Posted on Mar 11, 2009

Posted on Mar 11, 2009

A generous gift from Jim Lippman ’79 and his wife, Linda, will support a major renovation of the Social Sciences building that will revitalize the teaching and learning environment of one of the most heavily used academic buildings on campus.

The building will be renamed Lippman Hall in honor of Jim Lippman’s father, Robert G. Lippman ’50.

“We are enormously grateful to the Lippmans,” said President Stephen C. Ainlay. “Their generosity greatly aids our ability to fulfill one of the ambitious goals of our strategic plan – honoring the genius and vision of the original Ramée campus plan by constructing and renovating academic space that supports our mission.”

The renovations are an important component of the College’s comprehensive campus plan. They will include “smart classrooms” that employ state-of-the-art technology and will support the work of faculty and students both within and across departments. In any given week in the building, more than 40 faculty members collectively spend more than 3,000 hours with students, who are taught to think and write critically, analyze and solve problems, and become thoughtful, engaged citizens. 

Renovations are expected to begin in January 2011 and be completed before the end of the year.

Opened in 1967, the Social Sciences building houses classrooms and faculty offices for the departments of Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, Political Science and History. In addition, it is a hub for interdisciplinary programs that draw on the wide range of Union’s offerings. The Lippmans’ gift embraces the College’s commitment to many of the academic disciplines that are the lifeblood of a top-tier liberal arts college. 

“My application essay for Union was about the value of making lifelong friends in college, just like my dad did when he was here,” said Jim Lippman. “And sure enough, all my closest friends today are Union alumni.  This is a way of paying back the many gifts Union has given me and my family.”

Lippman is chairman and CEO of JRK Property Holdings, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate firm he founded in 1992. The company has 1,500 employees and manages a portfolio valued at more than $3.5 billion, with more than $300 million in annual revenues.

At Union, Lippman was a member of the Economic Honor Society and the men’s varsity tennis team, and a coach for women’s varsity tennis. He earned his bachelor of arts in economics and political science. A longtime supporter of the College, he was awarded the Alumni Gold Medal in 2004 for “passionate and dedicated commitment to Union.” He has served as the chairman of the 25th Class ReUnion and the Annual Fund Leadership Committee.

Lippman’s father, Robert, retired as director of marketing for Campus Sportswear. Robert pioneered the use of sports licensing as a major marketing tool. At one point, Robert managed licenses for the NFL, NBA, MLB, USTA, NHL, National Hot Rod Association and Harlem Globe Trotters. He also developed marketing programs for several major college teams, many which are still in effect today.

He also worked with Cove Point Realty in Oyster Bay, N.Y., which was founded by his wife, Barbara. At Union, Robert was a member of Phi Sigma Delta, the Interfraternity Council and Student Council. He received a bachelor of arts in economics.

Other Lippmans who are members of the Union family are Jim’s brother, Donald ’82, who majored in history at Union, and his niece, Meredith Lippman ’09, an English major.

Jim Lippman and his wife have three children: Alexandra, Matthew and Daniel. Matthew will become the newest Lippman member of the Union family this fall when he joins the Class of 2013.

The Lippman gift upholds Union’s vision statement, which positions the College to be a “leader in educating students to be engaged, innovative and ethical contributors to an increasingly diverse, global and technologically complex society.”

It comes during the College’s $250 million You are Union campaign, which has raised more than $160 million to date. The recently expanded campaign is forging ahead with new momentum for significant initiatives tied to the College’s Strategic Plan.

Posted on Mar 10, 2009

When scientists and artists get together, good things can happen. Just ask anyone who attended the “Scanning Electron Microscopy Show” Tuesday afternoon in Olin Atrium.

The event was the culmination of collaboration between students in Frontiers of Nanotechnology and students in Photography II. Members of both classes displayed and discussed images they captured using the scanning electron microscope this term. Photography students also displayed pictures they’d taken with traditional cameras, juxtaposing the two types of images on their posters.

In Frontiers of Nanotechnology, co-taught by electrical engineering professor Palma Catravas, biology professor Brian Cohen and chemistry professor Michael Hagerman, students learned to operate the microscope. They did so using materials provided by David Frye of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union professors Seyffie Maleki, Kathleen LoGiudice and Sam Amanuel. Some materials studied during microscopy labs, which were co-developed with Mark Hooker, also came from Photography II students.

“The samples provided by the photography students presented interesting imaging challenges,” Catravas said of items like phone books and paper bags. “They helped nanotechnology students master different microscopy techniques.”

Photography students also learned to use the microscope themselves.

“It was very interesting, I never see things that close up,”  said Alec Rosen '10, a psychology major in the photography class. “It showed me that there are different perspectives, different ways of looking at things.”

Yohan Dupuis, an electrical engineering student at Union Graduate College, was also fascinated by the images the microscope displays.

“As engineers, we usually see how technology works, but this nanotechnology class focused on something different,” he said. “It was like, not learning how a TV works, but learning what’s inside a TV on the molecular level.”

Visual arts professor Martin Benjamin, who taught the photography course, agrees that the microscope introduces students to a whole new realm of knowledge.

“If you’re a visual artist trying to create art, the more input you get on all facets of the world, the better off you are,” he said. “In this case, for instance, you’re seeing things in a way you can’t ever see them with your eyes.”

Posted on Mar 5, 2009

Stephen J. Schmidt, professor of economics and chair of the Economics Department, has been awarded the inaugural Byron A. Nichols Endowed Fellowship for Faculty Development.

The fellowship, which covers a two-year period beginning in September, is designed to support College faculty in developing programs and skills that enhance intellectual, social and personal interactions with students.

In his application, Schmidt proposed a new course on normative economics, which is the study or presentation of “what ought to be” rather than what actually is. With its primary focus on value judgments, normative economics complements more commonly discussed positive economics, which focuses on questions that can be answered through empirical investigation.

“The course would give students the tools to question conventional arguments about the way the economy should operate and require them to use those tools to decide whether to accept those arguments or not,” Schmidt wrote in his proposal. “They would see the connections between different moral and ethical values, and different social choices, and be required to decide for themselves which choices to support based on what values they find compelling.”

In selecting Schmidt’s proposal, a member of the selection committee predicted that “this course could become one of the most popular offerings in the Social Sciences.”

In addition to supporting the development of this new course, the fellowship will support related library acquisitions.

Schmidt joined the College in 1994. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

The fellowship was created in honor of Nichols, a popular political science professor at the College from 1968 to 2008. More than 100 of his friends, colleagues and former students, led by Susan Mullaney Maycock ’72 and former Union Professor Alan Maycock, have contributed to the fellowship.

Posted on Mar 5, 2009