When Hadwen C. Fuller II crossed the stage at the Graduate Convocation this spring, the loudest cheers didn’t come from his wife and three sons.

They came from a group of classmates young enough to be his grandchildren.

A few months earlier, Fuller had walked into a weeklong January course in Washington, D.C., carrying a brand-new laptop he’d only recently learned how to use, a healthy dose of skepticism about artificial intelligence and unfinished business that dated back to the Nixon administration.

The three credits earned from that course—Public Management of Technology Development—finally allowed Fuller to complete the M.P.A. degree he had started at the Maxwell School more than 50 years ago.

“I’ve always liked to finish what I start,” Fuller says.

That persistence has defined much of his life.

He grew up in the Oswego County town of Parish, New York, population 411. His grandfather, despite never graduating from high school, climbed from local politics to the New York State Assembly and, eventually, Congress. Fuller absorbed that example and arrived at ������ thinking seriously about a future in government.

After earning a political science degree from Maxwell in 1970, Fuller enrolled in the . In his second year, he added a public administration degree at Maxwell because it matched his interest in leadership and public service.

He finished law school in 1973. The M.P.A. stalled six credits short.

For many people, that unfinished degree would have faded into ancient history. Fuller carried it around like a pebble in his shoe.

“It just kind of gnawed at me that I never completed it,” he says.

Over the next five decades, Fuller built a varied and successful professional career. Shortly after law school, he served as justice of the peace in Parish, processing thousands of cases after state police flooded the area with traffic enforcement teams. He worked in his family’s Sunoco gasoline distributorship, eventually selling the business during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics while helping coordinate corporate fundraising tied to the Games. Most of his professional life has been spent in the aviation fuel industry, launching and running companies of his own.

Along the way, he took another swipe at the Maxwell degree. In 1996, he petitioned to re-enroll and completed a three-credit course on management of the U.S. Forestry Service.

“I planned to enroll in another class to finish it up,” Fuller says. “It just never happened.”

A Chance Encounter

Until a dinner conversation changed everything.

Last fall, Fuller attended an event hosted by the Onondaga Historical Association, where he serves on the board. One of the guests was , newly arrived at Maxwell as professor of practice in public administration and international affairs and the Phanstiel Chair in Leadership.

At some point during the evening, Fuller casually mentioned he was “almost” a Maxwell alumnus. Parmeter quickly learned Fuller was only one course away from finishing the degree he had started in the early 1970s. By coincidence, Parmeter himself was teaching a one-week, three-credit course in Washington that January.

“Would you like to finish your degree?” Parmeter asked.

Fuller thought he was joking.

He wasn’t.

Soon, Assistant Dean of Online Programs was digging through decades-old records and untangling the academic equivalent of an archaeological dig. Expired credits needed reinstating. Approvals had to move through faculty leadership, the Graduate School and the registrar. Fuller had to be transferred into the executive M.P.A. program.

And then there was the technology.

“From soup to nuts, he needed help with everything,” Bartkowiak says with a laugh. “But he was a very good sport about it.”

Despite decades of business success, Fuller had largely managed to avoid becoming computer savvy. Bartkowiak convinced him he needed a laptop.

After a trip to Best Buy, Fuller launched into what amounted to a crash course in modern technology, teaching himself how to use the computer while diving headfirst into AI.

By January, he arrived in Washington equal parts prepared and panicked.

Back in the Classroom

His classmates included M.P.A. students, international relations students, law students and U.S. State Department fellows. Nearly all of them were decades younger. Fuller worried he would slow down group work or embarrass himself trying to keep up.

Instead, he became an integral member of the class.

Lauren Grosso G’26 initially thought Fuller was a guest speaker before realizing he was a fellow student. “I couldn’t believe that someone with that level of experience still wanted to be in a classroom, still wanting to learn,” she says. “That shifted something for me, not just how I saw Had, but how I see things in general. No matter how much experience you have or how much you know, there’s always more to learn.”

The course itself focused on public policy scenarios set in 2030, challenging students to use AI tools to solve complex problems while also evaluating the technology’s weaknesses and risks. For Fuller, it became a revelation.

“It’s like you have the smartest person in the world sitting next to you,” he says of AI. “They don’t get tired. They’re up all night. And you can ask them dumb questions because they don’t care.”

Still, Fuller wasn’t simply absorbing lessons. He was teaching them too.

Every year, the recognizes the people who make graduate education at ������ what it is, honoring the faculty members who mentor and inspire and the teaching assistants who support students while pursuing degrees of their own.

Faculty Awards

At a campus ceremony April 27, ��four faculty members received Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty ,�� honoring their impact on graduate education through teaching, research, creative activity and service. ��The awardees were selected by an interdisciplinary group of graduate students.

This year’s faculty honorees are:

• , professor and graduate program director of the television, radio and film program in the
• , assistant professor of biomedical and chemical engineering in the (ECS)
• , assistant professor of biology in the (A&S)
• , professor of philosophy in A&S.

Teaching Assistant Awards

At the same ceremony, 36 teaching assistants were recognized with Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards for their contributions to the educational enterprise and for helping to create strong teaching and learning outcomes across the University. Awardees were nominated by their departments.

