Faculty and Staff Kudos Archive

Archived faculty and staff kudos from 2016-2019.

November 2019

• Aaron Steinhauer, professor of physics, was an invited speaker at the Lithium in the Universe: To Be or Not to Be conference at the Observatory of Rome, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy. Steinhauer presented his talk, “Evolution of the Correlation Between Lithium Depletion and Angular Momentum in Open Cluster F Dwarfs.”

• Aaron Herold, assistant professor of political science, and Carly Herold, visiting assistant professor in philosophy and political science, have received an award of $10,000 from the Jack Miller Center to support the project “Forum on Constitutionalism and Democracy at the State University of New York at Geneseo.” Funds will establish a campus program focusing on America’s constitutional principles and history and will support a yearly symposium and student discussion groups on issues of pressing public concern. The program aims to serve as a model of what informed civil discourse from multiple perspectives can look like. The grant will support three speakers’ honoraria as well as travel, food, lodging, and advertising costs.

• Historians Justin Behrend, professor and chair of history, Associate Professor Catherine Adams, and Distinguished Professor Michael Oberg have received a $6,000 award from the National Heritage Trust in collaboration with the New York State Parks Division of Historic Preservation. An additional $1,000 for project-related travel expenses will also be reimbursed. Grant funds will support their project, "Underground Railroad (UGRR) Sites in the Genesee River Valley." The project will investigate Genesee Valley UGRR locations and history for the possible creation of interpretive signs. The research will begin with a survey of African American presence in the Genesee Valley using federal census records from the period. This will allow the investigators to determine the locations in which to pursue further records such as newspapers, church archives, antislavery manuscript collections, and town archives.

• Lytton Smith’s translation of Ófeigur Sigurðsson's novel Öraefi: The Wasteland (Deep Vellum, 2018), was one of 156 fiction titles selected for the International DUBLIN Literary Award’s 2020 Longlist. Smith is an associate professor of English and creative writing. The award aims to promote excellence in world literature. Nominations are submitted by library systems in major cities throughout the world. The shortlist will be announced in April 2020.

• On November 12, SUNY Police Chiefs Association commended the recipients of the 2019 Police Awards, which included SUNY Geneseo Officer Richard Arnone, in a ceremony in Saratoga Springs, NY. Arnone received a Professional Service Award, which recognizes members for acts that greatly enhance the operation of their department.

• SUNY Geneseo was included in a list of more than 120  higher education institutions that received a Marks of Distinction awarded by Second Nature. These awards quantify  Climate Action progress. The College was recognized for participation in the "We Are Still In" campaign, which urges for continued U.S. participation in international climate agreements.

October 2019

• Geneseo staff and students presented sessions on communications strategy and research at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education national conference in Spokane, Washington. Director of sustainability Dan DeZarn and manager of editorial services Kris Dreessen led a session that focused on Geneseo’s sustainability efforts and communications in the area, highlighting the college’s interactive sustainability storytelling map. They co-led the workshop with staff from three universities.

  Elijah Freiman ’20 presented with a staff member from the University of Tennessee in a session that highlighted Geneseo’s experimental garden. Eight Geneseo students presented poster sessions on Geneseo efforts including composting to research conducted in the campus experimental garden: Office of Sustainability interns Martin Benzinger ’19, Catherine Curley ’20, Clara Gallagher ’20, Abigail Ritz ’20, and Arianna Walczyk ’20, and physics students Catherine Fedor ’20, Grant Grieble ’20, and Scott Williams ’20. 

• Assistant Professor Yvonne Seale, history, has been granted the 2019 Teaching Association for Medieval Studies’ (TEAMS) Early Career College Educators’ teaching award based on her lesson plan “Mapping the Middle Ages.” Seale has been invited to present her work at the group’s 2020 International Congress for Medieval Studies in May.

• Professor Robert Goeckel, political science and international relations, was invited to present his paper, “State and Church in the GDR: Anglo-American Perspectives,” at the Berlin Divide and Reunited: 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall conference sponsored by the Institute for Church-State Research in Berlin, Germany.

• Chip Matthews, director of student life, presented “An Interdepartmental Curricular Model” at the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) 2020 Institute on the Curricular Approach conference that was held earlier this month in Anaheim, CA. Sarah Frank, director of student life, and Meg Reitz, assistant director of student life for educational initiatives, contributed to the presentation.
   
• Victoria Phipps, associate director of human resources and benefits administrator, was selected for the State University of New York Human Resources Association's (SUHRA) Emerging Leader award. The award recognizes a member who has demonstrated leadership skills that have positively impacted innovation, commitment, inspiration or partnership.

September 2019

• Assistant Professor Alla Myzelev, art history, authored an article, "The negotiation of masculinity and identity through clothing choices among Russian speakers in Canada," that was published in the journal Critical Studies in Men's Fashions.

• Annmarie Urso, associate professor of education, received United Way of Livingston County funding of $4,750 in support of the 2019–20 Soaring Stars Program. The funds will be used for student materials and supplies for the program. This is the sixth year that the United Way has provided support for Soaring Stars.

• Associate Professor Jim Allen, Department of Psychology, gave a talk to the Rochester Minimalists on September 10 at the Brighton Memorial Library on his book The Psychology of Happiness in the Modern World. (Allen's book was also featured in a Summer 2018 article in Geneseo Scene.)

August 2019

• Milne Library’s open education resources (OER) search tool OASIS has been awarded the OER Curation Award by the Open Education Consortium. The tool was developed by Ben Rawlins, director of Milne Library, and Bill Jones ’09, '11, digital resources and systems librarian. The awards committee applauded the team’s “dedication to openness, access, high quality and innovation shown by your work and vision.” The award will be presented during the Open Education Global Conference in Milan, Italy in November.

July 2019

• Jonette Lancos, professor of dance studies, and Geneseo alumna Ambre Emory-Maier ’86 presented “A 1952 Labanotation Score Enlivens Historical Modern Dance” at the 31st Biennial International Council of Kinetography Laban/Labanotation Conference hosted at Escuela Nacional de Danza Clásica y Contemporánea in Mexico City in July. The presentation delineated the usage of a 1952 Labanotation score to Nona Schurman’s Songs from the Hebrides, one of the first modern dance scores copyrighted by the Library of Congress. (Schurman taught at SUNY Geneseo from 1973 to 1979.)
   
• Pouya Seifzadeh, assistant professor of strategy, wrote an article on mergers and acquisitions for the Rochester Business Journal. (The article is available via subscription.) An accessible version of the article was published by LegalNews.com.

