https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/ en https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/justice-sonia-sotomayor-receives-ccnys-2025-colin-l-powell-distinguished-leadership-award United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the 2025 recipient of the Colin L. Powell Distinguished Leadership Award, bestowed by the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York. The award recognizes individuals who have reached the highest level in their fields, and who embody the leadership values that General Powell, a 1958 graduate of CCNY, demonstrated throughout his career: integrity, humility, humor, pragmatism, and common sense. These values were articulated most famously in Powell’s Thirteen Rules of Leadership, which culminate with “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” These words are memorialized on the award medallion. In presenting the award to Sotomayor at a ceremony in New York City earlier this month, Linda Powell, chair of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors and the daughter of General Powell, cited Sotomayor’s life story and her professional accomplishments, and lauded her commitment to justice. “Justice Sotomayor’s journey — marked by perseverance, determination, and an unwavering commitment to justice — paved the way for countless others to follow,” said Powell. “Much like my father, she leads by example, demonstrating that true leadership is about character, service, and making a lasting impact on the world.” A Bronx native, Justice Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University. She earned her law degree from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as a New York County assistant district attorney and, after leaving government service, made partner at Pavia & Harcourt. She was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President William J. Clinton in 1997. President Barack Obama appointed her to the Supreme Court in 2009. In a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa that touched on family and loss, friendship and solitude, Latin music and dance, and growing up in the Bronx, Sotomayor addressed the Colin Powell students and young alumni in the room. “I have the faith that the General had that you will have the power to make a better world than we have,” she said. “That you will figure out from our mistakes what to do in a different way…you show us that there are still young people interested in changing the world.” The Distinguished Leader Awards event was conceived by Marco Antonio Achón, co-chair of the Colin Powell School’s Board of Visitors and global head of Corporate Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking. The event was made possible through the generous support of Santander. In his remarks, Achón paid tribute to General Powell and his leadership of the school that bears his name.  “General Powell’s leadership wasn’t about commanding attention—it was about giving it. It wasn’t about prestige—it was about purpose. His gift was to instill in others a sense of dignity, of optimism, and of responsibility,” he said. “The Colin Powell School is one of his most enduring acts of leadership. It is where potential meets purpose. Where voices that might have gone unheard are being prepared to lead—with courage, integrity, and vision.” “Justice Sotomayor embodies the essence of effective leadership, and she is a role model for generations of young people who aspire to be change-makers,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School. “It is a privilege for us to honor her with the 2025 Colin L. Powell Distinguished Leadership Award.” CCNY President Vince Boudreau talked of how Justice Sotomayor “shares a great many characteristics with General Powell: Integrity. Passion. Perseverance. An inclination — maybe even a compulsion — to say what she truly believes despite the costs and the headwinds. And they also share a life trajectory — born in the Bronx and rising to national leadership.” City University of New York Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez celebrated Justice Sotomayor’s deep roots in New York and noted that her late mother earned a nursing degree at CUNY’s Hostos Community College. “Most people know her as a justice of the Supreme Court but for decades before her appointment in 2009 she was a New Yorker who devoted her life’s work to the principles of equal opportunity and democracy,” he said. “We know what her leadership means as we move forward and we are proud to honor her here tonight.” About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership Established in April 2013, the Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; most come from lower income backgrounds. More than seventy percent are first-generation college students, and eighty percent are people of color. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations. Read more about the Colin Powell School. Mon, 28 Apr 2025 10:46:37 -0400 /news/justice-sonia-sotomayor-receives-ccnys-2025-colin-l-powell-distinguished-leadership-award https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/hadara-bar-nadav-featured-poet-53rd-ccny-poetry-festival-may-2 Award-winning poet Hadara Bar-Nadav is the featured poet at the 53rd annual City College Poetry Festival on May 2 in CCNY’s Marian Anderson Theater, in Aaron Davis Hall. Dubbed “the Woodstock of the Spoken Word,” the festival has become New York’s longest-running poetry celebration.  "The City College Poetry Festival is the democratic voice of poetry in New York City public schools,” says Pamela Laskin, retired lecturer in CCNY’s English department and former director of the CCNY Poetry Outreach Center, which produces the festival. “Its assumption is that there are many poets, and they all have terrific stories to tell. This would make Walt Whitman proud."  