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Newsbriefs
Centennial Celebration
The 100th anniversary of the birth of Mina Rees, the first president of The Graduate Center, was celebrated at a tea in the Dissertation Reading Room of the Mina Rees Library on August 5. (Her actual birthday was August 2.) On hand were distinguished guests, donors, and friends of The Graduate Center-including many who knew Rees personally and worked with her during the graduate school's formative years. President Frances Degen Horowitz spoke of Mina Rees as "a pioneer" and "an actor on the national stage" whose life's work--from applied mathematics during World War II, to her encouragement of the development of the earliest computers, to her role in establishing doctoral education at CUNY--is legendary. President Horowitz also announced the appointment of mathematician Victor Kolyvagin to the chair endowed by Rees's estate. "I think she would have been very pleased to have a scholar of such stature occupy the first Mina Rees Chair," she said. Remarks were made by Professor Emeritus Benjamin Rivlin and CUNY Senior Vice Chancellor Emeritus Julius Edelstein, who shared memories of Rees's impressive leadership and acuity, and by CUNY Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson. "What a mathematician she was!" said Edelstein. "What a creative and well organized mind she was, what a builder of academia and science!" Professor Philip M. Anderson recently became executive officer of the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education. Serving as the acting dean of education at Queens College since 2000, Anderson is also the former chair of secondary education at Queens College, where he has been on faculty since 1986. Previously, he was on the English faculty at Ohio University and the education faculty at Brown University. He is the author of numerous articles and monographs on cultural theory, reader response, aesthetic education, the literature curriculum, and censorship. Anderson was co-chair of the committee that developed the urban education program at The Graduate Center; he replaces Professor Jay Lemke as executive officer. Professor Joseph Dauben is the new executive officer of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, taking over the position from Professor Rachel Brownstein. On the history faculties of The Graduate Center and Lehman College, Dauben's fields of scholarship include the history of science and mathematics, the Scientific Revolution, the sociology of science, intellectual history of the 17th-18th centuries, history of Chinese science, and history of botany. Among his many publications are Abraham Robinson: The Creation of Nonstandard Analysis, A Personal and Mathematical Odyssey (Princeton University Press, 1995) and Georg Cantor: His Mathematics and Philosophy of the Infinite (Harvard University Press, 1989). The new coordinator of the Certificate Program in American Studies is Professor Marc Dolan. Dolan, who is on the doctoral faculty in English, focuses on such areas as American literature and culture, 1845-1945; popular genres in literature (including detective fiction, science fiction, horror, and romance); media studies (particularly film, popular music, and broadcasting); and other topics in cultural studies and theory. His publications include Modern Lives: A Cultural Re-reading of "The Lost Generation" (Purdue University Press, 1996). He replaces Professor Richard Powers as coordinator. Librarians Welcomed Since the spring, four new librarians have joined the faculty of the Mina Rees Library: Scott Johnson, Mike Purcell, Michael Handis, and Polly Thistelthwaite. Scott Johnson, a reference librarian, arrived in March. He was previously reference librarian at the National Library of Canada and the Canadian Consulate General in New York. With masters' degrees in English and library science from the University of Western Ontario, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in library science from Rutgers. Mike Purcell began his position as systems librarian in April and works on implementing technology-based systems and services. After working at several library systems in Canada, he was most recently a senior librarian at Queens Borough Public Library. He holds and M.L.S. from Dalhousie University. Michael Handis, associate librarian for technical services and collection management, was appointed in June. He was previously head of technical services and a catalogue librarian at SUNY-Purchase. He earned an M.L.S. and an M.A. in history from the University of Pittsburgh. Polly Thistlethwaite, associate librarian for reference and access services, came to The Graduate Center in July. She brings over 17 years of professional library experience and was previously associate professor and coordinator of instruction at Colorado State University Libraries. She holds masters' degrees in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and in liberal studies from The Graduate Center. Campus Faculty Appointments Certificate Program in Renaissance Studies Lia Schwartz, Graduate Center: Spanish literature of the Renaissance and Baroque. Certificate Program in Women's Studies Eugenia Paulicelli, Graduate Center: Italian literature and literature in the arts, cultural studies. Ph.D. Program in Art History Judy Sund, Queens College: Art of the Americas, precolumbian and 19th-century European art. Ph.D. Program in Biology Karl R. Fath, Queens College: Elucidation of the roles of the cytoskeleton in the formation and maintenance of cell polarity. Gillian L. Small, City College: Molecular regulation of lipids metabolism using yeast as a model system. Ph.D. Program in Business Christos I. Giannikos, Baruch College: Economics and finance. Helaine J. Korn, Baruch College: Management. Karen S. Lyness, Baruch College: Human resources and industrial psychology. [more newsbriefs] |
