The Board of Trustees of Wilkes University approved the following faculty members for tenure and promotion:
Danielle Kieck was promoted to associate professor of pharmacy practice and granted tenure.
Kieck joined the faculty at Wilkes University in 2019. She earned her doctor of pharmacy degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Kieck is a licensed pharmacist who maintains a clinical practice site at Weis Markets in Nanticoke.
Her teaching includes self-care therapeutics and various courses in the pharmacy care lab. She incorporates real-life practice cases and active learning exercises, as well as skills in medication selection, best practices in documentation and patient care process.
Kieck’s scholarship portfolio includes six peer-reviewed publications, six national presentations and nine state-based presentations, in addition to nine co-authored scholarly posters, many of which involved student colleagues. She has also acquired more than $19,000 in grant funding.
Her service to the University includes involvement on the School of Pharmacy Curriculum and Assessment Committees. Kieck was a member of the recent Dean Search Committee and volunteered to co-coordinate the Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE). She is committed to recruitment efforts and participates in Admitted Colonels Day, We’re Empowered by Science (WEBS) and Discover Pharmacy Camp. Kieck also, served on the Student Life and Media Committee (SLAM) and the First-Year Foundations (FYF) Committee, which she chaired for two years.
Han (Anna) Ma was promoted to associate professor of marketing and awarded tenure.
Ma joined the faculty at Wilkes University in 2019. She earned her doctoral degree in marketing from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research explores cultural influences on consumer behavior and well-being, with a particular focus on sustainable consumption and pro-social behavior. Her work has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Business Research, Marketing Letters and the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.
Ma teaches courses in marketing, marketing research and analytics, consumer behavior and retailing, integrating interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world projects to enrich student learning. She has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and mentorship, receiving the TREC Outstanding New Faculty Award and multiple summer mentoring grants.
Beyond teaching and research, Ma is actively engaged in University service. She has co-chaired the College of Business and Engineering Research and Teaching Symposium and served on the Library Committee. Currently, she is the co-chair of the Center for Business and Leadership Research and a member of the University Council on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (CODIE).
Amy Sopcak-Joseph was promoted to associate professor of history and awarded tenure.
Sopcak-Joseph joined the faculty at Wilkes University in 2019. She earned her doctoral degree and master of arts degree in history from the University of Connecticut and her bachelor of arts degree in history and English from Dickinson College.
She is a historian of early America specializing in the history of popular literature for women. Sopcak-Joseph’s teaching includes general surveys in world and American history, upper-level courses in U.S. history before 1865 and courses in the field of public history. She has presented on and published research that focuses on Godey’s Lady Book, a major periodical for women in the 1800s.
Sopcak-Joseph has served the University as a member of the Teacher Recognition and Effectiveness Committee, the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee and the search committee for the Vice President for Advancement. Her service to the profession includes her recent appointment as the director of the Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch Program in Women’s History at the Library Company of Philadelphia, where she creates cultural and scholarly programming related to women’s history and facilitates scholarly research using the library’s substantial holdings in the field.
Letitia Warunek was promoted to associate professor of pharmacy practice and awarded tenure.
Warunek joined the faculty at Wilkes University in 2019. She earned her doctor of pharmacy degree from Wilkes. Warunek is a licensed pharmacist who maintains a clinical practice site at Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre Hospital.
Her teaching includes infectious disease therapeutics, renal pharmacotherapy and pharmacy care lab. Warunek has also created embedded assessments, providing outstanding learning opportunities and improving long-term retention of the material. These assessments are all based on activities pharmacists perform on a daily basis including verifying orders, identifying medication errors, resolving patient medication issues and engaging in antibiotic stewardship.
Warunek has generated seven publications, many of which are in high-impact factor journals. Much of her scholarship has been in collaboration with student colleagues. She has also delivered six national presentations via various professional pharmacy organizations, as well as eight presentations at the state level.
Her service to the University includes participation on the School of Pharmacy Student Affairs Committee and Curriculum Revival Task Force, as well as chairing the School of Pharmacy Assessment Committee. Warunek is committed to a variety of recruitment efforts and involvement in Discover Pharmacy Camp and We’re Empowered by Science (WEBS).