“He is Fordham Lincoln Center,” said Elizabeth A. “Betty” Burns, FCLC ’83, a Fordham trustee fellow and one of many speakers at the event who lauded Father Grimes, dean of the college from 1998 to 2018. “Bob, thank you for all you’ve done for this school.” (See related story on the dedication ceremony.)
The fundraising effort behind the creation of the five practice rooms, which opened to students this year, was full of heartfelt gifts. Many came from the members of Father Grimes’ former advisory board, including Burns, as well as members of his family.
Fordham Trustee Kim B. Bepler, who attended the event, donated a Steinway piano for one of the practice rooms. And the rooms themselves were named for other donors—including Burns as well as Margitta Rose, a FCLC ’87, a longtime benefactor of the college and former advisory board member who supported the project because of “my great admiration for Father Grimes” as well as their shared love of music.
“Music, more than any other art form, reaches you at a level that … you can’t even express,” she said.
Love for music also motivated Maria del Pilar Ocasio-Douglas, FCRH ’88, and her husband, Gary J. Douglas, to support the project. Music is a creative outlet for both of them, and for their son, James, a Fordham junior majoring in film, who taught himself piano during the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
When told about the project, she loved the idea of “giving the students a place where they can play, not be heard, and really pour themselves into it,” she said.
‘A Significant Space’
Rose also lauded the efforts of Father Grimes’ successor, former FCLC dean Laura Auricchio, Ph.D., who initiated the music rooms’ creation, and spearheaded the fundraising, soon after coming to Fordham in 2019.
Dedicated music practice rooms were “a must-have,” said Auricchio, who attended the event. It was her idea to name them for Father Grimes—because “there were a lot of people … who felt that he deserved to have a significant space devoted to him,” said Auricchio, now vice president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
The naming also made sense because of Father Grimes’ music background, she said. An ethnomusicologist by training, he is a tenor soloist who sang for decades with the Fordham University Chorus, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and other organizations.
Setting the Tone at Lincoln Center
One donor, Delia Peters, FCLC ’85, longtime chair of Father Grimes’ former advisory board, recalled how Father Grimes set a friendly and happy tone at the college—in part, through his personal attention to students.
“I liked his style of ‘deaning,’” said Peters, who played a key role in reaching out to donors for the music rooms. “I would be walking with him down a hallway, and he would know every student’s name. And whatever was needed, he somehow found the money to fund it.”
In an interview, Father Grimes, a 1975 alumnus of Fordham College at Rose Hill, said he was “absolutely amazed” by Fordham College at Lincoln Center soon after arriving there as a music professor, and “started dreaming about the possibilities of what might be.”
When he became dean, he did whatever he could to “prompt and encourage” others—along with raising funds—to realize those possibilities, he said..
The results included the creation of an early set of music practice rooms; the Franny’s Space rehearsal space and Veronica Lally Kehoe Theatre; a faculty and student exchange program with the nearby Juilliard School; and the Fordham College at Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra, among many other initiatives in the arts arena alone.
“It’s quite an honor” to be the namesake for the new music suite, he said. “And Fordham College Lincoln Center is very, very close to my heart. I loved my time there. And so if I’ve left a little of my sense there, I’m very happy for that.”
Lead supporters of the Robert R. Grimes, S.J. Music Studios project:
Kay Yun, PAR, and Andre Neumann-Loreck, PAR
Maria del Pilar Ocasio-Douglas, FCRH ’88, and Gary J. Douglas
Margitta Rose, FCLC ’87
Mark Luis Villamar, GABELLI ’69, and wife Esther Milstead
Elizabeth A. Burns, FCLC ’83
The Grimes Family
Patricia A. Dugan Perlmuth, FCLC ’79
Delia L. Peters, FCLC ’85
The editors of Commonweal, an acclaimed journal of religion, politics, and culture, said they chose to honor Tetlow because of her trailblazing lay leadership and commitment to justice.
“Her attention to forming and informing the next generation of Catholics and all people of goodwill, and her spirit of knowledge-seeking and creativity exemplify the values Commonweal continues to embody,” they said.
For Tetlow, receiving an award from the renowned publication was an honor. “Commonweal embodies the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition, asking the critical questions, pushing on assumptions, seeking truth for a century,” she said. It “continues to lovingly push our church to read the signs of the times and to keep striving towards the truth of the Gospel.”
Tetlow is the first woman and the first layperson to lead Fordham, and according to Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi, that’s part of what made her an ideal candidate for the Centennial Award.
“She’s an inspiring example who really aligns with Commonweal’s mission, and our belief in the importance of laypeople in matters of faith and leadership,” said Preziosi, a Fordham alumnus. He said Tetlow, who recently appeared on the Commonweal podcast, is “the perfect expression of the kind of community we’re building around as we launch into our second century.”
Fordham Board Chair Armando Nuñez and Kim Bepler, a Fordham trustee, were co-chairs of the dinner. “Tania is a gifted and charismatic leader who is both entrepreneurial and a fierce advocate for Fordham and Jesuit traditions,” said Nuñez. “As president, she is a faith-first leader, called to the service of the University community every day.”
Several other friends of Fordham were on hand for the ceremony. Timothy Shriver, the disability rights activist, presented Tetlow with the award. Shriver received an honorary degree from Fordham in 2019 and delivered the keynote address at that year’s commencement.
Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J, professor emerita of theology at Fordham and an award-winning author, delivered the invocation and touched on Tetlow’s unique role as a layperson leading a Jesuit institution.
“Thank God for the laity,” she said. “Thank God that in an era when the expected lay role was to pay, pray, and obey, some few decided to raise their distinct lay voices to explore how Catholic faith could intersect with culture and politics—critically and fruitfully.”
