Scholarship Fund Established for Veterans at CCNY
The Fund for Veterans Education (FVE) announced at a press conference here last month that it has established a fund to provide scholarships for CCNY students who served in the armed forces in Iraq or Afghanistan. At the news conference, Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA (ret.) ’58, issued a call for expanded education benefits for veterans who fought in these conflicts. “These young men and women have put their lives on the line for this nation - for all of us,” he said. “We owe it to them to make sure they have access to the college education that will secure their future.” President Williams praised FVE and its founder, financier Jerome Kohlberg, for “helping veterans at CCNY,” but, he added, “we need legislation so that all veterans can afford college.” Mr. Kohlberg, who is a World War II veteran and beneficiary of the original G.I. Bill, established FVE to help close the gap between current education benefits for military personnel and the actual cost of attending college. A new G.I. Bill, was passed last month with FVE’s support, but President Bush has not signed it into law. Approximately 150 student veterans are currently enrolled at CCNY.
CCNY Undergrad Jeonghoon Park Wins Top Architecture Prize
Jeonghoon Park, a fifth-year CCNY architecture student from Seoul, South Korea, was awarded first prize in the 2008 Eleanor Allwork Scholar Grant program. The award provides a $10,000 stipend. It is given by the Center for Architecture Scholarship with additional support from the American Institute of Architects New York chapter and AIA National. Mr. Park, whose childhood hobby was making models, came to New York four years ago to study architecture at CCNY. “Designing spaces really interests me,” he said. He was selected for the Allwork award based on a portfolio he submitted that consisted of a housing project design from his fourth year and a design for a water taxi station from his third year. Among the teachers who influenced his work are Professor Fran Leadon, with whom he worked in the model shop, and Professor Irma Ostroff, who encouraged him to apply for the scholarship. George Ranalli, Dean of the School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, noted that since 1999 CCNY students have received the top prize in the program nine times.
Two Pre-Med Grads Receive Salk Scholarships
Oluwaseun “Stephanie” Adeosun, ’08, William Mak, Macaulay Honors College ’07, were among eight outstanding CUNY pre-medical students chosen to receive Jonas E. Salk Scholarships. The Salk Scholarships are the legacy of Dr. Jonas E. Salk, a 1934 CCNY graduate, who developed the first polio vaccine in 1955. Ms. Adeosun, a biology major and native of Nigeria, will attend SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Under the guidance of her mentor, Professor Jerry Guyden, she twice received awards in the cell biology category at the national Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. She is a co-author of a recently published paper describing the role of thymic nurse cells in thymocyte development in transgenic mice. Mr. Mak, who will intern this summer at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., will attend the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in the fall. At CCNY, he majored in biochemistry and conducted research on visual cognition with Professor Jay Edelman. More on this story.
One Show Honors Advertising/PR Major Laura Malandrino
Senior Advertising/Public Relations major Laura Malandrino was named a Merit Winner in the prestigious One Show College Competition. The 2008 winners were announced in New York on May 8. Ms. Malandrino’s “Optical Illusion” campaign for Doritos snack foods, the competition’s client this year, was one of 17 entries to reach the finals in the highly competitive print campaign category. Ms. Malandrino used geometrical shapes in her ads to produce an optical illusion to trick the mind into visualizing a triangle like a Dorito. “The idea was to make Doritos as abstract as possible, so much that the concept of the campaign is based on the idea that Doritos “is always on your mind” so you see it everywhere,” she explained. Her work is featured on the first page of the “Winners Showcase” on the One Show web site. It will also appear in the competition’s Annual and be shown as part of the One Show Traveling Exhibition. The One Show is run by The One Club, an organization that promotes creative excellence in advertising. More on this story.
Sprinter Jodyann Raymond Wins NCAA Title in Final Race
In her final race before graduation, City College sprinter Jodyann Raymond won the 100 meter dash at the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 24 in Oshkosh, Wis. Ms. Raymond out-leaned Cabrini College’s Lauren Deas at the finish line to clock a wind-aided time of 11.84 seconds. The victory earned the Bronx resident her ninth All-American honor. She described her triumph as surreal. “When it finally hit me that I’d won, I was extremely excited. I worked really hard for it,” she said. The only CCNY athlete at the competition, Ms. Raymond won her qualifying heat in 11.86 seconds. It was her third successive NCAA title after back-to-back victories with CCNY’s formidable 4x100 meter relay team in 2006 and 2007. Ms. Raymond graduated May 30 with a B.A. in Advertising. She received two awards: for Outstanding Academic-Athletic Performance and for the female student athlete graduating with the highest grade point average. “It’s amazing that she was able to accomplish so much in a single semester,” said Nancy R. Tag, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations. This summer, Ms. Raymond will intern at Ogilvy & Mather, a prominent international advertising agency. More on this story.
