Faculty Biographical Sketches
Maryann Rossi, Ph.D., Assistant Dean, School of Professional Studies
Dr. Maryann Rossi is the Interim Dean of the School of Professional Studies. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Rossi was Assistant Dean of the School or Professional Studies coming to Western in 2006. Before Western, Dr. Rossi had been an Assistant Dean of the School of Arts & Science at Iona College in New Rochelle. For the last three years she had been teaching history at both Western and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Dr. Rossi received her B.A. from Sacred Heart University in English and her M.A. in American Studies from Fairfield University. She was a University Fellow at the University of Vermont where she received her M.S. in Historic Preservation and a University Fellow at St. Louis University where she obtained her Ph.D. in American Studies. Dr. Rossi is a colonialist specializing in local history. From 1984 to 1994 she taught graduate courses in American Revolutionary history at Western.
From 1995 through 1999 Dr. Rossi was the Executive Director of the Danbury Museum & Historical Society. During her tenure at the museum the Marian Anderson studio was moved to the museum grounds and over half a million dollars in grants and funding was obtained for the rehabilitation of various national register properties belonging to the museum. She served on the Board of the Connecticut Quilt Search Project. While in Vermont she was the company historian for Lake Champlain Transportation Company and worked on the rehabilitation of the Champlain Mill in Winooski, VT . Presently she is the preservation consultant for the Gilbert & Bennett mill project owned by Georgetown Land Development. Qualified as an expert witness, Dr. Rossi specializes in 17th, 18th and 19th century land titles in Connecticut.
Dr. Rossi did her museum internship at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT. Her specialty is 18th century Goddard & Townsend Newport furniture and she has contributed to Sotheby’s American Decorative Arts Catalog in that capacity. Dr. Rossi has been responsible for an extensive list of exhibits on a wide range of subjects. She belongs to the New England Museum Association ( NEMA), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Society for Industrial Archeology and the Association of State & Local History.
