Hunter Headlines for 2005
Two Hunter Professors Awarded Fulbrights
Immigration and Health Symposium Highlights Alternative Healing
Roy Goodman Honored for Gift to Hunter Elementary School
Hunter Faculty Honored by Golden Key Society
Alumna’s Gift Supports New Rehearsal Space
Madonna “Teaches” Hunter Film Class
Hunter College's Performance Goals
Gene Center Receives $13.2 Million NIH Grant
Hunter Dancers Make City Center Debut
Thai Dignitary Visits Hunter
Hunter Extends Helping Hand to Students Affected by Hurricane Katrina
Area High School Students Study at Hunter's Summer Institute
Bargonetti Awarded $100K Research Grant
Hunter Film Professors Nominated for an Emmy
Hunter's Brazill Receives Presidential Award
WNYC Host Leonard Lopate Addresses Hunter Grads; Ellen Barkin Receives Honorary Degree
Fukuyama Asks “Do We Really Know How to Promote Democracy?”
Urban Planning Students Place 2nd in National Competition
Film and Media Students Bring South Africa to Hunter College
Men's Volleyball Wins CUNYAC Championship
Aronson Awards Go to Frank Rich, Seymour Hersh, Others
Assemblyman Bing Honored by Hunter's Golden Key Society
Women Win CUNYAC Track & Field Championship
Hunter Receives Major Gift For Its Writing Center
Theater Students Perform in Festival in Beijing
DeRise Named to National Student-Athlete Committee
Holzman Named CUNYAC Athlete of the Year
Hunter Grad Receives Competitive Medical Fellowship
Hunter Students Win Fulbrights
Stuteville Wins Undergraduate Aronson Award
Williams to Attend Woodrow Wilson Summer Institute
Hunter Student Wins Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
Hunter Student Selected as Humanity in Action Fellow
Hunter College High School Student Wins Top Intel Prize
MBRS Student Wins 1st Place at Science Conference
Senior Wins Computing Research Honor
Two Hunter Professors Awarded Fulbrights
Two Hunter faculty members, Godfrey Gumbs (Physics and Astronomy) and Terry Mizrahi (Social Work), have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants to conduct research abroad.
Gumbs, who is the Maria A. Chianta and Alice M. Stoll Professor of Physics, just returned from a five-month stint at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, where he carried out the research funded by the Fulbright. Titled “Application of Quantum Pumping with Surface Acoustic Waves to Quantum Optics and Security,” Gumbs’ investigations are related to such high-priority areas as energy, homeland security, climate, and nanotechnology.
His longterm goal, explains Gumbs, is to understand the physics underlying the development of new types of optical sensors. Another goal is to build “a new generation of computers which would be more secure than the present-day ones.”
Mizrahi, a professor of social work and the director of ECCO (Education Center for Community Organizing), will also be traveling to Israel. Under her Fulbright grant—for “The Promotion and Development of Community Social Work in Israel”—Mizrahi will spend six months at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she will teach a seminar and conduct research on community social work in collaboration with Israeli social work professionals.
One of her research goals is to look at Israeli practices and policies aimed at improving conditions in isolated or marginalized neighborhoods and compare them with those in the U.S. and Europe. She will also conduct research comparing the role of women community organizers in Israel with their counterparts in the U.S.
Immigration and Health Symposium Highlights Alternative Healing
On November 3rd, some 200 people attended the Symposium on Immigration and Alternative Healing Systems, sponsored by the Immigration and Health Initiative (IAHI) at Hunter College. The symposium featured presentations of prominent scholars in the field of immigration and health. Kathy Nokes and Nicholas Freudenberg of the Schools of the Health Professions delivered the opening remarks.
Anahi Viladrich, IAHI’s director and a professor of Urban Public Health at Hunter, presented a multi-level conceptual analysis of the role of botánicas (ethnic-healing shops) in providing affordable and accessible care to Latino immigrants in NYC. Viladrich referred to the botánicas as “invisible pharmacies,” and discussed their importance as ad hoc community centers for the growing Latino immigrant community in the city.
Ina Vanderbroek of the New York Botanical Garden presented original data from her study on Dominican immigrants’ use of plants and herbs in NYC for the treatment of diverse health conditions. Vanderbroek’s findings (mostly among Dominican women healers) reveal that food plants are an important component of the Dominican healing pharmacopoeia, particularly among those who grew up in rural areas.
