Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Megan Ferguson (Chemistry) has been awarded a Single Investigator Cottrell College Science Award by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement for her project, “Chemical Structure and Function of Membrane-Bound Biosurfactants Produced By Pseudomonas Putida.”

J. Frantz Folmer-Andersen (Chemistry) has been awarded a grant by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund for his project, “Chirality Recognition by Macrocyclic and Mulit-Functional Metal Complexes.”

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Karanja Keita Carroll (Black Studies) was recently appointed associate editor of The Journal of Pan African Studies. The online interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal devoted to African world community studies and research can be viewed at www.jpanafrican.com.

Mary Kahl (Communication and Media) was honored by the Eastern Communication Association at its 100th anniversary convention in Philadelphia in April. Kahl received the ECA Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor the association grants, for exceptional service to the discipline of communication in the areas of teaching, scholarship and involvement. Kahl served as president of the association in 2004.

The School of Business honored its 2009 Hall of Fame inductees on May 7 at the Wiltwyck Country Club in Kingston. This year’s inductees are Marjorie Rovereto, Business Person of the Year; Arnaldo J. Sehwerert ‘69, Alumnus of the Year; Lauren Guido ‘07, ‘09g (Management, Marketing), Student Leader of the Year; and M&T Bank, recipient of the 2009 Dean’s Award for Excellence. For complete profiles of the recipients, visit www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness/about_halloffame_inductees2009.html.

Three Sodexo employees received Making a Difference awards this year. Geri Bartholomew, Backstage Cafe shift lead; Beth Zawacki, Freshens cashier; and Maxwell Fuller, Hasbrouck pizza cook, were selected by faculty staff and students to be honored with portraits and biographies, to be displayed across campus, in recognition of the their hard work.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Bevier Hall won the 2009 RecycleMania Tournament on campus. Students in Bevier Hall recycled an average of 1.14 pounds per capita – collecting a total of 2,414.6 of recyclables during the campus’s participation in the nationwide RecycleMania competition, January 18-March 25.

Donna Goodman (Development) is retiring on April 21 after 10 years at New Paltz. She was responsible for corporate and foundation fundraising for the SUNY New Paltz Foundation where her efforts have supported scholarships both directly and through the Celebrating New Paltz Gala and the Doug Sheppard Scholarship Golf Tournament, as well as Samuel Dorksey Museum of Art exhibitions, the Sojourner Truth Library, Engineering Day, School of Business programs, the Distinguished Speaker Series and conferences.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Jaclynne Kerner (Art History) has been selected to participate in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar, “Disease in the Middle Ages.” The seminar, which is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS), will be held from July 5 to Aug. 8 at the Wellcome Centre for the History of Medicine in London. Participants will explore the ways in which scientific knowledge informs humanistic methods of understanding cultural responses to disease in the Middle Ages, and how humanistic studies of medieval medicine inform modern scientific studies of disease.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Bythema Bagley ‘83 of New Paltz has been reappointed by Governor David Paterson to the New Paltz College Council for a term to expire in June 2012.

The School of Business announces the 2009 recipients of its service and teaching awards. Ted Clark, professor and director of the college’s Business Institute, will receive the Distinguished Service Award. Bruce Mather, professor, will receive the Distinguished Teaching Award. Toni Rizzo, administrative assistant to the dean, and Rendesia Scott, senior academic advisor, will each receive the Staff Service Award. The recipients will be presented with their awards at the school’s annual awards ceremony on May 1. Created in 2008, the awards recognize members of the school’s faculty and staff who demonstrated outstanding service and teaching effectiveness.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Maryalice Citera (Psychology) and Robin Cohen-La Valle (Student Development) were awarded a $750 grant from the National Institute for Study of Transfer Students for their project, “Transfer Student Self-Reliance and Its Relationship to Adjustment and Academic Performance in the Millennial Transfer Student,” which explores the association among self-reliance, transfer student adjustment and performance while also comparing entrants starting in the fall with mid-year entrants.

Larry Hauptman (History) received the Environmental Distinguished Award from Mohonk Consultations, a nonprofit environmental organization based at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz. The award recognizes his contributions to writing and promoting Native American history.

