Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve. | | Among the attendees at the Commencement Appreciation Breakfast campus offices such as Buildings and Grounds, Public Safety and Information Technology, on June 16 was Lieutenant Deborah Huggins, deputy director of Public Safety, who was presented with a plaque marking her 25 years of service and dedication to the QC campus. | | From left: Chief Vincent Sinclair, director of Public Safety; Michael Ferrandino, director of operations for University Public Safety; André Brown, executive director of University Public Safety; Lieutenant Deborah Huggins, deputy director of Public Safety | | In collaboration with Bluebolt Outdoor, solar-powered charging benches were installed at no cost to Queens College at four campus locations on Wednesday, June 24. These benches provide free off-the-grid green energy while generating revenue for Bluebolt through third-party-approved advertising sales. Discussions are underway regarding further expansion of this initiative. To see the benches in use, watch this video. | | Seating in Powdermaker Hall and the Q-Side Lounge has recently gotten an upgrade. Chairs were reupholstered through the Sense of Belonging project, funded by Coordinated Undergraduate Education, aka CUE, a CUNY-wide program. Other improvements are being CUE-d up on campus. | | From left: James Vacca (Urban Studies), Jocelene Ramnanan, Arturo Soto and Vangie, Arturo's guide dog. | | From left: Alicia Alvero, Betsy Hendrey greeting an attendee. | | QC fired up the grill on July 23 for the annual CUNY-Wide ADA Barbecue, celebrating the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Wearing a T-shirt that read “Everybody eats at the table,” CUNY Coalition of Students with Disabilities Vice Chair of Public Service Arturo Soto ’25 and Committee for Disabled Students of Queens College President Jocelene Ramnanan welcomed all attendees. Interim President Betsy Hendrey addressed the large turnout of students and staff and introduced for greetings CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and University Provost Alicia Alvero. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Denise Maybank and Vice Chancellor for Government Relations Dermott Smyth participated. New York State Senators Toby Ann Stavisky and John C. Liu and New York State Assemblymembers Khaleel M. Anderson ‘19, Catalina Cruz, Alicia L. Hyndman, Steven Raga, and David I. Weprin each took a turn at the microphone. New York City Council Member James F. Gennaro was represented by Chief of Staff and Budget Director Henry Yam; Council Member Linda Lee was represented by Chief of Staff Keith Felsenfeld. Assemblymember Sam Berger was represented by Ricky Malone. Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson reprised his role as moderator. For more details, see the coverage in QNS. | |
In an Amazin’ turnout, Queens College Night brought 250 alumni to Citi Field on July 30. Better yet, the Mets beat the Marlins, 4-2. | | NYC Parks and Recreation Borough Commissioner Jacqueline Langsam, Elyse Price, Kristina Gomez-Shnorhokian, Kamron Tursunboev, President Betsy Hendrey, Simon Lucik, Ryan Romano. | | Generations of children have learned about orchestral instruments, and the value of working together to protect their community, from Peter and the Wolf. Last summer, in a collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, QC’s Department of Theatre, Dance and Fashion (TDF) created an interactive version of the musical fairy tale for a tour of Queens parks. The three-person cast presented an on-campus preview on Monday, August 3, before taking their act to the borough once again. | Interim President Betsy Hendrey welcomes the audience to Peter and the Wolf. | | Kamron Tursunboev, Kristina Gomez-Shnorhokian. | | Long Island alumni, educators, legislators, and community leaders were among the guests at the “meet and greet” reception for Interim President Betsy Hendrey that Schneps Media President Victoria Schneps hosted at her Westhampton home on Sunday, August 9. | | From left: Schneps Media President Victoria Schneps, Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost designate Dan Weistein, Interim President Betsy Hendrey, Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, Lilliana Arabia. | | Interim President Hendrey speaks with alumni, educators, legislators, and community leaders and educators from Long Island. | | From left: former QC Women’s Basketball Coach and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee Lucille Kvallos, Interim President Betsy Hendrey, Suffolk County Assemblymember Steve Stern, and retired business executive Frank Boccio ’74 | | |
Queens College welcomed a familiar face back to campus and saw the departure of two longtime administrators.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Hendrey, QC’s interim president, has to date accumulated more than 30 years here. After joining the economics faculty in 1989, she went on to serve as department chair, dean of social sciences, acting chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. She returns to QC after spending the previous six months as interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Medgar Evers College (link to her message to college community). (One of Hendrey’s first projects at QC was this video welcoming new and returning students, faculty, and staff to the fall semester.)