June 2019

• Suann Yang, assistant professor of biology, has been selected as a QUBES mentor. The QUBES Project is an NSF-supported community that connects faculty from across the globe who collaborate on finding better approaches and teaching materials that can be implemented in the classroom. Yang developed and led participants in a semester-long Faculty Mentoring Network in Spring 2019.

• Professor of English Paul Schacht has been awarded a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant award of $35,200. Schacht’s innovative project, A Laboratory-Based Introduction to Digital Scholarly Editing, will create modularized open online educational resources that leverage Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and introduce faculty and students to digital editing. The grant will also support the digitization of the Walden manuscript, which will make it possible to view the manuscript in its entirety online. Schacht and Geneseo will also host a 1.5-day regional symposium on Digital Scholarly Editing in the Undergraduate Classroom for 75 people.

• William Anyan, Ph.D., a research fellow at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana, will be a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at SUNY Geneseo for the 2019-20 academic year. Anyan has collaborated with Geneseo’s Susan Bandoni Muench, professor of biology for several years. Their research focuses on schistosomiasis, a tropical disease caused by flatworm parasites. Anyan is expected to teach a course on parasitology, a seminar course, and give two talks during his fellowship, as well as visit local schools, work with student groups, and engage with the campus and broader community in other ways.

• SUNY Conversations in the Disciplines (CID) program has awarded a $1,621.56 grant to Paul Schacht, professor of English, for Sustaining Digital Projects, Sustaining Careers, a one-day digital humanities workshop for SUNY researchers, teachers, and librarians from a broad range of disciplines. Approximately fifty participants are expected to attend the workshop, which is slated for the Fall 2019 semester.

• Alla Myzelev, assistant professor of art history, contributed the chapter "Fashion and a DIY culture of textiles during the Art Deco Period," to The Routledge Companion to Art Deco, part of the Routledge Art History and Visual Studies Companions series.

May 2019

• Brian Bennett, graphic designer, and trademark and licensing officer in College Communications and Marketing, earned a 2019 Pinnacle Award from the American Marketing Association's Rochester chapter in the "Logo Design" category for his work on the College’s new enhanced logo. 

• Professor of English Paul Schacht has been awarded a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant of $35,200 for “A Laboratory-Based Introduction to Digital Scholarly Editing.” The project will create modularized open educational resources that leverage Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and introduce researchers and students to digital editing. Collaborators on the project include faculty members from University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego, UC Santa Barbara, University of Pittsburg, and the University of Wisconsin; and the Director of Thoreau Institute of the Walden Woods Project Library. As part of the project, SUNY Geneseo will host a regional symposium on "Digital Scholarly Editing in the Undergraduate Classroom."

• Lytton Smith’s translation of Ófeigur Sigurðsson's novel Öraefi: The Wasteland (Deep Vellum, 2018), is a finalist for the 2019 Best Translated Books Award in fiction. The award, founded by Three Percent at the University of Rochester, comes with $10,000 in prizes from the Amazon Literary Partnership. Smith is an associate professor of English and creative writing.

• Ryan Jones, assistant professor of history, was awarded a Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Diversity and Inclusion Leave Program Award from United University Professions (UUP). Jones will use the award to complete his book, Erotic Revolutions: Male Homosexuality, Nation, and Modernity in 20th-Century Mexico.

• The College's Communications and Marketing team earned two 2019 SUNYCUAD Awards for Excellence. Videographer Mat Johnson’s “A Force of Nature” video won a “SHOW-Judge’s Citation,” in the "Excellence in Marketing and Communications on a Budget – Video" class. Brian Bennett, graphic designer, and trademark and licensing officer, earned a “Win-Best of Category” in the "Excellence in Print and Design-Logo Design" class for the College’s new enhanced logo. Awards will be presented at the group’s annual conference in June in Saratoga, NY.

April 2019

• Amanda Roth, assistant professor of philosophy and women’s studies, was recently featured on an episode of WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson discussing why STEM needs the arts and humanities. Roth also presented at a Monroe Community College’s Institute for the Humanities panel, “Why STEM Needs the Arts and Humanities.” Roth’s talk and the entire event can be viewed on the Institute’s YouTube channel.

• Justin Behrend, associate professor and chair of the Department of History, presented a paper, "The Shadow of Slavery: Rethinking Grassroots Political Mobilization," at The Greater Reconstruction: American Democracy after the Civil War conference. The conference was held April 19–20 at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

• Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has awarded a $45,091.34 Recordings at Risk grant for a one-year project, “Square Dance Tradition: Digitizing the Recordings of James W. Kimball Collection.” The project is under the direction of the Department of Music’s ethnomusicologist and Lecturer James Kimball, who has documented master traditional musicians of New York State specializing in the Eastern square dance tradition for the past 40 years. The award will provide support to digitize approximately 500 videos in various formats and prepare them for open access through the Milne Library system. Recordings fall into two categories: interviews of individuals or small groups and recordings of public performance or event, which include unique interviews and community performances of notable fiddlers, square dance callers, dance musicians and community members whose knowledge bridges 19th-century repertory to the contemporary practice of tradition.
   

• Alexis Clifton, the director of Open Educational Resources (OER) at SUNY Geneseo, was elected to the Open Education Consortium Board of Directors (OEC) to serve a one-year term. OEC is a non-profit, global, members-based network that works to find, reuse, create and share Open Educational Resources, develop open policy, create sustainable open education models, and enable international collaboration and innovation. Their aim is to bring high quality, inclusive education to all learners around the world.
   
• The University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has awarded $496K for 2018-19 support for Geneseo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy's ongoing collaborative research project, "Nuclear and Plasma Diagnostics for the EP-OMEGA and MTW Laser Systems." The award is for the first year of a new 5-year project cycle. The project is under the direction of PI Stephen Padalino, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physics. Project co-PIs from Geneseo include Charlie Freeman, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physics, director of the Nuclear Physics Lab and chair of the department; Kurt Fletcher, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physics, Associate Professor Ed Pogozelski, and Professor James McLean. Funds will support faculty summer effort, year-round support for approximately 20 students, conference travel, supplies, and equipment.
   
• Kodjo Adabra, associate professor of Francophone studies and chair of the Department of Languages & Literatures mentored and accompanied two French majors to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), which was hosted by Kennesaw State University in Georgia earlier this month. Emily Young ’19, from Seneca Falls, N.Y., presented her paper, “State of Desertification and Reforestation in the Western African Region: The Great Green Wall Implications.” Emily Cecala ’19, from Hamburg, N.Y., presented “Re-visiting and Re-assessing Evolution and Language in Senegalese Educational System.”
   
• Michael George, director of graduate admissions, was recently selected to be a part of SUNY’s System-wide TeachNY Recruitment and Marketing Working Group. The group will look at the marketing and recruitment of future teacher candidates. This is a response to address the shortfall of teachers in NYS. 
   
