Photo Spotlights

The Fisk Jubilee Singers, a renowned ensemble based at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., will be the featured performer at the 2017 Expressions of King’s Legacy at noon Jan. 26 in the Gordon Field House. An American a cappella ensemble that performs Negro spirituals originally sung by slaves prior to the Civil War, the Fisk Jubilee Singers introduced the public to a new genre that remains a vibrant musical tradition today. Dating back to 1871 when the ensemble was established, the talented student-singers broke racial barriers in the U.S. and abroad, entertaining presidents and European royalty throughout the years. In 2008, the group received the prestigious National Medal of Arts, presented by President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush during a ceremony at the White House.

From left, Mitchell Poon, fourth-year computer engineering technology student from Harrington Park, N.J.; Peter Busch, fourth-year physician assistant student from Essex, Vt.; and Adam Griffith, area director for Riverknoll and Colony Manor at RIT, cleaned out a house for Flower City Habitat for Humanity during a volunteer activity for Residence Life staff. More than 140 residence life advisors and professional staff volunteered at 11 locations around Rochester as part of their staff training on Jan. 18. Rochester Rehabilitation, Veterans Outreach, The Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley and Genesee Center for the Arts and Education were among the other sites where the volunteers worked.

Student Government representatives from RIT’s global campuses gathered in Dubrovnik for RIT’s fifth annual Student Government Global Consortium. Students from Croatia, Kosovo, Dubrovnik and Dubai shared information and experiences on their campuses.

Saunders Department Chair and Professor of Management Information Systems Victor Perotti, right, teaches in the new Saunders Business Analytics Lab. Management information systems is now the largest and fastest growing major at Saunders College of Business.

NTID hosted its annual Scholarship Symposium Jan. 12 with a series of presentations and poster sessions. Here, Linda Bryant, chair of the NTID Learning Consortium and Director of NTID Online Initiatives, and Wesley Blue, Online Program Operations coordinator, presented their research findings.

Jamie Kunzmann, left, a second-year math and computer student at Stony Brook University, and Rachel Baumgarten, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student at RIT, dissected a sheep heart for the first time during the undergraduate Workshop on Dynamics of Excitable Systems, held Jan. 8-14 in RIT’s College of Science. The workshop introduced students to using biology, math and engineering disciplines—especially electrophysiology—for understanding the heart’s functions. Through lectures and collaborations, 18 students from RIT and other universities learned how mathematical models and computer simulations can advance research in medical cyber-physical systems and lead to future cardiac therapies. Elizabeth Cherry, associate professor in the RIT School of Mathematical Sciences and director of the mathematical modeling Ph.D. program, led the outreach effort associated with her National Science Foundation grant, Cyber Physical Systems: Frontier, Collaborative Research: Compositional, Approximate and Quantitative Reasoning for Medical Cyber-Physical Systems.

In 1993, Robert Loce became the first person in the world to earn a Ph.D. in imaging science. He also became RIT’s first doctoral degree recipient. Since then, more than 250 others have followed in his footsteps. Loce is a research fellow at Parc, a subsidiary of Xerox.

Former RIT men’s hockey captain and 2015 Hobey Baker Finalist Matt Garbowsky ’15, shown after scoring a goal during the 2014-15 season, was selected to play in the 2017 ECHL All-Star Classic, which will take place on Jan. 18 and air live on the NHL Network. Garbowsky currently plays for the Colorado Eagles. RIT men’s hockey faces American International on Friday and Saturday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass.

Mark Johnson, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, announced Wednesday at RIT that the Golisano Institute for Sustainability was selected to lead a new Manufacturing USA Institute on clean energy.

Renovations are ongoing in Clark Gym and Ritter Arena and include the women’s basketball locker room, shown here. Facilities have been updated for women’s soccer, men’s soccer, wrestling and volleyball. Work is planned for baseball, men’s basketball and men’s and women’s lacrosse.

Rosalie Rosini ’66 (food administration) collected and distributed more than 400 socks to the Lewis Street YMCA Child Care Center in Rochester. Rosini runs an annual sock drive that she hopes will inspire other RIT alumni around the world to do the same.

Sixteen Rochester Regional Health participants completed the Nurse Leadership Development Program at RIT’s Saunders College of Business. The curriculum was customized by the college’s Executive MBA program. It allows participants to earn 16 credit hours toward an Executive MBA (more than one-third of the requirement) and a certificate of program completion from RIT and Rochester Regional Health.