For Guy Consolmagno, S.J., it has been both, perhaps in equal doses. In a talk on the Fordham campus on Feb. 26, Brother Consolmagno, the director of the Vatican Observatory, said that religion and science enjoy a long partnership in humans’ endeavor to understand the world in which they live.

“Studying science is an act of worship,” said Brother Consolmagno, a graduate of MIT, former Peace Corps volunteer, author, and research astronomer. “You have to have faith in the questions you are asking.”

Delivering the John C. and Jeanette D. Walton Lecture in Science, Philosophy, and Religion, Brother Consolmagno drew parallels between an unlikely pair: Galileo, a Renaissance man who created the telescope and changed science forever, and Pope Francis, whose concern for climate change’s effects on the world’s poor is aimed at reinvigorating the Catholic mission.

“Galileo Would Have Been On The Colbert Show”

Had he been born in the 20^th century rather than the 16^th, Galileo would have been world-renown, “a media star … just like Carl Sagan,” said Brother Consolmagno. “[He] would have been on The Colbert Show, the Tonight Show.” Although Galileo’s notoriety landed him in some trouble with the church in his day, said Brother Consolmagno, his important scientific discoveries set in motion a revolution on how scientists make assumptions about the universe. It moved science from the Golden Age of celebrating book knowledge of the past, to the scientific revolution of seeking knowledge for the future.

“Galileo was special because he had the telescope and was able to see and understand what he was seeing . . . the moon’s craters . . . the Orion Nebula,” said Brother Consolmagno. “And he was seeing things that were not in any book.”

“He understood why it mattered, and he knew it was important to tell the world.”

Laudato Si’: What Pope Francis Sees

Brother Consolmagno called the pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, an entreaty that doesn’t settle scientific questions but draws on today’s scientific research to conclude “the environment is reaching a breaking point that will cause a change in humanity that cannot be fixed by technology.” Francis says these ecological problems are symptoms of much deeper social justice issues, “symptoms that come out of personal sins” and our detachment from God.

“The pope is [offering]new assumptions, just as Galileo saw a new set of assumptions in how the universe works,” he said.

The pope’s call to action, said Brother Consolmagno, is for human beings to develop a new set of ethics, “a new idea of what is wrong” in the human relationship to nature and human ecology. Nature, like the human, is a creation of God; therefore it is mankind’s to care for like a sibling, not to own.

Nor are humans gods who can fix ecological degradation through technology, he said. Technology advances over time, but human ethics tend to waver: a technologically-advanced society may not necessarily solve the earth’s problems.

“Ask yourself who had better ethics: Nazi Germany? Or Socrates?”

By calling for a change in our humanity, the pope’s encyclical does much to demonstrate why science needs faith, said Brother Consolmagno.

“How do we know what change will be for the better? Ultimately, the Jesuit answer is, if it brings us—human beings who will never be God—closer to God.”

Each morning, the students took intensive English classes and kept daily diary entries (in English) chronicling their thoughts and impressions of their New York City experience. In the afternoon and evening they embarked on guided New York excursions related to the content discussed in their classes—from the Statue of Liberty to the United Nations to Times Square.

For example, their trip to the Metropolitan Museum, said associate director Amy Evans, sought to deepen their appreciation for art: how to look at works from different eras, how to consider the historical context in which the work was created, and how to simply embrace the way it made them feel. Students tracked down various pieces in a scavenger hunt, often chronicling their discoveries through photographs and descriptive observations.

“This is an example of what is meant by ‘experiential learning,'” Evans said.

The institute welcomed 11 students from China.

But exactly when and where such censorship is being done has proven hard to measure.

Now, researchers from the University of Michigan are enlisting 400,000 servers around the world to monitor censorship and network interference. Their project is called Censored Planet.

“Ideally, a router’s job is to send data forward—but they are smarter now. Some very clever things are being used to block access to information,” said Benjamin Vandersloot, a University of Michigan computer science and engineering doctoral student, speaking on Jan. 10 at the Fordham-FBI 2018 International Conference on Cyber Security.

Say, for example, that you want to send a message to Facebook. Your request pings from router to ISP to another to another (many others) and then eventually to the Facebook server itself.

