Macaulay Connections

With tales of her humble origins, New York Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch inspired a roomful of Macaulay Honors College students, almunae, and friends of Macaulay at a networking dinner during Women's History Month in March. The students, representing each of the seven senior colleges that are part of the Macaulay program, did some inspiring of their own as they introduced themselves, describing pivotal experiences and opportunities at Macaulay Honors College and speaking about their own rise to academic excellence.

Merryl H. Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, at Macaulay Women's Forum March 23.

Jung Yeon (Christina) Lee '10 (City) listens to Meryl Tisch's words of encouragement.

Dean Ann Kirschner

Linda Macaulay addresses students, alums, friends of Macaulay at the Women's Forum.

Olga Barskaya '10 (Baruch) introduces herself.

On March 25, hundreds of prospective students admitted to the Macaulay Honors College Class of 2014 and their families came to the Chancellor's Welcome Reception at the American Museum of Natural History. All gathered in the impressive Milstein Hall of Ocean Life under the life-size replica of a blue whale where they could meet and mingle with the deans, members of the Macaulay staff, and representatives and students from each of the seven campuses. They then moved to the IMAX theater, where Dean Ann Kirschner addressed the gathering and moderated a panel of students and alums from the campuses. The energy in the room was palpable–we look forward to enrolling this latest class of exceptional Macaulay students.

Amal El bakhar '10 (Hunter), Kat Mateo '11 (Lehman), and Omari Weekes '09 (Queens) on a panel at the Chancellor's Welcome Reception for the Class of 2014 at the American Museum of Natural History.

At the reception in Milstein Hall of Ocean Life in the American Museum of Natural History.

Dean Ann Kirschner addresses an eager crowd of prospective Macaulay Class of 2014 students, their parents, and families.

Chancellor's Reception in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History, March 25.

Admitted students and their families listen as panelists from each of the seven senior colleges talk about their experiences at Macaulay.

"Fixing Our Schools"

Education reform-with all of its implications for our collectve future–may be the most far-reaching social enterprise we ca embark upon. On March 10, as the second part of a day devoted to social enterprise, Whitney Tilson presented a hard-hitting analysis of the problems that lie in our system of K – 12 education. The evening was an inside look at a dedicated reformer at work on a complex problem.

Click here to view his presentation slides.

Witney Tilson and Dean Ann Kirschner

Whitney Tilson at the Macaulay Perspectives event, "Fixing Our Schools" on March 10.

–Daniel Blondell ’10, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, Selected as Senior Orator–

–Paul and Daisy Soros to Be Awarded Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degrees at Ceremony in Alice Tully Hall May 26, 2010, Introduced by N.J.Nicholas–

Ann Kirschner, University Dean of Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, announced that Robert Lawrence (R.L.) Stine, one of the best-selling children’s authors of all time, will be the Class of 2010’s Convocation speaker. The ceremony will be held from 5pm to 7pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

At the same ceremony, Macaulay will honor Paul and Daisy Soros with honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees. The distinction salutes their leadership of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, providing opportunities for continuing generations of able and accomplished New Americans to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. They will be introduced by N.J. Nicholas, Jr., investor and former President of Time Inc.

“This will be one of our most exciting and important Convocation ceremonies ever,” said Kirschner. “We have so much to celebrate. Leading our procession into majestic Alice Tully Hall will be our first-ever 5th-reunion class, the Class of 2005, who began at Macaulay when it was still named ‘CUNY Honors College.’ This spring, we admitted our tenth class, the Class of 2014, and that means we are kicking off our tenth-anniversary celebration as well. We will have a brief ceremony, introduced by graduating senior Penny Phillips of Queens College, to mark this wonderful moment in our history.”

R.L. Stine, beloved author, to speak at Macaulay Convocation May 26

R.L. Stine is one of the best-selling children's authors in history. His Goosebumps, Fear Street, and other book series have sold over 350 million copies around the world. Bob was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1943 to a homemaker and shipping clerk. When Bob was nine, he found an old typewriter up in the attic, which subsequently changed his life. After graduating from Ohio State University in 1965, he headed to New York City to become a writer. He wrote dozens of joke books and humor books for kids and created Bananas, a zany humor magazine which he wrote and edited for ten years. Fear Street was his first horror series, aimed at teenagers. Goosebumps began in 1992 and the book series quickly became a hit around the world. Translated into 32 different languages, it made Bob a worldwide publishing celebrity. Stine's book creations include: The Nightmare Room (also a TV series), Mostly Ghostly, a series about a boy whose house is inhabited by ghosts that only he can see; Rotten School, a humor series; and Beware!, a collection of his favorite stories, poems, comics and illustrations. These days, R.L. Stine is hard at work on a new Goosebumps series, called Goosebumps Horrorland. He lives in New York City with his wife Jane and King Charles Spaniel, Minnie. Click here to post a memory or message for R.L. Stine.