Commonweal, which was recently profiled in the New York Times on the occasion of its centennial, produces a print magazine, podcasts, live and virtual events, and local community gatherings centered on reflective discussions of faith, public affairs, the arts, and the common good. Its past contributors include Dorothy Day, W.H. Auden, Hannah Arendt, John Updike, and Graham Greene.
]]>The campaign officially closed over the summer with $371 million raised, exceeding its goal by $21 million. That success reflects the generosity of the Fordham community and the Jesuit principle of magis that for 183 years has prompted Fordham to go beyond expectations in serving students, said Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham.
“Today, more than ever, Fordham is attracting students who are passionate about engaging with the great issues of our time and building a better future for humanity,” she said. “With this campaign, we have shown that their desire to make a difference is more than matched by our community’s willingness to support them in every way possible. To all who gave, no matter the size of your gift, thank you, and I hope you will take pride in what you have accomplished for our students.”
Educating the Whole Person
The Cura Personalis campaign—named for the Jesuit principle of educating the whole person—was formally launched in 2021. Its four pillars were access and affordability, academic excellence, student wellness and success, and athletics, and embedded within each pillar was the overriding imperative of fostering a sense of welcome and belonging throughout the University.
Varied gifts both large and small propelled the campaign. Thirty-five percent of the gifts were less than $100. Thirty-one donors gave $1 million or more for the first time. Bequests and planned gifts account for 29% of the total. And 37% of the campaign total was contributed by members of the Fordham University Board of Trustees.
“Through this campaign, the entire Fordham family of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends of the University has shown the depths of its generosity,” said the board’s chairman, Armando Nuñez, GABELLI ’82. “And I’ve never been prouder to serve on the board with this extraordinary and generous group of trustees.”
Among the campaign contributions was the largest gift the University has ever received: a $35 million gift to the Gabelli School of Business from Mario Gabelli, a 1965 alumnus for whom the school is named, and his wife, Regina Pitaro, a 1976 alumna of Fordham College at Rose Hill.
Impacts Large and Small
The campaign left its mark across the University—perhaps most prominently with the creation of the Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Campus Center on the Rose Hill campus. The project combined an 80,000-square-foot addition with existing buildings, providing vastly greater space for student activities and University events. It also provided bigger, upgraded spaces for the Career Center, Campus Ministry, and the Center for Community Engaged Learning, enabling students to gather, socialize, and take greater advantage of their resources.
A ‘W’ for Students
In the athletics arena, the campaign supported a host of new and improved facilities as well as the New Era Fund for the basketball program, which boosted the number of wins by the men’s team and helped with revving up Ram spirit on campus.
Many gifts were tailored to the goal of inclusion—including those made to the Trustee Diversity Fund for economically disadvantaged students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, a fund spearheaded by Fordham Trustee Valerie Rainford, FCRH ’86. Another new fund, the LGBTQ Student Wellbeing Fund, was led by Joan Garry, FCRH ’79.
Scholarships, Advising, Internships, and More
Students benefited in numerous other ways: Campaign contributions created 153 new financial aid funds, supported student-faculty research, fueled an expansion of community engaged learning courses, helped create the Fordham College Advising Center, and funded the popular Serving the City internships with local cultural institutions. The campaign also supported an emergency fund and other resources for student veterans who often live on tight budgets while pursuing their studies.
Susan Conley Salice, FCRH ’82, one of five co-chairs of the campaign, noted one of the through lines connecting this and other Fordham fundraising campaigns: financial aid.
“Fordham was founded by an immigrant, and the University has a proud tradition of serving students of limited means, including first-generation college students,” said Conley Salice, a first-generation college graduate herself. “Thanks to all who supported our campaign, Fordham is well positioned to sustain its tradition of welcoming the most talented, committed students, regardless of their financial need.”
Supporting STEM
Campaign gifts provided new resources in the STEM fields, such as research fellowships, a new laser for optics research, and an endowed professorship, one that evokes the legacy of one of the University’s most involved and generous alumni.
With a $5 million gift, Fordham Trustee Kim Bepler, recipient of a 2022 honorary doctorate from the University, created a chair in the natural and applied sciences in honor of her late husband, Stephen E. Bepler, FCRH ’64. It was the fifth endowed chair in the sciences created by gifts from Kim Bepler and the estate of her husband, who served as a Fordham trustee and gave generously to many areas of the University before he died in 2016.
The campaign’s success bodes well for future fundraising efforts, noted Roger A. Milici Jr., vice president for development and university relations, who leads Fordham’s fundraising division.
“The pace and level of support for this campaign are a reflection of the energy and passion for Fordham’s Jesuit and Catholic mission in a fractured world desperately in need of hope,” he said.
Milici noted that Fordham just completed its second-best fundraising year ever, with more than $80 million in total gifts and pledges. “With the successful closure of this campaign,” he said, “we are also building a more mature advancement operation capable of greater impact, thanks to so many mission partners.”
That’s the question driving the summer research of Jackson Saunders, a rising senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill. In a Fordham lab, he’s building chambers to split and direct the flow of sound, pursuing research that could impact not only acoustics but also bulletproofing, rocket design, and more.
Innovative Acoustics
Saunders, a physics and philosophy double major, is working under the guidance of Camelia Prodan, Ph.D., the Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Professor of Physics at Fordham. Supported by a summer fellowship from Fordham’s Campion Institute, Saunders is building on Prodan’s research into acoustic techniques inspired by topological materials.
First discovered around 1980, these materials intrigue scientists because of their internal configurations, or topology, that guide electricity into precise streams separated by gaps that block current. A topological insulator, for instance, can channel electricity along its surface but keep it from passing through to the other side.
Since then, scientists have found that such segmented flows can be seen beyond electricity.
