Two CCNY Undergrads Win Goldwater Scholarships
Undergrads David L.V. Bauer and Itamar M. Belisha have been selected as 2007 Goldwater Scholars by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.  The Goldwater Scholarship, which is federally funded, is America’s premiere award for undergraduates majoring in math, science and engineering.  Mr. Bauer, who is from the Bronx, has been investigating synthesis and assaying of novel aspirin derivatives for the development of new anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer medications.  His mentor is Kevin Ryan, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.  In 2005, Mr. Bauer finished in first place in the Intel Talent Science Search, having done research at CCNY as a high school student, as well.  Mr. Belisha, a native of Israel who resides in Brooklyn with his wife, has been investigating the correlation between high potassium and brain seizures during deep brain stimulation.  His mentor is Marom Biksom, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering.  More on this story.

Three Honors College Juniors Named 2007 Truman Finalists
Ethan Morris Frisch, Christopher Donald Hue and Julia Yang, juniors in the Macaulay CUNY Honors College at The City College of New York (CCNY), were finalists for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation’s 2007 Truman Scholarships.  Mr. Frisch, a resident of Manhattan, majors in Conflict Studies, Education and Social Change.  At CCNY, he has received several awards including the Josh and Judy Weston Public Service Scholarship, Bernie West Award for Theatre, Stuyvesant-City College Scholarship and Peter Vallone Scholarship.  Mr. Hue, who resides in Flushing, Queens, is a biomedical engineering major.  He has received several honors at CCNY including the Josh and Judy Weston Public Service Scholarship, the Merck Engineering and Technology Scholarship and the Horace W. Goldsmith Scholarship.  He also is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the pre-medical honors society.  Ms. Yang, who also resides in Flushing, is majoring in international studies and political science.  At CCNY, she has received several additional honors including the D’Agostino-Greenberg Internship Award, the Josh and Judy Weston Public Service Scholarship, the Rosenberg/Humphrey Public Policy Fellowship, the Hon. Theodore Kupferman Award and the Stuyvesant-City College Scholarship.

Ilona Kretzschmar Receives NSF CAREER Award
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Ilona Kretzschmar has been awarded a five-year, $449,386 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant.  The award will support her investigation of “uniquely functionalized nanoparticles for hierarchical self-assembly of three-dimensional structures” and be used to create new education opportunities for CCNY students.  CAREER grants are NSF’s most prestigious award for early-career faculty.  The award to Professor Kretzschmar, effective March 1, is the second CAREER award to CCNY faculty members in as many months, and brings to 14 the number of active CAREER awards to CCNY faculty.  CCNY currently leads all New York State public colleges and universities in active CAREER awards.  In her research, Professor Kretzschmar plans to modify particles to have “patchy” surfaces, analogous to the patches on a soccer ball, so they can be connected to other particles using molecular linkers.  The ability to control composition and position is essential to self-assembly of three-dimensional nanostructures that can be used in such fields as photonics and semiconductor electronics, Professor Kretzschmar added.  More on this story.

Two PR/Advertising Majors Picked As One Show Finalists
Can a gold-plated gas mask with Louis Vuitton print fabric stir environmental consciousness in career-oriented young professionals?  The gas mask is part of an advertising campaign created by CCNY senior Sal Lombardo that is one of 12 finalists in The One Club’s 2007 Student Client Pitch Competition.  Mr. Lombardo and a classmate, Morgan Schreiber, will present their ideas May 10 to a jury comprised on advertising executives and representatives from the National Resources Defense Council, the “client” chosen for the competition.  “The One Show college competition is advertising’s equivalent of the Grammys,” Mr. Lombardo said.  It consists of two separate components, a creative award and the client pitch competition.  Over 1,200 advertising students have submitted their work.  Students were asked to come up with “fresh messages of hope” that emphasize personal responsibility and concrete implications.  Mr. Lombardo chose a fashion theme because fashion “reflects what’s going on in society and on the planet as well people’s personalities and individual identities.”  The campaign is targeted to college-educated, busy professionals, 25 – 45, who are apathetic about the environment.  “They feel disconnected to the natural world.  However, they follow trends and will probably be receptive to a message that has relevance to their personal well being,” Ms. Schreiber said.