“If you are in China, you are going to bounce by a router controlled by the Chinese government or a hired hand they control,” said Vandersloot. “China and Iran are the most public countries about web censorship practices. Right now, it’s currently accelerated in Iran because of the protests.”

Greatfire Is Blocked

One site censored in China is Greatfire.org https://en.greatfire.org/, a website dedicated to listing where internet censorship is being anecdotally reported in China itself. “They don’t want this transparency in the process,” he said. “Moreover, they don’t want people even talking about censorship.”

Although nobody can say for certain that the persons pulling the switches are censoring, the project measures patterns that show connection breakdowns.

“Iran has shown increased censorship before around times of elections, as do many other countries,” said Vandersloot.

There are three ways of censoring internet use: blocking Domain Name service; blocking your IP and TCP connection to the web; and blocking an “application layer” request of a web page. Censored Planet is measuring all three methods, said Vandersloot. The 400,000 servers being used for Domain Name testing receive data “packets,” and the servers send information “packets” back.

“We ask, ‘hey, tell us where is Google is’ and we see the stuff they send us back. We can measure whether we get a result that is genuine,” he said.

“We who work on Censored Planet are in favor of internet freedom. And we’re trying to enable that for everyone.”

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray gave the keynote at the Jan. 9 opening session of the Fordham-FBI 2018 International Conference on Cyber Security. He spoke of “the Going Dark problem” of protected electronic devices, and the lapse of part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), should Congress fail to renew it this month.

Due to an industry practice of encrypting cell phones, computers, and other electronic consumer products, Wray said that last year the FBI was unable to access the content of nearly 7,800 devices, even though “there is lawful authority to do so.”

“Each one of those devices is tied to a specific subject, a specific defendant, a specific victim, a specific threat.,” said Wray, who was appointed last year following President Trump’s firing of then-director James Comey. “We are not looking for a ‘back door’ . . .[but]the ability to access the device once we’ve obtained a warrant from an independent judge, who has said we have probable cause.”

“it’s an urgent public safety issue.”

He also called for the immediate extension of Section 702 of the FISA, which allows the government warrantless monitoring of internet and phone communications to gather foreign intelligence information.

Wray, a former federal prosecutor who was in private practice when tapped for the director’s position, gave his talk from the “fresh perspective” of someone returning to law enforcement after approximately a decade.

“Back then, ‘tweeting’ was something only birds did. Now…well, let’s just say it’s something that’s a little more on my radar,” Wray said.

Wray defended the agency’s impartiality, saying that it is the honest process, not the result, that his FBI agents are passionate about.

“If the bureau starts chasing results, that’s fool’s gold. There is always going to be somebody unhappy about something that we do,” he said. “[We] let the facts go where they go.”

Higher Stakes, More Complexities

Since he last worked in law enforcement, Wray said “the [cyber]threats are growing more complex, and the stakes are higher than ever.” In fact, he noted that the term “cybercrime” is nearing redundancy, as nearly all crimes today—from terrorism to human trafficking to gangs to organized crime—involve some technological or digital component.

The FBI has been successful in infiltrating and destroying some major global operations: Wray mentioned the takedown last summer of AlphaBay, an online black market for drugs, malware, stolen identities, and more. Yet upcoming challenges incorporating more AI and cryptocurrencies will require new approaches and collaborations.

To those ends, he said, one of the main challenges facing the FBI today is finding persons who are high-end cyber-proficient, and to raise the game to stay ahead of threats. “The sad realization is that there are too few people in this country—in any country—who have that expertise. It’s a great place to be, if you are a college kid right now.”

Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, introduced Wray and fielded questions to him following his talk. Citing the foreign meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Father McShane emphasized cybersecurity’s vital contribution to world institutions.

“The work the FBI does has never been more important, not merely to the security of democratically-elected governments, but to world markets and to the infrastructure of civilization itself.”

(Read Director Wray’s full remarks.)