Case Western Reserve’s Sana Loue was the program’s keynote speaker. She summarized the significant barriers that immigrant’s experience in their attempt to access adequate healthcare in the US, specifically the role of spirituality in helping Puerto Rican women diagnosed with severe mental health illness.
Roy Goodman Honored for Gift to Hunter Elementary School
Longtime State Senator Roy Goodman was honored by more than 80 friends and admirers – ranging from former mayor Rudy Giuliani to long-ago Hunter classmates – during a dedication ceremony on November14 for the Roy M. Goodman Hunter College Elementary School Library.
Goodman made a generous $150,000 contribution to help to kick off a fund drive for the Hunter College Elementary School, from which he graduated more than 60 years ago. He also donated five computers to the library and is working with Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab to raise an additional $100,000 in gifts.
President Raab thanked the dedicated public servant for his efforts and said the elementary school library was being named in his honor.
“It’s really appropriate that a library at his school is named after him,” Giuliani told the gathering. “Because no one championed education and reading more than Roy Goodman.”
Hunter Faculty Honored by Golden Key Society
The Hunter College Chapter of the Golden Key International Honor Society inducted History Professor Angelo Angelis and English Department lecturers Morgan Schultz and Melinda Goodman, during a ceremony held Friday, November 18, where all three faculty members were presented with lifetime membership certificates. Over 120 Hunter students have qualified for membership this semester and were also recognized at the induction ceremony in the Lang Recital Hall.
Schultz delivered the keynote address to the new Golden Key honorees. The Hunter Chapter's current advisors are Jill Gross, professor of Urban Affairs and Planning, and Eunice Lewis-Broome, assistant to the vice president/dean of students and special projects manager.
Golden Key is an academic honor society which recognizes and encourages scholastic achievement and excellence among college and university students in all academic disciplines. The Society awards its members over $400,000 annually through 17 different scholarship and award programs. Golden Key has nearly 350 chapters at colleges and universities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Alumna’s Gift Supports New Rehearsal Space
Harriet Gruber, class of 1951, (3rd from left) is honored by Hunter for her generous gift to the Theater Department. Joining her at the dedication ceremony were family and friends.
Thanks to a $50,000 gift from Hunter alumna Harriet Gruber (’51), the Hunter College Theatre Department now has a new rehearsal space, which was dedicated on October 26.
Gruber's gift made it possible to restore a little-used basement area of Thomas Hunter Hall described as a “dirty dungeon” by Professor Jonathan Kalb, chair of the Theatre Department , one of the speakers at the ceremony. Kalb also spoke about how frustrating it had been trying to find rehearsal space for his students in the past.
“I wish we had before and after pictures,” said Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab as she looked around the new space during the ceremony, where a plaque honoring Gruber for her generous gift was unveiled. “We are deeply, deeply grateful.”
“Giving this rehearsal space is my way of saying thank you to Hunter for developing a thirst for knowledge and life-long learning,” Gruber told the gathering. “It’s very special…for me and my family.”
Gruber's gift was also used to send 18 Hunter theater students on a trip to perform at an international theatre festival in China. “Those students will remember this for their entire lives,” Kalb said in thanking Gruber.
Students from the Hunter Theatre Department performed a scene from Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as part of the dedication ceremony.
Madonna “Teaches” Hunter Film Class
Film students at Hunter got a big surprise recently when they watched a sneak preview of Madonna’s new movie – and their guest professor for the day turned out to be the former Material Girl herself!
Madonna talked with and answered questions for some 125 film, media, and theatre students who had just been given an advance screening of her documentary “I’m Going to Tell You a Secret” in the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall on October 18.
The pop superstar said she had “no regrets” over her controversial career, but she said her life had changed dramatically since she embraced the Jewish mysticism of Kabbalah after having children.
“Being a celebrity you can get caught up and seduced into believing and thinking that what you do is the most important thing in the world and get very attached to material things. I’m guilty of that…but hopefully I’m becoming less attached. Kabbalah may not be the best thing for everybody. It has worked for me.”
Madonna also told the students – many of them about the same age she was when she first came to New York – how determined she’d always been to succeed as an entertainer: “I wanted to be different,” she said. “I wanted to be somebody.”
Her guest appearance at Hunter aired on the MTVU network series “Stand-In.” It was also widely covered by other media.
Gene Center Receives $13.2 Million NIH Grant
Hunter's Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function (Gene Center) was recently awarded a five-year grant of $13.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant represents a 55% increase over the award of $8.5M for 2000-2005.
