Joint Appointment

Christopher Smith, professor of geography and planning, has received a joint appointment in the Department of East Asian Studies, effective this Fall.

New CJ Director

Terence Thornberry of the School of Criminal Justice has been named the new director of the Hindelang Center, replacing Alan Lizotte, who served in the post for the last three years.

Oratorio Edition Gets a Rave

Department of Music faculty member David Griggs-Janower’s four-year effort to create a performance edition of George F. Bristow’s The Oratorio for Daniel has won acclaim from American Record Guide, a leading North American music publication.

The review centered on the May 3 performance of the 120-year-old Oratorio at the Troy Music Hall, using more than 100 singers from Albany Pro Musica (of which Griggs-Janower is founding director), combined with the Catskill Choral Society. “Clearly, Griggs-Janower loves this music, and he conducted with intensity and clear control,” said the review. “He has given (the Oratorio) new life, much as in the last century Mendelssohn revived JS Bach.”

Advancement Switch

Carol Olechowski, who has served the Division of University Advancement as manager of advanced communications since 1991, has joined the Division’s Office for University Relations. “Throughout the Campaign for Albany, Carol was instrumental in developing and coordinating advancement/development initiatives,” said Paul Stec, Interim Vice President. “Her new assignment will certainly strengthen the Office of University Relations.”

Twice a Hero of the Community

Donald Biggs on the Department of Counseling Psychology has recently received two awards stemming from his work with local urban youth.

The City of Albany’s Human Rights Commission announced last week that Biggs has received its 1997 Human Rights Award for Outstanding Individual (Spirited) Achievement, presented to an individual “who accomplishments in the field of human rights were realized within the previous year.”

Biggs this summer brought to a close the Third Urban Youth Leadership Development Institute, in which Albany High School mentors worked on campus with high school students in coordination with students from the University. He is also principal architect of the University’s Urban Education Program and the College Access Program, which assists students in entrance to and retention in college.

He is scheduled to receive his award in ceremonies at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 in the Whalen Community Room of the Francis J. Alphonso Office Building, 200 Henry Johnson Blvd., Albany.

This summer, the Hudson Mohawk Association of Colleges and Universities “Community Service Award” for his recent work on one of the greatest problems facing public, pre-college education: the alarming need to rehabilitate urban education to the help transform the lives of inner-city youth into ones of opportunity and productive citizenship. Much of this work, has been done in Capital Region schools and communities.

“In the Capital Region, it is no exaggeration to say that Professor Biggs is considered the community’s major informational resource on the issues surrounding inner-city education and social dysfunction of urban youth,” said Interim Dean of Education James T. Fleming.

A Charter Fellow

Susan R. Sherman of the School of Social Welfare has been selected as a “Charter Fellow” of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. The honor recognizes outstanding leadership in gerontology and geriatrics education by established scholar/educators.

Educators Score at the Ballot Box

The University serves its external communities in many ways — as two members of its family demonstrated last week.

Helen Desfosses, who holds joint appointments in the departments of public administration & policy and Africana studies, made Albany political history by becoming the first woman ever nominated for the presidency of the Common Council, the city’s legislative body.

In a three-way Democratic party primary, Desfosses defeated incumbent Common Council President Robert Van Amburgh and Gregory Burch, with 8,053 votes, to 7,261 for Van Amburgh and 2,562 for Burch.

In Schenectady, another member of the University family — Denise Brucker, Brucker, an educational specialist with the Professional Development Program, was one of three winners among four candidates seeking nominations for seats on the City Council.

Brucker and the two other nominees of her party will compete for three seats against three Republican nominees in the November 4 final election.

Desfosses — whose campaign manager is Libby Post, B.A. ’82 and M.A. ’84 — faces Republican Rocco Pezzulo on November 4. However, her nomination is considered by political observers to be tantamount to election, given that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in Albany by a margin of 11 to 1.

With their candidacies for public office, Brucker and Desfosses are carrying on a tradition of University faculty and staff involvement in local affairs.

For example, Albina Grignon of the School of Business, Gordon Purrington of the School of Education, Interim Arts and Sciences Dean Cyril Knoblauch and retired employees Paul Saimond of Academic Affairs and Dennis Stevens of the Physical Plant all have served on Capital Region local school boards in recent years.

Joel Blumenthal