Daisy Soros grew up in Hungary and graduated from Ecole Hotelier in Lausanne, Switzerland. She came to the U.S. to study at Columbia University, attended New York School of Interior Design, studied at NYU School of Social Work, and worked extensively as a counselor to terminally ill patients and their families. She has been the recipient of the Fulbright Award, Lincoln Center Laureate Aware, Ellis Island Medial of Honor, International House Harry Edmonds Award, Casita Maria Gold Medal of Honor and The National Immigration Forum’s “Keepers of the American Dream Award.” Paul Soros, also born in Hungary, studied mechanical engineering in Budapest, but began looking for a chance to escape when a Communist government came to power, and in 1948, as a member of the Hungarian Olympic ski team in Switzerland, he defected. He took a master’s degree in engineering from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, and in 1956, he founded Soros Associates, an international engineering firm with projects in over 90 countries. His is now active in Paul Soros Investments, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a board member of several corporations and non-profit organizations.

N.J. Nicholas, Jr., who joined Time Inc. in 1964, held a number of executive positions during his 30-year career with the company. He was named president of Time Inc. in 1986 and served as co-chief executive officer of Time Warner Inc. until February 1992. Nicholas is a director of the Boston Scientific Corporation, Xerox Corporation, and Time Warner Cable. He has served as a member of the boards of Turner Broadcasting, Bankers Trust Company, and Priceline; as member of the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations and the President’s Commission on Environmental Quality; and as chairman of the Advisory Board of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Nicholas is also chairman of the board of trustees of Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He attended Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and received an AB degree magna cum laude in Economics from Princeton University in 1962 and an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School in 1964.

At the Senior Scholars Dinner on February 25, Virginia Slaughter was honored for her leadership in public higher education and her efforts as a longstanding champion of honors education. Her commitment to identifying, inspiring, and supporting the aspirations of undergraduate intellectual laders has profoundly shaped honors education at CUNY, and continues to influence its ongoing evolution.

Ms. Slaughter was presented with a book of tributes from some of the Macaulay students she has helped over the years. Ryan Merola ’07 (Brooklyn) introduced her at the event with these heartfelt remarks.

Introductory Remarks for Ms. Virginia Slaughter
Macaulay Honors College Reception

By Ryan Merola ’07 (Brooklyn)
February 25, 2010

I am very happy to introduce tonight’s guest-of-honor, Ms. Virginia Slaughter.  For alums of the Horace W. Goldsmith Scholars Program and Macaulay staff, Ms. Slaughter is known simply and affectionately as Ginny Slaughter – a generous supporter of the Honors College, an advisor to the Goldsmith Scholars, and, depending on your answers and attitude during the Goldsmith interview, a very tough interviewer.

I think it’s fair to say most of us who are Goldsmith Scholars don’t often recognize the full extent of Ginny Slaughter’s work on our behalf.  We know well the tangibles of the Goldsmith Scholars Program – a month of workshops to make us better writers and thinkers when it comes to fellowship applications, seminars during the academic year at cultural and historic venues across the City, and dinners or other events that are done to bring us closer together as Goldsmith Scholars.

The other tangible that I am sure we are all familiar with comes in a corporeal form, and he’s sitting with us tonight – that of Michael Lamb, the Goldsmith Fellowship advisor.  Ginny Slaughter’s award from the Horace W. Goldsmith foundation guarantees each of us the chance to work and learn closely with this dynamic, devoted, and out-of-the-box thinker.  I can tell you that Mike’s help, and the help of his predecessors like Patricia Duffet and Ken Estey, were integral to the success I’ve had with fellowship competitions and the application process or graduate programs.  We’re incredibly lucky that Ginny Slaughter’s support means we are able to do more than simply turn to Mike for advice and assistance, but rather that Mike actively engages us in our college and post-college pursuits.

These, again, are the obvious benefits of being a Goldsmith Scholar, and these are all things we know well and take advantage of.  But what I just mentioned is by no means the full picture of what we get as Goldsmith Scholars from Ginny Slaughter – we also get her time and efforts on our behalf, much of it behind-the-scenes, to ensure that after our winter workshops, we have what we need to be successful and are taking advantage of the opportunities before us as University Scholars.

