Faculty Spotlight Three longtime Pennington faculty members retired at the end of the 2019–20 school year: Melissa Kiser (thirty-seven years), Patricia Zema (twenty-three years), and Marc Epstein (ten years). We wish them well! committees including the Honor Code Committee, and was chair of the Faculty Forum in 2002–03. Her work in communications continued throughout. She became director of communications in 2010 and then director of special projects in 2012, when her first major project was compiling a history of the School for its 175th anniversary year. Since then, she has continued to assist with the School Archives and historical research, but her main focus has been in the Communications Department, writing, editing, and proofreading. Kiser has one son, David Mesrobian ’01.
Lissa Kiser joined the faculty of what is now the Edmund V. Cervone Center for Learning in 1983. A graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. degree in history, she went on to earn a master’s degree in English at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey). Before coming to Pennington, she had worked at Princeton University in communications and alumni relations. In 1997, she began putting her public relations training to work for Pennington, writing press releases and editing other School publications. She switched to teaching freshman honors English in 2001 and more recently has taught Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. Feven Negussie ’18 writes, “I enjoyed having her as my AP literature teacher. Stellar educator! What a wealth of knowledge she possesses.” Kiser has also been a freshman advisor for a number of years. Co-advisor of the yearbook from 1996 to 2009, Kiser has served on faculty 44
Patricia Zema began teaching all levels of French, including Advanced Placement French Literature, at Pennington in 1997. An alumna of the University of Denver with a B.A. degree in French education, she also holds an M.A. degree in French language and literature from the University of Illinois
Pennington Magazine Spring/Summer 2020
at Chicago. She had previously taught French at the secondary level in three states. Zema served as a class dean for twelve years, coordinating fundraisers such as Battle of the Bands and planning the prom. She started Pennington’s chapter of the French National Honor Society and has served as its advisor; she was also advisor of Pennington’s Tri-Steps Chapter of the National Honor Society from 2010 to 2013. In addition, Zema inaugurated the annual participation of students of French in the National French Contest (Le Grand Concours) and the poetry contest at William Patterson University. She has coordinated Pennington’s biennial student homestay exchange programs with schools in Meaux, Rumilly, and Orange, France. As advisor of the French Club, she has guided the annual poinsettia sales to benefit Harmony Mission in Haiti but also began Club traditions such as making Bûche de Noël at her home in December, baking and serving crepes on campus for Mardi Gras, and holding a fondue soirée. Sloan Seiler ’13 remembers “Madame Zema” with gratitude as “a kind, supportive educator who made learning about another culture and language engaging for her students. I will always remember the amazing trip to France!” Zema has a son, John Richter ’03, and a daughter, Frances Richter. Marc Epstein joined the faculty of the History and Social Studies Department in 2010 after a number of years at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science and an M.S. degree