Prodan published research in January showing that acoustic materials can be designed to guide the flow of sound in a similar way.
Building Sound Chambers in the Lab
Based on that research, Saunders is building a series of sound chambers that mimic the internal symmetries of topological materials, perfecting a design that will split sound in the same way that topological materials direct electricity into discrete streams.
It’s a project that showcases physics that dates back to Isaac Newton, Saunders said, with the behavior of atoms and electrons being recreated in larger objects like the sound chambers he’s making with a 3D printer.
“We’re taking a very well-studied quantum mechanical effect and realizing it” with classical physics, he said. “What’s novel about what we’re doing is we’re showing that we can create specific applications … using this classical mechanical approach.”
Through the project, he’s helping to build knowledge that could have many uses, from making better soundproofing materials to reducing urban noise pollution to designing rooms that contain all the sound generated within them—even if one side is open.
From Better Bulletproofing to Quantum Computing
Studies of topology-based sound flows could have implications for other innovative materials as well, he said. These could include bulletproof vests that dissipate a bullet’s impact along their surface or a rocket built to channel vibrations along its surface during takeoff without rattling the electronics within.
Topological materials could also be applied in the development of quantum computers that have vastly greater processing power. “Any field that has computation, quantum computing will benefit,” so it’s exciting to be working on questions related to that, no matter how tangentially, Saunders said.
In his research, he has an eye on the past as well as the future. “I’m doing work that is at the leading edge of a 400-year legacy of scientists, and that’s motivating,” he said. “You want to be part of that.”
]]>Today, they’re helping Fordham build its own.
When they learned about the waterfront center that Fordham is planning, “it was something that we felt really strongly that we’d like to be able to help create,” Laura Ekholm said.
They’re doing just that with a major gift toward the project, for reasons that have a lot to do with their children’s experience at Fordham.
Support for Sailing and Other Aquatic Sports
The waterfront center will be built on Eastchester Bay in the Bronx, four miles east of the Rose Hill campus, to serve the varsity women’s rowing team as well as men’s crew, co-ed sailing, and women’s sailing. The first phase, construction of docks, is expected to be completed in time for the fall 2024 season.
Fordham donors and supporters have been moving the project along for years, led by Fordham Trustee Fellow Dennis Ruppel, FCRH ’68, and his wife, Patricia Ann Ruppel, who are making another major gift to the project this year. In October, Fordham Trustee Kim Bepler hosted and underwrote a fundraising dinner for the project at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.
The event raised $1.3 million for the project—with $1 million of that coming from the Ekholms.
‘Something of Great Value’
The Ekholms raised their family on Minnesota’s Lake Minnetonka, and their children grew up sailing on it, so when two of them—Anders, FCRH ’17, and Annika, FCRH ’20—went to Fordham, it was no surprise that they signed up for sailing.
They were impressed at the strength of the classroom education their children received, as well as the tight-knit sense of community in the sailing program and its rigors that hone time management and other life skills.
Today, Anders Ekholm is a team lead with TransPerfect, a translation and language services company in New York, and Annika Ekholm is involved with the sailing program full time. In addition to volunteering as a coach, she works for the Fordham Sailing Association, helping to set up a community sailing program in conjunction with the Villa Maria Academy, a Catholic elementary school next door to the waterfront center’s site.
She’s excited to see how the center could support other programs for area youth as well. “Sailing has given me and so many other people in the Fordham sailing sphere so much,” she said, “and anything that we can do to spread that, to give that to the community, will be a great, great thing for all involved.”
Being involved with the sailing program has been “a ton of fun,” Laura Ekholm said. “It’s just a fabulous community.”
She and Paul are investing in the waterfront center not only because of its immediate benefits but also to advance the University generally. “Giving money away is something to do when you find something of great value,” Paul Ekholm said. “For me and Laura, the great value of Fordham was the education they got, and we feel like we should support Fordham beyond sending our kids there.”
Gifts in support of the Fordham waterfront center advance the University’s $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student. Learn more about the campaign and make a gift.
]]>Prodan published a paper in PhysRevLett that explored how a microtubule’s structure and its ability to store energy along its edges could be useful in areas like cancer research.
“My hypothesis is that through evolution, cancer-derived microtubules actually found a way to get rid of these energy storage methods,” she said.
One of her goals is to research ways to physically manipulate a cancerous microtubule into one that is noncancerous.
“Then you have another method to treat cancer,” she said.
Connecting Fields
Prodan’s work connects biology with materials science, a field that combines areas like physics and biology to better understand the properties of different materials and how they can be used. This field is useful in areas like engineering, energy conversion, and telecommunications.
“I have two areas that seem disconnected, cancer research and engineering new materials, but they are highly interconnected,” said Prodan, who came to Fordham from the New Jersey Institute of Technology this fall. “The main relationship between them is physics.”
In the course of researching microtubules, Prodan began noticing similarities between them and a new type of material, topological insulators. A topological insulator is a material whose surface behaves as an electrical conductor while its interior behaves as an electrical insulator, she said.
The possibilities of topological insulators became even more clear in 2016, when a team of scientists was awarded the Nobel Prize for its work on topological materials that “could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers.”
The microtubules’ ability to store energy on the outside of their structure, similar to a topological insulator, makes them a promising subject for future research, Prodan said.
Prodan said that physics has an important role to play in serving humanity, such as by assisting in drug discovery and helping run the communication technology behind programs such as Zoom.
Helping to Enhance STEM Efforts
Prodan said that she was drawn to Fordham because of the University’s expanding STEM offerings, particularly in physics.
That’s why she’s teaching an introductory physics course to undergraduates this summer. The hope is that students get excited about STEM at the beginning of their time at Fordham, before moving on to upper-level courses.