Ms. Slaughter is constantly in contact with Macaulay staff to find out about how we as Scholars are doing in our studies and beyond.  This alone is an action wholly unnecessary for a representative of a philanthropic organization to engage in, but she does this because she is a believer in the Honors College and what we, its students and alums, can accomplish.  Ginny Slaughter comes to the winter workshops so that she can put more than a face to a name, but to better know who we are and in whose future she has invested.  And Ginny has pushed for Goldsmith activities year round because she values the community aspect of the Goldsmith Scholars program – she knows we learn a great deal, and sometimes best, when we are collaborating with our peers who have similar interests and goals.

Ginny Slaughter has been a CUNY supporter for some time and we’re fortunate that the Honors College not only came around when it did for our own educations, but because it connected us to her.  At Macaulay, we are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the generous support of many grants and foundations, but it’s one thing to receive financial support; it’s quite another for the face of that foundation to give personally of herself and her time.  To that, the Goldsmith Scholars are fortunate that we can call you, Ms. Slaughter, our friend and supporter.

Without a doubt, we are fortunate to count ourselves among those for whom Ginny Slaughter cares and encourages.  We are a better institution because of your efforts, and we owe you our gratitude.  With that, please join me in thanking Ms. Slaughter for her continued commitment to the Macaulay Honors College.

The spring schedule of the Macaulay Perspectives series is shaping up nicely for the spring, beginning with Joseph Berger, New York Times reporter, columnist, and editor, giving a talk on February 11, 6 – 8pm, entitled “Immigrant Metropolis.” On March 10, we will host Whitney Tilson, vice chairman of KIPP Academy Charter Schools in New York City, and a director of Democrats for Education Reform, for a talk on social entrepreneurship entitled "Fixing Our Schools," also 6 – 8pm.

Berger will discuss the impact of immigration on New York, its neighborhoods, commerce, culture, and social life—and what have been the riches that have resulted and the tensions that we sometimes have to be alert to. Berger has written extensively about education, religion, and New York City, and has chronicled many of the events that have shaken Israel and the Middle East. He is author of three books; the latest, The World in a City: Traveling the Globe through the Neighborhoods of the New New York,” is an intimate insider’s tour of a New York transformed by immigration, gentrification, and other forces.

Tilson will present his hard-hitting analysis of where the problems lie in our system of K-12 education. We hope you will join us for an inside look at a dedicated reformer at work on a complex problem, and for an opportunity to discuss Tilson's proffered solutions and the mechanisms for enacting those solutions.

A third Macaulay Perspectives Event on April 8 will be a panel discussion, "Academic Publishing in a Digital Age," a follow-up to our fall "Reading in a Digital Age" event which drew a capacity crowd.

The Macaulay Perspectives series brings New York leaders into contact with Macaulay students, faculty, and the public to explore important, multifaceted, high-impact issues. Recent Perspective sessions have included Peter Sacks on “Summoning the Visual Imagination”; the panel discussion on “Reading in a Digital Age,” moderated by Bill Goldstein; and William Macaulay, delivering the inaugural lecture on “World Energy.” Podcasts of some of the sessions can be found on CUNY Radio.

Macaulay Perspectives events are held at the Macaulay Honors College center at 35 West 67^th Street. Reserve your place at these events by visiting our Events page.

New York City Board of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, Dean Ann Kirschner, and CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein at "Stepping Up for New York's Brightest."

West 67^th Street was a hub of activity in the fall. In addition to four events in our popular Macaulay Perspectives series, our Executive in Residence sessions with Sy Sternberg, and our Dean's Brunch/Dinners, we hosted two other events that brought together students, faculty, civic leaders, and Macaulay friends.

On October 7^th, Macaulay hosted Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education and Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor of the City University of New York, at a breakfast event entitled, “Stepping Up for New York’s Brightest: How Public Education Prepares Our City’s Best Students.” The chancellors spoke to guests about the importance of investing in programs like Macaulay in order for New York’s most talented young people to stay competitive in tomorrow’s marketplace. “We are now thinking forward about an economy that’s being transformed very quickly from a manufacturing economy to one that is going to be driven by highly skilled and knowledge-based decision making,” said Chancellor Goldstein. “The only way we’re going to compete is if we train our students at the highest levels that we are capable of training them.” Click here to hear a podcast of the event.

The Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women (JFEW) named 50 Macaulay Honors College sophomores and juniors as “JFEW Scholars.”

The students were honored at a dinner reception on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at the West 67th Street Macaulay Honors College building, with a keynote address by Dr. Sharon Weinberg, President of JFEW and professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. Click here for the complete list of honorees.

Stay tuned for news of our spring events, which include our Parents' Day for parents of Juniors and Seniors, the Senior Scholars Reception, and the Macaulay Women's Forum, featuring a keynote by Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents.

For a full listing of events and to RSVP, visit the Macaulay Events site.