SPRING 2009 magazineFOR QUEENS COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS Joel Benenson ’79: Helping Obama Win the White House Q MAGAZINE OF QUEENS COLLEGE 1 You Know Where Your Queens College Education Has Taken You. Help Others Begin Their Journey. Vol. XIV, No. 2, Spring 2009 www.qc.cuny.edu magazineFOR QUEENS COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS More than 120,000 graduates with backgrounds as diverse as their ambitions FEATURES Tierney, who recently died. I played on the Mailbag 1952 team with Al for Coach Tierney, and have one important thing in common: 10 Reporting History I would like to share with you excerpts David McKay Wilson a Queens College degree. State funding A Vote For from a letter I received from “Coach” in I was very impressed with the Fall–Winter 1994 (when he was age 82) after a long issue of Q Magazine—far above most accounts for only 30% of Queens College’s 12 Entrepreneurial Scientist period when we had lost contact. Margo Nash publications of this type that I receive. “I have wonderful memories of my 35 entire operating budget. Alumni support Thanks and kudos for a job well done! years at Queens College, particularly the Alice Schmitt Dashiell ’61 earlier ones. Even though I had a very 14 Yes Obama Could Thomaston, ME successful and happy career, starting as a helps make up the difference. Donna Shoemaker tutor in January 1941 and rising to a full Thanks to the support and generosity of A Vote Against professor in 1962, which included many Queens College alumni and friends, we have 16 Danger and Discoveries It was disheartening to read the Fall– years as department chairman and later been able to: in the Congo Winter 2008–09 Q Magazine article director of athletics, my greatest love was David McKay Wilson “Brain Man” by Leslie Jay. According to as varsity baseball coach. • Raise our admission standards and increase the article, “The Daily Show” anchor Jon “It gave me the opportunity to know enrollment by over 8 percent since 2003. Stewart suggested that Republicans had a and to work with a DEPARTMENTS spate of memory lapses and he therefore fine group of young • Provide scholarships for students. interviewed one of the nation’s top brain men for 26 seasons. In the News 4 experts, Mony de Leon ’69, who sees a lot A number of play- • Offer more awards for outstanding 8 Athletics of people with “broken brains.” As both a ers over the years undergraduate student research. graduate and a Republican, I find the ar- still keep in close 19 Bookshelf • Begin construction of our first residence hall, ticle offensive and I’m quite sure it would touch—either with 20 Portraits never have been printed had it referred to visitations or by The Summit. the opposing political party. To quote an mail and phone. • Create new initiatives, including majors in 26 Funding Success idiot like Jon Stewart is not only inappro- “Some I’m sure high-demand areas such as graphic design, priate but a waste of time. If we want to you will recall or 28 Alumni Notes neuroscience, and business administration. start quoting people in the Q Magazine, Tierney (see p. 9) have heard of: Joe I’m sure we can find a good number of LoCastro, Andy • Introduce an MFA in creative writing. Assistant VP for Communications individuals worth quoting and who have Locastro, Al Kapikian, Bob Mueller, Maria Terrone actually contributed to society. Frank Saracino, Bob Krapp, John Con- • Hire almost half of our current faculty Editor Institutions of higher learning such as stantini, Mel Seiden, Bill Delfyett, Lou within the last six years. John Cassidy Queens College should focus on educat- DeBole, and so many others. Creative Director ing students who want to learn and not “As a non-scholarship college, we more • Strengthen our technological Dyanne Maue picking political sides. Funding for such than held our own with those who did give infrastructure. Staff Writers public institutions comes from both tax- scholarships for baseball. In 26 seasons, Leslie Jay, Bob Suter payers and private contributions, both of we won 286 games and lost 242. I enjoyed which are comprised of Republicans and every minute of every game (mostly, of Design Manager Georgine Ingber Democrats! course, those we won!).” Support Queens College and Give Today. Dennis D. Sebastiano ’71 Win or lose, Coach Robert J. Tierney Photographer Dix Hills, NY was a true mentor in life, as well as in Nancy Bareis Help us continue our mission of preparing students to make a difference in our competitive global baseball, and a very fine gentleman. society. There are many ways to give: Alumni Class Gifts, the Colden Circle (named in honor of Cover: Joel Benenson and Barack Obama Bob Keane ’54 Queens College founder Judge Charles S. Colden), and the Jefferson Society. celebrate on Election Night. Photo courtesy Remembering Coach Tierney Eastchester, NY of the Benenson family. I read with much interest in your Fall- Winter