Hofstra Magazine

2007 Faculty Accomplishments

The following is a sampling of faculty accomplishments for the year 2007

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Blanche Abram, adjunct professor of music, and Naomi Drucker, adjunct instructor of music, co-directors of the American Chamber Ensemble (ACE), received the Long Island Sound Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Long Island’s Musical Heritage” from the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

Anthony Agnone, associate professor of engineering, received a special service citation from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in January for his continued service to AIAA and its Long Island section as a technical committee member, council member, committee chair and student adviser.

Charles Anderson, adjunct associate professor of English and freshman composition, published his first novel, Playing for Blood, in October. The story is a mystery centered on two retired teachers who set up shop as private investigators.

Stuart Bass, professor of accounting, taxation and legal studies in business, was named the Frank G. Zarb School of Business Teacher of the Year. He was recognized at the 11th annual Hofstra Gala on May 3 and at the May 20 commencement exercises. The award, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is based on nominations by graduating seniors.

Peter Boonshaft, conductor of the Hofstra University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, professor of conducting and music education, and director of the Graduate Wind Conducting Program, organized the fifth annual Middle School Honors Band Festival on October 18 and 19. The event featured approximately 370 seventh graders from Long Island, New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who played in rehearsal and concert with 108 members of the Hofstra Symphonic Band. This event is designed to inspire a love of learning and teaching music.

Dana Brand, professor of English and freshman composition, saw the publication of his book Mets Fan in the summer. The idea for the book came about after an opinion piece he wrote for Newsday on the New York Mets received a lot of favorable attention. He says, “When I found that people were reposting the piece all over the Web, I was inspired to write a book that would explain why a relatively sane or intelligent person might want to follow baseball, and why someone might enjoy rooting for the Mets in particular.”

Vincent Brown, associate professor of psychology, is project director on a $156,258 grant issued by the National Science Foundation in support of the project “DHB: Dynamics of Idea Generation in Individual and Group Brainstorming: A Multidisciplinary Approach Using Network Models and Behavioral Experiments.”

M. David Burghardt, professor of engineering and co-director, Center for Technological Literacy, is project director on a $192,179 grant from the National Science Foundation for the project “Career Curriculum for Technology Project.”

Alafair Burke, associate professor of law, saw the publication of Dead Connection, her fourth mystery novel. Her first three – Judgment Calls, Missing Justice and Cold Case – centered around heroine Samantha Kincaid. Dead Connection is Professor Burke’s first standalone novel.

Julie Byrne, the Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman Chair in Catholic Studies, was involved in the production of the film Our Lady of Victory, which was inspired by her 2003 book, O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs. Dr. Byrne’s book is about a women’s basketball team from a small Catholic college in Pennsylvania that won three consecutive national championships in the 1970s.

Stephen Caldas, professor of foundations, leadership and policy studies, and co-author Carl J. Bankston III received the Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award from the Mid-South Sociological Association in the category of Most Distinguished Contribution to the Literature of Sociology for their book Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation.

I. Bennett Capers, associate professor of law, was named Hofstra Law School Teacher of the Year. He was recognized at the 11th annual Hofstra Gala on May 3 and at the May 20 commencement exercises. The award, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is based on nominations by graduating law students.

Mary Kennedy Carter, adjunct instructor of curriculum and teaching, received an Educator of the Year Award at the Freeport/Roosevelt Annual Freedom Fund Dinner Dance.

Royston Coppenger, associate professor of drama and dance, received a favorable review in the January 23 issue of The New York Times for his staging of The Tender Land for The Bronx Opera Company.

Gregory DeFreitas, professor of economics and geography, released a study on August 30 through Hofstra’s Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy, which found that union membership has increased in New York City and on Long Island since the late 1990s, though at different rates, which barely keeps pace with overall employment figures.

Nora Demleitner, dean of Hofstra Law School, was appointed dean by President Stuart Rabinowitz, effective January 1, 2008, after a comprehensive and competitive national search by a committee of faculty, administrators and trustees. She is the first woman to serve as dean of Hofstra Law School. “I am pleased that Nora Demleitner, who is both a distinguished legal scholar and a superb academic administrator, will lead Hofstra Law School into a new era of academic excellence,” said President Rabinowitz. Dean Demleitner had served as interim dean of the Law School since March and had previously held the position of vice dean for academic affairs.