READ MORE ICCS DAY 1 COVERAGE:

To Take Out Dark Net Marketplace, Luck, Skill, Cooperation Required

Operation Harbor: an Insider’s Look at the Hunt for a German Router Hacker

There’s No Hiding

Plant-Based Meat. Garrett Broad, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication and media studies and author, More Than Just Food (University of California Press, 2016)

There has been tremendous growth in the plant-based food sector over the last several years, and there are a number of reasons why 2018 could be the biggest year yet for this emerging market. First and foremost, concerns about health, the environment, and animal welfare have led to increased public demand for plant-based alternatives to meat and animal products that are tasty, affordable, and convenient. At the same time, there has been an explosion of entrepreneurial initiative and innovation, as well as organizing and advocacy, in an effort to get these products in stores, restaurants, and other food service locations across the country and around the world. The meat industry has certainly taken notice—some companies are concerned about the threat that plant-based products represent to their bottom line, but others are actually investing in plant-based foods to get in on the action at this early stage.

Protest Demonstrations. Heather Gautney, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology and budget committee advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

In 2018, look for large-scale demonstrations and targeted protest activity outside the White House and in the halls of the U.S. Capitol, especially over immigrants’ rights. Following last year’s Women’s March, there remains a core group of women activists who continue to organize. A few months ago they put on a large-scale conference, and have an ongoing, committed project of movement-building around women’s issues.

[And] there are lots of ways for people to protest besides tens of thousands of people assembling in the street. On immigration round-ups and the issue of sanctuary cities, I think there may be widespread local demonstrations and acts of mass disobedience—protecting people from being taken away. There are all sorts of micro forms of resistance that can take place within communities. When the health care debates were happening in Washington D.C., when demonstrators where showing up at town hall meetings and shaming their congressmen and senators, I think that made a substantial impact on what happened to the outcome.

Internet Service. Olivier Sylvain, associate professor of law and director, McGannon Center for Communications Research

Now that the Federal Communications Commission has repealed “network neutrality” regulations that prohibited internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon from privileging some content over others, we will all want to closely monitor the quality of our internet service.  The FCC Chairman claims that the prior rules made it difficult for providers to invest in novel new services.  Those rules, however, barred service providers from exploiting their coveted gatekeeping market position to discriminate against disruptive competitors; they prohibited, for example, providers from making it costlier for then-emergent start-ups–with names like Amazon and Netflix–to become market-makers in video distribution.

Now that network neutrality is gone, we should keep our eyes on the quality of video on Amazon and Netflix.  We should also watch for subscription fees increases for those services.

Mergers and Acquisitions. Sris Chatterjee, Ph.D., professor and chair of global security analysis finance and business economics, Gabelli School of Business

2017 has been a very good year for M&A. With the economy continuing to show strong fundamentals and the new tax law, 2018 is most likely to continue this upward trend in merger activity.

FinTech and digital technology represent a major disruptive force that will shape many mergers in 2018. We have already started to see this trend in 2017 when many companies across different industries outside the tech-sector acquired firms with the desired digital capabilities. This trend will also continue in 2018. Acquisition of American or European companies with an established brand name and market by firms in China, India and other non-Western countries has been another feature of M&A activity in recent times. This is also likely to continue.

These positive aspects of a stronger M&A outlook in 2018 need to be balanced against other factors that may have a restraining effect. The first factor that comes to mind is the effect of the U.S. government’s decision to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger. AT&T is fighting this decision in court and the outcome will have an important effect on M&A activity in 2018. The second factor to consider is that market multiples are already high, perhaps too high in light of meager growth. This, coupled with the high average premium that we witnessed in 2017, means that deals, on average, are going to be pricey.

Vatican Fashion. J. Patrick Hornbeck, Ph.D., associate professor of theology and department chair

Of late, the fashion world has been demonstrating increasing interest in things religious: consider, for instance, Alexander Wang’s 2016 show at St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. But the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will take this trend a step further with its 2018 exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” The exhibition pairs liturgical and ceremonial vestments and artworks from the Met collection with designer garments inspired in some way by Catholicism. Traditionalist Catholic groups have sometimes responded with alarm to artistic displays that appear to mock or satirize their faith. The new Met exhibit (which opens in May) may encounter resistance from such quarters, but local Catholic leaders were consulted in the planning process. And the Vatican itself loaned more than 50 of the pieces that will be on display. In the end, the Met may more than anything else showcase the manifold ways in which the Catholic tradition continues to inspire artists of all stripes.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Shannon Waite, Ed.D., clinical assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education