Prodan said that her lab is currently under construction but hopes that it will be ready by the summer or sooner, which would allow her to provide hands-on learning and research opportunities to undergraduate students, as well as local high school students.
“If you want people to have a better life, a healthier life, a happier life, physics and STEM in general are really important,” she said.
“In general, the discoveries that happen in physics don’t have an impact right away. It’s a long-term impact, but they’re essential.
]]>“I think it’s very important that Fordham has a window on the water,” said Dennis Ruppel, FCRH ’68, a Fordham trustee fellow who is spearheading efforts to construct a waterfront center on Eastchester Bay in the Bronx, to the east of the Rose Hill campus.
He and his wife, Patricia Ann Ruppel, are leaders among alumni donors who have been moving the project along for years. In addition to covering various costs of the project, they purchased the one-and-a-half-acre plot where the center will be built and donated it to the University.
Now, in a new fundraising push, they’re offering a $1.25 million challenge gift—on top of an earlier $1.25 million gift—to encourage other donations in support of the waterfront center, a project with benefits that will extend beyond Fordham.
In addition to providing a home for Fordham’s waterborne sports, Ruppel said, it will provide year-round opportunities such as summer sailing programs for New York City youth and, possibly, educational programs that shed light on marine biology while fostering a greater appreciation of the natural world generally.
“This waterfront [center]is really about the University having a permanent place to interface with the water,” he said.
Kim Bepler, a Fordham trustee and 2022 recipient of an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University, is also hosting and underwriting a fundraising dinner for the project on October 16 at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan, where both she and the Ruppels are members.
Coming in Fall 2024
Fundraising for the waterfront center advances Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, the University’s $350 million campaign to enhance the entire student experience, including athletics. The new center will include fixed and floating docks, boat storage for the sailing and rowing programs, and, later on, a two-story building offering locker rooms as well as educational and event spaces and wide windows for viewing Eastchester Bay.
Architectural work and construction can begin as soon as a final New York City permit is issued and sufficient funding is secured, said Michael Mullarney, FCRH ’68, Ruppel’s former roommate at Fordham and another donor to the project. The docks are expected to be completed in time for the fall 2024 sailing season; temporary facilities will be put in place for the sailing and crew teams while the waterfront center’s main building is constructed, he said.
The facility aims to serve the varsity women’s rowing team as well as men’s crew, co-ed sailing, and women’s sailing, all of them club sports. The waterfront center will free them from having to rent space at various locations on the Harlem River and Eastchester Bay and help student-athletes take to the water more promptly and easily at practice time, Mullarney said.
“This gift from the Ruppels has the opportunity to be truly transformative,” said Fordham’s athletic director, Ed Kull. “Not only will this endeavor enhance the day-to-day lives of Fordham’s rowers and sailors, but we hope the Ruppels’ generosity sparks further giving to support rowing and sailing and other sports as well.”
“This project is a testament to our shared priorities and purpose at Fordham, beginning with the highest levels of University administration,” he said. “I look forward to seeing how the Ruppels’ continued support benefits our student-athletes for years to come.”
In the new facility, Ruppel and other supporters see an opportunity to elevate the sailing and crew programs—making it possible to host regattas and help the sailing program win a national championship.
The waterfront center will be constructed on a plot now occupied by a long-shuttered Westchester Country Club building that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Ruppel and Mullarney, commodore and vice commodore of the Fordham Sailing Association, respectively, found the property seven years ago while searching the area for a suitable site.
Recalling the national prominence of Fordham basketball in the 1960s and ’70s, Mullarney spoke about the potential for sailing and crew to generate excitement and draw Fordham students to the site on the Eastchester Bay waterfront, where they would view the Fordham teams competing in high-stakes contests out on the water.
He described the project as an investment in hardworking students who study during the long drive to regattas, study during breaks in competitions, and give their all when out on the water, even during races and practices that take place in punishing wintertime conditions.
“The sport itself is just so amazing—watching these students [with their]total positive attitude,” he said.
Ruppel noted that he and his wife have hosted Fordham’s sailing team members at their Florida home when the team visits the state for competitions. It’s a sport that tends to foster teamwork, attention to detail, and discipline—as well as a longer-term commitment to advancing Fordham sailing, he said.
“We’ve just had some wonderful, wonderful sailors in our program, and they are very supportive and very engaged in wanting to carry that forward,” he said. “So that’s great to see.”
To inquire about giving to the waterfront center project, contact Kara Field, director of athletic development and assistant athletic director, at 973-223-2157 or [email protected]. Learn more about Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, a campaign to reinvest in every aspect of the Fordham student experience, including athletics programs such as sailing and rowing.
]]>Their method for introducing machine learning in chemistry classes has been honored with the inaugural James C. McGroddy Award for Innovation in Education, named for a donor who funded the award’s cash prize. (See related story.)
The recipients are Elizabeth Thrall, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry; Yijun Zhao, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer and information science; and Joshua Schrier, Ph.D., the Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Chair in Chemistry. They will share the $10,000 prize, awarded in April.
Chemistry and Computation Come Together
The three awardees’ project shows how to reduce the barriers to learning about programming and computation by integrating them into chemistry lessons. The project came together during the COVID pandemic—since chemistry students were working from their computers, far from the labs on campus, it made sense to give them some computational projects, in addition to experiments they could conduct at home, Thrall said.
Because little had been published about teaching machine learning to chemistry students, she got together with Schrier and Zhao to design an activity. Zhao, director of the Master of Science in Data Science program at Fordham, involved a student in the program, Seung Eun Lee, GSAS ’22, who had studied chemistry as an undergraduate.
