Weissman Students: Welcome to the Weissman Newsletter!

We are thrilled to welcome the many Weissman students who have recently joined our mailing list! This newsletter serves as a vital point of connection for the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences community, highlighting the groundbreaking research, creative endeavors, and professional milestones of our faculty, staff, alumni—and you.

We want this publication to reflect the full vibrancy of our community, and we invite you to submit your own news for future issues. Whether you or your friends have presented research, launched a creative project, secured an internship, or received an award, we want to know about it.

Please share your updates and story ideas with us at BaruchWSAS@baruch.cuny.edu

AddressHate’s Early Investment Catalyzes Nearly $500,000 in Funding for Baruch College’s Antisemitism Studies Lab

(L to R) Baruch President David Wu, AddressHate founder and Laterman Family Foundation trustee Joshua Laterman, Wasserman Jewish Studies Center Director Dr. Sarah Valente, and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.

Baruch College has received $75,000 in funding from the interdisciplinary think tank AddressHate in support of The Antisemitism Studies Lab housed within Baruch’s Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center. The gift will deepen the College’s capacity to study and confront antisemitism—particularly its proliferation on social and digital media—and to expand public programming that will raise awareness and provide opportunities for open, constructive dialogue. Philanthropic support for The Antisemitism Studies Lab has gained momentum since it was launched in Spring 2025 and now totals nearly $500,000.

Founded by the Laterman Family Foundation in response to escalating online antisemitism and extremism, AddressHate uses technology to combat the spread of online hate and harmful narratives on digital platforms.

“This gift will help our faculty and students analyze the dynamics and effects of digital hate with rigor, and, equally important, translate that scholarship into practical ways to strengthen campus safety, intellectual discourse, and cross-community understanding,” said Baruch College President S. David Wu.

Read more here.

Baruch College Launches New Undergraduate Degrees for Careers in a Growing Green Economy

As New York City accelerates its transition to a more sustainable future, so too is Weissman expanding its academic offerings to prepare students for a growing demand for climate-and-sustainability-focused careers.

Starting in Fall 2026, students will be able to pursue two new undergraduate majors—Environmental Studies (BA) and Environmental Science (BS)—through the Department of Natural Sciences in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences.

“Our goal is to prepare undergraduates with the analytical, quantitative, and communication skills they need to succeed in climate-related careers across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors,” said Stephen Gosnell, PhD, chair of the Weissman School’s Department of Natural Sciences.

According to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the region’s “green economy” is projected to grow 144 percent by 2030.  

Professor Gosnell added, “These new programs reflect Baruch’s commitment to interdisciplinary education that brings together science, data, policy, and the humanities to help students understand—and respond to—complex global problems.”

Students will gain hands-on experience through electives such as research-based independent study and team-and discussion-based capstone courses. These opportunities allow students to work with real-world data, case studies, and faculty-led research initiatives, including the Billion Oyster Project—an effort to restore 1 billion oysters to New York Harbor by 2035 in order to improve water quality.

Baruch Leads the Way in Fiction Podcasting

JRN 3660: Fiction Podcasting, a course created and taught by Professor Gisele Regatão, positions Baruch College at the forefront of a growing medium. First offered in 2019 and established as a permanent course in 2022, it is one of the only college-level courses in the country dedicated to the intimate and immersive art of audio fiction.

Regatão, a journalist with over 25 years of experience and the creator of the podcasts Celestial Blood and a hit dog will holler, leads students through the process of writing, recording, editing, and acting in their own projects. Coursework explores the industry's expansion, including recent TV adaptations of podcasts like Homecoming and The Horror of Dolores Roach.

Recent guest speakers have included Ignacio Lara Saldaña and Mara Vélez Meléndez, from the Case 63 franchise, and Sharon Mashihi, creator of Appearances. The course also fosters cross-platform collaboration; last year’s guest speaker Jared Carter was profiled by a student for Dollars & Sense.

You can read that profile here.

Coming soon: student Jaslyn Maan is developing a Soundcloud page to showcase the cohort's original work.

