.A.
New York University
Director of Global Programs
Allison Michaud, MA, MBA is Director of Global Programs at Liberal Studies. As director, Allison manages the global programs and experiences for Liberal Studies Core and Global Liberal Studies students. This includes First Year Away programs at four global sites, Florence, London, Madrid, and Washington, DC. Allison also oversees program development across the NYU sites, supporting a highly mobile population of globally and economically diverse students.
Previously, Allison worked at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and the Stern School of Business. She earned a BA in politics and journalism from the NYU College of Arts and Science, an MA in higher education administration from NYU Steinhardt, and most recently, an MBA from the Stern School of Business.
D Simmons Jendayi, M.A.
Director of the Dean’s Special Initiatives
D Simmons Jendayi is an organizational development strategist, dedicated to building inclusive communities focused on the most marginalized among us. She is Director of Strategic Initiatives at Liberal Studies. In this culture-shifting role, she serves as Chief of Staff and directs priority schoolwide initiatives on behalf of the Dean, including strategic goals and partnerships; signature events; justice, diversity and inclusion; development and alumni relations; as well as visibility and recognition.
D is the past Chair of the NYU Administrative Management Council (AMC) and was recognized with NYU’s Distinguished Administrator Award in 2021. She has shaped her higher education career to focus on helping minoritized staff, students, faculty, and alumni thrive—especially those at predominantly white institutions that were not intended for them. She earned an MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs from NYU and a BA in Organizational Communication with a focus on Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University.
Leah Guarino, M.A.
New York University
Director of Advising & Student Affairs
Lacey Campbell, M.A.
New York University
Academic Advisor
Melina Cary, M.A.T.
Clark University
Academic Advisor
Joanna Chin, M.S.W.
New York University
Assistant Director of Advising & Academic Success
Yenifer Dalloo, M.A.
New York University
Assistant Director of Advising, Service and Leadership
Mateo Díaz, M.Ed.
Rutgers University
Academic Advisor
Nadine Bradley Griffith, M.Ed.
University of Texas Austin
Assistant Director of Advising and Spring Admissions
Stella-Ann Harris, B.A.
University of Southern California
Administrative Aide
Michael Healy, M.Ed., M.Phil.
Boston University
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Academic Advisor
Vik Keenan, M.A.
New York University
Assistant Director of Advising and Operations
Irene Patron, M.A.
New York University
Assistant Director of Student Affairs
Nildania Perez, M.A.
CUNY Graduate Center
Academic Advisor
Sophia Rizzolo, B.A.
Pitzer College
Student Affairs Administrator
Stephanie Santiago, M.A.
University of San Diego
Assistant Director of Advising, Transition and Academic Excellence
Danny Velardo, M.A.
Kings College London
Assistant Director of Advising & Diversity
Nicole Kozlowski, M.A.
New York University
Assistant Director of Global Student Affairs
Pegah Sorour, A.A.
Hudson Community College
Administrative Aide
Aminata Drame, B.A.
New York University
Academic Advisor, Global Programs
Sentienla Toy, Ph.D.
New York University
Assistant Director of Global Academic Engagement
Vera Penavić, B.A.
New York University
Assistant Director of Special Projects
Isabella Rivera, B.A.
New York University
Administrative Aide II
Gabriella Must, B.A.
Kenyon College
Administrative Aide I
Olivia Bright, M.S.
New York University
Faculty Affairs Administrator
Gilmarie Brioso, M.F.A.
The New School
Administrative Aide
Eve Mayer, Ph.D.
Harvard University
Associate Director for Faculty and Academic Affairs
Natalia Velandia, M.A.
Louisiana State University
Assistant Director of Academic and Faculty Affairs
Georgia Sanon, M.P.A.
Long Island University Brooklyn
Administrative Aide I
Timothy Schaffer, Ph.D.
Bowling Green State University
Senior Educational Technologist
Robert Squillace, Ph.D.
Columbia University
Educational Technology Liaison
Shamma Haque, B.S.
The University of Texas at Austin
Budget Administrator
Jean McMahon
Administrative Aide II
Cervella Vidal
GLS '23, GPH '24
Stephanie Garcia
LS, CAS '26
Major: Urban Design & Architecture
Beverly Lim
LS, CAS, '24
Major & Minor: East Asian Studies & Chinese
Saylee Nemade
LS, Steinhardt, GPH '26
Major(s): Pre-Health, Psychology, Public Policy & Management
Liberal Studies staff and administrators are partners and advocates who are committed to collaboration, adaptability, and inclusivity as they create a welcoming community for students, faculty, staff, and alumni alike.