Lorraine Morales Cox, assistant professor of Contemporary Art & Theory, conducted a conversation with artist Demetrius Oliver in the New York State Museum's Huxley Theater in Albany last week. Oliver's work is part of “Represent: Selections from the Studio Museum in Harlem,” on view through Feb. 27. Oliver, whose work includes photography, sculpture and performance, is an artist-in-residence at the museum.
Read MoreMatsue receives book contract
Jennifer Matsue, professor of Music and East Asian Studies, has received a contract for her book, “Making Music in Japan's Underground: The Tokyo Hardcore Scene,” which will be part of Routledge's East Asia: History, Politics, Law, Sociology Series. Matsue returns to Japan this spring to finish field work on the topic and plans to complete the manuscript this summer. The book is expected to be in print by spring or summer 2008.
Read MoreBioengineering Center ribbon-cutting, talks slated
A host of activities are planned this week in conjunction with the grand opening of Union's new Department of Bioengineering and Computational Biology, headquartered in renovated Butterfield Hall.
On Wednesday, author and biologist Steven Vogel of Duke University will deliver the keynote address, “Power from the People: Life When Muscle Was Our Main Motor” at 7 p.m. at the Nott Memorial. A reception will follow. Vogel's talk is part of the College's Perspectives at the Nott series.
On Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Vogel will give a joint Biology and Mechanical Engineering lecture titled “Flower Stems to Feather Shafts: Twisting in the Wind Without Getting Bent out of Shape” in Olin 115. It is sponsored by the departments of Biology, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering and Computer and Electrical Engineering.
The lecture will be followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception in Butterfield Hall (first floor) at 2 p.m.
After the reception, at 3 p.m., Vogel will join a roundtable discussion on “The Role of Bioengineering in Undergraduate Biology Education” in Everest Lounge. Panelists include Gary Gillis of Mount Holyoke, Amy Johnson of Bowdoin College, John Long of Vassar and Wolf von Maltzahn, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, RPI.
Biology Professor Steven Rice said the new center will transform the way students learn about the sciences.
“Whether evaluating structural properties of novel composites for use in surgical implants or deciphering neural sensory signals in lizards, the Center provides opportunities for students to engage with interdisciplinary research in emerging fields at Union,” Rice said. “In addition the Center places undergraduates in research experiences at partnering institutions, including Syracuse University, RPI and the Wadsworth Center.
Union's new academic department is funded through a $1.5 million grant to Union College from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Read MoreResearch fellowship deadline near
Union College Summer Research Fellowship applications, including letters of support from faculty members, are due to Barb Tricozzi (S-100) by 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 8. Each faculty member recently received one copy of the student application form, attached to the program announcement. Additional copies are available from Tricozzi and on the Web at http://www.union.edu/undergrad_research/summer/. Each application requires a letter about the student's potential for successfully completing the project. The Committee on Undergraduate Research will use the letter as a determining factor in selecting students, and as such, letters that convey the strengths of the students and their proposals are especially valuable. Faculty members must affirm that they have at least 240 hours of student work (for a full fellowship) or 120 hours of work (half fellowship) and that they will be able to meet with the student regularly throughout the fellowship period.
Noted newsman Charles Gibson to speak at Commencement
c. ABC, Inc.
For millions, he's a familiar, even lovable, face. For some 500 students and their families in the Class of 2007, he'll be the one to formally offer advice and insight as they transition from campus to life outside academia.
Charles Gibson, the anchor of ABC's World News, former Good Morning America anchor and one of the most distinguished journalists working in television today, will be the featured speaker at this year's Commencement. The College's 213th ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Sunday, June 17, in Hull Plaza.
“I am delighted that Charlie has agreed to do this,” said Union Trustee Philip R. Beuth '54, former executive at Capital Cities/ABC who hired Gibson 20 years ago and has remained close friends with him. Beuth retired in 1995 as president of Good Morning America.
Gibson, 63, has more than 40 years of experience, some 30 of those spent at ABC News. He was covering the House of Representatives for the network in 1986 when he met with Beuth.
“Phil Beuth literally changed my life,” he said. “I hardly knew the man, but he invited me to have a cup of coffee one morning in the ABC cafeteria and out of the blue said, ‘What would you think of being the male host on Good Morning America?' On the scale of surprises, that was off the charts.”
Gibson co-anchored the popular morning program from 1987 to 1998 and then returned to re-launch the program with Diane Sawyer in 1999. He also co-anchored Primetime Thursday, now known as Primetime.
Beuth, one of the College's most generous benefactors, pledged $2 million to support Beuth House in 2004; in 1996, he donated $1 million to support the expansion and renovation of Schaffer Library. When he asked his former anchor to speak at commencement, Gibson told him of his own ties to the College. Gibson's father, Burdett Gibson, graduated in 1923; his uncle, Charles Gibson, whom he is named for, was a member of the Class of 1920. Both men were born in Schenectady.
Gibson was named anchor of World News Tonight last May after the death of longtime anchor Peter Jennings. A native of Evanston, Ill., Gibson grew up in Washington, D.C. and is a graduate of Princeton University, where he was news director for the campus radio station, WPRB-FM. He and his wife, Arlene, live in New York. They have two daughters and a grandson.
For a complete schedule of commencement events, go to http://www.union.edu/Commencement/.
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