The Gene Center was founded in 1985 to foster interdepartmental collaboration in genetic research. Since its inception, the Center's faculty has grown to 43 professors from such varied departments as anthropology, biology, chemistry, physics and psychology. The NIH grant, says Program Director Robert Dottin, will help develop and maintain the Center's six research facilities and recruit faculty from an increasingly wide variety of disciplines.
"Almost every element of science research at Hunter will benefit from this grant," said Dottin, who added that he expected the grant to enable still further interaction among disciplines.
To find out more about the Gene Center visit http://genecenter.hunter.cuny.edu/.
Hunter Dancers Make City Center Debut
Thirty-four Hunter College dance students made their City Center debut passing brightly colored Nerf balls in the 2005 Fall for Dance festival. Choreographer Charles Moulton adapted his "Precision Ball Passing" piece - originally created for only three dancers - to be performed by 48 dancers, specifically for the 2005 Fall for Dance Festival.
"This piece is about teamwork, cooperation and focus," said the director of the Hunter College Dance Program Jana Feinman, who supervised nine hours of weekly rehearsals. "These are the only student dancers on the bill, so it was really quite an honor to be part of this festival."
Feinman approached Arlene Shuler, the president and CEO of City Center, last year about becoming involved in the Festival at its inception. Hunter was subsequently chosen as the site for an annual full day dance forum held in anticipation of the festival. This year when Moulton began holding public auditions for his piece, City Center invited Hunter students to try out. The 34 Hunter dancers are students and alumni from the dance program.
"Everyone is having a great time," Feinman continued, "The piece is an audience pleaser. It's very different from anything people would normally see."
"48 Person Precision Ball Passing" was performed at City Center on Saturday evening, October 2nd. Tickets to the Fall for Dance festival were sold out, but there were free, open rehearsals of the twelve minute long piece on the sixth floor of Thomas Hunter Hall on September 29 at 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and on Saturday, October 1st at 4:00 pm and 4:30 pm.
Thai Dignitary Visits Hunter
Suchon Chaleekure, President of the Royal Thai Senate, came to his alma mater on September 9, and greeted Hunter students, alumni and faculty at a reception held in his honor. Director of Alumni Relations Julie Wolpov presented Suchon, who received his Master's in Education from Hunter in 1990, with a Distinguished Alumni certificate for his leadership in Thai education and politics. Though it was the conference of the Inter Parliamentary Union at the United Nations that brought him to New York City, Suchon said this visit to Hunter was the "highlight of his trip."
In 1986 Suchon came to Hunter on a United Federation of Teachers Fellowship. A former elementary school teacher in rural northeast Thailand, Suchon had become secretary general of the Thailand Teachers Federation before beginning his studies in New York. He built upon his leadership experience as an intern for the UFT while taking classes during the summer and at night.
Suchon says his New York experience was instrumental to his success as a national leader. "At Hunter I was a student of the best teachers. They taught me a great deal about politics and education," said Suchon. Mario Kelly, one of Suchon's former professors, attended the reception. A diverse student body was another great source of learning for Suchon, and he remembers fondly the "strong international population among the students."
Hunter Extends Helping Hand to Students Affected by Hurricane Katrina
Hunter joins the nation in mourning the victims of Hurricane Katrina and extending sympathy and help to those who are suffering its devastating effects.
The College is working to help those students whose colleges and universities have been shut down by Hurricane Katrina so they may continue their education without interruption. Hunter is providing in-state tuition to those displaced students who were attending colleges and universities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Students interested in coming to Hunter should call Lori Janowski, Associate Director of Admissions, at 212.650.3133.
There are also a number of charities hard at work to help the people of that region. Hunter is joining these relief efforts and is asking members of the Hunter community to make a donation to help ease the suffering of those who were in the path of that devastating storm.
Please make your tax deductible checks payable to Hunter College (write "Katrina Relief" in the memo). Checks and cash donations should be mailed to: Hunter College Student Service, c/o Campus Disaster Relief Coordinator, 695 Park Avenue, Room E1122, New York, NY 10065. Receipts are available for cash donations.
Area High School Students Study at Hunter's Summer Institute
While many of their peers relaxed at the beach, one hundred twenty select 10th, 11th and 12th graders chose to spend five weeks this summer intensively studying in Hunter's College Now Summer Institute in Mathematics and Science. Taught by Hunter College professors Yonathan Abraynos, Susie Boydston-White, Ed Manning, Istvan Nemeth, Michael Samra and Roman Stelmach, the high school students were given an opportunity to earn 3 to 4.5 college credits in biology, chemistry, matrix algebra, physics or statistics.
