English

Faculty

Full-Time Faculty

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Steven Scherwatzky
Professor, English
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Emma Duffy-Comparone
Assistant Professor, English
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Ellen McWhorter
Associate Professor, English
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Marie A. Plasse
Professor, English
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Christy L. Pottroff
Assistant Professor, English
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Lauren Rocha
Lecturer, English
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Paul Vatalaro
Professor, English
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Joseph Vogel
Assistant Professor, English

Faculty Emeriti

Geraldine Branca	brancag@merrimack.edu
Robert D. Keohan ’53	keohanr@merrimack.edu
MaryKay Mahoney	mahoneym@merrimack.edu
Kevin M. Plunkett	plunkettk@merrimack.edu

<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1800,1798/ignore_cropper/1/20408_Global_Mgmt_Winners_190719.rev.1565274473.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two students from Merrimack College competing against peers from around the world earned top honors in the international 2019 X-Culture Global Symposium business management competition in Calgary, Canada in July.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4780-sustainable-glamping-plan-earns-honors-at-global" role="button" title="Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium" aria-label="Sustainable “Glamping” Plan Earns Honors at Global Symposium">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,200,200/ignore_cropper/1/16177_14013-mc-centered-cmyk-jpg.rev.1492891152.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>See What Our Talented Faculty Have Been Up To</h3><p>Merrimack professors across all disciplines have been winning awards, publishing papers, participating in academic panels and workshops, and featured in the media. </p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="https://www.merrimack.edu/about/offices_services/communications/notable-quotable/" role="button" title="See What Our Talented Faculty Have Been Up To" aria-label="See What Our Talented Faculty Have Been Up To">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,3200,2400/ignore_cropper/1/20464_Pedro_02_190829.rev.1567024086.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pedro Lugo ’21 gave away a ticket to a Red Sox game and in return received a new perspective on the plight of homeless people in the Greater Boston region. Now Lugo and his friends are on a mission to alleviate the suffering of those who live on the streets.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4792-good-deed-multiplying-into-more-good-deeds" role="button" title="Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds" aria-label="Good Deed Multiplying into More Good Deeds">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,300,450/ignore_cropper/1/20490_Hobson_Hallie_Credit_Julie_Skarratt_2016_1.rev.1567603752.png'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation</h3><p>Merrimack College is honored to welcome a tireless defender of arts, the poet and playwright Hallie Hobson, as its guest speaker for this year’s Convocation at <a href="https://merrimackathletics.com/facilities/?id=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hammel Court</a> in the Merrimack Athletic Center Thursday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. </p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4797-defender-of-the-arts-to-be-guest-speaker-at-this" role="button" title="Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation" aria-label="Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,410,300/ignore_cropper/1/20535_40under40a.rev.1568319260.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Boston Business Journal recently named Merrimack College Trustee Marques D. Torbert and Michaele Morrow, managing director of the Bouchard Center in the Girard School of Business to its prestigious 40 Under 40 list.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4801-merrimack-trustee-and-bouchard-center-director" role="button" title="Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40" aria-label="Merrimack Trustee and Bouchard Center Director Named to Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,259/ignore_cropper/1/20506_We_Are_1_190903.rev.1568037842.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College started the 2019-2020 school year with its traditional Academic Convocation and Mass of the Holy Spirit, encouraging students to recognize the many opportunities for personal, academic and spiritual growth available to them; and to work in union with the supportive community willing to help them make the world a better place, while becoming better versions of themselves.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4798-merrimack-students-start-school-year-in-search-of" role="button" title="Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom" aria-label="Merrimack Students Start School Year in Search of Knowledge and Wisdom">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,29,1369,1400/ignore_cropper/1/20394_Leslie_Reynolds.rev.1564584206.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leslie Reynolds ’91 has traded great white sharks for grizzly bears this summer while she takes a break from her job as chief ranger at the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore</a> to serve as the interim chief ranger at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yellowstone National Park</a>.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4772-merrimack-alum-serving-as-interim-chief-ranger-at" role="button" title="Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone" aria-label="Merrimack Alum Serving as Interim Chief Ranger at Yellowstone">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,576,1024/ignore_cropper/1/20387_Flying_Squirrels_01.rev.1563798135.JPG'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instruction/Liaison Librarian <a href="/live/profiles/1623-catherine-wong/_p/s">C.J. Wong</a> led a team of three students and two assistant professors in the installation of nesting boxes for flying squirrels in the woods behind parking lot K this summer, to learn whether there are any of the nocturnal animals in the area.