C.W. Post Faculty Honored for 15 and 20 Years of Service

(from left) Professors Frances Gizis, Richard Smiraglia, Amy Spaulding, P.M. Rao, Shahid Siddiqi, Vladimir Fainzilberg

Twelve C.W. Post faculty members were honored for 15 and 20 years of service at a ceremony held November 14, 2007 in the Great Hall on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

The 2007 honorees are Arvind Borde, Vladimir Fainzilberg, Frances Gizis, Phyllis Kudder-Sullivan, Richard Mills, Mohammad Muslih, Nishan Najarian, P.M. Rao, Shahid Siddiqi, Richard Smiraglia, Amy Spaulding and Donna Tuman.

"These distinguished professors have devoted their talents, their energies and their skills to this institution, and in so doing have enriched the lives of countless students and alumni," said Dr. Joseph Shenker, C.W. Post Provost, at the ceremony. "Each of these individuals has made a lasting contribution."

Arvind Borde, 20 Years: Professor of Mathematics Arvind Borde is an internationally recognized scholar in the mathematic theory of general relativity. In 2005, Dr. Borde transferred to C.W. Post from Southampton College, where he served as a professor for 18 years. Over the past decade, Dr. Borde's work with Alex Vilenkin, director of the Institute of Comology at Tufts University, and Alan Guth, the Victor F. Weisskopf Professor of Physics at MIT, has been widely hailed. In addition to his publications on the theory of relativity, Dr. Borde has written well-received books on digital typography. He has held visiting faculty appointments at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Tufts University, MIT and the University of Southern California. He has been profiled in The New York Times and his own writing has appeared in Nature, Scientific American, New Scientist, the Boston Globe and Newsday.

Vladimir Fainzilberg, 15 Years: Chemistry Department Chair and Professor Vladimir Fainzilberg asks: "How can anybody be happy if he or she is not a scientist?" Dr. Fainzilberg specializes in the chemistry of transition metal complexes, and has published findings on cellular protein synthesis, polymer chemistry and liquid crystal chemistry. He also designed the freshman laboratory course currently in use for all General Chemistry students in the Department, as well as the Quantum Chemistry courses for chemistry majors. Dr. Fainzilberg's many scholarly achievements were recognized with the Long Island University Trustees Award for Scholarly Achievement. His research has been published in 37 peer-reviewed articles and 32 peer-reviewed conference presentations.

Frances Gizis, 20 Years: Dr. Frances Gizis came to C.W. Post with a strong record of accomplishments and experience. During her tenure, she has spearheaded program development in the Nutrition Department beginning with the Dietetic Internship which was approved in 1988. Following that success, Dr. Gizis led the registration and initial accreditation of the undergraduate nutrition program by the American Dietetic Association as well as the initial accreditation for the program. With her guidance, the department has enhanced its masters of science degree program and developed a popular B.S./M.S. program for career changers. Dr. Gizis is an active thesis advisor and a strong mentor to the Nutrition faculty.

Phyllis Kudder-Sullivan, 20 Years: Phyllis Sullivan is an assistant dean in the School of Visual and Performing Arts and a professor of art. She has exhibited her ceramic sculpture in one-person and group exhibitions in galleries and museums worldwide. In addition to the U.S., Sullivan has been granted artist residencies in Japan, Turkey and China. Her work has been reviewed by The New York Times and has appeared in several books and magazine articles. She is serving a second term on the advisory board for the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, a not-for-profit organization in Maine. In 2000, Sullivan received the Trustees' Award for her installation work, Blue Partita II, in the Clay Studio's Reed Smith Gallery, in Philadelphia. Recently, she won an honorable mention in the Fourth World Ceramic Biennale 2007 in Korea.

Richard Mills, 20 Years: During the past 20 years, Art Professor Richard Mills has built and maintained the C.W. Post Printmaking and Papermaking Program. He has served as Director of Fine Arts and organized an extensive Summer Intensive Workshop program. His professional printmaking career has grown during his tenure at C.W. Post to include substantial public art and environmental art commissions. Perhaps his largest work of art, so far, has been a beautiful block-long garden he designed in Englewood, NJ, as part of that community's urban renewal efforts.

Mohammad Muslih, 20 Years: Political Science Professor Mohammad Muslih is a widely consulted expert on Arab society and politics. His field research is focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict and contemporary Islamic movements. He also monitors the Syrian and Lebanese political scenes, staying in touch with officials, academics and political leaders in those countries. Professor Muslih has worked with the Council on Foreign Relations and is the author of numerous books and publications. Dr. Muslih is near completion of a ground-breaking book, supported largely by his research on major concepts in modern Islamic thought and how these concepts move between different ideological camps and political networks. Dr. Muslih is regularly interviewed by international media outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, regarding unfolding developments in the Middle East.

