Faculty and staff awards, honors and appointments

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff members for their notable awards, honors, appointments and promotions:

MARCELO BAJANA (Administrative Computing) has been hired as Lead Programmer/Analyst in Administrative Systems.

LILAH CARLAW has been hired by the University Police Department.

LEE DEGNAN (Student Accounts) has been promoted to Office Assistant 2.

HEINZ INSU FENKL (English/Creative Writing) had his short story “Five Arrows” appear in the August 5, 2015 issue of “The New Yorker.” The story can be read on the magazine’s website, as can a Q&A with the author.

KIMBERLY FORISKA (Custodial) has been hired as Cleaner.

ANDREA FRANK (Photography) has received a $20,000 grant from the SUNY Research Foundation Networks of Excellence for a project titled “Feedback – Future Feed.” Emily Puthoff, associate professor in the Department of Art, will serve as a co-investigator on this project.

MATTHEW FRIDAY has received a $5,653 grant from the SUNY Research Foundation Networks of Excellence for his part in a project titled “Using Architecture to Transform Abandoned Buildings and Stimulate Dialogue.” Michael Gayk, assistant professor in the Department of Art, will serve as a co-investigator on this project.

KIERSTEN GREEN (Elementary Education) was selected as a 2015 Apple Distinguished Educator. She joins a worldwide community of more than 2,000 educators who use Apple technology to enhance their students’ learning experiences in and out of the classroom.

BENJAMIN JUNGE (Anthropology) has been awarded $138,492 in funding from the National Science Foundation for his part in a three-year, three-city ethnographic research project in Brazil, titled “Social Mobility, Poverty Reduction, and Democracy in Brazil’s Emerging Middle Class.” Junge will serve as principal investigator on the project and will work with co-investigators Charles Klein (Portland State University) and Sean Mitchell (Rutgers University).

LAURA KNIFFEN (Design, Print and Mail Services) has been promoted to Design Services Manager.

DORI KROLICK (Student Health Services) has been hired as Nurse Practitioner.

DANIELLE LINDNER (Athletics, Wellness and Recreation) has been hired as Assistant to the Director of Athletics.

DANNY MCMILLEN (Custodial) has been promoted to Janitor.

LAUREN MEEKER (Anthropology) has been awarded a $46,991 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project titled “The Ritual Construction of Moral Personhood and Social Belonging in Contemporary Rural Vietnam.”

DAWN MERTINE (Custodial) has been hired as Cleaner.

JENNIFER PALOMINO (Development & Alumni Relations) has been promoted to Agency Program Aide.

CASEY RALEIGH (Custodial) has been hired as Cleaner.

ROBERT RICCI (Facility Operations) has been promoted to Maintenance Assistant.

SARAH ROBERSON (Records & Registration) has been promoted to Associate Registrar.

LAURA SCHULTZ (Records & Registration) has been promoted to Interim Registrar.

WAYNE SWENEY (Facility Operations) has been promoted to Plant Utility Helper.

RUSSELL THOMPSON (Fine & Performing Arts) represented SUNY New Paltz at the Vendini Member Conference, July 20-21 in Chicago, Il. Thompson co-led a conversation about ticketing, marketing, customer relationship management and fundraising techniques in college and university box offices and highlighted recent advancements of the College’s ticketing processes, which are recognized as being at the forefront of the industry.

EVE WALTERMAURER (Sociology/CRREO) has received a $36,000 grant from the Council on Addiction Prevention and Education.

MARYELLEN WHITTINGTON-COUSE (Migrant Education) has received a $12,000 grant from the Dyson Foundation for her project titled “Enriching Hudson Valley Migrant Youth through Summer Writing Workshops.” She has also received a $2,460 grant from the East Bloomfield Central School for her project titled “Esperanza at SUNY New Paltz July 2015 – June 2016.”