Our Faculty

Alison Mahone

BA, Rutgers University; MEd, St. Peter’s University

Kamyar Malakuti

M.A. in Pure Mathematics, Kerman University, Iran; Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, New Jersey Institute of Technology.

​Dr. Malakuti ​was a lecturer in Ardabil University, Iran. After immigrating to the United State​s​,​ he​ worked as a researcher at​ ​Simpotek, Inc. ​He ​also worked as part​-​time ​lecturer at Bergen Community College, Fairleigh Dickinson​ University Becton College of Arts and Sciences, and Fairleigh Dickinson University Silberman College of Business.

John Martin

BS, Montclair State University

Mr. Martin started teaching at Bard High School Early College in 2016.  He achieved his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Health from Montclair State University.  Mr. Martin teaches ninth grade Health and Physical Education as well as College Personal Health and College Personal Fitness.  Additionally he coaches high school football, wrestling, and baseball.

Reynaldo Martinez

Anand Mhatre

BSc, Queens’ University, PhD, McGill University

I teach College Biology and Medical Genetics at BHSEC-Newark.  Previously, I taught and directed a research laboratory at New York University.  My research focus is on inherited hearing loss, understanding its molecular-genetic cause, and developing gene-based therapeutics using both in vitro and in vivo models.  My interests include probability, entrepreneurship and hockey.

Michael L. Murray

BA, George Mason University; MA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; M.L.I.S., Rutgers University; A.M., PhD, University of Pennsylvania

David D. Oquendo

BFA, Rutgers University-Newark; MFA, Montclair State University

Jazmin Puicon

BA, Union College; MA, New York University; PhD, Rutgers University

Jazmín Puicón is an Assistant Professor of History at Bard High School Early College in Newark, NJ. She is a historian of modern Latin America with a specialization in Women’s and Gender History. Her research focuses on popular democracy, Afro-Colombian women, and working-class culture in urban Colombia. Her writing examines how the working class in Cali, Colombia sustained families and communities by embracing popular democracy despite increased local and national political violence. 

She has received grants from the Mellon Foundation, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, and the International Education Fund Grant (Union College-NY) to conduct research in Colombia on oral history and political violence, highlighting the voices of Afro-Colombian women in the Cauca Valley as they fought for peace and community throughout the 20th century. She has presented papers and her work at conferences in the United States and abroad, including the International Conference on Women’s History in Bogotá, Colombia and the inaugural ALARI Conference on Afro-Latin American Studies at Harvard University.

At BHSEC-Newark, she currently teaches courses on the history of the United States from an Afro-Latinx perspective, the History of Modern Latin America, Year 1 Seminar, and Women’s and Gender Studies courses for 9th graders to Year2 students.  

In addition, while at BHSEC-Newark, she has won grants for her courses (including the Engaged Liberal Arts and Science Grant from Bard College), was selected into the inaugural cohort for the New Jersey Department of Education’s Diverse Teachers for Diverse Schools initiative, is currently a fellow at the Open Society University Network’s Experiential Learning Institute and also a fellow at the Pulitzer Center’s Teacher Fellowship Program on Stories of Migration: Going Beyond the Headlines for the Spring 2021. She was previously a Teaching Fellow at the Honors College at Rutgers University – New Brunswick.

Gopakumar Ram

Doctorate in Education (EdD): P-20 Community and Leadership: Murray State University, Kentucky
MSc Zoology: MG University, India
MEd, Educational Technology and Teacher Education: Bharathiyar University, India

Teaching Certification: Biology and Chemistry, NJED
Professional Teaching Certificate: Biology and Chemistry, Department of Education, Kentucky.
Professional Experience: 32 years of Teaching Experience from four different countries: India, Bhutan, Maldives, United States
Taught AP Biology, Dual Credit Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, Anatomy and Physiology, HONS Biology and Hons Chemistry
Served as Science Department Chair for 16 years;
Served as Head of Various School Administrative Committees for 10 years in Bhutan

Shana Russell

BA, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; MA, Simmons College; PhD, Rutgers University

Tiffany R. Sims

• [email protected]

BS, MS, New Jersey Institute of Technology; PhD, Rutgers University and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Dr. Sims’s interests include robotics, sensorimotor integration, physical rehabilitation,  and the development of outcome measures for movement disorders. She has taught 9th grade physics,Geometry, College Physics, Engineering, Bioengineering, and Bioinformatics. She is also the coach for the robotics team.

Betsy Wood

Biyuan Yang

BA, China Central University of Nationalities; MS, University of Bridgeport; PhD, New York University

Juan Yu

BA, Huanggang Normal University, China; MA, Durham University, England

Ms. Yu joined Bard High School Early College in 2017, having received her MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) from Durham University in Great Britain, BA in English Literature from Huanggang Normal University in Hubei Province, China, and working as a translator and interpreter for several well-known artists in Beijing, as well as teaching at high schools and colleges in China and the United States. A perpetual adventurer at heart, her academic interests are in promoting intercultural exchange by finding new, innovative, and interactive methods to teach language, history, Mathematics and heritage to non-native speakers. Her courses include Introduction to Language: Chinese, Chinese 9, and Mathematics 10: Geometry.

Lekha Sekhar