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Vol. 4, No. 4 - March 21, 2005
| Sipher Named Chief Technology Officer Justin D. Sipher has been appointed Skidmore's chief technology officer, following a national search. "I am very pleased to welcome Justin to Skidmore and to Saratoga Springs," said Michael West, vice president for finance and administration at Skidmore, in announcing Sipher's appointment. "I look forward to working with him as we continue to strengthen Skidmore's information technology services." Sipher will be responsible for the Center for Information Technology Services, a staff of 35, and will oversee collaboration with all members of the college community to establish information technology strategies, future technology direction, and requirements. He will be responsible for the acquisition and implementation of new technology, and will communicate technological information to students, faculty, and staff. Sipher also will work with faculty to promote and support the use of technology in the classroom and in research projects. Sipher comes to Skidmore from the State University of New York College at Potsdam, where he was assistant vice president for information technology. He started working there in 1994, responsible for providing desktop computer support, and was consistently promoted, being named director of computing and technology services in 2000, and later assistant vice president for information technology. In that capacity, he was Potsdam's senior technology officer, providing support to both administrative and academic technology users on that campus. In addition, Sipher has been active throughout the SUNY system, most recently serving as vice-chair (2001-2003) and then chairperson (2003-2005) of the SUNY Council of Chief Information Officers. In addition he was the presentation coordinator (1997-2002) of the annual SUNY Technology Conference. He also has been active in EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association that advances higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. EDUCAUSE membership is open to institutions of higher education, corporations serving the higher education information technology market, and other related associations and organizations. Sipher was a participant in the 2001 Frye Leadership institute, co-sponsored by EDUCASUE, CLIR, and Emory University. He served on the EDUCAUSE planning committee for the 2003 Seminars on Academic Computing in Snowmass, Colo., and is currently involved in the organization's 20-20 Project, whose goal is to help EDUCAUSE's current leadership understand the needs of today's younger IT professionals, who will eventually serve as the next generation of information technology leaders. Sipher is a graduate of SUNY College at Potsdam, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master of science in education degree with distinction in instructional technology and media management. "I am excited to join Skidmore College and appreciate its rich tradition and strong commitment to the liberal arts. I look forward to working with my colleagues across campus as we strive to further strengthen the technology services and resources of the institution," Sipher said. Sipher and his wife Amy, both natives of Gouverneur, N.Y., are the parents of a four-year-old son, Cody, and one-year-old daughter, Camryn. Conversation with Renowned Record Producer Announced Phil Ramone, one of the most prolific and respected producers in the recording industry, will visit Skidmore Tuesday, March 22. "An Interview with Phil Ramone" is scheduled at 5 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall on the Skidmore campus. Questions from the audience will be answered following the interview, which is to be conducted by a representative of Skidmore's Department of Music. Admission is free and open to the public. Nominated for 30 Grammy Awards, Ramone has received 12. His three most recent Grammy Awards were presented just last month for his work on Genius Loves Company, by Ray Charles (Album of the Year and Best Surround Sound Album). He also received a Grammy for Outstanding Technical Significance to the Recording Field. Ramone has been a pioneer in audio technology, supporting such innovations as the use of the compact disc, digital video disc, hi-definition recording, and surround sound. The first CD ever pressed - Billy Joel's 52nd Street - was a Phil Ramone production, as was the first pop DVD release, Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story. The list of artists with whom Ramone has collaborated includes such diverse musicians as Clay Aiken, Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Chicago, Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Michael McDonald, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Preston, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Brian Wilson, and Neil Young. In addition, he has numerous concert, film, Broadway, and TV productions to his credit, including A Star Is Born, Beyond the Sea, Flashdance, Midnight Cowboy, Seussical, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. Ramone also is active in music and service-related organizations. He is the chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and is a trustee of the MusiCares Foundation. Comix 101 to Be Spiegelman's Lecture Topic Art Spiegelman, the critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will lecture on "Comix 101" at 8 p.m. Monday, April 11. The Students Speakers Bureau will host Spiegelman's lecture, which will be in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Spiegelman has almost single-handedly brought comic books out of the toy closet and onto the literature shelves. In 1992 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his masterful Holocaust narrative Maus, which portrayed Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. Maus II continued the remarkable story of his parents' survival of the Nazi regime and their lives later in America. His comics are best known for their shifting graphic styles, their formal complexity, and their controversial content. In his lecture "Comix 101," Spiegelman will take the audience on a chronological tour of the evolution of comics to explain the value of the medium and why it should not be ignored. A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Spiegelman grew up in Rego Park, N.Y. He studied art and philosophy at Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton, which awarded him an honorary degree in 1995. Skidmore faculty recently quoted in the media include the following: Sandy Baum, professor of economics, wrote "Priming the Pump for Student Aid," an essay that appeared in the March 4 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education online, as well as in Vol. 51, Issue 26, of the print version of the publication. In addition, she was a source for "Change in Pell-Grant Formula Is Likely to Drive Up Loans and Work Hours," by Kelly Field, in the same editions of the Chronicle. Greg Goodwin, assistant professor of psychology, is the author of "Periaqueductal gray is implicated as a modulator of infant separation responses," which appeared March 20 in Cardiovascular Device Liability Week and Lab Business Week; March 19 in Mental Health Business Week and Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week; March 18 in Health Business Week; March 16 in Physician Law Weekly; March 15 in Life Science Weekly, Science Letter, and Cardiovascular Business Week; and March 14 in Mental Health Weekly Digest and Pain and Central Nervous System Week. David Karp, associate professor of sociology, was a source for "Justice by the People," in the March 3-9 edition of Metroland, and for "Making Crime Hit Home for Offenders," in the Feb. 28 issue of The Boston Globe. Sheldon Solomon, professor of psychology and Ross Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, was a source for "Over Our Dead Bodies," by Beth Kephart, published in Science and Spirit, March-April 2005. Mary Zeiss Stange was featured in "Hunting Gets a Scholarly Spin," by Lee Coleman, published in the March 13 issue of The Sunday Gazette; she also delivered the Commonwealth Club Lecture, "Mother Nature's Daughters" broadcast Feb. 24 on WAMC-FM.
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