Saint Joseph's University, 2007–08 - With Faith and Strength to Dare ...

GEORGE ‘67 RECOGNIZED IN
BUSINESSWEEK AS STUDENT FAVORITE
George ’67
BusinessWeek recently asked undergraduate
business students to tell them about their favorite
professors. Saint Joseph‘s University students
voted Richard George, Ph.D. ’67 (B.S.), professor
of food marketing, as their favorite. The only
professor from Pennsylvania selected, George
joins an impressive roster of 20 others featured
in BusinessWeek‘s special report, “Class Acts.“
A professor at Saint Joseph‘s for more than
30 years, George is valued by his many students
for his accessibility and for providing them with
“real-world“ experience through his courses.
PROFESSORS RECOGNIZED FOR
INNOVATIVE TEACHING
Three Saint Joseph‘s professors were selected
for Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of
Business Administration (MAACBA) Innovation
in Teaching Awards.
The awards, which were judged by faculty
from La Salle University‘s education department,
carried a $1,000 stipend and expenses paid to
the MAACBA conference. The faculty members
received their awards during the annual conference
at Niagra University last October.
Regina Robson, J.D., assistant professor of
management , was nominated for her course “An
Entrepreneurial Strand in the Legal Environment
of Business: Learning the Law Through the Ice
Cream Project.“ In the course, students learn how
to manage the legal issues that a small business
might encounter.
Ron Klimberg, Ph.D., professor of decision
and system sciences, and George Sillup, Ph.D.,
associate professor of pharmaceutical marketing,
were nominated for their course “Optimizing
Decision-Making in New Drug Development —
A Collaborative Learning Experience.“ This
course was designed to replicate the process
companies go through when introducing a new
prescription drug to the market.
PROFESSOR WINS FROMM MUSIC FOUNDATION COMMISSION
Harvard University‘s Fromm Music Foundation has awarded Saint Joseph’s faculty member and
contemporary music composer Suzanne Sorkin, Ph.D., a $10,000 commission to write a new composition.
The Foundation will also subsidize the ensemble that performs the premiere of the composition.
One of 13 recipients of the award,
Sorkin competed for the commission with
classical music composers from across
the country. The Fromm is considered
one of the most significant commissions
for new classical music composers.
Founded by the late Paul Fromm, the
foundation has commissioned over 300
new compositions and their performances,
as well as sponsored hundreds of
new music concerts and concert series.
The foundation seeks to strengthen
opportunities for new composition, and to
bring contemporary concert music to
the public.
Well-known new music composer
David Rakowski, with whom Sorkin
studied, commented recently on her work:
“Suzanne‘s pieces are distilled musical
experiences, like a fine Scotch. Every note
Sorkin
matters, fits perfectly in place, and leads you
in the most lyrical way to the next one.“
Additionally, Sorkin has had a three-year run (2005-07) of winning the ASCAPLUS (American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Plus Award) competition, which is judged by an
independent panel of distinguished experts for the activity generated by each member‘s catalog —
with emphasis placed on recent performances.
Sorkin received a doctorate in music composition from the University of Chicago, where she also
received her master‘s in music composition. She received a bachelor‘s in music composition and theory
from New York University.
SJU FACULTY MEMBER RECEIVES FULBRIGHT AWARD
Deron Albright, associate professor of film and video in the department of fine and performing
Arts, was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, West Africa, for the 2008-09 academic year.
Professor Albright received his bachelor of art in philosophy from Oberlin College in Ohio and his
M.F.A. in film and media arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. A member of the SJU faculty
since 2002, he specializes in video and new media production; narrative aesthetics; politics and
ideology; screenwriting; and film production.
Professor Albright will be hosted by the University of Ghana,
Legon, and NAFTI, the national school of film and television,
and will teach courses on American film and media
production while developing “African Home,“ a
multimedia event that focuses on African identity in
Ghanaian society and the broader diaspora. Eventually
this will be turned into an interactive DVD for distribution,
community and festival screening. Additionally, he will be
producing the feature film Bodom, The Stray Dog,
written by Ghanaian Yao B. Nunoo and built upon the
framework of Akira Kurosawa‘s 1949 masterpiece
Nora inu (Stray Dog). The story of a West
African deportee forced to live in a country
he thought he had left forever, Bodom will
target the 2010 festival circuit and
subsequent international distribution.
Albright