Alumni Profiles
Matthew Allison
Community Library Manager, Queens Borough Public Library, New York
After graduation, Matt worked at a bookstore in Toledo, where conversations with retired
librarians led him to enroll in a graduate program in library science at Kent State.
After attending the American Library Association conference ("wearing a suit in Orlando
in July is not a pleasant experience," he recalls), Matt was offered a job at the
Queens Borough Public Library. "The borough of Queens is the most diverse county in
the country," he says, "and I think a very interesting place to be a public librarian.
I've worked at three locations, one as a librarian, one as an assistant manager, and
now I am a manager of a library. The three places I've worked at the communities are
all different. Each part of Queens has its own demographics and character." A Creative
Writing major at UT, Matt has continued to write about literature as well as life
in New York, and his work can be seen hackwriters.com.
Feliza Casano
Freelance writer and web editor
Feliza focuses on intersectionality and inclusion in entertainment with a specialization
in speculative fiction. She holds an MA in Publishing from Rosemont College, where
she graduated with Thesis of Distinction and the publishing departmental award for
the capstone project based on her ongoing publication Girls in Capes. In addition to hosting programming focused on diverse reading, she also has bylines
at The Portalist.
Rebecca Dorosz
Teacher, Pettisville Local Schools, Pettisville, Ohio
Rebecca earned her BA in English and BEd in Adolescent Education from UT, and has
been in the field of education for 10 years. Since her hiring, she has developed a
literary club for young readers, created a writing class that leads to the publication
of young novelists each year, advised four nationally recognized writers, and been
named the Franklin B. Walter tribute teacher five times. A coach, quiz and yearbook
advisor, and mentor teacher, she received her Master of Education from BGSU in 2010
(but her allegiance will always be to UT).
Andrea Falcone
Head of Education & Outreach Services at the University of Colorado Denver Libraries
Andrea has earned an MLS and MA in English and leads a program offering one-time,
course-integrated instruction on a campus with three institutions. She encourages
library faculty to be experimental in designing their curriculum and to conduct assessments
with the intent of continuous improvement. She is the editor of the Beta Phi Mu Scholars
Series published by Rowman & Littlefield and is the column editor for "Perspectives
on Public Services," which appears in International Information & Library Review.
Will Myers
Editor, Beacon Press, Boston
Will graduated from The University of Toledo in 2006 with a BA in English and a BEd
in Education after completing a Departmental Honors thesis on David Foster Wallace's
Infinite Jest, directed by Dr. Russell Reising. A graduate of Emerson College's Publishing
and Writing Master's Program, he has worked in the publishing industry for ten years.
An Editor at Beacon Press in Boston, he acquires and edits books on the environment,
politics, and activism.
Charles Porter
Assistant Professor of Developmental English, Wor-Wic Community College, Salisbury,
Maryland
Chuck returned to UT after graduation to join the English Department's MA Program in Literature, with an assistantship as an instructor of Composition. "As a graduate assistant at Toledo," Chuck says, "I gained valuable experience in the classroom, and by the time I graduated again in 2006, I had already found a full-time position as an Instructor of Developmental English" at Wor-Wic. Chuck has continued to explore new areas of teaching; he has taken over the ESL program at his college, and is also pursuing an MA as a Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). He reports: "As of 2010, a colleague and I received a grant from Lumina to redesign English 101 and one of our developmental writing courses, I am serving as Wor-Wic's Faculty Council President, and I also was promoted to Assistant Professor."