The ABS Faculty Chicago Area Faculty Including Chicago, North Shore (Skokie), Wheeling, Lisle, Sauk Valley, Rockford, Elgin and Lake County |
| William Boyle, Ed.D. | Robert Bruhl, Ph.D. | Carrie Johnson, Ed.D. |
| Maria K. Malayter, Ph.D. | Natalie Manbeck, Ed.D. | Craig Mealman, Ed.D. |
Deborah O'Reilly, M.B.A. | Wytress U. Richardson, Ed.D. | David SanFilippo, Ph.D. |
Tampa/Orlando Area Faculty David SanFilippo, Ph.D. |
Administrative Assistant
Tina Benjamin
ABS Chicago Area Faculty
William Boyle 
Dr. Boyle has been teaching in the ABS Program since 1979. He has been the Program Director, as well as an Academic Coordinator. He has also served in those capacities at another institution. He received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from Northern Illinois University. Bill has also served NLU in other capacities, including Special Assistant to the President.
Bill has authored two books, Getting Connected and Starting to Finish, both of which are used as textbooks in the ABS Program. He has consulted with sixteen colleges and universities, assisting them in developing their own degree-completion programs. He is a frequent presenter for church and civic groups. In 2003, Bill received the Outstanding Service Award from the Center for Academic Development at NLU, and the Outstanding Faculty Award from Student Affairs & Career Development. Bill is a tenured faculty member. (847-905-8056 or e-mail to bboyle@nl.edu )
Robert H. Bruhl
Though new to the department as a full-time faculty member, Professor Bruhl has been teaching in the ABS Program since 1992. Previously, Professor Bruhl taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University. He also worked for a number of years in the business sector as a corporate planner and management consultant. His current areas of interest include small group decision making, informal leadership, and economic history. He has a B.A. from Northwestern University in mathematics, an M.S. from the University of Michigan, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago. (847-947-5532 or e-mail to rbruhl@nl.edu)
Carrie Johnson
Carrie Johnson taught in the ABS program as an adjunct instructor for many years prior to joining the faculty full-time in 2006. Carrie has worked in higher education for most of her adult life. In addition to teaching, she has administered two adult accelerated programs and worked in residence life and career planning.
Carrie’s passion for working with adult learners led her to complete a doctorate in Adult and Higher Education from Northern Illinois University. The title of her dissertation was Faculty perceptions of teaching and learning in adult accelerated courses.Carrie is an active member of the Council for Accelerated Programs, the Illinois Consortium of Accelerated Programs, and the Adult Higher Education Alliance. (630-874-4390 or e-mail to carrie.johnson@nl.edu)
Selected Publications and Presentations
Johnson, C., & Rose, A. D. (2007). Adult accelerated degree programs: The merger of non formal and formal learning? Presentation at the Center for Research on Lifelong Learning, Stirling, Scotland
Johnson, C., & Stevens, C. (2006). Persistence of at-risk students in a developmental reading course. NADE Digest, 2(2), 45-54.
Johnson, C. (2006, October) Teaching in accelerated courses: The faculty perspective. Paper presented and published in the proceedings of the annual conference of the Adult Higher Education Alliance, Dallas, TX
Marsh, C., & Johnson, C. (2005, February). Kanbay's global leadership development program: A case study of virtual action learning. Paper presented and published in the proceedings of the conference at the Academy of Human Resource Development, Estes Park, CO
Johnson, C., & Pakieser. P. (2004, November). The power of collaborative learning in the classroom: Tips for faculty development. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning, Chicago
Maria K. Malayter
Dr. Malayter is currently an Assistant Professor in Applied Behavioral Sciences and the Director of the Center for Positive Aging. Her signature collegiate courses are interpersonal communication, leadership and organizational change, adult learning, and organizational behavior. Dr. Malayter is also an adjunct professor for the MBA and MA of human resources at Webster University. She is the former assistant dean of the NLU College of Arts and Sciences where she strategically turned around a $750,000 problem into profit, transformed systems of the technology transfer process, formulated a preassessment and orientation for adult students, and implemented strategies to improve retention and graduation rates.
Dr. Malayter completed her doctoral studies in leadership and organizational change with her research expertise in the changing dynamics of retirement. Her book, Boomers: Visions of the New Retirement, reveals the outcomes of her studies and reveals the 3 secrets of retirement. Malayter’s research framework guides the infrastructure of the Center for Positive Aging at National-Louis University (www.nl.edu/positiveaging/) In the year 2005, the Center attracted over 300 participant/members and over $75,000 in revenue to the university. In year two, over 1000 people were engaged with the work of the Center for Positive Aging. Dr. Malayter currently serves on the national AARP academic affairs committee of Aging and Business Education Initiative, the National Center for Creative Aging national board, Illinois AARP automatic 401K campaign group, Women’s Bar of Illinois/Chicago Bar Association Joint Task force for Women’s Issues as they Age, and is an affiliate of the Sloan Work Family Research Center at Boston College. Dr. Malayter strives to lead a life of balance. (630-874-4391 or e-mail to mmalayter@nl.edu)
“Life is short, do what you love.” ~ Doc Maria
Natalie Manbeck
Natalie Manbeck, Ed.D. completed her doctoral studies with the Department of Instructional Studies at National-Louis University. Her dissertation dealt with student perspective in non-traditional programs for adult students. She recently presented a paper on a "Case Study of Teaching/Learning Experiences as Perceived by Participants in a Non-Traditional Degree Completion Program for Adult Students" at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing and Community Education. She has also recently presented a paper titled: "Non-Traditional Undergraduate Adult Students' Perception of Transformative Learning In Higher Education" at the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. Her academic interests include: multicultural research, personality types, student perspectives in education, and adult education. Dr. Manbeck served in staff and adjunct faculty positions for a number of years until she joined the full-time faculty in 1993. She is an Associate Professor and Academic Coordinator with the ABS program. She can be reached by telephone at 224-233-2189 or by e-mail at nmanbeck@nl.edu.