MTA Appoints Transit Guru Robert Paaswell to Panel
As it embarks upon a multi-billion dollar system expansion, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has appointed Professor Robert Paaswell, Director of the City College-based University Transportation Research Center, to a Blue Ribbon Panel on Construction Excellence.  “The MTA is advancing the largest expansion of our transportation system in decades.  It’s an exciting time for us but we need to be certain that our investments are made wisely,” said Elliot G. Sander, MTA Executive Director and CEO, in welcoming Professor Paaswell to the panel. “Your expertise and that of our fellow panelists will enhance our ability to identify risks and, most importantly, to identify proactive measures to mitigate them.”  Dr. Paaswell, who is CUNY Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at CCNY, is also a former Executive Director of the Chicago Transit Authority. 

CCNY Women Place In NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field
CCNY took second place in the 2007 NCAA Division III Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championship, held earlier this month in Terra Haute, Ind.  Team members Alecia Watson, Mechelle Barnwell and Jodyann Raymond all achieved All-American Status, with Watson earning two gold medals and Barnwell winning one.  Senior Alecia Watson led the Beavers by winning the long jump with a distance of 5.85 meters and in the triple jump she claimed the title with a mark of 12.17 meters.  She also placed fifth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.21 seconds and earned All-American status in all three events.  Watson also received top honors and was selected as the Atlantic Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, the NCAA Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and the Women’s Field Athlete of the meet.  Teammate Mechelle Barnwell earned All-American honors by winning the gold in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.04 seconds.  Sophomore Jodyann Raymond finished among the top eight in that race and also earned All-American status.  She ran a time of 7.28 seconds.  More on this story.

CCNY Publishing Program Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
City College’s Publishing Certificate Program (PCP) toasted its tenth anniversary March 8 with a reception at the Time-Life Building in Manhattan.  Attendees included novelist Walter Mosley ‘91MA, who founded the program, CCNY President Gregory Williams and publishing industry notables such as Kassahun Checole, Publisher of Africa World Press, Judith Curr, Publisher of Simon &Schuster/Atria, and W.W. Norton & Co.  Publisher Drake McFeely.  David Young and Michael Pietsch from Hachette Book Group hosted the event.  Mr. Mosley established PCP in 1997 to attract and train minority students to work in the book publishing industry.  It is the only CUNY program that prepares undergraduates and non-matriculating students for careers in the field.  Since its launch, 750 CCNY students have taken at least one PCP course and 123 students have completed the five courses required for the PCP certificate.  Among its alumni successes is Winfrida Mbewe, who today is publicity manager at Norton.  The PCP faculty draws heavily on industry professionals, such as Tanya McKinnon, a literary agent at the Mary Evans Literary Agency and Lisa Healy, a senior production editor with Simon & Schuster.  New course offerings include copyediting in Spanish and a course on legal issues to begin this fall.

CCNY Co-Hosts Summer Research Program for Top Undergrads
Ten of the nation’s top undergraduates in the sciences and engineering will come to CCNY and New York University this summer to participate in a new, federally funded research program focused soft materials and interfaces.  The program, known as The NYU-CCNY REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) for the Science and Engineering of Soft Materials and Interfaces, runs May 27 through August 4.  It is funded through a three-year, $306,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.  The students, who are being selected through a competitive process currently underway, will work closely with CCNY and NYU research groups on investigations that probe fundamental aspects of soft materials and interfaces, said Alexander Couzis, Professor of Chemical Engineering at CCNY and the program’s co-Principal Investigator.  “The program is interdisciplinary, combining chemistry, physics and chemical engineering to examine forefront topics.”  Other participating CCNY faculty include: Professors Morton Denn, Lane Gilchrist, Ilona Kretzschmar, Charles Maldarelli, Jeff Morris and Raymond Tu from the chemical engineering department and Professor Joel Koplik from the physics department.  In addition to their research work, the students will participate in professional development workshops for scientific writing and presentation skills.