Kolyvagin Named First Mina Rees Chair
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Victor A. Kolyvagin Photo: Courtesy Johns Hopkins University |
Kolyvagin authored a series of papers culminating in one on "Euler Systems"--considered an original, fundamental insight--which played an important role in Andrew Wiles's path to his famous proof of Fermat's last theorem. Among the most significant discoveries in number theory in the past quarter century, Kolyvagin's work on "Euler Systems" continues to be used in the ongoing development of the field and has led to breakthroughs in what are known to mathematicians as the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture for elliptical curves, and Iwasawa's conjecture for cyclotomic fields, along with other significant applications. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Moscow State University in 1981, and in 1990 he received the USSR Academy of Science's Chebyshev Prize. Prior to joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1994, he was at the Steclov Mathematical Institute in Moscow.
Rees was appointed the City University's first dean of graduate studies in 1961, when the doctoral programs were established. In 1969, she became the first president of the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, serving until her retirement in September 1972. A distinguished mathematician and educator, she was acclaimed for the important role she played in mobilizing the resources of modern mathematics for the national defense during World War II, for helping to direct the enormous growth and diversification of mathematical studies after the war, for her influence in initiating federal government support for the development of the earliest computers, for helping to shape national policy for all basic sciences and for graduate education, and for guiding The Graduate Center's quick rise to national prominence. She died in 1997.
New Faculty Members, Fall 2002
This fall, two scholars recruited from outside CUNY have joined The Graduate Center's faculty: Geoffrey Batchen, a leading art historian of photography; and Jose del Valle, an expert in the field of Hispanic linguistics.
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Geoffrey Batchen Photo: Michelle Penhall |
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Jose del Valle Photo: Foster Henry |
Four Named CUNY Distinguished Prof's
This fall four members of The Graduate Center is faculty were named Distinguished Professors by the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York: Stewart Ewen, Michelle Fine, Nicholas Freudenberg, and John Mollenkopf. [read story]
Consortium on Humanitarian Action Receives Funding
The Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, directed by Presidential Professor Thomas G. Weiss, has received a $450,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the creation of the Inter-University Consortium on Security and Humanitarian Action (IUCSHA). The consortium will be based at The Graduate Center but also involves New York University, Columbia University, and the New School University. The Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies will orchestrate the initial activities of the consortium, including research fellowships for graduate students and recent Ph.D.'s, forums for the presentation of sponsored research, and an electronic network to disseminate important findings and news.
The project addresses the need to better understand the complexities of humanitarian operations in the context of armed conflicts, and is designed to build networks between younger researchers and analysts, on the one hand, and inter-governmental and non-governmental agency personnel working on humanitarian protection, relief, and post-conflict reconstruction, on the other. The IUCSHA generates research and analysis pertinent to current humanitarian work while simultaneously investing in the next generation of scholars in New York City.
Conflict invariably produces immediate humanitarian challenges. Over the longer term, humanitarian action also has serious implications for security, as it can lead to further conflicts between social, ethnic, or religious groups‹examples abound in the Balkans, Asia, parts of Africa, and, to a lesser extent, the Western world. In the midst of these dynamics, non-governmental and UN organizations do what they can to provide relief of food, shelter, and health care. The IUCSHA will provide a platform to enhance scholarship and analysis of these involved actions, while proving useful to practitioners in the broader humanitarian community.
Research fellowships or internships of up to $10,000 will be available to doctoral and post-doctoral students to conduct fieldwork as well as archival research and interviews. Grantees will present their findings at public seminars, which will also include established scholars and practitioners as participants. For information on fellowship applications, the first of which are due January 15, 2003, contact the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at 1-212-817-2100, email IUCSHA@gc.cuny.edu, or explore the program more fully on its website, http://web.gc.cuny.edu/RalphBuncheInstitute/
Mayor's Science Award to Khuri
Ramzi Khuri, a professor of physics at Baruch College and The Graduate Center, was selected by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as one of three scientists to receive "Young Investigator" awards, among the annual Mayor's Awards for Excellence in Science. The awards were given at a ceremony in June at the New York Hall of Science.
