Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
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QView #158 | August 1, 2023 | |
A delegation from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Training Center (SEAMEO RETRAC) met with a team from Interim Associate Provost Nathalia Holtzman’s office on July 5. SEAMEO RETRAC has had a partnership with Queens College since 2011; QC students have participated in summer trips to Vietnam to assist in English language classes for children. | |
Alumnus and Flushing business leader John Wang ’72, founder and president of the Asian American Business Development Center, came to campus on July 10 for lunch and advice on new networking opportunities. | |
From left: Associate Business School Dean Schiro Withanachchi, AVP of External and Governmental Relations Jeff Rosenstock, John Wang, President Frank H. Wu, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Patricia Price, Accounting and Information Systems Chair Ivy Huang. | |
CUNY School of Law Dean Sudha Setty visited QC on July 12 for a discussion of potential collaborations. Earlier this year, preLaw magazine named CUNY Law #1 in Diversity. | |
From left: CUNY School of Law Admissions Coordinator Bibi Amin, Chief of Staff Desirae Colvin, CUNY School of Law Executive Director of Admissions Gayla Jacobson, CUNY School of Law Dean Sudha Setty, Political Science Chair Francois Pierre-Louis, President Frank H. Wu, AVP of External and Governmental Relations Jeff Rosenstock, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Patricia Price, VP for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson, Marketing Director Lillian Zepeda (a CUNY Law student). | |
The School of Education / Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC II) Summer Symposium, “We Learn So That We May Serve: Living the Legacy of Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe” brought experts to the Dining Hall, Patio Room, on July 13. Wolfe was the first tenured Black faculty member at Queens College. Subsequently, as the first African American to serve as education chief for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, she helped create Head Start, financial aid, and community colleges. Symposium speakers included Lester W. Young Jr., chancellor of the New York State Department of Education Board of Regents, the guiding inspiration behind the establishment of the larger program initiative. | |
New York City Councilmember James Gennaro stopped by the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment in Remsen Hall on July 13. Gennaro, chair of the council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, spoke to President Frank H. Wu, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Patricia Price, Commoner Center Director Steven Markowitz, and faculty and staff about the center’s programs, which include monitoring local air pollution and training immigrant laborers in workplace safety. Gennaro plans to have the City Council name the southwest corner of Kissena Boulevard and 65th Avenue for Commoner, a Brooklyn-born biologist, environmental activist, and onetime presidential candidate. He taught at QC early in his career and moved the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems—which he launched at Washington University—to QC in 1981. The college renamed the center after its founder in 2015. | |
From left: Barry Commoner Center Staffers Zoey Laskaris, Nalyn Siripanichgon, Holger Eisl, Amy Manowitz, Isabel Cuervo; Commoner Center Director Steven Markowitz; City Councilmember James Gennaro; President Frank H. Wu; Barry Commoner Center Staffers Jonathan Corbin, Sherry Baron, Lyndon Rose; Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Patricia Price; Research Assistant Eric Kutter; Barry Commoner Center Staffers Alfredo Morabia, Khaula Khatlani. | |
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Lynda Mules, university executive director of Research Integrity and Compliance, lunched with campus executives on July 13. Mules oversees policy questions and provides guidance for research conducted within CUNY.
From left: Zeco Krcic, AVP of Facilities, Planning and Operations; Lynda Mules, university executive director of Research Integrity and Compliance; President Frank H. Wu; Daniel Weinstein, dean of the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences; Patricia Price, interim provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs.