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Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Price is retiring, effective August 27. Mathematics and Natural Sciences Dean Dan Weinstein will serve on an interim basis.
Kate Pechenkina, dean of the School of Social Sciences and founding dean of the Queens College School of Business, was named provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at the State University of New York at Oswego, effective July 15.
Dennis Torres, associate director of Veteran and Military Support Services, ended his tour at QC on July 30. He took up a new post at Borough of Manhattan Community College.
| | CUNY Distinguishes Rodríguez-Planas | |
Nuria Rodríguez-Planas (Economics) is the latest member of the QC faculty to be named a CUNY Distinguished Professor, the highest academic rank conferred by the university. Her appointment brings the college’s total number of distinguished professors to 15.
Rodríguez-Planas joined QC in 2014 and began teaching at the CUNY Graduate Center three years later. A renowned scholar in labor economics, gender economics, and the economics of education, she examines how gender norms, public policy, and economic institutions shape opportunities and outcomes over the course of people’s lives. She has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in such esteemed journals as the American Economic Review, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Public Economics, and Economics of Education Review.
Rodríguez-Planas’ work has informed policy debates on unemployment insurance, family-friendly labor market policies, educational interventions, and social protection programs in both the United States and Europe. The nationally recognized research program that she developed at CUNY on college students' learning processes, well-being, and economic resilience has informed university-wide emergency relief policies while generating new evidence on student mental health, resilience, financial well-being, inflation expectations, and academic success during periods of economic and social disruption.
Rodríguez-Planas completed a bachelor's degree in economics from the Universitat de Barcelona, as well as a bachelor's degree from Juniata College. She earned an MA in political economy and a PhD in economics from Boston University. Before joining CUNY, she was senior research associate at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany, and held positions at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Mathematica Policy Research, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Brookings Institution.
| | Bringing the Bard to the Quad | | |
A widely admired warrior takes desperate measures to fulfill a prophecy when Queens-based Hip to Hip Theatre presents Macbeth tonight—August 11—at 7:30 pm in front of Powdermaker Hall. The production will move to the Dining Hall in case of rain. Seating is first come, first served.
| | Hindu Life at Queens College is the latest in a series of brochures detailing programs and courses of interest to faith communities on campus. Previously released pamphlets cover Christian life, Jewish life, and Muslim life at QC. Additional brochures are planned. | | QC Explores Sports and Educational Partnership with the Dominican Republic | | |
Queens College officially welcomed a distinguished delegation from the Dominican Republic to campus on June 24 for an exploratory visit focused on international sports exchange and physical education.
Led by Consul General of the Dominican Republic in New York Jesús Vásquez Martínez, the group included National Baseball Commissioner Junior Noboa, legendary Dominican basketball player and Sports Director of the Dominican Consulate in New York José Grillo Vargas, National Institute for Physical Education (INEFI) Executive Director Alberto Rodríguez, Track and Field Federation President Alexis Peguero, and corporate member of the Food Marketing Advisory Board at Western Michigan University Will Lajara.
After meeting with college and CUNY leaders- including Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista—to learn more about Queens College and its offerings, the delegation toured the campus, surveying QC’s premier athletic facilities and academic spaces. The visit—summarized in this video—ended inside FitzGerald Gymnasium, where the guests met with the college's baseball, track, and cross-country coaches, and stopped by the Human Performance Lab to see how sports scientists test and train athletes.
The visit by the distinguished Dominican Republic group could pave the way for an exciting new partnership with Queens College and students from the Dominican Republic.
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All of us—including Queens College students born after September 11, 2001—are living in a world reshaped by the terrorist attacks of that day. QC faculty will delve into some of the long-term effects in a panel discussion, “Tragedy, Trauma, and Transformation: The 9/11, 2001 Catastrophe 25 Years Later,” on Wednesday, September 9, 12:15-1:30 pm, in Rosenthal Library 230. Live streaming is being arranged.
