E A R T H & A TMo SPH E R IC SCIENC E S - The City College of ...

Table of Contents
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Chapter
New Faculty and Staff P.4
Chapter
Facility Upgrades P.10
Chapter
Bringing Science to the
Community and Beyond P.12
Chapter
Centers & Institutes P.18
Chapter
The Division in Numbers P.26
Chapter
Faculty, Staff & Student Awards P.32
Chapter
Curricular Innovations P.40
Chapter
Spotlight on Supporters P.46
Chapter
In Memoriam P.48
Dean’s Message
As described on the pages that follow, the
2010-11 academic year was packed with exciting
developments: arrival of new faculty and
staff, forefront research symposia, notable
professional honors, innovative curricula, and
creative community outreach. Guided by our
Annual Retreat discussions and current university
priorities, the activities of the City College
Division of Science were centered on students,
faculty, and our surrounding communities.
Recent initiatives to build a strong student body
included recruitment that spanned high school
through Ph.D. levels, intensive pre-enrollment
tutorials, peer mentoring, online advisement
scheduling, and walk-in tutoring. We launched a
new interdisciplinary M.S. program in Sustainability
with the Spitzer School of Architecture
and Grove School of Engineering (GSOE),
developed a Modern Materials course for
chemists and chemical engineers, and began the
approval process for B.S., M.S., and B.S.-M.S.
programs in Biotechnology, Biology, Chemistry,
and Biochemistry. A GSOE-Science team
added major Department of Education support
for a Hispanic-targeted initiative in Earth
Sciences and Environmental Sustainability to our
ongoing minority-focused training programs
funded by the National Science Foundation and
National Institutes of Health. Our 2010-11
Bachelor’s graduates won numerous awards
and admission to both medical and doctoral
training programs.
To advance CUNY’s goal of becoming a
research-intensive university while continuing
to serve a diverse student population, the
Division achieved many milestones: awards
(an American Academy for the Advancement
of Science fellow, a Blavatnik Young Scientist
finalist); research grants (National Science
Foundation, National Institutes of Health,
Department of Energy, Department of Defense,
and others); high-impact publications; prestigious
invited lectures and fellowships. Five of our most
accomplished faculty members were awarded
Endowed Professorships, and one other was
designated as a CUNY Distinguished Professor.
Our many influential research discoveries this
past year were made through expeditions to the
Greenland ice sheet and to the Panama Canal
rainforest; they included the design of a sugarbased
oil recovery system, technologies for artificial
blood, energy storage, and photonics. We also
partnered with broader research consortia to
address current challenges in energy, materials,
human health, and the environment.
Finally, the Division hosted community-building
events for students, staff, faculty, and neighbors
across Harlem and CUNY: our annual Research
Poster Session, Cross-cultural Explosion (party!),
ACCESS Research student journal, and Einsteins
in the City conference; communication
via Taste of Science student-faculty interchanges
and the Science Forum Intranet; Service Learning
courses on relationships of food to the environment
and health. We also shared our newest
professional findings at the CCNY Alumni
Association meeting, at robust departmental
seminar series, in a pedagogical workshop, and
at high-end symposia on topics from Structural
Biology to Laser Light Scattering to Group Theory.
Ruth E. Stark, Acting Dean of Science
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
The City College of New York
Division of Science / Annual Report 2010-11
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