It was an unexpected journey, from the George W. Bush Shake, the Barack Obama Hug to the Harlem Shake.

Appreciation from the President of the United States is one of the highest honors any American can receive. No, it wasn't me, but the best part is that it was...

It is a feeling of unbelievable joy. We have all felt it, at one time or another. For me, it is at its most palpable in a concert or a sports event with tens of thousands of fans. Initially, everyone is milling about, chatting, texting, a thousand unconnected specks....

What, really, do our children learn in school?

While standardized tests and teacher accountability are the buzzwords of the day, our schools may be missing one of the most important lessons our children must master in order to reach their highest potential: how to get along.

After all,...

This article was written with Corina Hernandez, a Public Administration major at Kean University. The "college student" is fictional.

On Election Day, New Jersey voters will be asked:

Do you approve the "Building Our Future Bond Act?" This bond act authorizes the state to issue bonds in the aggregate...

Co-written by Dr. Leila Sadeghi and Dr. Kathe Callahan, Department of Educational Leadership, Kean University

Every parent wants their child to learn in a nurturing, caring environment that is largely dependent on dedicated, passionate teachers. Achieving this ideal requires supporting teachers to reach their potential, and identifying those teachers who...

This post was co-authored by Natasha Bahrami, a foreign policy researcher, and Ali Arab, Ph.D., an assistant professor of statistics at Georgetown University.

Last month, a young American woman was blocked from purchasing an Apple product at a local store in Alpharetta, Georgia. After overhearing...

Don't judge me, OK? My daughter and I shared Father's Day this year taking in the buoyant raucous joy of Newsies on Broadway. Real men don't love Newsies, right?

Broadway productions, to me, had brought to mind sanguine, syrupy sweet expressions of heart-felt stories spun with punctuations bursting in...

Could Donald Trump and the Obama "birther" conspiracists be right? Some claim that President Obama is not an American because he was born outside of the U.S. Some begrudgingly acknowledge that he was born in Hawaii less...

Photo: Kean Commencement

At my Commencement Speech to the Class of 2012 at Carteret High School this Thursday, I will deliver something like this:

Class of 2012: You need to fail more .... take chances .... reach.

Let me explain.

Hunger Games - World Food Programme.

The Hunger Games portrays a grim future in which the "bottom 99 percent" must ration its food to reduce the chance that...

You might ask yourself, "What in the world is this guy in the white lab coat talking about?"

Something potentially very cool, and possibly beautiful -- although mostly fictional -- but it is lost in translation. This is a startling example of why we as scientists must be better communicators!

This scientist is about as effective a communicator as Charlie Brown's teacher:

Thanks, Cara Santa Maria, for sharing!

A version of this article was published at Dean's Corner at...

The idea of Ice-9, although fictional, has always fascinated me. Its properties are so powerful, so influential, that one "seed crystal" can direct its entire surroundings, freezing oceans. A recent discovery of one component...

MetLife Stadium: NY Giants vs. Washington Redskins, Dec. 18, 2011

This may be a sign of football withdrawal syndrome, but the day after the NY Giants won...

Do you have a favorite animal? Chemist Sir Harold Kroto does. It is the dung beetle. Why?

Because it is:

an insect that has evolved to eat animal excrement. "If there...

MetLife Stadium: NY Giants vs. Washington Redskins, Dec. 18, 2011 (my own photo.)

The New York Giants-Green Bay Packers divisional playoff last night had a whopping 40.1 million viewers,...

This article was co-authored with Jessica Wyndham, a human rights lawyer.

As we mark Human Rights Day 2011 on December 10, it is impossible to ignore a clear theme that has emerged during the year -- the use, misuse and abuse of technology in support...

This article was co-authored with Dr. Morad Abou-Sabe, president of the Arab American League of Voters of New Jersey.

The Egyptian revolution of January 25th, 2011 created widespread euphoria of the kind only wide-eyed optimists enjoy. It was a moment in Egypt's history that should never be forgotten. It evolved...

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestine's President Abbas gave back-to-back speeches last Friday at the United Nations General Assembly, a highly controversial event with Palestine's bid for formal recognition. As a scientist, such matters are far too complex for me, as they are embedded with layers of subtlety and inscrutable...

On a hot August Saturday afternoon, bright sun beating down on a crowd of over 20,000, my young daughter and I had our attention focused intensely on an enormous iron gate. It was supposed to open at 6 pm, and it was now 6:10 with no sign of movement. The...

This article was co-authored with Mohamed El-Sherbeini, President of Bio-therapeutics Technologies and Adjunct Professor at Kean University.

With the prevailing sentiment against the United States committing to yet another war in the Middle East, President Obama carefully attempted a new approach in the Libyan conflict, founded upon multilateralism and military...