Professors have always served as a support system for their students. They spend countless hours with them both inside the classroom and out. They send e-mails until inboxes are full and prepare students for the difficult tests they are bound to receive. Yet above all, many professors are motivators, and friends. This year eight new and enthusiastic professors joined the Quinnipiac community, to be just that.

Among these new professors are the personalities of Nita Verma Prasad, Noelle O’Connor and Mark Whiting.

Professor Nita Verma Prasad joins the community as the professor of two history courses: ‘The West and the World’ and ‘The History of the Middle East’. Prasad received both her MA and BA in history; and her PhD in history from the University of California at Berkley in 2006. Through her studies, Prasad learned to speak Hindi, Urdu, and Spanish fluently. She can also proficiently read and write Arabic and French. Prior to teaching at Quinnipiac University, Prasad lived in Great Britain with her husband.

She also taught at East Stroudsburg University (Pennsylvania) as an assistant professor of world history. “There were a lot more students at the school I used to teach at, and I felt as though I couldn’t really connect with them,” Prasad said. “At Quinnipiac, however, I feel as though I can connect with my students on a more personal level.”

So far Prasad is very impressed with Quinnipiac. She says the students are eager to learn. Prasad hopes that in the future she can set up a trip for interested students to India.

This year Professor Noelle O’Connor lends her services to Quinnipiac as the professor of ‘Non-Western Art History’ and ‘Post Modern Art History’. “The first day I stepped on this campus I fell in love with it,” O’Connor said. “I love all of the students and the professors. They are all really nice and friendly.”

O’Connor went to Columbia University and then received her master’s degree in Art History from Berkley. She then went on to work as a professor of art history at The Fashion Institute of Technology and Pace University ,both in New York. While she taught at Pace, she also held a part time job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She feels that Quinnipiac is a very diverse community of incredibly eager students and friendly professors. Just like Prasad, O’Connor feels like the small class sizes allow her to really get to know her students.

In the future, O’Connor would like to begin an art history club where students would learn about the ancient art of various cultures and then create works of their own by modeling the art of those cultures. O’Connor would then like to hang the art work of the students up around campus for everyone to admire.

Professor Mark Whiting is also a new professor here on campus. He is teaching ‘Physiological Psychology’, ‘Research Methods’, ‘Introduction to Statistics in Psychology’ and ‘Drugs and Behavior.’

Whiting grew up in the mountains of southwestern Virginia and received his PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to joining the Quinnipiac community Whiting taught psychology at a high school in Richmond, Virginia, and at his alma mater, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Whiting’s first impression of Quinnipiac is, “It’s great.”

He says his favorite aspect of the campus is that he can walk around campus and see several professors and students that he knows by name.

“You can really tell that there is a strong sense of community here and that is not true at every university,” Whiting said.

Whiting is also part of a research committee that is responsible for setting up groups of individuals whom hold the same interests, and yet can provide different insight on the same subject.

It seems as though freshmen are not the only ones changing the face of the campus this semester.

Having studied at universities all over the country, as well as previously teaching in different communities, these three professors have a lot to offer. By teaching unique and out of the ordinary courses, all three professors are eager to share their knowledge and experiences with their students.