Posted on Sep 12, 1997

The College has successfully concluded its $150 million Bicentennial Campaign, one of the largest fundraising efforts ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.

The campaign, announced publicly in April, 1991, received
gifts and commitments totaling $151,135,150.

The successful conclusion of the campaign was announced by
President Roger H. Hull at the College's opening convocation on Monday.

“The promise of Union's future is to build upon
its past achievements,” Hull said. “To do that, we must have the resources that
make a college great — superb faculty, innovative academic programs, motivated
students, and first-rate facilities. The success of this campaign helps us in each area
and gives enormous impetus as we enter our third century of service.”

During the campaign, the College's endowment
increased from $80 million to $200 million.

President Hull said the true value of the campaign is
measured in more than just dollars and cents. “We are delighted by the numerical
accomplishments, but the real success story is how they are translated into improvements
for our students, our faculty, and our campus,” he said. “Fortunately, the list
of improvements is a long one.”

(Details of the campaign will appear in this month's
issue of the College magazine.)

Posted on Sep 8, 1997

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 8, 1997) – Ashraf M. Ghaly, assistant professor of civil engineering at Union College, was awarded the Stillman Prize for excellence in teaching at the College's opening convocation today.

The award was created by Abbott L. Stillman '69, member of the College's Board of Trustees, David Stillman '72, and Allan Stillman in honor of Abraham Stillman, father and grandfather. Faculty members are nominated by students for the award, which is given to encourage outstanding teaching.

Ghaly, who received both a bachelor's and master's degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University in Alexandria, Egypt, earned his Ph.D. from Concordia University in Canada. Before coming to Union, he was a faculty member and research associate at Concordia University. He has published articles in the Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, the Journal of Soils and Foundations, and the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, among others, and has been a member of the faculty at Union since 1993.

Professor Ghaly brings extensive industrial engineering experience to the classroom ranging from his work in the research and development division of Civil Innovation Co., in Montreal, Canada to acting as division manager and designer for an Egyptian engineering company and as a quality control manager, site engineer, and project engineer for AAA Company General Contractors in Alexandria. He is a member of professional engineering organizations in the United States, Canada and Egypt.

This year, Union College welcomed the class of 2001 at its opening convocation. Union College, a college for men and women of high academic promise and strong personal motivation, offers academic programs in the humanities, physical sciences, social sciences, engineering and computer science.

Posted on Sep 8, 1997

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 8, 1997) – Walter Hatke, professor of visual arts at Union College, was named May I. Baker Professor of Fine Arts at the College's opening convocation today.

Professor Hatke, who received his bachelor's degree from DePauw University and advanced degrees from the University of Iowa, is a nationally-known artist whose works grace the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smith College Museum of Art, Chase Manhattan Bank, Exxon Corporation and others. He is represented by the Babcock Galleries on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Hatke has had numerous solo exhibitions and last year was included in a traveling group exhibition titled “Plain Pictures: Images of the American Prairie,” which was featured on the CBS television program “Sunday Morning.” His paintings present subjects from everyday life in extraordinary ways, taking into account such factors as lighting, vantage points and the effects of time on the process of creating works. He has been a member of the faculty at Union since 1986.

The May I. Baker Chair in Fine Arts is supported by a bequest from Walter C. Baker, Class of 1915, in memory of his first wife, May I. Baker. Mr. Baker, a trustee of Union College for forty years, was vice president of the Guaranty Trust Company in New York City.

This year, Union College welcomed the class of 2001 at its opening convocation. Union, founded in 1795, is an independent college for men and women of high academic promise and strong personal motivation. It offers academic programs in the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, engineering and computer science.

Posted on Sep 8, 1997

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 8, 1997) – Union College has successfully concluded its $150 million Bicentennial Campaign, one of the largest fundraising efforts ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.

The campaign, announced publicly in April, 1991, received gifts and commitments totaling $151,135,150.

The successful conclusion of the campaign was announced today by President Roger H. Hull at a convocation opening the College's 203rd year.

“The promise of Union's future is to build upon its past achievements,” Hull said. “To do that, we must have the resources that make a college great — superb faculty, innovative academic programs, motivated students, and first-rate facilities. The success of this campaign helps us in each area and gives enormous impetus as we enter our third century of service.”

During the campaign, the College's endowment (its permanent property and funds) increased from $80 million to $200 million.

President Hull said the true value of the campaign is measured in more than just dollars and cents. “We are delighted by the numerical accomplishments, but the real success story is how they are translated into improvements for our students, our faculty, and our campus,” he said. “Fortunately, the list of improvements is a long one.”

The president cited a number of examples of how the campaign has helped Union:

— The number of endowed chairs has increased to twenty-seven.

— International study programs have been added in Brazil, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, India, Kenya, Korea, Poland, Puerto Rico, Wales, and Zimbabwe. Union is among the top dozen colleges in the country in the percentage of students who study abroad.

