Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Alumni Newsletter - Fall 2009

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Hofstra Collegeof ofLiberal LiberalArts Artsand andSciences Sciences Alumni Newsletter Hofstra College Alumni Newsletter

Summer 2008 Fall 2009

Message From the Dean The advent of a new academic year is a good time to review some of the significant accomplishments of the past year.

2008-09 will be known in Hofstra’s history as the year in which the University hosted the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain and sponsored a yearlong series of activities and public lectures known collectively as Educate ’08.

The year was also marked by the creation of two new academic centers, both funded by generous grants from the federal government. The first of these is the Center for Condensed Matter Research, based in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and spearheaded by Dr. Harold Hastings, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The center supports ongoing work at Hofstra on practical applications of physics, such as photocells, more powerful computers, physics of the heart, and various types of networks, including

ecosystems. A second federal grant will fund the Hofstra University Center for Climate Change, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Geology Christa Farmer. This center will conduct research on the all-important issue of climate change and focus specifically on hurricane activity on Long Island.

Our Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency will host a two-day symposium with the Hofstra Cultural Center titled President or King? Evaluating the Expansion of Executive Power From Abraham Lincoln to George W. Bush on November 4 and 5, 2009.

Professor Donald Lubowich, also of our Department of Physics and Astronomy, was the recipient of a $308,000 grant from NASA to support his Astronomy Outreach Program. The three-year grant will fund the purchase of telescopes and an astronomy display that will be available to members of the public attending outdoor music and movie programs in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. These and related grants point to the increasing vitality of science research, education, and public outreach at Hofstra.

As a Hofstra alumnus, you are welcome to attend this symposium and any of the other public lectures and performances that take place on our campus. I call your attention specifically to our continuing “Great Writers, Great Readings” series, which this fall will include readings by Patricia Hampl, Frank Bidart, and Craig Lucas. Further information is available at hofstra.edu/GWGR.

The new year brings several new faces and exciting events to campus. Occupying the newly endowed Robert and Florence Kaufman Chair in Jewish Studies will be Dr. David Kaufman (no relation), formerly a tenured member of the faculty at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and author of the acclaimed study of the American synagogue titled Shul with a Pool.

Homecoming 2009

Myths&Legends Friday, Saturday and Sunday

October 9, 10 and 11

or contact Kristen Ehrling at (516) 463-5339 or Kristen.Ehrling@hofstra.edu

Bernard J. Firestone, Ph.D., Dean Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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Visit hofstra.edu/alumni and subscribe to AlumNet, the alumni e-newsletter. By registering your e-mail address with Hofstra University, you can receive news from Hofstra and other alumni correspondence.

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Sincerely,

Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Alumni Newsletter

SAVE THE DATE

If you are interested in discussing these or any of Hofstra College’s initiatives, please feel free to e-mail me at Bernard.J.Firestone@hofstra.edu.

HCLAS Profiles

Outside the classroom, Ken Lampl, associate professor of music, scores independent films and trailers.

Professor Ken Lampl: Scoring for the Screen, Mentoring in the Classroom Associate Professor of Music Ken Lampl recently composed the soundtracks for independent films such as Dismal, Royal Kill, Torture Chamber and Satan’s Playground. But don’t be fooled by those dark titles.

This young Hofstra faculty member, who teaches music merchandising, is very high on life after recently receiving tenure and more composition and arranging work that has taken him overseas for the summer of 2009. He says he very much enjoys teaching at Hofstra, where he finds both “the faculty and administration very supportive.” He also enjoys seeing his former students – some of whom are now working at Atlantic Records, Carnegie Hall and MSG – find success in the music industry.

Professor Lampl started his professional career as a jazz musician, touring with drummer Chico Hamilton.

While he was at Juilliard, he was awarded a scholarship to the renowned Tanglewood Music Festival, where he had the opportunity to meet and study under his childhood hero, John Williams, composer of the soundtracks to Star Wars, Superman, ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among other classic movies. While most

viewers can fully immerse themselves in the plot of a movie, Professor Lampl – because of his professional interests – is also paying close attention to the score, which he calls the “unconscious of the film,” quoting his mentor, Williams.

Knitting Factory, was also a guest speaker in Professor Klinkowstein’s class. Again, Emily introduced herself, asked questions and even rode the bus with him to the train station. The result: an exciting internship this past summer.

This past summer, Professor Lampl traveled to Morocco to work on the French film Kandisha, based on the Arabic legend of an avenging spirit for mistreated women. He was also in Vienna and the Czech Republic to work as an arranger for a Christmas album for vocalist Katrina Swift.