Craig Mealman
Craig Mealman has developed, facilitated and evaluated adult education in a variety of settings for over thirty years. His professional career includes teaching and advising adult students in adult degree programs such as NLU’s ABS bachelor's degree completion program. He had facilitated adult learning in the following settings: a community college ABE/GED and academic development program; business/industry telecommunications training and development; a major hospital in-patient vocational/educational counseling program; and in a correctional setting.
During the previous fifteen years he has worked at National-Louis University graduate programs with other adult educators in developing their competencies as practitioners and in broadening their theoretical knowledge about how adults learn. Additionally, as an adult education consultant, he assists colleges with adult degree programs, traditional technology schools and programs with adult learning and alternative health care educators. He is actively involved in both local and national professional associations for adult educators. His research interests include experiential learning, incidental learning, learning how to learn, mind/body education, ecospirituality and transformative learning; healing through energy therapies alternative, nontraditional education, home schooling and traditional ways of knowing. He earned his Ed. D. in Adult Continuing Education from Northern Illinois University. (630-874-4392 office, cmealman@nl.edu)
Select Papers of Dr. Mealman
Collaborative Ways of Knowing: Storytelling, Metaphor and the Emergence of the Collaborative Self, (with Randee Lawrence) A paper presented at the 40th Adult Education Research Conference, DeKalb, Illinois, 1999.
Co-Creating Knowledge: A Collaborative Inquiry into Collaborative Inquiry, (with Randee Lawrence) A paper presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference, Ball State University, October 9, 1998.
Seizing Learning Opportunities: Embracing a Collaborative Process, (with Randee Lawrence) A paper presented at the Alliance/ACE Conference, October 3, 1996.
Incidental Learning by Adults in a Nontraditional Degree Program: a Case Study, presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, Columbus, Ohio, October 13-15, 1993.
Deborah Sanders O'Reilly
Deborah O'Reilly has been a faculty member with National-Louis University in St. Louis from 1990-1994 as an adjunct faculty member with the College of Management and Business. From 1994 to the present she has been a full-time faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator with the ABS program. Her teaching experience outside National-Louis University includes developing courses and training adults in computer software skills. Previously, she spent eight years in advertising media strategic planning with clients such as Ralston-Purina, Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages and Monsanto. With this experience, she brings an understanding of concepts like team problem-solving and organizational communication.
Her research interests include: group decision making, applied social psychology, psychophysiology and cognitive psychology, adult learning and development. She has published articles in St. Louis Marketing Magazine, St. Louis Small Business Journal, Pavlovian Journal of Biological Sciences, Alcohol Training Reports, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Her academic background includes a Master of Arts in Psychology from Washington University and a Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Learning and Change in Human Systems.
"I was attracted to National-Louis because my most stimulating and effective learning experiences as an adult convinced me of the need for less traditional approaches to learning. The democratic climate and emphasis on cooperative learning make this process rewarding. Integrating the learning through all our activities -- professional as well as hobbies, child-rearing and volunteer work -- validates our diverse talents, skills and experiences." (312-261-3533 or e-mail to: doreilly@nl.edu)
Florida Area Faculty David SanFilippo
Dr. SanFilippo has been teaching at National-Louis University, Florida since 1999 as a member of the adjunct faculty. In 2005 he became a full-time faculty member in the Health Studies department as the Health Studies Program Coordinator in Florida. In 2006 he also accepted the responsibility to coordinate the Applied Behavioral Science in Florida.
David received his doctorate in Human Science from Saybrook Institute, studying issues related to death, dying, bereavement, aging, and near-death experiences. He has been a corporate executive in several international and national insurance and managed care companies.
Dr. SanFilippo’s article, “Religious Interpretations of Near-Death Experiences” has been published on the web site: www.near-death.com. His article is also linked from www.reonline.org.uk. Additional writings of Dr. San Filippo can be found at his web site: www.L-SF.com/library. He is a frequent presenter for professional associations, church and civic groups on issues related to management techniques, improving human resource potential, interpersonal relationships, and industrial and personal psychology. (407-571-2488 or david.sanfilippo@nl.edu)
Administrative Assistant
Tina Benjamin
Ms. Benjamin joined the ABS Program in 1999. She is always ready to help students, staff and faculty with a smile and honest concern for an efficient, smoothly operating program. She can be reached by telephone at 224-233-2304 or by e-mail at vbenjamin@nl.edu
