College and School Happenings, September 2024

Maxwell Becton College of Arts and Sciences

Onstage This Fall

This fall, the School of the Arts ushers in its 2024–2025 season with two classics: William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and “Little Women,” the Broadway musical adaptation by Allan Knee based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. Both will be performed at the Dreyfuss Theater, Dreyfuss Building, Florham Campus.

“Julius Caesar” will be staged from Friday, October 4, through Sunday, October 6. Performance times are 10:30 a.m. (preview) and 7:30 p.m. on Friday; 7:30 p.m. on Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Reimagined during the abolitionist movement, the production centers around Caesar, a charismatic leader intent on ending slavery and uniting the nation. It will be directed by Charles Stewart II, a freelance director; with set design by John Ehrenberg, theater production manager (Flor); lighting design by David Landau, film (Flor); and costume design by Susanne Houstle, set/costume designer for stage/film.

“Little Women,” a coming-of-age story about sisterhood, dreams, independence and the value of family, will be performed from Thursday, November 21, through Sunday, November 24. Performance times are 10:30 a.m. (preview) on Thursday; and 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Cynthia Thole Loewus, musical theater (Flor), will direct and choreograph the production, with musical direction by Dimitri Nakhamkin, independent entertainment professional; set design by Maiko Chii, set and costume designer/owner, Clear Box Productions, LLC, Queens, N.Y.; lighting design by David Heguy, freelance lighting designer; and costume design by Susanne Houstle, set/costume designer for stage/film.

Ticket prices are $15 for the general public, $10 senior citizens 65+ and $5 FDU community and students. It is highly recommended that tickets be purchased online in advance because performances sell out quickly. When available, a limited number of tickets may be sold at the door. For information go to FDU Theater Season. 

Woodwind Concert

Korean-American duo SoriAe, with Jamie Yoo on flute and Jiyeon Choi on clarinet, will perform their new music at a concert on Monday, October 7, at 5:30 p.m., in Lenfell Hall, Hennessy Hall, at the Florham Campus. The duo’s repertoire includes “Echoes of Home,” a SoriAe-commissioned piece composed by Allen Cohen, music (Flor).

The concert is sponsored by the School of the Arts. Tickets are $5 for the general public. Admission is free to FDU faculty, staff and students.

For inquiries, email Allen Cohen at alcmusic@fdu.edu.

Constitution Day Lecture

Chris Rasmussen, history and deputy chair, social sciences/history (Metro), spoke about “Why Does the U.S. Have a President?” as part of Constitution Day on Tuesday, September 17, at the Metropolitan Campus Library and via Zoom. The free lecture was cosponsored by the social sciences/history department and the FDU libraries.

National Chemistry Week

In celebration of National Chemistry Week, a free lecture will be held on Thursday, October 24, in Room 4468, Fourth Floor, Dickinson Hall, at the Metropolitan Campus.

Tania Lupoli, chemistry, New York University, will speak about the “Activation and Incorporation of Rare Sugars into Bacterial Surfaces” at 5:30 p.m. Her presentation will be preceded by pizza and refreshments at 5 p.m.

Reservation is necessary by Saturday, October 19. To make a reservation and for information email Mihaela Leonida, chemistry and preprofessional studies/graduate school adviser (Metro), at mleonida@fdu.edu, or Ish Kumar, physics (Metro), at ikumar@fdu.edu.

Writing Workshops

The Metro Writing Studio is holding free events this semester — writing workshops via Zoom and in-person ESL Casual Conversations.

Upcoming virtual workshops to be led by faculty/staff members (all Metro), will include: “Essential Spoken English for International Students,” with Paul Caruso, tutor, Metro Writing Studio, on Tuesday, October 8, 6–7:30 p.m.; “Basic Grammar,” with Rochelle Moskowitz, Becton College, on Wednesday, October 9, 1–2:30 p.m., and on Wednesday, October 23, 1–2:30 p.m.; “Introduction to MLA 9th Edition,” with Yelena Shekhtman, Becton College, and tutor, Metro Writing Studio, on Thursday, October 10, 10–11:30 a.m.; “Introduction to APA Format,” with Danielle DesFosses, Becton College, and tutor, Metro Writing Studio, on Thursday, October 10, 5–6:30 p.m., and Thursday, November 7, 6–7:30 p.m.; “Advanced APA Format,” with Helen Kuttner, Becton College, and tutor, Metro Writing Studio, on Tuesday, October 15, 4–5:30 p.m., and on Thursday, November 12, 4–5:30 p.m.; and “Creating the Works-cited List,” with Yelena Shekhtman, on Thursday, November 7, 10–11:30 a.m.

In-person workshops on “ESL Casual Conversations in English,” led by Rochelle Moskowitz, will be held on Wednesday, November 13, and on Wednesday, December 4, from 5 to 6 p.m., at the Metro Writing Studio, Second Floor, Metropolitan Campus Library.

