“Parilia,” an undergraduate research conference in Classics on Friday, April 21, was held in honor of Rome's traditional birthday and in conjunction with “The Athenian Acropolis: Photographs by William James Stillman (Class of 1848), An Exhibition in Memory of Professor Christina Elliott Sorum (1944-2005).”
Classics Conference, Hans-Friedrich Mueller, Classics chair and Sorum Guest Professor Andrew Szegedy-Maszak
Sorum Guest Professor Andrew Szegedy-Maszak opened the conference by giving a workshop on the Stillman photographs for students at 10:15 a.m.
Throughout the day, 12 students from Union, Colgate, Hamilton and Skidmore read papers on topics ranging from ancient Egypt to classical influences on recent films and modern battle strategies.
Classics conference, students from Hamilton College
Szegedy-Maszak is the Classical Studies and Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek at Wesleyan. He worked in Union's archives during summer 2004 and later published his research results.
The conference was sponsored by the Mellon Foundation. Conference events were organized by the Classics Department, in part through an anonymous donor who created the Christina Elliott Sorum Guest Professorship in Classic and the Mandeville Art Gallery.
Classics conference, students from ColgateRead More
"I hope you find some passion and have the opportunity to pursue it, whether it's business, the law, poetry, dance or music," says David Henle '75. "That's what makes life fun and interesting."
Henle is seated in Grant Hall during Homecoming Weekend, surrounded by the four students who are the recipients of his new eponymous scholarship awards. But the David L. Henle Merit Scholars – Class of 2009 members Regina Chiuminatto, Alexandra Dubodel, Kara McCabe and Ariel Weiner – already know a thing or two about passion.
Each brings to Union a range of intense interests and a commitment to pursuits such as opera, the classics and theater. Every one is a bibliophile. (And then, as Henle notes, there's a secret handshake – but no one's officially talking.)
It is the sense of passion, precisely, that is part of what defines a Henle Scholar.
"Henle Scholars are fascinating difference-makers for whom the joy of engagement and learning is fierce and unequivocal," said Dan Lundquist, vice president for admissions, whose office is responsible for the scholarship selection.
A Union Trustee since 2004, Henle was looking for a way to contribute to Union that was in accord with his beliefs about what makes a college great. He wanted to make a difference while paying tribute to the school that "opened my eyes up to the larger world in wonderful ways.
"My passion has always been the human capital," he said recently. "The real legacy of any school is who the students are and what they are doing after graduation."
"Funding a merit scholarship enables me to bring to campus very talented young people who can make a name for themselves, and in so doing, make a name for the College. Most likely, we would also develop more alumni who can give back with some body of cultural or creative work or otherwise invest in the College."
In many ways, the Henle Scholars are ahead of where Henle was at their age. Growing up in an IBM family in Hyde Park, a small town in New York's Hudson Valley where IBM was a dominant force, Henle entered Union as an electrical engineering student.
Engineering was his father's preference, not his. But going to a liberal arts school, Henle knew he'd have plenty of other options if things didn't work and he decided to go his own way.
Which he did.
After four terms, he switched to economics (known then as industrial economics). That helped lay the groundwork for a successful career in the upper echelons of global finance.
Grant Hall, admissions
After graduation, he did a stint in the garment business and worked at Irving Trust, a commercial bank, where he met his wife, Joan. The two later went on to earn their MBAs from NYU.
In 1980, Henle began what would become a quarter-century affiliation with the investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, starting in the security sales department and moving through the ranks. In 2001, he was named global head of Private Wealth Management, a service for investors with substantial assets. Currently, he heads DLH Capital, a family investment firm.
Though his gift to Union is substantial — $2 million to endow the new scholarship program — Henle has left the selection process to the College. "I don't want to be opining or sticking my two cents in," he said. "I didn't have a preconceived notion of who the recipients would be.
"I feel great about doing this. These students are young, full of energy, smart and very motivated. I hope I can stay involved and have some influence in their careers beyond Union."
Now, about that handshake…
About the David L. Henle Merit Scholarship
The new David L. Henle Merit Scholarship endowment makes it possible for Union to recognize and support student scholars who demonstrate a unique combination of outstanding talents, accomplishments, academic excellence and the promise of exceptional contribution and commitment to the College community. Each Henle Scholarship is awarded to incoming freshmen for four years of full-time undergraduate study. After the program’s pilot year, the program endowment will enable the College to identify and award between two and six Henle scholars each year.
Some of the biggest names in chemistry were there. Researchers. Scholars. Public health officials. Policy makers.
And so were Union students.
American Chemical Society, March 2006, Uluski, Schaeffer, Sparks, Gehrig, Paludi
They did more than simply sit at tables, periodic and otherwise. A dozen students, accompanied by four College faculty members, presented their research in Atlanta recently at the 231st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). With more than 158,000 members, it's the world's largest scientific society dedicated to a single discipline.
“Participation in a national meeting on this scale is a very valuable experience for our undergraduate students,” said Mary Carroll, director of undergraduate research and professor of chemistry.
Even with more than 13,000 people on hand and some 8,000 presentations made, the Union contingent didn't go unnoticed.
“Many of the Union students presented in divisions that were made up of mostly graduate students, which really made our school stand out from the rest,” said senior Aaron Phillips. “Many people who visited our posters were surprised to hear that we were still undergraduates.”
