Chancellor's Monday Message
What a splendid autumn day it was yesterday! Although a shower of dry and brittle leaves fell to the ground, some trees remained ablaze with gold, sienna, magenta, and amber. I arose in the morning to the sight of twenty-two wild turkeys in my backyard, pecking away at some errant seeds that dropped from the hanging bird-feeder. Joel and I hiked the Peter Creek Reserve trail, the gentle breeze blowing on our faces as we passed the marshes and gazed at strange-looking white mushrooms on a tree trunk, a bird flitting from a branch as we approached, and a stand of common reeds by the creek. As John Ruskin wrote, "It is the poetry of Nature It is that which uplifts the spirit within us...And which opens to our imagination a world of spiritual beauty and holiness."
 
What a proud crowd we were at the Zeiterion Theater on Friday night when our very own alumnus and former Student Trustee
Josh Encarnacion spoke inspiringly and poignantly at the TEDx Talks in New Bedford. Watch out for the video to appear on YouTube!
 
On Saturday, the campus celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light, mesmerized us with a stunning array of talent displayed by our faculty and students. With the juxtaposition of the traditional and the modern in dances and music, guests of all ages enjoyed the cultural program, which concluded in an elegant depiction of an Indian wedding. Thank you immensely to Professor Satya Parayitam and the team that assisted him in organizing the well-attended event. To those who celebrate Diwali, may this year be filled with light, happiness, prosperity, and peace!
 
Also on Saturday, Joel and I together with Leduc Center Director
Matt Roy, Reverend Robert Lawrence, Beth Duffy, Professors
Michael Griffin and Meredith Dove and their spouses, as well as Professor John Quinn, attended the Boys & Girls Club of Fall River Gala. Many of our students at the Leduc Center for Civic Engagement provide tutoring and homework assistance to the children at the Boys & Girls Club. After the festive affair of dinner and dancing, I strolled down to the
Chuck Charlton Library and took photographs as a way of commemorating Chuck, primary benefactor of our Charlton College of Business.

I offer heartfelt congratulations to the 19 faculty members who either achieved tenure or were promoted! At the reception on Wednesday, we honored Professors Chan Du, Karen Gulbrandsen, Pingguo He,
Pamela Karimi, Kathryn Kavanagh, Spencer Ladd, Yuzhu Li, Ling Lin, Robin Locke-Arkerson, Marve Meral, Neal Olitsky, Kenneth Oliveira,
Avery Plaw, Doug Roscoe, Janet Sobczak, and Honggang Wang. What a stellar group of faculty with impressive accomplishments! As an illustrative example, Professor Honggang Wang, whose research is on body sensor networks, successfully obtained four National Science Foundation grants in the past year! Professor Pamela Karimi authored the book Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran: Interior Revolutions of the Modern Era. Professor Avery Plaw just completed a book titled The Drone Debate: A Primer on the U.S. Use of Unmanned Aircraft Outside of Conventional Battlefields, to be released in January of 2016 by Rowman and Littlefield.
 
Last Friday, Senior Vice Chancellor Gerry Kavanaugh and I traveled to the UMass Amherst Cranberry Research Station in Wareham to attend a meeting of the Cranberry Growers Oversight Committee. The committee, of which I am a member, is co-chaired by Representative Bill Straus and Senator Michael Rodrigues. Cranberries are one of only three fruits that are native to North America - blueberries and Concord grapes being the other two, and constitute an important industry in Massachusetts. Various scientists, led by Station Director Dr. Carolyn DeMoranville, presented summaries of their research on issues such as irrigation of cranberries and the safety and efficacy of antifungal agents, among others. Our own Professor Catherine Neto discussed her research, previously presented at the American Chemical Society Conference this past summer, which demonstrated that powdered cranberry extracts reduced the size and number of tumors in mice afflicted with colon cancer.
 
At last week's special preview reception at the new UMass Club at One Beacon Street, I had an opportunity to speak with Representative James Arciero, Massachusetts State Representative for the Second Middlesex District including the towns of Westford, Littleton, and Chelmsford. A 1997 B.A. Political Science graduate of UMass Dartmouth, Representative Arciero spoke exuberantly about his experience here as a student, especially his service on the Board of Trustees from 1996 to 1997. Specifically, he ascribed to an internship in Washington, D.C., that was arranged by Dean of Students Don Howard, a profound influence on his later decision to enter political life. His sister, Susan Arciero, also a UMass Dartmouth alumna in Illustration, has nine picture books with illustration credits in her name. She began her first picture book, Nat Nat, the Nantucket Cat, while she was an undergraduate student at UMassD!
Have a good week, everyone!
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