The Latest Shout-Outs: Westphal Student, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Achievements
Celebrate the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design in this round-up of recent accomplishments.
June 10, 2025
Faculty & Staff
Digital Media assistant professor Dr. Ari Gass's theater company, Obvious Agency, is premiering their playable theater piece, Space Opera, this June 14-28 at Arch Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia. This project is supported by grants from the National Theater Project's Touring and Creation Grant as well as the William Penn Foundation.
Alphonso McClendon, an associate professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, had an essay, “Like Gods: Jazz Musicians, Agents of Freedom and Cool Style”, published in the Costume Institute’s 2025 exhibition catalog, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn more.
Digital Media associate professor Glen Muschio was chosen to receive the 2024-25 Dr. Mark L. Greenberg Distinguished Faculty Award for Community Based Learning. The award, administered by the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, recognizes Muschio’s commitment to community engagement through his research and coursework in digital cultural heritage.
D.S. Nicholas, PhD, associate professor of Design, was selected as a keynote speaker for the 2025 Biodesign symposium at Parsons. She is also an invited judge for the 2025 Biodesign Challenge. The keynote, delivered with collaborator Dr. Leslie Atzmon, is titled The Growing Edge: Past as Prologue; Biodesign Symposium: How to grow a bio designer.
Jason Schupbach, dean of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, was featured in a May 19 Fast Company story about how cities are planning for “creative wellness” and a new manual he co-edited about urban cultural planning. Link to story
Research by Jeff Apruzzese, an assistant professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, on how opening for a major headliner can affect the career trajectory of musical artists, was featured in a May 12 Hypebot post. Link to story
Frank Lee, PhD, a professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, was mentioned in a May 7 Technical.ly Philly story about the 15th anniversary of Philly Tech Week. Lee’s record-setting architectural video game interactive displays, which drew crowds to Tech Week in 2013 and 2014, were highlighted in the story. Link to story
The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design’s Pearlstein Gallery “Contemporary Ruin future visions” exhibition, running through May 22, was featured in an April 28 Hidden City and April 30 Art Spiel post.
Link to story (Hidden City)
Link to story (Art Spiel)
Ryan J. Schwabe (Music Industry ‘18) and Music Industry professor Toby Seay were brought on to work on the original tapes of the song “Move Closer to Your World,” the iconic 6ABC Action News theme song. Mr. Schwabe and Mr. Seay, alongside a team, worked on the original and two never-before-heard alternate versions of Philadelphia’s favorite song. Link to Article
The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design was mentioned in an April 22 Philanthropy News Digest story about its partnership with the town of Van Buren, Maine to design a new business incubator space.
Link to story
Students & Alumni
The Illuminating Engineering Society of Philadelphia Section’s Board of Trustees, and Scholarship Committee, selected Jess Moore (B.Arch ’27) and Gergana Petkova (’27) as two of this year’s $5,000 Lighting Scholarship recipients.
Architecture alum Cory Henry was named a recipient of the 2025–2026 Rome Prize, administered by the American Academy in Rome (AAR). Winners will reside at AAR’s historic Roman compound designed by McKim, Meade, and White for several months.
Joi Brook (Design & Merchandising ‘93), group sales manager at Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, was recognized with a League Award for Outstanding Achievement in Road Group Sales. Since 1992, the League Awards have recognized those who have shown exemplary service to the Touring Broadway industry and are regarded as innovators in their profession. Leading the department since 2002, she now serves as senior manager of sales, overseeing all aspects of group ticketing. Ms. Brook is a long-standing member of The Broadway League Group Sales Road Committee, with more than a decade of experience helping shape national group sales best practices. Link to Article
The Halftime Show Livestream for Drexel Athletics, produced by Westphal students, was recognized with a Silver Telly Award. Congratulations to Lara Rende, John Galonis, Kai Steifel, Mathew Cherfance, Jazmin Crespo, Kamilla Akhmedova, and James Biernat!
MS Interior Architecture & Design students Jose Munares Murrugarra, Emily Malina, Krystal Hu, and Victoria Wohlforth were selected to present at the Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars Conference.
MAD Dragon, Drexel's student-run music label in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, was mentioned in an April 29 Philadelphia magazine news roundup that highlighted its live music showcase at World Cafe Live. Link to story
Bee Knight (Arts Administration ‘16) was featured in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News where she discussed her journey and role as director of communications at the Leeway Foundation. Founded in 1993, Leeway is focused on advancing women’s presence in the arts. Over time, its mission has grown to support women, trans, and gender-nonconforming artists and cultural producers whose work lives at the intersection of art, culture, and social change. In 2008, Ms. Knight was honored with the Leeway Transformation Award, which allowed her to travel to Spain for the screening of a short film she produced, marking a significant milestone in her creative and professional career. Link to Article
Orlando Haddad (Arts Administration ‘86) and his wife Patricia King celebrated 40 years of performing as the professional music duo Minas, with a special concert on April 11 at World Café Live in Philadelphia. Mr. Haddad, alongside his wife, has performed at many high-profile venues, such as The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Mann Center and Kimmel Center. They have made eight albums and amassed a collection of over 100 songs that are distributed all over the world. The couple has also conducted musical clinics at Swarthmore College, University of Maryland, Brown University, Temple University, Dickinson College, The University of the Arts, The University of Pennsylvania and Franklin and Marshall College. In addition to his Drexel degree, Mr. Haddad received a master’s in composition from Temple University. Link to Article