A competitive program, the Summer Institute draws students from thirty-one citywide public high schools. To be eligible for admission, students must have earned a minimum score of 80 on their math Regents exam, 50 or above on the math section of the PSAT or 500 or above on the math section of the SAT. Since 2000, Hunter College has sponsored a College Now program that offers high school students opportunities to take a variety of college courses during the regular academic year. In 2003, the Summer Institute was initiated to develop high school students' interest in math and science while also exposing them to the "college experience" at Hunter.
Bargonetti Awarded $100K Research Grant
Associate biology professor Jill Bargonetti has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for her research on estrogen influences on the p53 tumor suppressor protein in breast cells. Bargonetti’s research will explore a novel area that presents a potentially new model for breast cancer prevention and combination drug treatment.
The BCRF grant enables Bargonetti to conduct pioneering research while also nurturing the talents of up and coming scientists. Her research team includes Hunter PhD student Nicoleta Catalina Arva and research technician Kathryn Talbot, both of whom, according to Bargonetti, are indispensable to her research.
Hunter Film Professors Nominated for an Emmy
Hunter film professors Tami Gold and Kelly Anderson have received an Emmy award nomination in the “Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Directing” category for their documentary Every Mother’s Son.
The documentary deals with the topic of police brutality in New York City as told through the eyes of three mothers who lost sons to police violence. The film premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. It also aired on the PBS program P.O.V.
The documentary is up against stiff competition. The other nominees include Arlington: Field of Honor; Beah: A Black Woman Speaks; My Architect; Ten Days to D-Day and The Fight. The winners of the 26th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be announced on September 19 in New York City.
Hunter's Brazill Receives Presidential Award
At a White House ceremony Monday, June 13, Hunter College Biology Professor Derrick T. Brazill received the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on young scientists – the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE) – for his groundbreaking work in understanding how organisms monitor and regulate the density of cells in different tissues, which are important in further understanding fundamental processes in cell growth and development.
Brazill, an assistant professor of biological sciences, is one of 58 young innovators this year to receive the PECASE. Established by the White House in 1996, the PECASE program each year honors approximately 60 scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, have already blended excellence in pioneering research and service to their communities through scientific leadership and outreach activities.
Brazill is one of 20 PECASE winners selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from among the most recent NSF Faculty Career Development (CAREER) Program awardees. The CAREER award, bestowed upon fewer than 400 scientists and engineers each year, is the NSF's most prestigious award for new faculty members. In 2004, Brazill received a $625,000 NSF CAREER Award over five years for his research to uncover and study the genetic regulation of cell density sensing by using the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum as a model.
WNYC Host Leonard Lopate Addresses Hunter Grads; Ellen Barkin Receives Honorary Degree
Leonard Lopate, host of the long-running and wide-ranging New York City radio talk show, The Leonard Lopate Show, on WNYC delivered the keynote address to Hunter graduates at the college's 191st commencement on Wednesday, June 8th.
During graduation, actor Ellen Barkin received a Doctor of Fine Arts from Hunter. Barkin, known for her stage and screen roles, has a leading role in the movie, Palindromes, due out this summer.
Lopate, who studied with artist Mark Rothko in Hunter's MA Program in Art from 1968 to 1971, is celebrating his 20th year on air as host of his program on public radio. His two-hour daily show has been described as an "on-air salon of the city's intellectual life." His guests have included celebrities, politicians, poets, painters, novelists, filmmakers, chefs, scientists, and a number of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.
Some 2,000 graduates received their degrees at the Hunter commencement, which took place at Radio City Music Hall.
Fukuyama Asks “Do We Really Know How to Promote Democracy?”
On May 24th at the Kaye Auditorium at Hunter College, renowned political economist Francis Fukuyama addressed the question “Do We Really Know How to Promote Democracy?” in a lecture sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association and the National Endowment for Democracy. Dr. Fukuyama is a professor of international political economy at the Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., and has worked with the RAND Corporation and the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. Department of State. The event drew over 250 attendees, including students and professors from Hunter, as well as professionals from the development, finance, and civil society sectors.
Fukuyama opened his remarks by declaring that the United States cannot impose democracy on a state from the outside; rather, democratic transitions are promoted by those people within a state who want democracy. Drawing from his academic background and professional experience, Fukuyama outlined several theoretical conditions conducive to democracy within any given state, and then examined a number of historical and recent examples, focusing on the Bush Administration’s current efforts in the Middle East and Central Asia.