L. Syd Johnson (Philosophy) was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The two-year position, which commences this summer, centers on research projects in the field of neuroethics, which addresses ethics in relation to neuroscience.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Benjamin Junge (Anthropology) received a fellowship from the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame for the spring 2010 semester. The fellowship brings together social scientists performing research on democracy and social justice. Junge’s goal is to generate text for a book-length monograph that examines how social actors and groups outside of formal political institutions in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have made sense of progressive political initiatives conducted ostensibly on their behalf.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Maryalice Citera (Psychology) and Robin Cohen-La Valle, associate dean of students, are the recipients of a research grant from the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) for a study titled “Transfer Student Self-Reliance and Its Relationship to Adjustment and Academic Performance in the Millennial Transfer Student.”

Phyllis Freeman (Psychology) will receive the SUNY New Paltz Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher Award, which is presented to a faculty member whose singular accomplishments exceed normal expectations in a chosen field, on March 21. Freeman has been a member of the faculty since 1975 and was the first College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year for 1995-1996.

James Halpern (Psychology) and Karla Vermeulen (Psychology) were awarded $45,242 by the New York State Department of Health for their project, “Instructor Candidate Trainings for Healthcare Facilities and Psychological First Aid,” which will prepare health care employees to help those affected by disasters and public health emergencies through training on such topics as ongoing support and the development of programming and materials on the mental health needs of special populations during and after disasters.

Awards, Honors, Appointments and Recognition

Gerald Benjamin, associate vice president for regional engagement and director of the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO), has been awarded a $5,000 grant by the Netherlands-America Foundation for his project, “The Worlds of Henry Hudson: Teaching and Understanding New Netherlands from a Transatlantic Perspective.” This intellectual event will be held in connection with the quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River and will explore the four “worlds” related to Hudson and his voyage: early modern overseas empires; the contacts between European and non-European people; colonial societies; and transatlantic networks.

Capt. Patricia Castellano received her University Police retirement badge at a party on Jan. 13.

Capt. Patricia Castellano retired from University Police on Jan. 14 after serving the college for 34 years. A retirement party was held for her on Jan. 13 at the College Terrace. Castellano began working with the department while she was a student at New Paltz. After graduating with a degree in biology, she became a police officer in 1974. Castellano was promoted to lieutenant in 1984; administrative lieutenant in 1996; and captain in 2005. Her areas of expertise include rape crisis intervention and general topics instruction. Castellano received the department’s Chief’s Award for Professionalism in 2003.

Julio González (Engineering) has been appointed associate dean of the School of Science and Engineering. He has served as interim associate dean since 2008. González has obtained three teaching awards at Colorado State University and SUNY New Paltz, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2001. His record of publications is reflected by his IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) senior member status. His service includes membership in the committees of Tenure and Reappointment, Promotion and Salary Increase; and Research, Awards and Leaves. He was also chair of the Academic Appeals Committee and was the faculty representative at the College Capital Planning Council. During his one-year term as interim associate dean, González was instrumental in creating a science advisory board comprised of local community colleges and at organizing and participating in a symposium for high school teachers. Both activities were geared toward increasing student enrollment in the School of Science and Engineering.

Chui-chun Lee, director of the Sojourner Truth Library, was awarded $12,164 by the New York State Department of Education for a project aimed at enhancing and facilitating materials acquisitions for regional resources sharing.

AWARDS, HONORS, APPOINTMENTS AND RECOGNITION

Gregory Bray (Communication and Media) received the CINE Golden Eagle Award for “A Horse Connection,” a documentary film he wrote, produced and directed.  The film focuses on a therapeutic horse riding program for persons with special needs. Students and alumni from the Communication and Media Department assisted in the project over the two-year production period. Those students were: Rob Jameson ‘06 and Jae Verner ‘06, directors of photography; Bryan Neilon ‘07, editor; Joshua Farina ‘06, Ryan Conner ‘06 and Stephanie Man ‘07, videographers; and Yolan Baker ‘07, Mary Hall ‘07 and Daniel Asis ‘07, post-production crew.