Honorees

5:30 p.m.

Sponsors' Reception

Dinner Reception

200 Park Avenue

56th Floor, MetUfe Building

On Angels in Am,~rica: "The entire work is the broadest, deepest, mostsearchingAmerica'pplay of our time." - Newsweek

Tony Kushner/intend~ his plays to be part of a greater political movement; his work is concerned

with moral responsibilit}Jduring politically repressive times. One play - set in 1986 at the height of

the AI8~/epidemic, the jdemiseof communism, and the unraveling of Reaganism - opens daringlyt'blind Russian ma~, the world's oldest living Bolshevik, posing the questions: "Are we doomed?

,..'Will the past release us?! Can we change?" Tony Kushner has a way of bringing the lofty into the

sphere of the approacha~le by creating everyday characters that collide both comically and tragicallyon stage.

This fall, Dyson College will honor Tony Kushner for his extraordinary contributions to the

arts ;md to the national ,political and social dialog at the 6th Annual Distinguished Achievement

Awards. His work as an award-winning playwright is truly inspiring, and his work as an activist is the

example thatDyson College strives to set for its students.

Raised in Louisiana and educated at Columbia and NYU, Kushner most enjoys addressing

audiences that are receptive to ideas for change and progress. In his speaking engagements and

lectures, Kushner talks about weighty philosophical and political topics - without being didactic or

patronizing. And because he genuinely respects the intelligence of both his students and his audience,

it's truly rousing to hear Tony Kushner speak about timeless matters such as faith, death, andJife.

Tony Kushner's seven-hour, two-part, Broadway production of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on

National Themes is a masterful epic - it has received a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, two Drama

Desk Awards, the Evening Standard Award, two Olivier Award Nominations, the New York Critics

Circle Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, and the LAMBDA Literary Award forDrama.

Current projects include two plays: Homebody/Kabul and Henry BOJfBrown or the Mirror of Slavery;

and two musical plays: St. Ceceliaor the Power of Music and Caroline or Change. He is collaborating

with Maurice Sendak on an American version of the children's opera Brundibar. His most recent

book is Death & Taxes:Hydriotaphia & Other Plays. Homebody/Kabut will open in November 2001 at

the New York Theatre Workshop.

Now in its sixth year, the DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS.ceremony,the College'spremier fund-raiser benefiting scholarship funds, recognizes outstanding

faculty and successful alumni who are committed to the Colleg(Fand itsjdeak

ALUMNI HONOREES

MICHELE CLASSEis a strong believer in a

liberal arts education. "It's important for

students to know that they do not need to

have a degree in business to get a job in thebusiness world," she asserts.

A long-time executive of Sony Corporationand a 1973 French major graduate, she is

living proof that a well-rounded education is

of immense value. Michele joined Sony

Corporation of America in July 1973 as

an administrative assistant, and was steadily

promoted to assistant manager, manager, andis now the director of Sony Plaza USA. SOP}!

Plaza imports strictly U.S.-made products forsale in its 47 Sony Plaza retail stores and 35

franchise stores in Japan. Having traveledextensively to Japan, she locates joint venture

"It's importantfor students to knowthat they do not needto have a degree inbusiness to get a jobin the businessworld. "

opportunities with U.S.

companies, searches forproperties to license and/or distribute in

Japan, locates new companies and new

products for sales in Japan, and acts as liaison

office between the Sony Plaza Company, Ltd.Tokyo office and existing U.S. vendors.

VVhenMichele reflects upon her time as a

Pace undergraduate, she recalls how excep-tionally dedicated, caring, and inspiring theprofessors were. In addition to her academic

studies, she was president of the French Club

and a member of Phi Sigma Iota, the FrenchHonor Society.

As a working mother of elementary school-

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

aged twin sons,.Michele was a gUest on Good

Morning America in June 1985, wh~re shediscussed with co-host Joan Lunden the

demands of raising a family and being a work-

ing mother. Additionally, she has been a gUestspeaker on numerous occasions at the Fashion

Institute of Technology seminars, sha.ringherexpertise with companies that are interested

in exporting products overseas.

Michele, married to Anthony V. Classe,

president of AM Graphics, and whose twinsons, Michael and Francis, are now both

mechanical engineers, resides in Manhattan's

upper east side. Always a great lover of thearts, she is a member of the Board of Direc-

tors of American Singer's Opera Project. She

performs volunteer work in her spare time

and enjoys reading, music, chess, canoeing,

and fishing. She has studied the Japanese,

Spanish, and German langUages, and recently

began studying Greek langUage and dancing.

"Thankfully, I hadtwo educations at Pace- one in the class-room. .. the other in

the form of a mentor. "

Looking back at his undergrad-uate days,THOMASSILVESTRIsays he thankfully had two edu-

cations at Pace University - one in the classroom asa literature and communications major, with aminor in accounting, the other in the form of amentor who basicallywas Pace Pleasantville'sjournalism program.