• Five out of six student teams from SUNY Geneseo’s VentureWorks program will advance to the New York State Business Plan Competition (NYBPC) finals that take place later this month in Albany. Judith Albers, who holds the Charles L. “Bud” VanArsdale Endowed Chair for Entrepreneurship, is the advisor to the VentureWorks program.
   
• Yusuf Bilgiç, assistant professor of mathematics, and Kirk Anne, assistant director and manager for Systems & Networking, were consultants and judges at this year’s American Statistical Association’s (ASA) DataFest. The three-day DataFest, which was held at Rochester Institute of Technology, included a team of five Geneseo undergraduate students who placed second in Best in Show/Insights category.
   

• Justin Behrend, associate professor and chair of the Department of History, gave a talk on April 3, “The Shadow of Slavery: Black Women and Political Mobilization during Reconstruction,” as part of the Historical Horizons Lectures sponsored by the Genesee Community College History Club. Behrend is also the author of Reconstructing Democracy: Grassroots Black Politics in the Deep South after the Civil War (University of Georgia Press, 2015.)

March 2019

• The Department of History hosted it's Sixth Annual Teachers' Day, on March 15. At Teachers’ Day, history faculty lead workshops on topics to provide an overview of recent scholarship and suggest classroom discussion topics for area teachers. Workshops in World History were offered by Ling Ma and Jovana Bobović, and American history workshops were hosted by Justin Behrend and Michael Oberg. Devin Lander, the New York State Historian, presented the keynote address.
   
• Justin Behrend, associate professor and chair of the Department of History, gave a talk this month, "The Role of Black Women in Reconstruction-Era Political Campaigns," for the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House's Monday Lecture series. 
   
• Members of the Admissions team participated in a New York State Association for College Admission Counseling (NYSACAC) Professional Development Forum hosted at the University of Rochester. Kim Harvey, interim VP for Enrollment Management was a panelist. Christie Smith, associate director, was the moderator, and Rachel Pasternak, admissions counselor, was a volunteer and participant. 
   
• An article by assistant professor of English Sam Fallon, "The Rise of the Pedantic Professor," was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
   
• Ben Rawlins, director of Milne Library, and Bill Jones ’09, '11, digital resources and systems librarian at SUNY Geneseo, received the 2019 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) College Libraries Section (CLS) Innovation in College Librarianship Award for their development of the OER search tool, OASIS. This annual award honors ALA members who have demonstrated a capacity for innovation in their work with undergraduates, instructors, and/or the library community. Read more about the ACRL award.

February 2019

• Geneseo Director of Sustainability Dan DeZarn and sustainability interns Clara Gallagher '20 and Anthony Cooper '20 showcased sustainability efforts at the College at SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson's 2019 State of the University System Address in Albany on Jan. 31. Johnson highlighted Geneseo's student-led composting effort in the 2018 Year in Review, which was distributed at the Albany event. The composting program was among sustainability-related initiatives highlighted by the chancellor. The College program collects more than 1,000 pounds of compostable material from offices and residence halls each month.

January 2019

• Randy Barbara Kaplan, professor of theatre and dance, gave a presentation on “American Dreams Unseen, Unheard: The Struggles of America’s Earliest Asian American Actors” at the 17th Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities in Honolulu. The paper describes the efforts of Asian actors marginalized because of their ethnicity (1887–1942), including Ah Wung Sing, Sachiro Oida, Tsunetaro Tamamoto, and Peter Chong Goo. Kaplan also served as chair for the session.
   
• University Police Inspector Scott Ewanow was selected to attend the FBI National Academy Associates ten-week training program. Less than 1 percent of police executives in the United States are afforded the opportunity to attend the academy. The training has an academic component accredited through the University of Virginia and Ewanow is slated to take graduate-level courses in the latest law enforcement strategies.  Typically, approximately 250 participants represent all 50 states and approximately two dozen countries.

December 2018

• Don Kot, lecturer in the Department of Music also serves as the resident music director at Rochester’s Geva Theatre Center. This year Kot has been joined by SUNY Geneseo musical theatre students Katelyn Brooks ‘19 and Brett Hammes ’20 who performed in the season opener Hair, and currently, Hammes, Erin Burris ’19, Erica Milliman ’19, Sydney Lyons ‘20, and Patrick Jones ’20 are performing in A Christmas Carol.

• Jennifer Katz, professor of psychology, was issued a three-year sub-award of $11,554 from the University at Buffalo for a collaboration with Jennifer Read, professor and director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology at UB, on a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism planning grant award for the study, “Harnessing the Power of Friends to Reduce Sexual Assault Risk.” The objective of the study is to develop an innovative, friend-based motivational intervention (FMI) that encourages and prepares friends to reduce sexual assault risk. The FMI also will focus on how intoxication may serve as a barrier to friend intervention. Katz has researched interpersonal violence for more than 20 years. 

• The North American Society for Serbian Studies awarded assistant professor of history Jovana Babović the Mihajlo Miša Djordjević Book Prize for her book, Metropolitan Belgrade: Culture and Class in Interwar Yugoslavia.
   
• Professor of English Maria Lima and Lytton Smith, associate professor of English and director of the Center of Integrative Learning, have been awarded a Modern Language Association (MLA) Innovation Course Development grant of $3,000. The grant will allow the professors to develop “HUMN 222: Black Humanities,” a new general education course for undergraduates.
  The black studies faculty at Geneseo includes members from anthropology, biology, dance studies, education, English, film studies, French, geography, history, and Spanish. The grant will bring a guest lecturer to Geneseo and allow faculty to collaborate to devise a varied menu of core texts for the course with additions of their own to reflect disciplinary expertise, and attend an ESRI StoryMaps — a digital visual narrative — workshop and a faculty development workshop. The first section of HUMN 222 is slated for Fall 2019.

• Nicholas Warner, assistant professor of geological sciences, has been issued a sub-award from Stony Brook University for collaborative research on a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center grant award to Stony Brook's Andrea (Deanne) Rogers, Associate Professor of Geosciences. The title of the project is Origins, Preservation and Exposure Histories of Rock Units in Noachian Plains. Rogers' award is for three years. Warner's award for the first year of the project is $24,265, with an expected three-year total of $74,700. Warner will be responsible for performing Martian crater statistics and he will also assist with mapping efforts and geomorphological analyses.

