Union in the Media

Union’s faculty, staff and students are often mentioned in local, national and international media outlets. Among the outlets that have highlighted Union include the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, U.S. News and World Report, MONEY and the Associated Press.

Content on Union’s news site has been honored by the Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education (CASE).

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Goldman Sachs foundation donates $500K to Union College

Union recently received a $500,000 gift from Goldman Sachs Gives, which when combined with a previous gift of $1 million brings total support by Goldman Sachs Gives for need-based scholarships to $1.5 million over the past 12 months.

Goldman Sachs Gives is a donor-advised fund. The firm’s partners make recommendations to Goldman Sachs Gives that support non-profit and charitable organizations around the world.

The donation was made at the recommendation of David Viniar '76 and his wife, Susan. David is the chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs and a member of the College's Board of Trustees.

Read about the gift in the Business Review (registration may be required).

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College to buy historic home

Union College has entered into an agreement with the private conservation group Protect the Adirondacks! (PROTECT) to purchase a building complex in nearby Niskayuna that includes the former home of the noted Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer (1908-1996) and a modern addition that houses the Adirondack Research Library.

To read a story in the Times Union, click here.

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The Greenest Colleges 2011: Princeton Review list

For the second straight year, Union is included among the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review’s 2011 “Guide to Green Colleges.” The free guide, produced in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, includes schools that have “demonstrated an above average commitment to sustainability in terms of campus infrastructure, activities and initiatives.”

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Creative kids concoct complex toys

Union recently hosted the 11th annual Rube Goldberg Engineering Competition at Memorial Fieldhouse.

The contest is named for the late Rube Goldberg, an engineer and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist. His cartoons, depicting “inventions” that epitomized “man’s capacity for exerting maximum effort to accomplish minimal results,” appeared in thousands of daily newspapers between 1914 and 1964.

Teams of middle and high school students had to build a machine that could plant a tree.

James N. Hedrick, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was the contest chair. The competition was coordinated by the Engineering program. Other event sponsors include GE Volunteers, KAPL, Bechtel and the Schenectady Museum.

The Daily Gazette

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Baruch Blumberg, Who Discovered and Tackled Hepatitis B, Dies at 85

Baruch Samuel Blumberg ‘46, whose work led to an effective hepatitis B vaccine and earned him a Nobel Prize in Medicine, died Tuesday, April 5, after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 85.

Blumberg was expected to return to campus for ReUnion weekend next month to deliver the keynote address at the dedication of the Peter Irving Wold Center, a $22 million, three-story, 35,000-square-foot research and education facility.

He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors in physics at Union in 1946, and received an honorary doctor of laws from the College in 1977.

In October 2007, Blumberg was among the first group to be featured in Union Notables, a rotating exhibit in Schaffer Library that celebrates the great men and women who have studied at Union over two centuries and gone on to make leading contributions in their fields.

Dozens of Newspapers and publications around the world published an obituary on Blumberg, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

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Indispensable art

Charles Steckler, professor of theater and resident scenic designer, is the featured artist in a solo exhibition, “Charles Steckler: Sketcher Recalls,” at The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy. The show features a selection of 24 pen and ink drawings from Steckler’s series, Per Passa il Tempo, meaning passing of time. The exhibit runs through April 22 in the President’s Gallery.

To read about the exhibit in the Times Union, click here.

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How safe are two reactors in Milton?

Geology professor John Garver was quoted in a Times Union story about two area nuclear reactors that sit near two fault lines in a region with a history of earthquakes.

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Symposium looks at Mohawk River concerns

Union hosted the third annual conference on the physical aspects of the Mohawk River watershed on Friday, March 18.

The daylong symposium in the F.W. Olin Center featured nearly two dozen presentations on topics including flooding, ecosystem analysis, water quality, and the management and future of the watershed.

U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko was the keynote speaker

The conference was organized by John Garver, geology professor and Jaclyn Cockburn, who teaches Earth science and geology at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The Daily Gazette

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Eastman's Women in Music Festival continues to grow

Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music, will be spending her spring break as guest composer for the 2011 Women in Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Highlights of her stay include open rehearsals, composition master classes and a University of Rochester Symphony Orchestra concert featuring two of Tann’s orchestra works.

The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester

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Former New York City Ballet principal Jacques d'Amboise shares his tale in 'I Was a Dancer'

Ballet legend Jacques d’Amboise, former New York City Ballet principal dancer, visited campus recently to work with dance students, have afternoon tea at the President’s House and sign copies of his new book.

“I Was a Dancer: A Memoir” (Knopf) recounts his 35 years with the company as a protégé of founder and choreographer George Balanchine, one the 20th century’s iconic artists.

D’Amboise, 76, led students in their warm-up on stage at the Yulman Theater Thursday before the evening’s performance of the Winter Dance Concert.

The Times Union