Posted on Sep 26, 1997

The faculty welcomes 16 new colleagues. They are:

Grant E. Brown, assistant professor of biology, earned his Ph.D.
from Memorial University of Newfoundland and his bachelor's degree from Lethbridge
University. He has co-authored many articles that have appeared in publications such as
the Canadian Journal of Zoology. His interests include the behavioral ecology of
fishes.

Luzmila Camacho, visiting instructor of Spanish, earned her Ph.D.
from the University at Albany and her master's degree from the University at Malaga,
Spain.

Sara Chazen, visiting assistant professor of theater, received
her master's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and her bachelor's degree
from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She has participated in many
productions both as an actress and as a director.

Chandan DeSarkar, visiting professor of management, earned a
doctorate from Southern Illinois University and a master's degree from the Indian
Institute of Management in India. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Indian
Institute of Technology-Kharagpur in India and has co-authored several publications.
Interests include marketing and information analysis.

Gail Donaldson, visiting instructor of psychology, received her
Ph.D. from York University and her master's degree from the New School for Social
Research. Donaldson earned her bachelor's degree from Edinburgh University. She has
authored several works that have appeared in such publications as the Journal of the
History of the Behavioral Sciences. Her interests include child analysis.

Jason Dunn, visiting professor of physics, earned his Ph.D. as
well as his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis. He has
co-authored many presentations and publications. His interests include hardware
preparation as well as cooperative learning techniques.

Jianping Feng, visiting instructor of Chinese, earned her
master's degree as well as a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University. She
has received numerous honors for instruction at Harvard University.

Michael Hagerman, assistant professor of chemistry, received his
Ph.D. and master's degree from Northwestern University. He earned his bachelor's
degree from North Central College. He has co-authored articles that have appeared in such
publications as the Chemistry of Materials. Hagerman's interests include
chemical analysis as well as the history of science.

Christine M. LaPlante, assistant professor of civil engineering,
earned her Ph.D., master's and bachelor's degrees at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. He research interests include environmental studies.

Lori Jo Marso, assistant professor of political science, received
her Ph.D. from New York University. She earned her master's degree from the London
School of Economics and her bachelor's degree from the University of South Dakota.
She has authored articles that have appeared in such publications as The Journal of
Political Philosophy. Her interests include gender studies and works by Rousseau.

Michael Meckler, visiting assistant professor of classics, earned
a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He earned his master's degree from the
University of Chicago and his bachelor's degree from Princeton University. He has
authored several papers that have appeared in publications such as The Demography of
Roman Egypt. His interests include Roman history and archaeology.

Beth Morling, visiting assistant professor of psychology,
received her Ph.D. and a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst. She earned her bachelor's degree from Carleton College. She has co-authored
numerous works that have appeared in such publications as the Encyclopedia of Human
Behavior. Her interests include environmental reality as well as cultural influence.

Edward Pavlic, instructor of English, earned his master's
degree and bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has
authored several articles that have appeared in such publication as the African
American Review. His interests include African-American studies as well as African
folklore.

Barbara Pytel, visiting professor of biology, received her Ph.D.
and master's degree from New York University. She received her bachelor's degree
from St. John's University and has co-authored many publications. Her interests
include frogs as well as neuropathologic observations.

Bernardo Torres, visiting instructor of Spanish, earned his
doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Albany. He received his
master's degree and bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at
Binghamton. Torres is the founder and editor of De la letra, a literary magazine
published by graduate students at SUNY Albany.

F. Andrew Wolfe, assistant professor of civil engineering,
received his Ph.D., master's and bachelor's degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. He has co-authored articles which have appeared in publications such as the ASCE
Transportation Engineering Journal. His interests include environmental studies.

Posted on Sep 26, 1997

Schenectady, N.Y. (Sept. 26, 1997) – Jürgen Habermas, one of the greatest social thinkers of the century, will give a speech titled “Learning from Catastrophes? — A Brief Look Back at the Short Twentieth Century” on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Union College's Nott Memorial.

Habermas, a well-known German philosopher and leading representative of the Frankfurt school of critical theory, has refashioned thinking about technology and culture, politics and postmodernism, law and democracy. His scholarly work, which includes critical analysis of contemporary society, ranges across many of the humanities and social sciences. The author of numerous books and articles, he is perhaps best known for his books Knowledge and Human Interests, Postmetaphysical Thinking, and Between Facts and Norms.

In his talk at Union, Habermas will examine the peculiar face of the twentieth century (between 1914 and 1989) characterized by the Cold War, Decolonization, and the reduction of class conflict against the background of changing trends in demographic growth, in technology, and in patterns of production. Committed to illuminating living controversies, Habermas will consider the challenges now posed to the fragile welfare-state compromise by the stresses and dislocations of economic globalization. Finally, he will ask the question, is there any viable alternative to the neoconservative response?

Habermas will be a guest at Union for one week, leading discussions and seminars for Union faculty and students.

The lecture on Thursday evening is free and open to the public. The sixteen-sided Nott Memorial is located at the center of campus and parking is available on campus and on nearby sidestreets.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

The College has successfully concluded its $150 million Bicentennial Campaign, one of the largest fundraising efforts ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.

The campaign, announced publicly in April, 1991, received
gifts and commitments totaling $151,135,150.

The successful conclusion of the campaign was announced by
President Roger H. Hull at the College's opening convocation on Monday.