Professor Appelbaum Receives Faculty Service Award
Lynn Appelbaum, Associate Professor and Director of CCNY’s Advertising and Public Relations Program, received the 2008 Faculty Service Award from the College’s Alumni Association. Professor Appelbaum was honored for her role in overseeing the growth of the program she directs, which now has more than 400 majors. Her efforts have not only brought in more students, but they have raised the program’s profile in New York’s advertising and public relations communities. For example, advertising and public relations majors intern at leading agencies such as Young & Rubicam and Cohn & Wolfe and are highly sought after for entry-level positions. In addition, industry organizations such as Women Executives in Public Relations and PRSA – NY (Public Relations Society of America – New York Chapter) have established scholarships for CCNY students. CCNY students are also garnering recognition in major award competitions such as the “One Show.” Professor Appelbaum joined the CCNY faculty 15 years ago following a career as a public relations practitioner. More on this story.
Professor Milstein Creates Clergy/Clinician Collaboration Model
For the past decade, CCNY Professor of Psychology Glen Milstein has led a multidisciplinary team of researchers in developing a new model for relationships between clergy and clinicians that is religion inclusive rather than faith based. Known as C.O.P.E. (Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement), the approach is designed to reduce burdens on both professions. The program aims to improve care of individuals by facilitating reciprocal collaboration between clinicians and members of the clergy, regardless of either’s religious affiliations. The goal of C.O.P.E., Professor Milstein explains, is for clergy and clinicians to provide a continuum of care, whether the person is fully functional, is under stress, requires treatment or is trying to avoid relapse. Because clergy tend to see people throughout their lifetimes and in different circumstances, they often are in a better position to identify whether or not someone is functioning properly, Professor Milstein points out. For example, they are likely to distinguish between someone who has lost a loved one and is going through a normal bereavement process and someone who could be clinically depressed. Similarly, religious communities can relieve the burden on the clinician by helping people reenter everyday life, he adds. More on this story.
CCNY Physicists Expand Laser Crystal Tuning Range
Physicists in CCNY’s Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (IUSL) have developed new near-infrared broadband laser materials with tunability ranges around triple those of earlier crystals. The new crystals have a tunability range of as much as 460 nanometers (nm). “For the first time tunable laser operation was achieved at both the 1.33 μm (microns) and 1.55 μm telecommunication windows from a single optical center in trivalent chromium (Cr3+) doped LiInSiO4 (lithium indium silicate) (Cr3+:LISO) and LiInGeO4 (lithium indium germanate) (Cr3+:LIGO) single crystals,” said Dr. Robert R. Alfano, Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering and Director of IUSL. Because of their strong optical absorption in the range of laser diode pump sources and quantum efficiency of 50 percent, the new materials have promise for use in miniature broadband laser devices for telecommunications, biomedical imaging, optical coherence tomography, laser spectroscopy, ultrafast pulse generation and remote sensing, he added. In addition to Professor Alfano, the research team included: Dr. Alexei Bykov, Senior Research Associate at IUSL; Dr. Mikhail Sharonov, Senior Research Associate at IUSL, and Dr. Vladimir Petricevic, Professor of Physics at CCNY. More on this story.
CCNY Physicists Determine Density Limit for Packing Spheres
The problem of how many identical-sized spheres can be randomly packed into a container has challenged mathematicians for centuries. A team of CCNY physicists has come up with a solution that could have implications for everything from processing granular materials to shipping fruit. Writing in the May 29 edition of “Nature,” they demonstrate that random packing of hard, i.e. non-crushable, spheres in three dimensions cannot exceed a density limit of 63.4 percent of the volume. “Theoretically, the jammed state would be achieved by lowering the temperature of the spheres to approach absolute zero, since this would cause them to contract,” explains Associate Professor Hernán Makse. The findings have potential applications for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, where powders have to be mixed to a homogenous consistency, he said. Two of Professor Makse’s Ph.D. students, Chaoming Song and Ping Wang, collaborated with him on the investigation. More on this story.
