Posted on Mar 2, 2009

For Joseph James ’69, the Purpose Prize is aptly named. The $100,000 national prize given last December honored his ongoing work in South Carolina but also reflects the driving purpose behind his career.  

Dating back to his days as a one-time chemistry student at Union and continuing through his 35-year career in economic development, James has been inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King’s vision of equal rights and economic advancement for African Americans.

James talked about King’s legacy in a 1996 Union College magazine profile. And he cites it again in a three-minute video made by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco think tank that gives out the Purpose Prize.

“I guess it was in my junior year [that]Martin Luther King was killed, at a time when he was working on the economics of being a free person,” James recalled. “It became very clear to me that, although I loved science, I didn’t want to spend my life in a lab. I wanted to be involved with the community, particularly on the economic side.”

The prize is given each year to five Americans over 60 who are working to solve society’s biggest challenges. James was honored for his economic development initiative, “The Greening of Black America—A Rural Development Opportunity,” which is focused on North Carolina and South Carolina.

In 2002 James left his work in economic development in suburban Washington, D.C. and moved to Columbia, S.C. to take a job with the state’s Commerce Department. By 2004, James saw that by shedding the hindrances of state bureaucracy he could have a broader impact on the African American farming community. He left his job, formed the Corporation for Economic Opportunity, and has since helped lead efforts like the South Carolina Biomass Council that encourage farmers to produce oil seed crops like sunflower, sesame and canola seeds to produce “green” products like biodiesel fuel.

“Rural communities now have assets, like farmland and forests, that are going to be in much higher demand. As we all rush toward that resource, the challenge becomes that we make sure that we do it in such a way that we are lifting everyone up instead of trying to get around them,” James said.

The “Greening of Black America” project aims to connect black farmers directly with urban consumers via efforts like food markets and to boost income by helping farmers crow crops to sell in the bioenergy market.

Beyond his nonprofit work, James has launched a for-profit company called Agri-Tech Producers. The company has recently secured an exclusive license to manufacture a machine, designed at North Carolina State University, that can convert biomass like wood chips into a more energy dense, dry and more valuable fuel or feedstock. This mobile torrefaction machine could reduce transportation costs and help farmers leverage the emerging energy value of their crops. James’ new business venture has rekindled his love for pure science.

“My dream when I began attending Union was to be a scientist. After Dr. King’s death, I devoted myself to economic development, but I have always held a high regard for science and wanted to get back into it. It’s great now to be able to do both,” he said.

For more: Click here to read a 1996 Union College magazine profile of Joseph James '69.

Posted on Mar 2, 2009

CONTACT US: Send a letter to magazine@union.edu or write to:

Union College magazine

Office of Communications

Schenectady, NY 12308-3169

DEFENDING ACADEMIC INTEGRATION

I read with great amusement the letter from John “Hans” Mentha ’72, which appeared in the Fall 2008 issue (p. 3 “A different perspective”). As a student of biology and philosophy at Union, and now a physician, I feel compelled to respond.

Mr. Mentha states that the “integration of the two disciplines (engineering into the liberal arts) is a bizarre concept,” and goes on to define an academic discipline as “a well-defined body of knowledge within a well-bounded scope.” He then offers physics and electrical engineering as examples of disciplines. He further goes on to devalue the liberal arts as “at best, the aggregate domain of non-science.” How can such a position be genuinely defended?

By Mr. Mentha’s definition, philosophy and English are clearly disciplines. Economics, history, sociology and classics all represent “bodies of knowledge within a well-bounded scope,” do they not?

For me, being a student of philosophy and biology was a special and rewarding time. Having the opportunity to couple the knowledge of the scientific method with ethics of Immanuel Kant, for example, helped to place each discipline in perspective. An understanding of science in the context of liberal arts is the essence of an academic sit mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body).

I can remember all of my humanities professors with ease, as well as both professors who taught me physics. Professors Felmon Davis and Robert Baker are still teaching philosophy. Professor Ennis Pilcher was a terrific physics teacher, as was Professor Ken Schick. Professor Carl George was a uniformly outstanding biology professor, and I recall his class vividly, 22 years later. All of these gentle people assisted me in finding the proper balance and integration of science and liberal arts.

I am heartened that Mr. Mentha knows of Ayn Rand. I wonder if he would acknowledge that individuals like Dorothy Day, Mohandas Gandhi and Charles Dickens “made broad improvements in living standards” without the “application of science in technology.”

It is precisely the integration of science and liberal arts that produces the most well rounded and most intellectually balanced graduates—graduates who can truly make the world a more inhabitable and gentler place.

Joseph P. Damore, Jr. ’87

Joseph P. Damore is a psychiatrist in Bedford Hills, N.Y. and is a member of the voluntary faculty at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital.

REMEMBERING A LOYAL ALUMNUS

In the death this summer of Dr. Anthony Duke Bower ’46 (p. 20, In Memoriam), Union has lost a most supportive son. His devotion to the athletic program took him long distances to cheer on our teams. He made friends wherever he went and his enthusiasm was contagious as a group of Union supporters would become a cheering section. He was just as determined to squelch any demeaning jeers against the opposition. Hockey enthusiasts, please follow his example.

His engaging mind kept him abreast of the current scientific thought concerning our world and he shared his knowledge speaking to many community groups near his New Hampshire home. The lives of many have been enriched by his zest for living. He is sorely missed by family, friends, and his best friend, “Maid Marion.”

Dr. D. Wade Marsters ’46

Dr. D. Wade Marsters is an Albany Medical College graduate and lives in Berwick, Nova Scotia.