Herbert Deutsch, professor emeritus of music, was named the 2007 Music Educator of Note by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, which is also renaming the award in recognition of Professor Deutsch’s many years as a music educator and his numerous contributions to the music industry. On June 29 a concert in honor of his 75th birthday was held at The Inter-Media Arts Center (IMAC) in Huntington, New York. The concert focused on Professor Deutsch’s role as the co-developer of the Moog synthesizer, his co-founding of the Long Island Composers Alliance, and his musical compositions.

John DiGaetani, professor of English, was nominated for membership on the distinguished advisory board of the Bernard Shaw Society, the oldest continuing society of its kind in New York. Dr. DiGaetani’s scholarly expertise includes a focus on the relationship between Shaw and German composer Richard Wagner.

Edward Elefterion, adjunct assistant professor of drama and dance, directed the Stanton Wood plays Land of the Dead and The Night of the Nosferatu for the Rabbit Hole Ensemble theater group in Manhattan, last March and October, respectively. Professor Elefterion is the artistic director and founding member of the Rabbit Hole Ensemble. For information on future performances, visit www.rabbitholeensemble.com.

Laurie Fendrich, professor of fine arts, celebrated the opening of her solo exhibition at the Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, which ran through January 6, 2007. Professor Fendrich writes a regular column and a blog for The Chronicle of Higher Education, focusing mostly on the place of art and artists in society and the education of young artists. Her postings can be found at http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/fendrich.

Warren Frisina, dean of Hofstra University Honors College and associate professor of religion, was appointed Honors College dean in July. Dr. Frisina previously served as acting co-dean of Honors College during its critical formative years (2001 to 2003). He then served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and then founding chair of the Department of Religion.

Jeffrey J. Froh, assistant professor of psychology, undertook a study with Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Long Island’s Half Hollow Hills School District psychologist William J. Sefick on the effects of gratitude in youth. They followed 221 middle school students for five weeks, randomly assigning 11 classrooms to one of three conditions: gratitude, hassles and a control group. The study found that students who counted their blessings and acknowledged the things for which they were grateful reported higher levels of well-being than those who did not.

Andrea Garcia, assistant professor of literacy studies and director of the Reading/Writing Learning Clinic at the Saltzman Community Services Center, was honored with the Community Service Award for Excellence in Education by Planned Parenthood of Nassau County. Dr. Garcia was recognized for her Young Women’s Writing Project, which she conducts out of the Saltzman Community Services Center with the assistance of Michele Marx, administrative coordinator for the Reading/Writing Learning Clinic, and a grant from Planned Parenthood. This program encourages middle school students from the Roosevelt School District to express their feelings and creativity through poetry and short story writing.

George L. Greaney, director of the English Language Program, had his newly published book reviewed in Bryn Mawr Classical Review. The reviewer described Dr. Greaney’s annotated translation of Aeschines’ On the False Embassy as “a useful addition to the recent resurgence of scholarly interest in Aeschines.” David Green, associate professor of political science, was named the HCLAS Teacher of the Year. He was recognized at the 11th annual Hofstra Gala on May 3 and at the May 20 commencement exercises. The award, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is based on nominations by graduating seniors.

Margaret Hunter, associate professor of engineering, was awarded nearly $725,000 over three years by the National Science Foundation for a project designed to attract more women to technical studies such as engineering, physics and mathematics. “The gender and racial gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education programs limits the pool of potential workers and threatens the nation’s intellectual and economic competitiveness,” Dr. Hunter said. “The lack of women in these professions also diminishes the social consciousness that competent female leaders would bring to technical endeavors.”

John Impagliazzo, professor of computer science, received a Lifetime Service Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) on March 10. ACM is the premier organization of computing professionals and academics. His work in computer science and related areas spans four decades. He has been recognized for his computing expertise by universities, governmental agencies and institutions around the world.

Marsha Iverson, adjunct assistant professor of curriculum and teaching, was named a recipient of the Nassau BOCES Education Partner Award, which recognizes those whose impact on public education in Nassau County can be measured in a tangible way.

Tom Klinkowstein, associate professor of fine arts, had his work “A Networked Designer’s Critical Path: 1990-2090” selected for the Human Design Exhibition, curated by Sachiko Uozumi. The Human Design Exhibition will tour four locations in Europe in 2008 and 2009, including the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Design Museum Gent in Belgium, the Trennale di Milano in Italy, and the Kestner Museum in Hanover, Germany.

