January 2008 - Niagara University

2
On
Campus
NU Notes
Dr. Brian Bennett, chair and
associate professor in the department
of religious studies, presented a
paper as part of the “Knowledge,
Creativity and Transformations of
Society” section of an interdisciplinary
conference discussing
globalization, language and identity,
held in Vienna on Dec. 6-9. Dr.
Bennet’s paper, “Scripting Identity
in Post-Soviet Russia,” analyzed the
use of religious scripts in Russian
ultranationalist and neo-Nazi
newspapers.
Dr. Peggy Choong, associate
professor of marketing, and Dr.
Daniel Tompkins, associate professor
of finance, have published an article,
“Advertising Strategy and Returns on
Advertising: A Market Value
Approach,” in The Business Review
Cambridge Journal. The article
discusses the use of event study
methodology to evaluate the returns
on advertising in major event
television programs such as the Super
Bowl, the Academy Awards and final
episodes of favorite television programs.
The findings provide information for
marketing managers who are
increasingly held accountable on
providing evidence of returns to their
management decisions.
Dr. William Cliff, associate professor
of biology, was invited to give a
seminar presentation on Dec. 3,
entitled “Why Case-Based Learning
in Medical Education?” at Rush
Medical College in Chicago.
Adrienne Leibowitz, director of
sponsored programs and research,
was elected in December to a threeyear
term on the board of directors
for Malawi Children’s Village, the
organization she worked with during
the summer of 2007 through the
Vincentian Poverty Award. A story
on her experience is featured in the
fall 2007 issue of the Eagle, Niagara
University’s alumni magazine.
Sister Judith A. Merkle, SNDdeN,
professor of religious studies,
participated in the expert seminar on
Catholic Social Thought during a biannual
international conference of
theologians and economists sponsored
by the Centre of Catholic Social
Thought at the Catholic University of
Louvain, Belgium. The seminar topic
was “40 Years after Populorum
Progressio (the church’s encyclical on
international development).” Participants
discussed changes in models of
development since 1967, when the
encyclical was written, and open doors
to development today. Dr. Merkle was
part of several roundtable discussions
and chaired a session of the meeting.
Dr. Stefanie Wichhart, assistant
professor of history, presented a paper
entitled “British Policy Towards
Kurdish Nationalism and Separatism
in Iraq and Iran, 1941-1946” at a
conference on “Secession as an
International Phenomenon” held in
Charleston, S.C., in December. It was
sponsored by the Association for
Research on Ethnicity and
Nationalism in the Americas and the
University of South Carolina.
Correction: In the December
2007 edition of On Campus, the
year of Dr. Everett Ockerman’s
start at NU was listed as 1953.
He began teaching at Niagara in
1946 and became a full professor
and chair of the department of
economics and commerce in
1953. We apologize for the
confusion.
Hulsman
named to
advancement
post at NU
J. Patrick Hulsman has been
appointed associate vice president for
institutional advancement at Niagara
University. He will be primarily
responsible for assisting the
university in its $80 million capital
campaign, “The Promise of Niagara
... the next 150 years.”
Patrick, who has more than 30 years
of experience in the health care and
advancement fields, most recently
was the associate executive director
for institutional advancement for
Trocaire College in Buffalo.
A graduate of the State University
College at Buffalo, he is a member
of the American College of Healthcare
Executives, the Association for
Fundraising Executives, and the
Society for Technical Communication.
He and his wife, Anne, reside in
Snyder. They have two sons.