Only a few weeks are left to help children in our community develop a deeper appreciation of Florida history and the science of archeology. Please visit and contribute to the New College project, "A Day at the Archeology Lab," on Gulf Coast Gives, a program of Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice.

With your help, elementary students can become "Junior Archaeologists for the Day" and learn about the rich history of 19th-century Sarasota. New College Public Archeology Lab Director Dr. Uzi Baram and his students will focus on the Anglo-American pioneers, Seminoles, Maroons and Cuban fisherman who once populated our area. Our deadline is January 19, 2012. Please make a gift today!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 5:30p.m., Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road

Howard P. Isermann has been named Chair of the New College Foundation Board of Trustees. Isermann, who has served on the Foundation Board since 1998, takes over from Bradford Baker.

"New College has held a special place in my heart for many years," said Isermann, who moved to the Sarasota area in 1981. "I'm delighted to serve in this important role just as the Foundation launches its New College Promise Campaign to maintain the College's place at the forefront of undergraduate education." The Betty Isermann Fine Arts Building, located in the Caples Fine Arts Complex, was partially funded by a gift from Howard Isermann in honor of his wife, Betty, an accomplished painter.

Now retired, Isermann is a former chemical engineer and businessman who developed the ultraviolet absorber at Van Dyk & Co. that became the most effective and leading sunscreen in the world. He earned his chemical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

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Joining the New College Foundation Board of Trustees for the first time are New College alums Jonathan Smiga '75, Thomas M. White '67, and Robert Lincoln '76.

Jonathan Smiga is currently a Partner and President/CEO of Barnie's CoffeeKitchen, based in Orlando, Florida, where he is remaking the Barnie's brand and the consumer's coffee shop experience. He graduated from New College in 1980 with an area of concentration in the Humanities.

Thomas White is an attorney in Chicago specializing in the development, documentation and administration of executive compensation programs and employee benefit plans, including pension, profit sharing, 401(k) and ESOP plans, and health and welfare benefit programs. He graduated from New College in 1971 with a concentration in history.

Robert Lincoln is an attorney in Sarasota, representing public and private clients in all aspects of the land development process, with a focus on complex land use and zoning approvals and litigation. He graduated from New College in 1983 with an area of concentration in Political Science. Lincoln has been active in the New College Alumnae/i Association (NCAA) for 15 years and is currently the chair of the NCAA Board of Directors.

New College of Florida has jumped to the number 5 spot in an annual list of the 100 best values in public colleges published by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. The publication ranks four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value. In 2011, the College was ranked number 11.

This marks the ninth consecutive year that New College has placed among the nation's top 20 public colleges overall on the Kiplinger list of schools delivering a stellar education at an affordable price.

Long-time donors and New College Charter Class alumni Charles '64 and Vicki '65 Raeburn have announced their intent to make a planned gift of $500,000 to New College. Vicki is a member and former chair of the New College Foundation Board and former member of the College Board. Both serve on the Charter Class Campaign committee. Their gift brings total planned giving commitments from all donors to the campaign to more than $8 million. They have also made a three-year unrestricted outright gift as "Campaign Champions." Champion gifts are being applied to the College and Foundation's highest campaign priorities.

Charles and Vicki join a growing list of planned giving/Four Winds Legacy Society supporters whose vision, dedication and support of New College are unmatched.

Please consider including New College in your estate plans. Planned giving is one of the best ways of ensuring New College remains one of the country's most distinctive, successful and affordable colleges. For more information on planned giving and the Four Winds Legacy Society, please contact Dennis Stover, Vice President of Philanthropy, at dstover@ncf.edu or 941-487-4674.

Put on your dancing shoes for our New College Gala honoring retiring New College President Dr. Gordon E. "Mike" Michalson Jr. who will be returning to the faculty in July after eleven years as College President. 

During his tenure, New College became an independent member of the State University System and one of the most highly ranked public undergraduate schools in the nation. The "Dr. Mike years" have been marked by substantial growth of the student body and a major investment in new academic facilities, including two state-of-the-art science buildings, five "green" dormitories, a Public Archaeology Lab, Black Box Theatre, and most recently, the new, as-yet unnamed Academic Center.

