Ralph A. Gigliotti, PhD
Assistant Vice President for Strategic Programs in the Office of University Strategy and Director of the Center for Organizational Leadership at Rutgers University.

Ralph A. Gigliotti, Ph.D. is Assistant Vice President for Strategic Programs in the Office of University Strategy and Director of the Center for Organizational Leadership at Rutgers University, where he also teaches in the Department of Communication and Ph.D. Program in Higher Education. He also teaches part-time at Villanova University in both the College of Professional Studies and Department of Public Administration. Ralph’s research and consulting interests explore the intersection of organizational communication, leadership, crisis communication, and training and development within the context of higher education.

His research appears in numerous books and scholarly journals, and he has authored and co-authored several books, including the following:

• Crisis Leadership in Higher Education: Theory and Practice
• Leadership: Social Influence in Personal and Professional Settings
  

Ralph is a National Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States Department of Commerce). He is also actively involved in various professional associations, including the leadership team of the Training and Development Division for the National Communication Association and the Board of Directors for the Network for Change and Continuous Innovation in Higher Education.

Teresa Nance, PhD
Dr. Teresa Nance currently serves as Villanova's Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer and as a Professor of Communication. 

Dr. Nance’s Villanova career spans more than four decades, during which time she has served as an administrator, teacher, scholar, activist and ‘support system’ for students, faculty, and staff at the University. In 2018, The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education recognized Dr. Nance with the Frank W. Hale, Jr. Distinguished Service Award – an honor given to individuals who have “contributed substantially to diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education.”

Dr. Nance was the first Black tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Communication at Villanova, where she established an African American rhetoric course and created the multicultural leadership course. As a researcher, Dr. Nance has investigated the perceptions and stages of interracial relationship development, diversity and inclusion, and intergroup dialogue. She was the founding Assistant Vice President for the Center for Multicultural Affairs. 

Led by Dr. Nance, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) supports Villanova’s continuing efforts to create a welcoming and diverse community at all levels, including students, faculty, administrators, and staff. The office works with academic, administrative, and other units of the University to develop strategies aimed at fostering a Villanova community where individual differences are acknowledged and appreciated.  Most recently Dr. Nance led the Aequitas Task Force on Race which involved over 100 Villanovans and examined all aspects of university life as a means of striving toward assuring equity and justice for all.

Terry Nance received a Bachelor and Master’s degree from Emerson College in Boston and a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia. 

Crystal Lucky, ThD, PhD

Assiciate Dean of Baccalaureate Studies, Villanova College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Crystal J. Lucky is Associate Dean of Baccalaureate Studies for CLAS and Associate Professor of English at Villanova University, where she has taught courses in 19^th and 20^th century African-American literature since 1996.  She also served as the director of the university’s Africana Studies Program from 2005-2015. 

She has published articles on African American women’s writing and a critical edition of the autobiography of the Rev. Mrs. Charlotte Riley, titled A Mysterious Life and Calling, the autobiography of the Rev. Mrs. Charlotte Riley, a black woman preacher born into slavery in Charleston, South Carolina.  She is currently working on two book projects.  The first, On the Threshing Floor: Representations of African American Women’s Piety, analyzes the image of the black women’s piety in 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st century African American literature and culture.  The second, He Came Back to Get Us, explores the lives of the first two members of the MOVE 9 who were released from prison after 40 years.

Crystal holds a Th.D. in Biblical Studies from Manna Bible College (2019), a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania (1999), an M.A. in African American Studies from Yale University (1989), and a B.A. in English and Communications from the University of Pennsylvania (1985).  She also serves, with her husband, as pastor of Sword of the Spirit Church in Lansdowne, PA. They have one son, a proud VU ’20 graduate!

Noelle Comolli, PhD

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Villanova University

Dr. Noelle Comolli is director of the Polymeric Biomaterials Lab. She holds a BS and PhD in Chemical Engineering, and his been a member of the Chemical and Biological Engineering department at Villanova University since 2008. Dr. Comolli’s background is in polymeric materials for tissue engineering, especially neural tissue engineering, as well as drug delivery vehicles. She enjoys also looking at bio-sourced polymers and the life cycle of polymeric materials.

Dr. Comolli is a Co-PI on a $3 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant to fund a project that will encourage and support the advancement of women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. Learn more at the VISIBLE website.