According to Fukuyama, at this point, the United States is “the wrong agent for promoting this change, because its credibility is disastrously low.” Asked about his views on the invasion of Iraq, and whether or not he had spoken to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz about it, he replied that he had never supported the war, and although he had talked to Wolfowitz, “it didn’t do any good.”
Urban Planning Students Place 2nd in National Competition
Hunter's Graduate Urban Planning students took second place this year in the JPMorgan Chase Community Development Competition. Hunter competed against graduate schools from throughout the country and continued a strong tradition of excellence in the competition.
Eleven students, most of them completing their degree, worked under the guidance of Professors William Milczarski and Alice Blank to complete a comprehensive plan for the Bronx River Art Center. The organization sought to re-habilitate their East Tremont building, expand their programming, and capitalize on their position along the Bronx River and the planned Bronx River Greenway.
Students assessed the community need, researched the neighborhood and the site, drafted detailed architectural plans, identified potential sources of new funding, and created a 10-year financial plan.
Film and Media Students Bring South Africa to Hunter College
Students and faculty took a virtual trip to South Africa on Wednesday, April 6, as a group of students presented documentaries and literary pieces inspired by their trip to South Africa. Twenty students from the Film and Media Studies and Creative Writing departments and Hunter professors Tami Gold (Film & Media) and Jenefer Shute (English) went to South Africa in January 2005 to join University of Cape Town students and faculty in a month-long program. The Hunter exchange program with the University of Cape Town (UCT) was the first exchange program of a CUNY college with a South African university.
Professor Larry Shore (Film & Media) explained how the students fully integrated with the South African university and created a unique partnership. Hunter students joined with students from UCT to study and collaborate on projects. Under the direction of faculty from both institutions, they produced four documentaries while experiencing the culture, economy, society and life in Cape Town.
At the presentation in the Presidents conference room, the audience was treated to previews of the students documentaries which included: The Road Ahead, Tomorrow is Today, Afrikaner Identity and Search and Find. The documentaries focused on everyday aspects of South African life, including the hardships, the transition after Apartheid and youth sub-culture. At the closing of the presentation, Dean Judith Friedlander said that the two countries share a great deal because they are two countries that are both struggling.
Each documentary will be shown in its entirety on Wednesday, April 13 at 6:30pm at the Lang Recital Hall.
Mens Volleyball Wins CUNYAC Championship
The Hunter College mens volleyball team won its third consecutive conference title at York College in the 2005 CUNYAC Mens Volleyball Championship on March 24. The #1 seeded Hawks defeated #2 Baruch in a thrilling five-game match, 3-2 (30-27, 30-24, 27-30, 29-31, 15-12).
Sophomore outside hitter Ronaldo Da Silva was named the tournaments Most Valuable Player for helping lead the Hawks to a three-peat. Da Silva tallied 37 kills and 35 digs in the semifinals and finals including 31 kills and 25 digs in the championship match. The Bahia, Brazil native hit an impressive .450 against Baruch.
Hunter freshman setter Brandon Caban and junior Joshua Concepcion were named to the All-Tournament team. Caban had 70 assists with only two ball handling errors in the championship match while Concepcion recorded 10 kills and seven digs including the winning point.
Hunter also won its third regular season title in as many years, finishing with a perfect 14-0 conference record. The Hawks will return to action on Saturday, April 2nd in a match versus #15 ranked Ramapo.
Aronson Awards Go to Frank Rich, Seymour Hersh, Others
Four writers and a cartoonist were named winners of the 2004 James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism, covering topics from the situation in Iraq to economics to arts and culture.
Hunter College, which administers the awards, announced the winners on March 21. They are Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker, Peter Gosselin of the Los Angeles Times, Naomi Klein of Harper's Magazine, Frank Rich of The New York Times and cartoonist Bill Day of The Commercial-Appeal of Memphis, Tenn.
Hersh won for his series of articles on the Iraqi prisoner scandal, while Klein reviewed the Bush administration's economic policies in Iraq. Gosselin's three-part series looked at the financial precariousness of American families, and Rich's work examined the connections between media culture and society. Day was lauded for his weekday cartoons, both for their content as well as their appearance.
The Aronson awards have been given by Hunter since 1990 to reward investigative reporting on social justice issues. They are named for Hunter communications professor James Aronson who died in 1989.