In 2018, I predict that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will become more diverse and that the conversation will broaden from being focused on race and ethnicity to include socio-economic status.  I would pay attention to how the cuts to programs and initiatives that indirectly support HBCU’s and/or the students they serve impact the student’s access to higher education. I also expect the conversation about whether these institutions can continue to fulfill the role they have historically played and remain viable options for the demographic of students they traditionally serve to become more prominent.  I expect questions about whether HBCUs still have a place in our society today to become a part of the conversation that will spark a national debate.  Finally, I would pay attention to how the current administration responds to the criticism that the commitment made to bolster HBUCs has not been honored.

Bitcoin. Giacomo Santangelo, Ph.D., senior lecturer of economics

Much like international currencies, people trade Bitcoin to exploit arbitrage opportunities (buy low, sell high) in the market. However, today the bitcoin has more in common with Beanie Babies from the 1990s than with international currencies. The market for Bitcoin is being driven by speculation, not investment. Speculators buy an asset, often taking huge risks, in the hopes of making ’a quick buck.’ It would have been ill-advised to invest your retirement in Beanie Babies or Pokemon cards in the 1990s; although, at the time, you could make fast money buying/selling on eBay . . . until you couldn’t. Whether Bitcoin will eventually settle at $20k, $1 Million, or $1, the volatility of the recent weeks indicates that when speculators lose interest in Bitcoin, the bubble will burst. The bitcoin will only continue to have ‘value’ if people continue to believe it has value. At the moment, people have no rational reason to do so. It is unlikely Bitcoin will continue a meteoric rise, uninterrupted, in 2018.

Helicopter Parenting and Hovering. Rachel Annunziato, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and head of Fordham’s Pediatric Psychology & Health Behaviors group

We are in an era where parenting styles—such as helicopter, or hovering— are raising concerns about our children’s ability to develop independence and advocate for themselves. Indeed, in the medical community during the last decade there has been a push for adolescents to learn early how to self-manage their special health care needs.

My colleagues and I have been studying this process among a large sample of adolescents from around the country. We found that adolescents who say they are self-managing (versus those having more parental involvement) and those who say they are doing more than their parents think they are, have worse outcomes. This includes difficulty managing their medications. These findings perhaps signal that for some adolescents, it is critical to work with their parents rather than move them into the background. So [going forward]maybe a little hovering is okay.

Real Estate’s Downward and Upward Trends. Hugh F. Kelly, Ph.D., special advisor to Fordham’s Real Estate Institute in the School for Professional and Continuing Studies

The 2018 outlook for commercial properties in New York is mixed. Tenant demand for office space is strengthening on the basis of strong job growth in finance and business/professional services. These job gains are timely, as a new generation of offices is coming to market in significant volume. Lateral movement amongst corporate users should continue, creating vacancy in some older buildings. But high prices and low cap rates will keep overall transactions on a downward trend.

In retailing, especially storefront properties on high-traffic avenues, vacancy is quite high, as asking rents have tended to exceed the price that can be economically supported by stores sales. I’d expect capitulation from landlords if that trend intensifies; low returns are better than no returns.

The residential market is sorting out an excess of luxury development while dealing with the ongoing crisis of affordability. As a result, multifamily construction in the outer boroughs may be 2018’s most significant trend.

(Patrick Verel, Tom Stoelker, and Tanisia Morris contributed to the article.)

Working backward from No. 10, are our most popular posts of the year.

10. Actor Robert De Niro Tells IDHA Graduates: You Are My Heroes
(June 30) The Hollywood legend offered the commencement address to the 50th graduating class of Fordham’s International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA).

9. Fordham Designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education
(April 3) The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Fordham as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE).

8. Oscar-Nominated Moonlight Illuminates Miami Film’s Co-Producer
(February 24) Alumnus Andrew Hevia co-produced the film which took home Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

7. Rainbow Rams Represent Fordham in NYC’s Gay Pride March
(June 26) The university was represented for the first time in the annual Pride Parade by the Fordham University Alumni chapter of the Rainbow Rams.