Aashish Kumar, associate professor of radio, television and film, accepted an invitation from the Fulbright Program to serve on its National Screening Committee in film and video. The Institute of Internal Education (IIE) administers the scholarship competitions for American graduate students who apply to the Fulbright-Hays program to study abroad.

Eric Lane, the Eric J. Schmertz Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Public Service, saw the publication of The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why It Can Again, which he co-wrote with Michael Oreskes. The book delves into the history of the U.S. Constitution and explains why this document remains essential and relevant to the future of America.

Harold Lazarus, the Mel Weitz Distinguished Professor of Business, was honored on April 30 with an endowed chair. The establishment of the Harold Lazarus Endowed Chair in China Studies was a gift to Hofstra from Hofstra alumnus and longtime trustee Alan Bernon ’76. “I wanted to give a gift in recognition of someone who I believe made a difference in my life, and that was Hal Lazarus,” Mr. Bernon said.

Phillis Levin, professor of English and freshman composition, was named the recipient of the 2006 Richard Hugo Award for her poems “Acorn,” “Rhinoceros at the Prague Zoo” and “Tender Offer,” which appeared in the Fall 2006/Winter 2007 issue of Poetry Northwest. The magazine awards two prizes annually for what it determines to be the best work it published for the previous year.

James P. Levy, assistant professor and teaching fellow of history, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain. Founded in 1868, the organization is committed to international and British history.

Robert Licata, assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, was named the School of Communication Teacher of the Year. He was recognized at the 11th annual Hofstra Gala on May 3 and at the May 20 commencement exercises. The award, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is based on nominations by graduating seniors.

Claire Lindgren, associate professor of art history, was invited by the Universite de Provence CNRS, to present a paper at the International Colloquium on Roman Provincial Art held in Arles and Aix-en Provence, France, in May. This colloquium was attended by archaeologists from all regions of Europe, the Mediterranean, Israel, Tunisia and Egypt, which had been part of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent. Dr. Lindgren was the only art historian to present at the colloquium.

Donald Lubowich, adjunct associate professor of physics and astronomy, is project director on a $50,000 grant from NASA to bring star-gazing and hands-on astronomy activities to children receiving medical treatment at the Hagedorn Pediatric Inpatient Center at Winthrop-University Hospital. This is the second NASA grant awarded to Hofstra’s Astronomy Outreach Program in just over a year.

Georgina Martorella, assistant professor of library services, was named a recipient of Hofstra’s 23rd Annual Lawrence A. Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication. The award was given for her article “Libraries in the Aftermath of 9/11,” which appeared in The Reference Librarian, no. 94 (2006), pgs.109-137.

Amy Masnick, assistant professor of psychology, is project director on a $95,001 grant from Carnegie Mellon University in support of the project “Fundamentals of Experimental Science in Early Education.”

Anil Mather, professor of marketing and international business and vice dean of the Zarb School of Business, co-authored the book Baby Boomers and Their Parents: Surprising Findings on Their Lifestyles, Mindsets, and Well-Being with Dr. George Moschis of Georgia State University. The book documents 20 years of studies about baby boomers and their parents, highlights similarities and differences between the two generations, and helps answer questions about their physical, emotional and financial well-being.

William McGee, adjunct associate professor of English and freshman composition, wrote an article for the March issue of Consumer Reports magazine on airline safety. The article, which won a Gold Award for investigative reporting at the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, contributed to a decision by Congress to hold a hearing examining the issue of airlines outsourcing aircraft maintenance.

Maureen Miletta, associate professor of curriculum and teaching, was named the School of Education and Allied Human Services Teacher of the Year. She was recognized at the 11th annual Hofstra Gala on May 3 and at the May 20 commencement exercises. The award, which is coordinated by the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is based on nominations by graduating seniors.

Winston Mitchell, adjunct assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, received his third New York Emmy nomination as the news director and producer of the half-hour PBS television program Transit Transit News Magazine. In addition to the Emmy nomination, Professor Mitchell’s book Station Break – a recount of his days with WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News – was released on February 1.

Jamie Mitus, assistant professor of counseling, research, special education and rehabilitation, received a grant of $90,288 from the Research Foundation of CUNY in support of the project “RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes – Employment Service Systems Research and Training Center.”