Schools from all five boroughs attend, read, and enjoy poetry at the festival. The festival is “something the children always look forward to,” said Deborah Newman, a former teacher at P.S. 368 in Brooklyn, who had been attending the festival for over 13 years. “It’s a blessing, something that is real to them, and it’s an entire year of poetry for the children, leading up to this celebration. The teachers and the administrators love it, too.” Some of the children who participated in the festival’s early years are now teachers who bring their classes. “In 1975, I introduced a third-grade student to the audience of 400 cheering students, teachers, friends and family; in 1996, this same individual returned to the festival at City and introduced the readers from her fourth-grade class,” recalls Barry Wallenstein, CCNY professor emeritus and former festival founder. “Over the past four decades, this event has become a place of reunion and affirmation for City College alumni, returning teachers, student-poets and friends of the College.” “It’s quite extraordinary mentoring these young students. They see the world with such different eyes, and then write without censoring themselves, with freedom,” said Alyssa Yankwitt, Senior Poetry Outreach Mentor, CCNY adjunct assistant professor and new co-director. “This is a moment in time when poetry is more important than ever. These students have something to say, and the festival is a place for them to use their voices.” The event commences with readings by elementary school students, followed by poets from junior high schools. Beginning around noon, the winners of the festival's citywide high school poetry contest will recite their poems, with the top three winners receiving the Poetry Prize, which are cash prizes.  A reading by Hadara Bar-Nadav, will highlight the day’s festivities.   About Hadara Bar-Nadav Hadara Bar-Nadav is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, the Lucille Medwick Award from the Poetry Society of America, a fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, and other honors. Her books include The Animal Is Chemical (Four Way Books, 2024), awarded the Levis Prize in Poetry, selected by Jericho Brown; The New Nudity (Saturnalia Books, 2017); Lullaby (with Exit Sign) (Saturnalia Books, 2013), awarded the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize; The Frame Called Ruin (New Issues, 2012), Editor’s Selection/Runner Up for the Green Rose Prize; and A Glass of Milk to Kiss Goodnight (Margie/Intuit House, 2007), awarded the Margie Book Prize. Click here to read more. Prominent poets to read their work at the festival include: Paul Simon, Allen Ginsberg, Gwendolyn Brooks, Muriel Rukeyser, Adrienne Rich, Philip Levine, Billy Collins, Major Jackson, Kimiko Hahn and Cornelius Eady. Click here for the full list. The festival presents a special award for the best poem in a language other than English.  Submissions have come from 20 different languages over the festival’s history, reflecting the diversity of both New York City and of CCNY. The American Academy of Poets continues to be a co-promotional sponsor, along with CCNY’s Division of Humanities and the Arts. Click here for a list of all the sponsors. For more information about the Poetry Festival, please contact Alyssa Yankwitt or Jennifer Buño at ccnypoetryoutreachcenter@gmail.com or click here to visit the Poetry Outreach Center. Wed, 23 Apr 2025 23:31:01 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/hadara-bar-nadav-featured-poet-53rd-ccny-poetry-festival-may-2 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/half-million-dollar-grant-ccny-paves-pathway-stem-graduate-education The City College of New York received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Exemplary Pathways to STEM Graduate Program to create a CCNY-based program to guide CUNY community college students to CUNY STEM graduate education. The program will be known as “CUNY STEM And Research Scholars Bridge Program,” or CUNY STARS. The brainchild of Karin A. Block-Cora, professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science in CCNY’s Division of Science, CUNY STARS will be incorporated under the City College Fellowships Program, which is directed by Professor of Iberian and Latin American Cultures Isabel M. Estrada. CCFELL, as it is known, aims to support and retain these students in the STEM pathway to graduate school, and to achieve enduring procedural, institutional, and cultural change. The program will be evaluated for its impact on student career trajectories and self-perception in STEM, as well as cultural change in faculty. To support the fellows throughout the duration of their involvement, CUNY STARS will provide mentoring by peers, alumni, faculty, and program coordinators. Fellows will have access to a wide network of alumni who are either current CUNY doctoral students or those who hold faculty positions elsewhere in the U.S. Students will participate in cohort activities for community support, professional development and networking sessions. They will also conduct research-focused curriculum at community colleges before and after transferring to four-year colleges. Recruitment and selection of the first three cohorts of 10 student fellows (five each from Borough of Manhattan Community College and Queensborough Community College) for September 2025 commenced in April. “This program would integrate community college students into growth-oriented multi-institutional pathways within the CUNY system to foster their access to graduate education, and to effect systemic change,” said Estrada. “This robust bridge program, designed to support students starting in the last year