Roxana Toma

Roxana Toma (Ph.D., North Carolina State University) is Professor and Chair of Graduate Liberal Arts and Science Programs.  Dr. Toma has a B.Sc. in Economics, a Ph.D. in Public Administration, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine how people form attitudes, values, and a sense of belonging that lead to behaviors that affect communities.  Her doctoral research on corruption earned her the Graduate School Dissertation Award (North Carolina State University, 2009).

Dr. Toma has published in multiple venues such as Public Seminar, Sociology Compass, Military Psychology, The International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science, just to name a few.  She is also co-editor/co-author of Confronting Corruption in Business: Trusted Leadership, Civic Engagement (Routledge, 2016). For her contributions to research, Dr. Toma received the Susan H. Turben Award for Excellence in Scholarship (SUNY Empire State University, 2015).  

Dr. Toma is a fierce believer in the importance of a policy degree.  She is also a relentless advocate for collaborating with students on research.  For her work as a champion for her students' success and development as scholars, Dr. Toma received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching from the State University of New York System (2024).  

Her research continues to focus on social capital and community building, and more recently she started examining student attitudes and values as they relate to confidence, resilience, and engagement in the learning process.  In her free time, Dr. Toma likes to travel, walk by the ocean, and volunteer.  You can read this quick interview to find out more.