Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
#11
What’s News
QC and Harvard Collaborate on Professional Development Program

 The college has embarked on a professional development program in conjunction with Harvard University to cultivate future leaders in education, with a particular emphasis on leadership positions in CUNY. Diversifying CUNY's Leadership: A CUNY–Harvard Consortium is based on nationally recognized higher education leadership programs at the  Harvard Institutes for Higher Education (HIHE) and the  American Council on Education's ACE Fellows Program . It will provide training, support, development, and networking opportunities to QC faculty and staff interested in leadership positions within CUNY. The program includes leadership development training at HIHE, shadowing, and mentoring from established CUNY leaders, intensive cohort meetings, and the opportunity to work on a project that addresses CUNY's commitment to diversity and inclusion. The program also advances the college’s strategic goal of supporting faculty and staff excellence. Additional details, including eligibility requirements, can be found here . The application deadline is 5 pm on Friday, December 22. 
November 15 Discussion on Immigration Policy and Trump
The challenges to immigration and immigration reform that have developed in the first year of the Trump presidency will be the focus when the Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding (CERRU) holds its sixth annual Innovation Exchange, Trump’s First Year: Impressions on Immigration from Across the Political Spectrum . It will take place Wednesday, November 15, from 4:30–9 pm in the Dining Hall Patio Room at Queens College. Read more.
Business Forum Panel Will Explore the Healthcare Industry and the Affordable Care Act

Our next Business Forum Breakfast takes place on Friday, November 17, with a panel of healthcare industry leaders who will discuss the state of the industry and what might come after the Affordable Care Act. Panelists include President & CEO of Public Health Solutions Lisa David, President & CEO of Emblem Health Karen Ignagni, New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera, and VP of New York-Presbyterian Hospital System Kate Spaziani. It will be moderated by Distinguished Lecturer of Journalism Sheryl McCarthy. The forum will take place from 8 to 10 am on the fourth floor of the Student Union. An audience Q&A session will follow, and breakfast will be served. The event is free and open to the public , but seating is limited. RSVP deadline is November 14: Email Business.Forum@qc.cuny.edu , call (718) 997-5252, or register online here .
Wow! #66
Three QC graduates have won Pulitzer Prizes: Dorothy Rabinowitz ’56 (2001, for Commentary), Lloyd Schwartz ’62 (1994, for Criticism), and Marvin Hamlisch ’68 (1976, for A Chorus Line ). A fourth graduate, Richard Ofshe ’63, contributed articles to a series exposing the Synanon movement, for which the newspaper the Point Reyes Light received a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1979.
What’s in a Building’s Name?
Remsen Hall

At the end of World War II, veterans filled college classrooms all over the country, courtesy of the G.I. Bill. With enrollment soaring, QC embarked on a series of improvements. Remsen Hall, erected in 1950, was the first major new campus building. Its namesake, Ira Remsen (1846–1927), scion of a wealthy College Point family, started the nation’s first doctoral program for chemistry; saccharin was invented in his lab. Appropriately, QC’s chemistry department has its office in Remsen.
Building Futures
Charles Swarns, Jr.

Like almost all Queens College students, Charles Swarns, Jr. ’80, a managing director of SunTrust, wasn’t born with the proverbial silver spoon. Growing up in St. Albans in southeast Queens, he attended public schools, enrolling first at Queensborough Community College before transferring to QC, where he earned a BA in economics. While working at JP Morgan as an intern, a job he was offered by a campus recruiter, he attended classes both day and evening .