6. Fordham Signs Pledge to Support Paris Climate Change Goals
(June 6) Fordham has joined 180 colleges and universities in signing a pledge, “We Are Still In,” to support the goals laid out by the Paris Climate Agreement.

Class of 2017 Urged to Face Unsettling Times With a Merciful Heart

5. Class of 2017: Face Unsettling Times with a Merciful Heart
(May 20) As thousands on Edwards Parade listened to commencement speaker Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, our news team posted videos of both before and after the ceremony.

4. Haunted Fordham Video
(October 30) Fordham’s Rose Hill campus is widely considered to be one of the most haunted campuses in the Northeast, if not the entire U.S. And we had the spooky stories to prove it.

3. Father McShane Announces University Support for Immigrants and Refugees
(January 29) Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, issued the following statement with regard to President Trump’s executive order on refugees and immigration.

2. Fordham featured prominently on the New York City skyline last night.
(March 28) The Empire State Building was lit in maroon to commemorate Fordham’s 175th anniversary, and the dramatic photo helped boost our 175 Things to Know About Fordham series.

1. Jeopardy! 175th Anniversary Greeting for Fordham
(January 2017) Alex Trebek asking a Final Jeopardy! question on 19-letter words, a shout-out to Fordham’s (What is a) Dodransbicentennial. The post was seen by more than 108,000 viewers.

The choral program, with an instrumental complement by the Bronx Arts Ensemble, inspired solemn interludes of reflection in which the goodness and light of the season brought to mind the miracle of Jesus’ birth.

That was the message delivered by Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, as he kicked off the holiday season with the President’s Club Christmas Reception on Nov. 27.

The annual reception drew some 700 members of the Fordham community to the promenade of the David H. Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center, where Father McShane called upon them to soothe the sharper moments of this past year with a celebration of gratitude for God’s love.

“Auntie Mame would say ‘haul out the holly, we need a little Christmas’—but what about that holly? Why do we deck the halls with holly?”

Rich in Christian symbolism, holly is not so innocent, he said. While the green in that little sprig marks the eternal youth of Christ, the rest evokes Christ’s sacrifice.

“Early Christians also saw spikey leaves—the crown of thorns—and the red berries as the blood [Christ] shed for us,” he said. “In this difficult moment in our history, when the world is tense and the nation is polarized, I look at holly and it reminds us of the first Christmas gift—that of God’s inexplicable generosity, absolutely astounding love for us all. And on the basis of that, we hope. Because we know that God, who loves us so much, will continue to watch over us.”

Gifts to Be Thankful For

As the evening progressed, guests shared the holiday spirit by recalling some of the more meaningful gifts they’d received in their lives and were grateful for. Christopher Knight, FCRH ’16, said he was thankful for “a Fordham education.”

For Andrew Ketchum, FCRH ’09, it was a Batman Bruce Wayne Mansion he got when he was 8 years old—but not really. “It was a really cool gift for sure …  but I’d actually have to say my wife,” he said.

The couple met at the Rose Hill campus’s Queens Court during their freshman year when, says Karen Hogan Ketchum, FCRH ’09, Andrew approached her asking if she knew how to make “easy mac”—macaroni and cheese.

“I thought, oh, here’s this poor guy who has no idea how to cook, let me take pity on him,” said Hogan Ketchum.

“And the line worked,” Andrew chimed in. The two were married last year in the University Church.

Board of Trustees member and 1969 alumnus James P. Flaherty, the founder and chairman of International Healthcare Investor, echoed Ketchum’s sentiment: “Definitely my wife,” said Flaherty, who has known his wife, Jane, since they were teens.

For architect Edward Stand, whose firm designed the Gabelli School of Business, the most meaningful thing he said he’d given was the gift of travel to his sons: “I love giving them the opportunity to go traveling internationally—Istanbul, Italy, Turkey, the Yucatan—that’s the best gift I can give to them.”

Soccer, Service, and Funding Student Dreams

Father McShane shared his own gratitude list, starting with Fordham’s historic NCAA championship win last weekend against Duke by the men’s soccer team. The Rams were the only unseeded team to reach the Elite Eight, and only the second team in University history to reach the final eight in a national championship tournament. They play No. 3 seeded North Carolina this weekend.