In addition to working at the Knitting Factory this summer, Emily was interning for +1 Records, a music management and public relations firm. Last spring she oversaw the promotion and publicity for the student art show presented by Hofstra’s Department of Fine Arts.

Besides John Williams, Professor Lampl also finds inspiration in the works of Tyler Bates (Watchmen, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 300) and James Newton Howard (The Sixth Sense, I Am Legend, Michael Clayton). Growing up, he was also influenced by Pink Floyd and John Coltrane.

When asked if he is able to recognize which of his students will succeed in the highly competitive music industry, Professor Lampl answers, “It’s all about passion and being in touch with what you love to do. People naturally set up barriers against experiencing what they love to protect themselves from being disappointed, but you have to have the drive to overcome that.”

Student Delves Into the Fine Art of Rock ‘n’ Roll

Dr. Margaret Hunter received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for a project that is bridging the gender gap in engineering and other technical studies.

Massachusetts’ Emily Miethner is a Hofstra senior majoring in fine arts with a concentration in design. Her dream is to work as a designer in the music industry. She recently had a taste of that life when she was tapped by MTV to design a T-shirt for Iggy, its new global pop culture and music network.

A senior executive for MTV was a guest speaker in Emily’s New Media class taught by Professor Tom Klinkowstein. Emily was not shy about asking the MTV representative for career advice. She even “friended” him afterward on Facebook and was very happy that he accepted her invitation to stay in touch. Not long after, he invited Emily to come up with a shirt design for Iggy – a very prestigious assignment into which she immediately jumped. She worked with Professor Klinkowstein, and together they came up with more than 60 different concepts.

Emily’s design work for MTV is currently on hold while MTV concentrates on its marketing plan for Iggy. Emily is taking the delay in stride – she knows this is part of the ups and downs of working in show business. She says that even if nothing comes of the work she’s done so far, she is grateful for the opportunity to have worked on such a high-profile project. Her MTV connection gave Emily the opportunity to network with other freelance artists in the music world, and MT MTV invited her tto a concert celebrating the U.S. debut of Asian pop star BoA.

Fine Arts major Emily Miethner worked on a T-shirt design for MTV during her junior year.

The MTV experi experience also showe showed Emily the impor importance of making the m most of every chanc chance to network.

Recen Recently, Ian Wheeler, presid president of the famed

Engineering Professor Is Bridging the Gender Gap in Engineering and Technical Studies Dr. Margaret Hunter is working to bridge the gender gap that exists in technical studies such as engineering, physics and mathematics by working to develop a framework for college curricula in those fields that will attract more women students.

“The gender and racial gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education programs limits the pool of potential workers and threatens the nation’s intellectual and economic competitiveness,” Dr. Hunter said.

The lack of women in these “professions also diminishes the social consciousness that competent female leaders would bring to technical endeavors.

”

Dr. Hunter, who in 2007 received a three-year National Science Foundation grant of almost $725,000 to carry out her work, is coordinating Project ESTEEM – Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, Education and Mathematics Skills – a collaboration of faculty from Hofstra’s Center for Technological Literacy, Nassau Community College and CUNY’s Queensborough Community College that is developing a framework for infusing gender-equitable information and materials into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curricula at community colleges.

Project ESTEEM enhances women’s opportunities to succeed in technical studies leading to further education and careers. The framework helps teachers, publishers and curriculum developers to infuse equity into existing curriculum materials, rather than develop new equity materials. The framework being developed will be broadly applicable to all curriculum materials in these fields at all levels of education.

HCLAS News Briefs “Great Writers, Great Readings” Schedule Announced The 2009-2010 guest lineup for Hofstra’s “Great Writers, Great Readings” series has been announced: On October 14 at 7 p.m., distinguished essayist and memoirist Patricia Hampl will begin the new season.

Ms. Hampl is author of many books, including A Romantic Education and – most recently – the memoir The Florist’s Daughter, winner of numerous “best” and “year end” awards, including inclusion on The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2007.

Student admire the work on display as part of the Fine Arts Student Art Show in May.

