Campus Report
News, Calendar & Events

SUNY Fredonia Professor Stephen Kershnar will present the 2008 Kasling Memorial Lecture, “Counterintuitive Morality,” at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. The Kasling Lecture recognizes a member of the faculty whose scholarly excellence has enhanced the reputation of the university.

SUNY Fredonia Assistant Professor of Biology Patricia Astry,’81, has been promoted to chairperson of the university’s biology department.  Since 1981, she has been director of the Medical Technology degree program at SUNY Fredonia.  She was honored with the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2001, and succeeds Dr. Ted Lee who had been chair of the department since 2005.  She is the first female chair the department has had since it was formed in the late 1960s.

Dr. Jeanette McVicker, a recipient of the 2008 President’s Award for Excellence at SUNY Fredonia, will explore the topic, “Truth and Consequences: Adventures in Language, Literature and Culture,” during a lecture on Monday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m., at the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall. The event is free and the public is invited to attend

Clifton Wheeler, an investigator and head of the shooter team for the University Police department at SUNY Fredonia, won four medals at the North American Indigenous Games, held Aug. 2 to 10 in British Columbia. The Gowanda, N.Y., resident won one gold and three silver medals in rifle shooting.

Dr. Rhea Simmons has been named director of the College Core Curriculum (CCC) Program at SUNY Fredonia, effective Aug. 20.

SUNY Fredonia’s Department of Communication has been awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of State to travel to Turkey and instruct high school and college students interested in video production and filmmaking.  Fredonia was the lone organization chosen among 15 applicants to travel to six Turkish cities during an 18-month, $800,000 youth filmmaking instructional project.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has named SUNY Fredonia's Ann Carden to its College of Fellows. This is the highest distinction offered by PRSA, the world’s largest organization of public relations professionals. The College of Fellows honors veteran professionals for their years of exemplary work in the field, high ethical standards, dedication to their local PRSA Chapter, and steadfast commitment to advancing the present and future of the profession.

How city residents and leaders in Curitiba, Brazil, succeeded at very little cost in turning a potential disaster into a thriving metropolis that is friendly to the environment and has expanded city services to the shantytowns, has been the focus of Political Science Professor Ivani Vassoler’s research and teaching for almost 10 years. Her new book tells the story in detail.

Faculty and staff who can answer questions from the news media in their areas of expertise are urged to complete the online Experts Survey Form, Public Relations Director Michael Barone announced.

 The Professional Development Center will hold orientation for new faculty on Thursday, Aug. 21, featuring information, fun, and learning about the campus and the area.  The "Faces and Functions Resource Fair,"  which offers a chance to meet department heads and staff in student services, academic affairs, and university advancement, starts at 12:30 in the Natatorium.  Go to the web page.

Mathematical Sciences Professor H. Joseph Straight has been named among this year’s recipients of the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Faculty Service. This award is a statewide honor conferred to acknowledge and provide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement.

Graduate Molly McKinney, host of the TV series, “AquaKids,” brought her crew to Fredonia to join area youth and volunteers from a fly-fishing program to release 200 brook trout into Canadaway Creek recently. Local children sold fishing flies they created to buy the trout.

Dr. Clark M. Zlotchew was one of just nine individuals across the SUNY system to be promoted to the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor recently. For 33 years a professor of Spanish at Fredonia, he is an expert scholar of the Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges, has written 14 books, and published translations of the works of two Nobel Laureates: Pablo Neruda and Juan Ramón Jiménez.

New poems written by SUNY Fredonia English Professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil and published by Tupelo Press have reaped two prestigious awards. The Balcones Center for Creative Writing at Austin (Texas) Community College selected her book, "At the Drive-In Volcano," as the winner of its 2007 Balcones Poetry Prize.  One poem in the book, "Love in the Orangery," has won the Pushcart Prize.

The Fredonia School of Music faculty now uses ANGEL Learning System technology to examine a large body of incoming students in an accurate and efficient manner and place students in the correct class based on placement exam results. Its innovative use of the ANGEL technology won the school and several individuals honors from the software company.