Aaron Phillips, left, and Andrew Dikan, American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting, spring 2006
Valuable feedback
Phillips' project used aerogels as the hosts for a specific chemical probe that exhibits different fluorescence intensities in the presence of oxygen, as opposed to a non-oxygenated environment.
“One of the benefits of going to the ACS meeting was that I was given the chance to present my research in front of others who had a wide variety of backgrounds in chemistry,” he said. “Many of these people were able to give me valuable feedback on new things to try in the lab or even to commend the work I was doing.”
Sarah Sparks, American Chemical Society (ACS), Spring 2006 poster presentation
Sarah Sparks, president of the Union Chemistry Club, agreed.
“ACS was one of the best and most helpful experiences I have ever had as a chemist – and it was by far the best experience I have had as an undergraduate,” Sparks said. “It puts all the chemistry you learn into perspective, and it's inspiring because you discover that people other than your advisor are interested in your work. Getting together with so many chemists who do so many different things gave me a new appreciation for chemistry as a whole.”
A chemistry major and mathematics minor who serves as the Minerva Council student representative for Green House, Sparks has been accepted to a number of graduate programs in chemistry.
Club awarded
While at the ACS meeting, Sparks accepted the “Commendable Student Affiliate Chapter” award for the chemistry club. It's the 12th straight year the club has received an award at the conference, and it's on display in the Chemistry Department.
Brandon Knight, ACS meeting, spring 2006, American Chemical Society poster presentation
Other students who made presentations at the ACS conference were: seniors Gordon Carlson, Andrew Dikan, Kristina Gehring, Thomas Hickernell, Brandon Knight, David Olson, Jennifer Paludi, Michael Popowich, Ian Schaefer and Richard Uluski. All are majors in chemistry, biochemistry or biology. Junior Aaron Almeida, who performed research with Prof. Joanne Kehlbeck last summer, attended without presenting.
Chemistry faculty who attended included Carroll, Michael Hagerman, David Hayes and Kehlbeck.
American Chemical Society – ACS – poster presentation, spring 2006, Prof. Joanne Kehlbeck, left, with Jennifer Paludi 06
Hager and Kehlbeck jointly presented a poster in the Colloids Division session, while Carroll participated in meetings of the Society Committee on Education before the conference began.
“All Union students participated in every aspect of the conference,” said Carroll.
This included areas of chemistry familiar to them from the Union curriculum, such as analytical chemistry, biochemistry and inorganic chemistry, and areas that are not familiar, such as archaeological applications of chemistry, chemistry and law, and catalysis.
“I gained knowledge and excitement for non-traditional careers in chemistry I never knew existed,” said Sparks.
Collaborative research
Several students worked collaboratively. Olson, a chemistry major and Goldwater scholar, is working on a project with Joanne Kehlbeck in Chemistry and Barbara Danowski in Biology.
Dikan, a chemistry major with a minor in Russian, is working under Carroll's direction in the aerogels lab on a project with a scientist from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Schaefer, a double major in chemistry and physics, is conducting research that spans both these disciplines, working with Hagerman and Prof. Michael Carpenter from the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany.
Popowich, a biochemistry major, presented a poster titled, “Characterization of Quantum Dots as FRET Donors in DNA Hairpin Probes.” He is working in Brian Cohen's lab in the Biology Department and collaborating with Hagerman in chemistry on HHMI-funded nanotechnology research involving quantum dots.
“I really enjoyed the conference because I got to see the top research in the fields I'm interested in,” Popowich said. “And for the first time, I got feedback from my research from people in the private sector. That was cool because they were very interested in what I was doing.”
Student travel to the ACS event was supported by several sources, including IEF grants, Dean of Undergraduate Education Kimmo Rosenthal, individual faculty members' research grants, and the departments of Chemistry and Biology.
Stephen Leavitt, vice president for Student Affairs, is seeking nominations for the new Roger Hull Community Service Award, to be given to the senior who has rendered the greatest sustained service to the Schenectady community. Contact Leavitt at leavitts@union.edu; ext. 6116. Hull served as Union president from 1990 to 2005.
Exhibit: William J. Stillman's “The Athenian Acropolis”
An undergraduate research conference in Classics wil be held on Friday, April 21, in honor of Rome's traditional birthday and in conjunction with “The Athenian Acropolis: Photographs by William James Stillman (Class of 1848), An Exhibition in Memory of Professor Christina Elliott Sorum (1944-2005),” which opens today.
Sorum Guest Professor Andrew Szegedy-Maszak will give a workshop on the Stillman photographs for students at 10:15 a.m. Friday.
Following that, 12 students from Union, Colgate, Hamilton and Skidmore will read papers on topics ranging from ancient Egypt to classical influences on recent films and modern battle strategies.
Szegedy-Maszak is the Classical Studies and Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek at Wesleyan. He worked in Union's archives during summer 2004 and later published his research results.
Conference events are organized by the Classics Department, in part through an anonymous donor who created the Christina Elliott Sorum Guest Professorship in Classics.
Events will be held in the Nott and at Memorial Chapel. For more information, contact Hans-Friedrick Mueller, Classics chair, at muellerh@union.edu.