“We, who had gone into the tournament unseeded, unheralded, unrecognized, are now ranked No. 7 in the country,” he said to a burst of cheers.

He then thanked the University’s devoted faculty, staff, students who “spend themselves in the service of others,” and the University’s donors. “You are the angels on whose shoulders I stand,” he said. “Your leadership has made it possible for Fordham to raise $115 million as we roar toward our $175 million goal in the campaign Faith & Hope, which supports financial aid.”

“Even in this difficult year, I have much to celebrate and be hopeful about as we go forward.”

View the slideshow:[doptg id=”99″] ]]> 80589 https://now.fordham.edu/university-news/recognizing-first-generation-faculty/ Sun, 12 Nov 2017 15:49:09 +0000 https://news.fordham.sitecare.pro/?p=81486 Donald Clarke, Fordham alumnus and professor of chemistry since 1962 and recipient of NIH and NSF research grants

“I was the eldest of four children and the first in my immediate family to attend high school. There was no university in Jamaica at that time and my parents couldn’t afford to send me abroad for higher education. Early in 1948 I received an offer of a scholarship to Fordham from Father Robert I. Gannon, president of the University. I started at Fordham in September 1948 as a junior in the college and graduated in June 1950 with a BS in chemistry. I stayed on through an assistantship in the chemistry department and completed my master’s in June 1951 and Ph.D. in the summer of 1955.

“In 1962, I was appointed associate professor of chemistry. Promotion to full professor was achieved in 1970, and I have continued in that position to the present day.

“I never dreamed of the possibility of such accomplishments as I was growing up.”

Related article: Chemistry Professor Revises Past Experiments with New Technology

On Oct. 22, Fordham and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) hosted the 2017 College Access Fair for African-American/Black and Hispanic/Latino Students, the only one of its kind in the State of New York. The event was made possible thanks to a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Held at the Rose Hill campus, the event attracted 52 independent colleges and universities and an estimated 870 students from nearly 250 schools from the greater New York City region. An additional six organizations were represented, including The College Board, College Goal New York, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Students and their families got a chance to talk with dozens of independent college and university admission and financial aid representatives, and to attend a series of workshops designed to aid in the admissions process. Among those workshops were How to Pay for College and Undocumented Students and the College Process.

“The event underscored for me the tenacity and support that some of these [students]need to make it through,” said Mary Beth Labate, president of CICU.

Fordham and CICU have worked together to sponsor the event since 2009 through various funding sources. Last year, Fordham received a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to support the annual event beginning with the 2016 fair and running through 2018. (Photo by Bruce Gilbert)

Related Article:

Fordham Hosts Latino College Fair

“Hers is a confident, yet compassionate voice that speaks from an unabashedly feminine perspective,” she said.

An accomplished teacher and scholar, Ponsot has translated 40 books from French into English, written radio and TV scripts, and taught students at Queens College, The New School, Columbia University, the 92^nd Street Y, Poets House, and other venues.

As a young woman, O’Donnell said, the native New Yorker moved to Paris after earning a master’s degree from Columbia. On the boat voyage over, she met poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti—a meeting which led to the publication of her first book, True Minds, as part of his City Lights series, in the 1950s.

Ponsot did not seek to publish her second book, Admit Impediment, for some 24 years as she raised seven children, said O’Donnell. Remarking on this unpublished period of her life, Ponsot wrote: “You don’t wait for someone to approve. If you go on doing it and enjoying it, well what have you done? You’ve spent time enjoying what your language makes of you. Very often this makes for a more comfortable self than any other you’ll ever meet.”

Speaking softly to a large audience gathered in the Corrigan Conference center, Ponsot exclaimed “it’s exciting” to receive the award and to be given an opportunity to read portions of her poetry. She was subsequently presented with a plaque and a collage of her published book covers, to which she threw up her arms delightedly.

The recipient of several poetry awards, Ponsot has also published two books on the pedagogy of writing, and, in 2010, was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

The event was co-sponsored by the Mezzo Cammin Women poets Timeline.