CCNY Alumni Researchers – Changing the World for the Better
If these recent years have emphasized anything, in our city, our state, our country, it is the essentialness of community. It is through, using guidance given to us to in turn help guide others, lift up silenced voices, trying to leave the world a better place than we found it, that we can continue to survive and even thrive in untenable circumstances.
In this, the one-year anniversary issue of the RICC, we highlight the accomplishments of distinguished CCNY alumni. Their accomplishments, in fields ranging from linguistics and education to nanoparticles, show a common thread of community and support. These alumni are using their unique experiences, talents, and insights to change the world for the better.
Dr. Fidel Tavárez, an assistant Professor of history at Queens College, is researching his first book about the Spanish commercial empire during the Age of Enlightenment, providing a valuable examination of an empire’s economic growth.
Dr. Carlos Batista is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Vanderbilt University, whose study of the colloidal limit of nanoparticles, amongst other things, could have long-term impacts on fields such as pharmaceuticals and micro-robotics.
Dr. Julie Vernon is Associate Dean for Academic Success and Assistant professor of the Practice of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where she creates and oversees student engagement programs, many of which foster essential skills for first year students, ensuring these skills will be well in hand as they begin their research careers.
Dr. Luke Hwang, Associate Manager of Intellectual Property and Technology Development at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, works with industry partners to manage portfolios of scientific inventions.
Dr. Hoda Ehsan, Chair of the Engineering and Computer Science Department and Director of Quadrividum Design and Engineering at the Hill School, is working to broaden engineering research and education, through methods such as broadening their engineering department’s community involvement in Pottstown, the location of the Hill School.
Dr. Heather Woodley, a Clinical Associate Professor of TESOL and the Co-Director of Childhood Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education & Human Development at New York University, works in multilingual education and researches family and community engagement in schools, helping teachers better understand what multilingual learners need.
Dr. Kathleen Stebe, a Goodwin Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, is working to create an environmentally safer alternative to rare earth element purification than existing methods.
The work of these outstanding alumni is, in a way, the cumulative effect of their influences, transformed into work that stands to change world of others, in immediate circles and the world at large, for the better. Their ongoing projects and accomplishments are detailed in the articles below.
Rosemarie D. Wesson, Ph.D., P.E.
Interim Associate Provost for Research
Professor, Chemical Engineering