Congressman Charles Rangel Donates Papers to CCNY

Administration Building Named for Howard E. Wille, ‘55
City College’s administration building finally has a name.  The three-story edifice, built in 1962, is now The Howard E. Wille Administration Building.  Mr. Wille, a distinguished alumnus and philanthropist who died September 2005, was Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a co-founder of FactSet Research Systems Inc., a leading provider of global financial and economic information.  “Howard Wille was a proud son of City College, and we were equally proud of his many achievements and successes in life,” said President Gregory Williams in announcing the naming of the building, which was approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees. “Howard never forgot his alma mater and credited it with giving him his start towards an immensely successful career.  We are proud that his name will live on in perpetuity at his alma mater.”  Mr. Wille, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Philosophy in 1955, provided significant support to City College, most recently in 2006, when his estate fulfilled his $5 million pledge to The City College 21st Century Foundation.  The gift established The Howard E. Wille President’s Fund for Excellence, an unrestricted account designed to provide funds for the College to respond to both challenges and opportunities as they arise.  Prior to this gift, Mr. Wille made several other significant contributions to CCNY, including a $2 million gift in June 1998 to establish the K.D. Irani Visiting Professorship in Philosophy.

CCNY Adopts New General Education Requirements for B.A.
Beginning this fall, incoming freshmen pursuing a B.A. at CCNY will follow a new set of general education requirements adopted by the CCNY Faculty Council.  The new requirements will enable students to acquire proficiencies necessary for academic and personal success while providing experiences in exploring human knowledge from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.  In addition, students will be required to develop in-depth experience in a discipline outside their major. An innovative new Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar will help students develop writing skills through content material from the seminar.  Students will be required to take a minimum of 36 General Education credits and satisfy the current foreign language and speech requirements.  The requirements were proposed by the six-member Core Study Committee, chaired by Professor Raymond Hoobler (Mathematics).  Other members were: Arnaldo Melendez, Undergraduate Advisor (Architecture), Professor Ellen Smiley (Psychology), Professor Richard Steinberg (Physics), Professor Diana Wall (Anthropology) and Professor Joshua Wilner (English).  “We want to provide each student with the opportunity to choose courses relevant to their interests while broadening their perspectives and enhancing their skills.  Excellent advising will be essential for the success of the new requirements.” said Professor Hoobler.

Lois Cronholm to Step Down as Chief Operating Officer
CCNY Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lois Cronholm will step down from her post at the end of January.  Dr. Cronholm will work on special projects for President Williams and “hopefully continue to make contributions to the college in ways that will be most helpful to him.”  In addition, she intends to do community work in New York and her hometown, Philadelphia.  Dr. Cronholm, who began her academic career as a biology professor at her alma mater, the University of Louisville, came to CCNY in September 2001, after President Williams asked her to join his administration.  Among her many roles, she directed creation of CCNY’s strategic plan, spearheaded development of The Towers residence hall and managed major improvements to the campus.  A former Provost and acting President of Baruch College, she says she came back to CUNY “because the opportunity to work at City College with President Williams was something I just couldn’t pass up.  It’s been the most extraordinary experience of my professional life and I am proud to have been part of a team led by a President who has made an incredible difference at one of the most important colleges in the country.”  Earlier in her career, Dr. Cronholm served as Dean of Arts & Sciences at Temple University (1985 – 1992) and University of Louisville (1979 – 1992).