• Tara Pepis, director of Field Experiences, and Thea Yurkewecz, assistant professor of reading and literacy, of the Ella Cline Shear School of Education have been awarded a TeachNY Implementation Fund grant of $49,850 in support of their project, "Testing the Efficacy of Using Virtual Reality (VR) Simulations to Prepare Pre-service Teachers for Diverse School Communities."
  This one-year award will support the development and testing of virtual reality classroom applications which depicts student avatars enacting various teaching/learning scenarios and student misbehavior situations.  The project builds on our existing relationship with Rochester City School District School #19 through our School Improvement Grant sub-award.  Educators from School #19 will collaborate on the construction of the virtual experiences based on their practices with students in diverse schools and will also participate in professional development at Geneseo. 

November 2018

• Kurt Cylke, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, and clock repair expert, Michael Kuyt, gave a talk at the Livingston County Historical Society Museum on Nov. 11 about the history of the Geneseo Village clock tower. Cylke also serves as the Association for the Preservation of Geneseo’s “Save The Wall" committee chair.

• Melanie Medeiros, assistant professor of anthropology, and Karleen West, associate professor of political science, facilitated a discussion on Nov. 7 about Cuba's future and its political leadership transition from the Castro era. The event was held at Downtown United Presbyterian Church and was sponsored by the Rochester Committee on Latin America.

• As part of Syracuse University’s Native Heritage Month Celebration, Michael Leroy Oberg, Distinguished Professor of History, was invited to give a talk on the Treaty of Canandaigua on Nov. 5. Oberg also talked about the significance of the treaty on U.S. and Indigenous relations earlier in the day at Onondaga Community College.

• Annmarie Urso, associate professor in the Ella Cline Shear School of Education, is chairing a research and practice strand, Education of Native American Students with Exceptionalities, at the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children's Annual Conference November 6–9, in Las Vegas. She will lead a panel discussion, "Preparing Native and Non-Native American teachers to work with Native American students on and off the Reservation: Lessons learned and considerations for effective teacher preparation and professional development" based on her work with Native American Reservation schools in Arizona, Nevada, and California.

October 2018

• Robert Goeckel, professor of political science and international relations, was invited to present at the Institute of National Remembrance’s International Scientific Conference, “The Pope From Behind the Iron Curtain: The influence of the pontificate of John Paul II on the countries and churches of the Soviet bloc,” Oct. 9–12, in Cracow, Poland and Budapest, Hungary. Goeckel presented, “The situation of Christian Churches in the GDR from the beginning of the regime to the election of John Paul II.”

• Milne Library’s Tracy Paradis, research instruction librarian, and Michelle Costello, education and community engagement librarian, were recently awarded a $3,700 Harold Hacker grant that will fund the growing collaborative relationship between the library staff of SUNY Geneseo and Wadsworth Public Library by supporting their work to grow a maker community in the region.

  The project goal is to bring a major maker event and maker programming to the region. Library staff members proposed to create maker kits around three domains: physical, cognitive and performative. Along with staff and volunteers from the libraries, teacher candidates from SUNY Geneseo will serve as instructors and facilitators, giving them valuable experience working with STEM activities.

• Interim Senior Associate to the President Wendi Kinney has been elected to serve as 2019-20 president of the board of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors beginning at the organization’s annual meeting in November. In 2017, Kinney was elected to serve on the board of directors for a two-year term, and in 2015, she earned the Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award from AFA.

• On Saturday, Oct. 27, Eleven of SUNY Geneseo’s Voice Performance and Musical Theatre majors participated in the Central New York/Finger Lakes NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Annual Voice Auditions and Competition in Ithaca, N.Y.  Colleges that were represented included, Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Fredonia, Nazareth College, Buffalo State University, Syracuse University, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Oswego and others. 

  Geneseo students who competed were: Katelyn Brooks ‘19 (Musical Theatre), who won First Place Upper Division Musical Theatre (student of Adjunct Lecturer Joan Floriano). Rocky Nardone ’21 (Musical Theatre, who won First Place Lower Division Musical Theatre (student of Adjunct Lecturer Joan Floriano). Kelsey Roberts’21 (Musical Theatre) who tied for Third Place Musical Theatre Lower Division (student of Associate Professor Pamela Kurau). Kathryn Berton ‘21 (Musical Theatre), Erin Burris ’19 (Musical Theatre), Maria Floriano ’19 (Voice Performance), Brett Hammes ‘20 (Musical Theatre), Sydney Lyons ‘21 (Musical Theatre), Mariah McCarron ,20 (Voice Performance), Brian Sousis ‘19 (Musical Theatre), and Emily Vanderbilt ’21 (Voice Performance).

• On Oct. 10, Michelle Costello, Milne Library’s education and community engagement librarian, attended the Pioneer Library System’s annual meeting in Avon, N.Y. to receive their Outstanding Collaboration Award for the College’s ongoing work with Wadsworth Library in the Village of Geneseo. Costello was instrumental in coordinating much of the outreach work between the libraries. For example, through Costello’s efforts, School of Education students visit the Village’s public library to learn about their children’s services, collections and programming. She also helped to coordinate a series of computer coding classes for youngsters at Wadsworth Library with the help of Kirk Anne, Geneseo’s assistant director and manager for systems and networking.

• Nick Warner, assistant professor of geological sciences, was awarded a four-year, $293,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a Participating Scientist (the equivalent of PI) and the geology theme group lead of the NASA Mars InSight mission team with both operational and data analyses responsibilities. Warner’s mission research will help us understand the formation and evolution of Mars and all rocky planets, including Earth. The grant also pays travel support for Warner and his students to take part in the landing and to assist with instrument deployment operations of the spacecraft at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California this November. More information in The Proposal newsletter.

September 2018

• Dan DeZarn, director of sustainability, Kris Dreessen, manager of editorial services, and geography major Elijah Freiman '20, will present a workshop at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education national conference in Pittsburgh, Penn., Oct. 2-5, titled "Mapping our Participation in the United Nations Global Compact: Storytelling and Sustainability," which focuses on the interactive map created about sustainability, and the College's worldwide efforts. DeZarn will also co-present a workshop with SUNY sustainability directors from the University at Buffalo and University at Albany on "Leveraging the SDG’s to Build a System-Wide Higher Education Sustainability Strategy."

• Indiana University Press recently published Soviet Religious Policy in Estonia and Latvia: Playing Harmony in the Singing Revolution, by Robert Goeckel, professor of political science and international relations. Soviet Religious Policy in Estonia and Latvia examines the effect Western religious culture had on Soviet religious policy in the Baltic states. Goeckel’s book is based on a deep and thorough review of Soviet archives in Moscow and the Baltics—some of which is no longer available to scholars.

• Assistant Professor Aaron Herold, Department of Political Science and International Relations, will be giving the annual Constitution Day Lecture at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) this month. Herold’s talk, “Religion and American Constitutionalism: From Tocqueville to Masterpiece Cakeshop," takes place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20 in RIT’s Center for Campus Life, Bamboo Room 2610. The talk is free and open to the public. The Center for Campus Life is near the Ritter Ice Rink on RIT’s campus.