Weissman MA Program in Arts Administration Alumna Sonja Kostich Named Executive Director of Houston Ballet

Baruch College alumna Sonja Kostich has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Houston Ballet. Her appointment was recently highlighted by CultureMap Houston in their year-end roundup, "Blockbuster Exhibits Star in Houston's Top 10 Arts Stories of 2025." The list recognizes the most significant cultural developments and leadership changes in the region over the past year, noting that Kostich, a former ballerina, also earned her undergraduate degree in Accounting from the Zicklin School of Business, where she graduated as salutatorian.

Read the full article here.

Record-Breaking Year for Baruch I-O Psychology at SIOP 2026

The Baruch College Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology program is set to make a massive impression at the upcoming Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Annual Conference in New Orleans this April. The department has achieved a banner year with a record-breaking 45 accepted proposals, showcasing the prolific research of faculty, students, and alumni.

The program is also celebrating two major faculty honors. Professor Joel Lefkowitz has been selected to receive the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Contributions Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions through teaching and mentorship. Additionally, Professor Charles Scherbaum has been named a SIOP Fellow, a prestigious milestone acknowledging his significant accomplishments in the field. Both achievements will be celebrated at the conference this spring.

The 45 presentations, panels, and posters cover a diverse range of cutting-edge topics, including the ethics of generative AI in hiring, LGBTQ+ workplace experiences, moral injury, and predictive analytics in elite sports. This historic turnout underscores the department’s growing influence and academic excellence on the national stage.

Baruch MFE Ranked #1 Worldwide in 2026 Risk Quant Finance Ranking

The Baruch College Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) program has been ranked the #1 program worldwide in the newly released 2026 Risk Quant Finance Ranking. The program secured the top spot ahead of prestigious competitors, including Princeton University, Columbia University, and ETH Zurich. According to the announcement, the Baruch MFE program outperformed the second-place institution in 95% of the ranking's metrics.

The announcement notes that the program’s prestige is now well-established across academia and the financial industry in the US, UK, Europe, and Asia, highlighting the program's continued success in fostering social mobility and career advancement for students.

The full ranking can be viewed here.

The Office of the Dean has announced the call for nominations for the WSAS Excellence Awards. Prepared by the Weissman Executive Committee and Interim Dean Jennifer Mangels, these awards recognize faculty, staff — and for the first time in 2026 — students who embody the school's core values of collaboration, inclusion, caring, and exploration.

This year's new category for students, the Weissman Student Start Award, honors outstanding junior or senior undergraduates. Winners of each category will receive a $1000 award. All awards will be presented at the final WSAS faculty meeting of the Spring Semester. 

Nominate Faculty and Staff

Nominate Students

Joseph Parrish Returns to Baruch PAC for Black History Month

Award-winning baritone Joseph Parrish returns to the Baruch Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, February 10, at 7:00 pm. Accompanied by pianist Amir Farid, Parrish will perform "Songs from the Harlem Renaissance," a program celebrating Black History Month that was curated specifically for the venue. The repertoire includes works by composers Margaret Bonds, Harry T. Burleigh, and Hall Johnson, featuring texts by Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Parrish notes that the program explores themes of "heritage, race, love, urban life, and spirituality".

Tickets are available here: bpac.baruch.cuny.edu.

Weissman's Student Led Psychology Conference

Harman Writer-in-Residence Updates: NYRB Internship and Spring 2026 Writer Lauren Yee

The Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program continues to expand its impact through its exclusive internship pipeline with The New York Review of Books (NYRB). Baruch College is one of only two institutions nationwide to offer this six-month paid internship, which is designed to provide students—particularly those from underrepresented communities—with firsthand experience in editorial development and research.

The program has successfully served as a springboard for alumni to secure positions at major publishing houses such as Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Penguin Random House.

For the Spring 2026 semester, the program welcomes renowned playwright and TV writer Lauren Yee as the Harman Writer-in-Residence. Yee, whose play Mother Russia opens at the Signature Theater in early February, will be joined in her course by guest speakers including Tony Award-winning director Saheem Ali. A public Reading and Conversation with Yee, moderated by Professor Sarah Saddler, will take place on Thursday, April 16.