We thank Dr. Mike for the outstanding educational legacy he has created, and hope you will join us February 11th at The Fete Ballroom at Polo Grill in Lakewood Ranch. For more information, please contact Johnette Cappadona, Director of Special Initiatives, at jcappadona@ncf.edu or 941-487-4600.

The Gala coincides with the annual New College Alumnae/i Reunion, February 10-12, 2012, here in Sarasota. For more information on the weekend's festivities, please visit NCAA's website ncf.edu/web/ncflorida/reunions or contact Sarah Thompson, Alumnae/i Coordinator, at sthompson@ncf.edu or 941-487-4676.

Jack Collins '88, Chief of Staff, Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Dr. Jack Collins graduated from New College in 1992 with a degree in biology. As a young boy in Lakeland, FL, he had always been interested in the sciences. "My father was ill and I spent a lot of time around physicians and hospitals," recalls Collins, who is the Chief of Staff at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and an assistant professor at Florida State University College of Medicine. "I eventually gravitated to the medical sciences because I could see how my family benefited from good advice and caring physicians."

Upon arriving at New College, Collins felt sure he wanted to become a marine biologist or embryologist, so he tailored his courses accordingly. "I was pretty hot and heavy into cell biology and the environment," recalls Collins. "My mentors at New College were professors John Morrill, Sandra Gilchrist, Paul Scudder and Al Beulig."

Once in medical school at the University of South Florida, Collins used his New College experiences with scanning electronic microscopy, cell culture and cytobiology preparation to get into research labs that were typically inaccessible to medical students. "I even wrote a couple of papers on cancer biology using the techniques taught by Professor Morrill," he remembers. "He always encouraged me to take things a little further."

At New College, Collins learned about independent study and the value of lifelong learning, which he says is "exactly what it takes to be a good physician," as medicine is changing all the time. "New College influenced every part of my life," states Collins. "It was a place where excellence is more expected. The curriculum is individually tailored to every student, and there are no boundaries. Your education is what you make of it."

A typical Novo Collegian, Collins followed his own unique path in medical school, pursuing both internal medicine and pediatrics. After graduating from USF Medical College, he completed a four-year MedPeds residency at the University of Texas, Houston. In medical school he was fairly certain he wanted to be an internist. "But when I saw kids coming in so sick and how their resilient bodies bounced back quickly with stellar care, I decided to get board certified in both fields. It turned out to be perfect training for the future." he says. Today he is a partner in a three-person medical practice, MedPeds of Sarasota, which serves the entire family, from babies and their parents to retirees and the elderly.

Collins looks back on his New College experience with awe. "I met some of my best lifelong friends there," he says. "They were exceptional people with whom I shared common goals and principles. I truly believe that New College is a great asset to Sarasota and our entire area."

New College Library Association (NCLA), in conjunction with the AJC (American Jewish Committee), is proud to present Fighting the Fires of Hate:  America and the Nazi Book Burnings, an exhibition from the collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. The exhibit will open February 7, 2012 at the Jane Bancroft Cook Library on the New College of Florida campus and close on March 30, 2012.

For Americans, the iconography of German Fascism is found in the swastika, the jackboot, and the Nazi banner. But another symbol - flames and fire - accompanied the Third Reich from its strident inception to its apocalyptic demise. The exhibit focuses on how a series of book burnings, initiated by German university students on May 10, 1933, became a powerful symbol during World War II, prompting counter demonstrations in New York and other American cities. The books of many noted American writers - Ernest Hemingway, Upton Sinclair, Helen Keller, Jack London and others - were included in the burnings. Among the books targeted for destruction were also the works of Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who in 1822 penned the remarkably prophetic words, "Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too."

For more information, please contact Johnette Cappadona, Executive Director, New College Library Association at jcappadona@ncf.edu or 941-487-4600.

donate.ncf.edu/holocaustexhibit

We are very grateful to so many companies within the Sarasota-Bradenton area who support New College of Florida. Whether it is sponsoring an event, providing in-kind support or opening your hearts with friendship, we are delighted you are part of the New College family. Our hearty thanks to you all!