CCNY Names Sabrina Brown Director of Human Resources
Sabrina Brown, a human resources professional whose expertise includes organizational effectiveness, strategic planning and employee relations, has been appointed Director of Human Resources at The City College of New York (CCNY), effective January 2.  She succeeds Stephen Atamanchuk, who served in an acting capacity for one year.  Ms. Brown joins CCNY from New York University (NYU), where she served eight years in various human resources positions, most recently as Human Resources Officer in the Division of University Relations and Public Affairs.  She also was the Division’s Human Resources Manager from 2000 to 2004 and Human Resources Coordinator in the University’s Tisch School of the Arts from 1998-2000, where her duties included administrating the tenure and promotion process.  Ms. Brown graduated from NYU with a B.S. in Management Information Systems and Business and is a candidate there for the M.S. in Human Resources Management.  The Bronx resident holds the SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) Certification, issued by the Society for Human Resource Management’s Human Resource Certification Institute. In addition, she earned HR Generalist and Senior HR Generalist Certificates from Cornell University and the University of North Carolina, respectively.  More on this story.

School of Architecture Earns Accreditation for Six Years
The National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB), the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture in the United States, has awarded a full six-year accreditation, its longest – to CCNY’s School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture (SAUDLA).  The NAAB Accreditation Team Report praised CCNY students for the high quality of their work, which was “particularly evident in the category of comprehensive design,” the ability to integrate all of a building’s systems – structural, mechanical, etc. – into a design, noted Dean George Ranalli.  One project cited in particular, designed by student Diane Reid, was an inflatable habitat designed for use on the moon that received top prize in a national competition sponsored by NASA.  It will be tested later this year on a NASA zero-gravity flight, with students who built the model on board.  The report also praised the School for its success as operating a “flagship program on a shoestring budget.”  Dean Ranalli called the report “a statement that validates once again our ability to provide a scholarly and professional education for our students in a public school setting, while continuing the school’s rise in prominence and distinction in both the academic and professional arenas.”

CWE Moves into New Home
The Center for Worker Education (CWE), a division of CCNY’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), has relocated to its new home at 25 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.  The Center had been based since 1985 at 99 Hudson St. in Tribeca.  CWE's new home is on the seventh floor of the historic Cunard Building in space once used as a ticket office for the British steamship company.  CWE has divided its 44,000 square feet of leased space to create: 15 classrooms accommodating 750 students; a state-of-the-art, 150-seat auditorium; workshop classrooms; smart seminar room; an improved full-size computer lab; a student lounge and a student study area/library resource room.  The new location is close to the Fulton Street transportation hub and a number of transit lines including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, R, W, PATH and Staten Island Ferry.  The new facility will host a series of events in March to commemorate the Center’s 25th anniversary. 

Faculty Establishes Textbook Assistance Fund
In what may be a first at any U.S. college or university, faculty members at CCNY have established a Faculty Textbook Assistance Fund to help cash-strapped students purchase textbooks.  Professor of History Ravi Kalia came up with the idea for the fund and presented it to Professor of Mathematics Ray Hoobler, who chairs the Faculty Senate Campus Resource Committee, and Vice President for Development Rachelle Butler.  With the committee's enthusiatic support, the fund was officially launched at the Faculty Senate's December meeting.  “This sends a very positive message to our students,” said Professor Kalia, who gave $1,000 as seed money to kick-start the fund, and also serves on the Campus Resource Committee. “The fund demonstrates the involvement of the faculty in the success and prosperity of CCNY students.”  Currently, matriculating students in good academic standing can take out an emergency loan from the Office of Student Affairs.  The textbook fund would supplement that and use similar procedures to determine eligibility, said Professor Hoobler. “We recognize the cost of textbooks can be very expensive and we want our students to succeed,” he said.  Interested persons can contribute to the fund by making a donation to the City College 21^st Century Fund and designating it for the “Textbook Scholarship Fund.”  Professor Hoobler said he hopes that in 2007-8 the fund will be eligible for payroll deductions through the CUNY United Way Campaign.

