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AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/18/13 3:43 PM Page 3 he 2013 National Science Foundation Grad- Tuate Research Fellowships are among the nation’s most prestigious awards for graduate study in science, technology, engineering and math. This year, The City University of New York proudly celebrates our 23 graduating seniors and recent alumni who won 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships — more than any other public university system in the Northeast. We’re pleased to spotlight the University’s “All-Star Science Teams” of NSF winners, along with a selection of other honorees from the Class of 2013. The external awards they’ve won underscore the caliber of CUNY’s graduates. These range from feder- ally funded Fulbright Fellowships for research and teaching abroad to acceptance at top-notch graduate and professional institutions around the country, where CUNY alumni are pursuing law, medicine and the full range of arts, sciences and social sciences. New alumni are also entering the workforce, engaging in public service or contributing to charitable activities to enhance their personal growth. This special edition of Salute to Scholars magazine salutes some of these remark- able students. See www.cuny.edu/allstars for a larger listing. The University congratulates all members of the Class of 2013 for enriching our nation and, indeed, our world. Warm best wishes, William P. Kelly, Interim Chancellor CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 1 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:40 PM Page 4 Mizanur Ahmed Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship Kyle Athayde Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’13 Coro Fellowship Hunter Gross Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’15 Critical Language Scholarship (China) Anna Groysman Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship Philip Liu Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Ivana Mellers Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’12 Fulbright Fellowship Kristina Navrazhina Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’14 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program Ayodele Oti Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 Princeton in Latin America Christopher J. Parisano Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, ’08 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Aleksey Ruditskiy Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Emma Schatoff Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship 2 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 5 Julius Edson (City College, B.E. in chemical engineering, 2012), now a doctoral student at the University of California-Irvine, has won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship by suggesting a new way of attacking the rising number of lethal bacteria that are immune to antibiotics. He wants to use a substance called chitosan that’s found in the shells of crabs, shrimp and other marine animals. Chitosan can damage the bacterial cell membrane through an electrostatic interaction. “The chitosan sticks to and ruptures the cell membrane of microbes then serves as an antenna to direct the body’s own immune system to attack,” Edson says. But chitosan dissolves only in an environ- ment that is more acidic than the human body can tolerate. Edson intends to chemi- cally modify chitosan so it can readily func- tion in the body without losing its innate properties. He started at City as premed but became interested in this field while studying colloidal systems with associate professor Ilona Kretzschmar. This made him realize that a degree in chemical engineering was “a perfect fit.” He adds: “I’ll still be able to help in the medical field.” Edson was born in Nigeria. As a youngster, he contracted various illnesses and was not expected to survive. “But I am here and healthy,” he says. With survival came a sense of responsi- bility to help others. Edson immigrated to the United States at 7. As a City undergraduate, he won a scholarship from the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, an NSF- funded program to encourage underrepre- sented minority students to pursue a baccalaureate degree in the STEM fields. It enabled him to conduct water-treatment studies in Colombia. He has also conducted research in Sweden and Austria. CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 3 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 6 Nikoleta Despodova (John Jay College of Jan Dominik Stepinski Irina Mironova, Macaulay Honors College Baruch College, ’13 Criminal Justice, B.A. in forensic at City College, ’13 Salk Scholarship, 2013 psychology, 2013) won a National Science Foundation National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study her hypothesis that inti- Graduate Research Fellowship Elaina Montague Baruch College, ’13 mate-partner violence among same-sex couples may be seen — Jaimie Stettin University of Nebraska-Lincoln, by criminal court jurors — as less serious, less likely to reoccur Macaulay Honors College Liberal Arts, PhD and less likely to lead to physical injuries. at Hunter College/CUNY BA, ’11 Fulbright Fellowship Rukmani Nayyar “The stereotypical image of rape and intimate-partner Baruch College, ’13 violence is of a man being stronger and assaulting a woman, but Alison Wong Baruch College, when faced with two male or two female partners, jurors have Macaulay Honors College Masters of Marketing at Queens College, ’15 doubts about who they’re supposed to believe,” Despodova Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship Hongjie Pan says, citing studies that appear to demonstrate this. Baruch College, ’13 Despodova, who plans to pursue a doctorate, has suggested Madeline Yap University of Edinburgh, deepening the research by giving questionnaires to Macaulay Honors College Business School, MS at Queens College, ’13 240 jury-eligible community members, followed Fulbright Fellowship (Korea) Alina Pavlova by a mock trial. She also proposed investi- Macauley Honors College gating the extent to which myths and stereo- Pietro Barone at Baruch College, ’13 Baruch College, ’13 Tulane University Law School, J.D. types affect such judgments. London School of Economics Despodova first questioned how evidence is and Political Science, Svetlana Rafailova evaluated at 16, during the trial of the motorcy- MSc in International Relations Macauley Honors College at Baruch College, ’13 clist who fatally injured her grandfather. She Mayara G. Guimaraes Baruch College, completed four years of baccalaureate studies in English and Baruch College, ’13 Master’s Degree literature in her native Bulgaria. Then in 2008 she moved to the Harnisch Scholarship and Golden Key International Rebecca Seidman United States to pursue a degree in forensic psychology. She Honor Society, 2012 Baruch College, ’13 attended a John Jay open house and enrolled. Hunter College, At John Jay, she engaged in varied related research. She Ralph E. Labaton Masters in Social Work Baruch College, ’13 worked with professor Elizabeth Jeglic to examine the attitudes Georgetown University, Marissa Stuart, Baruch MBA of student jurors; the research was Law Center, JD Leader of Tomorrow by The St. supported by the U.S. Depart- Gallen Foundation for International Dustin Lee Students in Switzerland ment of Education’s Ronald Baruch College, ’13 E. McNair Postbaccalau- IPG Marketing Ellen Adams reate Achievement Fellowship Award, 2012 Brooklyn College, M.F.A. ’13 Program, which Fulbright 2013 Marco Leung prepares underrepre- Baruch College, ’13 Mizanur Ahmed sented students for Brooklyn College, Macaulay Honors College doctoral work. She Masters of Science at Brooklyn College, ’13 State University of New York, also conducted inde- Logan Luo Downstate Medical Center, pendent research Baruch College, ’13 College of Medicine, MD with professor Pace University, Lublin school of Business, MS Mizanur Ahmed Mark Fondacaro Brooklyn College, ’13 and in professor Lulu Mero JESS, 2013 Margaret Bull Baruch College, ’13 IFM, University of Strath- Nathalie Louise Belkin Kovera’s lab. clyde, MSc Finance Brooklyn College, ’13 Long Island University, Palmer School of Library Sciences, MLS 4 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 7 Dane Christie (City College 2013, B.E. in chemical engi- neering) — who will attend Princeton University in the fall — was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The Jamaican-born Christie once pitched for the Toronto Bluejays’ Dominican Republic farm team. He now aims to earn a doctorate. “My mom told me I needed to think about college,” he says. “But that was the farthest thing from my mind. I was a 6- foot, 7-inch left-hander.” Ultimately, after two years with the team, he joined his mother in New York, worked in construction for four years and then entered the Hostos-City College dual- degree engineering program. Hostos assistant professor Yoel Rodriguez, who teaches chemistry and physics, “gave me the push and the belief in myself I was lacking at the time,” Christie says. At City, he found new mentors in professor John Lombardi and associate professor Ilona Kretzschmar — with whom Anthony Bukher Ember Kane Skye Lee Christie researched colloidal Brooklyn College, ’13 Brooklyn College, ’13 assembly. Long Island University, University of Massachusetts, His NSF proposal evolved from his Registered Occupational Amherst, PhD Program research