Robert
Aldridge receives Guggenheim fellowship
Montclair State has its first Guggenheim recipient--Robert Aldridge
of Music.
Aldridge will receive the fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation next month. "This is a prestigious award and I'm honored
I was selected to receive it," said Aldridge, one of 184 grant winners
selected from more than 2,800 applicants.
The award will allow Aldridge to finish composing his opera, "Elmer
Gantry," which he has been working on for 10 years. The opera is
based on the Sinclair Lewis novel about a corrupt preacher, and will be
performed in Tulsa, Germany and Finland in 2004.
"I am grateful to the University for generously offering to give
me a year's sabbatical to complete my opera," he said.
The Guggenheim Foundation provides fellowships for advanced professionals
in natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and creative arts to
assist research and artistic creation.
Applicants for the Guggenheim fellowships are matched against others working
in their own field and then against all others in the competition in a
rigorous selection process. The Foundation understands advanced professionals
to be those who as writers, scholars or scientists have a significant
record of publication, or as artists, playwrights, filmmakers, photographers,
composers, or the like, have a significant record of exhibition or performance
of their work.
"I can attest to the prestige that the Guggenheim Award bestows on
Bob Aldridge, reflecting the high regard that the music community holds
him and his music," said Ting Ho, acting chair of Music. "This
is an international-level award. Bob's Guggenheim will further demonstrate
to the music community the quality and stature of our award-winning music
composition faculty."
Montclair State freshman
wins shot put at Penn Relays
Freshman Nacole Moore captured the Eastern Division of the women's shot
put event at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia last week.
Moore is the first Montclair State athlete to medal at this prestigious
track event.
Moore, the only Division III competitor in the event, recorded a throw
of 46 feet, one inch to win the event. She defeated competitors from all
the Division I schools from the east coast, including Villanova, Syracuse
and the University of Pittsburgh.
Moore is Montclair State's record-holder in the event and is ranked number
one in the outdoor season shot put.
Plans underway for Alumni Weekend
Ann Marie DiLorenzo of Biology and Molecular Biology will receive the
Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award during Alumni Weekend on
May 4.
The 23rd faculty member to receive the award since 1982, DiLorenzo came to Montclair State in 1975 from a National Institutes of Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Human Genetics at New York Medical Center. She regularly involves her students in her research on the study of cells and organs grown in culture, and has worked with other organizations on campus to improve science pedagogy in the classroom.
Retiring faculty also will be recognized during the luncheon, one of
several events scheduled for the day.
The festivities will begin at 9:30 a.m. with coffee for those who graduated
50 or more years ago. At 11 a.m., the Alumni Association will hold its
annual meeting when new officers and board members will be inducted. The
new officers are: Wayne DeFeo '80, '82 M.A., president; Frank Alvarez
'76, executive vice president; Vivian Lalumia '86, treasurer; and Valerie
Winslow '95, '99 M.A., secretary. New board members are: Michael C. Gabriele
'75, Donna Teel-Drake '80, Craig Hamilton '81 MA and Trina Chance-O'Gorman
'01.
The Alumni Association will gather at 2:30 p.m. at Alumni Green where
a perennial garden will be dedicated to remember alumni who lost their
lives in the Sept. 11 attacks: Jean DePalma '80, Steven F. Schlag '82,
Dennis Taormina, Jr. '88, Doreta Kopiczko '99, Khalid Shahid '99, Robert
Hughes '01 and a student, Shari Kandell.
At 3:30 p.m., attendees can board a shuttle bus for a tour of the campus,
visit the University Bookstore, grab a bite at the Red Hawk Diner, or
check out Floyd Hall Ice Arena or the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.
The class reunion cocktail party and dinner dance will begin in the Student
Center at 6:30 p.m. when graduates from all classes will gather to renew
friendships and reminisce about old times. The Alumni Citation Award will
be presented to John Iannarelli '85, a special agent at the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. Since 1998, he has worked in the FBI's San Diego office
and currently is working on the investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks.
For more information about Alumni Weekend, call the Alumni Office at 973-655-4141.