Their first classroom project—published in the Journal of Chemical Education in 2021—involves vibrational spectroscopy, used to identify the chemical properties of something by shining a light on it and recording which wavelengths it absorbs. Students built models that analyzed the resulting data and “learned” the features of different molecular structures, automating a process that they had learned in an earlier course.
For another project, the professors taught students about machine-learning tools for identifying possible hypotheses about collections of molecules. Machine learning lets the students winnow down the molecular data and, in Schrier’s words, “make that big haystack into a smaller haystack” that is easier for a scientist to manage. The professors designed the project with help from Fernando Martinez, GSAS ’23, and Thomas Egg, FCRH ’23, and Thrall presented it at an American Chemical Society meeting in the spring.
Thumbs-Up from Students
How did students react to the machine learning lessons? According to a survey following the first project, 63% enjoyed applying machine learning, and 74% wanted to learn more about it.
“I think that students recognize that these are useful skills … that are only going to become more important throughout their lives,” Thrall said. Schrier noted that students have helped develop additional machine learning exercises in chemistry over the past two years.
Machine Learning in Education and Medicine
Zhao noted the growing applications of machine learning and data science. She has applied them to other fields through collaborations with Fordham’s Graduate School of Education and the medical schools at New York University and Harvard, among other entities.
The McGroddy Award came as a surprise. “I don’t think that we expected to win,” Schrier said, “just because there’s so many other excellent pedagogical innovations throughout Fordham.”
Eva Badowska, Ph.D., dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the time the award was granted, said the professors’ “path-breaking interdisciplinary work has transformed lab courses in chemistry.”
There were 20 nominations, and faculty members reviewing them “were humbled by the creativity, innovation, and generative energy of the faculty’s pedagogical work,” she said.
In addition to the McGroddy Award, the Office of the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences is providing two $1,000 honorable mention prizes recognizing the pedagogy of Samir Haddad, Ph.D., and Stephen Holler, Ph.D., associate professors of philosophy and physics, respectively.
]]>In October, the department won the Jean Dreyfus Lectureship Award, a highly competitive award from the Dreyfus Foundation that was only given to seven universities in the United States this year.
Hosting Lectures on CRISPR, DNA Repair, and Proteins
The award enables the department to host a lecturer of their choosing. Fordham proposed Taekjip Ha, Ph.D., a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Ha, who has done pioneering research in the field of single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and is a leader in the field of CRISPR technology, delivered two lectures at the Rose Hill campus on April 12 and 13. One, titled “Light, CRISPR and DNA Repair” was geared toward the scientific community, while the other, “Single Molecule Views of Nature’s Nanomachines” was crafted for the general public. The latter focused on how biophysicists are using light-based tools to examine proteins—nature’s nanomachines—one molecule at a time.
The criterion for the award was based partly on the department’s efforts in scholarly research and education in the contemporary chemical sciences, as well as information about the number of chemistry majors at the institution and how many go on to graduate school.
The principal investigator responsible for assembling the information was Elizabeth Thrall, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical/biophysical chemistry. Ipsita A. Banerjee, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department, and Joshua Shrier, Ph.D., the Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Chair Professor of Chemistry, were co-investigators for the award, which also provides funding for two students to conduct research this summer.
Schrier and Thrall were also awarded, along with Yijun Zhao, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computer and information science, Fordham’s inaugural James C. McGroddy Award for Innovation in Education.
The team, which will share a $10,000 prize, was honored for path-breaking interdisciplinary work that has transformed lab courses in chemistry by incorporating data science and machine learning into the undergraduate curriculum.
Biochemistry Professor Honored with Three Awards
Banerjee, who became chair in 2018 and whose research involves harnessing bionanotechnology to tackle cancer and other illnesses, attributed the Dreyfus award to the strengths of the department, which in recent years has added faculty, won highly competitive grants such as those from the National Science Foundation, and is in the process of adding a biochemistry major.
She said the win also reflects the department’s choice of Dr. Ha. Ha, who spent time after his lecture chatting with STEM students at a reception, clearly impressed the judges, she said.
In addition to the Dreyfus award, Banerjee was also individually honored this year with three awards. She received the Middle Atlantic Region American Chemical Society’s 2023 E. Emmet Reid Award in Chemistry Teaching at Small Colleges, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Westchester Chemical Society, and Fordham’s Distinguished Research Award in the Sciences and Mathematics.
“I’m very honored, but at the same time, it also makes me want to work harder and try to do more for our students, particularly when it comes to research,” she said.
“Research is my passion, and working with students is what I love.”
]]>
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Education
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Tania Tetlow is the 33rd president of Fordham University – the first layperson and woman to hold that office. She had been the 17th president of Loyola University New Orleans where she was the first woman and layperson to lead Loyola since the Society of Jesus founded it in 1912. A Catholic born in New York and raised in New Orleans, she has deep ties to the Jesuits and to Fordham.
CLIPS OF THE WEEK
LAURA AURICCHIO
Biden to fête Macron at state dinner in nod to renewed U.S. alliance with France
USA Today 12-01-2022
“It’s almost like we’re siblings, with France being the older sibling and the U.S. being the younger one,” said Laura Auricchio, dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center in New York and an expert on 18th century France….who scored an invitation to Macron’s arrival ceremony at the White House and a State Department luncheon with Vice President Kamala Harris honoring the French leader on Thursday.
Vin Scully continues to inspire Yankees broadcasters and fellow Fordham alums Michael Kay, Ryan Ruocco and Jack Curry
Daily News 11-27-2022
Throughout his life, Scully remained involved with the WFUV radio station he helped found at the Bronx’s Fordham University — and continues to inspire alumni including the YES Network’s Michael Kay, Ryan Ruocco and Jack Curry.
The city’s Street Design Manual heads to an exhibition
NY1 11-28-2022
The manual, first published in 2009, is the focus of an exhibition at the Ildiko Butler Gallery at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus on West 60th Street and Columbus Avenue.
