Two Niagara University faculty members were honored during an event celebrating the start of a new academic semester on Aug. 30, 2023.
Patrick O'Meara, assistant professor of accounting, was recognized with the university’s Excellence in Teaching award, and Dr. Lisa Kilanowski, associate professor of school psychology, received the Excellence in Scholarship award.
The Niagara University Excellence in Teaching award recognizes a full-time faculty member who demonstrates a consistent record of extraordinary performance as a teacher-scholar and who embraces innovative, active, and integrative teaching strategies. Professor O’Meara’s use of case studies and accounting scenarios in his courses has given his students a better understanding of the material and enabled them to visualize what practical accounting is. He also incorporates Chartered Global Management Accountant material into his classes, providing students with experience and allowing them to start earning credit toward certain CGMA designations.
O'Meara is a certified management accountant, a chartered professional accountant, and a certified financial planner. He joined Niagara’s accounting faculty in 2018 and has held teaching positions at Red Deer College University, Alberta, Canada, and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He has also held posts as chair of business and commerce programs at the Donald School of Business at Red Deer College University, and as chair of accounting, finance, and economics programs at the school of business at Centennial College in Toronto, Canada. He is the principal of the Innovative Scholar Inc. and has written three books on topics including personal credit, personal finance, and mutual funds. He is currently writing a textbook on management and cost accounting that is expected to be published next summer. He also served as senior director of training services at the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning. O’Meara holds an MBA from Niagara University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Windsor.
Established in 2021, the Niagara University Excellence in Scholarship Award recognizes a full-time faculty member who has made significant contributions of new knowledge to their academic discipline. Since starting at Niagara in 2006, Dr. Kilanowski has produced six book chapters in leading publications, as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles, encyclopedia entries, external program reports, and upwards of 140 conference presentations in the United States and abroad on topics in the field of school psychology. In 2021, Springer Editions published her book, “Principles of Leadership in School Psychology.”
Dr. Kilanowski’s primary research interests include multitiered systems of support (MTSS); response to intervention (RtI); reading disabilities; assessment and intervention in reading, math, and written expression; school reform and systems change; multitiered systems of prevention in behavior and counseling; leadership in the profession of school psychology; and advanced integration of neuropsychological principles and RtI data in the assessment of learning disabilities in K-12 environments.
She holds a doctorate in school psychology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree and a Certificate of Advanced Study in school psychology from Niagara University, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University at Buffalo.
Faculty promotions were also celebrated at the event: Dr. Virginia Glazier was promoted to associate professor in the biology department, Dr. Bridget Moriarty was promoted to associate professor in the theatre department, and Dr. Alexander Bertland was promoted to professor in the philosophy department.