April 2015 Union in the Media Archive

The 34 members of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity are the Kenney Community Center’s volunteers of the week.

Throughout spring term, members have regularly volunteered at the Vale Urban Farm, as well as have an ongoing can and tab drive that benefits park renewal in the area. The fraternity also consistently volunteers at the Kenney Center’s after-school homework program with local elementary school children.

Additionally, members have also raised hundreds of dollars for the Northeastern Association of the Blind and have trained new members to be volunteers for Eddy Alzheimer’s care center, where they will begin working in the fall.

In May, Alpha Delta Phi will be hosting an event in Jackson’s Gardens with a live band to benefit the American Heart Association.

A new report states the percentage of women earning bachelor's degrees in science and engineering has decreased.

Valerie Barr, professor of computer science, was quoted in U.S. News and World Report about the issue.

Barr is the chair of the Association for Computing Machinery Council​ on Women in Computing.

To read the story, click here.

As the nation prepares to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination, the contributions of a number of remarkable alumni are told in a new exhibit, “Profound and Poignant: Union College Connections to the Civil War Era.”

The Sunday Gazette featured the exhibit in a front page article.

To read the article, click here.

As the nation prepares to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination, the contributions of a number of remarkable alumni are told in a new exhibit, “Profound and Poignant: Union College Connections to the Civil War Era.”

The Associated Press made note of the exhibit, which was picked up by dozens of media outlets, including the San Franciso Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Times.

Stefan Kiessling, an organist from Bach’s St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany will be in residence at Union College from April 13 through the 21. During his time on campus, Kiessling will perform two concerts and give three lectures, all of which are free and open to the public. The following are dates and times of his performances and lectures:

Lecture: Stefan Kiessling: “Insights into Leipzig” (Class in German; slide show)
Union College, Schaffer Library, Room 222
April 15 (Wednesday), 3:00-3:50 p.m.
Open and free to the public

Lecture: Stefan Kiessling: “1,000 Bits, Pipes, and Stops”
(Features Stefan Kiessling’s computer software program that transfers organ registrations from an organ to a computer and vice versa with a USB stick)
Union College, Memorial Chapel
April 16 (Thursday), 12:50-1:55 p.m.
Open and free to the public

Lecture: Stefan Kiessling: “The Chorale in Baroque Music”
Union College, Taylor Music Center, Room 224
April 17 (Friday), 9:15-10:20 a.m.
Open and free to the public

Concert: Stefan Kiessling, assistant organist at Thomaskirche in Leipzig
Zion Lutheran Church, 153 Nott Terrace, Schenectady
April 18 (Saturday), 1:00 p.m.
Reger, Karg-Elert, and Duruflé
Open and free to the public
Reception following the concert

Concert: Stefan Kiessling, assistant organist at Thomaskirche in Leipzig
Union College, Memorial Chapel
April 20 (Monday), 5:00-5:50 p.m.
All-Bach program
Open and free to the public
Reception following the concert

Jillmarie Murphy, assistant professor of English, was awarded a 2015 Thoreau Society Research Fellowship. The award will help support Murphy's research on her book project, Waves of Futurity, Monstrous Attachment: American Literary Representations of Affect, Place, and Otherness (1797-1901). She was also invited to present her research at the annual Thoreau Society Gathering, in Concord, Mass.

Robert Hislope, associate professor of political science, presented his research at the New York African Studies Association meeting held at Union. He also delivered a lecture (via Skype) to a hip hop honors class taught by Union alum Don Harrell ’75 at the University of Central Florida.

Zoe Oxley, professor of political science, gave a talk at the College of Wooster. She spoke on “Family Politics: Gendered Patterns in the Transmission of Party Identification” and guest lectured in two classes on the topics of issue framing and gender and elections.

Jennifer Matsue, associate professor of music, was a featured speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her talk, “The Ideal Idol: Making Music with Hatsune Miku,” discussed the anime-style character created with voice-synthesizing software.

Lori Marso, professor of political science, spoke at “Hannah Arendt: A Symposium” at the Center for Philosophy, Art and Literature at Duke University. The event is part of the Center’s Intellectual Women Series.

Submit your news to gowanc@union.edu.

Lauren Daugherty ‘18 is the Kenney Community Center’s Volunteer of the Week.

An active volunteer at the Kenney Center, Daugherty spent her spring break working at COCOA House and the Girls Circle high school group in the community.

Originally from San Diego, Calif., and pursuing an interdepartmental major of theater and political science, she is also a member of Safe Space and Women’s Union. Additionally, Daugherty is a tour guide and an intern in the Admissions office.

Robert Baker, the William D. Williams Professor of Philosophy, will speak at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City on April 9. “Medical Ethics: A New York State of Mind” is being presented by The Heberden Society and the Division of Medical Ethics at the College.

Holli Frey, associate professor of geology, was awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration. The funds will support her research program and fieldwork in Dominica, followed by analytical work at Union and a joint Stanford-USGS lab.

Chad Orzel, associate professor of physics, is now a featured contributor for Forbes.com. In his introduction (which can be read here), Orzel said he plans to write about how physics works, how science affects everyday life and current events. Read his most recently blog entry, “Science is Essentially Human; or Why Better STEM Education isn’t a Threat,” here.

Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, has two performances in Wales as part of her yearlong composer-residency with Music Center Wales. On April 2, the Welsh National Youth Training Choir in Swansea performed her accompanied choral piece “Wales, Our Land,” and April 4, Rob Buckland and the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama will perform her saxophone concerto. Tann will be present for rehearsals and talk to the audiences at each event. Future concerts include a new piece for brass band ("All the Moon Long" - premiering July 25 and 26) and her large choral work, "Paradise," on tour in Argentina with the National Youth Choir of Wales in October.

Submit your news to gowanc@union.edu.

Reappointment review committees have been formed for the following assistant professors: David Barnett, philosophy; Roger Hoerl, mathematics; Sheri Lullo, visual arts; Margot Paulick, chemistry; Kim Plofker, mathematics; and Krisanna Scheiter, philosophy.

Students, faculty, and alumni are invited to offer written or oral testimony to committee members. Committees (with chairs listed first) are:

Barnett: Leo Zaibert (zaibertl@union.edu); Robert Baker, philosophy; and Felmon Davis, philosophy

Hoerl: William Zwicker (zwickerw@union.edu); Kathryn Lesh, mathematics; and Tomas Dvorak, economics

Lullo: Louisa Matthew (matthewl@union.edu); David Ogawa, visual arts; and Lorraine Cox, visual arts

Paulick: Kristin Fox (foxk@union.edu); Joanne Kehlbeck, chemistry; Laurie Tyler, chemistry; and Michael Hagerman, chemistry

Plofker: Susan Niefield (niefields@union.edu); Brenda Johnson, mathematics; and Hans Mueller, classics

Scheiter: Leo Zaibert (zaibertl@union.edu); Robert Baker, philosophy; and Felmon Davis, philosophy

Dozens of media outlets picked up the announcement of the $11 million gift from the Feigenbaum Foundation. Among those that noted the gift were ABC News, Huffington Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Albuquerque Journal and the Elkart Truth.

Read a piece in the Albany Business Review

View an article in the Daily Gazette

Read an article in the Times Union