“The promise of Union's future is to build upon
its past achievements,” Hull said. “To do that, we must have the resources that
make a college great — superb faculty, innovative academic programs, motivated
students, and first-rate facilities. The success of this campaign helps us in each area
and gives enormous impetus as we enter our third century of service.”

During the campaign, the College's endowment
increased from $80 million to $200 million.

President Hull said the true value of the campaign is
measured in more than just dollars and cents. “We are delighted by the numerical
accomplishments, but the real success story is how they are translated into improvements
for our students, our faculty, and our campus,” he said. “Fortunately, the list
of improvements is a long one.”

(Details of the campaign will appear in this month's
issue of the College magazine.)

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

o Sept. 27, 8
p.m., Memorial Chapel. The Schenectady Museum-Union College chamber concert series opens
with the Borromeo String Quartet with Colin Carr, cello, performing works by Schubert.

o Sept. 29, 7:30
p.m., Nott Memorial. Andrea Barrett '74, winner of the National Book Award last year
for Ship Fever and Other Stories, will describe her work on a new novel about an
arctic explorer.

o Through Oct.
19, Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial. Exhibition of sculpture, furniture and jewelry by
internationally-known artist Daniel Barrett of Schenectady. Gallery talk and reception on
Sept. 18 at 3 p.m.

o Through Oct.
30, Arts Atrium. Paintings and drawings by Barbara Mungall.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

President Roger Hull urged members of the Union community to join together in elevating the College to “the next level of excellence.”

Union is a college that teaches theory and practices its applications, he told the audience at the convocation to start the College's 203rd
year on Monday. Examples include a sustained effort to foster study abroad that has made
Union one of the top dozen colleges in America, broad support for undergraduate research
and encouragement of community service by students.

The capstone effort, he said, “must be to bring
liberal arts and technology together so that, in fact and not only word, all of our
students will be broadly educated and technologically aware.”

Noting the improvements to come with the addition of the
F.W. Olin Center and an expanded Schaffer Library, the president said that Union is at
“an ideal point where we can — at last — turn our attention to bridging the
two cultures at Union and setting a national example and standard.”

The convocation also saw:

o the
investiture of Walter J. Hatke as the May Baker Professor of Fine Arts;

o the awarding
of the Stillman Prize for Excellence in Teaching to Assistant Professor Ashraf M. Ghaly of
the Civil Engineering Department (Ghaly announced he will use the funds to create a prize
in civil engineering.);

o the honoring
of 602 students whose grade point averages last year earned them Dean's List honors;

o the awarding
of the Phi Beta Kappa award for excellence in General Education to Nikhil Sudan '00,
and honorable mention to Sarah Shoemaker '00.

Posted on Sep 12, 1997

President Roger Hull opened the first faculty meeting of the year on Tuesday by stressing the importance of undergraduate research, international study and community service. In addition, he stated the need to develop social alternatives.

He congratulated the faculty on their commitment to undergraduate research, citing the 46 students who attended the National Conference on
Undergraduate Research, “one of the largest contingents for any college, regardless
of size.” He also praised the Steinmetz Symposium, which last year had presentations
from some 250 students, calling it “the best day of the year on this campus.”

Of Terms Abroad offerings, he urged the development of
more exchange programs. They are less expensive to the College than study abroad programs,
he said, and they allow students to rejoin the campus without “double culture
shock.”

He reiterated the College's commitment to community
service beginning with the annual community service day by freshmen. “Turning
students loose on this city is good for the city and good for the students,” he said.
“This city is starting to change and will change dramatically in the next three
years.”

Hull applauded the success of Theme Houses and social
alternatives like last year's fashion show and garden party for providing a range of
social alternatives to an increasingly diverse student body.

He also announced that the campus community will have a
celebration on Oct. 24 for the successful completion of the $150 million Bicentennial
Campaign.

Dean of Faculty Linda Cool announced that Andrew Curran of
modern languages, and Dianne McMullen of music were named MacArthur Assistant Professors.
Funded by the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the distinction honors junior
faculty who show great promise.

Cool, who on Monday presented the Stillman Prize for
Excellence in Teaching to Ashraf Ghaly, cited five other finalists for the award: Bonney
MacDonald, English; Eshragh Motahar, economics; Seyfollah Maleki, physics; Karl
Zimmermann, mathematics; and Bradley Jordan, modern languages.

She also announced that 31 honors scholars had entered
with the Class of 2001 in a program to be taught by Joyce Madancy, Hugh Jenkins and Scott
Scullion. Three multimedia classrooms – two in Humanities and a third under
development in Steinmetz 106 – will be used by students and faculty this year.

The College is about to embark on accreditation studies by
the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology for engineering, the American
Association of Collegiate Schools of Business for the Graduate Management Institute, and
Middle States Association of Colleges.

Cool also announced new administrative appointments:
Virginia Solomon as coordinator of instructional technology; Rachel Seligman, director of
Mandeville Gallery; David Hannay, acting dean of engineering; Rebecca Fisher, language
laboratory coordinator; Thomas McFadden, director of Schaffer Library; and Joseph Zolner
'76, director of GMI.

The faculty discussed a proposal from the Academic Affairs
Council for a revision in class schedule that would create a lunch period for all days but
Friday. Faculty will continue to discuss details of the proposal with the intention of
implementing a change in the upcoming winter term.

The faculty welcomed 16 new colleagues on Tuesday. They
will be profiled in the next issue of the Chronicle.