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Business and Philanthropy
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Kim Bepler, trustee and honorary degree recipient; Robert E. Campbell, GABELLI ’55, trustee emeritus and former chair of the Board of Trustees; Emanuel Chirico, GABELLI ’79, trustee, and two-time Fordham parent; Alfonso Fanjul, GABELLI ’59
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Finance
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Charles Feeney, Fordham honorary degree recipient; James P. Flaherty, FCRH ’69; Mario Gabelli, GABELLI ’65; Edward O’Brien III, FCRH ’80; Vincent Viola, two-time Fordham parent
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Law and Justice
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Thomas Moore, LAW ’72; Sonia Sotomayor, honorary degree recipient
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Thought Leaders and Authors
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Larry Kudlow, former trustee
US Catholic Leaders of Today 2022: Charity, Non-Profit, and Others
Catholic Herald 10-01-2022
Tim Shriver, honorary degree recipient and past Fordham parent
The city’s Street Design Manual heads to an exhibition
NY1 11-28-2022
The manual, first published in 2009, is the focus of an exhibition at the Ildiko Butler Gallery at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus on West 60th Street and Columbus Avenue.
Fordham University’s New McShane Campus Center Takes Shape
Commercial Observer 11-29-2022
John Gering of HLW Architects, who oversaw the project’s design, explained that his firm wanted to put a modern twist on the existing Gothic architecture of the other buildings, like Keating Hall, which serves as the centerpiece of Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.
ADMINISTRATION
LAURA AURICCHIO
Biden to fête Macron at state dinner in nod to renewed U.S. alliance with France
USA Today 12-01-2022
“It’s almost like we’re siblings, with France being the older sibling and the U.S. being the younger one,” said Laura Auricchio, dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center in New York and an expert on 18th century France, who scored an invitation to Macron’s arrival ceremony at the White House and a State Department luncheon with Vice President Kamala Harris honoring the French leader on Thursday.
LERZAN AKSOY
How recommerce is taking on the holiday gift market
Marketing Brew 11-21-2022
Lerzan Aksoy, interim dean and professor of marketing at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, told Marketing Brew that with inflation this holiday season, “getting more affordable, recycled, reused products will be one way to alleviate that pain that people are experiencing in terms of affordability.”
SCHOOL OF LAW FACULTY
BENJAMIN C. ZIPURSKY
Goldberg and Zipursky To Receive 2023 William L. Prosser Award
The American Law Institute 11-30-2022
John C.P. Goldberg of Harvard Law School and Benjamin C. Zipursky of Fordham University School of Law are the recipients of the 2023 William L. Prosser Award from the Association of American Law Schools, Section on Torts & Compensation Systems.
CHERYL BADER
Film about Harvey Weinstein saga shows women’s struggle
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 11-28-2022
“The Weinstein trial itself did not address the complicity and willful ignorance by the movie industry,” said Cheryl Bader, a professor of law at Fordham University.
SUSAN SCAFIDI
How Will Balenciaga Survive Its Moral Panic Pile-On?
The Daily Beast 11-29-2022
But this performative garment-culling may not add up to much, Susan Scafidi, the academic director of Fordham University’s Fashion Law Institute, told The Daily Beast.
BRUCE GREEN
Man, shot by police as a teenager, accused for the second time of federal gun charge
Cleveland.com 11-29-2022
“The reason she might recuse herself is just the appearance that she had some kind of role in making any decisions, whether or not that’s true,” said Bruce Green, an ethics professor at Fordham Law School.
BRUCE GREEN
Allegation of Supreme Court Breach Prompts Calls for Inquiry and Ethics Code
The New York Times 11-20-2022
“There’s no oversight structure that creates rules for the justices and enforces the rules,” Bruce A. Green, a law professor at Fordham University, said in an interview.
BRUCE GREEN
Weighing Whether Charges Will Be Brought Against Candidate Trump
WNYW 11-18-2022
Bruce Green, professor at Fordham Law School, weighs in: “The Justice Department would probably have a conflict of interest if they continue to do an investigation of a candidate for presidency of the opposing party.”
GABELLI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FACULTY
TIMOTHY MALEFYT
Is Black Friday better than Cyber Monday? How you can save the most this holiday season
USA Today 11-23-2022
“We have Black Friday, but it’s really expanded almost over several months time,” said Timothy D. Malefyt, clinical professor at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.
ARTS & SCIENCES FACULTY
GIACOMO SANTANGELO
What to expect from Friday’s jobs report
CNN Business 12-01-2022
“The Federal Reserve is fighting the worst inflation the United States has had in over 40 years, and this is a global problem,” said Giacomo Santangelo, an economist at Monster and a senior lecturer of economics at Fordham University. “We have global inflation, and when we have a recession, that’s going to be a global recession.”
GIACOMO SANTANGELO
The Forecast for Christmas Spending – Audio unavailable
KCBS 12-01-2022
“I think the idea is as long as you’re not shopping at the grocery store, where ‘shrinkflation’ is the problem, I think people are going out there using their credit cards to try and feel happy,” said Santangelo.
ABBY GOLDSTEIN
A book for those who get around
The New York Times 11-28-2022
The book party will take place in the Ildiko Butler Gallery on Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, where an exhibition about the manual was curated by Abby Goldstein, a Fordham professor. She said the idea for the exhibition came during a bike ride with her friend Wendy Feuer, who retired recently as the assistant commissioner of transportation for urban design, art and wayfinding.
CHRISTINA GREER
Like a Thanksgiving Turkey, Joe Biden was ‘pardoned’ by the midterms
The Independent 11-23-2022
“I don’t know if it persuaded all of the Democrats that Biden is the guy, but it definitely made the case that Biden stays winning,” Christina Greer, professor of political science at Fordham University, tells The Independent.