July 2018

• Professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry Kazushige Yokoyama has been awarded an $18,500 Jean  Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate Institutions for 2018 from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The lectureship award provides for a leading researcher in the chemical sciences to give two lectures at Geneseo in March 2019. Stephen Leone, a professor of chemistry at the University of California Berkeley, has been selected to give talks on “Physical Chemistry, Chemical Dynamics and Nanostructured Materials.” He will deliver a specialized talk to students and area faculty in the sciences, followed by a lecture geared for a broader audience.

• Associate Professor of Mathematics Chi-Ming Tang gave a lecture at the Beijing Geological Science University about "Actuary Science" on July 3.

• Jasmine Tang, Adjunct Lecturer of Chinese, was the President of the 11th International Hanzi Calligraphy Education Conference at Beijing Normal University from July 7-8.

June 2018

• Mark Broomfield, assistant professor of dance studies and associate director of the Geneseo Dance Ensemble, had an article, “Danced Out: When Passing for Almost Straight Is Not Enough,” published in the June issue (Vol 9) of The International Journal of Screendance.
   

• Jasmine Tang, Adjunct Lecturer of Chinese, gave a lecture on "American Education & Culture" to 4th-grade students at the Beijing Shiyou Primary School on June 15.
   
• Three members of SUNY Geneseo’s CIT team shared the limelight at the 25th annual SUNY Technology Conference held in Lake Placid, NY, in June.  Paul Jackson, assistant director and manager, Information Systems, received the SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers Individual Collaboration Award. The award recognizes an individual whose work efforts over the past calendar year exemplify SUNY’s desire to build, support, and enrich the SUNY Information Technology community by promoting collaboration. 

  Submissions were judged on the breadth and extent of the collaboration; impact in terms of the benefits achieved or planned, and impact to SUNY higher education institutions and/or their individual campus. Jackson, who joined the College in 2006, was honored for his demonstrated passion for SUNY’s collaboration value on the Geneseo campus and throughout the SUNY CCIO community.

  In addition, Laurie Fox, assistant director and manager for educational technology, and Sue Chichester, CIO and director of the CIT Department, presented at the conference. Fox discussed Geneseo’s plan to manage classroom sizes, collaborate with faculty to recommend classroom improvements and transform the academic scheduling process. Chichester joined SUNY CIOs on two panels — one focusing on women CIO leadership perspectives and the other, sharing how IT makes an impact on campus (using the Pecha Kucha model of presentation).

  The Computing Officers Association, the Telecommunications Officers Association, and the Educational Technology Officers Association of SUNY convene this annual conference.

May 2018

• In April, 15 Geneseo biology students presented research ranging from animal behavior to invasive plant species at the Northeast Natural History Conference in Burlington, VT. The annual conference brings together researchers at universities and state agencies, natural resource managers, educators, and naturalists to share their work on the natural history sciences of the region. The students presented their original research projects on topics in 12 separate poster presentations. The research was done in and around Geneseo, including Roemer Arboretum and Letchworth State Park. Assistant Professor Suann Yang, and Associate Professors Jenny Apple and Kristi Hannam mentored and accompanied the students to the conference. 

  Students presenters: Aaron Kluball ’18, biology, environmental studies minor | Allison Jones ’19, biology, environmental studies and geography minors | Emily Martin ’18, biology, environmental studies minor | Jason Lang ’18, biology, biomathematics minor; Kevin Zablonski ’18, biology | Sam Heraghty ’18, biology, geography double major | Courtney King ’18, biology, environmental studies minor | Jennifer Rowan ’18, biology, Spanish minor | Kayla Schum, ’19, biology | Leeann Bruetsch ’19, biology, theatre double major | Emelyn Bell ’20, biology | Lauren Ellis, ’20, biology | Racheal Devine ’20, biology | Simran Singh ’19, biology | Tulpen Hansen-Schwoebel ’19, geography, environmental studies and biology double minor.  

• In April, seven Geneseo history students presented papers at the “Writing Rights, Righting Wrongs: Transatlantic Narratives of Race” undergraduate research conference at Huron University College in London, Ontario, Canada.
  Catherine Adams, associate professor of history and Justin Behrend, associate professor of history and chair of Geneseo’s history department also attended the event. In addition to Geneseo and Huron students, undergrads from Bath Spa University and Oberlin College also participated in the conference.

Geneseo students who participated are:

• Krista Borst ’19, history major, museum studies minor
• Michele-lane Detouche ’21, history and black studies double major
• Theresa Gibbons ‘18, history and communications double major
• James Hamilton ‘19, history and business double major
• Erin Herbst ‘18, English major,  history minor
• Alisa Mentor ’18, communication major
• Natalia Rodriguez ‘19, history and communications double major

• Lenny Sancilio, dean of students and president of the Board of Directors for HazingPrevention.Org, a nationally leading hazing prevention organization, gave an invited address to the SUNY Board of Trustees and SUNY Chancellor on behalf of the SUNY Student Life Committee in May. Part of several presentations on campus safety, Sancilio presented on hazing and bullying on college campuses, covering the national landscape, regionally within the State of New York, and locally putting it in a SUNY context providing remarks of “best practice” guidance and support for our campuses.
   
• Jun Okada, associate professor of English, earned a Fulbright award for the spring 2019 semester to teach and conduct research over three months at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, in Lisbon, Portugal. Okada will teach a course on American contemporary cinema that provides "a strong historical framework and cultural context to a selection of films that epitomize American values, countercultures, and controversies." She will also conduct archival research in the Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema in Lisbon on the history of the exhibition of American films, their censorship, and their reception by the Portuguese public during various periods of cinema’s history since the 1890s.
   
• Professor of English Rachel Hall recently won the third annual Phillip H. McMath Post Publication Book Award from the Arkansas Writer’s MFA Workshop for her linked story collection Heirlooms. The award was founded in 2016 to honor central Arkansas author and literary champion Phillip H. Math, who is also the final judge.

April 2018

• Noah Chichester, a senior history and vocal performance double major, received an honorable mention for his essay on the public liberal arts experience in competition for the Council on Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) David J. Prior Award.
• Seven Geneseo alumni are at the National Institutes for Health working on research post-baccalaureate programs. Several will enter a graduate school or a job this fall. They are: Gordon Wong '16 (biochemistry); Danny Connors '16 (biochemistry); Joe Chapman '16 (chemistry); Hannah Loo '17 (biology); Nikki Winchester '17 (biology); Alexis Kidder '17 (biology); and Mike Custance '16 (biochemistry).
   