Nishan Najarian, 20 Years: Dr. Nishan Najarian has made many contributions to Long Island University as both a professor of counseling and as an administrator. From 1987 to 2002, he served as dean of the Long Island University School of Continuing Studies and steadily grew enrollments in continuing education over the multi-campus system. In 2002, Dr. Najarian was appointed associate vice president for academic administration and technology where he supervised two-year course planning, section count analysis, faculty database development, and the student-faculty evaluation process. In addition, he has worked with faculty groups to encourage the use of technology in teaching and in the development of distance education opportunities. In 2006, the Long Island University Board of Trustees bestowed the coveted title of "Dean Emeritus" on Dr. Najarian for his many years of service.

P.M. Rao, 15 Years: Dr. P.M. Rao is a professor of marketing and international business in the College of Management. Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Rao worked for many years in the telecommunications industry. He is an active researcher and is internationally renowned for his knowledge of areas covering marketing strategies for high technology firms, intellectual property issues in software and pharmaceutical industries, and internationalization of multinational R&D. Dr. Rao has published extensively in journals including Industrial Marketing Management, International Business Review, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, R&D Management and Telecommunications Policy, and in proceedings for the Academy of Marketing Science, Academy of International Business, Decision Sciences Institute, and the International Telecommunications Society.

Shahid Siddiqi, 15 Years: Dr. Shahid Siddiqi is a professor of marketing and international business in the College of Management and was instrumental in the creation of eight state-of-the-art classrooms in the College of Management Center for Learning. Dr. Siddiqi spent more than two years helping to plan and coordinate the Center's academic space. Throughout his tenure, he has taught a wide variety of courses and has close relationship with the Honors Program as part of the advisory board. In 2002 Dr. Siddiqi introduced a course called, "Global Market Strategy & the Globalization of Politics, Economics and Society" and in 2006, he introduced the course "Globalization: Roots, Concepts, Processes." Dr. Siddiqi has directed the teaching colloquium program for more than a decade and has taught in India and Switzerland. He has held adjunct positions at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School, and has been a visiting professor at Drexel University.

Richard Smiraglia, 15 Years: Richard Smiraglia joined the Palmer School of Library and Information Sciences in 1992 and teaches courses in knowledge organization and research methods at the graduate level. Prior to joining the Palmer School, Dr. Smiraglia was an assistant professor at Columbia University's School of Library Service, and, before that, a music catalog librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A widely-published author in the fields of knowledge organization, cataloging and bibliography, Dr. Smiraglia is currently a member of the editorial board of "Cataloging & Classification Quarterly" and the editor of "Knowledge Organization." He was editor of the journal "Library Resources & Technical Services" from 1990-96, and the Music Library Association's "Technical Reports" from 1988-94. Among his most recent journal publications are; "Authority Control of Works: Cataloging's Chimera?", and "The 'Works' Phenomenon and Best Selling Books." Dr. Smiraglia's recent forays into domain analysis include "Two Kinds of Power: Insight In to the Legacy of Patrick Wilson" and "Music Information Retrieval: An Example of Bates' Substrate?"

Amy Spaulding, 15 Years: One of the founders of the doctoral program in information studies in the Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Dr. Amy Spaulding is a specialist in services for diverse populations, materials and services for youth. She was the children's material specialist for the New York Public Library and has been both a Benjamin Dean Lecturer for the Morrison Planetarium of the California Academy of Sciences and a Lillian Bradshaw Lecturer for Texas Woman's University. One of her two books, "Storytelling in An Information Age" was an Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice award winner and Storytelling World award winner. Widely published and active in many professional associations, she is the councilor for the American Library Association and the chair of the Caldecott Award Selection Committee.

Donna Tuman, 15 Years: As chair of the Art Department and Director of Art Education at C.W. Post, Donna Tuman takes great pride in inspiring others as she shares her expertise in the broad spectrum of art. Dr. Tuman's approach to art education evolved from her experience as an art teacher, museum educator, art museum administrator, and Arts-in-Education program consultant. Prior to joining the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Dr. Tuman was the founding director of the Long Island Children's Museum, director of the Queens Museum of Art, and an art research practitioner for numerous programs. She is serving her second term as president of the University Council for Art Education, a provocative national professional association that advocates for sequential K-12 art education for all students. Recently, she was recognized by the New York State Art Teachers Association and Art Supervisors Association for outstanding leadership in arts education. Donna has published several articles in Studies in Art Education, Visual Arts Research, The Journal of Gender Issues in Art Education, and the Journal of Aesthetic Education.

Posted: November 20, 2007