of community college through their completion at CCNY, should result in at least half of the fellows transferring to CCNY, and at least one quarter enrolling in graduate degree programs.” “Our community college students come in with the incredible social capital that is very important and contributes a lot to our community,” said Block-Cora. “We need to harness that talent, not just because it's the right thing, but also because it's a huge source of our diversity and our identity as CUNY. Part of what we're trying to do is to change attitudes that see community college students as not as capable as their four-year counterparts. CUNY STARS places these students where they belong: right in the stream with these elite scholars that go on to graduate school and do really great things.” Wed, 23 Apr 2025 16:57:21 -0400 /news/half-million-dollar-grant-ccny-paves-pathway-stem-graduate-education https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/colin-powell-schools-eilyn-zuniga-marquez-ccny-valedictorian-andrew-williams-salutatorian Eilyn Zuniga Marquez, a Salvadoran immigrant who graduated summa cum laude in January with dual BA and MA degrees in psychology from the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, is The City College of New York’s Class of 2025 Valedictorian. Andrew Williams, who also completed his coursework for a BS in psychology summa cum laude in the Colin Powell School’s Macaulay Honors Program, is the Salutatorian.  CCNY’s 172nd Commencement is scheduled for Friday, May 30.  About Eilyn Zuniga Marquez The Bronx resident arrived in the U.S. as a teenager in 2018 with knowledge of English grammar but unable to speak the language fluently. She took ESL classes during the two years that she attended Liberty High School Academy for Newcomers before enrolling at CCNY. In addition to the unprecedented experience of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marquez would face other challenges at CCNY, including culture shock and financial stress.  But she credits the SEEK program and Colin Powell School Office of Student Success for seeing her through. Hailed as a stellar student, she made the Dean’s List every semester and received the SEEK Sophomore of the Year Award for her first-year academic performance, in addition to her active involvement (both in-person and virtually) in campus and community activities. Marquez also received the Debra Kennedy Sterling Silver Award, and the Outstanding SEEK Graduate of the Year Award.  She plans on using her BA/MA in psychology, which meets the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports’ educational requirement for certification as a substance use counselor, to, among other things, help ameliorate mental health issues in the community. She’s interned with RevCore Recovery Center, conducting counseling sessions with patients diagnosed with substance use disorder. Marquez’ career goal is to eventually obtain a Ph.D. in clinical psychology but, more immediately, she’s accepted a Civil Service Pathways Fellowship from the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The two-year full-time paid program for CUNY graduates is designed to create a pipeline from college to a career in civil service.  She’s assigned to the Department of Homeless Services, working on special initiatives in city shelters and learning from actual project managers. About Andrew Williams Born in Queens of Jamaican immigrant parents, Williams’s CCNY tenure was littered with honors. His accolades included: A four-year full-tuition merit scholarship to the Macaulay Honors College; The Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship;  The City College Academy for Professional Preparation (CCAPP) Scholarship: The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) Scholarship; and  The Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship.  The latter award enabled Williams to spend three months in summer 2024 as a research intern at The Kids Research Institute Australia, in Perth, Australia. There, he performed experiments with the Brain Tumor research group.  In addition, Williams has worked as a research assistant in CUNY Distinguished Professor Ruth E. Stark’s NMR spectroscopy lab at CCNY’s Center for Discovery and Innovation; as a biology and organic chemistry tutor in CCAPP; an Emergency Department volunteer at  New York-Presbyterian Columbia, Manhattan; and as a Scribe Technician at CITYMD, Jackson Heights in Queens. On campus, he’s served as a Colin Powell School Student Advisory member. The Queens resident plans on continuing his tutorship in biology and chemistry while applying for medical school.    Mon, 21 Apr 2025 10:25:53 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/colin-powell-schools-eilyn-zuniga-marquez-ccny-valedictorian-andrew-williams-salutatorian https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-rising-junior-kathryn-gioiosa-wins-coveted-truman-scholarship Kathryn Gioiosa, a political science major in The City College of New York’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, has been named a 2025 Harry S. Truman Scholar. She is one of 54 exceptional students from 49 U.S. colleges and universities selected by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The highly competitive Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the nation. Selection is based on a combination of career and graduate study interests, community service and academic achievement. “Resourceful, patriotic leaders, today’s Truman Scholars would make President Truman proud,” said Terry Babcock-Lumish, the Foundation’s executive secretary and a 1996 Truman Scholar from Pennsylvania. “Rising to meet their moments in this century as he did his in the 20th century, they are dedicated public servants who do not shy from challenge.” Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence. Each Truman Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government. Gioiosa is CCNY’s eighth Truman Scholar since 2005. Ayesha Khan (2023), Claire Lynch (2017), Ayodele Oti (2011), Gareth Rhodes (2011), Don Gomez (2009), David Bauer (2008), and Claudio Simpkins (2005) were the previous recipients. The Forest Hills, Queens native is a Macaulay Honors student. She is also a Moynihan Center Public Service Fellow and was, previously, a Climate Policy Fellow. Gioiosa serves as co-executive director of TREEage, a youth-led climate justice organization. She also sits on the steering committee, and co-leads the organizing committee of New York Renews, a coalition of over 390 environmental, justice, faith, and labor organizations statewide.  Gioiosa first became interested in public policy in the areas of infrastructure and climate change as a high school student. The daughter of a teacher, she experienced first-hand how some Queens public schools are afflicted with problems such as lead-tainted water or faulty heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.   Committed to making New York City a safe, healthy, and flourishing city for all, Gioiosa plans to pursue a joint master’s degree in public policy and urban planning after graduation. About the Truman Scholarship Foundation Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and a national monument to public service, the Truman Scholarship carries the legacy of our 33rd President by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders. When approached by a bipartisan group of admirers near the end of his life, President Truman embodied this commitment to the future of public service by asking Congress to create a living memorial devoted to this purpose, rather than a traditional brick-and-mortar monument. For almost 50 years, the Truman Foundation has fulfilled that mission: inspiring and supporting Americans from across the country. The 54 awardees join a community of 3,618 Truman Scholars named since the first awards in 1977. Prominent Truman Scholars in government service include United States Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch (Colo. 1987), U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (Del. 1983) and Andy Kim (N.J. 2003), U.S. Reps. Gabe Amo (R.I. 2009), Dusty Johnson (S.D. 1998), and Greg Stanton (Ariz. 1990), and former White House National Security Advisors Susan Rice (D.C. 1984) and Jake Sullivan (Minn. 1997).   Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:37:12 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccny-rising-junior-kathryn-gioiosa-wins-coveted-truman-scholarship https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-film-professor-antonio-tibaldi-2025-guggenheim-fellow Antonio Tibaldi, professor of film and video at The City College of New York, is one of 198 distinguished individuals across 53 disciplines in the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows. Chosen by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation through a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants, the Class of 2025 was tapped based on both prior career achievement and exceptional promise.  Each Fellow receives a monetary stipend to pursue independent work at the highest level under "the freest possible conditions.” The 100th class of Fellows is part of the Guggenheim Foundation's year-long celebration marking a century of transformative impact on American intellectual and cultural life.  "At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists," said Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and President of the Guggenheim Foundation. "We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future." About Antonio Tibaldi Antonio Tibaldi is a writer/director of fiction and non-fiction films in North America and Europe. His work has won numerous awards and has been presented at festivals such as Berlin, Sundance, San Sebastian, Rotterdam, IDFA, Tribeca; and released by companies such as Miramax, Warner Bros., and Lion’s Gate. He is a consultant for UNTV (United Nations TV) and works as a videographer to shed light on under-reported realities in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. As a Fulbright scholar Antonio studied at Calarts (California Institute of the Arts) where he received an MFA in Film & Video. His projects have received support from The Gotham (previously known as: Independent Filmmaker Project), TFI (Tribeca Film Institute), FIND (Film Independent), WEMW (When East Meets West) and DOKINBUBATOR, NYSCA (New York State Council of the Arts). Antonio is a current member of WGA, East, and is the co-Director of CCNY’s MFA in Film Program. Click here to read about Tibaldi’s films. About the Guggenheim Foundation Created and initially funded in 1925 by US Senator Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son John Simon, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has sought to "further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions." Since its establishment, the Guggenheim Foundation has granted over $400 million in Fellowships to more than 19,000 individuals, among whom are more than 125 Nobel laureates, members of all the national academies, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Fields Medal, Turing Award, Bancroft Prize, National Book Award, and other internationally recognized honors. The broad range of fields of study is a unique characteristic of the Fellowship program. The Guggenheim Foundation centers the talents and instincts of the Fellows, whose passions often have broad and immediate social impact. For example, in 1936, Zora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God with the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship and dedicated it to the Foundation's first president, Henry Allen Moe. Photographer Robert Frank's seminal book, The Americans, was the product of a cross-country tour supported by two Guggenheim Fellowships. The accomplishments of other early Fellows like E.E. Cummings, Jacob Lawrence, Rachel Carson, James Baldwin, Martha Graham, and Linus Pauling also demonstrate the strength of the Guggenheim Foundation's core values and the power and impact of its approach. For more information and to see the full list of the 2025 Fellows, please visit www.gf.org.   Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:16:24 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccny-film-professor-antonio-tibaldi-2025-guggenheim-fellow https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-celebrates-our-3rd-annual-homecoming-day-may-3 The City College of New York’s Homecoming Day takes place on Saturday, May 3 from 12 p.m. to  5 p.m. on the North Campus’s Beaver Quad. Alumni and friends of the college will reunite for a fun-filled day of activities, games, campus tours, live music, performances, an art exhibition and more, including special appearances by alumni members of the New York Giants. The free events kick off with Lavender Fever Homecoming Week, which runs from April 28 through May 9. Follow CCNY Student Life on Instagram for upcoming events and activities happening during Lavender Fever Homecoming Week. On Homecoming Day, there will be refreshing drinks and delicious Southern-style comfort food by Harlem's very own Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too. To see the full list of activities, click here. Some Homecoming Day activities are at capacity. To register for a general entry ticket, such as a 1:30 p.m. Campus Tour and a 2 p.m. Alumni Mixer in the Quad go to the RSVP link here. The Harlem Gallery of Science’s Video Games: The Great Connector exhibit is also open to the Homecoming Day community. It explores the academic and career opportunities found within New York City’s digital gaming community. Register here. The City College Center for the Arts and the CCNY Cohen Library presents Intuitive Imprints: An Exploration of Sense and Memory at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on May 3 in the Morris R. Cohen Library. The world premier dance composition is free with reservations by calling the Aaron Davis Hall Box Office at 212-650-6900, or by visiting our website. Wed, 16 Apr 2025 12:51:11 -0400 Ashley Arocho /news/ccny-celebrates-our-3rd-annual-homecoming-day-may-3 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/2025-cuny-jazz-festival-features-multiple-grammy-winner-randy-brecker-pianist-helen-sung Seven-time GRAMMY-winner Randy Brecker is the guest artist at the 25th annual CUNY Jazz Festival, May 8 – 9 in Aaron Davis Hall Theatre B at The City College of New York. The legendary trumpet player and composer will perform with his quintet. The festival also features acclaimed pianist and composer Helen Sung. The festival brings together on one stage performing ensembles from The City College and other CUNY institutions – including Hunter College and Queens College. Student groups perform 12 – 6 p.m. both days and admission is free and open to the public. The festival starts at Noon on Thursday, May 8, with a performance by the CCNY Faculty Jazz Ensemble, a group comprised of internationally acclaimed musicians. Ensembles from CCNY will perform, as well as guest bands from Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, York College, Lehman College, Queens College, LaGuardia Community College and the College of Staten Island.   An evening concert at 7:30 p.m. features Sung with the CCNY Small Jazz Ensemble, followed by a jam session with her for all festival participants. The Friday evening performance begins at 7:30 with a City College graduate jazz ensemble. At 8:30 p.m. the Randy Brecker and his Quintet closes the festival with a performance featuring tenor saxophonist Ada Rovati. “Brecker is a true jazz legend and one of the most influential voices in both jazz and jazz-rock. He is a trumpet player and composer of historic importance,” said Mike Holober, the noted pianist, composer, and arranger who is also festival director. “With his quintet’s performance, Brecker’s master class, and Helen Sung’s performance with the CCNY Small Jazz Ensemble and a master class, I am thrilled about the 2025 Festival.”  Now in its 25th year, the CUNY Jazz Festival has evolved into the most important event on the CUNY jazz calendar. As host and sponsor, CCNY wholeheartedly supports the event that captures the spirit and joy of performing and thriving in an educational environment. The festival is presented by The Simon H. Rifkind Center for the Humanities and the Arts at City College and the City College music department, with assistance from the City College Center for the Arts. Check Instagram @ccnygradstudies for updates or contact Mike Holober at mholober@ccny.cuny.edu for more information.     