Faculty-Staff Achievements, Sept. 24, 2013

Awards

Sam Mitchell, officer, Campus Safety, completed the NYS Zone 5 Training Academy program for College Security Officers in August and received the session’s “Outstanding Officer” Award at the close of the program. During the closing ceremony Mitchell was presented with a plaque and was cited by the session director, counselor, and academy director for his valuable contributions to the success of the program.  (Photo: Officer Mitchell and Campus Safety Director Dennis Conway)

Anna Morreale, residence hall director, Office of Residential Life, participated in the 2013 New Professional Case Study at the Northeast Association of College and University Housing Officers (NEACUHO) Annual Conference June 21-24 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. She worked with a team of three colleagues from the region to give a short presentation to a panel of judges on the topic of emergency preparedness in severe weather.  Her team came in first out of a dozen teams this year. During the same competition, Katie Wright, residence hall director, Office of Residential Life, and her team came in second place.

Joe Murphy, community coordinator, Office of Residential Life, was the 2013 recipient of the Professional Development Award at the NEACUHO Annual Conference. This annual award reimbursement is given to a professional for the purpose of attending the upcoming Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I) Annual Conference and Exposition. NEACUHO sponsors the honor.

Activities

Cathy Domozych, senior teaching associate, Department of Biology, attended the 2013 Society for Experimental Biology meetings in Valencia, Spain, July 3-6 and the 13^th International Cell Wall meeting in Nantes, France, July 7-12, 2013.

David Domozych, professor of biology, was co-organizer of a symposium entitled, “Plant cell wall evolution and diversity” at the 2013 Society for Experimental Biology meetings in Valencia, Spain, July 3-6, 2013. Domozych was also session organizer and chair of the “Evolution and diversity of plant cell walls” session of the 13^th International Cell Wall meeting in Nantes, France, July 7-12. Co-organizer with Domozych was Zoe Popper of the National University of Ireland, Galway.

He also presented an invited talk at the Nantes meeting titled “Membrane trafficking dynamics during cell wall development, polar expansion and cell adhesion in the model unicellular green alga, Penium margaritaceum.” The talk was part of a session titled “Advanced understanding of cell wall structure, biosynthesis and function.” Domozych also was co-author of six other presentations with scientists from the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Copenhagen, the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Vermont, the Biotechnology Institute of Cornell University and the Department of Plant Sciences of the National University of Ireland. The research reported in these presentations focused on membrane trafficking dynamics in green algae, Golgi dynamics in root hair mutants, ectoparasitism in grasses and proteomics of green plants.

Helen J. Knowles, visiting assistant professor of government, gave a talk titled “The Tie Goes to Freedom:  Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty” Sept. 17 at Shippensburg University as part of its Constitution Day celebration.

Flip Phillips, professor of psychology and neuroscience, gave a talk titled “Deconstructing Perception” Sept. 25 at RPI. The lecture took place in conjunction with “Open Core,” a Sept. 20 lecture-performance in which Julien Maire dissected a projector, and Phillips took apart human visual perception and its relationship to technologies for image production.

Jeffrey Segrave, David H. Porter Professor and professor, Health and Exercise Science, delivered the keynote address at the 10th International Session for Educators and Officials of Higher Institutes of Physical Education at the July 21-28 International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia, Greece. His lecture was titled “The Modern Olympic Games: Cultural and Educational Dimensions of the Contemporary Olympic Games Movement.”

Publications & Exhibitions

Katie DeGroot, director, Skidmore Summer Studio Art Program, has an exhibition of new work on exhibit until Oct. 21 at Galerie Gris, 621 Warren St., Hudson.

Gordon Thompson, professor of music, contributed a blog for Oxford University Press on the 50th anniversary of the rise of Beatlemania in the UK. "The Beatles and 'She Loves You': 23 August 1963" describes the origins of the song, how it was recorded, and how critics and Djs responded.

In addition, his “British Rock and Pop, 1950s-1970s” has been re-published as part of Rhythm Revolution: A Chronological Anthology of American Popular Music: 1960s to 1980s edited by Mike Alleyne for Cognella.

In the News

Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, assistant professor of environmental studies, was interviewed by The Daily Gazette from the site of this summer’s protests in Ankara, Turkey. While there to visit family and do research, she agreed to share her impressions of the protests, which were initially sparked by a plan to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul.

Matt Cohen, associate director of admissions, was cited in a June 14 New York Times blog entry titled “28 Summer Reading Suggestions from College Admissions Experts.” He suggested Skidmore’s summer reading assignment: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates.

Pat Oles, associate professor of social work, is the author of “Teacher wages editorial misses the point,” a “Reader’s View” published June 2 in The Saratogian.

Sheldon Solomon, professor of psychology, is featured in an OnlineColleges.com article “10 Top-Rated Psychology Professors.” The story mentions top-rated faculty as reported by RateMyProfessor.com.

Summer activities will continue to be printed in the weeks ahead. Please send submissions to Andrea Wise, Office of Communications.