CCNY Chemical Engineering Majors Test Their Teaching Skills
When Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Raymond Tu wanted some of his students to get teaching experience, he didn’t have to travel very far.  The High School for Math, Science and Engineering at CCNY (HSMSE), housed in Baskerville Hall, across the street from Steinman Hall, was looking for an innovative way to incorporate units on chemical engineering into its Principles of Engineering class.  “The idea was to get our students interested in teaching.  Engineers rarely think about education (as a career),” said Professor Tu, who developed the curriculum in partnership with a departmental colleague, Assistant Professor Ilona Kretzschmar.  The chemical engineering modules developed for the class by CCNY faculty and taught by four CCNY undergraduates illustrate the emerging collaborations between CCNY and HSMSE that have also resulted in high school students taking courses at CCNY for college credit.  The high school, which has a specialized curriculum and requires entrance examinations, opened on the CCNY campus five years ago, and is one of three boutique high schools located on City University of New York campuses.  More on this story.

Music Adjunct Steve Horelick Receives Emmy Nomination
Steve Horelick, an Adjunct Professor of Music at CCNY, has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Music Direction and Composition.”  He was recognized for his work with the acclaimed PBS children’s series, “Reading Rainbow.”  Professor Horelick and his talented musician wife, Janet Weir, penned the theme song in 1981 and since then he has composed more than 30 hours of original music for more than 175 episodes of the show.  A prolific composer, his credits include original scores for more than 350 TV shows, documentaries and feature films, including “Sesame Street,” “Shining Time Station,” “The Puzzle Place,” and HBO’s award winning sports documentary series “When It Was a Game.”  Some of Professor Horelick’s original songs have been recorded by Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, Peabo Bryson and Phoebe Snow, among others.  “I guess I really messed up this year,” chuckled Professor Horelick.  “I teach my CCNY film scoring students that the art of background scoring is to support the dialog and the emotion of any given scene.  Good scoring is felt and not consciously heard or listened to. Unfortunately, or fortunately, someone was listening!”  This year’s Emmy winners will be announced June 15 in Los Angeles.

Biology Senior Ali Raza Wins Mammalogists Award
Senior biology major Ali Raza is one of three winners nationwide of the American Society of Mammalogists’ Undergraduate Student Research Award.  The award, which comes with a $400 cash prize, will be presented at the Society’s 87^th annual meeting, June 6-10 in Albuquerque, N.M.  Mr. Raza was recognized by the Society for the originality and quality of his research on a program called Maxent.  “This is a computer program that models potential distribution of a species in an area,” he explained. “It has various implications and can be used for assessing a species’ conservation status and managing invasive species.”  The Brooklyn resident will give an oral presentation on his research at the meeting.  The topic will be, “Effect of Rhipidomys study region for GIS models of distributions and niche overlap in [the genus].”  Mr. Raza began his research in the lab of his mentor, Dr. Robert P. Anderson, Assistant Professor of Biology. “His research has wide application in environmental science,” said Professor Anderson.  Mr. Raza plans on pursuing a master’s degree in Biology, with a focus on ecology and environmental biology, after graduating this June.

MoMA Honors Grad Student Geaninne Gutierrez-Guimaraes
CCNY graduate student Geaninne Gutierrez-Guimaraes’ work in helping The Museum of Modern Art promote art from Latin America and the Caribbean has earned her MoMA’s 2007 Lee Tenenbaum Award.  The Peruvian-born Art History/Museum Studies major is one of 11 recipients of the annual award, which recognizes exceptional achievement among museum staff.  “It’s a tremendous honor to receive this award,” said Ms. Gutierrez-Guimaraes, who works full time as a Curatorial Assistant in MoMA’s Department of Drawings.  In honoring her, MoMA cited her “outstanding performance in supporting the establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Fund,” launched by the Museum in 2006.  The Fund comprises a group of members who provide financial support for the acquisition of art by Latin American and Caribbean artists for the MoMA collection.  Now at the thesis stage of her program at CCNY, where her focus is modern art from Latin America, the Bronx resident thanked Art Professor Anna Indych-Lopez for being “more than my thesis advisor, but also a mentor and a friend.”