For information and Zoom links go to Metro Writing Studio, call 201-692-2166 or email Julia Wagner, rhetoric/composition, and director, Metro Writing Studio (Metro), at jawagner@fdu.edu.

Silberman College of Business

Hall of Fame Gala

Silberman College will hold its annual Hall of Fame Gala, which honors accomplished alumni and benefactors, on Thursday, October 10, at the Florham Campus. The cocktail reception will be held at 6 p.m. at the Stern Portico, Hennessy Hall, with dinner following in Lenfell Hall, Hennessy Hall.

This year’s honorees are Tom Evans, BS’77 (Ruth), retired senior partner/chief learning officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Nutley, N.J., commissioner; Shweta Ghuge, MA’10 (Flor), founder, StradIT, N.Y.C.; Arkady Smolyansky, BS’06 (Flor), senior vice president, CBRE, N.Y.C.; and Neil Koenig, BS’72 (Flor), president, EisnerAmper Advisory Group, LLC, N.Y.C., who is this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The cost to attend is: $650 per person ($500 tax deductible) and $250 ($100 tax deductible) for young alumni (classes of 2019–2024) with five-ticket limit. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Proceeds will fund student scholarships and academic programming in Silberman College.

Attire for the event is smart casual, and valet parking is available. RSVP is necessary. For information go to Silberman College Hall of Fame Gala or email Patricia Wyer, manager of placement/outreach, Silberman College (Flor), at patwyer@fdu.edu.

Silberman-Wiss Partnership 

Silberman College’s accounting, taxation and law department has partnered with Wiss & Company, an accounting and advisory firm with offices in Flemington, N.J., and in New York City, to offer a cooperative program for students in its 4+1 master’s in accounting program. This collaboration gives students the opportunity to earn their MS in accounting degree while gaining valuable hands-on experience in the accounting industry. They will also receive compensation for their work as well as tuition reimbursement.

To read more go to “Silberman College of Business Introduces Co-op Program.”

Art and Essay Awards Ceremony

Silberman College cohosted the Peace Island Institute’s 14th Annual Art and Essay Contest awards ceremony in June at the Florham Campus. This year’s theme was “The Sound of Peace,” and it was open to New Jersey students from the sixth to the 12th grade.

Omer Topaloglu, marketing and chair, marketing/management/entrepreneurship (Metro), was a guest speaker at the event. In his remarks, he encouraged the students to remain committed to their studies and emphasized the importance of the contest’s theme in today’s world. 

Peter Sammartino School of Education

FDU, through the Peter Sammartino School of Education, has officially become a member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), in June. New institutional members are chosen through a rigorous application process and evaluated by a membership committee composed of leaders of more than 135 CPED institution members.

According to Joshua Bornstein, education and director, EdD in higher education and educational leadership programs (Metro), who is the University’s representative to the CPED, “we’ve become part of a national educational movement to develop the [doctorate in education] EdD degree as the highest academic preparation for scholarly practitioners.”

CPED membership will benefit FDU’s higher education program, which is entering its fifth year. “This will engage us in rigorous self-study for program improvement and possible expansion into other areas of leadership,” he says. “This will pave the way for FDU to develop several strands of doctoral work in the scholarly practice of other fields.”

Henry P. Becton School of Nursing and Allied Health

Information sessions on a variety of nursing and allied health programs will be held via Zoom through December.

For inquiries email SNAH@fdu.edu.

School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

MPH Open Houses

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Program will be holding Virtual Open Houses that will include a program overview and a Q&A session with faculty. These will be held at 7 p.m. EST on the following days:

Registration is necessary. For information contact Andrea Brace, public health, and director, MPH program (Flor) at a.brace@fdu.edu or 973-443-8230.

Save the Date

The School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will be holding its fall open house on Saturday, November 9, from 9:15 a.m. to noon, at 230 Park Avenue, Florham Park, N.J. Attendees will learn about the schooi’s pharmacy, physician assistant and occupational therapy programs.

Registration is necessary. For inquiries contact Tracy Templin, executive director for admissions/enrollment operations, pharmacy/health sciences (Flor), at tracyt@fdu.edu or go to School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Open House.

Dr. SOAPY Is In

Two brand-new SOAPYPro handwashing stations have been set up in the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences: one in the student lounge and another outside the second-floor elevators. Through gamification and AI technology, SOAPY is used in health-care settings worldwide to prevent diseases — one handwash at a time.

The Office of Student Affairs hosted a naming contest for the machines, and the winning suggestion (Dr. SOAPY) came from pharmacy student Andrea Neporanny.