• Keith Walters '11, director of multimedia, is participating in the 2018 Ulman Cancer Fund's Key to Keys bike ride, cycling from Key Highway in Baltimore to Key West. During the eight-day trip, the group will volunteer at various locations on behalf of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. Walters raised $6,100, which will directly benefit UCF's support programs and services, such as the UCF House, which provides free housing to young adults undergoing treatment, support groups and scholarships. 

March 2018

Assistant professor of history, Ryan M. Jones, is a co-editor of a new collection of essays published by the University of California Press, A Global History of Sexual Science, 1880-1960. The text is the first anthology to provide a worldwide perspective on the birth and development of the field. The book’s contributing scholars contend that actors outside of Europe—in Asia, Latin America, and Africa—became important voices in debates on prostitution, birth control, and transvestism. Ryan will teach a history course, Histories of Global Sexual Science, based on the book in Fall 2018.

February 2018

Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physics Stephen Padalino, in collaboration with 12 research colleagues from various institutions, authored a paper published Feb. 20 in Physical Review C, a leading journal in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. Specifically, Padalino worked with colleagues from Houghton College, Ohio University, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to share their findings of an important nuclear reaction cross section that is of great interest for experiments in Inertial Confinement Fusion. Most of the work for this experiment was carried out by Dr. Mark Yuly, Dean of Science at Houghton College, Padalino, and their students from SUNY Geneseo and Houghton Colleges during a decade-long effort. The experimental teams traveled to the accelerator lab at Ohio University five separate times during a two-year period where they performed around-the-clock, week-long accelerator-based experiments. During this time, other collaborators and a Geneseo student worked at the NIST to make precision radioactive sources for calibrating Padalino’s neutron detectors. The exhaustive study yielded exceptional data that now sets the standard for the 12C(n,2n)11C nuclear reaction cross section.

SUNY Geneseo's Undergraduate Alumni Association (UAA) received an Outstanding Organization Award for District 2 from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Affiliated Student Advancement Programs.

January 2018

Tom Matthews, associate dean for leadership and service, received a special commendation for his work to establish and promote the Rochester Youth Year (RYY) during the organization’s recent 10th-anniversary luncheon. Rochester Youth Year is an AmeriCorps VISTA-sponsored social justice fellowship that strives to eradicate poverty for Rochester youth and families, strengthen communities, and promote community-centered leadership. Geneseo has partnered with RYY since its inception in 2007. 
Geneseo graduates are known for their commitment to service, and RYY has given many of our graduates the opportunity to provide valuable service for underserved areas of Rochester. Geneseo graduates have received 18 Rochester Youth Year fellowships since the program began including Elizabeth Van Son ’16, who is currently working in the Rochester City School District Central Office supporting the Arts Integration Program through community outreach. Christina Mortellaro ’15, who served an RYY fellowship last year, remained with RYY as an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader.

Members of the SUNY Geneseo culinary team earned a Silver Medal at an American Culinary Federation sanctioned Culinary Competition in January. Executive Chef Ilana Cahill, Assistant Executive Chef Wilson Castillo, Banquet Chef Chris Zambito, and Assistant Dining Manager Matt Vickers competed as a team in the Market Basket Competition at Skidmore College. Eleven different colleges and universities from three different states competed, including a mix of private and public institutions. Teams were given identical baskets containing the same ingredients and were given one hour to write a four-course meal using all of the ingredients in the basket, and a total of three hours to complete all of their dishes.

SUNY Geneseo received a "Merit" award for its device-responsive website design in the 5th Annual Education Digital Marketing Awards. The website was redesigned in-house through a collaborative effort between the Office of Communications and Marketing and the Office of Computing and Information Technology.

November 2017

Congratulations to Geneseo alumni whose companies made the 2017 Rochester Chamber Top 100. The list represents the fastest-growing, privately-owned businesses in the region. The alumni hold key leadership positions in their companies and include Michaela Gascon ’06, chief operating officer for KJT Group, Inc. (rank 37); Charles G. Herendeen ’95, managing director, financial advisor for Novem Group (rank 60); and Douglas Golub ’02, president of MediSked, LLC. (rank 70). The companies have demonstrated an ability to grow their businesses and are honored as role models for success.

Annmarie Urso, associate professor in the Ella Cline Shear School of Education, has been elected as the President-Elect of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities.  She is a fellow of the academy and has served as it’s publication chair. The academy represents researchers in the field of learning disabilities in 30 countries.

Sue Chichester, chief information officer and director of Computing & Information Technology, served as a mentor for the Hawkins Leadership Roundtable at the Educause Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Penn., in November. The Hawkins Leadership Roundtable is a small-cohort mentoring program for new CIOs and individuals actively seeking a CIO role.

Director of Sustainability Dan DeZarn, Manager of Editorial Services Kris Dreessen and geography major Miles Druce '17 will present a session titled "Mapping Our Participation in the United Nations Global Compact" at the New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education annual conference at SUNY Cortland, Nov. 15 and 16. 

October 2017

The work team includes members from the region’s institutions of higher education and hospitals and represents the largest employment sector in the Finger Lakes region. The Regional Economic Development Council initiative (REDC) is a key component of Governor Andrew Cuomo's approach to state investment and economic development. In 2011, Cuomo established 10 regional councils, including FLREDC, to develop long-term strategic plans for economic growth for their regions. 

The councils are public-private partnerships made up of local experts and stakeholders from business, academia, local government and non-governmental organizations. The regional councils have redefined the way New York invests in jobs and economic growth by putting in place a community-based approach and establishing a competitive process for state resources. Visit the Regional Council website for more information.

Campus Living Area Coordinator Taylor Gale addressed, “Working with Parents: Challenging the Term ‘Helicopter Parent,’”  at the New York State College Student Personnel Association’s annual conference in Corning, N.Y. She made the same presentation in August at the Rochester Area Housing Professionals Conference at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

SUNY Geneseo was well represented at the College Student Personnel Association of New York State (CSPA) annual conference held Oct. 15-17 in Corning, N.Y. Chip Matthews,  director of student life, delivered a presentation, “Purpose and Intention,” at the conference’s mid-level managers pre-conference on Oct. 14.

Robert Bonfiglio, vice president for student and campus life, also led a session, “Essential Competencies in Student Affairs: Beyond a Standardized Approach.” Bonfiglio also delivered the keynote address at CSPA’s graduate and next-generation pre-conference.

Emilye Crosby, professor of history and coordinator of Black Studies, was part of a panel discussion on the legacies of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Held Oct. 16 at the Geva Theatre Center, the event  brought Crosby together with faculty from the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester for, “Agitation and Social Change: Examining the Legacies of Anthony and Douglass.” Comments from the audience indicated that the discussion was very well received: “kudos to all on the panelists for incisive and insightful commentary,” “this reminds me why the humanities are so important” and “impressed by the level of discourse” were just a few of the comments shared with panel organizers.