Professor Tu Creates Materials That Mimic Nature
Abalone shell is a tough, rigid material with a luminescent sheen. CCNY Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Raymond Tu has received a three-year $300,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force to investigate use of naturally occurring organic molecules to create templates for making non-natural inorganic materials that can mimic those properties. The theory is to use a small protein molecule known as a peptide to “template” order onto non-organic molecules, he explains. “If we correctly mimic nature, we will be able to know precisely where each chemical function resides in space.” Professor Tu wants to design an architecture for an amphiphile molecule, i.e. one that has both hydrophilic (water soluble) and hydrophobic (water repellant) properties, whereby the peptide would control the assembly of crystalline structures of zinc sulfate, an inorganic compound. The aim of the investigation is to control for photoluminescence, i.e. the material’s response to light. “If we can match the spacing of zinc atoms in the crystal with spaces in the peptide, we will be able to create the template we desire.”
Hamilton House Relocated to St. Nicholas Park
Shepard Hall and Steinman Hall have a new neighbor. Over the weekend, Hamilton Grange, the last home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and one of Manhattan’s few remaining frame structures, was moved around the corner from its location on Convent Avenue to a new foundation in St. Nicholas Park directly beneath the CCNY campus. Moving the structure required raising it 30 feet to clear an outcropping of St. Luke’s Church next door and moving it out into Convent Avenue. This created the once-in-a-lifetime image of the house sitting in the middle of the street, framed by CCNY’s Hamilton (north) Gate. The house is being restored by the National Park Service to its appearance when Hamilton lived there, from 1802 until his death in 1804 in a duel with Aaron Burr. It is expected to reopen to the public next year, and visitors will get a glimpse of the rear of Shepard Hall when they approach the entrance. The new site is within the boundaries of Hamilton’s estate, which extended for 34 acres. The house was moved to its present location in 1889 as the surrounding neighborhood became urbanized.
Legendary Journalism Professor Irving Rosenthal Dies at 95
Irving Rosenthal, a mentor to generations of American journalists during a 40-year teaching career at City College, died May 18, 2008, in Great Neck, N.Y. He was 95. A 1933 CCNY graduate, Professor Rosenthal taught journalism at CCNY from 1936 until 1976, when he retired as Professor Emeritus of English and Chairman of Communications and Mass Media. His numerous students include a veritable “Who’s Who” of American journalism, among them: A. M. Rosenthal (no relation), the late executive editor of “The New York Times;” Daniel Schorr, of National Public Radio and, formerly, CBS; Marvin Kalb, of CBS and NBC News, and Stephen B. Shepard, dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and former editor of “Business Week” magazine. Besides teaching, Professor Rosenthal also served as CCNY’s director of public relations for many years. He co-authored two Doubleday books: “Business English Made Simple” (1955) and “The Art of Writing Made Simple” (1958) and also wrote for several publications, including “Saturday Review,” “New York Herald Tribune” and “Public Opinion Quarterly.”
From the President
The history of City College is, among other things, a history of remarkable men and women – like Andrew Grove, Lev Sviridov and so many more – who overcame tremendous obstacles and went on to excel at CCNY and beyond.The Class of 2008 has many students with inspiring stories. I’d like to tell you about a few of them.
Georges Ndabashimiye spent three years in refugee camps in the Congo after he and his family fled the Rwandan Genocide. After he and the surviving members of his family returned to Rwanda, he attained the top score on a national graduation exam and was selected as a William Jefferson Clinton Scholar. He enrolled at CCNY in the fall of 2004 and graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Physics. This fall, he will begin Stanford University’s Ph.D. program in applied physics.
Twenty years ago, Raquel Hernandez, her husband and three children arrived here from Cuba penniless. Determined to learn English and put herself through college, she enrolled at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer and her dreams were put on hold. After two surgeries and chemotherapy, she returned to BMCC and transferred to CCNY’s Division of Worker Education, where she graduated cum laude this spring with a B.S. in Education.
Kareem Douglas’ mother sent him from Jamaica to the United States in hope of better opportunities, but the young man was not prepared for the next stage: applying for college. Fortunately, a friend of his mother’s intervened and steered him to apply to the Macaulay Honors College at CCNY. Once here, his outlook changed and he began taking his studies seriously. A chemical engineering major, he is The Grove School of Engineering’s 2008 valedictorian and will attend M.I.T. in the fall.
When I speak in public, I often talk about the transformative power of higher education. Georges, Raquel and Kareem are living examples, and it is my very great pleasure to salute them and the entire class of 2008.
Gregory H. Williams
President
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