Dr. Dresdner will become campus CEO of NVCC in Waterbury and Danbury effective June 4, 2021. She currently serves as interim CEO of NVCC, where she oversees campus day-to-day operations and has led the COVID Re-Opening Plan with her leadership team to ensure the safe opening of two campuses.

Dr. Dresdner joined the Naugatuck staff in 2015 as Associate Dean of Liberal Arts/Behavioral and Social Sciences and in 2018 was selected to serve as Dean of Academic Affairs. From 2000-2015, Dr. Dresdner was professor of English at Norwalk Community College (NCC) where she rose through the ranks, becoming a tenured, full professor in 2007. She also served as English Department Chair, Writing Coordinator, and team leader for electronic portfolios. As the one of the coordinators for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) grant, she served as NCC’s Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and she also co-founded and obtained a three-year operational grant to create the Fairfield County Women’s Center at the college, serving as its director from 2004-2005. At NVCC, she launched the International Center for the Arts in 2017, helped to write two of the college’s four Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence grants, and has led initiatives to strengthen retention and close the equity achievement gap.

Dr. Dresdner has taught literature, writing, and interdisciplinary courses, and has published and presented at national and international conferences on integrative learning, reflective practice, learning communities, and literary topics. She has also served as a visiting team member for the New England Commission of Higher Education. Dr. Dresdner currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater Waterbury and its Education Impact Council as well as on the Governing Council, Executive Board, and Membership Committee of the Arts and Culture Collaborative of Waterbury. Dr. Dresdner earned a Ph.D. (English, with distinction) from Loyola University Chicago, M.A. (English) from Boise State University, and B.A. (English) from University of Utah.