ALBANY, N.Y. (May 18, 2007) -- Daniel Levy, professor of educational administration and policy studies, and Steven Messner, professor of sociology, have been selected for the 2007 Collins Fellow designation, which recognizes members of the faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary devotion to the University and who are exemplars of institutional commitment and service. Each will be honored this weekend during the University's 163rd Commencement ceremonies.

Levy, who joined UAlbany in 1981, is jointly appointed to three other departments and programs (Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies; Political Science; and Public Policy). In 2006, Levy agreed to serve as interim director of the Center for Jewish Studies.

Professor Steven Messner

Messner, who joined UAlbany in 1982, has served as chairman of sociology and all of his department's major committees. Messner served as chairman of three University Senate Councils and as chairman of the entire Senate from 2005 to 2006. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Eastern Sociological Society and as chairman of the Crime, Law, and Deviance Section of the American Sociological Association. Messner serves on the Executive Committee and as vice president-elect of the American Society of Criminology.

The Collins Fellow designation was established in 1984 in memory of Evan Revere Collins, UAlbany's ninth president, who led the campus from 1949 to 1969 during its transformation into a graduate and research university center. Since its inception, 46 faculty members have received this honor. The Collins Fellows are identified on the UAlbany Web site and their portraits hang in the President's Reading Room of the Main Library.