Office and People Directory

Thomas Panico

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Joseph Paquin

Biography

Joseph joined Champlain in 2023 in the Stiller School of Business as Adjunct Faculty. Joseph’s career has been focused on business and information technology. Currently he is a Director of Information Technology for the Vermont Judiciary. He has held various information technology roles in State government including Senior Software Developer and IT Business Analyst. Before his service in government, Joseph was in management in the private sector managing businesses greater than $100m. Joseph is passionate for education and experiential learning. He holds his Bachelors of Science in Networking and Telecommunications and a Master’s of Business Administration in Information Technology Leadership. In his spare time he volunteers with local government and works on his homestead with his family.

Fvorite Quote

“If knowledge does not have primacy in public decision making, then no truth can be said to be self-evident, and we are left with the tyranny of ideology, with shots called by the wealthy and enforced by might.”

~ Shawn Lawrence Otto, the war on Science

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Matthew Parillo

Biography

Matthew has been teaching in the Burlington area since 2010 and is currently an adjunct professor of film history and film studies at Champlain College. He has taught several courses at three different colleges including: Film History 1 & 2, Screenings, Censorship in American Cinema, The Hollywood Renaissance, Film Noir: America’s Dark Mirror, Italian Cinema, and The Cinematic Space Odyssey.

Matthew’s primary research interests are in Italian Neorealism and its influence on modern cinema, cinematic censorship and space travel cinema. As well as being an educator, Matthew is also a musician, DJ, golfer, and hockey player.

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Parthiv Patel

Biography

Pat Patel has lived and worked in 3 different countries (India, the UK, and USA). He comes from a pioneering industrial family which started the Agricultural Tractors and Earthmoving Machinery Manufacturing industry in India. He worked in the family business for two years as a Management Trainee after graduating with his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Bombay. After successfully completing the Management Trainee program, he moved to London where he worked for an affiliated British company that provided crankshafts and related parts to his family’s tractor and earthmoving machinery company.

In 1980, he moved to the United States to begin his graduate education, and he earned his Master of Business Administration degree, double majoring in Finance and Marketing, from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Subsequent to getting his MBA, he moved to San Diego, California, where he earned a Master of Science degree in Information and Decision Sciences from San Diego State University.

After completing the two Master’s degree programs, he began his professional career in the Investment Software, Database, and Quantitative Modeling business with a leading Chicago based company called Zacks Investment Research, Inc. where he rose to become Vice President and Regional Manager for the company’s Los Angeles office. After working at Zacks Investment Research for 9 years, he worked directly in the Institutional Investment and Mutual Fund industry for 4 years as Vice President at Putnam Investments in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1998, he started his own business in the hospitality industry and he purchased two franchised hotels which he owned and managed for 9 years with his team of professional hotel managers and staff. He subsequently sold the properties and the business to a Houston,Texas, based hotel company.

He was hired by Champlain College in 2009 to teach in the business school, and he has been teaching a variety of business courses ever since at the Stiller School of Business. During his time at Champlain College, he also earned his Doctorate degree in Business Administration. In 2022, he was offered and he accepted the additional position of Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Distinctions & Awards

Distinguished Service Award for serving as President of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Enlightenment Now by Howard Gardner
• Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Favorite Quote

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

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JoAnn Patel

Biography

JoAnn Patel has a MFA in Computer Arts from Florida Atlantic University and a BFA in Environmental Design from Parsons School of Design. Her exploration with computers as a creative tool began with digital music creation and expanded to the visual arts. Her digital art career started with web design, then moved on to 3D art, compositing and game art.

JoAnn was 3D Art Director at D2 Creative/D2 Team-Sim where she worked on training simulations for Raytheon and the US Military as well as marketing videos for pharmaceutical clients and continuing medical education projects for doctors. While freelancing in New York City, she worked on projects for the History Channel, A&E, HBO, Discovery, MSNBC, BMW and Hasbro Toys.

JoAnn has taught at Pratt Institute, New York Institute of Technology, Florida Atlantic University, Digital Media Arts College, Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami International University of Art and Design Online. JoAnn’s animated short films “Reflections”, “Idea Hunting”, and “Casandra The Chameleon” have been shown at international film festivals and on the Tampa Educational Channel. “Casandra The Chameleon” won the grand prize at the Homestead Animated Film Festival in 2003.

JoAnn’s current creative focus is on hard surface modeling and texturing, procedural modeling, game environments and the use of game engines for filmmaking and visual effects.

