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Shabnam Pahrand, the daughter of Afghan immigrants who is graduating summa cum laude from the Macaulay Honors College at CCNY with double majors in philosophy and political science, is The City College of New York’s Class of 2026 Valedictorian. Sayyid Yobhel Vasquez Rodriguez, a Hospital Corpsman in the U.S. Navy Reserve who completed his BS in biology also with summa cum laude honors, is the Salutatorian. The City College will hold its 173rd Commencement Exercises, 10 a.m., Friday, May 29, on the South Campus Great Lawn, 135th St. and Convent Ave., Manhattan. The Class of 2026 comprises 3,542

U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) praised The City College of New York-based CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (DSI) as a “perfect example of how you can strengthen a community by giving dollars for research and other types of programs.” He said this as he presented a ceremonial check for $3.15 million in federal funding that will enable the Institute to renovate and expand its facility. Espaillat highlighted recent work of the DSI in researching and preserving the story of Dominican-born 2nd Lt. Esteban Hotesse, the only known Afro-Latino member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during

“ HENRY DAVID THOREAU,” a PBS series executive produced by Ken Burns and musician Don Henley, narrated by George Clooney and featuring the voices of Meryl Streep, Jeff Goldblum, Ted Danson and other acting legends, premieres at 9 p.m. ET on March 30, with music scored by City College of New York Adjunct Professor and master composer David Cieri. Click here to watch the trailer. A member of CCNY’s music faculty for 16 years, Cieri currently teaches courses on music and film, and film scoring in Professor Paul Kozel’s renowned Sonic Arts Center (SAC). His work on “THOREAU,” a three-part, three

Three City College of New York faculty members -- Kevin H. Gardner, David J. Lohman and Vinod M. Menon -- have been elected 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among the nearly 500 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals. A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor, and all Fellows are expected to meet the commonly held

In a special ceremony at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to mark World Water Day, Kaveh Madani, Research Professor in The City College of New York’s CUNY-CREST Institute, and Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health ( UNU-INWEH), was named the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize recipient. He will receive the award from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during World Water Week in Stockholm in August. The Stockholm Water Prize is the ultimate global recognition for extraordinary achievements in water-related activities. Often described as the “Nobel

For the fourth time in three years, Gerstner Philanthropies is supporting critical programs to address the needs of students from low-income households as they pursue an education at The City College of New York, one of the nation’s top schools for social mobility outcomes. A new $35,000 grant will bolster Benny's Food Pantry at CCNY and its community dining programs. Launched in 2017, one of Benny's goals is to address food insecurity among those in need on The City College campus. But Benny's is also open to anyone in the City University of New York (CUNY) community, whether student, faculty

Professionals from a variety of scientific and educational organizations shared their insights and experiences at the Spring 2026 Science Learning and Public Engagement (SLPE) Career Panel, coordinated by the Science Education and Public Engagement major in the School of Education at The City College of New York. The event brought together five panelists, each of whom gave a unique perspective on career opportunities for those interested in science education that includes, but can go beyond, teaching. They were introduced by two current students, Hudy Weiss and Kevin Dillon, who is also

Dr. Christine E. Seidman, the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Harvard Medical School, presents the 2026 Louis Levine-Gabriella de Beer Lecture in Genetics at The City College of New York on Wednesday, March 18. Her talk, “Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Curing Genetic Cardiomyopathy,” begins at 5 p.m. in The Great Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. Click here to RSVP. Seidman’s lecture is on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common cause of sudden cardiac death on the athletic field that causes symptoms, arrhythmias, and heart failure. HCM

The City College of New York President Vincent G. Boudreau and Braven New York Founding Executive Director Kilsys Payamps-Roure lauded the tangible outcomes of their 2022 partnership in a wide-ranging conversation, “Opportunity by Design: How CCNY and Braven Strengthen the College-to-Career Pipeline,” at the Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture. The partnership has resulted in “84 percent of CCNY Braven students [being] employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation,” said Boudreau, noting that Braven has served almost 3,000 students at CCNY and Lehman College

In a further boost to its mission after another successful year, The City College of New York’s STEM Institute is the recipient of a $110,000 grant from the Pinkerton Foundation. The one-year support beginning this summer will bolster the Institute’s programs aimed at empowering students from historically underrepresented communities to pursue meaningful careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM]. This new Pinkerton funding will support: Curriculum development; Staff training; The purchase of classroom materials; Technology access; and Enhanced project experiences. In