SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2026: Empire State – Kate Dermody

Kate Dermody, a proud SUNY Plattsburgh graduate from Amsterdam, New York, serves as a history faculty mentor and School of Radiology Academic Coordinator at SUNY Empire. She has dedicated her career to at-risk and nontraditional students. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in creativity, and student advocacy. With more than twenty years of teaching, including work in the Arctic Circle and with TRIO Upward Bound, Kate brings experience from both traditional and diverse environments. She carries this work into online and distance learning at SUNY Empire, where she teaches some of the university’s most engaging and well-enrolled courses. She has earned Educator of the Year recognition in each of the three educational sectors in which she has taught, reflecting her commitment and the relationships she builds with students.

Kate’s courses center on personal connection and empathy, guiding students toward higher-level thinking. Growth is a clear focus in her classroom. Students are encouraged to take risks, and build confidence throughout each course. The result is an online learning environment that is active and supportive.

Kate has created and currently teaches three cornerstone courses central to SUNY Empire’s online general education program: Genocide and Ethnic Conflict, Rock and Roll History, and Mad Men, Mad Women: History of Women in the Twentieth Century. Her courses are immersive and move beyond traditional online learning. She brings history to life through sound and image. Students engage with playlists and interactive materials that connect them directly to the content. Her work reflects a commitment to creative course design that challenges what online learning can be.

Her recent work includes the creation of a fully immersive History of the Beatles course, recently approved, and the design and teaching of Taylor Swift: Eras in History. These courses show her ability to create learning that stays with students beyond the classroom and draws them into the experience.

Kate finds joy in teaching and developing courses that are creative, engaging, and meaningful for students. She continues to teach college-level courses for TRIO students at SUNY Plattsburgh, where her work has twice been recognized with Upward Bound Teacher of the Year honors. Her courses Beyond the Broomstick: The History of the Wicked Witch and Smells Like Teen Spirit: History of the 1990s that she is currently developing into online courses for SUNY.

Her current research examines the complexities of artificial intelligence in online and distance education, with a focus on authenticity, and instructor presence. She believes online education must be engaging and meaningful, because the students we serve deserve the best, and education should give students both opportunity and hope.