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The University mourns the passing of eight members of the University community:
Sandra Deller, retired vice president for institutional advancement, died June 24, 2024. She was 81. Deller joined the University in 2004 during the University's first major capital campaign, which ultimately raised $40 million. During her tenure, she also secured funding for the Nel Bolger, RN Nursing Laboratory and the Center for Chinese Art, among other gifts in support of scholarships and academic programs. Deller retired from the University in 2011. Prior to joining the University, she held development roles at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio; the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center; John Carroll University, and the Greater Lafayette Museum of Art in Lafayette, Indiana. Earlier in her career, she was a producer, talent coordinator, and host for Midbreak-18, a live weekly news and interview program broadcast on the CBS-affiliate in Lafayette. A graduate of Xavier University with a bachelor’s degree in English and communications, she was the author, with Joyce Fitzpatrick, of Fundraising Skills for Health Care Executives, which was selected for the American Journal of Nursing “Book of the Year” award for 2001.
Joanna Hayden, professor emeritus of public health, died September 8, 2024. She was 71. Professor Hayden began her career as a nurse before becoming a health educator. She joined the University faculty in 1990. A graduate of Montclair State University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in community health education, she earned a doctorate in community health education from New York University. Named a Fulbright Senior Specialist, Professor Hayden served as president of the New Jersey Society for Public Health Education, which presented her with its Outstanding Service Award. She was also appointed to the Commissioner’s Working Group on Local Health of the New Jersey Department of Health and was active on campus and in the community in disseminating information on current health issues. Professor Hayden was the author of two books and numerous publications and presentations on health education issues, including AIDS, safer sex, stress management, and incorporating health education into the curriculum. She retired from the University in 2015.
Margaret Lam and David Yen, who provided the gift that established the University’s Center for Chinese Art in 2009, have died. David Yen, who was 96, died August 20, 2024. His wife, Margaret Lam, who was 83, died October 30, 2024. Together, they championed the arts by supporting the creation of the Center for Chinese Art at William Paterson, which is dedicated to preserving and sharing the artistic heritage of China and integrating its rich tradition into the University's curriculum. Both served honorary directors and members of the advisory board of the Center. In addition, they established the David Yen and Margaret Lam Art Annual Scholarship and the David Yen and Margaret Lam History Annual Scholarship at William Paterson. Lam, who was born in Hong Kong, immigrated to the United States in 1967, and quickly became a leading voice for the Asian community in New Jersey, advocating for cultural visibility and cohesion. An entrepreneur, Lam founded Prosperity Resources International Inc., a company importing dry goods from Asia. Her involvement with the Northen New Jersey Chinese Association, where she served multiple terms as president, and the local Chinese school marked the beginning of her legacy as a community leader. With her husband, she co-founded the New Jersey Chinese Festival in 1989 at the request of Governor Thomas Kean. She later served on Governor Florio’s Ethnic Advisory Council and was appointed to Governor Christie Whitman’s state School Ethics Commission. She was the founder of the United Chinese American Association of New Jersey. In 2004, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the second highest civilian award in the United States. Yen, who was born in Beijing, China, immigrated to the United States in 1946, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. After beginning his career at First National Bank of Minneapolis, he moved to New York, where he worked at Chase Manhattan Bank in international banking. Following his retirement, he went back to work at the HR Block Co., eventually managing several branch offices in the Edison, New Jersey. Yen was very active as a member of the Republican Club of Montville, and the Lions Club International, and in 2018 he was named Citizen of the Year by the Montville Township Chamber of Commerce.
Donald M. Levine, retired professor of biology, died on June 2, 2024. He was 94. A native of Boston, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont, a master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island, and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, all in zoology. He joined the William Paterson faculty in 1962, and taught courses in biology, parasitology, and immunology, among others. Professor Levine conducted research in Liberia, West Africa and Puerto Rico and was the author of numerous articles published in academic journals. In addition, he was chair of pre-professional programs committee of faculty that assisted students applying to medical school and other professional programs, as well as advisor to the Galen Society. He retired in 2000. Professor Levine was a life member of the Glen Rock Volunteer Ambulance Corps, a Master Gardener, and a member of the Glen Rock Garden Club.
Joseph Clement Spagna, professor of biology, died June 17, 2024. He was 51. A native of California, he was a graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Upon graduation, he worked for Teach for America, teaching science in Baltimore, Maryland. He later earned a doctorate in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley., and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Professor Spagna, who joined the biology faculty in 2008, conducted research on the evolution of arthropods, specifically spiders and ants, and the evolution of their locomotion systems. He served as director of the Honors College Track in Biology and mentored numerous students who conducted research projects in physiology, behavior, and evolution under his supervision. The author of dozens of articles, presentations, and abstracts, he was editor of the Bulletin of the New Jersey Academy of Science, and a peer reviewer for journals and grantmaking organizations. His current research on brown spiders was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Barbara Stoll ’93, MA ’94, retired senior writer/editor in the Department of Marketing and Public Relations, died September 23, 2024. She was 74. A 1993 graduate of the University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication, she worked as a reporter for local publications including the Pines Lake Reporter and the Wayne Today newspaper before joining the University’s marketing and public relations staff in 1997. She used her skills as an interviewer, writer, editor, and marketing professional to promote and publicize her alma mater. Her stories were featured in numerous publications, including eFocus, In Focus, WP News, WP Perspectives, and from its inception, WP Magazine, for which she wrote dozens of feature stories and alumni profiles since its establishment in 1998. She retired in 2020.
Peter Stein, professor emeritus of sociology and co-founder of the University’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, died August 9, 2024. He was 87. Professor Stein was a native of Czechoslovakia. Born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, he saw the Nazis seize his father’s business and send him to the Terezin concentration camp. The family survived after years of terror and close calls, and in 1948, they arrived in New York. Professor Stein graduated from the City College of New York and earned a doctorate in sociology from Princeton University. After serving as a faculty member at Douglass College of Rutgers University and Lehman College, he joined the William Paterson faculty in 1979. A specialist in the sociology of the family, he was the author of dozens of journal articles and more than half a dozen books about sociological issues, genocide, and the Holocaust, including his 2019 memoir, A Boy’s Journey: From Nazi-Occupied Prague to Freedom in America. He served as co-director of WP’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and coordinated the minor in labor studies. As a witness to history, he lectured about genocide and the Holocaust to teachers, middle school, high school and college students, to adult groups, service members, and professional organizations. Following his retirement from William Paterson in 2006, he served as a senior researcher at the Institute on Aging at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and was a member of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education of North Carolina. He also helped to develop the Holocaust Speakers Bureau in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and served as a volunteer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