The award winners will honored at a ceremony April 20.
Assemblyman Bing Honored by Hunter's Golden Key Society
Hunter College's Golden Key International Honour Society awarded an honorary membership to Assemblyman Jonathan Bing on March 4th at its new member induction ceremony. Golden Key is an academic honor society with chapters at over 350 universities around the world, with the requirement for membership at Hunter being a 3.5 grade point average. Assemblyman Bing was the keynote speaker at the event, and as Hunter's representative in the Assembly he has fought to restore the governor's massive cuts to tuition assistance and opportunity programs. Assemblyman Bing has also secured capital funding for the renovation of a student lounge and a physics lecture hall at Hunter.
Women Win CUNYAC Track & Field Championship
The Hunter women's indoor track & field team won the Women's CUNY Championship on February 27 with a total of 109 points. York finished second (90), followed by CCNY (87), and Medgar Evers (40).
The Hawks distance medley team of Wendy Samuel, Danielle Okoro, Jennifer Zaccariello and Nat Bonilla won the gold with a time of 14:41.36. Sophomore Shemayra Brathwaite won the gold in the 55 meter hurdles (9.03) and triple jump (10.28m) and grabbed second place in the long jump (5.14m) and the high
jump (1.42m).
In addition to medaling in the distance medley relay, Okoro won second in the 200 meter dash (26.09) and third in the 400 meter dash (59.7).
In the field events, senior B.J. McDuffie earned two medals; second in the weight throw (11.74m) and third in the shot put (9.8m). In her first conference championship, freshman Kisha Forcheney placed third in the weight throw (10.19m).
Melissa Puz also earned a medal for the Hawks finishing third in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 12:24.77.
This marks the third CUNY Championship for the Hunter women's indoor track & field team since 1996.
Hunter Receives Major Gift For Its Writing Center
Hunter College has received a major gift from alumna Anna C. Rockowitz to help support the Hunter College Writing Center. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on February 8 to rename the Center to "The Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center" in honor of Anna and her late husband, Murray.
Before a crowd of Rockowitz family and friends, distinguished public officials, students and faculty, Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab said that Anna Rockowitz's contributions will help Hunter students achieve great success. President Raab also paid homage to Murray's heart and integrity. "He was an extraordinary educator. "He stood for the value of public education," said Raab.
Dr. Rockowitz was a distinguished educator and author who helped over 1.5 million people receive their high school diplomas through his best-selling book, How to Prepare for the GED High School Equivalency Examination. His book is now in its 13 th U.S. edition.
"That was the beginning of a friendship that did not last long enough," said Mrs. Rockowitz, Class of 1939, after sharing an amusing anecdote how she and her late husband met as undergraduates while rehearsing for a play. Mrs. Rockowitz also read a piece of her husband's writing. "He will leave his fingerprints on all those who knew him," she said.
The Hunter College Writing Center is a comprehensive resource for the entire college community, offering tutorial and computer-assisted instruction to students and technical support and development to faculty and staff. Each week over 600 students visit the Center. For more information about the Center, go to http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu.
Theatre Students Perform in Beijing
Twenty-one students in Hunter's Theatre Department recently took a two-week “trip of a lifetime” to the 2005 Biannual International Theatre Festival in Beijing. They returned to the U.S. on October 30.
The students put on four performances of August Strindberg’s “A Dream Play” for appreciative audiences at the Beijing Central Academy of Drama. The production was first staged in Hunter's Kaye Playhouse earlier this year.
When they weren’t busy performing or rehearsing, the students had the opportunity to visit the Great Wall and other famous spots in China.
“It was a wonderful experience to be able to combine traveling there with work,” said Matt Black, one of the theatre students on the trip. “You just dive into the culture, and you dive into what you love. To exchange ideas like this with people from around the world about their approach to theatre was amazing.”
Accompanying them on the trip were Theatre Department faculty members Bill Walters, who directed the performances, and Louisa Thompson, who did the set design. Hunter was the only U.S. college invited to perform at the festival.
DeRise Named to National Student-Athlete Committee
Hunter Track & Field athlete Mike DeRise has been selected to represent the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) and University Athletic Conference (UAA) as a member of national Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
DeRise, a junior, won three individual gold medals last season as he claimed first place in the weight throw at the CUNYAC Indoor Track & Field Championships and in the hammer and discuss competitions at the CUNYAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The NCAA Division III SAAC is composed of 24 student-athletes representing Division III student-athletes from across the nation. SAAC is a diverse group that has been selected to speak on behalf of the 145,000 Division III student-athletes to ensure that the student-athlete voice is heard within the NCAA governance structure.