Renowned poet Frank Bidart is next on November 4 at 7 p.m. His recent volumes of poetry include Watching the Spring Festival, Star Dust, Music Like Dirt, and Desire, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

New Fine Arts Studio Space Unveiled in Calkins Hall

Craig Lucas, author of Missing Persons, Blue Window, Reckless, Prelude to a Kiss, God’s Heart, The Dying Gaul, Stranger, Small Tragedy, The Singing Forest and Prayer for My Enemy, finishes the fall schedule on November 18 at 11:15 a.m. He also wrote the book for the musical The Light in the Piazza, for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

On May 6, 2009, the Department of Fine Arts, Art History and Humanities celebrated “Calkins Renaissance Day,” showcasing renovations in Calkins Hall and the opening of the Fine Arts Student Art Show. Fine Arts alumna Nicole Barth ’05 served as the outside judge for the student art show. Ms. Barth earned an M.F.A. in design and technology from Parsons School of Design and is currently working as an interactive designer for FoodNetwork.com.

The spring 2010 opens on March 10 at 7 p.m. with Mona Simpson, author of Anywhere But Here, The Lost Father, A Regular Guy and – most recently – Off Keck Road, a finalist for a PEN/Faulkner Award. She has won several prestigious awards, including the Whiting Writers’ Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University.

The renovations in Calkins Hall began in 2004. The fi rst phase, completed in the fall of that year, included the construction of design studios and a computer lab, painting studios, an art history seminar room, offices, a student gallery and student lounge. Phase 2 of the renovations, including a photography studio and darkroom, sculpture studio, ceramics studio, and industrial design studio, began in 2008 and was completed in 2009.

Rosanna Warren is the final 2009-2010 guest on April 14 at 7 p.m. Her most recent book of poems is Departure, and in 2008 she published a book of literary criticism titled Fables of the Self: Studies in Lyric Poetry.

Her awards include the Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets for her 1993 book Stained Glass and the Award of Merit Medal for Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

All “Great Writers, Great Readings” events are free and open to the public. For more information, please call (516) 463-5410 or visit hofstra.edu/gwgr.

Faculty Accolades Zachary Lazar, adjunct assistant professor of English, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, where he is working

Craig Lucas

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The women’s soccer team, led by fourth-year Coach Simon Riddiough, looks to return to the top of the CAA after falling in the CAA Championship match last season. Returning CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year Jess Crankshaw and first team All-CAA pick Tiffany Yovino lead a talented group of players into the 2009 campaign. Richard Nuttall, now in his 22nd year as coach of the men’s soccer program, will look to All-CAA performers Richard Martinez, Rob Youhill and Brett Carrington to lead the Pride in 2009.

The cross country team, which is led by second-year Head Coach Pete Alfano, will look to build momentum in 2009 behind All-Metropolitan performer Riti Dhillon on the women’s side and junior Phil Giackette on the men’s team.

Second-year Tennis Coach Amanda Foukas has a good foundation of veteran players on the women’s team in juniors Christie Gattelaro and Lauren Clifton, as well as sophomore

Greg Maney, associate professor of sociology and co-director of the Irish Studies Program, has been elected chair of the Peace, War and Social Conflict Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

Richard Puerzer, chair of the Department of Engineering, presented a paper at the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture for the 10th consecutive year. He spoke on race and Major League Baseball’s management structure. The annual gathering, which took place in June, examines the impact of baseball on American culture from inter- and multidisciplinary perspectives.

Gayl Teller, adjunct associate professor of writing and composition studies, was named Nassau County poet laureate, 2009-2011, by the Nassau County Poet Laureate Selection Committee. Professor Teller was honored at a special ceremony on June 13, 2009, at Farmingdale Public Library.

David Weissman, professor of engineering, was Gayl Teller awarded the Jean Nerken Distinguished Professorship in Engineering. The professorship is designed to recognize and encourage outstanding teaching, research, and leadership in the field of engineering sciences. Dr. Weissman was also honored by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Geoscience Remote Sensing Society with a certificate of recognition for his contributions to and leadership role in the organization. The award was presented on July 13, 2009, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Fall Sports Preview

he football team, led by fourth-year Head Coach Dave Cohen, will look to use a tough defense led by Luke Bonus and Ray McDonough, and an offensive attack spearheaded by running backs Everette Benjamin and Brock Jackolski and receiver Aaron Weaver to compete for a CAA Football Championship. Second-year Volleyball Coach Kristina Hernandez will look to seniors Monica Knight and Chrissey Cruz to lead a squad that includes five newcomers back to the CAA Championship after a quarterfinals appearance last season.

The field hockey team was hit hard by graduation, but 12th-year Head Coach Kathy De Angelis has a solid nucleus of young players ready to step in, led by CAA All-Rookie selection Genna Kovar and goalkeeper Amanda Heyde.