issue of the wonderful accomplish- Send your letters to Q Magazine, Queens For more information, please contact the Office of Development by email: Copyright © 2009 by Queens College. ments of Dr. Al Kapikian. In it, he com- College, Kiely Hall 1307, Flushing, NY 11367 [email protected], phone: 718-997-3920, or mail: Queens College mended his baseball coach at QC, Bob or [email protected]. Foundation, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, New York 11367 and on the web at2 qc.cuny.edu/qcf. Q MAGAZINE OF QUEENS COLLEGE Q MAGAZINE OF QUEENS COLLEGE 3 In the News Four QC Graduates Recognized at Grammy Awards The Aaron Copland School of Music has many distinguished alumni, ACSM Director and the recent Grammy Awards ceremony recognized four of them: Edward Smaldone. Pianist, bandleader, and composer Arturo O’Farrill ’00 received the “George Tsontakis Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year for Song for Chico, which studied composi- Stellar Choice for New College Provost he recorded with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. tion with Hugo After an extensive national search that trajectory of the college and by the people whom I have met in Conrad Herwig ’05 was also recognized in this category. Both a Weisgall, arguably brought four candidates to campus the process of interviewing. I am honored and humbled by the bandleader and composer, Herwig was nominated for his album The the leading Ameri- to meet the QC community, President opportunity.” Latin Side of Wayne Shorter, which he performed with the Latin Side can composer James Muyskens announced that Stellar earned his PhD in biological psychology from the Uni- Band. of opera. JoAnn James Stellar will become the college’s versity of Pennsylvania, which he followed with a post-doctorate Two Copland School graduates and one CUNY Distinguished Pro- Falletta received next provost. The former dean of the from the same institution. He began his academic career as an fessor were recognized in the Classical Music Awards category: an MA degree College of Arts and Sciences at North- assistant professor at Harvard University in the department of Joann Falletta ’78 is the conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic in guitar per- eastern University, he will be replacing psychology and social relations. In 1985 he won the Phi Beta Orchestra, which performed Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of formance when Evangelos Gizis, who is retiring. Kappa Outstanding Harvard Teacher of the Year Award. He also Bob Dylan, a work that was awarded a Grammy for Best New Classi- her conducting “Jim Stellar is a dynamic and effec- worked as a research affiliate in biochemistry at the McLean Hos- cal Composition. The winning composer was Distinguished Professor career was just tive leader who has had a profound pital of Harvard Medical School before moving to Northeastern. John Corigliano of Lehman College. (The recording also received a beginning. Our jazz Conductor Joann Falletta ’78 impact on Northeastern University,” A teacher and researcher for three decades, Stellar helped Grammy for Best Vocal Performance by soprano Hila Plitman.) Coriglia- program—whose Stellar notes Muyskens. “He brings to us a students become enthusiastic and active learners, using laptop no beat out Copland School alumnus George Tsontakis (’84), whose formative faculty included Jimmy Heath and Sir Roland Hanna—has wealth of experience and ideas that and web-based technology—including chat rooms—to pre- Violin Concerto No. 2 was also nominated in the Best New Classical developed an international reputation. Its graduates are a force within will help us continue our momentum and achieve the goals of pare them for exams. His work in behavioral neuroscience has Composition category. the field and include five recent winners in the prestigious Thelonius our strategic plan.” focused on the effect of addictive drugs on the motivational “The Aaron Copland School of Music has a strong, long-standing Monk Competition.” Northeastern’s College of Arts and Sciences doubled its control circuits of the brain. Many of the students who served as reputation in classical music performance and composition,” says academic programs and tripled the number of freshman applica- undergraduate assistants in his laboratory were accepted to the tions while Stellar served as dean from 1998 to 2008. He was country’s top medical and graduate schools. instrumental in expanding the university’s experience-based “As we look forward to a new chapter at Queens,” Muyskens Alum Donates educational programs as supplements to classroom learning. says, “I am most grateful for the impressive leadership Evangelos Print Ads Win Gold Award from “I am very pleased to be joining the Queens College com- Gizis has provided. We are all beneficiaries of his good humor, his Higher Education Organization Nancy Bareis Civil Rights munity,” says Stellar.