Holzman Named CUNYAC Athlete of the Year
For the second time this year Hunter junior Omri Holzman has been named the top athlete in his sport. The distance specialist was selected the 2005 CUNYAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year.
Holzman was named the Co-Most Valuable Athlete of the 2005 CUNYAC Outdoor Championship and led the Hawks to a second-place finish. Holzman won three individual events (10,000 Meters, 5,000 Meters, and the 1,500 Meters) and eclipsed his own meet record with a time of 15:34.03 in the 5,000 Meters.
This recognition caps off a successful year for Holzman who has earned a total of six individual medals this year spanning back through the cross county and indoor track & field seasons. Holzman was named the 2005 CUNYAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year for his outstanding performances during that season.
Hunter Grad Receives Competitive Medical Fellowship
Naira Rezende, a June 2005 Hunter College biology graduate, has been awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Graduate Fellowship. Rezende is one of only six graduate students in the nation to be awarded this prestigious fellowship.
Rezende, who hails from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was a member of Hunter’s MBRS/RISE program and did research in Professor Peter Lipke’s lab at Hunter. Last summer she worked in a lab at Yale University School of Medicine, where she conducted research on over-express DNA repair genes involved in developing immune system memory. She will pursue a PhD. in biochemistry and cell and molecular biology at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University in the fall.
The fellowship, being awarded for the first time this year, provides support for Ph.D. studies in the life sciences to disadvantaged students, including underrepresented minorities who participated in HHMI's Exceptional Research Opportunities (EXROP) undergraduate summer research program. The fellowship includes a one year stipend of $24,000.
Hunter Student wins Fulbright Grant
James Jackson, a Hunter College senior, has won a Fulbright Grant to Argentina. Jackson, a member of the Thomas Hunter Honors Program and an American literature major and Spanish minor will spend the next academic year teaching English at an Argentinean university. Jackson was one of five students to receive the teaching assistantship to Argentina in this nationwide competition. Upon his return to the U.S., he plans to study for a dual degree in Latin American Studies and law.
Hollie Ecker, a master's degree student in Hunter's Communications Sciences program, has been awarded a Fulbright Grant for her research proposal in Italy. Ecker received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in art history and selected Hunter's program in deaf education for her graduate studies. Presently, Ecker is the only hearing intern of six tour guides for deaf people at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her research project in Rome will examine the various methods used to teach art history to deaf children and adults. She will utilize the skills she has learned in New York and look at the methods deaf guides of art history use to lead tours for deaf students and review its applicability for United States art museums.
The Fulbright Grant offers students the opportunity to do research, study or teach English in a variety of countries throughout the world. Students must have their bachelor's degree by the time they begin their project abroad.
The application period for the 2006 - 2007 year opens May 1, 2005. Further information is available at: http://www.fulbrightonline.org
Stuteville Wins Undergraduate Aronson Award
Hunter senior Sarah Stuteville was named the winner of the 2004 James Aronson Award for excellence by an undergraduate student in journalism. Stuteville, a media studies major, received the award for her portfolio of richly reported, well-organized and compellingly written news features set in the Brooklyn and Queens communities.
Her articles about a paramilitary program for 14-year-olds in Bedford-Stuyvesant, immigrant activists in Corona, Coney Island's Little Pakistan neighborhood and a violent Jamaica high school appeared in the Indypendent, published by the NYC Center for Independent Media.
She will receive her award along with the winners of the 2004 Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism: Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker, Peter G. Gosselin of the Los Angeles Times, Frank Rich of The New York Times, Naomi Klein of Harper's Magazine. Bill Day, the editorial cartoonist of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, won the "Cartooning With a Conscience" award.
The James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism are awarded annually by Hunters Department of Film and Media Studies.
Williams to Attend Woodrow Wilson Summer Institute
Gwendolyn Williams, a Hunter College junior, has been selected to attend the Woodrow Wilson Junior Summer Institute at Princeton University and will join a group of "extremely talented students from colleges and universities all over the country," said Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Princeton's Woodrow Wilson Junior Summer Institute strives to cultivate the development of future leaders. Participants in the eight week program are expected to be impressive academically, culturally aware, socially sensitive, committed to public service, and share a common vision about making the world a better place. They will engage in curricular and extracurricular activities that are designed to strengthen their cross-cultural competence in making and implementing policy.
