Photo Spotlights

More than 300 visitors came out for the School of Design’s annual Portfolio Walkthrough on May 12. Seniors from the school’s bachelor of fine arts programs exhibited their physical and digital portfolios throughout the University Gallery.

On May 20, David Johnson walked across the stage at commencement and accepted his degree. Like the hundreds of other graduates there, his proud family cheered and celebrated his accomplishment. That achievement, though, was completed more than 20 years ago. Johnson, 75, finished his master’s degree in imaging science in 1989. But he missed the commencement ceremony so he could watch his son graduate from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

RIT celebrates its new crop of graduates with the university’s 126th commencement. The two-day observance kicks off during Academic Convocation, on May 20 in RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center. During the ceremony, RIT President Bill Destler confers degrees on both undergraduate and graduate candidates.

RIT celebrated its new crop of graduates with the university’s 126th commencement. The two-day observance kicked off during Academic Convocation on May 20 in RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center. During the ceremony, RIT President Bill Destler conferred degrees on undergraduate and graduate candidates. Here, Craig Martek, a computer science graduate in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, celebrates after receiving his degree.

Alex Johnson, who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree May 21, accepted a position with General Electric Aviation in Lynn, Mass. Her capstone project was a portable alarm system for the deaf.

RIT President Bill Destler presented a commemorative plaque May 6 during the dedication of the John J. Peters Student Innovation Lounge, located adjacent to the Center for Student Innovation. Wendy Peters accepted the award on behalf of her late husband. John Peters, an RIT alumnus, served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at Performance Technology Inc. and regularly supported a variety of RIT initiatives, including Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival.

The creativity of talented student artists from RIT’s School for American Crafts was highlighted during the annual “Walkthrough” event on May 16.

Joe Fornieri, professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts, is a 2011 recipient of an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. In 2002, he received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, given each year to a faculty member with one to three years’ experience at RIT.

Cara Calvelli is a 2011 recipient of an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. Calvelli teaches medicine to third-year students in the College of Science. The award is named in honor of M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart. Mr. Eisenhart was the longtime president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc. and a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years.

Therapy Dogs International—handlers with certified therapy dogs—provided a welcome break for RIT/NTID students as they entered exam week. Students “de-stressed” with the dogs, who were wearing bandanas that read “Paws a While for Love.”

Sandra Connelly is the 2011 recipient of the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Connelly’s responsibilities include 13 labs associated with general biology classes, plus coordination of the intro biology labs for the majors class and teaching Ecology of UV Radiation, a course linked to her research.

Lesa Mitchell, vice president of advancing innovation with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, discussed innovation and how universities play a role in economic development and entrepreneurial growth on May 6. The Kauffman Foundation has been especially interested in RIT’s research and development programs.