Fernando Orellana, visiting professor of visual arts, was named Best New-Media Artist by Metroland. The magazine said his work is “both funny and sobering.” Orellana is developing a cross-disciplinary digital arts program between visual arts and computer science.
Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, was commissioned to write the female choir test piece for the renowned Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales. While at the July event, which features competitors from more than 50 countries, she gave a talk to the Friends of the Festival.
A paper by Rebecca Koopmann, associate professor of physics, appeared in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on Aug. 1. The paper is titled “A 500 kpc HI Tail of the Virgo Pair NGC4532/DDO137 Detected by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Survey.”
The Aug. 4 issue of The New Yorker featured a piece on the new book by Brenda Wineapple, “White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson.” The book was favorably reviewed by The New York Times on Sunday, Aug. 24. Wineapple, the Doris Zemurray Stone Professor of Modern Literary and Historical Studies, discussed the book on campus in the spring.
William Finlay, chairman of the Theater and Dance Department, directed “As Y’all Like It” for the Saratoga Shakespeare Company in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, in July. Patricia Culbert, an artist-in-residence in the department, played Celia, and Anna Finlay '12 choreographed the production. William Finlay is the company’s co-founder and artistic director.
Joseph P. Nimon '07 and Sarah Westen '09 joined Cay Anderson-Hanley, assistant professor of psychology, in presenting “Neuropsychological Effects of Low-Impact Exercise for Community-Dwelling Older Adults” at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Diego. The research evolved from collaboration among Anderson-Hanley’s Healthy Aging & Neuropsychology Research Lab, the Senior Health and Wellness Program of Catholic Charities of Schenectady County and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in the Capital Region. Alessandro Carini '07 and Lyndsay DeMatteo '10 also assisted with the research.
Gretchel Hathaway Tyson, senior director for Campus Diversity and Affirmative Action, gave a keynote address at the New York State Association of College Admission Counselors (NYSACAC) ”Coming Together” Conference at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., in June. She spoke on “Bringing Together a Diverse Student Body: Getting Them Here, Keeping Them Here.” NYSACAC Executive Board member James Luciano, assistant dean of Admissions and interim director of Multicultural Recruitment, also attended the conference.
The Sept. 5 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education includes excerpts from the speech by President Stephen C. Ainlay, titled “Engineering and New Ways of Thinking,” delivered at the symposium on engineering and liberal education held at Union in May. The excerpts are part of a commentary on “Engineering and the Liberal Arts: Strangers No Longer,” which cites views by a number of college presidents.