Peter Liberman (Political Science) will explore how anger and retributive reactions to 9/11 affected U.S. foreign policy. Steven Markowitz (Barry Commoner Center for Health & the Environment) will discuss the follow-up on those who cleaned up the World Trade Center (WTC) site and the people who lived in the community; he’ll also talk about the development of the WTC health program established to assist these groups. Melissa Checker (Urban Studies) will focus on the redevelopment of downtown and the city in general after 9/11. James Vacca (Urban Studies) will serve as moderator.
The event will include a video presentation produced by the Student Association. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended; RSVP.
The same day, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum (GTM) will open Memento Mori: 9/11 Twenty-Five Years Later. The core of the show is six oversized photographs of the annual public art installation Tribute in Light (2002)—blue beams projected from the roof of the Battery Parking Garage into the sky, evoking the footprint of the twin towers. The GTM exhibition also features books, magazines, ephemera, documentary photographs, digital prints, and works responding to 9/11, including materials from MNEMONIC: A 9/11 Memorial Exhibition, organized at LaGuardia Community College in 2002.
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Once a decade, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation tries to tally up the public trees in every borough. It’s a massive undertaking; the current Tree Count, started last year, is still being completed with the help of volunteers. To learn more about this project and sign up for events taking this month and next in Queens parks.
| | Happening in the Borough This Month | | The tenth annual Festival of Cinema NYC, running now through August 16, is taking place at the Regal UA Midway at 108-22 Queens Boulevard. Here’s an opportunity to see more than 100 indie films from around the world; the schedule also includes workshops, panels, talkbacks, and networking events. | | |
Through August 20, the Sunnyside Self-Care Fest promotes neighborhood businesses that can help you feel and look your best—dance and fitness studios, juice bars, spas, hair and nail salons, and more. Pet care companies are participating, too. To access special deals, say the words, “Sunnyside self-care week.”
During US Open Fan Week, August 23–28, the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center are open to the public at no cost. Tennis lovers will be able to enjoy player practices, on-court activities, food popups, and chances to win prizes. Fan Access Passes are required for all adults; get yours here.
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Accountant, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Robert Jacobs died in June.
After graduating from QC with majors in psychology and economics, Jacobs continued his education at other New York institutions: He earned an MA in urban planning at the New School and studied accounting at the NYU Stern School of Business. He spent most of his career at Ernst & Young, becoming a partner.
Additionally, he founded Health/ROI, a company that provided revenue enhancement services for hospitals and health care facilities in the tristate area.
In 2018, upon reading about the $1.8 billion donation former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made to undergraduate financial aid at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, Jacobs decided to give back to the college he credited for his success. He established a scholarship for students of academic merit who needed financial assistance. Moved by thank-you notes they sent him, he wanted to do more. He reached out to his brothers from dormant Phi Epsilon Pi to set up an endowment fund at QC.
“All of us have forgotten whatever we learned in Contemporary Civilization, but we have not forgotten the opportunity that Queens College provided a bunch of poor, hardworking, smart kids from the five boroughs and Nassau and Suffolk Counties,” Jacobs observed. “Queens College gave us a chance to succeed in ways that our parents, as products of the Depression and as second-generation Americans, could have only dreamt about.”
Jacobs’ efforts were recognized at the college’s 85th anniversary celebration in October 2022, when he was given the college’s highest administrative honor, the President’s Medal.
Since 2019, the Phi Ep endowment has supported the education of 30 undergraduate students. Through scholarships, mentoring, and networking, Jacobs changed the trajectory of their lives, giving them the tools to advance professionally and play positive roles in their communities. His example also motivated another alumnus, Mehran Soroudi, who made a significant donation to the college after learning about the Phi Epsilon Pi endowment.
Jacobs is survived by his partner and his daughter.
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Robert Picken, a former Queens College professor, assistant dean of International Education and acting director of Study Abroad, chair of the University Faculty Senate (UFS), faculty fellow in the CUNY central office, and acting provost at Baruch College, passed away on July 1. He was 91.
Picken held a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth University and a doctorate from St. John’s College at Oxford, which he attended on a Rhodes scholarship. But he devoted himself to public institutions. He specialized in seventeenth-century French literature, particularly the works of Corneille and Racine, and is recalled as an inspiring teacher and mentor. A lifelong language student, he could also read German, Greek, Latin, and Spanish; in his 90s he was taking weekly lessons in Chinese.