Wed, 09 Apr 2025 13:56:56 -0400 Thea Klapwald /news/2025-cuny-jazz-festival-features-multiple-grammy-winner-randy-brecker-pianist-helen-sung https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccnys-sydney-roy-and-deven-morales-win-watson-fellowships Sydney Roy, of the Macaulay Honors School at The City College of New York, and fellow CCNY freshman Deven Morales are among 15 undergraduates from 12 New York colleges selected Jeannette K. Watson Fellows by the Watson Foundation. The highly competitive three-year fellowships accord recipients unprecedented personal, professional and cultural immersions in the United States and abroad. At the center of the program are fully-funded summer experiences with leading organizations in New York City and around the world. Combined with close mentoring, Watson Fellows expand their vision, develop their potential and build the confidence and perspective to do so for others. Fellows go on to attend leading graduate programs, receive national and international scholarships, and become leaders in their fields. “The new class of Watson Fellows represents the character, convictions and aspirations of America's most inspiring student leaders. We look forward to introducing them to the Watson Community and supporting their personal, professional and cultural growth,” said Chris Kasabach, Watson Foundation, Executive Director. Roy is a political science major in CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and is on the Dean’s List. As a Watson Fellow the Queens resident will intern with several organizations. She’ll be interviewing with The Century Foundation. Tides Advocacy, and AFS Intercultural Programs, which hosts the United Nations Youth Assembly Conference.   Roy plans on a career as a lawyer or public policy researcher, “primarily to be an advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” she added. Morales, a Bay Shore resident, is a physics major and member of the Dean’s List. He’s asked to intern at the International Institute of Education as a Watson Fellow. Professionally, he plans to practice patent law. About the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship Jeannette K. Watson Fellows are chosen through a nomination process from freshman and sophomore students at 12 New York City partner institutions. The fellowship's comprehensive program includes three summers of internships at leading organizations around the world, a cohort of supportive peers and ongoing mentorship. Over 300 Jeannette K. Watson Fellows have been named since the fellowship’s start in 1999. Watson Fellows are represented in America’s top graduate programs and go on to become leaders in their fields including law, medicine, public policy, business, arts and sciences. They are the recipients of numerous Aspen, Coro, Fulbright, Truman, Urban Fellow and many other national awards. About the Watson Foundation In 1961, the Watson Foundation was created as a charitable trust in the name of Thomas J. Watson Sr, best known for building IBM. Through one-of-a-kind programs, and over 100 global partnerships, the Foundation works with students to develop personal, professional and cultural opportunities that expand their vision, test and develop their potential, and build their confidence and perspective to be more humane and effective leaders with a world view.   Mon, 07 Apr 2025 20:53:33 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccnys-sydney-roy-and-deven-morales-win-watson-fellowships https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-physicists-uncover-electronic-interactions-mediated-spin-waves Groundbreaking research by physicists at The City College of New York is being credited for a novel discovery regarding the interaction of electronic excitations via spin waves. The finding by the Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) team headed by physicist Vinod Menon could open the door to future technologies and advanced applications such as optical modulators, all-optical logic gates, and quantum transducers. The work is reported in the journal Nature Materials. The researchers showed the emergence of interaction between electronic excitations (excitons – electron hole pairs) mediated via spin waves in atomically thin (2D) magnets. They demonstrated that the excitons can interact indirectly through magnons (spin waves), which are like ripples or waves in the 2D material’s magnetic structure. “Think of magnons as tiny flip-flops of atomic magnets inside the crystal. One exciton changes the local magnetism, and that change then influences another exciton nearby. It’s like two floating objects pulling toward each other by disturbing water waves around them,” said Menon.   To demonstrate this, the Menon group utilized a magnetic semiconductor, CrSBr which the group had previously shown to host strong light-matter interaction (Nature, 2023).  Post-doctoral fellows Biswajit Datta and Pratap Chandra Adak led the research along with graduate students Sichao Yu and Agneya Dharmapalan in collaboration with the groups at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, University of Chemistry and Technology – Prague, RPTU - Kaiserslautern, Germany and NREL, USA.  “What is especially exciting about this discovery is that the interaction between excitons can be controlled externally using a magnetic field, thanks to the tunable magnetism of 2D materials. That means we can effectively switch the interaction on or off, which is hard to do with other types of interactions,” said Datta.  “One particularly exciting application enabled by this discovery is in the development of quantum transducers - devices that convert quantum signals from one frequency to another, such as from microwave to optical. These are key components for building quantum computers and enabling the quantum internet.” said Adak, another lead author of this work. The work at CCNY was supported by U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Basic Energy Sciences, The Army Research Office, The National Science Foundation and The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Citation: Datta, B., Adak, P.C., Yu, S. et al. Magnon-mediated exciton–exciton interaction in a van der Waals antiferromagnet. Nat. Mater. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02183-0    Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:40:12 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccny-physicists-uncover-electronic-interactions-mediated-spin-waves