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LaGuardia Community College President Kenneth Adams and Provost Billie Gastic Rosado made the trip to Flushing from Long Island City on July 19. Adams and Rosado are no strangers to this campus; many LaGuardia alumni come to QC to pursue four-year degrees. Sessions were held with President Frank H. Wu and senior administrators focusing on transfer issues, admissions, recruitment, and related opportunities. | |
Rain held off long enough on July 19 for new students to enjoy orientation on the Quad, with greetings from President Frank H. Wu. | |
A July 20 visit by former Congressmember Joseph Crowley ’85, who represented Queens in Washington, DC, for 20 years, brought history to life for students in Caitlin Colban-Waldron’s Advanced Archival Practice class. Over the summer, the class has been arranging and preserving the congressional papers Crowley donated to Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library in 2019. The collection comprises items donated or loaned to the college, including background on legislative issues, official correspondence, and strategy and planning documents. | |
QC marked the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the annual barbecue in front of the Student Union on July 25. CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, President Frank H. Wu, State Senator John Liu, State Assemblymembers Khaleel Anderson ’19, Catalina Cruz, Rebecca Seawright, and David Weprin, City Councilmember Linda Lee, QC Coalition for Students with Disabilities leader Arturo Soto, and Henry Yam, chief of staff for City Councilmember James Gennaro, were among the day’s speakers. The program was moderated by VP for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson. Representatives of the CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities worked closely with QC’s Office of Student Affairs to organize the event. The ADA has led to accommodations ranging from accessible curb ramps to adaptive technology, making life easier for many people, whether or not they have disabilities. | |
All were welcome at the BBQ. | |
Rebecca Seawright (in green), chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on People with Disabilities, posed with ADA celebrants. | |
Educators from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) came together with QC officials on July 25 to discuss academic collaborations. QC established a joint degree program—its first with a foreign institution—with USST in 2017. | |
A grateful college treated staff from Buildings & Grounds, ITS, and Public Safety to breakfast in the Agora on July 26 in thanks for work they did in connection with QC’s Commencement and all the other graduation celebrations held on campus. A second reception was held in the afternoon. | |
Potential partnerships, coalition-building, and combating antisemitism and all forms of hate were among the topics when President Frank H. Wu hosted senior officials, board members, and interns with the long-established American Jewish Committee on July 26. AJC New York is one of 25 U.S. regional offices of the global advocacy organization. | |
Live at the Gantries—a free series presented by the Kupferberg Center in collaboration with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, with generous support from the Mathis-Pfohl Foundation—showcases local musicians at Gantry Plaza State Park. Linda EPO’s Ensemble New Yorkino is performing tonight (August 1).The series concludes next week with Michael Olatuja and Lagos Pepper Soup. Shows start at 7 pm. | |
Retirees Take In Campus Sites | |
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For its first excursion since the pandemic, the Queens College Retirement Association (QCRA) returned to familiar territory, joining Zeco Krcic (Facilities, Planning and Operations) on campus on July 11 for a one-hour tour.
Starting at Kiely Hall, Krcic talked about recent infrastructure projects. Then the group ventured into the heat for a discussion of the underground facilities and improvements to them; evidence of the facilities was visible from the surface of the quadrangle. Next stop: the new chiller plant adjacent to Razran Hall, for an explanation of the distribution of chilled water around campus. QCRA members also viewed some of the new cooling equipment for Remsen Hall. The tour concluded at Powdermaker Hall, which some members had not seen since its renovation. The group learned how the building’s lighting was updated to meet modern standards; planning is underway to install solar panels on the roofs of some buildings and phase out the use of fossil fuel for heating and cooling.
“Normally we have a few outings a year to museums, parks, and facilities, and walks in special places such as the old Vanderbilt Motor Highway,” says Morris Altman, QCRA activities coordinator and vice president. To keep informed about upcoming events, retirees can join the QCRA and receive email notices of events and meetings. More information is available here.
Questions? Email QCRA Secretary Lusi Altman at ladyluck523@hotmail.com.
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The Nanny Leads a Strike
QC alumna Fran Drescher, star of the 1990s sitcom The Nanny and founder of the educational and advocacy organization Cancer Schmancer, has been making headlines in her latest role: president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union (SAG-AFTRA). Actors in SAG-AFTRA went on strike on July 14 after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach an agreement on issues including the use of artificial intelligence and residual pay.
“We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” said Drescher, announcing the strike. “I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly: How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”
Drescher received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the QC gala in 2017.
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Eric Bermann ’56
Longtime University of Michigan faculty member Eric Bermann, author of the award-winning book Scapegoat: The Impact of Death Fears on an American Family, passed away in June. He was 88.
A psychology major at QC, Bermann completed master’s and doctoral degrees in personality and clinical psychology at the University of Michigan, and subsequently a master’s in public health. He spent decades at the university, teaching in both the psychiatry and psychology departments and chairing the graduate program in clinical psychology. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he was chief psychologist for the Children's Psychiatric Hospital at Michigan Medicine and a consultant for the Grand Rapids Child Guidance Center, the Detroit Neuropsychiatric Institute, the Ann Arbor and Willow Run public schools, and the Washtenaw Intermediate School District Detention Home.
Bermann is survived by a large extended family.
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Anne-Marie Bourbon ’74, MA ’76
Anne-Marie Bourbon, professor emerita of French at Queensborough Community College, died in June at the age of 86.
Born in the French Alps, Bourbon immigrated to the United States in adulthood. Enrolling in QC in her thirties, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, followed by a PhD in French literature from CUNY. A Renaissance specialist, she published articles in journals, wrote book reviews for the Renaissance Society of America, and translated some titles into English. She was also the co-author of Trésors littéraires, a reader for students of French. In her spare time, she sang with the Oratorio Society of Queens.