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4769-research-into-squirrels-takes-flight-on-campus" role="button" title="Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus" aria-label="Research into Squirrels Takes Flight on Campus">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1700,917/ignore_cropper/1/20321_Cailin_Currie_Swims.rev.1561127682.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cailin Currie ’21 recently returned from the Paralympics World Series in Berlin where she competed in the tune-up swimming meet leading into qualifying races for next summer’s Paralympics games in Tokyo.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4752-hitting-her-stride-in-berlin-sophomore-looking-to" role="button" title="Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics" aria-label="Hitting her Stride in Berlin, Sophomore Looking to Paralympics">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,259/ignore_cropper/1/20522_We_Are_One_5.rev.1568156589.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College continued its steady climb up U.S. News & World Report magazine’s Best Colleges rankings this year, leaping from 50th a year ago to 46th on the 2020 list released Monday Sept. 9. It also listed the Merrimack among the top 10 most innovative regional universities.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4800-merrimack-climbs-us-news-world-reports-ranking" role="button" title="Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges" aria-label="Merrimack Climbs U.S. News & World Report’s Ranking of Best Colleges">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,600/ignore_cropper/1/20419_Juliana_Cohen.rev.1565635177.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Sugar is a Time(ly) Topic for Professor of Health Sciences</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College assistant professor of nutrition <a href="/live/profiles/453-juliana-fw-cohen/_p/f">Juliana Cohen</a>, of the School of Health Sciences, was a featured expert in the recent Time magazine article exploring whether sugar is as bad for children as it is for adults.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4781-sugar-is-a-timely-topic-for-professor-of-health" role="button" title="Sugar is a Time(ly) Topic for Professor of Health Sciences" aria-label="Sugar is a Time(ly) Topic for Professor of Health Sciences">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/364,947,2400,2982/ignore_cropper/1/20391_Rosana_Urbaez_190724.rev.1564064159.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Merrimack, Charity Partner to Aid Schoolchildren</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack’s Hands to Help/Manos Para Ayuda program is holding its third annual Back to School Supply Drive for underserved school children in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts this month. Director Rosana Urbaez would like to fill 300 backpacks with almost everything students in grades 1-12 will need to start the academic year.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4770-merrimack-charity-partner-to-aid-schoolchildren" role="button" title="Merrimack, Charity Partner to Aid Schoolchildren" aria-label="Merrimack, Charity Partner to Aid Schoolchildren">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,1024,683/ignore_cropper/1/20480_Move-In_01_190830.rev.1567442597.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Praise for Organization Amid the Hustle and Bustle of Move-In Day</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Merrimack College community came together in welcoming the class of 2023 to campus at the start of the Labor Day Weekend Aug. 30. Upperclassmen arrived en masse at the end of the weekend.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4793-praise-for-organization-amid-the-hustle-and-bustle" role="button" title="Praise for Organization Amid the Hustle and Bustle of Move-In Day" aria-label="Praise for Organization Amid the Hustle and Bustle of Move-In Day">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,998,2201,3200/ignore_cropper/1/20428_School_Supplies_Aa.rev.1565961874.JPG'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>School Supplies Handed Out to Hundreds of Underserved Children</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merrimack College’s <a href="/about/offices_services/hands-to-help/index.php">Hands to Help</a> handed out 300 backpacks stuffed with school supplies for students from kindergarten through high school on Aug. 12. There everything from notebooks, pencils, binders, folders and even Crayons included in the bags.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4784-school-supplies-handed-out-to-hundreds-of" role="button" title="School Supplies Handed Out to Hundreds of Underserved Children" aria-label="School Supplies Handed Out to Hundreds of Underserved Children">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>
<section class="content-fluid-slider-container content-fluid dark section" style="background:url('/live/image/gid/67/width/1000/height/500/crop/1/src_region/0,0,2400,1553/ignore_cropper/1/20432_NancyStudio2.rev.1566307677.jpg'); background-size:cover;"><div class="container"><div class="row no-gutters"><div class="col-lg-9"><span class="label">Office of Communications and Marketing</span><h3>Summer Break Offers Professors Time for Research, Including Art</h3><p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Associate professor of visual and performing arts Nancy Wynn went on the 20th annual Pellegrinaggio pilgrimage to Italy last spring and is using the experience as inspiration for her latest artwork series.</span></p></p></div><div class="col-lg-3"><div class="d-table h-100 "><div class="d-table-cell align-middle"><a class="btn float-right" href="/live/news/4785-summer-break-offers-professors-time-for-research" role="button" title="Summer Break Offers Professors Time for Research, Including Art" aria-label="Summer Break Offers Professors Time for Research, Including Art">Read more </a> </div></div></div></div></div></section>

Faculty

Full-Time Faculty

Steven Scherwatzky

Emma Duffy-Comparone

Ellen McWhorter

Marie A. Plasse

Christy L. Pottroff

Lauren Rocha

Paul Vatalaro

Joseph Vogel

Faculty Emeriti

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