HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ORGANIZATION Board of Directors Thomas Santucci, Esq. ’93 President William Agresti ’78 Executive Vice President Joseph Sparacio ’89 First Vice President Heather Rocco ’96, ’99 Second Vice President Carol Bronzo ’54 Corresponding Secretary Irene Bossert ’64 Recording Secretary Joseph L. Scalise ’52 Historian/Parliamentarian
Executive Council Council of Presidents Daniel DeStefano ’69 Gary Diana ’80 Eleanor Haley Drayton ’65 James Drayton ’65 Madelyn E. Leibowitz ’64 John G. McAlonan, Jr. ’69 Linda Rose Obedzinski ’88 Alan R. Plotz ’58 Harriet Schiff Serota ’64 Terence E. Smolev ’66 Barbara Walsh-Dreyer ’80 E. David Woycik, Jr. ’77 Members J. Gary Angelillo ’66 Edgar Barton ’49 Jim Beach ’64 John F. Beiter II ’80 Robert J. Bernstein ’55 Bari Cenname ’89 Todd Cohen ’00 Carol Cooper ’96 Colleen Crispino ’92 Joy Cusick ’89 Michael D’Antonio ’98 Christine Damboise ’97 Frederick E. Davis ’85 Don Dreyer ’71 Charles R. Dyon ’55 Anita Ellis ’88 Steve Fendell ’78 Edward B. Flynn ’79 Doug Fox ’93 Sharon Galluzzo ’90 Mary Alice La Giglia Gans ’89 Richard Ginsburg ’82 Tom Green ’89 William Green ’67 Margaret Gregg-McGuire ’84 Esther Downing Hairston ’84 Joseph Heaney ’53 Bonnie Hiller ’61 Virginia Kane ’96 David Leaf ’67 Arleen J. Leeds ’69, ’82 Tony Liotta ’76 Jennifer Martinelli ’00 Thomas McKevitt ’93, ’96 Rick Megaro ’99 Jeffrey Minihane ’96 Susan Nolan ’81 James Panos ’76 John B. Pessala ’74 Henrietta Rasweiler Pfeiffer ’41 Robert Pfeiffer ’43 Pam Anthony Pincus ’89, ’91 Doris Biedermann Pirodsky ’40 Robert S. Salvatico ’95 Ed Samuels ’64 Edgar E. Schmidt ’51 Alexander Schoen ’91 Amy Spintman ’85 Brian Uzzo ’91 Margaret Fullerton Voorhies ’42 John Weaver ’49 Jeffrey Wurst ’71, ’74 Ed Zebrowski ’53
1998-2000 1989-1991 1981-1983 1977-1979 1993-1995 1991-1993 1995-1996 1979-1981 1996-1998 1987-1989 2000-2002 1985-1987
A
s I write this column, Hofstra is over halfway through the fall 2002 semester. We have an exceptional entering class, an increased number of entering students in our Honors College and an outstanding group of continuing students this year. Our faculty remain committed to excellent teaching and accessibility to students as well as to scholarly productivity. As an example, I would like to highlight a few of the many recent faculty awards: School of Communication Professor Lisa Merrill was awarded the 2002 Lilla A. Heston Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Interpretation and Performance Studies. Two HCLAS faculty members won National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships for this year – James Berger (English) and Sharryn Kasmir (Sociology/Anthropology). Professor Louis Kern received a Fulbright Scholar grant, and Professor Frank Bowe (CRSR) received the Mary E. Switzer Distinguished Fellowship from the American Public Health Association. An Earmark Grant of $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Education was awarded to Professors Janice Koch and Maureen Miletta to help teachers of middle school students to link the performing arts with math, science, literacy studies, and technology in the middle school curriculum. Finally the New York State Great Irish Famine Curriculum by Professors Maureen Murphy, Alan Singer and Maureen Miletta has been published and distributed to every school library in New York state. Our $32 million physical facilities renovation plan is proceeding. The plans for the renovation of the federal courthouse building into the new facility for the School of Education and Allied Human Services are complete, and construction is beginning with an anticipated completion date of fall 2003. An architectural firm has been selected to design the new four-story building to be located next to the Playhouse and Dempster Hall. This new building will house a 300-seat “black box” theater, a band rehearsal hall, music practice rooms, faculty offices and small classrooms. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2003, with completion of this building scheduled for the summer of 2004. We expect that some work on the renovation of the Playhouse will also begin this year. The remaining moves and renovations under the physical facilities renovation plan will be phased in as buildings become vacant and available for reconstruction. During this past year, we have also accomplished the following: sprinkler systems have been installed in the remaining three high-rise residence halls so that all of the high-rise residence halls have approved sprinkler systems; the Sociology/Anthropology Department has moved to larger quarters in Davison Hall;
the Office of Graduate Admissions has a new location in Memorial Hall; and a new lounge has been created in the Student Center which includes couches, televisions, games and the availability of high speed Internet connections for laptops. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about Hofstra’s Cultural Center, which coordinates concerts, lectures, conferences, plays, exhibitions and symposia every academic year. This fall we presented conferences on the 75th anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti and the life and work of Primo Levi. Our most ambitious event this semester was a major three-day conference on Bing Crosby and his impact on the world of entertainment and American culture.
P R E S I D E N T ’S C O L U M N
The Hofstra Cultural Center was founded in 1976 by the late Joseph G. Astman, Professor of Comparative Literature and Languages at Hofstra. The Cultural Center has evolved into a dynamic instrument for fostering scholarly exchange and intellectual debate. The majority of the Cultural Center’s events are free to Hofstra students and give them a great opportunity to hear discussions by the world’s leading figures in education, politics, business and entertainment. The programs are also open to the public, allowing the University to share its vast resources with the community. This spring we have programs planned on the history of the Broadway musical and an aviation conference focusing on the history of the autogiro and gyroplane. If you live close enough to Hofstra to take advantage of these events, I urge you to do so. They are an enjoyable way to continue your Hofstra education. Even if you live out of state or outside the country, you never know when the Cultural Center may be planning a conference focused on your favorite topic, prompting a visit to your alma mater. We look forward to seeing you then.
Stuart Rabinowitz President
H O F S T R A
U P D A T E
3