As editor of the student newspaper, new morning,Silvestri, a 1977 graduate, earned his "second"education in journalism under the gUidanceofProfessor Donald Ryan, advisor to the paper."Professor Ryan pushed students to excel, and hispassion for the written word was a true inspirationfor me," Silvestri explains. He credits Ryan withhelping him to hone his skills and to develop afoundation for success in the field of journalism.

Having built a career on his love of reporting thenews, Silvestri was most recently named senior vice

president, Community Newspapers, in April 2001for Media General Inc.'s community newspapers

in Alabama, South Carolina, northern Virginia, andnorthern Florida, as well as VirginiaBusiness

magazine and Web site.The group includes sevendaily newspapers in three of Media General's

DYSON EEDITOR

Angela Nally

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Sergio GirgentiCreative Services

2 . DYSON NEWS

convergence markets where the company also owns

television stations. He was named a vice president inSeptember 2000 after serving for two and a half

years in the pioneering role as director of news syn-ergy and Newsbank editor at the Richmond-based

company, whose mission is to become the leadingprovider of news and information in the Southeast.

A journalist for more than 20 years, Silvestri is aformer deputy managing editor of the Richmond

Times-Dispatchand former editor and reporter for

the Gannett Westchester (NY) Newspapers. He is afrequent workshop leader at the American Press

Institute and other regional journalism conferences.

He is an advisor to the Virginia Press Associationwhere he helped create the Vi,l"giniaWriters'

Workshop, and a past-presidel1tofth~Vi,rginiachapter of the Society of ProfessionaIJollJ;1lalists.He has a master's degree inbusinessadroinistration

from Virginia Commonwea.lthUllhTersity, where hewas named president of the Business School'salumni board in 2001.

Silvestri, married to his best friend, Susan

Kurzman, enjoys renovatipgth~ir 1920shol1,1e

and advocating to pres~J:"Vethe quality oflifeiJ::!

his Richmond, Virginia neighborhood. A Self7

described "news rat/'Silvest!"iiWhi!e\l"eta.xing.athome, will often read dozens 6fhispapetsfroIn

Alabama, South Carolina and Vi,rginia,lookingfor examples of excellence in journalism.

FACULTY HONOREES

DR. FLoRENCEI.,..1JENMARK,

Cl1airpersonof the Psychol-

ogy department, New Yorkcampus for 13years, has

many accomplishmentsupon which to reflect as shesteps down from her leader-ship role and prepares for

"Ipavefound retirement this fall.

great$t(it;isfaction "I have had the pleasure

st!'f"vi'flgas:a of working with excellentmentor to...;J " faculty, staff members andSt'Uuents...

students, and am very proud

of the faculty's research and their increase inpublication," l)el1mark observes. She says that

she has found great satisfaction in serving as amentor to students, seeing the doctoralprogram in school!clinical child psychologyreceive full accreditation from the American

Psychological Association (APA)and havingthe Psi Chi Chapter recognized as the mostoutstanding chapter nationally.

Denmark received her Ph.D. in social psy-

chology from the University of Pennsylvaniaand is also the recipient of four honorary

doctorates. She has been the Robert Scott

Pace Distinguished Professor at the Universityand is a fellow of the American Psychological

Association, the American Psychological Soci-ety, and the New York Academy of Sciences.

As one of the founding members of APA's

Division of the Psychology of Women and apioneer in that field, Denmark's most significantresearch has emphasized women's leadership

and leadership styles,the interaction of statusand gender, women in cross-cultural perspective,and the contributions of women to psychology.She has authored or edited 15books, more than

100 articles and book chapters, and has given

numerous scholarly presentations at universitiesand psychology meetings in the United States,Europe, Canada, Central and South America.

One of her publications, TheHandbookof the

Psychologyof Women(co-edited with MichellePaludi), was selected by the journal Choice,1995, as an academic book of excellence.

Denmark is a past-president of the

American Psychological Association, theInternational Council of Psychologists, theEastern Psychological Association, and the

New York State Psycho-

logical Associatiol1'Shealso serves as the co-

president of tile .lqteJ;J;latiol1alOrgal1izationfor

the Study ofGr6up Tensions a.l1dis an APANGO (Non-Governmel1talOrganization)representative to the United Natiol1s.

Married to Robert \Vesner, the mother of

five children and grandmother of four chil-dren, Denmark resides in Manhattan's upper

east side. A Philadelphia Eagles season-ticketholder, Denmark is an avid pro-football fanand enjoys the theater, the ballet, and reading.In "retirement" she plans on continuing toresearch, write, teach, and contribute her timeto volunteer activities.

DEAN'S MESSAGE

Greetings and welcome back to a newsemester, Fall 2001.

As always, we have some changesthat have occurred the summer.

John Sharkey will be ng to the newposition of Associate Provost. Manythanks to John forall he has con-

tributed to DysonCollege over theyears. We will beidentifying a newAssociate Dean for

Science and Math- ~

ematics in the near future.

Adelia Williams has agreed toserve as the new director of the Straus

Center, since critical thinking will be animportant element in the new core cur.riculum. New members of the DysonCollege Advisory Board include SusanG. Greenwood, president, Associationof Graphic Communications (AGC),Mitchell E. Mosallem, executive vice

president, Grey Worldwide, and Jeri L.Sedlar, partner, Sedlar & Minter.