Additionally, writer and translator Yasmine Seale joins the program as a Harman Fellow. Seale, the first woman to translate The Thousand and One Nights, has adapted a story from the collection for the Baruch Great Works Program. This adaptation will be performed as a staged reading at the Baruch Performing Arts Center from March 16–20, with a special discussion featuring Seale on Thursday, March 19.

Mon 3/16: 10:45am and 3 pm

Tues 3/17: 10:45 am and 3 pm

Weds 3/18: 10 am and 12:30

Thurs 3/19: 10 am and 12:30 pm*

WSAS Community Coffee Hour and Afternoon Tea



Faculty and staff are invited to connect with colleagues over light refreshments. The WSAS Coffee Hour takes place in NVC 8-210 on Thursdays that fall on an odd-numbered date (e.g., Feb 5) from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. Afternoon Tea will be held on "odd" Mondays from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Baruch PAC & Wakka Wakka's Dead as a Dodo Highlighted in The New Yorker

The New Yorker critic Helen Shaw highlighted the theatre company Wakka Wakka’s production of Dead as a Dodo at Baruch PAC in her recent year-end column, "The Best Theatre of 2025."

Shaw placed the production at the top of her review, describing it as the "sweetest and most transporting production" of the year. The "virtuosic puppet show" was performed at the Baruch Performing Arts Center (Baruch PAC) for five weeks in January and February 2025 as part of the Under the Radar festival. This recognition rounds out a strong year for Baruch PAC, following a recent sold-out concert by Sullivan Fortner.

Read the full review here.

Our Weissman Roundup of the Fall 2025 / Winter 2026 Baruch College Alumni Magazine.

School News & Leadership

• A Farewell and a New Beginning: The magazine bids a fond farewell to Jessica Lang, who concluded her 20-year tenure at Baruch (and five years as Dean of Weissman) in June 2025. Jennifer Mangels, PhD, Professor of Psychology, is currently serving as Interim Dean.

• Major Philanthropic Gift: The school celebrated its largest gift since its naming—a nearly $2 million grant from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. The funds will support scholarships and the digitization of the Edmond J. Safra Republic National Bank of New York Archives.

• New Research Hub: Weissman unveiled the Antisemitism Studies Laboratory (The AS Lab), launched under the Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center with support from the Laterman Family Foundation.

Faculty Spotlights

• Scientific Discoveries:
• David Gruber (Biology) is featured for his work with a multidisciplinary team using new technologies to identify rare marine life.
• Manpreet Kohli (Natural Sciences) was recognized for her research on dragonfly adaptation to changing habitats.

• Arts & Letters:
• Sally Wen Mao (English), an acclaimed poet and author who joined the faculty in Fall 2024, is highlighted for her "tale-spinning" stories and literary excellence.
• Leonard Sussman (Professor Emeritus of Art) is featured for his decade-long project capturing the Arctic landscape through photography.

Alumni Features

• The Business of Influence: The feature on social media influencers highlights John Friia (’15), a journalism major and the creator of the popular account Here in New York. He discusses how his journalism training at Weissman helps him craft stories for his 300,000+ followers.

• Modern Office Culture: The article "Who Moved My Watercooler?" explores how alumni are navigating the post-pandemic workplace featuring Weissman graduates.

That and much more here.

2026 Research and Creative Inquiry Expo

The 2026 Research and Creative Inquiry Expo will take place on Tuesday, May 12, from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm in the Newman Vertical Campus Main Gym. The deadline for student submissions is Friday, May 1. Projects derived from spring semester courses may be presented as "works in progress," and participants are welcome to showcase work via printed posters, video projects, or other media platforms. Workshops on creating poster presentations and leveraging the Expo experience will be held at the Starr Career Center on February 24 and May 14, respectively.

Students can access resources to create or improve their presentations at the Expo website: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/creativeinquiryday/?page_id=572.