Seniors Kristin Thompson and Ashleigh Daniles will provide veteran leadership.

on a new novel in 2009-2010. Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for men and women who have demonstrated an exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. The Hodder Fellowship was created for artists in the early stages of their careers. Sway, Professor Lazar’s second novel, was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and was named a Best Book of 2008 by Publisher’s Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and several other newspapers and magazines.

Brooke Sailer. On the men’s side, junior Stian Tvedt and senior Matt Wacks will anchor a largely inexperienced roster in 2009-10.

The women’s golf team, coached by second-year mentor Maren Crowley, will look to make strides in 2009-10. A veteran roster returns, including the top five scorers from a season ago, led by junior Morgan Heyrman. The men’s team, led by second-year Coach Joe Elliott, is in the exact opposite position, as the team lost all five of its top players from last season and will enter 2009-10 with a largely untested roster.

Fans can follow these teams, as well as all the Hofstra Athletics news, at GoHofstra.com. The site, which was launched in May, features an entire suite of new products and services for Pride fans, including: live and on-demand streaming video and audio of Hofstra events and features, rosters, live stats, schedules, online purchase of Pride event tickets, a complete online apparel store featuring the latest Pride gear, online auctions, and much more.

Also, be sure to check out upcoming promotions and activities Jess Crankshaw surrounding Hofstra Athletics through the promotions tab.

Please visit GoHofstra.com to sign up for free e-news and have your Pride news sent directly to your inbox.

Luke Bonus

News From Around HOFSTRA NEWS Around Hofstra Hofstra Receives Middle States Reaccreditation Hofstra University’s reaccreditation was affi rmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on June 25, 2009.

Accreditation and assessment play a critical role in strategic planning and academic enterprise at Hofstra.

Accreditation provides the University with the means to examine itself, the institution’s values, mission and goals, and verify the high quality of academic programs and student services. By participating in this process, Hofstra sends the message that it employs best practices, both in the classroom and in academic and administrative structure.

More than 100 faculty, administrators, and students were directly involved for almost two years in the development of the self-study, a comprehensive and inclusive appraisal of values, strengths, structure and resources. The selfstudy was reviewed by representatives of Middle States.

Middle States convened a very well-qualified visiting team, who came to the University in April 2009 and spent three days with hundreds of faculty, students, and administrators.

Hofstra University is pleased to share the letter from Middle States and the full report of the visiting team at hofstra.edu/middlestates.

MyWorkster@Hofstra Launches to Help Students and Alumni With Job Searching and Networking After two years of development, Hofstra University and MyWorkster.com launched a special “Alumni Advisor” module called MyWorkster@Hofstra on March 11, 2009.

The “Alumni Advisor” module allows Hofstra students and graduates to connect with Hofstra alumni who have volunteered to serve as career mentors for a wide variety of professions.

Though MyWorkster has a presence at a number of other college campuses, MyWorkster@Hofstra is the fi rst partnership that allows students and graduates to find alumni advisors who can offer professional guidance and networking opportunities. Both job seekers and those volunteering as advisors will find MyWorkster@Hofstra to be a rewarding service. MyWorkster@Hofstra is free and offers the University’s current students and graduates a way to connect with their alma mater while taking advantage of unique professional opportunities.

Hofstra students and alumni interested in registering for MyWorkster@Hofstra should visit hofstra.edu/careers and click on “MyWorkster@Hofstra” to complete an online profile. Alumni interested in participating as career mentors will see an option to register as an alumni advisor during the sign-in process.

MyWorkster was founded by Hofstra alumnus Jeffrey Saliture ’08 while he was still an undergraduate student, and he is currently the CEO of MyWorkster Enterprises, based in New York. MyWorkster was created to help professionals advance their careers through simple and effective technologies.

For more information about the program, please call The Hofstra Career Center at (516) 463-6060 or send an e-mail to AlumniAdvisor@hofstra.edu.

Hofstra University Museum Receives Unprecedented Gift of Andy Warhol Art The Hofstra University Museum has received an unprecedented gift of Andy Warhol art from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, a portion of which will be on display through September 20, 2009, at the David Filderman Gallery, located on the ninth floor of the Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, South Campus.

The gift, made through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program, was in honor of the foundation’s 20th anniversary. The museum took ownership of its gift of 103 Polaroid prints and 50 black and white gelatin silver prints valued at $150,300 at the beginning of July 2008.