JASON MUNSHI-SOUTH
NYC Mayor Signs ‘Rat Action Plan’ to Fight Rodents and Clean Up Streets
NBC 4 11-18-2022
If the bags remain on the street overnight, even if you change the hours of pickup and make small changes like that, the rats are still going to feast,” said Munshi-South.
ELIZABETH YUKO
Use This Interactive Map to Explore 200K Galaxies
Gizmodo 11-28-2022
If you’ve ever wanted to travel to a galaxy far, far away, now’s your chance to get at least a peak at some on a map — around 200,000 galaxies, to be more specific, writes Dr. Elizabeth Yuko, a bioethicist and adjunct professor of ethics.
ATHLETICS
Quisenberry’s 18 help Fordham beat Harvard 68-60
The Associated Press 11-27-2022
Darius Quisenberry’s 18 points helped Fordham defeat Harvard 68-60 on Sunday.
A Local Quarterback You Need To Know
NY Sportsday 11-26-2022
Tim DeMorat quietly became a quarterback who completed 301 of 458 passes for 4,561 yards and a school and Patriot League record 53 touchdowns for the Fordham Rams. Up at Rose Hill in the Bronx they know him.
Fordham Football is Heading to the NCAA Tournament
News 12 11-19-2022
For the first time since 2015, the Fordham football team is going to the NCAA tournament. The announcement was made Sunday.
Pat O’Keefe Discusses Stakes for Rams’ Final Football Game, Konchalski Classic Tournament
News 12 11-18-2022
At 8-2 overall with one of the best offenses in the entire country, if [Fordham] wins on Saturday, it would likely earn them an at-large bid to the NCAA FCS tournament for the first time since 2015. Also on Saturday on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham, the first annual Tom Konchalski Classic in memory of the longtime national basketball scout and Fordham graduate who passed away in 2021.
Fordham Football Impresses Commentators
NBC Regional Sports Network 11-18-2022
I was more impressed watching the Fordham game last week. Their offense is incredible, the way they sling it around, and I saw their defense step up last week–did a great job. So two good representatives who’re hoping for an at-large bid.
STUDENTS
OpEd: New York Universities, It’s Time to Tear Down That Wall
Gotham Gazette 11-28-2022
“We ought to be doing everything we can to help students of color envision themselves at our institutions of higher education,” writes Brian Martindale, a Jesuit seminarian and master’s student in urban studies at Fordham University.
NJ College Students Own Christmas Tree Business
PIX 11
Joe Rubino and Sal Imbornone love Christmas so much, they decided to start a Christmas tree business in Elizabeth [NJ]. Joe at Fairfield University and Sal at Fordham University are getting ready for this year’s tree rush.
ALUMNI
Vin Scully continues to inspire Yankees broadcasters and fellow Fordham alums Michael Kay, Ryan Ruocco and Jack Curry
Daily News 11-27-2022
Throughout his life, Scully remained involved with the WFUV radio station he helped found at the Bronx’s Fordham University — and continues to inspire alumni including the YES Network’s Michael Kay, Ryan Ruocco and Jack Curry.
Affordable housing expert on harnessing collective power to get things done
Crain’s New York 11-29-2022
Valerie White [B.A., communication arts, Fordham University; J.D., Fordham; M.S., management, New School] is the senior executive director for New York of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. LISC works with governments and nonprofits to invest in affordable housing and economic development in low- and moderate-income communities.
South Bend dedicates park, trail to former Mayor Stephen Luecke
WNDU 11-11-2022
[Stephen] Luecke [FCLC ‘72] is the city’s longest-serving mayor. He put in 14 years on the job from 1997, through 2011. …The park is also within biking distance for the former mayor and his trusty tandem partner Peg [FCLC ‘73].
A Slow Dance Toward a ‘Beautifully Intoxicating’ Romance
The New York Times 11-25-2022
Mr. [Cameron] Dieck graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Ms. [Unity] Phelan finished three years later, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and organizational leadership.
What Is the Power of Unity Phelan’s Dancing? ‘I’m Clay.’
The New York Times 10-14-2022
[Unity] Phelan, a principal at New York City Ballet, has gone from rising to risen with a stellar fall season that has shown her range in a string of debuts.
“We are so delighted to have a new president with such deep and interesting connections within the U.K. and a commitment to continue to develop Fordham’s international impact,” said Fordham London’s senior director, Vanessa Beever, LAW ’94, a University alumna herself. “It’s fantastic to have a fellow female lawyer, mother, and dog owner as our president.”
Fordham London opened in 2018. After nearly a decade of borrowing a building from another institution in London, the University signed a long-term lease for a space in the center of the city that it could call its own. The 17,000-square-foot facility has six floors that comprise a lounge, small library, classrooms, and a rooftop terrace that overlooks the trendy Clerkenwell neighborhood. Students from New York can swipe into the London campus with their original ID card. Inside the building, they take business and liberal arts courses that have taken them across the city—to British art museums, theaters, and even fashion shows.
At a presidential alumni reception that also included current students and several Fordham board members and administrators, Tetlow said she’s been hard at work building on the many advantages Fordham offers its students—both in New York and in London.
“In this work of leading Fordham, I get to build on incredible strengths, on our location in the other capital of the world, in New York, and on the chance we have—with our amazing strengths in the humanities, in law, in business, and so much of what we do—to matter to the world, to model for our students what that looks like, to give them opportunities that come from being in New York and also in London,” she said. “To show them the kinds of jobs they can get, the kind of impact they can have on the world, and how they can stretch their imagination about what that looks like.”