Curriculum Vitae

READ MY CV

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LaKysha Patnode

Biography

LaKysha Patnode holds a Master’s degree in Information Security Operations and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity, equipping her with advanced skills in protecting critical infrastructure, managing IT risks, and implementing robust security controls. Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), she excels in threat assessment, regulatory compliance, and aligning cybersecurity strategies with business goals. LaKysha spent five years at NuHarbor Security as an Information Assurance Analyst and later as a supervisor, managing teams and advising clients on security programs. She is now an Assistant Professor of Computer Networking and Cybersecurity at Champlain College, where she guides the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Distinctions & Awards

CRISC Certification

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Kyle Patterson

Biography

Kyle graduated from Champlain College in 2016 with a degree in Game Production Management and has worked at various game and tech companies such as Zynga, Warner Bros Games, Disney Interactive, Jam City, and Snapchat. He is a part time adjunct professor at Champlain focused on supporting the Game Studio.

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Agile Game Development with Scrum by Clinton Keith
• Horus Rising -1 – The Horus Heresy by Dan Abnett
• Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry by Jason Schreier

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Velpula Grace Anisha Paul

Biography

Anisha Paul is as an Adjunct Professor at Champlain college and a Forensic Toxicologist for the Vermont Forensic Laboratory. Ms. Paul holds a Master’s of Science in Forensic Science degree from Arcadia University and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Microbiology from Osmania University in India. Ms. Paul is board certified as a Diplomate in Forensic Toxicology by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. At Champlain College Ms. Paul teaches the forensic science class and core classes. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and learning from her students.

Outside of the lab, Ms. Paul is an active member of the National Safety Council-Alcohol Drugs and Impairment division (NSC-ADID), Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), International Alliance of Clinical and Forensic Toxicologists (IACFT), Council of Forensic Science Educators (COFSE), and Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists (NEAFS), where she currently serves on the Board of Directors. When Ms. Paul isn’t working you will find her hanging out with her two cats, dog, and turtle. She loves a good beer and is still working on truly enjoying life in the tundra!

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Roberta Peirick

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John Pelletier

Biography

John is deeply committed to increasing the financial literacy of all of our citizens as Director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, since its creation in 2010. He has been a valued and credible, go-to source for the national conversation around financial education. John and the Center have been nationally recognized by the White House, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Financial Literacy Education Commission, the FDIC and the media for the Center’s unique teacher training programs, research, and advocacy.

John is an entrepreneurial minded business executive. Prior to working at the Center, John was chief operating officer and/or chief legal officer at some of the largest asset management firms in the United States, including Natixis Global Asset Management, Eaton Vance, and Funds Distributor, Inc. John has also worked at The Boston Company, Sidley Austin and Ropes & Gray as an attorney. John was the co-chair along with the Vermont State Treasurer of the Vermont Financial Literacy Commission and is currently an independent trustee of the Transamerica Mutual Fund Family and formerly an independent trustee of the Sentinel Funds. John has a law degree and an MA in public policy from Duke University.

What are your hobbies?

Running, Skiing, Nordic Skiing, and Hiking

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Beth Peloquin

Biography

Beth has been working with children, families and professionals in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) field since 1989, earlier if you count her babysitting jobs that started when she was nine. She earned her Masters in Special Education in 2000 and began working in Vermont that year in inclusive preschool classrooms. She spent 14 years in the classroom, all the while doing side gigs teaching in higher education, presenting on inclusive practices for ECE and ECSE professional organizations, and training and supporting other teachers with assessment, social and emotional practices, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). She loves working with the education students at Champlain and tries to make her classes fun and experiential. Her favorite course is Math and Science for Young Children, closely followed by Preschool Curriculum – Play as Learning.

Outside Champlain, she owns an education training and consulting business, Pyramid 802 Plus, which helps teachers and ECE programs increase their social and emotional teaching practices. She also works with Teaching Strategies as a national trainer, supporting the Creative Curriculum and Teaching Strategies GOLD, which are curriculum and assessment systems used in Vermont and across the nation.

Publications & Abstracts

DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 2: Environment

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

National Association for the Education of Young Children
Council for Exceptional Children Division for Early Childhood

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

The Power of Play by David Elkind

Favorite Quote

“Every child deserves a champion.”

—Rita Pierson

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Craig Pepin

Biography

Craig Pepin is the David F. Finney Chair for the Future of Professional Education, Lead Faculty in the Degree Design Lab and also a Professor in the Core Division. He earned a Ph.D. in European Intellectual History from Duke University, with a special interest in Modern Germany and the History of Higher Education. Teaching interdisciplinary inquiry-driven courses at Champlain led him to the importance of integrative learning in developing students who can think broadly and synthetically, and in particular, to the intersection between integrative thinking and learning assessment. Most recently his research and praxis has focused on competency-based education, particularly in a general education context, and on the history of General Education in the United States. He directs a $280,000 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation, “”Embedding the College Competencies at Champlain””.

He served as Assistant Dean for Assessment at Champlain for 12 years, and four years as President of the New England Educational Assessment Network. He has also consulted with other institutions on general education and assessment, and has served as an accreditation reviewer for the New England Commission of Higher Education. He has presented often at assessment conferences and at the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies. As chair of the College Competency Committee since 2014, he has facilitated the development of the Champlain College Competencies.