— The College's engineering curriculum has been redesigned, thanks to a $750,000 grant from the General Electric Foundation.

— Schaffer Library is undergoing an $18 million renovation and expansion that will increase its size from 65,000 to 98,000 square feet. The new library is designed and equipped to provide faculty and students with the swiftest possible access to information from around the world.

— An $11 million restoration of the Nott Memorial has transformed it into a spectacular center for meetings, exhibitions, and study.

— The F.W. Olin Center, a high-technology classroom and laboratory building, is under construction, thanks to a $9 million gift from the F.W. Olin Foundation, of New York City.

– The Morton and Helen Yulman Theater opened, adding not only a theater but an actors' lab, a scene shop, a design and drafting lab, and a costume shop.

— Improvements were made to such important buildings as the Reamer Campus Center, Feigenbaum Hall (the administration building), and Memorial Chapel, where projects totalling more than $1 million ranged from repairing the roof and cupola to restoring the interior.

— Endowed scholarships funds dramatically increased. Union now has 320 endowed scholarships, of which 128 were added during the campaign; they make up 13.8 percent of the College's institutional financial aid program.

— The College's research facilities were enhanced through a number of gifts ranging from an advanced multipurpose laboratory for optical spectroscopy to a new greenhouse.

— An endowment to provide for the upkeep and preservation of Jackson's Garden, the College's eight acres of formal gardens and woodland, was established.

— The Chester Arthur Undergraduate Support of Excellence (CAUSE) Program was introduced. Named after the twenty-first president of the United States and the founder of the Civil Service Commission, CAUSE provides loans to students that are canceled at a rate of twenty percent for each year graduates engage in public service, broadly defined.

The Bicentennial Campaign received 23,362 gifts from individuals, including 370 of $25,000 or more. There were 28 gifts of $1 million or more. Major gifts from corporations and foundations included several challenge grants, in which foundation gifts had to be matched by alumni and friends. In every case, the challenge was met.

Other grants included $2 million from the Schaffer Foundation, of Schenectady, for the renovation and expansion of the library; two grants totalling $350,000 from the Schenectady Foundation to support the Nott Memorial and library projects; and a $191,000 grant from the General Electric Fund to establish the Union College Teaching and Learning Center, designed to provide new skills to teachers in the fifth through ninth grades.

Posted on Sep 1, 1997

The Union Bookshelf regularly calls special
attention to books written by alumni and other members of
the Union community. If you're an author and would
like to be featured, please send us a copy of the book or
the jacket as well as your publisher's news release.
Our address is Public Relations Office, Union College,
Schenectady, N.Y. 12308-3169.

David Butenhof
'78

A practical textbook, Programming
with POSIX Threads, (Addison-Wesley), teaches a
method of multitasking programming which allows faster,
easier, and more responsive results. The book addresses
debugging, the major problem with thread programming, and
gives a look at future standardization. The book also
includes annotated examples illustrating real-world
concepts as well as a Pthreads mini-reference.

Butenhof '78, an engineer with
Digital Equipment Corporation, is the lead architect and
developer of Digital's threading architecture and
designer of the Pthreads interfaces on Digital UNIX 4.0
and is a recognized Pthreads authority.

Robert O'Hara
'79

A Handheld PC, or M/PC, a miniaturized
version of a desktop PC or a laptop PC, is small enough
to fit in the palm of your hand. Robert O'Hara, who
was part of a highly specialized team at Microsoft,
worked to create this PC as well as Microsoft CE, the
software program which connects a computer the size of a
pocket calculator to the Internet using operating systems
which are already familiar. Windows CE for the Handheld
PC, produced by Microsoft Press is s comprehensive guide
for running Windows CE.

William Maynard, Jr.
'50

In the children's corner are two
new books by Bill Maynard. Incredible Ned is the
story of a boy who speaks things into existence. When he
says “gorilla” a gorilla appears, and so on,
until his classroom is turned into a zoo. The teacher and
the whole school become involved in solving this
not-so-funny problem.

Santa's Time Off is a
picture book illustrated by Tom Browning whose paintings
of Santa have been popular for many years.The book is a
collection of poems by Santa as told to Bill Maynard
about what the rest of the year is like for the Christmas
Elf.

Maynard lives in Westchester County,
N.Y., and Martha's Vineyard. These two books,
published by G.P. Putnam's Sons are available now.
Also in the works for 1998 release are Quiet, Wyatt,
another picture book, and The River, a novel for readers
eleven and up.

Aaron Feingold, M.D.
'72

Three Jewish Physicians of the
Renaissance: The Marriage of Science and Ethics is an
inspirational essay detailing the lives of three Jewish
physicians. Persecuted for their faith, these three found
in Judaism a deeper belief in medicine and a closer bond
between medical ethics and science which is as relevant
today as it was then.

The hard cover book by Aaron Feingold,
M.D. '72 is available from the American Friends of
Beth Hatefutsoth in New York City.