Promoted to ever-higher levels of responsibility during his 35 years at the company that came to be known as JP Morgan Chase, Swarns could have focused single-mindedly on the demands of his finance career. Instead, he took the time to give promising students from his alma mater personal introductions to his company, which often led to internships. That work experience, in turn, gave them a leg up in their own careers, and the most talented were hired for full-time jobs. Read more .
QC Bookshelf
Celebrated culinary historian Jessica Harris (SEEK), author of a dozen books, explores her own history in her dishy memoir, My Soul Looks Back. Raised in St. Albans, Harris had an enviable childhood marked by piano lessons, dance recitals, etiquette classes, and travel. She attended the United Nations International School--source of the French fluency that would prove so valuable to her--followed by the High School of Performing Arts, where she studied drama, and Bryn Mawr, where she didn’t. Back in New York after a year at the Université de Nancy in France, Harris began teaching at SEEK, then a new program. She earned a master’s degree at Queens College and a doctorate at New York University, but she’s more interested in describing the rich cultural education she gained through her relationship with SEEK colleague Sam Floyd, whose circle encompassed James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and their families and friends. Harris also reports on experiences that helped shape her career: cooking, dining out, and visiting francophone African and Caribbean countries. The book includes a playlist of music that evokes the era of each chapter, and recipes for soups, curry, roast poultry, and more. The “ersatz sauce gribiche,” an enhanced mayonnaise, is a gift to home cooks looking for creative ways to deploy that jar of capers sitting in the back of the refrigerator.
Heard Around Campus
Robert Engel (Chemistry & Biochemistry) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who for his accomplishments in the field of chemistry. He holds 15 patents and has written 13 books and published over 140 articles in professional journals. Next year will be Bob’s fiftieth year at the college. Also receiving the Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award was alum Diane Kesler Shrier ’61, a physician, psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, educator, and researcher for more than 50 years . . . Sophia McGee , the director and co-founder of CERRU, has been selected to be the subject of a prominent profile being created by TIAA to mark the celebration of its centennial in 2018. The national organization says it will present dozens of stories on its website of individuals “making an amazing difference in the lives of others.” The profile will focus on Sophia’s “work as co-founder and director of this unique center, which provides training in inclusion and diversity to help students strive to understand how to make leaps across different ethnic, religious, racial, and even political differences” . . .  The Armenian National Committee of America–Eastern Region will be honoring Carolann Najarian ’62 with the Vahan Cardashian Award at its gala on Dec. 2. She is receiving the award for her longstanding involvement and dedication to the Armenian-American community. Carolann graduated from QC with a degree in music before turning to medicine, earning her MD in 1980 from the Boston University School of Medicine . . . Olivier Noel ’11 was on Shark Tank on Sunday, November 12, to talk about DNAsimple, an online DNA bank that he launched in 2015 for researchers to have access to DNA samples from people from all over the world. Olivier is an MD/PhD candidate at Penn State College of Medicine . . . Konstantinos Poulidis , a 20-year-old QC student, ran for the City Council in District 19. The president and founder of the Queens College Republican Club, Konstantinos came in second in this three-man race with 24.6 percent of the vote . . . On Wednesday, November 29, the Division of Social Sciences, Urban Studies Department, and CERRU will present a lecture and dialogue on Jerusalem Beyond Borders: Deconstructing the Political from the Functional . It will feature Nizar Farsakh, former general director of the PLO Delegation in Washington, DC, and Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, co-founder and design director at SAYA/Design for Change, an organization that envisions and designs for peace through “resolution planning.” It takes place at noon in the Patio Room (lunch will be served). To RSVP, click here.
Seen Around Campus
Queens College Foundation Board Chair Barry Bryer ’69 speaks with students at a reception following a recent board meeting of foundation members who help support the college.
Barbara Steiner ’67 (far left), chair of the QC Business Advisory Board, met with Provost Betsy Hendrey, Dean Michael Wolfe, and other staff and alumni at an October 25 meeting. The board helps with mentoring and career advice for students, and offers expertise and financial support to the college.
In Memoriam
Josephine LaMarca, who began working for Telephone Services in January 1986, passed away on Monday, November 6. A full-time staff member for 31 years, Josephine was an exceptional worker who valued every opportunity to serve students, parents, faculty, staff, and anyone who wanted to be connected to the resources of the college. She was a mentor and inspiration to all who worked with her. Many of you no doubt know her from her famous Queens College greeting, “College operator.” Josephine lived just a few blocks from campus and enjoyed everything about Queens College: her job, her colleagues, and especially going to classic rock and roll performances at Colden Center. She was loved by the college community and will be missed dearly. 

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