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• New England Educational Assessment Network
• Association for Interdisciplinary Studies

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

Watchmen (the novel). Ground breaking in its time, (I read the original comics when they came out in 1986), it holds up exceptionally well. It inverts and explores many of the tropes of superheroes and vigilantism, of conspiracy theories and power. The writing is razor sharp and the images are densely allegorical and intimately interwoven. The HBO miniseries of the same name (2019) is also great, transposing issues of race and policing in ways that again challenge our beliefs about what it means to be a hero. Both are brilliant.

Neal Stephenson’s Anathem is a work of science fiction that renders a richly drawn alternate reality that simultaneously steps through the most interesting thickets of classical Greek philosophy, and mashes it up with quantum mechanics. It is a novel of big ideas wrapped up in adventure, and appeals to everything I love about science fiction.

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Robin Perlah

Biography

Robin Perlah currently serves as Dean of the Core Division, Creative Studio and School of Social Innovation at Champlain College, where she is also an Associate Professor. In this role, she provides academic leadership across the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts and design disciplines.

During her time at Champlain, Perlah has held several leadership positions, including Chair of the Creative Studio, Program Director for several programs including Graphic Design (BFA), Interaction Design (BS) and Emergent Media (MFA and MS), Academic Director for the Emergent Media Center, and Assistant Dean for the Division of Communications and Creative Media. She has taught a range of courses in the areas of photography, graphic design, design history, image-making, visual design, interaction design, and media theory, serving both undergraduate and graduate students.

Perlah’s art practice is based on a persistent interest in the photographic image, both still and moving, as it is transformed by digitality. Her work deals with the ambiguity of memory, the intersection between image capture (both analog and digital) and the methods of processing and presenting images, and how generative art and data mutations can reveal layers of complexity.

Before working at Champlain College, Robin taught and ran programs in art, design and creative media in K-12 education, and developed several community art programs to support young people through art-mentoring relationships and other activities. She also served as co-director for the Technology & Design Institute at Governor’s Institutes of Vermont. Prior to her work in education, she had a long career as a professional photographer and photo editor, specializing in commercial, portrait, and event photography as well as fine-art printing.

Robin is a site evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), is part of the volunteer board for PechaKucha Night (PKN) Burlington, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Vermont Arts Council board of trustees, which she rejoined in fall 2024. Robin earned a master of fine arts in emergent media from Champlain College, a bachelor of science in art education from the University of Vermont, and studied commercial and fine art photography at the New England School of Photography.

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Tony Perriello

Biography

Tony Perriello is a professor of law, criminology and criminal justice, Director of the Criminology and Criminal Justice program, and Assistant Dean of the School of Social Innovation. Tony practiced law in the private sector for two years before beginning a career in the legal and higher education publishing and media industries. During his publishing career, he developed and produced numerous legal casebooks and treatises covering many different subject and practice areas, as well college textbooks, educational technology and instructor resources across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Immediately prior to joining the faculty at Champlain College, he was a legal affairs reporter and editor at Bloomberg in Washington, D.C., where he covered the courts and several congressional committees. During his seven years in Washington, he was also a member of the adjunct faculty at American University, where he taught undergraduate courses in news writing and media law.

Professional & Scholastic Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• American Society of Criminology

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
• “The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse” by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus and Katherine Ketcham
• “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson

Favorite Quote

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

—William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

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Denyse Perry

Biography

Denyse specializes in helping professionals and teams navigate conflict, communicate effectively, and solve problems in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world. With a particular focus on the rise of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), she guides leaders and professionals in making authentic, ethical decisions that align with their values while promoting well-being.

Denyse helps individuals manage high-stakes interactions by fostering emotional regulation, deep listening, and empathy, ensuring decisions are purposeful and grounded in ethics. She works with teams to strengthen problem-solving, improve collaboration, and build trust—ultimately driving productivity, reducing waste, and supporting a healthy, resilient work culture.

By coaching professionals on clear, efficient communication, Denyse helps to enhance team dynamics, reduce misunderstandings, and promote a more productive and harmonious environment. Her approach emphasizes adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the importance of well-being in achieving personal and professional success.

With decades of experience in human development and a passion for guiding others, Denyse empowers clients to navigate the complexities of both high-pressure work environments and personal relationships, ensuring they thrive while staying true to their core values.

Distinctions & Awards

Francine Page Excellence in Teaching Award from Champlain College in May of 2024

Recommended Reading, Listening & Viewing

• Book: Nonviolent Communication; Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships, third edition, Dr. Marshall Rosenberg
• Book: The Myth of Normal; Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture, Dr. Gabor Mate
• Book: Us; Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship, Terrence Real

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