Kerry Renzoni, associate professor of music, and undergraduate student Nicholas Stanford, music education and philosophy major, presented two research talks and a poster titled "At Home in the Atelier: Co-creating Music Environments," at the 2021 Early Childhood Music and Movement Association International Convention.
Assistant professor of sociology Joseph Cleary’s short story “The Brownes of Bridgeville” was accepted for publication in the ninth edition of the sociological fiction journal So Fi Zine (PDF, 458 MB; June 2021). “The Brownes of Bridgeville” is a fictionalized story inspired by a real-life event: a Christmas Eve 1978 cross-burning in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Dr. Cleary also had an article titled “A Suburban Funeral” accepted for publication in the Journal of Autoethnography. It is an autobiographical story about grief and trauma and is scheduled for publication in mid to late 2022.
Arjun Pathak, assistant professor of physics, published the peer-reviewed scientific article “Extraordinarily Strong Magneto-Responsiveness in Phase-Separated LaFe2Si” in the journal Acta Materialia (vol. 215, 2021, 117083). The article reports the first discovery of the LaFe2Si compound that exhibits extraordinary responsive behavior and multifunctional properties useful for energy technologies, including refrigeration, actuation, and sensing. Dr. Pathak’s team at Buffalo State College is further investigating other novel physical properties of this family of materials. Acta Materialia is a high impact factor journal. Part of the work was supported by a Buffalo State College Faculty Incentive Award. Dr. Pathak is the first and corresponding author on this article.
Thomas Karanas, assistant director of admissions, was named 2021 SUNYCAP Professional of the Year by the State University of New York College Admissions Professionals (SUNYCAP). This award recognizes one SUNYCAP professional annually for his or her dedication, motivation, innovation, commitment, and excellence.
Mr. Karanas oversees the Open House programs, texting platform, AI chatbot, and numerous digital and print campaigns for the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Among his many contributions and talents, he was recognized for his leadership in developing innovative virtual recruitment opportunities during the last 12 months.
Hermen Diaz, assistant professor of higher education administration, has been invited to serve as chair elect (2021–2022) and chair (2022–2023) of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) annual conference.
AAHHE is an agent of change for improving education, thus enabling Hispanic students to fully participate in a diverse society. AAHHE works collaboratively with all sectors of education, business, and industry, as well as community and professional organizations, to enhance the educational aspirations and to meet the needs of a significantly increasing Hispanic population.
Dan MacIsaac, professor; Arjun Pathak, assistant professor; and David Abbott, instructional support specialist, Physics; and Keisha Brandy, after-school site coordinator; and Diantha Watts, executive director, Educational Pipeline Initiatives Office, published the article “Fun Physics Fridays: An After School Program for Grades 3-8 School Students” in the Science Teachers Bulletin 84 (2): 30–49, the official publication of the Science Teachers Association of New York State.
The article describes their outreach efforts with grade school students conducted as part of the college’s community partnership initiative “Learning Together Changing Lives After School.” The partnership involves Buffalo Public School 45: The International School; Best-Self Behavioral Health, a community not-for-profit behavioral health services organization; and the college’s Center for Excellence in Rural and Urban Education (CEURE). The article’s coauthors were Kathleen Falconer, former lecturer of mathematics at Buffalo State College, and Ann Casper, retired physics teacher at Nardin Academy.
Sourav Biswas, assistant professor of chemistry, has recently joined the editorial board of the journal Scientific Reports, part of the Nature publishing group, and will be handling manuscripts in the field of materials chemistry.
Melissa Meehan, web services director, Marketing and Communications, has been appointed to the State University of New York United Faculty Senate Communications Committee for the 2021–2022 academic year. SUNY UFS is a collective that serves as a deliberative resource for governance of the university system. The Communications Committee is charged with implementing and continually enhancing methods of internal and external communication in order to inform constituents and build awareness.
Eric Dolph, assistant professor of art and design, presented the paper "The State of Universal Design in U.S. Interior Design Programs" at UD2021, the 5th International Conference on Universal Design. The virtual conference was hosted by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, June 9–11.
John Cabra, professor of creativity and change leadership, designed and delivered a conference workshop for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) on May 7 and 21. AGU is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists, consisting of over 62,000 members from 144 countries. The workshop was designed to identify big ideas that place effective priorities for climate change solutions.