Transportation Expert Joseph Berechman to Lead CCNY Economics Department
Joseph Berechman, a prominent transportation and urban economist, who has been a visiting scholar with the CUNY University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) for 15 years, has joined the CCNY faculty as Chair of the Economics Department, Brett Silverstein, Dean of Social Sciences, announced.  “We are extremely fortunate that at a time when we were seeking new leadership someone of Professor Berechman’s stature was ready to step up,” Dean Silverstein said.  “He is not only a noted scholar, but someone who knows our school and can help us develop new business offerings by virtue of having an M.B.A. as well as a Ph.D.”  Professor Berechman, who starts January 29, most recently was CN Chair Professor in Transportation and International Logistics at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia and had been Professor and Chairman of Public Policy at Tel Aviv University from 1976 to 2004.  He has held visiting professorships and fellowships at institutions in Israel, the United States, the Netherlands and Spain, as well.  Professor Berechman holds a Ph.D. from The University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and a B.A. from Hebrew University.  He succeeds Professor Malcolm Galatin as chair.  More on this story.

Professor Kaku Hosts Discovery Channel Special February 3
Dr. Michio Kaku, Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at CCNY, will host “2057,” a three-hour special to be carried on The Discovery Channel, 2 – 5 p.m. Saturday, February 3.  The program explores the next 50 years in science, computers, biotechnology and medicine.  “I hope (it)…has given you an exciting yet scientifically authentic vision of the next 50 years,” Professor Kaku said in a recent online chat on Discovery.com.  Professor Kaku will also appear in another Discovery program, “Future Car,” a four-part series on the future of transportation, which begins 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 7.  Check your local television guide for channel listing.

Distinguished Professor Joseph Birman, ’47, Wins Human Rights Award
Dr. Joseph L. Birman, ’47, Distinguished Professor of Physics at City College, received the 2006 Heinz R. Pagels Award from the New York Academy of Sciences.  The Award, given in recognition of service on behalf of human rights of scientists, recognizes Professor Birman’s lifelong efforts on behalf of repressed scientists throughout the world.  His co-recipient was Mesfin Woldemariam, an Ethiopian geographer and prominent human rights defender.  Professor Birman has served on the national boards of major organizations supporting human rights of scientists including: The Committee of Concerned Scientists, Human Rights in China, The Committee on International Freedom of Scientists of the American Physical Society and The New York Academy of Sciences.  He has implemented joint research programs with Chinese scientists; supported dissidents and help immigrant scientists restart their careers in the United States.  First presented in 1979 to Russian physicist and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, and annually since 1986, other Pagels Award recipients include: Lipman Bers, founder of the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Human Rights (1986); Fang Lizhi, the Chinese physicist whose teachings inspired the Tiananmen Square protests (1988); Alexander Nikitin, a Russian environmentalist charged with treason for exposing environmental threats posed by nuclear-powered Russian warships (2001), and Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, a prominent Cuban economist and dissident (2002).

Jemila Kester Wins Cosloy Scholarship
Jemila Caplan Kester, a senior majoring in biology, has been selected as the 2006-07 Cosloy Scholar at CCNY. The Cosloy Scholarship is presented annually to an exceptional junior or senior with at least one year of undergraduate research work and a demonstrated interest in cellular or molecular biology or microbial genetics.  The award was endowed by Edward Blank, ’57, in memory of his wife, Professor Sharon Cosloy, who was Chair of the Biology Department at the time of her death.  Ms. Kester, who had worked as a model and an event planner before enrolling at CCNY, has conducted research on the role of neuralized in hematopoiesis, a Drosophila gene that likely has far-reaching implications due to its role in a highly conserved pathway, under the guidance of Professor Shubha Govind. Last April, she won first place in Biology at the CSTEP Statewide Student Conference in Lake George, and last summer she was awarded an NIH Fogarty International Research grant to study public health in Israel.  In addition, she has received the Piel Award and Josh and Judy Weston Scholarship at CCNY.  After graduation, Ms. Kester, hopes to enroll in a M.D. / PhD. program and conduct research on the etiology and pathology of infectious diseases.

