Three CCNY faculty members awarded CUNY Career Success Fellowships

Associate Professor of English Robert Higney, Glenford Patterson, lecturer of economics and business, and Zihao Zhang, assistant professor at the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, are among the 49 faculty members named as 2023 CUNY Career Success Fellows from 21 schools in the City University of New York system.
 
As the most powerful influencers of students, faculty are given Career Success Fellowships to implement effective methods of helping students understand the relationship between classroom learning and careers that can be adapted to every field and to serve as career-engaged leaders on their home campuses in the upcoming academic year. This year’s cohort is the second to receive the Fellowship.

Higney is director of the English department’s undergraduate Honors Program and Isaacs Scholarships. He teaches courses on twentieth century and contemporary British and global Anglophone literature, modernism, and the history of the novel. His book “Institutional Character: Collectivity, Individuality, and the Modernist Novel” (University of Virginia Press) was published in 2022. “As a member of an English department, which is often the target of ‘What are you going to do with that degree?’ I hope to find ways to go beyond familiar responses to this question,” said Higney.

Patterson is deputy chair and faculty director of entrepreneurship and management in CCNY’s department of economics and business. He is co-founder of WorkSchool. “I am excited about the idea of sharing knowledge and best practices for teaching career readiness in the classroom, and the potential of collaborating with other fellows from different colleges throughout the CUNY family,” said Patterson.

By building transdisciplinary, critical analyses at the intersections among design, engineering, and environmental humanities, Zhang’s work interrogates emerging technologies and their ramifications on the constructed environment. His work inspires innovative landscape strategies to address the most pressing issues and their compounding effects on cities and urban landscapes. He directs the Ecological Laboratory for Urban Agriculture, researching innovative urban food production. “How can we ensure our students succeed in their careers while maintaining their criticality to challenge conventional practices in some industries that perpetuates systemic inequality and toxic office culture?” queried Zhang.

Zhang will also serve as interim director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program for the upcoming year. "The Landscape Architecture program at CCNY is highly recognized for its commitment to social, environmental, and multi-species justice. Dean Marta Gutman and Chair Sean Weiss's strong leadership, and Spitzer School's committed faculty and staff, have created solidarity and stability for the program to continue to grow and make an impact. With the support and dedication of our fabulous MLA students, I am confident to carry the torch passed by outgoing Program Director Catherine Seavitt Nordenson,” said Zhang of his new appointment. “I will advance our mission by integrating a climate justice lens and prepare our students to be leaders in our collective efforts to combat the climate crisis by designing vibrant, resilient, equitable, and just communities for all!"

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.