The Hofstra University Museum is one of 183 college and university art museums that received some of the 28,543 original Warhol photographs valued in excess of $28 million. Each institution received approximately 150 original Polaroid photographs and gelatin silver prints selected by Jenny Moore, curator of the Photographic Legacy Program.

According to The Andy Warhol Foundation President Joel Wachs, the aim of the Photographic Legacy

Capital Campaign Exceeds Goal With $110 Million Raised Hofstra University’s Capital Campaign exceeded its $100 million goal with a total of $110 million raised, President Stuart Rabinowitz announced at the 2009 Hofstra Gala on May 7 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Only the second such campaign in the University’s history, it focused on development in five areas: endowment; capital projects and renovations; technology upgrades; academic programs; and the Annual Fund.

“Exceeding our $100 million goal demonstrates the faith and support that Hofstra enjoys from our alumni and friends,” said President Rabinowitz, noting that the campaign had received two gifts of at least $10 million and more than 20 gifts of $1 million or more. “This historic achievement will make a real difference to Hofstra’s future and will enhance our national reputation for academic excellence.”

“The generosity of our trustees, alumni, friends, and parents will allow us to continue to improve Hofstra University and attract the brightest students through scholarships and financial aid, provide those students with the finest technology and learning facilities, and recruit and support the best faculty,” said Capital Campaign Chair and Hofstra Trustee John D. Miller ’79. Mr. Miller added, “I would like to personally thank everyone who invested in Hofstra’s future through the Capital Campaign.”

The Gala itself raised $1 million, thanks to contributions announced at the annual fund-raiser by Gala honoree and Hofstra Trustee Peter S. Kalikow ’65 and fellow Hofstra Trustee and Gala Co-Chair David S. Mack ’67. Proceeds from the Gala benefit Hofstra’s student scholarship fund.

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The Capital Campaign was launched at the University’s Gala on May 3, 2006,

by President Rabinowitz and then-Chair of the Board Miller. That year, Hofstra had already announced significant gifts from Mr. Miller; Mr. Mack; Hofstra Trustee Joe Gregory ’74 and his wife, Niki; current Chair of the Board Marilyn Monter ’76; and Hofstra Trustee Helene Fortunoff.

, rilyn Monter ’76 d of Trustees Ma ar ’65 and Bo ow e lik th Ka of S. air r Ch la honoree Pete Ga d an e te us Tr Hofstra .

Stuart Rabinowitz Hofstra President

Andy Warhol Truman Capote, undated Gelatin silver ph otograph Gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Ar ts, New York Hofstra Universi ty Museum Collecti on

Program

is to provide greater access to Warhol’s artwork and process, and to enable a wide range of people from communities across the country to view and study this important yet relatively unknown body of Warhol’s work.

Hofstra University Museum Director Beth E. Levinthal ’73, ’75, stated that the museum “is honored to have been a recipient of this generous and historically meaningful gift from the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. This gift enhances the museum’s collection of photography, while expanding our ability to contextualize our prints and other collection works also created by Andy Warhol.”

University Honored with CIO 100 Award for Innovative Technology A project giving Hofstra students virtual lab and mobile computing capabilities to access academic software from any location on campus earned the University a spot on CIO magazine’s list of the top 100 companies that are creating new business value through technological innovations.

“This prestigious award is quite an honor, and it recognizes our innovative work in testing and implementing our Virtual Lab system for students to access their academic software from anywhere,” said Robert W. Juckiewicz, Hofstra’s vice president for information technology. “This is just one component of an ongoing strategy to support students who use technology ubiquitously and constantly for academic, social and work needs. More than 90 percent of incoming first-year students come to campus with a laptop; almost all carry a mobile phone. Recognizing this, Hofstra is working to create a fully mobile learning environment for students, so that all services are available to our students wherever they are in the world.”

The top CIO 100 list includes AT&T; Dell; GE Energy; Infosys Technologies; JetBlue; Raytheon; T-Mobile; UPS; the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center; and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Hofstra is one of only seven colleges and universities listed. Some of the features for which Hofstra was cited include: ៉ The creation of Hofstra’s Virtual Computer Lab, which provides mobile access to software from any device running a browser. ៉ The availability of high-speed wireless technology on campus. ៉ In partnership with Google, Hofstra provides students with access to e-mail, calendars and Google Apps where they can create documents and invite others to work collaboratively from any location. ៉ The University has created “collaboratories,” innovative workspaces that utilize the latest software along with a physical environment to foster collaborative work among students. Hofstra utilizes the best technology from all major providers, such as Microsoft, Cisco, Google and IBM.