As is evident from this issue, our

main fund-raising event for the College,the Dyson Distinguished AchievementAwards, will be held once again at theSky Club. The five honorees are profiledin this issue, along with one of thestudents who has benefited from the

generosity of those who attended lastyear's award ceremony. We hope to seemany of you there again this year, andwith luck, will see a spectacular Hudsonsunset once again.

. Gail Dinter-Gottlieb

Professor MARTIN KOTLER, founding Mathe-matics department chairperson at the Pleasantvillecampus since 1982, believes that with hard work,anything can be accomplished.

After dropping out of school at the age of 16 towork in the garment industry for ten years, Kotlerreceived his high school diploma while attendingnight school. He then taught Mathematics atChristopher Columbus High School, his almamater, ill the Bronx. He earned both a BA andMA in Mathematics at Hunter College, and aPh.D. atNew York University in 1984.

Kotler joined Pace in 1965 as a mathematicsinstructor and served as assistant chairperson ofthe .then combined Mathematics/Physical SciencedepartmentfroI1l1979 to 1982,when he becamechairperson of the newly formed Mathematicsdepartment. Effective this fall,Kotler became thechairpersonofilieI1latilematics department at theNew York caIJ;lpusal1dwilfcontinue to chair thedepattmentilJ.Westchester.

"It's awondertuhhing, teaching something thatl)ove, and having tile opportunity to make stu-dentsenjoyilies'l1bjectas I do," Kotler maintains.He especially enjoys teaching statistics, which hesayshas practical application in everyday life.

The 36~yearPace veteran is known for being afriend and great supporter of the faculty,servingon numerous councils and committees. He has

been the long-time chair of the Faculty Affairs

"It's a wonderful tbing,teacbing sometbingtbat I love... "

Committee in Westchester,served on the SalaryReviewBoard, Grievance Committee,

President's Budget ReviewCommittee, Planning and

Budget Committee, and Benefits Committee, andwas instrumental in the formulation of The Joint

Faculty Council that brought together theWestchester and New York campus facultycouncils under one governance.

"I will work with anybody on an importantissue," saysKotler. "My feeling is that 'you can'tdo it alone.' I'm the ultimate pragmatist, and 1believe that if you work with others to agree onan objective, you can achieve anything."

Kotler belongs to Phi Beta Kappa, AAUP,the Mathematical Association of America, theAmerican Statistical Association, and the NationalCouncil of Teachers of Mathematics.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Kotler lives onthe west side of Manhattan and in Woodstock,and is married to Blanche (Roz) Abramov,who is

an attorney in Manhattan and a retired PaceMathematics professor. He has three childrenand one two-year-old grandson. He and Blancheenjoy traveling to Europe and attending thetheater, the opera, and classicalmusic concerts. FALL2001 . 3

- ",' ,,,

CELEBRATE HISPANIC

HERITAGE MONTHWITH DYSON

Marta Moreno Vega, Ph.D.,president/founder of theCaribbean Cultural Centerand author of Altar of MySoul - The Living Traditionsof Santeria, will be thekeynote speaker for theCollege's ProgresoLatinoevent this fall.

Part of the University'sobservance of HispanicHer-itage Month, the September28 event's theme will focuson how to succeed in highereducation. Current Pacestudents and area highschool students are invitedto participate. In additionto Dr.Vega's address and aquestion-and-answer session,the day's activities include aPace information fair.

To receive information aboutthe event, contact the Officeof Student Advisingat (914)773-3871.

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Meet Igor Botan,Dyson Scholarship Recipient"Without this scholarship, I would not be here. It's such

a great opportunity!" exclaims Igor Botan.

Igor, a native of Moldova, received a scholarship from the Dyson

Endowed Fund for International Students. He applied for the

scholarship, which he learned about from a professor at Moldova

State University, last year. Pace has an exchange program with

Moldova where he met Dean Dinter-Gottlieb, Ms. Adele Artola,

head of technical services, Birnbaum library, Ms. Michelle Fanelli,

head reference librarian, Birnbaum library, Dr. Anne Bynoe, Economics Professor, and Dr.

Lou Seagull, Marketing Professor. He was thrilled to learn of the scholarship award, and

arrived in the U.S. in January 200l.

Now a psychology major, Igor earned a degree in Political Science and International

Relations from Moldova State, but believes that a degree from Pace will have far greater

applicability. In his assessment, psychology, political science and international studies are

a perfect marriage of disciplines, because "politics is about people, international relations

is also about people, and we need psychology to better understand people."

Igor works in the Birnbaum library periodical department, lives in the dormitory, and

is savoring his experiences both on and off campus. "I'm really enjoying the Western way

of education, my studies, learning about New York City, and just meeting people."

He says that this is an "amazing opportunity" for him and is greatly appreciative of the

support he is receiving to pursue his degree. He anticipates graduating in June 2004 andhopes to continue graduate studies in the United States.

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