Silvia Montemurro, adjunct associate professor of English and freshman composition, was elected commissioner of the New York City Garibaldi-Meucci Museum on July 28. In addition, she co-chaired and was the guest speaker at the Order Sons of Italy in America Italian Heritage and Cultural Month Kick-Off Brunch on October 6.

Maureen Murphy, interim dean, School of Education and Allied Human Services, was honored by Dublin City University in April for her work in Irish studies. In June she traveled to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Irish government to speak about modern and contemporary poetry at a symposium on Irish literature at the University of Veliko Turnovo. Dr. Murphy was invited to participate in that symposium because her translation of Mairtin O’Direan’s poem “Ionracas” was selected as Ireland’s contribution to Bulgaria’s “Wall-to-Wall Poetry” project in Sofia, which promotes the diversity of European languages and literature. Each embassy has adopted a wall in the center of Sofia to be decorated with a poem in the language of its country. In July Dr. Murphy served as associate director of the 2007 Yeats International Summer School in Sligo. This is considered Ireland's premier literary summer school, featuring scholars and poets like Helen Vendler and Seamus Heaney, who are regularly involved. While there, Dr. Murphy delivered the school’s Yeats Family Memorial Lecture, titled “Of Loyal Nature and of Noble Mind: Jack B. Yeats and His Siblings,” and she taught a seminar titled “Yeats and Folklore.” She also serves on the selection committee for the George J. Mitchell Scholarships, a program created by the Irish-American Alliance and Irish universities in honor of the work of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. In October Dr. Murphy was named Hofstra University’s Honorary Alumna of the Year at the annual Alumni Awards Dinner.

Bob Papper, professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, conducted a survey for the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania that showed newspaper and broadcast journalists are becoming more aggressive in challenging false or misleading political claims. Professor Papper’s study focused on television stations and found that 38.8 percent of those responding ran “adwatch” or “factcheck” stories during the 2006 election cycle, and even more plan to do so during the upcoming election cycle.

Irene Plonczak, assistant professor of curriculum and teaching, and her students celebrated the opening of a vegetable garden in April outside the Hagedorn Hall Science Room. The garden is part of an environmental education project aimed at providing future teachers with methods that will inform their students about the environment and inspire them to nurture and preserve it.

Ruth Prigozy, professor of English, wrote the afterword for the reprinting of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned for Penguin Signet Classics (February 2007). In April National Public Radio aired an interview with Dr. Prigozy for a program titled “Gatsby Goes to the Suburbs,” hosted by novelist Kurt Anderson. Dr. Prigozy and Jeanne Fuchs, professor emerita of comparative literature and languages, are co-editors of Frank Sinatra, the Man, the Music, the Legend, published by the University of Rochester Press. The volume is derived from the conference Frank Sinatra: The Man, The Music, The Legend, presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center in 1998.

Levi Reiter, professor of speech-language-hearing sciences and head of the Audiology Program, was featured in Newsday in March for having written and performed a rap song titled “Say Whut?” to encourage student interest in the field of hearing sciences. The rap has received rave reviews from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), which is now using “Say Whut?” as part of an ambitious program to recruit undergraduates across the country for careers in audiology.

Larry Russell, assistant professor of speech communication, rhetoric and performance studies, received an award at the conference of the National Communication Association on November 17 for the best ethnographic article published in 2006. His monograph “Three Pilgrim Paths” appeared in Theatre Annual in an issue devoted to pilgrimage.

Christopher Sanford, professor of biology, is project director on a $135,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The award was given to Hofstra in support of project titled “RUI: Evolution of Vertebrate Design: Functional Morphology of a Novel Feeding Mechanism in Osteoglossomorph and Salmonid Fishes.”

Mitchell Schare, professor of psychology and director of the Ph.D. Program in Combined Clinical and School Psychology, received an Award for Outstanding Service at the 41st annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in Philadelphia in November. At the same event, the Ph.D. Program was named Outstanding Training Program for 2007.

Kaushik Sengupta, assistant professor of management, entrepreneurship and general business, was a panel moderator at the annual fall convention of alumni of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) in September at New York University’s Stern School of Business. The panel, which consisted of eminent industry leaders and academics, focused on “Changing World Economic Order – Key Drivers and Trends for the Coming Decade and What It Means to India.”