Predeceased by her husband, Bourbon is survived by her children, stepchildren, and their spouses; her grandson; her niece; and her brother and sister.
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Darryl Feldman ’69
The Queens College community mourns the loss of Darryl Feldman—a kind and caring friend to all, a psychologist, psychoanalyst, and marriage counselor who practiced on Long Island for over 30 years—on May 13. He was 75.
Feldman majored in psychology at QC, where he pledged the Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity. A diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a certified group psychotherapist, he was the director of Psychological Services at the Adelphi University Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and the State University of New York at Farmingdale. Previously he served as director of the Pederson-Krag Institute for Psychotherapy in Huntington.
In his private office he worked with individuals, couples, and groups, but his practice wasn’t limited to those clients. A colleague recalled that on September 11, 2001, at the request of the New York Police Department, Feldman gathered a few other psychologists and went to the department’s Manhattan headquarters to help people deal with their trauma.
Active in professional organizations, Feldman was a past president of both the Suffolk County Psychological Association (SPCA) and the New York State Psychological Association Division of Group Psychology and Psychotherapy.
He is survived by his partner of many years; his son, daughter, and granddaughter; two brothers and several nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Tributes from Feldman's Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity Brothers (PDF)
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Ana López ’78
Ana López, a communications professor and associate provost for Faculty Affairs at Tulane University, passed away in June.
After graduating from QC with a bachelor's degree in accounting, López enrolled at the University of Iowa, earning a master’s in communications and theater arts (film studies) and then a doctorate in communication studies. She joined the faculty of Tulane In 1986. Specializing in Latin American and Latino film and cultural studies, she held a leadership role in the university’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies and served as director of its Cuban Studies Institute.
In addition to the essay collection Hollywood, Nuestra América y los Latinos, López wrote more than three dozen essays and book chapters, exploring topics such as melodrama and performance in the Golden Age Cinemas of Latin America, early silent cinema and modernity and documentary telenovelas, and Cuban American media.
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Barbara Jones Omolade ’64
Sociologist and educator Barbara Jones Omolade passed away in July at the age of 80.
After graduating from Queens College, Omolade earned a master’s degree from Goddard College and a doctorate from the City University of New York. An activist from her student days, she participated in the Mississippi Summer Freedom Project and was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (she donated her papers to the Civil Rights Archive in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library). Turning her beliefs into a career, Omolade worked for the Center for the Elimination of Violence in the Family, the Women’s Action Alliance, Empire State College Center for Labor Studies, CUNY, and the City College of New York Center for Worker Education. Moving to the Midwest, she became the first dean of Multicultural Affairs at Calvin College—now Calvin University. Her books include The Rising Song of African American Women, It’s a Family Affair: The Real Lives of Black Single Mothers, and Faith Confronts Evil.
Omolade is survived by her sister Beatrice Jones; her children, Kip, Ngina, Eskimo, and Krishna and their spouses; and eight grandchildren.
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Jon Peterson
Jon Peterson, professor emeritus of history, died in July. He was 87.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Peterson was the son of accomplished parents: His mother, a board member of the national YMCA who advocated for a minimum wage in Ohio, was inducted into the statewide Women’s Hall of Fame; his father was a professor of entomology at The Ohio State University.
Following his father into academia albeit in a different subject, Peterson earned a BA in history from Swarthmore College, an MA in American history from Ohio State University, and a PhD from Harvard University. Specializing in American urban history, he joined the Queens College faculty in 1966, went on to direct the master’s degree program, and from 1991 to 1995 chaired the history department. He also led Columbia University’s Seminar on the City, 1973-1976. Retiring from QC after almost 40 years, he had more time to pursue his other interests, including watercolor painting, photography, birding, gardening, and hiking.
Peterson is survived by his wife of 60 years, their son and daughter, and his brother.
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Lois Schwaeber ’56
Lois Schwaeber, former director of legal services at the Safe Center LI Inc., died in June. She was 87.
The Brooklyn-born daughter of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Schwaeber finished high school at age 16 and college at 20. She briefly taught in Lower East Side schools before marrying and becoming a full-time homemaker. The proud mother of four, she advertised that fact with a vanity license plate that read “4KIDS.”
Once her youngest child graduated from high school, Schwaeber took to volunteering at the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the precursor of the Safe Center. She found the work so compelling that in middle age she went to law school, came back to the organization as an attorney, and later oversaw its transition into the Safe Center. Dedicated to public service, she was a member of the Nassau County Executive’s Family Violence Task Force, Nassau County’s Judicial Women in the Courts Committee, the Nassau County Bar Association’s We Care Fund Advisory Board, and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Legislative Committee, among other appointments. Retiring at 2020, she was named a Woman of Distinction by Senator Anna Kaplan and honored by New York State Senate Resolution 2021 J468.