School of Psychology and Counseling

The Center for Empathy Research and Training (CERT) hosted two Empathy Training Workshops in August at the Metropolitan and Florham campuses.

The two-day training utilized the presentation of content, group discussion and role plays to engage participants, offer opportunities to practice the skills of empathy and to personalize the training to the group’s experiences. The workshops were conducted by Steve Dranoff, CERT cofounder and director; and Benjamin Freer, CERT cofounder, psychology, and director, psychology/counseling.

School of Public and Global Affairs

Faculty Colloquia

The School of Public and Global Affairs is hosting monthly Faculty Colloquia via Zoom — on select Wednesdays at 1 p.m. EST — on a variety of topics.

Upcoming colloquia are “Quiet Quitting,” with Constance Bygrave, administrative science (Van), on October 9; “Compassion in the Curriculum,” with Benjamin Rifkin, University provost/senior vice president for academic affairs, on November 13; and “Key Policies of the New Administration,” with Jon Corzine, former New Jersey governor and U.S. senator, on December 11.

The semester’s first colloquium on “Pre-election Polling for the 2024 Presidential Election” was presented by Daniel Cassino, government/politics and executive director, FDU Poll (Flor), on September 11.

The colloquia are free and open to the public. For information contact Peter Woolley, political science (Flor), and founding director, public/global affairs, at woolley@fdu.edu.

Public Affairs Lecture Series

The School of Public and Global Affairs is sponsoring the fall 2024 Public Affairs Lecture Series (PALS), which will be held from 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. on Mondays at the Bickford Theatre at Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, N.J.

Upcoming lectures are on September 23, “The State of Artificial Intelligence: Where Do We Go From Here?” with Jim Williams, customer engineer, Google Cloud; on September 30, “The Future of the U.S. Constitution,” Bruce Peabody, government/politics and director, Florham Institute for Lifelong Learning (Flor); on October 7, “Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine,” Joanna Kempner, sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.; on October 14, “Searching for Goldilocks in the Middle East: How the U.S. Can Get It Right,” Steven Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director, International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C.; on October 21, “Search for Truth in an Era of False News,” Alan Miller, founder, News Literacy Project, and former journalist; on October 28, “Behind the Problems of Bullying and Anxiety in School-aged Youth,” with Maurice Elias, psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.; on November 4, “Tipping from Climate Risk to Climate Solutions,” with Radley Horton, climate, Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, Palisades, N.Y.; and on November 11, “Critical Issues Confronting N.J.’s 2025 Gubernatorial Candidates,” with Benjamin Dworkin, director, Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship, Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.

Subscriptions to the series are available for $100 (for 10 lectures) at Public Affairs Lecture Series. Those interested should fill out a subscription application and submit it with the payment electronically or by mail (check [made payable to FDU] to Donna Sadowski, senior coordinator for off-campus programs, School of Public and Global Affairs, FDU, 1000 River Road, H-DH2-13, Teaneck, N.J. 07666. Walk-ins may check-in at the Bickford Theatre front desk and be put on the waiting list. A walk-in fee of $15 will be charged. Walk-ins will be admitted 10 minutes before the lecture starts. For information call 201-692-7171, email PALS.Board.2024@gmail.com or go to Public Affairs Lecture Series.

Graduate Degree Open Houses

The School of Public and Global Affairs will be joining the Idealist Grad Fair on Wednesday, October 9, from 5 to 8 p.m., at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th Street, N.Y.C. Since 2004, the fair has been connecting prospective students to the most innovative social-impact graduate programs worldwide.

The school will also hold open houses for the Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree, Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree with specialization in healthcare management and Certificates in Healthcare Management. They will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following dates and locations:

  • Thursday, October 10, Cafeteria Lobby, The Valley Hospital Dorothy B. Kraft Center, 15 Essex Road, Paramus, N.J.; and
  • Thursday, October 17, Employee Dining Area, The Valley Hospital, 4 Valley Health Plaza, Paramus, N.J.

For information email Christina Costa, MHA program manager (Metro), at c.costa1@fdu.edu. She will be at the college fair and open houses to answer questions and assist prospective students with their applications.

Wroxton College

Alumni and friends are invited to join Nicholas Baldwin, dean and director of operations, Wroxton College, at a reunion on Saturday, October 19, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen, 110 South Street, Morristown, N.J.. The event is hosted by alumni relations and the Wroxton Advisory Committee. 

Dean Baldwin, who celebrated his 40th year with Wroxton College, will be honored at the event. It also includes a reception and live and silent auctions. Proceeds from the auctions will support Wroxton College Now and Forever.

Admission is $60 per person (includes light dinner, soda, beer/wine and a Wroxton gift). Preregistration will close at noon EST on Wednesday, October 16. For registration and information call 201-692-7106, email fdualumni@fdu.edu or go to Wroxton College Reunion 2024.

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