January 5, 2016
New Year, Fresh Start
I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a joyous new year.

No doubt, as part of your year-end traditions, you made some resolutions about things you hope to change in the coming year. Mine? To eat a bit less chocolate. As a community, we will also be making changes in 2016. Later this month, when everyone returns from break, we will kick off our strategic planning process.

The new year brings new opportunities. 
 
January is also a great time to update and clean up your digital devices. I am pleased to unveil what we call digital swag--digital accessories that include Adelphi wallpaper for desktops, mobile backgrounds and art for social media. These assets will allow you to show your Panther pride on your desktop and mobile devices. Special thanks to the students who took the fall graphic design class with Dale Flashner, M.A. '84, and developed some of this artwork. You can find these assets here.
 
As you walk across campus, listen for the alma mater to be played on the chimes at 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Beginning in late January, the Adelphi flag will fly below the American flag on the University flagpole. These are a few of the initiatives of the Adelphi Spirit Committee, which welcomes your ideas. Please send them to spirit@adelphi.edu.
 
The new year offers us the opportunity to seek new adventures and experiences. Two groups of students and faculty are truly breaking boundaries over intersession: They will be among the first U.S. scholars to explore and experience Cuba. Devin Thornburg, Ph.D., professor, will conduct Education and Community Service in Cuba, and John Drew, assistant professor, and Mark Grabowski, J.D., associate professor, will teach Global Perspectives: Cuba in Transition, a communications course. The student journalists participating in Global Perspectives will be posting stories directly from Cuba.
 
While your intersession travels may not be quite this adventurous, please keep me posted on your progress and pursuits through email and social media. 
 
Here's to an exciting 2016!
 
All the best,

Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D.
President
CAMPUS UPDATE
 
 
I am very proud to be your university president, and it gives me great pleasure to invite you to join me, our board of trustees and alumni, as well as leaders of other universities, regional partners and invited guests, to be a part of my Inauguration and the related festivities preceding the ceremony. These activities, which are being planned by the Inauguration Committee, will kick off on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, and will culminate in the Inauguration ceremony on Friday, March 11, 2016.
 
Details about the Inauguration festivities--including event times and locations and registration information--can be found online.
 
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Theater Is in His Blood

 
 
The latest issue of AU VU magazine focuses on issues of diversity and identity. Kermit Frazier, Adelphi professor of English and a prolific playwright, discusses his surprising route to becoming a writer and his latest works, including Modern Minstrelsy, a play that focuses on the relationship between Irish Americans and African Americans.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Student Athletes Excel in Many Realms
 
 
This past fall, our Adelphi student-athletes gave us so many reasons to cheer--with three teams winning Northeast-10 Conference championships, four sharing NE-10 regular season titles, five qualifying for NCAA tournaments and eight student-athletes earning All-American status. Panther student-athletes are excelling not only on the field and court, but also in the classroom. Taylor Groth, a senior on the women's soccer team, became a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American™ after earning All-District honors, and John Stojcevski, a senior on the men's soccer team, was voted to the CoSIDA Academic East All-District™ Men's Soccer Team. Both accolades are based on athletic and academic performance. You can read more about the academic and athletic success of our student-athletes online. Congratulations to all!   
 
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
2015 President's Award for Excellence in Service
 
 
 
Adelphi is full of extraordinary people. Last month, we honored four Adelphi employees for their excellence in service to the University. The four winners of the 2015 President's Award for Excellence in Service are: Andrea Caligiuri, M.A. '87, a teacher at the Alice Brown Early Learning Center; Lori Ann Hoeffner, Ph.D., director of assessment; Erica Klein '04, manager of Web communications; and Mitchell Nagler, M.A. '06, assistant director of the Student Counseling Center and director of Bridges to Adelphi. All have demonstrated their exceptional commitment to their roles and to making Adelphi a first-rate university where students of all ages and backgrounds can discover their passions and excel. This year's winners were carefully selected from a pool of inspiring nominations and join a long list of previous awardees. You can learn more about this year's winners, who exemplify #PeopleMakethePlace, through excerpts from their nomination letters. Thank you, Andrea, Lori, Erica and Mitch, and congratulations again!
  
SHOUT-OUTS
Setting a High Standard
 
Adelphi faculty, students and staff continue to achieve excellence. Here, we celebrate a few recent achievements. Our congratulations to:
  • Andrea Ward, Ph.D., associate professor, who received the 2015-2016 Academic Adviser Recognition Award from the Adelphi Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national leadership honor society. Dr. Ward is the 12th recipient of this annual award that recognizes exemplary academic advisers.
  • Laura Brumariu, Ph.D., assistant professor, whose co-authored paper, on the impact of parent-child attachment on behavior, was selected for publication by the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin--one of the most highly regarded journals in the field.
  • Stephen Shore, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor, who was named to the board of directors of Autism Speaks. He joins prominent business and nonprofit executives in leading this influential organization.
EVENTS 
The presidential election is heating up, and African American History Month is fast approaching. Fittingly, Adelphi's cultural events calendar is full of topical lectures and inspiring performances. A few to add to your personal calendar include:
 
On Saturday, January 16, 2016, at 4:00 p.m., this world-renowned concert pianist returns to the Westermann Stage of the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center's Concert Hall.
 
On Wednesday, February 17, 2016, at 7:00 p.m., William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D., an associate professor of history and director of the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, will give this timely talk as part of Adelphi's John Hope Franklin Lecture. The free event will be held in the Ruth S. Harley University Center's Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom.
 
On Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at 7:00 p.m., John King, CNN's chief national correspondent and a seasoned political journalist, will deliver Adelphi's William E. Simon Lecture in American Civilization and Values. The free lecture will be held in the Thomas Dixon Lovely Ballroom in the Ruth S. Harley University Center.

Be sure to consult the AUPAC calendar for a full list of upcoming performances.  
 
ADELPHI IN THE NEWS
In December, 163 media stories covering Adelphi appeared in the top 100 national media outlets, with more than 766 stories appearing in total. In the past month, Adelphi experts have been featured in a number of stories. Some highlights of recent coverage include:  
  • A video produced by Newsday on early childhood education featured a lengthy interview with Laura Ludlam, director of the Alice Brown Early Learning Center, with coverage of ELC's programs and practices.
  • Newsday covered New York State's pressing need for funding to address the lingering damage from recent storms, including Superstorm Sandy. Meghan McPherson, assistant director of the Center for Health Innovation and adjunct faculty member for the Emergency Management Graduate Programs at Adelphi, offered expertise on the situation.
  • Alan Cooper, Ph.D., associate dean of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, recently gave a Human Capital Institute webinar with fellow experts, including the head of digital learning innovation at Adobe. His remarks were covered in "Unleash the Power of L&D," an article published by Chief Learning Officer.
We invite all members of the faculty and staff to go online to opt in to the new experts and speakers database. The University communications team will work closely with the media and the Adelphi admissions office to identify opportunities that align with area expertise. You can opt in to speak to media, local community or business groups, high school or community college classes or all three. Thank you to all who join in this effort!
 
You can keep up with the ongoing coverage via the weekly roundup on the Adelphi website and with our dedicated Twitter feed, @AdelphiUMedia.