CCNY Hosts CUNYAC Basketball Tourney, Feb. 17 – 23
City College will host the 42^nd annual CUNY Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, February 17– 23, in the newly refurbished Nat Holman Gymnasium.  Sixteen teams – eight in each section – will qualify for the tournament at the conclusion of the regular season on February 10.  “We’re extremely excited about hosting these championships,” said CCNY Athletic Director Jacqualyn Meadow.  “We have a great facility, great staff, we’re the flagship of CUNY and our history alone merits us to host this great event.”  Tickets for the tournament are $3 (all day access) for students, staff and faculty with CUNY ID, and $5 for anyone without CUNY identification.  Both championship games will be telecast live on Time Warner Digital Cable., Channel 94 City-wide and Channel 76 on Staten Island.  CCNY last hosted the tournament in 2001, and the men’s team, coached by Andy Stampfel, won that year.  With four games remaining, the men’s team, currently 9-12 (5-5 in conference play), has a good chance of qualifying for this year’s tournament.

Spring Architecture Lecture Series Highlights Landscape Topics
The School of Architecture’s Spring 2007 lecture series begins 6 p.m. Thursday, February 1, and runs for six consecutive weeks through March 8.  Entitled “Architecture and the Landscape,” the series presents six eminent architects and landscape architects renowned internationally for their powerful bodies of work.  Lectures are held in Room 95, Shepard Hall.  For more information, call 212-650-7118.  Speakers, dates and topics are: February 1: Mario Gooden, Partner, Huff + Gooden Architects, and Visiting Professor, CCNY, “Mach 2!” February 8: M. Paul Friedberg, Principal-in-charge of design, M. Paul Friedberg & Partners and Professor Emeritus, CCNY, “Dynamic Partnerships = Dynamic Places;” February 15: Peter Gisolfi, Principal-in-charge of design, Peter Gisolfi Associates, and Professor, CCNY, “Finding the Place of Architecture in the Landscape;” February 22: Carol R. Johnson, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Carol R. Johnson Associates, “Change in the Landscape;” March 1: Kenneth Frampton, Visiting Professor, CCNY, “Architecture and Commodification: Themes and Variations 1985-2005,” and March 8: Ann Whiston Spirn, director, West Philadelphia Landscape Project, “One with Nature.” More on this story.

Perri Klass Delivers Sophie Davis School’s First Rudin Guest Lecture, February 8
Perri Klass, M.D., a Professor of Pediatrics and Journalism at New York University, will deliver the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education’s first Rudin Guest Lecture, 4 p.m. Thursday, February 8, in Room 95, Shepard Hall.  Dr. Klass, who is also Medical Director of Read Out and Reach, will talk on “Doctors as Writers, Doctors as Readers.”  Read Out and Reach is a national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud in pediatricians’ offices.  Through her work with Reach Out and Read, Dr. Klass has integrated her commitment to the health care of young children with her love of books, stories, and the written word.  Dr. Klass has written several books, including Quirky Kids: Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In, coauthored with Eileen Costello, MD, (Ballantine, 2003) a novel, The Mystery of Breathing, (Houghton Mifflin 2004), and Every Mother is A Daughter, coauthored with her mother, Sheila Solomon Klass (Random House, 2006).  The Rudin Guest Lectureship at the Sophie Davis School was made possible through funding from the Samuel and May Rudin Foundation with thanks to Mr. Jack Rudin.

From the President

As we gear up for an exciting semester, it is a season of both hail and farewell.  I hope everyone will make it a point to welcome two new additions to the CCNY community that are mentioned in this newsletter: our new Director of Human Resources, Sabrina Brown, who has already begun to shape her office into the service organization that we need, and the new chair of the Economics Department, Professor Joseph Berechman, whose journey across the continent from the University of British Columbia bodes well for us all.

But most importantly, I hope you will all join me to bid farewell to the woman everyone knows as “the COO” on Tuesday, February 6, from 4 to 6 pm in the Faculty Dining Room.  Over the past six years, Lois Cronholm has been a major force in the renaissance that has taken place here at City College, and it will be my pleasure to host a celebration of her many contributions.

Gregory H. Williams

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