Tetlow’s Longtime Ties to London
Tetlow herself is no stranger to London and the United Kingdom. She is a longtime member of the British-American Project, an organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding among young leaders. Through this group, she made many friends in London and met her husband, Gordon Stewart, who is originally from the United Kingdom. She has a daughter who has American/British dual citizenship; a stepson who lives in Scotland; and a home in Fife, Scotland, with Stewart.
When she first began visiting the United Kingdom, she was surprised by the similarities and nuanced differences between American and British culture, she said. Now, the country—and Fordham’s London campus—feel like home.
“I am proudly bilingual. I drink a cuppa. I take out the rubbish. I feel chuffed from all this praise,” she said at the presidential alumni reception. “And I can, if I’ve had a couple of pints, even understand Geordie. That’s how local I feel.”
Connecting with the Catholic Church Abroad
Tetlow’s first trip to London as president of Fordham began with a visit to Westminster Abbey, a historic church that has witnessed coronations and burials for generations of British rulers. As the sun set below the London skyline, Tetlow sat in the same space where recently deceased monarch Queen Elizabeth II had once walked, and observed an evensong performance with colleagues from New York.
On Oct. 25, her first full day in London, she attended a morning Mass at Farm Street Church, which has served as the Jesuits’ flagship church in London for nearly two centuries. She was introduced to Michael Holman, S.J., a prior Jesuit provincial of the United Kingdom, who gave her a tour of the sacred space and taught her about the history of London’s Jesuits. (Father Holman has a connection to Fordham, too. In 1989, he earned his master’s in education and administration from the Graduate School of Education and lived at the Rose Hill campus with the Jesuits for several years.)
Meeting Fordham London’s Staff
In the afternoon, Tetlow visited Fordham’s London campus for the first time. Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., who last visited Fordham London in 2021, she toured the facilities and met its staff.
Seated at a table with staff, Tetlow inquired about Fordham London. What are the academic programs and curriculum like? Where do the students live? And what are the students themselves like?
Every year, there are about 500 students at Fordham London, she learned, most of whom are upperclassmen from the Gabelli of Business and liberal arts students. The majority are Americans from Fordham’s New York campuses, and they tend to come to Fordham London for a single semester. Students from other American universities studying abroad can also study at Fordham London. Through connections with study abroad housing partners, students are able to live in local apartments that offer a glimpse of post-graduate living. They commute to campus by taking the Tube, riding a red double-decker bus, or simply using their own two feet.
Through partnerships with local universities, students are able to take one or two courses outside the campus, at the City University of London and other schools. But the bulk of their education takes place at Fordham. Through their faculty and coursework, liberal arts students have been able to perform in the iconic Tower of London and view versions of Shakespeare’s plays that appeal to a modern audience. Through school-sponsored trips, students from all disciplines travel across the United Kingdom to famous sites like Stonehenge. (They also use their free time to explore the whole European continent, including Paris, which is no more than three hours away by train.) And just outside the Fordham London campus is Leather Lane, a bustling food market that stretches across several streets and boasts a wide selection of cuisines, from Persian kebabs to Japanese hibachi to Yorkshire burritos—pudding wraps with sage stuffing, spinach, roast potatoes, and gravy.
Armando Nuñez Jr., chair-elect of Fordham’s Board of Trustees, attended the meeting with Tetlow and Fordham London staff.
“It’s so wonderful to be here in person with our new president and to be engaged in this conversation,” said Nuñez. “The University has a great opportunity here to expand its global footprint in a smart and strategic way.”
After the meeting, Tetlow hosted a reception for the British-American Project at Fordham London. The next day, she welcomed more than 100 members of the Fordham family at the presidential alumni reception held in the Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe. And in private meetings paired with food and wine throughout her trip, she became acquainted with alumni who now call London home.
William J. Loschert, GABELLI ’61, is a trustee fellow who grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in London.
“Fordham London is a great hub for students,” Loschert said. “London has a lot more traditional history than New York. We also have a different form of government, which right now is kind of a mess with three prime ministers in two months, but it’s a different culture, and I think it’s good that students can get out of New York and America and see how the rest of the world lives.”
On Thursday—Tetlow’s final day in London—she met with the Fordham London Advisory Board and other senior members of the University’s administration to brainstorm ways to improve the study abroad experience for students; she also met Fordham London’s new head of experiential learning. At an evening reception held on campus, she was introduced to Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain.
A Luncheon with the ‘Future Generation of Fordham Leaders’
Finally, she ate lunch with visiting Gabelli School of Business students in Fordham London’s ground floor lounge. The students, who study in the Professional MBA Program, had flown to London as part of their course called The Tale of Two (Global) Cities. For one week, they studied the differences between American and British businesses through lectures, walking tours, and site visits at places like Goldman Sachs, Mercer, and TrueLayer.
In attendance at the luncheon was Andrea Mennillo, Ph.D., chair of Fordham London’s Advisory Board, who thanked the business students for coming to the London campus.
“At this table are my fellow members of the board,” he said, gesturing to his colleagues in the room. “We are available to help—to advise, to consult—because you are the future generation of Fordham leaders.”
The students introduced themselves to Tetlow and the senior members of Fordham’s administration. Most of the students are in their final year in the MBA program and already hold jobs at prestigious companies, including Warner Bros, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and JPMorgan Chase. They work in a variety of industries, including advertising, fashion, law, cybersecurity, health care, media, investment relations, and private equity.
Tetlow told the students she was glad their business education at Fordham could include this international perspective.
“This is an amazing city, and I bet a lot of you have gotten a taste of it and want to come back,” Tetlow said to the students. “So I’m glad, especially to those of you who are here just for a week, that you’re digging in, really listening hard, asking good questions, and learning in ways that will change your thinking forever.”
