DALLAS TWP, — Misericordia University recently awarded promotions to six members of the faculty. Those named to full professor are Richard “Woody” Haydt P.T., D.P.T., O.C.S., M.T.C., F.A.A.O.M.P.T., physical therapy; Kathleen Scaler Scott, Ph.D., C.C.C.-S.L.P., speech-language pathology; Melanie Shepherd, Ph.D., philosophy; Amy Tremback-Ball, P.T., Ph.D., physical therapy, and Cosima Wiese, Ph.D., biology. In addition, Matthew Nickel, Ph.D., was named associate professor of English.
A resident of Mountain Top, Haydt earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy and Certification in Manual Therapy at University of St. Augustine, Florida. He also holds a Master of Science in physical therapy (PT) from Arcadia University, and Bachelor of Science in business administration from Wilkes University. He is a licensed physical therapist and is board certified in orthopedics by the American Physical Therapy Association. In addition, he is a Fellow of American Academy Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists. He joined the faculty in 2007. A clinical physical therapist for more than 30 years, Dr. Haydt has authored numerous articles, and published a chapter on the geriatric spine in the book, “Geriatric Rehabilitation Manual for Physical Therapists.” He has also presented at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meetings in Louisiana, Utah, California, Texas and Washington, D.C., about research on the degenerative meniscus, the development of osteoarthritis after ACL injury, the incidence of low back pain in college field hockey players, the influence of sitting posture on shoulder strength and hip strength, and dosages of stretching for hamstring flexibility.
Scaler Scott is a licensed speech-language pathologist who specializes in child language disorders, literacy, autism spectrum disorders and fluency disorders. A practicing clinician for more than 25 years, she has presented numerous papers nationally and internationally in the areas of social communication disorders, literacy and fluency disorders. An area of specialty, she has published two books on cluttering: “Managing Cluttering: A Comprehensive Guidebook of Activities” and “Cluttering: A Handbook of Research, Intervention and Education,” both with David Ward, Ph.D., of the University of Reading, England. She most recently published the book, “Fluency Plus: Managing Fluency Disorders in Individuals with Multiple Diagnoses.” A resident of Flemington, New Jersey, Scaler Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts in speech-language-hearing sciences from Douglass College/Rutgers University, a Master of Science in communication disorders from Emerson College, and her doctorate in applied language and speech sciences from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.
A resident of Kingston, Shepherd is chair of the Department of Philosophy and been a member of the faculty since 2008. She earned her doctorate at The Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts at Hanover College. Her areas of specialization are the history of philosophy and 19th and 20th century continental philosophy. She teaches a variety of classes, including Social/Political Philosophy, Philosophy and Literature, and 19th Century Philosophy. Her recent work on German philosopher and essayist Friedrich Nietzsche has appeared in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, and History of European Ideas. Another article is forthcoming this spring in The Journal of Nietzsche Studies.
A Misericordia alumna, Tremback-Ball holds a Ph.D. in human development from Marywood University, and a Bachelor of Science in health sciences and Master of Science in physical therapy from Misericordia University. The resident of Jermyn joined the faculty in 1999. She is a licensed physical therapist who has presented at dozens of state, national and international physical therapy, education and medical conferences, including the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine World Congress in Paris in 2018. Dr. Tremback-Ball has published numerous articles in a variety of journals, such as the Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy and the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine. In May, she will present her scholarly research at the World Confederation of Physical Therapy Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, and in the fall will be working with and studying elite female triathletes at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
Wiese received her doctorate and Master of Science in plant pathology from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Art in biology and German from Bucknell University. Her research focuses on the effects of environmental stresses on plants and how plants respond to stress conditions, particularly to stressors derived from human activities. Her current research seeks to evaluate the impacts of heavy metal pollution on the aquatic plant duckweed. She has presented at dozens of national and international conferences, including the American Society of Plant Biologists meeting in Montreal, Canada, and has served as a visiting scholar in the Cell and Molecular Sciences Group of the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie, Scotland. She has been a member of the faculty since 2001 and teaches a variety of courses, including environmental science, plant physiology and biology research. She resides in Blakeslee.
Nickel has dedicated much of his career to the study of author Ernest Hemingway. His expertise was recognized when he was selected to co-direct The Hemingway Society’s 2018 biennial conference – the largest gathering of Hemingway scholars in history – in Paris. Most recently, he was named to the board of directors of the Hemingway Society, which has nearly 1,000 members dedicated to advancing scholarship related to the late author. Dr. Nickel’s doctoral thesis examined the influence of Catholicism on Hemingway’s life. It is the focus of his 2013 book, “Hemingway’s Dark Night: Catholic Influences and Intertextualities in the Work of Ernest Hemingway.” Dr. Nickel holds a doctorate in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz. The Dallas resident joined the faculty in 2013.
