Photo Spotlights

Scott Franklin, a physics professor, won the first Gender Diversity Award. The award was presented by Vice President for Student Affairs Mary-Beth Cooper at the annual Women’s Career Achievement Dinner April 27.

Lindsay Berkebile, a third-year RIT film and animation student, is the recipient of the inaugural X-Factor Filmmakers Award. Berkebile was honored at a May 14 ceremony for the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival. The award was established by Lauren Tracy, a fourth-year RIT film and animation student. Tracy’s goal is to help women filmmakers advance in the industry.

After being laid off, Rachelle Danno enrolled in RIT’s Center for Multidisciplinary Studies and crafted a unique degree program combining courses in fine art, food service management and business management. Danno completed her course work in winter quarter.

United States Congressman Steve Israel toured the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies during a visit to campus May 8. Israel, a leader in the area of sustainability development, was on campus to discuss RIT’s current efforts in sustainability research and education.

Inductees of the Department of Communication chapter of the Lambda Pi Eta National Honor Society were honored April 30 at the organization’s annual gala.

Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society students gathered April 29 outside RIT President Bill Destler’s home before a special dinner honoring the new recipients. Alpha Sigma Lambda was founded in 1964 to recognize students who represent outstanding academic achievement and campus leadership.

RIT President Bill Destler (left) and Nazareth College President Daan Braveman approved an articulation agreement between the two institutions that enables qualified undergraduate students at RIT to simultaneously pursue graduate-level coursework at Nazareth College leading toward a Master of Science in Education. Both presidents formally signed the agreement during an April 27 ceremony at Nazareth College. The articulation agreement takes effect during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Matthew Coolidge, director of programming for the Center for Land Use & Interpretation, spoke on May 4 as part of the RIT Caroline Werner Gannett Project “Visionaries in Motion.” The research organization is involved in the nature and extent of human interaction with the earth’s surface.

Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy discusses the current challenges and opportunities facing the City of Rochester with students in the class Rochester: People, Politics, Planning. The course, taught by former Rochester Mayor William Johnson, the Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at RIT, focuses on the history and root causes of Rochester’s current political, economic and community environment and challenges students to develop plans to address the city’s issues and take advantage of its positive resources.

Kayla Turnipseed, a first-year accounting major in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business, was among 52 RIT students, alumni and other business professionals who recently spent a day teaching business and economics to kindergarten through sixth-grade students at Kodak Park School No. 41. This is the fourth year RIT has teamed with the school using curriculum provided by Junior Achievement of Rochester. Turnipseed is the first alumna of School 41 to participate in this program.

Collaborative Community offered a large canvas where visitors could paint with others or paint on top of what someone else had done to create a large document of expression. The collaboration was one of the interactive exhibits at the Imagine RIT Festival on May 2.

Visitors at the Imagine RIT Festival on May 2 tried out an experimental keyboard instrument that allowed a skilled musician to play intuitively and efficiently and a beginner to learn to play music very easily.