Academic Director

Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D.

Visit Dr. Sheldrake's Website  

An internationally renowned research biologist and author, Dr. Sheldrake received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cambridge University where he also was a Fellow at Clare College. He received an appointment as a Frank Know Fellow at Harvard University where he conducted post-doctoral research in emerging fields of inquiry. As a Fellow of the Royal Society and the International Crops Research Institute in Hyerabad, India, Dr. Sheldrake studied plant cell development. A widely published scholar, he has authored more than fifty papers in scientific journals, and numerous books including Pets Who Know When Their Owners are Coming Home, and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, which was awarded The British Scientific and Medical Network Book of the Year Award. In 2000, he was appointed the H. Burr Steinback visiting scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (Ma.). Dr. Sheldrake is currently a Fellow at The Institute of Noetic Sciences in San Francisco, Ca. His appointment as Academic Director of the Holistic Thinking program reflects The Institute's preeminent status as an institution that offers unique programs in emerging fields of inquiry.

Principal Coordinator

James P. Longo, Ed.D.

 Dr. Longo is a proponent of integrated learning and brings his expertise in the fields of art and the humanities to complement the perspectives of the scientific and mathematical focus of other faculty members. Dr. Longo is an accomplished creator of sculpture and paintings and has a long-standing interest in the dramatic arts.

Program Coordinator

Amy Drowne, C.A.S.

Amy Drowne is an educator of the mind. She is currently the Principal at Franklin Elementary School in Connecticut and possesses years of experience in working with students with disabilities as well as adults learning English as a Second Language. Amy presents workshops in the area of Inclusion and Brain Based Research in several Connecticut school districts. With a desire to live a holistic life both personally and professionally, she encompasses a conscious approach to the role of educator. It is her goal to evolve the field of learning by creating reflective thinking communities in the world of education through creative processes.

Program Coordinator

Jennifer Ramey, M.S.

Jennifer Ramey earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and holds a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Quinnipiac University.  She recently obtained her 6th year degree in Educational Leadership from Southern Connecticut State University.  Jennifer has taught third grade in Milford, CT for six years and is in her 2nd year of working with The Graduate Institute's program in Holistic Thinking. 

Program Coordinator

Vince Scarpetti, C.A.S. 

Program Coordinator

Carole Swift, C.A.S. 

Carole Swift has taught Special Education in Connecticut for 20 years.  She currently serves as Teacher Leader at the middle school level and as a reading coach for literacy teams and teachers at elementary, middle, and high schools.  Prior to that, she worked as an inclusion specialist at a once self-contained school developing program where she facilitated relationships within home schools of students with Autism.  Carole recently earned a (second) Sixth Year degree in Educational Leadership.  She is passionate about travel, reading, learning, and making connections with people.

Program Coordinator

James D. Trifone, Ph.D.

Jim Trifone brings more than twenty years of educational management to this program. He has published and presented research in the United States and abroad on "concept mapping" and "the transformational nature of experience," among other topics. His dedication to the field of consciousness and to the literature of the field adds a valuable dimension to the program. An experienced coordinator in innovative graduate programs at Southern Connecticut State University and Sacred Heart University, Jim has is also the author of several publications, including, Addressing the Needs of the Concrete Reasoner and The Test of Logical Thinking: Applications for Teaching and Placing Science Students.

Visiting Faculty includes but is not limited to:

John Briggs, Ph.D.

Rex Cadwallader, Ph.D.

Mona Costantini, M.F.A

Susan Cusato, Ph.D.

David Darling, MA

James Grashow, M.F.A

Leo Hickey, Ph.D.

Wendy Hurwitz, MD

Edward Malin, Ph.D.

Marcus McKinney, D.Min

D.J. Moores, Ph.D.

Kenneth Pugh, Ph.D.

Gertrude Reif Hughes, Ph.D.