Predeceased by her husband, Schwaeber is survived by her children, seven grandchildren, and two sisters.
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Donald Snyder
Print, radio, and TV journalist Donald Snyder died in July, two days after filing his last story. He was 90.
Upon graduating from QC, Snyder briefly worked as a copy editor at Newsday. A moving target for the next two decades, he was a stringer in Vienna, Budapest, and West Germany; returned to New York City for a one-year international reporting fellowship at Columbia University; and ran Mutual Broadcasting System’s Berlin bureau from 1970 to 1973. Two years later, he hired on with NBC as a news producer first with the Peacock’s radio network and then moving over to the “Today Show.”
Retiring in 2001, Snyder freelanced for NBC, the Forward, the National Catholic Reporter, and other outlets. He identified himself on LinkedIn as an independent online media professional.
Snyder is survived by his wife, Alma Rutgers; his daughter from his first marriage; his stepson; and his grandchildren and stepgrandchildren.
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Sebastian Alvarado (Biology) and Yoko Nomura (Psychology) participated in Dark Night of Our Soul: A Documentary about Post-Traumatic Growth . . . . Eileen Berman, a QC alumna, was named to the board of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts . . . . Andy Beveridge (Sociology) is quoted in a Yahoo! Life article about the aging U.S. population . . . . Adem Birson ’06, MA ’08 is among the 212 quarter finalists for GRAMMY’s Music Educator of the Year 2024. Birson is on the faculties of NYU Steinhardt and Hofstra University . . . . Larisa Bukalov ’98, a math teacher at Bayside High School, is a recipient of Math for America’s (MƒA) Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education. The awards, each including a $20,000 prize, recognize outstanding leaders in the MƒA teacher community; two Mullers are given to New York City teachers every year, one in math and one in science . . . . Andrea Shapiro Davis ’81, senior advisor and director of Public Service Engagement for Mayor Eric Adams, delivered the keynote at Stella and Charles Guttman Community College’s commencement ceremonies and received the presidential medal for public service . . . . | |
John Dennehy (Biology) published “When Communication All Changed” in ASBMB Today . . . . Holger Eisl (Commoner Center) is quoted in a NY1 story on keeping safe indoors during air quality crisis . . . . Matt Higgins ’98 published “Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back—Use It To Push You Forward” in the Harvard Business Review . . . . Cecilia McHugh (SEES) received an International Distinguished Career Award from the Geological Society of America . . . . Markos Papadatos ’07, MA ’09 interviewed Gloria Estefan for Digital News . . . . Howie Rose ’77 was inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame; other sportscasters discussed his legacy with the Daily News . . . . Paul Simon ’63 was profiled on “CBS Sunday Morning” in connection with his latest album, Seven Psalms . . . . Anthony Tamburri (Calandra Institute) introduced Chianti Classico for a tasting during this year’s “Tutti giù in Cantina,” il Festival della Cultura del Vino di Velletri (“All Back Down to the Cellar,” the Velletri Wine Culture Festival). This was Tamburri’s second appearance at the festival, which takes place about 20 miles from Rome; in 2022, he introduced the Frescobaldi winery . . . . Hyun Ju Tsoutsouras, a Teacher Opportunities Corps participant who holds an advanced certificate in World Language Education from QC and is pursuing a master’s in special education here, is among the recipients of the Big Apple Awards for 2023. The awards recognize outstanding teachers in New York City’s public schools. Tsoutsouras teaches Korean 7-12 at the Institute for Health Professions in Cambria Heights . . . . Schiro Withanachchi is cited in “The Everyday Work of Transformation,” an essay published in Inside Higher Education . . . . President Frank H. Wu wrote an op-ed Op-Ed: Support NYS Hate Crime Protection Act – QNS.com in favor of New York State’s Hate Crime Protection Act. On July 20, he was a panelist for Asian American Ceilings: Obstacles in Academia, a webcast presented by the Committee of 100, a non-partisan leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, and the arts. For the Guardian, he wrote “’Can we move?’ Chinese residents are fearful over new US laws banning property ownership” . . . . Ying Zhou (Tech Incubator) was interviewed by “WCBS Small Business Spotlight” . . . . |  | |
Since its opening, the Armstrong Center has received enthusiastic coverage in numerous outlets including uDiscover Music, aasarchitecture, the New Yorker, QNS, WNYC Radio, and the Wall Street Journal. Highlights of the ribbon-cutting are captured in this new video created with the help of Nathan Desulme of Information Technology and “B” roll provided by the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
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