In a resolution issued in March 2000 to honor Picken, UFS colleagues praised him for his academic excellence and his advocacy on behalf of faculty. He was predeceased by his wife, Eleanor Dieckmann, whom he met in the CUNY Study Abroad Office.
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Journalist Cara Trager, a frequent contributor to local papers, died on May 29. She was 71.
Trager found her calling at Queens College, majoring in English and writing for the Phoenix. After working briefly for trade publications, she built a freelance career that included assignments for the New York Post, Crain’s New York Business, and Newsday. Devoted to the Jewish community, she held leadership roles at her synagogue and created marketing materials for the UJA-Federation of New York, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Trager is survived by her husband, two children, their spouses, and four grandchildren
| | Business School Dean Carmen Cotei is featured in TIQ, a publication produced by the Queens Chamber of Commerce. (The letters stand for This Is Queensborough.) | . . . Frances R. Curcio (SEYS) received the 2026 Literary Award of the Grand Lodge of New York, Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, at the 118th Annual State Convention in Albany, New York, on Saturday, June 27 . . . . Rebecca DeJesus (Academic Advising Center) co-presented a session, “Unlocking the Power of Peers: Leveraging Peer-to-Peer Programs to Expand Student Support”—alongside Indigo Magenta (Tacoma Community College) and Shalema Henderson (College Access: Research & Action)—at the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education in Austin, Texas, in June 2026. DeJesus showcased Academic Advising’s Peer Program, including its use of grant funding, Career Launch support, and recent transition to academic internship opportunities . . . . Frank Doyle ’79 presented a paper at the Billy Joel Symposium, held by the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook on June 6–7 . . . . Christian Mark Gibbs ’14 portrayed Enjolras in Les Misérables: The Arena Concert Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall earlier this summer. In connection with the show, Gibbs and other cast members were featured on “GMA” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” . . . . Late Political Science Professor Emeritus Andrew Hacker was commemorated at a memorial service on June 2. A plaque honoring him will be unveiled this fall outside his favorite Powdermaker Hall classroom, PH 204 . . . . Kimiko Hahn (English) participated in Madison Square Park’s Moon Tree Launch Party on July 16, reading a poem she was commissioned to write for the occasion. The party highlighted the 57th anniversary of the first lunar space launch and the park’s resident moon tree, an American sweetgum grown from a seed carried aboard NASA's Artemis I mission in 2022 . . . . Jay Hershenson (Office of Communications and Marketing), in his capacity as chair of the Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM) Board of Trustees spoke at the museum’s June 18 gala and read a poem he wrote, “Winning With Wynton”, in honor of jazz giant Wynton Marsalis for the occasion. The poem was published in several media outlets, including Dan’s Paper and Queens Courier. Marsalis received a lifetime achievement award from LAHM . . . . | Jorsixt Jimenez, who played baseball for QC from 2023 to 2024 before transferring to Tennessee Tech, is coming back to New York: He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Yankees in July 2026. . . . Mikael Karlsson BA/MA ’05 composed music for the Scottish Ballet’s production of Mary Queens of Scots, presented in New York in early June . . . . Sari Kisilevsky (Philosophy) published an op-ed, “The Risk Proposition of Law School Is Changing” in Inside Higher Ed . . . . Abram Korsunsky ’13, MM ’15 performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Space in Manhattan on June 5 under the baton of alum Alex Wen. The orchestra roster included bassist Andrew Whitbeck ’13 and percussionist Edwin Gonzales ’96 . . . . Ryan O'Loughlin (Philosophy) has been awarded a fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to conduct research on AI models for predicting climate trends . . . . Masayuki Maki (ACSM) directed a performance of the ACSM Baroque Ensemble that was featured in a program on PBS station WMHT . . . . Wahidur Roni has been appointed associate director of the Office for Students with Disabilities and Access after holding an interim position . . . . Joseph Sciorra (Calandra) published “The Development of Folklore Studies in Europe and the United States” on CUNY’s Italian American Studies Open Syllabus . . . . Queens College has been reaccredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), effective June 25. The next accreditation site visit will take place in academic 2033–2034. | |
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