Posted on Sep 21, 2006

From the gleaming red 1939 Alvis in which President Stephen Ainlay and his wife, Judith, arrived, to tables filled with sumptuous delicacies to the dazzling fireworks, Saturday's Inaugural Gala was a night to remember.

“The Gala was by far the most impressive event I've attended at Union,” said Ross Marvin '07, who joined the festivities with seven of his friends. “It reminded me of a different era.”

“It was spectacular,” agreed Ross Wheeler '08, who happily donned his tux for the occasion. “Very posh, with great music, especially Sinatra.”

“Wonderful,” came the praise from Michael D'Amario '80, who attended with his wife, Valerie, director of UCALL. “The food was phenomenal, and it was great to see the student entertainers, the period costumes and the fireworks behind the Nott Memorial.”

D'Amario, a labor union executive in Latham, N.Y., also enjoyed reminiscing with former professors and meeting President Ainlay, whom he found “easy to talk to and down-to-earth.”

After the last strains of music and sparkle of fireworks faded, what remained for this enthusiastic alum, however, were impressions of Saturday morning's official installation of Ainlay as Union's 18^th president.

“I love Union, and I had such a great campus experience, but I never appreciated the history of the college when I was a student,” D'Amario said. “I was fascinated to hear President Ainlay talk about Secretary of State Seward and the other great Union alumni.

“I'm really awed by the College's history.”

For more on the Inauguration, visit http://www.union.edu/inauguration/

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Posted on Sep 21, 2006

Tarik Wareh, assistant professor of Classics, and Lisa Warenski, assistant professor of Philosophy, have been named John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Assistant Professors, a fellowship that supports new and promising faculty members.

Wareh came to Union in 2005. He earned a Ph.D. in classics from the University of California at Berkeley with a dissertation on “Practical Philosophical Politics in Plato and Isocrates.” He has held teaching positions at St. Olaf College, Dartmouth and Indiana University.

Warenski came to Union in 2004. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her teaching and research interests focus on epistemology, metaphysics and the philosophy of science. She is working on several projects in the epistemology of logic.

The College has recognized more than 30 MacArthur Assistant Professors since 1982, after receiving a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  

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Posted on Sep 21, 2006

Doug Klein, director of Converging Technologies, has been named dean of Interdisciplinary Studies and Special Programs.

In his expanded role, Klein will provide administrative oversight of the College's 15 interdisciplinary programs, including spearheading the continued development of programs that integrate engineering and liberal arts (Converging Technologies). Among other responsibilities, he will promote Union's ID programs, advocate for necessary resources and coordinate the science and engineering facilities planning committee.

“The redefinition of Doug's responsibilities has been motivated by a desire to strengthen interdisciplinary programs,” said Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Therese McCarty.

Kimmo Rosenthal, dean of undergraduate students, has been appointed to the Minerva Council to help facilitate communications with Academic Affairs. He also will serve as the point person for the Leadership in Medicine program this year and as Academic Affairs liaison for the Posse program.

The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits and trains student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams. These “Posses” are then prepared for enrollment at top-tier colleges nationwide to pursue their academics and help promote cross-cultural communication on campus.

Maggie Tongue, director of postgraduate fellowships, will serve as mentor for the first group of Posse students at Union this year.

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Posted on Sep 19, 2006

 

Professor Stephen Schiffer of New York University kicks off this year's Philosophy Speaker Series with a talk Thursday, “Concepts and the A Priori.”

The discussion begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Schaffer Library Phi Beta Kappa Room and is free and open to the public.

Professor Schiffer works primarily in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics. He is the author of several influential articles and of three books: “Meaning” (Oxford University Press, 1972); “Remnants of Meaning” (MIT Press, 1987); and “The Things We Mean” (Oxford University Press, 2003). Thursday's talk will focus on the epistemology of logical truth.

Here is the rest of the schedule for the series, which is sponsored by the Philosophy Department. All talks will be held in the Schaffer Library Phi Beta Kappa Room:

Oct. 5 (6:30 p.m.)

Stephen Stich, Rutgers University

“Altruism, Evolution, and Ethics”

 

Oct. 19 (4:30 p.m.)

Russ Shafer-Landau, Univ. of Wisconsin

“Challenges to Moral Realism”

 

Nov. 2 (4:30 p.m.)

Owen Flanagan, Duke University

“A Dialogue with the Dalai Lama about Evolution and the Nature of Consciousness”

 

Jan. 18 (4:30 p.m.)

Peter Railton, University of Michigan

“Desire, Happiness, and Morality”

 

Feb. 1 (4:30 p.m.)

Stephanie Beardman, Barnard College (Columbia)

“Emotions and Deliberative Reason”

 

Feb. 15 (4:30p.m.)

Manfred Kuehn, Boston University

“Kantian Ethics and the Problem of Normativity”

 

March 1 (6:30 p.m.)

Bas van Fraassen, Princeton University

“Structualism and the Physical World Picture”

 

Apr. 12 (4:30p.m.)

Sharon Street, NYU

“Objectivity and Truth: You'd Better Rethink It”

 

Apr. 26 (4:30p.m.)

David Velleman, NYU

“Regarding as Rational”

 

May 10 (4:30 p.m.)

Steven Ross, CUNY

“When Worlds Collide: Mental State Naturalism and Normative Attribution”

 

May 24 (4:30 p.m.)

Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin

“Ticking Bombs and Interrogations”

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Posted on Sep 19, 2006

SCHENECTADY — Union College students, faculty and alumni welcomed their new president Saturday in an inauguration during which Stephen C. Ainlay promised to uphold a long tradition of scholarship as well as intellectual and human diversity.

“I am thrilled to have been selected as the 18th president of Union College and I understand the weighty responsibility of leading an institution of such academic distinction,” said Ainlay, 55.

 He comes to Union from College of The Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., where he was vice president for academic affairs and professor of sociology. Ainlay succeeds Roger Hull, who stepped down in June 2005 after 15 years. James Underwood, a professor emeritus of political science, was interim president.

Speaking in the school's Memorial Chapel, Ainlay reflected on Union College's storied history and the illustrious list of alumni. His list included William Seward, who has been the topic of renewed interest thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin's “A Team of Rivals,” which explores the administration of Abraham Lincoln.

Seward lost the Republican nomination for president to Lincoln in 1860 but rather than bitterly walking away, he joined the administration, served as secretary of state and became a paragon of teamwork and self sacrifice.

That spirit, said Ainlay, epitomizes the approximately 2,100-student Union College, forming part of its “institutional ethos.”

Ainlay also gave a nod to others from the school, including Eliphalet Nott, for whom the distinctive 16-sided Nott Memorial building is named.

“For the record and to scale down expectations, I want to make clear that I have no illusions of matching or exceeding Eliphalet Nott's 61 years as president,” Ainlay said with a chuckle.

Regardless of tenure, William R. Brody, president of The Johns Hopkins University, and one of the speakers introducing the new president, said he expects Ainlay to have a demanding but fulfilling time.

“Being a college president,” Brody said. “Is the best job in the world.”

  

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