News

News Notes About Faculty, Staff, and Students

Two William Paterson students won awards at the Five Colleges Model United Nations Conference held recently in Massachusetts. John Danubio was recognized as the best delegate in his committee on “The Libyan Revolution: Origins of a New Nation.” Henrique Pagani received an honorable mention for his work on the same committee.

Ming Fay, art, is featured in a solo exhibition, “Canutopia,” an extravagant and exotic garden environment consisting of a one-of-a-kind botanical utopia filled with colorful, oversized plants, seeds and vines he’s created. The exhibit opens May 5 and runs through February 2013 at the Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey.

Brad Gooch, English, participated in the recent Fourth Annual Conference, a daylong program about biography, presented by the Leon Levy Center for Biography. Gooch has written several well-reviewed biographies on Flannery O’Connor and Frank O’Hara. He is currently working on a biography of the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi.

Martin Laurence, professor emeritus of economics and finance, was honored by the Case Writers’ Association of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur during its Third Biennial International Conference for developing management case writing workshops while he was stationed there as a Fulbright Scholar in the 1980s. He contributed the first chapter of a handbook in constant use at the country’s universities.

In honor of the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Payton MacDonald, music, has composed a twenty-two minute work, Lifeboat No.6, based on the life of Molly Brown which he performed at a concert at the Newman Center in Denver in April. He also arranged and performed a forty-minute work, Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars.

Tim Newman, music, performed in April with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. A jazz orchestra that has recorded twenty-two albums and toured extensively in North America, they perform weekly at the renowned New York City jazz club, Birdland. Newman is their longtime bass trombonist.

Keith Obadike, communication, a digital, performance and conceptual artist, created Four Electric Ghosts, the newest Opera Masquerade, a performance form that mixes opera, masquerade, a soul music aesthetic, digital story and dance, with fellow artist Mendi Obadike. The piece was staged at UNC--Chapel Hill. The Obadikes were also commissioned to create American Cypher, a piece of sound art currently at the Elaine Langone Center. It is a meditation on Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, by the Griot Institute for Africana Studies and the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. He also gave a reading at First Person Plural, a new reading series that kicked off at the Shrine World Music Venue in March.

Sheetal Ranjan, sociology, was selected by New Jersey Senator Nellie Pou as an honoree at her annual Women’s History Reception which recognizes local women for their leadership and contributions to their community. Ranjan works to educate students and others about domestic, dating, stalking and sexual violence.

Michael Rees, art, and the artist Robert Gero, are featured in an exhibition, “Tactical Play Exchange,” in which they co-create a series of artworks that begin as forms that are core structures which they modify digitally, by exchanging files, into multiple iterations using 3D modeling software and physical interventions. The exhibit runs through May 5 at Pablo’s Birthday Gallery in New York City.

Aaron Tesfaye, political science, participated in an international conference, The Forum of Federations, held in Montreal, in March. He discussed how the Ethiopian judicial systems have responded to the challenge of preserving and fostering a well-balanced federal system.

The Record featured an article about two films by Chriss Williams, communication, which were screened as part of Hackensack’s first African American film and arts festival. He wrote the two opening night productions — a short film titled The Dynamite Gang and a feature film titled Bellclair Times.