Posted on Mar 2, 2009

The Belcea Quartet, a  young, British group considered one of the best quartets of its generation, will take the stage in Memorial Chapel Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m.

General admission tickets to the concert, which is free to members of the Union community, cost $20. Area students may attend for $8.

Violinists Corina Belcea-Fisher and Laura Samuel, cellist Antoine Lederlin and violist Krzysztof Chorzelsk will play pieces by Haydn, Schubert and Britten.

Established at the Royal College of Music in 1994, The Belcea Quartet won first prize at both the Osaka and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competitions in 1999. The ensemble also represented Great Britain in the European Concert Halls Organisation “Rising Stars” series for the 1999-2000 season, following which, it received the Chamber Music Award of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2001 and 2003.

The Belcea Quartet has an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics and won the Gramophone Award for best debut recording in 2001. Most recently, the group recorded the Bartok quartets, for which it received the title Chamber Music Ensemble of the Year by Germany’s prestigious Echo Klassik Awards.

For more information, call 388-6080 or click here.

Posted on Feb 27, 2009

Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, will be a featured guest of the Harvard Festival of Women's Choirs Feb. 27 and 28.

Her composition, "That Jewel-Spirit," will be performed by the Radcliffe Choral Society, conducted by Jameson Marvin. The festival features 12 choirs singing in three concerts, and includes seminars for students, conductors, publishers and composers.

On Sunday, March 1, the Harvard University Choir will give the U.S. premiere performance of "Paradise," a setting of George Herbert's poem first performed by the internationally-known choir, Tenebrae, in June in Wales.

A new release from Beauport Classical called "Metamorphosis" features two of Professor Tann's instrumental compositions, "Like Lightnings" for oboe solo and "Kilvert's Hills" for bassoon solo. Tann's compositions have been selected for preview by NetMusicWorks (www.netmusicworks.com) and she is currently Composer of the Month on Welsh Music Information Center's Web site.

Posted on Feb 27, 2009

The College celebrated Founders Day Thursday by recounting its role during the abolitionist movement and honoring one of the campus’s notable historical figures.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson delivered the keynote address. During the hour-long ceremony in Memorial Chapel, the College unveiled a portrait of Moses Viney, a runaway slave from Maryland who escaped to Schenectady on the Underground Railroad. Viney was a coachman, messenger and constant companion of longtime Union President Eliphalet Nott, who eventually secured his freedom.

Viney’s portrait was painted by Simmie Knox, a renowned African-American artist.

To read the Daily Gazette of Schenectady's story about the events, click here (registration may be required).

The newspaper also wrote a preview about Founders Day, focusing on the life of Viney. To read the story, click here.

Posted on Feb 26, 2009

Thursday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. / Yulman Theater / Dada Café: An evening of selected DaDa readings, directed by Theater and Dance Dept. Director William Finlay, performed by the Studio Company; free and open to the public

Thursday, Feb. 26 – Sunday, Mar. 1 / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition

Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m. / Beuth House / First Philanthropic Night in conjunction with the Union College Kenney Community Center; gathering funds to go towards building a memorial in Washington D.C. in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, raffles for art pieces, speakers and more. Semi-formal attire and an $8 donation recommended. For information and reservations, contact Juan Canales (canalesj@union.edu)

Friday, Feb. 27- Sunday, Mar. 1 / College Park Hall / The Office of the President and the History Department present: “The Underground Railroad: Its Legacies and Our Communities”; organized by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region Inc. Visit www.ugrworkshop.com

Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. St. Lawrence (ECAC contest)

Friday, Feb. 27 – Monday, Mar. 2, 10 p.m. / Reamer Auditorium / Film: “Transporter 3”

Saturday, Feb. 28, 3 p.m. / Viniar Athletic Center / Liberty League Women’s Basketball Championship: Skidmore vs. Union and RPI vs. St. Lawrence

Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. / Messa Rink at Achilles Center / Men’s hockey vs. Clarkson (ECAC contest)

Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m.  / Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial / 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition closing reception

Sunday, Mar. 1, 3 p.m. / Memorial Chapel / Union College and the Community Orchestra with conductor Victor Klimash in “Winter 2009: The Big Chill.” Featured will be “Fingal's Cave Overture” by Felix Mendelssohn, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth; two pieces by Frederick Delius, “On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring” and “Summer night on the river”; and Beethoven's “Symphony No. 8 in F Major”

Monday, Mar. 2, 5:30 p.m. / Nott Memorial / 2009 Wold Lecture of Religion and Conflict presents Jack Miles on “Religion and the International Relations in the Obama Administration: The Aftermath and the Anticipation”

Thursday, March 5, Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, 8 p.m.; March 7 and March 8, 2 p.m. / The Yulman Theater / Winter Dance Concert, “The Theatre of Worlds: The Voyage”; tickets on sale now; call 388-6545

Thursday, March 5, 12:40-1:55 p.m. / Reamer Campus Center Room 301, Sadock Women’s and Gender Studies Lounge / “Feminisms for the 21^st Century,” the Valerie J, Hoffman ’75 Lecture Series presents: “Ask a Mexican: Irony and the Queering of the Category ‘Latino/a’” with Cristina Beltran, professor of political science at Haverford College

Thursday, Mar. 5, 4:30 p.m. / Schaffer Library, Phi Beta Kappa Room /
Philosophy Speaker Series presents: Alvin Goldman of Rutgers University on “Can Reliabilism and Evidentialism be Friends?”