Ingo Maddaus, professor emeritus of mathematics, died May 14 at the age of 95.
He joined the College in 1947, and continued teaching until his “second retirement” in 1985.
He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan.
Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Elsie Marie (Raymond); and four sons.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Joseph's Church, 45 MacArthur Dr., Scotia, N.Y. 12302, or to Community Hospice of Schenectady, 1411 Union Street, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308.
Colleagues and friends are mourning the passing of Catherine D'Amato, who served the College as associate registrar. She died May 25 after a long illness. She was 79.
She earned her bachelor's degree in English from the College, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
She joined the College in 1982 as assistant registrar, and succeeded Betty Wemple as associate registrar in 1986. She retired in 1990.
Survivors include two sons and two daughters.
Memorial contributions may be made to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Building Fund.
What began as the largest applicant pool in Union history (4,230) is turning into one of the College's largest and most talented classes, and administrators are making adjustments.
With 600 students making deposits to join the Class of 2009 and more top students choosing Union, the College has become a popular choice for the best students, said Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions.
“We see more and more of the best students choosing Union because they recognize the quality of the place,” Lundquist said.
Average SATs were 1,270 and more than two-thirds are from the top 10 percent of their high school class. “This represents an impressive jump, unprecedented at Union,” Lundquist said. Of those 600, Lundquist said 2 or 3 percent will withdraw in what is known as “summer melt.” Administrators in Residential Life and Academic Affairs are planning for a class of 585.
Kimmo Rosenthal, dean for undergraduate education, reports that a section of Freshman Preceptorial will be added to accommodate the larger class, and there may be a need for more sections in Modern Languages, Mathematics and science labs.
“It's definitely more of a challenge with this class, which is the largest I've seen,” Rosenthal said. “But I've had a good year in finding faculty members to teach Precepts.” He said class sizes in some introductory courses may increase by five students to about 40, while other first-year courses may see increases from 25 to 30.
Lundquist noted that Union is not alone in its number crunching this spring. “My counterparts at Colgate, Hamilton and Skidmore, to name a few, are seeing higher yields as well,” he said. “I can say, however, that along with the higher numbers, Union is seeing a signature jump in academic quality.”
Todd Clark, director of residential life, said he hopes to avoid rooming students in lounges at West College and Richmond, as has been done for previous large classes. “We will be seeking volunteers for triple rooms that normally are doubles,” he said. “And we plan to offer a financial break for those willing to live in those triples.”
Clark has also been busy finding rooms for about 15 rising sophomores with low lottery numbers who were left without assignments last week. “This year is certainly producing a housing challenge, but it's a good challenge since it shows that more upperclass students want to live on campus and that more accepted students want to come here,” he said.
Those 15 sophomores should receive assignments before leaving for the summer, Clark noted, adding that he usually hears from students in early June who have made other housing arrangements. All students will receive a letter by early July with final room assignments, he said.
Roger H. Hull, president of Union College since 1990, will deliver the main address at Union College's Commencement on Sunday, June 12, at 10 a.m. in Library Plaza.
Hull, who steps down at the end of June, is to receive an honorary degree from the College.
About 500 graduates are to receive degrees.
For more information on Commencement, please visit:
If you thought it was easy planning Commencement, check out the plans for the ceremony at http://cs.union.edu/grad/
Prepared by Prof. Lance Spallholz, a member of the Commencement Committee, the site gives details about marching to and from the ceremony (depending on weather), where everyone sits and where families and grads can meet afterward.
Chris Macomber's career as one of the busiest entrepreneurs on campus may have been launched by a chance encounter with a kid wearing spiked blue hair.
Just days after arriving on campus, a blue-coiffed Geoff Bowman '04 (now assistant dean of admissions, minus the blue hair) asked Macomber if he had any interest in trying out for the Dutch Pipers, the College's male a cappella group.
Macomber's childhood was filled with music lessons in keyboards, drums and vocals. At age 9, he toured Italy for two weeks with the Atlanta Boys Choir, an ambitious schedule that included hours of rehearsals and concerts each week.
He decided to give the Pipers a try and auditioned with “Beauty School Dropout” from Grease. He was in.
Four years later, Macomber is the director, manager and sparkplug for the ensemble, organizing gigs all over campus and the region. He also produced We Did It, the Pipers' latest CD.
Macomber, who this spring won the Josephine Daggett Prize to the senior of best conduct and character, has a long list of experience in business, research, administration and leadership.
Union, Macomber says, is a place where students can make a difference and get things done. “I was surprised by how much the students can get involved with professors and the administration,” he said. “It's small enough that you can work directly with the deans and the president.”
In student activities, for example, the students control the budget and activities with some guidance from Director Matt Milless, he said. “There is a lot of responsibility given to students.” Union, he adds, “is supportive of students who want to do a lot of things.”
An interdepartmental major in music, he is finishing up his senior project with Prof. Tim Olsen, recording his original songs that he describes as jazz with a rock emphasis.
Before Union, he had planned to follow in his father's footsteps and become a pilot. But a National Youth Leadership Forum for Medicine in Washington in 10th grade caused him to “do a 180.” At the conference, he correctly diagnosed a mock case as a little known disease. He said he was helped not by any background in medicine but by a broad educational background that emphasized collaboration and research. Union, he decided, would be the perfect place to pursue his new career interest in medicine. So he followed his grandfather's footsteps to Schenectady.
He is in the eight-year Leadership in Medicine program. He earns a bachelor's in biology this June, and an MBA in August from the Graduate College of Union University before going on to Albany Medical College to pursue his medical degree.
In the business arena, he is founder, CEO and president of Exousia Health Inc., a healthcare software development firm in the UStart Business Incubator. He is a member of the GenNEXT student mentorship program, and the only student member of the GenNEXT Council.
His administrative experience includes an MBA internship with the Albany Medical Center's Goldberg Alzheimer's Resource Center. He is finance chair for his Minerva House, and a member of the Minerva House Implementation Committee (now the Minerva Council). He was also a member of the College's Alcohol Policy Task Force.
His clinical and research experience includes volunteering with AMC's transportation and organ transplantation departments, research assistant for brain research with AMC's neuropharmacology department, and patient care associate with the nursing float pool.
He participated in Union's National Health Systems term abroad, comparing health care in the U.S., U.K, Netherlands and Hungary.
He is co-chair of Union's Student Alumni Association, and even worked as “Dutch,” the school's mascot.
An Albany native and graduate of The Albany Academy, he is on The Albany Academy Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Looking back on his four years at Union, he says, “I wholeheartedly thank the administration and faculty for their wonderful support and encouragement, and will continue to support Union students in the future.”