Dan DeZarn, director of sustainability, and Kris Dreessen, manager of editorial services, will represent SUNY Geneseo at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education national conference in San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 15-17. DeZarn will be part of a panel discussion on "Sustainability and the Arts," focusing on collaborative sustainability and arts projects at Geneseo and the other panel members' respective institutions, and then hold a discussion. DeZarn and Dreessen are both members of Geneseo's President's Commission on Sustainability.

September 2017

SUNY Geneseo’s program, “The Geneseo–Letchworth Experience” received a recent accolade. The program is a three-day academic and social program designed to help incoming students transition to life and learning at Geneseo and is based in Letchworth State Park. The college program earned an honorable mention from the State University of New York Chief Student Affairs Officers and the Office of University Life in its Housing, Residence Life, Contracted Services, Judicial, and related category for the Outstanding Students Affairs Program Awards for 2017. The officers said the program “clearly made a very positive impact on students and their development and has improved the living/learning community on your campus.”

Wendi Kinney, associate dean of students of fraternal life and off-campus services, has been elected to serve a two-year term on the board of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors beginning at the organization’s annual meeting in November. In 2015, she earned the Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award from AFA.

Sue Chichester, chief information officer and director of Computing & Information Technology, is a recipient, along with two colleagues from other institutions, of the SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers (CCIO) Team Collaboration Award for the implementation of SUNY Breach Insurance Program. The SUNY Breach Insurance program provides SUNY colleges with a cost-effective and easy to procure process for acquiring breach insurance for an individual campus. It took about a year from idea to realization. Through their efforts and stewardship and close collaboration with colleagues, data breach insurance, once unattainable due to cost, is now within reach to many SUNY campuses at a reasonable price point. The Team Collaboration Award recognizes individuals, groups or institutions whose work exemplifies CCIO’s efforts to build and support SUNY’s IT community. The awards were presented at the annual SUNY Technology Conference held last June in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Kimberly Wilcox, an office assistant at the Geneseo Small Business Development Center (SBDC), received the SBDC of New York’s 2017 Above and Beyond Award at the annual spring SBDC training conference. She was recognized for making a difference, exercising understanding, patience, and professionalism, while enthusiastically supporting colleagues, interns and clients. In addition, Kim was noted to take the additional lead in administering the 2017 Adopt-A-Business program, hosted by the SUNY Geneseo SBDC office. She was also recognized for her commitment to the Geneseo campus and business community and exhibiting excellence with a smile, every day.

K. Johnson Bowles, vice president for college advancement, who was appointed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to serve on the Library of Virginia board of trustees in 2016, has been named the chair of the Education, Outreach and Research Services committee. The Library of Virginia's collections includes some of the foremost primary source documents related the founding of the United States, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Segregation, Massive Resistance, the Civil Rights movement, and immigration. Bowles spent the majority of her career as a university museum professional prior to her work in higher education administration.

Tom Matthews, associate dean for leadership and service, presented two sessions during the summer at the 2017 Civic Learning and Engagement Meeting, hosted by American Democracy Project — an initiative of AASCU, The Democracy Commitment and NASPA Two Models for Building a successful Day of Service Program, Learning through Dialog not Debate.

He was also honored last May at the 37th annual Seniorama, an event that celebrates those who have given a lifetime of community service and good citizenship. The event is presented by the Livingston County Office for the Aging. Matthews, and his wife, Elizabeth, were chosen as honorees who have donated hundreds of hours of service and are backbones of their community and communities in Livingston County.

Kimberly Harvey, director of admissions at Geneseo, will be serving a 3-year term on the School-College-CBO Relations Committee with New York State Association for College Admission Counseling (NYSACAC.) The committee facilitates the relationship and dialogue between secondary school and college admission professionals, encouraging participation in professional development activities sponsored by NYSACAC.

Laurie Fox, assistant director and manager for educational technology, was recently elected chair of the executive committee for the Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS), a community of IT professionals who help higher education institutions leverage current technology to foster discovery and learning.

Michelle Costello, education and instructional design librarian and Brandon West, head of instructional services and reference and instruction librarian, recently had their book "Creative Instructional Design: Practical Applications for Librarians" published by ACRL. The cover for the book was designed by Allison Brown, digital publishing services manager.

SUNY Geneseo’s Communication and Marketing staff were recognized with a number of marketing and communication awards over the summer. Keith Walters '11 earned first place in the University Photography Association of America's (UPAA) Multimedia Competition for his video of the Department of Geological Sciences' trip to New Zealand that was produced for the 2017 President's Gala. Also, the Rochester chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) recognized Brian Bennett with a 1st place Pinnacle Award in the Small-budget Campaign: Not-for-profit category for his creative leadership of the Knight Time Rewards Program promotional campaign. AMA Rochester also awarded Geneseo with an honorable mention in the Collateral category for the college’s annual report, "In the Spirit of Sankofa."

May 2017

• A joint paper between the research groups of David Geiger, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Chemistry, and Cristina Geiger, Chemistry Department Lecturer, was recently published and featured on the cover of "Acta Crystallographica Section C: Structural Chemistry." The work involved the characterization of a novel compound that exhibits gelation properties. The journal publishes exciting science with structural content, especially important results relating to the chemical sciences. It's the second time that the group's work has been featured in that manner.
• SUNY Geneseo’s participation in a recent undergraduate communication scholars conference yielded a Top Paper Award, a third-place poster recognition and a Top School Award for the largest number of accepted student research projects (tied with Northeastern University and Penn State Schuylkill).
• Students from Professor Joe Cope’s history class, "World War I and Historical Memory," recently presented their original research relating to WWI to community members at the Livingston County Historical Society. Cope is also the director of the Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Development
• Geneseo staff and projects have won several awards in the  2017 SUNY CUAD Awards for Excellence in several categories, amongst all SUNY schools. Articles are written for The Geneseo Scene by Kris Dreessen, manager of editorial services, and a guest essay written by Bob Bonfiglio, vice president for student and campus life, earned Best of Category for Excellence in Writing. The college also won Best of Category for Student Recruitment Publications: Packages, for the "SUNY Geneseo Recruitment Suite" designed by Trampoline Designs. The suite highlights the Geneseo's academic offerings.  Keith Walters, campus photographer, received a Judge's Citation in the Best Group of Photos by One Photographer category.
• Two alumnae recently won Success Academy Charter Schools Excellence Awards for their work with students. Mahelia Mighty '15 won an ETHOS Excellence Award, which recognizes school staff who best demonstrate the Success community’s values: excellence, teamwork, humor, ownership, and students. AnnaMaria Smeraldi ‘14 won the Teacher Growth Award, which recognizes teachers who have exhibited the most significant progress in achieving classroom-wide excellence since the start of the school year.
• Megan Kennerknecht, a senior financial aid counselor, recently received The Donald Whitlock SUNYFAP Service Award from the SUNY Financial Aid Professionals. The award is for members and non-members who make significant contributions to the organization.