CCNY Hosts NanoDay In New York March 31
CCNY hosts NanoDay in New York, a day-long event to introduce New York City high school students and teachers to the new interdisciplinary fields of Nanoscale Science and Technology, Saturday, March 31.  The event, presented by the Columbia University Nanocenter and The City College of New York in collaboration with Barnard College and Rowan University, is expected to draw over 400 attendees.  Guest speakers include: Horst Stormer, Nobel Laureate in Physics and Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Columbia University; Vicki Colvin, Executive Director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology and Professor of Chemistry at Rice University in Houston, and Bill Nye “the Science Guy,” a well-known television and radio personality.  A science expo in The Great Hall will feature exhibits and demonstrations from top science programs, museums, laboratories and industry collaborators, including General Electric, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Boston Museum of Science.  Additional information is available on the NanoDay 2007 web site or by contacting Diane Beckford at 212-650-6953.  More on this story.

Concerts Fete CCNY Maestro David Del Tredici’s 70^th Birthday
A string of concerts throughout 2007 will mark the 70^th birthday of David Del Tredici, Distinguished Professor of Music at City College and one of America’s most honored living composers.  CCNY will honor Professor Del Tredici, who turned 70 March 16, with a performance by pianist Marc Peloquinof his virtuosic Gotham Glory3 pm Friday, March 30 in Shepard Hall Room.  In subsequent months, his works will be performed at theTanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music in Lenox, Massachusetts, the Kennedy Center in Washington and other venues.  Professor Del Tredici is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer whose works have been commissioned, performed and recorded by major American and European orchestral ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and the Helsinki Festival Orchestra.  He is recognized as America’s foremost exponent of the return to musical Romanticism. Professor Del Tredici has received Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson Fellowships, the Brandeis and Friedheim Awards, and NEA grants.  He’s also received no less than one ASCAP Award every year since 1969. 

Dean Ranalli Lectures in LA; Works Featured in Chicago, Japan
George Ranalli, Dean of The City College School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, has been getting much exposure for his design work and ideas of late.  On Wednesday, March 21, he delivered a lecture on Iconic Form to the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles.  Three days earlier, a door handle he designed for the Door Gems collection was featured in a design supplement to the Chicago Tribune magazine.  The same handle is included in the Denver Art Museum’s 20th Century Collection of Architecture, Design & Graphics.  Finally, two of his design projects were included in A Guide to Contemporary Architecture in America, a book recently published in Japan with English and Japanese text.  “First of August Shop” is an interior renovation and façade extension to a brownstone on Lexington Avenue.  “Callender School Renovation” is the conversion of the interior of a historic school building in Newport, Rhode Island into a six-unit residential complex.

CCNY Authors’ Article Receives Magazine’s Top Cover Award
Who says you need to put a picture of Tyra Banks on a magazine cover to get readers’ attention?  Subscribers to RSC Publishing’s science title Soft Matter went for a photo of apricots on the tree that graced the publication’s November 2006 cover as most popular cover.  The photo illustrated the article “Design and development of soft nanomaterials from bio-based amphiphiles,” written by CCNY Professor of Chemistry George John and Postdoctoral Fellow Praveen Kumar Vemula.  The article, which also ranks among Soft Matter’s top 10 downloads, summarizes their ongoing research into utilizing renewable resources, such as the byproducts of apricots and cashew shells, to develop self-generating soft materials.  The research was also written up recently in Newsweek International.

From the President

I know many of you have heard me say that the young faculty we have hired over the last several years are remarkably accomplished, and that they are finding City College to be a place where they can build their careers as we continue to build the College.  One of the strongest indicators of the quality of our faculty is its success in the rigorous tenure review process.  I am very pleased to report that last academic year, of the sixteen faculty members up for tenure, all sixteen received tenure! During the same time period, 18 out of 22 faculty members up for promotion – nearly 82% – were promoted.  I know you are as proud as I am of this record of success, and of our outstanding faculty.

I also want to salute our student achievers.  This morning I attended the first annual “Dean’s List Reception,” organized by the Office of Student Affairs, to celebrate the 252 sophomores and juniors – from every school and division of the College – who have maintained a GPA of 3.25 or above.  With jobs and families to take care of, they have set their academic ambitions high, and deserve our celebration.

Gregory H. Williams

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