Williams, a member of the CUNY Honors College, is pre-med, majoring in psychology, with a minor in Spanish. She is a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society and was recently chosen for the National Institute of Mental Health Career Opportunities in Research Education and Training Program (NIMH-COR). She was named a University Scholar and has made the Dean's List for the past three years. Recently nominated for the National Dean's List, Williams has maintained a 4.0 GPA. She also volunteers in the pediatric wing at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Hunter Student Wins Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
Laurent Wrzesinski, a Hunter College senior, has won a 2005 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies. Laurent, an Africana & Puerto Rican/Latino Studies major and Women Studies minor, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in American Studies. Laurent is also a participant in Hunters Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program.
The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies is a nationally competitive award and is designed to support exceptionally promising students as they pursue advanced study in the discipline of the humanities. Each year approximately 85 fellowships are available. The fellowship covers full graduation tuition and required fees for the first year of graduate study and a one year stipend of $17,500.
Further information on the Fellowship is available at: www.woodrow.org/mellon
Hunter Student Selected as Humanity in Action Fellow
Ankur Mangalagiri, a Hunter College sophomore, has been named a 2005 Humanity in Action Fellow. The Humanity in Action Foundation sponsors an integrated set of educational programs for university students in America, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands. Through its education programs and internships, the Foundation works to fulfill its mission to engage student leaders in the study and work of human rights.
Ankur, a member of the CUNY Honors College and the Thomas Hunter Honors Program. is enrolled in the BA/MA program in economics with a minor in political science. Born in India, Ankur lived there for fifteen years before moving to China for two years. She then came to the United States to begin her studies at Hunter. She is the president of Hunters United Nations Student Association where she focuses on issues that have long interested her -- human rights and child labor.
Humanity in Action Fellows are selected on the basis of leadership potential, academic achievement, the willingness to work with others, interest in minority issues in Europe and America and concern for human rights. College sophomores, juniors or seniors are eligible to apply. The program selects 30 students from U.S. colleges. Further information on the program is available at their website: http://www.humanityinaction.org.
Hunter College High School Student Wins Top Intel Prize
David Bauer, a senior at Hunter College High School, earned top honors in the Intel Science Talent Search, winning the 1st place prize and a $100,000 scholarship for developing a sensor that detects exposure to toxic agents. Bauer, who competed against 39 other finalists from around the country, is New York Citys first winner in eight years. His project was inspired by September 11 and he hopes that it will one day provide the city with an immediate way of detecting a bioterrorist attack. Bauer received another award this one from his fellow science contestants, honoring him as the person who best personifies commitment to scientific cooperation and communication.
The 17-year-old Bronx resident, who is president of the high schools science club, plans to attend the CUNY Honors College in the fall to study chemistry. Bauer is a product of the citys public school gifted and talented programs and enrolled in Hunter College High School in the seventh grade, after passing the competitive entrance exam. Hunter High School is the top public high school in the nation sending more students to Ivy League colleges than any other public high school.
MBRS Student Wins 1st Place at Science Conference
Psychology major Adolfo Arellanos took home first prize for his poster presentation at the 8th Annual CUNY Conference in Science and Engineering on February 25. The Hunter junior, who works in Hunter Psychology Professor Victoria Luines lab, presented his research project, Chronic Methamphetamine Effects on Cognitive Function and Dopamine Transporter Levels in Rats to conference attendees.
Arellanos, an MBRS/RISE (Minority Biomedical Research Support/Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) student, was one of 19 Hunter students who presented posters at the CUNY conference. Eight MBRS and nine MARC (Minority Access to Research Careers) students presented posters and two students gave oral presentations.
Senior Wins Computing Research Honor
Hunter College senior Charles Davi, a computer science major, has been named a finalist in the 2005 Computing Research Association's (CRA) Outstanding Undergraduate competition. The CRA competition recognizes undergraduate students in U.S. and Canadian universities who show outstanding potential in computing research.
Davi also recently learned that his paper "The Intersection Number of an Infinite Graph," which discusses and extends Paul Erdos' famous theory about finite graphs to infinite graphs, has been accepted for publication in the New York Academy of Sciences Journal, "Graph Theory Notes of New York." The publication is due out this winter.
Hunter College Celebrates a Banner Year for Diversity with 26 New Faculty Appointments
Isabella Rossellini speaks with WNYC about getting her master’s at Hunter and her new theater production