April 2017

• Director of Athletic Communications Tim Volkmann recently won the CoSIDA Bill Esposito Award, for his handling of two separate tragedies that involved Knights student-athletes. Those from Geneseo who nominated him said he was instrumental in handling the initial media inquiries, and worked diligently to honor the two student-athletes with a remembrance event that drew more than 1,000 people, and later tree-planting ceremonies. Read the full SUNYAC athletics story online.
   
• Justin Behrend, associate professor and chair of the history department, has written a chapter for the new book, "Remembering Reconstruction: Struggles over the Meaning of America's Most Turbulent Era," published by LSU Press. Behrend's essay examines the Jim Crow era memoir of John R. Lynch, an African-American congressman during Reconstruction.
   
• Alla Myzelev, assistant professor of art history, has received a fellowship to attend the Japan Studies Institute Program in San Diego this summer. The institute offers faculty members without prior experience in Japanese studies to learn from scholars, business leaders, artists and journalists about Japan, both past and present. Myzelev hopes the experience will help in developing a course on Asian art at Geneseo.

March 2017

• Geneseo Executive Chef Matthew Laurence won a Bronze Medal in a recent American Culinary Federation sanctioned Culinary Challenge with his dish, porchetta chop with braised red cabbage and chestnut polenta. The competition was part of the regional conference for the National Association of College and University Food Service. 
   
• Campus Photographer Keith Walters '11 received a year-long grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to explore and document with photography Letchworth State Park, focusing on the areas that are "beyond the turnouts." He is photographing and sharing the beauty of the park that most visitors never see.

February 2017

• The Undergraduate Alumni Association’s (UAA) Traditions Challenge has brought together thousands of students to promote school spirit, preserve and document college traditions and develop connections between students, alumni and the college. It also recently won an Outstanding Student Advancement Program for its ingenuity and success in the District II Affiliated Student Advancement Programs from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Over the last few years, UAA, with support from the Office of Alumni Relations, developed and refined the Traditions Challenge, which invites students to become knowledgeable about decades-long and new traditions at the college, and note their progress in doing them as they also learn about the Geneseo and in turn, are prepared to be effective and supportive alumni for life. In its current form, students can check off traditions they participate in on a full-color poster, such as watching a sunset in the gazebo or competing in a UAA-hosted broomball tournament. Hundreds of students turn out to a UAA event at the gazebo with a photographer to take photos of the students at sunset, each year. The beauty of the Traditions Challenge is that friends can participate in these same traditions year after year until graduation, and then for years after as Geneseo alumni, says Tracy Gagnier, assistant director of alumni relations.
   
• SUNY Geneseo’s annual report, “In the Spirit of Sankofa,” won a gold award in the 32nd Annual Higher Ed Marketing Educational Advertising competition. Drawing hundreds of entries from around the country, the competition recognizes the field of educational communication and marketing. “In the Spirit of Sankofa” earned top honors in the competition’s annual report category. It also earned a bronze award for cover design. The project was produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing and designed by Tessa Cochetti-Ennis.
   
• A new article by Yvonne Seale, assistant professor of history, was published this month in the open-access online journal, “The Public Domain Review.” “George Washington: A Descendant of Odin?” examines a questionable 19th-century genealogy of the founding father, which reveals more about turn-of-the-century identity than it does about Washington.
   
• Associate Professor of History Justin Behrend was recently interviewed by David Lombardo, a 2009 Geneseo alumnus, for Lombardo's “Poozer Politics” podcast. They discussed Frederick Douglass, the role of political norms and our relationship with the news media.
   
• For the second year, Geneseo has earned the certification of a Tree Campus USA from the Arbor Day Foundation. The certification honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation. To do so, Geneseo met five core standards for campus forest management: a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for the campus tree program, and an Arbor Day student service-learning project.
   
• Geneseo’s new Recruitment Suite and Viewbook, produced with the Office of Admissions and the Trampoline agency, received Gold awards by the Collegiate Advertising Awards in their respective categories. See a full list of winners.

December 2016

• Colleen McNamara, who earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from Geneseo, is in the final round competition for the Buffalo 2016 Educator of the Year Award. Colleen is a 5th Grade Teacher at Alexander Elementary School in Alexander, NY. She was involved in numerous activities on the Geneseo campus and did her student teaching at Pembroke and in Ghana. Read Colleen’s bio and vote here. You must have a Facebook account to vote and may only vote once. Voting is open until Dec. 16.

November 2016

• Vice President for Student and Campus Life Bob Bonfiglio was the featured speaker at the Fall Faculty Development Day program at The Gow School, a college-prep boarding and day school for students, grades 6-12, with dyslexia and similar language-based learning disabilities this past week. The Gow School, located in Erie County, is highly regarded as an innovator and leader in dyslexia education with an impressive college placement rate for its graduates. The topic of his presentation was Working with Today’s College Students.
   
• The Virginia Historical Society announced Geneseo alumnus Jamie Bosket '05 as its next president and CEO. More details can be found on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.
   
• Members of Geneseo’s President's Commission on Sustainability shared a presentation highlighting on-campus efforts at the 9th Annual Campus Sustainability Conference at the University of Rochester on Nov. 16. Dan DeZarn, director of sustainability, and Kris Dreessen, manager of editorial services, were part of the gathering hosted by the University of Rochester and an architecture firm to discuss best practices and discover what other regional campuses are doing to advance sustainability.
   
• Kudos to Jim Clar, associate director of admissions, for his induction into the Section V Boys Soccer Hall of Fame. Clar was a standout at Gates Chili High School and at SUNY Geneseo, earning All-SUNYAC recognition.

• Administrative Director of Student Health and Counseling Erin Halligan Avery offered a pre-conference workshop entitled “An Introduction to Constructive Clinical Supervision” at the North Atlantic Regional Counseling Education and Supervision Conference, "Enriching Our Professional Counselor Identity Through Dynamic Scholarship and Practice,” on Thursday, September 22, 2016, in Syracuse, N.Y.
   
• Judy Albers of SUNY Geneseo is a finalist for a 2016 Venture Ecosystem Award. The finalists in five categories were announced by Upstate Venture Connect, a Syracuse-based non-profit working to build a region-wide startup community. The awards categories are intended to honor leaders who are transforming the upstate economy.