CSI Scholars honored by CUNY
December 5, 2007
Eighteen
faculty members from the College of Staten Island (CSI) are among
The City University of New York's Salute to Scholars celebration
honoring faculty members who won prestigious national awards or
outstanding national recognition for their research, artistic
endeavors, and other accomplishments.
"Our honorees represent the rich mosaic of faculty expertise and
research interests that help make CSI a great College in an
extraordinary University," says Tomás Morales, President of CSI.
"Whether the research involves gender and warfare in Italian
Renaissance writing, drifter motion planning for optimal
surveillance of the ocean, or Staten Island’s response to the World
Trade Center disaster, the scholarly pursuits of CSI faculty not
only contribute to the intellectual capital of the world, but
transform the lives of our students."
"These scholars are among the core of the University's educational
community," says Selma Botman, Executive Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs and University Provost. "Their unique and varied
contributions have made CUNY "the nation's largest public
university" into a model of urban public education. Their research
vitally transforms our local and our global communities, and their
teaching inspires the minds and enriches the lives of our diverse
and multi-talented students."
In addition to the 18 honorees, CSI faculty members are prominently
featured in the event's program, including the cover photography of
two out-of-this-world scientists: Irving K. Robbins, director of the
College's Astrophysical Observatory and Associate Professor of
Physics and Astronomy; and Charles Liu, Assistant Professor of
Astronomy and Professor of Astrophysics. Liu is also on staff at the
American Museum of Natural History, and is among a select group of
international experts studying data collected by NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope.
Dr. Naider, a CUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, and the Leonard and Esther Kurtz Term Professor at
CSI, was featured for his research in making strides toward a new
anti-HIV drug with a novel chemical approach employed by CSI
undergraduate Svetlana Rabinovich. Naider is one in a handful of
scientists who has had continual funding from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) for over 30 years.
Dr. Jane Coffee, director of the CUNY Teacher Academy at CSI, was
noted for having built relationships with four host schools on
Staten Island, including two whose leadership includes CSI
graduates: Richard Gallo, Principal of IS 61, William Morris
Intermediate School and math teacher Debra Lauro; and John Crowdell,
Assistant Principal at Curtis High School where he oversees math.
The two other host schools are New Dorp High School and the CSI High
School for International Studies.
The host schools benefit not only from students as classroom
assistants but also from the professional knowledge that College
faculty can provide, Dr. Coffee explained.
"I'm really happy that there is a professional relationship between
the University faculty and the Department of Education faculty," she
says. "If we are going to improve how students perform in college
and when they become teachers, they've got to have a solid
foundation at the middle school and high school levels. That's where
change has to happen."
The Salute to Scholars faculty recognition celebration was held
December 5, 2007 at 6:00pm at the New York Public Library.
THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK’S SALUTE TO SCHOLARS
COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND FACULTY HONOREES 2007
Brian Carolan
Assistant Professor, Department of Education
American Educational Research Association; Student Engagement in
Small Schools: The Effects on Academic Achievement, Research Grant,
2006-2007
Abdeslem El Idrissi
Associate Professor, Department of Biology/PhD, Program in
Biology, College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
FRAXA Research Foundation; The Neurobiology of Fragile X
Syndrome: A Unifying Neuro-Endocrine Hypothesis, Research Grant,
2007-2008
Qiao-Sheng Hu
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry/PhD, Program in
Chemistry, College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
American Chemical Society; Controlled Pd(0) Catalyzed
Cross-Coupling Polymerizations, Research Grant, 2006-2008
Shi Jin
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry/PhD, Program in
Chemistry, College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
3M Community Affairs; Nanostructured Organic Optoelectric
Materials, Research Grant, 2007-2008
James Kaser
Associate Professor, Library
New York State Archives; Phase II Documentation: Staten Island's
Response to the World Trade Center Disaster, Grant, 2006-2007
Athanasios Koutavas
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Science &
Physics/PhD Program in Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of
Staten Island/The Graduate Center
National Science Foundation/Columbia University; Tracking Past
Shifts on the Eastern Pacific ITCZ with Oxygen Isotopes and
Magnesium Paleothermometry, Research Grant, 2007
David Kritt
Associate Professor, Department of Education, The City
University of New York/Hunter College;
Collaborative Grant: Early Childhood Environments Research
Consortium, Research Grant, 2006-2007
Lihong (Connie) Li
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Science &
Physics/PhD Program in Physics College of Staten Island/The Graduate
Center
Pearl River Computers; Automatic Image Segmentation and Feature
Analysis Technique Based on the EM Algorithm, Research Grant, 2007
Charles Liu
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Science and
Physics
National Science Foundation; Earth and Planetary Science and
Astrophysics REU at the AMNH with CUNY, Research Grant, 2007-2008
Gerry Milligan
Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages
Villa I Tatti/Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance
Studies; Gender and Warfare in Italian Renaissance Writing,
Fellowship, 2007-2008
Shaibal Mitra
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology/PhD, Program in
Biology, College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
National Science Foundation/Science Education for New Civic
Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER); Applying Active Learning
and Civic Engagement to a
Multi-Sectioned College Science Course, Grant, 2006-2008
Fred Naider
Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry/PhD Program
in Chemistry College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
National Science Foundation; The Role of Oligopeptide
Transporters in Germinating Rice Seeds, Research Grant, 2007-2008,
United States/Israel Bi-National Science Foundation; NMR Study of
HIV-1 Glycoprotein Interaction With CCR5, Research Grant, 2006-2007
Andrew Poje
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics/Honors
College/PhD Program in Mathematics, College of Staten Island/The
Graduate Center
Office of Naval Research; Drifter Motion Planning for Optimal
Surveillance of the Ocean, Research Grant, 2007-2010
Christina Tortora
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Speech, and World
Literature/Graduate Program in Linguistics, College of Staten Island/The Graduate
Center
National Science Foundation; Collaborative Research: The
Comparative Morpho-Syntax of Appalachian English, Research Grant,
2006-2008
Richard Veit
Professor, Department of Biology/PhD Program in Biology,
College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
Nuttall Ornithological Club; Year-Round Tracking of Common Terns
Using Geolocators, Research Grant, 2006-2007
Jesenko Vukadinovic
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics
National Science Foundation; Asymptotic Study of a Smoluchowski
Equation Arising in Modeling of Nematic Polymers, Research Grant,
2006-2008
Nan-Loh Yang
Professor, Department of Chemistry/PhD Program in Chemistry,
College of Staten Island/The Graduate Center
New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR);
Center for Engineered Polymeric Materials (CART), Year 3, Research
Grant, 2006-2007
Alexandre Zaitsev
Associate Professor, Department of Engineering and
Physics/PhD Programs in Engineering and Physics, College of Staten
Island/The Graduate Center
Department of the Army/Army Research Office; Ion Beam Written Carbon
Nanostructures on Carbonaceous Substances, Research Grant, 2006-2008
Download the 2007 Salute to Scholars program in PDF format
