Monthly Archives: March 2009

http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/032409_1.shtml

March 24, 2009

Manhattan College To Award Undergraduate Degrees At 167th Commencement

College to honor Br. Thomas Scanlan; NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly ’63 to deliver keynote address.

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College will award close to 700 degrees in some 40 major fields of study from its five schools in arts, business, education, engineering and science at its 167th Undergraduate Commencement on Sunday, May 17. Students who completed their studies in September 2008, February 2009 and May 2009 will participate in the ceremony in the College’s Draddy Gymnasium.

During the ceremony, Br. Thomas Scanlan, F.S.C., who will step down as president of Manhattan College later this year, will receive an honorary Doctor of Education. Ray Kelly ’63, commissioner of the New York City Police Department, will deliver the keynote address.

Scanlan, the College’s 18th and longest-tenured president, was inaugurated on October 29, 1987. Under his leadership, Manhattan College has undergone a transformation that has it currently recognized as one of the premier Catholic institutions of higher education in the nation. His presidency has allowed Manhattan to meet the increasing demands of education in the 21st century.

During his time in office, the College has seen a 120 percent increase in applications and a 100-point increase in SAT scores while achieving accreditations by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. Five-year programs have been added in education and engineering, and a new major in computer engineering has been included in the curriculum.

Manhattan College has raised more than $225 million in two capital campaigns during the past two decades, and the endowment has increased tenfold. A second new residence hall will be completed later this year, with Horan and its new twin, East Hill Residence Hall, housing 1,250 students.

Kelly is the first person to hold the post of NYC police commissioner twice in his career. He was formerly senior managing director, global corporate security, at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Before that, he served as commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, where he managed the agency’s 20,000 employees and $20 billion in annual revenue.

From 1996-98, Kelly was Under Secretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he supervised the department’s enforcement bureaus, including the U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and Office of Foreign Assets Control.

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http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/032409_2.shtml

March 24, 2009

Vincent Desimone ’59, Founder And Chairman Of Desimone Consulting Engineers, To Deliver Keynote Address At Manhattan College’s Spring (Graduate) Commencement

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College will award master’s degrees to students in the graduate programs of education and engineering, as well as bachelor’s degrees in organization management to students in the adult degree completion program, at its Spring (Graduate) Commencement on Wednesday, May 20. The ceremony will be held in the College’s Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers at 4:30 p.m.

During the ceremony, an honorary Doctor of Engineering will be presented to Vincent DeSimone ’59, founder and chairman of DeSimone Consulting Engineers.

Noted for his solutions to special structural problems, DeSimone has been cited on a number of occasions for his outstanding buildings in the United States and abroad. Among the domestic projects he has headed for his firm are: Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.; Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas; Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio; Sofitel Hotel in New York; and Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.

DeSimone received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College and founded DeSimone Consulting Engineers in 1969. In addition to his significant professional accomplishments, he continues to serve as an industry leader. He is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member and past president of the Concrete Industry Board of New York City. He served as chairman of the Chapter on Optimization of Tall Buildings and was a professor of structures at Princeton University’s school of architecture.

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http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/032309_2.shtml

March 23, 2009

Manhattan College’s Robert J. Christen Program Welcomes Col. James Johnson, Ph.D.

Executive Director of Hudson River Valley Institute to lecture in full Revolutionary War uniform.

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Col. James Johnson, Ph.D., executive director of the Hudson River Valley Institute, will speak at Manhattan College on Tuesday, April 7 at 4:00 p.m. in Smith Auditorium. Presented by the College’s Robert J. Christen Program in Early American History and Culture, the event is free and open to the public.

Johnson will deliver the lecture The Hudson River: The Key to America in the American Revolution dressed in full Revolutionary War uniform. The event also commemorates the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Henry Hudson, an English sea navigator who explored the New York City region and the river that would later bear his name in 1609.

As the military historian of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Johnson is responsible for the institute’s American Revolutionary interpretive theme. Author of Militia, Rangers, and Redcoats, Johnson received his Ph.D. from Duke University and teaches courses at Marist College. A retired Army colonel, he is an expert on the War for Independence in the Hudson River Valley and has written numerous essays and articles on the subject.

Johnson served for 30 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 1999. In his career, he completed two tours overseas in the Federal Republic of Germany and one in the Republic of Korea. During the second tour in Germany, he served as a staff officer at Headquarters, United States Army, Europe and as a battalion operations officer. He was a speechwriter for the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in the Pentagon and also taught for 15 years in two tours in the department of history at West Point.

More information about The Hudson River Valley Institute can be found on its Web site at www.hudsonrivervalley.org.

The Christen Program is named in honor of the late Robert J. Christen, a Manhattan College faculty member who served for many years on the Board of Education of the City of New York. For his many contributions to education, the Riverdale Public School 81 is named in his honor.

For more information about this event, please contact Julie Leininger Pycior, professor of history, at (718) 862-7126 or e-mail julie.pycior@manhattan.edu.

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http://www.manhattan.edu/news/news_releases/032309_1.shtml

March 23, 2009

Manhattan College Names Dr. Salwa Ammar As Next Dean Of Business

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Dr. Salwa Ammar has been named the next dean of Manhattan College’s school of business, effective July 1. Ammar will replace Dr. James Suarez, who will step down from his position after 18 years.

Since 2006, Ammar has served as dean of LeMoyne College’s school of management. During that time, she successfully led the school’s initial accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Ammar has been a highly regarded teacher at LeMoyne, where she earned tenure and promotions to associate and full professor. She served as director of the management science program, and associate director and director of the M.B.A. program.

As a business consultant, Ammar has evaluated the financial management of large cities and New York State school districts. She is the author of numerous academic papers, including articles applying to “Monte Carlo Simulation” and “Fuzzy-Rule-Based Systems.” In addition to her standing on many LeMoyne College committees, she is a member of several Syracuse, N.Y., organizations, including the Management Council, Syracuse Community-Campus Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Northside Assets Development Initiative and the Northside Collaboratory.

Ammar received her bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom. She earned a master’s degree in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in decision and information services from the University of Florida. She has taught a variety of courses in management science and operation management since 1986, both at the undergraduate and M.B.A. levels.

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