SUNY Empire Spotlight: June 2025
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — June 25, 2025) The latest news on research efforts, awards, grants, and media appearances from Empire State University faculty, staff, and leadership.
Elizabeth Bradley, professor, edited and co-authored a book titled “Navigating Academic Motherhood: The Possibilities of Effective Mentorship for Tenured Faculty Mothers.” Assistant Professor Lauren Allen, Professor Diane Gal, Assistant Professor Blair Izard, Distinguished Teaching Professor Peggy Tally, Distinguished Teaching Professor Tina Wagle, and Assistant Professor Melissa Wells also served as co-authors.
Shantih Clemans and Debra Kram-Fernandez, both associate professors, presented at the International Association of Social Work with Groups annual symposium. Shantih presented “Joys, Frustrations, and Moments of Learning: Virtual Study Groups for Online Adult Learners.” Debra presented “The Women’s Therapy Center Institute Historical Project: The History of a Grass Roots Training Institute through a Social Work Group Work Lens” and “Engaging Aging: Using a Group Work Model to Promote Critical Thinking About Aging in America” (with co-presenter Lela Zaphiropoulos from the Women’s Therapy Centre Institute).
Anita DeCianni-Brown, director of career and experiential learning services, presented “Scaling Career Supports for Nontraditional Students in an Online Environment” at the 2025 NACE Conference on June 10.
Xiomara Giordano—assistant vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer—served as a panelist for the “Progress Under Pressure: Can We Still Deliver on the American Dream?” discussion hosted by the SUNY Global Center on June 18. Giordano also coordinated an event in collaboration with Hispanic Education Technology Services (HETS) held at 4 Park Avenue that day. The event, titled “Student Passport: Connect, Learn, and Lead,” promoted international connection and academic engagement, with five student presentations on subjects ranging from interior décor to health sciences. President Vollendorf addressed attendees and Digital Accessibility Coordinator Pam Doran presented on machine translation—a powerful resource built into the software used by the university community that facilitates multilingual communication in the landscape of higher education.
Douglas Gruse, chief marketing officer, and members of the Marketing and Creative Services team attended SUNYCUAD’s 2025 Awards for Excellence ceremony, where they received Judges’ Citation awards in the Excellence in Creativity and Excellence in Strategy categories.
Lynn Lubecki, assistant professor, has been named a consulting editor for the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) journal, Young Children, and NAEYC publications.
Alan Mandell, professor emeritus, was the invited keynote speaker for the “President’s Dialogue Series” at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, BC, on May 6.
Njoki Mwarumba, assistant professor, spoke with Spectrum News 1 about how Canadian wildfires are impacting air quality in New York.
Renee O’Brien, adjunct instructor, was featured in the National Association of Women Artists’ 136th Annual Exhibition, on display at New York’s Leonovich Gallery from June 6-21. The show highlighted one of O’Brien’s photographs.
Shannon Pritting, executive director of the Office of Graduate Studies and Scholarly Support; Pam Doran, digital accessibility coordinator; Herbert Covington, assistant professor; Jolie Kennedy, assistant professor; and Hope Sun, associate professor, co-published an article, “AI-integrated Literature Discovery Tools: A Guide to Reviewing for Institution-wide Use,” in the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship.
Ian Reifowitz, distinguished professor, appeared on France 24 and ARC Rochester to comment on the protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles and President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and the Marines. In separate interviews with ARC Rochester this month, he discussed war and diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the cease-fire and the constitutionality of President Trump’s actions.
Kim Stote, associate professor, co-authored an article that was recently published in the Annals of Medicine.
Betty Wilde-Biasiny, professor of visual arts, is featured in “New Drawings,” a juried group exhibition curated by Samantha Friedman of the Museum of Modern Art. On view at the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, the exhibition runs through July 20.