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December 2018
For the Holidays, Six Heartwarming Student Stories From Our Adelphi Family

Whenever I get the chance to walk around Adelphi’s campus—whether going to meetings and events, catching a game, attending a performance or strolling with Georgia—I often get a special opportunity to chat with a student about their studies, their goals and their unique experiences. As a matter of fact, of all the many things I do as president of Adelphi University, one of my favorites will always be this: meeting our students—current and alum—and hearing their stories. They inspire me endlessly.

I thought it would be fitting for the holiday season to share with you—from our Adelphi family to yours—some of the amazing student stories I’ve heard. I hope you enjoy them.

I’m confident you’ll share my admiration of Melissa Emilcar , a brilliant and kind campus leader who spent her summer doing neurological research at the internationally known Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. I was impressed by the work of senior Evan Leider, who co-authored a textbook on gaming with his computer science professor Lee Stemkoski, Ph.D., and I was moved by the experience of Walace Kierulf-Vieira, a Brazilian emigrant who spoke only Portuguese when he came to the United States as a 21-year-old and is now pursuing a degree in chemistry at Adelphi as a U.S. Army veteran. Walace said he finds chemistry challenging and fascinating.

With our relentless dedication to student success, career preparation is always top of mind at Adelphi, so when I heard that star softball pitcher and M.B.A. student Jessica Vadala ’18 had her pick of five different job offers , I had to celebrate that astonishing predicament! And if you’ve ever wondered if artists can be scientists—or vice versa—please read about Adelphi’s amazingly versatile and multitalented Lani Chau ’18 . 
Represented this month—not with a story, but in the video below—is another of our extraordinary students, Usman Anwar, a wonderful artist.

Student by student, we are changing lives at Adelphi. Some are preparing for careers they always knew they were meant for (like so many Adelphi nursing students I meet) and some discover their passion in the course of exploring all that Adelphi has to offer—like archaeology student Julio RuizDiaz , who said, “I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life and, finally, it clicked.”

I truly admire all our students—each remarkable one of the 8,146 this year—who are pursuing dreams and finding their passion here at our student-centered University. I also appreciate our exceptional alumni—topping 115,000 now—who are inspiring evidence of the powerful Adelphi experience.

Happy holidays from our Adelphi family to yours!

All the best,
Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D.
President
A remarkable collaboration between student and professor
First-year seminars adopt island-hopping strategy

From Long Island to Ellis and Coney islands, Adelphi's innovative seminars for first-year students are incorporating more off-campus learning experiences to promote intellectual engagement.
A holiday message of unity from a young Adelphi artist
The faces I see on campus always make me smile, so I thought sharing them with you would be a perfect way to spread joy this holiday season! Watch as Adelphi art student Usman Anwar paints portraits of students, faculty, trustees—and me—into a message for the season.
A brilliant researcher and diversity leader. While doing neurological research as an intern this summer, it took senior Melissa Emilcar only a month to master a lab technique that can take many more advanced researchers much longer to learn. It's just one of the accomplishments of this Adelphi student and campus leader.
A journey from Queens, New York, to the Alaskan wilderness. Working on campus and in the field with associate professor and nationally known anthropologist Brian Wygal, Ph.D., sophomore Julio RuizDiaz is on his way to realizing his dream of becoming an archaeologist.
A business student adds up job offers. Set to complete her five-year B.B.A./M.B.A. program in just four years, current M.B.A. candidate and softball star Jessica Vadala '18 already has a job waiting for her at a Big Four accounting firm.
A winding path to a promising future. It might be difficult to find a student whose journey to success at Adelphi is more surprising than the one taken by current senior Walace Kierulf-Vieira.
Textbook mentorship: Writing a book, together. There are countless stories about mentorship relationships at Adelphi. The one between Professor Lee Stemkoski, Ph.D., and current senior Evan Leider produced something unique: a jointly authored textbook.
Scientist, artist, solar energy innovator. Lani Chau ’18, who majored in physics and minored in art, has always been inspired by Albert Einstein's belief that the greatest scientists are also artists. Her idea of a masterpiece? Bringing renewable energy to her native Vietnam.
What started out as a senior thesis by Melissa Jacob ’16 turned into a journal article published with her faculty adviser, Assistant Professor Steven R. Cox, Ph.D. Their research promotes a new approach to transgender health that we shared with online readers of The New York Times and wrote about in " A Life Fully Lived ," a feature article in our Academic and Creative Research Magazine .
Men's soccer titles highlight fall season
Men's soccer, led by first-year head coach Gary Book, finished off another great season, winning both the Northeast-10 Conference crown and the East Region title (in a surprise snowstorm!) for the second time in three years. With all that success, it's no wonder Book and his staff were named the regional coaching staff of the year by United Soccer Coaches. Also, as the fall sports season officially came to a close at the end of November, Adelphi was proud to recognize our All-Region honorees in women's cross country , women's soccer , men's soccer and volleyball . And, now, as sports head indoors for a while, Motamed Field will be refreshed with a new turf system , already underway.
Alumni making a difference: 10 Under 10
Career success comes quickly to so many Adelphi graduates, and each year we celebrate 10 young alumni who have achieved truly exceptional career and personal accomplishments before their 10th reunion. Meet our 2018 10 Under 10 and see how they are helping create a better world.
Momentum Tour 2018–2019
After a busy November, the Momentum Tour, Changing Lives, the Next Chapter: Sharing Our Stories takes a holiday break before getting started again next month with a January 15 event at the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. This special evening will be hosted by the chamber's president and CEO, Thomas J. Donohue, M.B.A. ’65, ’98 (Hon.), and will be a great opportunity to celebrate and share stories. I hope to see you there, and be sure to check the Momentum Tour web page for future dates.