Alan Singer, professor of curriculum and teaching, was quoted in a June 23 New York Times article about walking tours through Manhattan that focus on the city’s history with regard to slavery. Dr. Singer conducted such a tour with hundreds of high school students on May 25. From November 16 to 20, he coordinated an Immigration Museum at Hagedorn Hall, featuring dioramas, artifacts, charts and other materials reflecting different times in American history and various themes on immigration. The exhibits were created by middle and high school students from several Long Island school districts.

Balbinder Singh Bhogal, the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies, was appointed to this position, effective September 1, and was formally installed on April 7. Dr. Bhogal was most recently an associate professor in South Asian religions and cultures, Division of Humanities, Faculty of Arts at York University in Toronto. He earned a Ph.D. from London University, School of Oriental and African Studies, and a B.A. (Hons) from Lancaster University. He has served as a professor of religion, philosophy and humanities at universities in England, the United States and Canada. The Sardarni Kuljit Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies is endowed by Ishar Singh Bindra and his family in honor of Mr. Bindra’s wife and the family matriarch, Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra. The chair was established to promote the study of Sikh religion, culture and history.

G. Stuart Smith, assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations, was awarded a finalist certificate at the 2007 International Television Programming and Promotion Competition of the New York Festivals in the “History & Society” category for his documentary Heritage or Hate? Professor Smith’s film, which looks at the controversial use of Confederate symbols in public places, also received honorable mention at the 2006 Accolade Competition in the category of “Contemporary Issues and Awareness Raising.”

Robert Thill, adjunct instructor of fine arts, art history and humanities, had an art-related project reproduced and discussed in an essay by Arthur C. Danto, titled “The Work of Art and the Historical Future.” The essay appeared in End of Art – Endings in Art, a book edited by Gottfried Boehm and Gerhard Seel and published by Basel: Schwabe AG for the International Academy for Philosophy of Art (2006).

Daniel Martin Varisco, professor and chair of anthropology, delivered a lecture titled “Inventing Islamism: The Rhetoric of Representing Violence in Islam” at the Contemporary Islam Symposium held in Amsterdam by Springer Verlag on October 26. In November he presented “Turning Ploughshares into Words: Dialectical Diversity in Yemeni Arabic” at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Montreal and “Online Fatwas: Muslim Identity in Cyberspace” at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. His new book,Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid, was recently published. He also serves as moderator of the academic Web site Tabsir: Insight on Islam and the Middle East (www.tabsir.net) and as editor of the online journal CyberOrient (www.cyberorient.net).

David E. Weissman, professor of engineering, is project director on a $98,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in support of the project “Corrections to Scatterometer Wind Vectors: Measurements of Errors Caused by Rain-Induced Surface Roughness Using High Resolution Nexrad Radar Measurement.”

Sharon Whitton, professor of curriculum and teaching and graduate director of the Mathematics Education Program, was awarded the 2007 College Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association.

Joanne Willey, professor of biology, is project director on a $232,571 grant from the National Science Foundation to support the project “RUI: Understanding a Morphogenetic Biosurfactant in Streptomyces Coelicolor.”

Jason Williams, assistant professor of biology, was named a recipient of the 23rd Annual Lawrence A. Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication. The award was given for his work “A New Species of Tomlinsonia Turquier (Crustacea, Cirripedia, Trypetesidae) in Hermit Crab Shells from the Philippines and a New Parasite Species of Hermioniscus Buchholz, 1866 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Hemioniscidae).” This article appeared in Zoosystema 28 (2006), pp. 285-305 (co-authored with Christopher B. Boyko, Ph.D.).

Phyllis Zagano, senior research associate-in-residence, Department of Religion, writes a biweekly column for the Religion News Service (RNS) that is syndicated to hundreds of newspapers around the country. On March 1 she appeared on The O’Reilly Factor to discuss a column she had written for RNS on civil discourse. On August 25 the U.S. Naval Reserve held a retirement ceremony in honor of Dr. Zagano. She had served as a member of the New York Naval Militia since April 1978.

Miguel-Angel Zapata, associate professor of romance languages and literatures, is editor of Hofstra Hispanic Review, a peer-reviewed journal published three times a year that features articles, interviews, creative work, and book reviews in English and Spanish dealing with Hispanic literature and culture. To read past issues, visit www.hofstra.edu/HHR.

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