A Women’s HerStory Month Q&A with Daniela Buna, associate professor of engineering physics.

What has been your favorite memory as a professor at Ramapo? 

My favorite memory is the story of the students, the transformation from day one to graduation. Many of them have found themselves, have found something that they love and they don’t mind spending time studying. They gain confidence in their abilities, and they become independent, and that’s a beautiful thing. 

Why did you choose to become a professor at Ramapo? 

Initially, I came from a large research institute in Washington, DC., I got married and relocated, I had a child. I looked for an institution that would offer some flexibility with child rearing as well as allowing me to continue doing what I was doing. I did not want to take time off. I just thought Ramapo was just the best place for both my needs as an academic and a mother. 

What is your area of interest in terms of research and teaching? 

I am by training a medical physicist, but I also have a masters in engineering physics. Over time, as Ramapo does not have a medical physics program and such programs are usually part of a large university hospital, I had to adapt to the physics major. About seven years into my tenure, we founded the Engineering Physics major at Ramapo. We changed the curriculum and we rewrote the major as an engineering physics major. That means more applied physics courses and multiple engineering elements into the course. That was the path we took and it’s a path that I think works very well for our students. I’m not sure if you know, but this fall, after a short decline in enrollment during the COVID years, we were slowly recovering. This was a good year. We had 12 students that were not freshmen. But for the fall, 60 were admitted into the physics engineering physics path, and another 40 into the four plus two bachelor and masters path. So depending on the yield of these numbers, we may see a very healthy cohort of students who are just ready to begin, and that’s very invigorating for the major. 

How do you think that being a woman in your field helps to empower your students? 

I never saw myself in any way special by being a woman. I think first of all, I am a physicist and that’s what I have to prove for myself.  However, I do think, given the fact that only 17% of the PhDs in physics are women and only eleven percent are women faculty, I think something needs to be done. I think that’s where I do my piece, by networking with the students, creating joint projects together, empowering them to lead the engineering physics club, showing paths to internships, and just being a role model. Showing them that this is an absolutely rewarding path for women, and there’s nothing to be afraid of. 

Professor Daniela Buna works with Christopher Barbieri ‘25, a first-generation data science major with a minor in engineering in physics, on a research project.

What is your favorite thing about Ramapo students? 

I really like the fact that they come in, they’re just ready to explore. Sometimes they don’t have enough of a math background, but they’re not afraid, so they will explore. They’re gonna take classes, sometimes their grades are not the best ones, but we can find a path for that as well. We can look for areas of improvement, and I just really like the enthusiasm in developing themselves, and transforming themselves into very successful human beings.

Is there anything that you would like to share that I have not asked you? 

I think, and I’m a strong believer in this, in engineering physics, in the school of science, and overall in the college, we do many fantastic things. Many good things. We have excellent success stories.