Adding to his remarkable achievements in and out of the classroom, Todd Pagano, associate professor of chemistry and director of the Laboratory Science Technology program at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, has been named to the Fulbright Specialist Program. The program, which provides Fulbright Specialists two- to six-week grants, promotes linkages between U.S. scholars and professionals in select disciplines and their counterparts at host institutions in more than 140 countries around the world. Pagano is still waiting for word on where he might be placed.

“The globalization of science is upon us,” said Pagano in his Fulbright application. “Today, scientists and corporations work across borders and diverse cultures. U.S. professors are increasingly involved with students from diverse cultures, while attempting to teach all students to be ‘global citizens.’ My goal is to develop ways to improve the teaching of chemistry while substantially broadening opportunities in the field for traditionally underserved students in an effort to narrow gaps in the attainment of education and employment in the field. I would like to work with host institutions to develop chemistry curricula and establish sustainable programs, interventions, and research opportunities for disadvantaged students.”

At NTID, Pagano developed the Laboratory Science Technology program, the world’s only chemical technology program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. In 2012, he was named U.S. Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He has also received the American Chemical Society Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences, sponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, and the Stanley Israel Medal for Diversity in Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. He is an American Chemical Society Fellow and was named to Rochester Business Journal’s ‘Forty Under 40’ list of professionals who have made significant community contributions. He has also earned two faculty humanitarian awards as well as RIT’s Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching.

“As a scientist, my hypothesis is that my interactions abroad would uncover fundamental differences in approaches to serving students in educational science programs, but also deep-rooted similarities in the innate care and desire for populations to help those who are less fortunate,” added Pagano. “I am excited about the prospect of extending my quest to broaden educational and research opportunities for underserved students overseas, and believe the Fulbright Specialist program is the ideal vehicle to do so.”

RIT's physician assistant class of 2016 is the first to go through the five-year B.S./M.S. degree and represents a new phase of the Physician Assistant program at RIT. The cohort class is training to be nationally certified, state-licensed medical professionals who practice medicine on health-care teams with physicians and other providers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks physician assistants as the 13th fastest-growing occupation in the country, with faster-than-average increases expected to reach 38 percent by 2022. The median annual wage as of 2012 was $90,930. More.

RIT is building a new Clinical Health Sciences Center, which will significantly expand RIT's College of Health Sciences and Technology. More.

According to the business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn, Rochester Institute of Technoclogy is among the best universities for recent graduates seeking desirable jobs in software development. RIT ranks No. 25 for graduates landing desirable software engineering jobs and No. 13 for graduates securing those jobs at startup companies. More.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s Saunders College of Business is an outstanding business school to earn an MBA, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company has selected the school for inclusion in the 2015 edition of its annual guidebook The Best 296 Business Schools.

According to Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher of The Princeton Review, “We consider RIT’s Saunders College of Business as one of the best institutions a student could attend to earn an MBA. We selected the schools we profile in this book—280 of which are in the United States and 16 are international—based on our high regard for their academic programs and our reviews of institutional data we collect from the schools.” More.

Photo by: A. Sue Weisler

The Department of Communication in RIT's College of Liberal Arts has been renamed the School of Communication. Undergraduate degree programs include Advertising and Public Relations, Communication and Journalism. A graduate degree in Communication and Media Technologies is offered, along with a graduate certificate in Communication and Digital Media. More.

TheBestSchools.org has named RIT the top online college in New York state based on academic excellence, faculty strength, online teaching methods, reputation, awards and number of online degree programs offered. More.
 

Elizabeth Lamark, RIT Production Services

Rochester Institute of Technology is recognized in several categories for educational quality and value in the 2015 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges. Since U.S. News began ranking colleges in 1983, RIT has consistently been listed among the top regional universities. RIT leaders anticipate moving to the national research category next year with the university’s growth in doctoral programs.

For the 2015 ranking, RIT placed eighth in the “Best Regional Universities (North)” category in the latest report among hundreds of schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs. RIT also received the second highest peer assessment score, which is a survey of presidents, provosts and deans from other universities judging a school’s academic excellence.

In the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category, RIT ranked fifth among regional universities (North). The formula used to determine which schools offer the best value relates to a school’s academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid. “The higher the quality of program and the lower the cost, the better the deal,” according to U.S. News.

In the “Focus on Student Success” category, RIT was listed as one of only 13 colleges nationally recognized for excellence in the “Internships” listing. RIT’s cooperative education program, which began in 1912, remains one of the largest in the nation and has been recognized every year since U.S. News began the category in 2002. More.

Rochester Institute of Technology is again being recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s best universities for undergraduate education. The education-services company features RIT in the just-published 2015 edition of its annual book The Best 379 Colleges. More.

Resource Magazine, a leading photo trade magazine, ranks the RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences No. 2 in its ranking of "15 Great College and University Photography Programs in the United States." The ranking by Resource marks the latest recognition for SPAS in recent weeks. Fiske Guide to Colleges said RIT’s “photography and imaging are the among the tops in the nation” in its newly published 2015 edition. More.