Khuri, who works in theoretical high-energy physics and string theory, was called "a 'rising star' in the frontier fundamental research area of superstring and M-Theory," by the mayor. His accomplishments include the discovery of "exact soliton, instanton, monpole, and black hole string theory solutions, the discovery of four-dimensional string/string duality, and a unique derivation of Beckenstein-Hawking black-hole radiation," according to the citation. Khuri is credited with helping to launch the "second superstring revolution" in the field, in 1995. His current work involves developing what he calls "a simple model" of the theory of accelerated expansion of black holes.
Khuri was among eight scientists receiving this year's Mayor's Awards, which are given to honor the city's most outstanding scientists and engineers. Individuals are nominated for either special achievement or a lifetime body of work in the categories of Technology; Biological/Medical Sciences; Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences; Public Understanding of Science and Technology; and Young Investigator. The mayor chooses winners from a list of finalists submitted by the New York Academy of Science.
GC's Philosophic Universe Expands
With the addition of two renowned philosophers who will be visiting professors on an ongoing basis, The Graduate Center's philosophic universe has expanded. They are the acclaimed philosopher and logician Saul Kripke and Martin Davies, a renowned philosopher of language, mind, and psychology.
In addition, Gerald Cohen, a leading Marxist scholar who is Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford's All Souls College is visiting on a one-time basis this fall, and Simon Blackburn, a brilliant and witty generalist who is currently professor of philosophy at Cambridge will come for a semester in 2003-4. The National University of Singapore's Chin Liew Ten, who specializes in political and social philosophy, was a visiting professor in spring of 2002.
Recognized as one of the country's leading philosophers, Saul Kripke began as visiting professor last spring and will continue to teach an intensive half-semester course each year. In 2001, he won the Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy, given by the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was a Junior Fellow at Harvard, was on the faculty of Rockefeller University, and was a John Locke Lecturer at Oxford. He recently retired from Princeton, where he spent much of his career. Known for delivering brilliantly clear lectures without notes, Kripke rarely writes for publication, but some of his lectures have been recorded and transcribed into highly significant, influential publications, including Naming and Necessity (Harvard University Press, 1980) and Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language (Harvard University Press, 1982).
Martin Davies is internationally known for his contributions to the philosophies of language, mind, and psychology and his ability to bridge conceptual and empirical issues. Beginning in spring 2003, he will join the faculty as a distinguished visiting professor for one semester each year. He is currently professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Australia National University, and last fall was Marshall Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan. He has also been professor of philosophy and Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy at Oxford and a tenured lecturer at the University of London. He has published dozens of books, articles, chapters, reviews, and encyclopedia entries.
30th Anniversary of Latin/Greek Institute
This year the Latin/Greek Institute celebrated it 30th summer. Since 1973, more than 1,500 students have given up their vacations to study in the country's best and most intensive classical language program, sponsored jointly by The Graduate Center and Brooklyn College. For ten weeks, life consists of classes all day, review sessions on Sundays, weekly exams, and a steady progression from basic forms and syntax to the poetry of Vergil and Euripides, the speeches of Cicero, and the dialogues of Plato. Founded by Floyd Moreland, professor emeritus and former vice president for student affairs at The Graduate Center, the institute offered basic Latin for the first five years of its existence. Moreland, who served as the program's director for 20 years, and Rita Fleischer, who is now administrative director, wrote the textbook Latin: An Intensive Course, which is used widely around the country.
In 1978, Gerald Quinn and Hardy Hanson, professor of classics and current director of the institute, developed the basic Greek program. In the 1980s, the institute also offered seven-week advanced courses in individual authors or genres such as Sophocles, Horace, and Roman comedy; now there are wider-ranging upper level courses, with the chance to read extensively in the works of particular authors. At the summer's end, the students' achievement is crowned, literally, by laurel wreaths given to them at an annual luncheon. Many students who have taken the basic program come back to take an upper level course, and over the years quite a few students have returned to teach at the institute.
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