The honorees and their programs of study are:

• Rachel Ameen ’20, geography and the environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Sarah Appedu, information science and technology, School of Information Studies
• Zachery Robert Barrows Gonzalez, languages, literatures and linguistics, A&S
• Almila Basak G’23, political science, Maxwell School
• Julia Janina Viola Baumgarten, physics, A&S
• Caroline Anne Bowling, architecture, School of Architecture
• Shannon Burth G’23, mass communications, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Kirstin Len Clear, human development and family science, A&S
• Rein Desbiens ’23, chemistry, A&S
• Iwona Franczak G’23, sociology, Maxwell School
• Antonio Freiles G’25, philosophy, A&S
• Aliza Haskal, English, A&S

Also honored are:

• Jaihyun Jeon, business administration, Martin J. Whitman School of Management
• Kennedy Reed Jones, communication and rhetorical studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Xiangjing Kong, psychology, A&S
• Shivam Kumar, electrical engineering and computer science, ECS
• Yifan Cheng Li, economics, Maxwell School
• Liam Victor Lieblein, philosophy, A&S
• Ash Lienemann, languages, literatures and linguistics, A&S
• Tyler Logie, earth and environmental sciences, A&S
• Desiree Laurel Martin, mathematics, A&S
• Kerry McNamara G’17, communication sciences and disorders, A&S
• Zaidao Mei G’20, electrical engineering and computer science, ECS
• Fasika Minda Melese G’19, instructional design, development and evaluation, School of Education

Additional recipients are:

• Chelsea Renea Morton, social science, Maxwell School
• Amanda Qi Ni G’21, women’s and gender studies, A&S
• David Aanuoluwa Okanlawon G’24, anthropology, Maxwell School
• Gizem Ozyazici, college science teaching, A&S
• Urmi Manoj Parekh, writing studies, rhetoric and composition, A&S
• John Sackey, biomedical and chemical engineering, ECS
• Sergio Saravia Lopez, sociology, Maxwell School
• Karie Nicole Schmitz G’22, mathematics, A&S
• Lauren Sdun, physics, A&S
• Soham Sinha, English, A&S
• Sabrina Marie Traver G’23, mathematics, A&S
• Jenna Marie Walmer, psychology, A&S

��

The in the College of Arts and Sciences observed Dalit History Month again this April with a two-part program featuring Chinnaiah Jangam, associate professor of history at Carleton University in Ottawa. Hosted on April 14 and 15, the program included a workshop and a public lecture exploring the history and present of Dalit communities in North America.

Dalit History Month was established by civil rights activists, inspired by Black History Month, to commemorate the intellectual legacy, activism and lives of caste-oppressed people, communities historically labeled “untouchables.”

Caste, a form of structural oppression originating in ancient India, divides people into categories at birth, and members of Dalit communities continue to face discrimination and violence both in South Asia and across the diaspora. The term “Dalit,” meaning “broken” or “oppressed,” was adopted as an act of political self-identification.

On April 14, Jangam led the Anti-Caste Methodologies workshop for graduate students and faculty in Sims Hall. The workshop explored approaches for writing history from anti-caste and critical-caste perspectives capable of countering dominant narratives.

A day later, Jangam delivered his public lecture, “Dalit Diaspora and Anti-Caste Movements in North America,” at Watson Theater. He examined what it means to be a Dalit in North America and argued that the Dalit diaspora on the continent is as old as that of the Savarna (dominant-caste Hindu) diaspora.

Drawing on stories of survival and resistance, he highlighted Dalit-led community mobilizations and social equity movements in the United States and Canada, and showed how intersectional solidarity is reshaping diaspora identity politics.

Jangam is the author of “Dalits and the Making of Modern India” and translator of “Gabbilam (Bat): A Dalit Epic,” which received the Association for Asian Studies A.K. Ramanujan Prize for Translation in 2024. He co-founded the South Asia Dalit Adivasi Network (SADAN) in Canada, whose advocacy led the Toronto District School Board and the Ontario Human Rights Commission to address caste discrimination.

The events were organized by faculty members and of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, with co-sponsorship from the Humanities Center, South Asia Center, LGBTQ Studies, History, CODE^SHIFT, English, Social Science Ph.D. program, Engaged Humanities Network, Feminist Pedagogy Collective, the Dean’s Office and the College of Arts and Sciences.

������ Libraries’ LaunchPad hosted an inaugural Athletes for Data Sovereignty (A4DS) Summit and Pitch Competition, in partnership with UMiEconomy through its Charitable Foundation, , on April 24. The pitch competition was open to student-athletes, student-athlete alumni and student entrepreneurs with sports-related ideas. Winners of the pitch competition were:

• Gabriel Josefson ’28 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of XCHKR, won the grand prize of $2,000.
• Zach Richter ’26 (College of Arts and Sciences) and Taran Singh ’26 (Whitman School), founders of Wavelength, tied for second place, winning $750.
• Edouard Agbor G’27 (School of Information Studies), founder of GritGateway, also won $750 for second place.
• Marissa Johnson ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), founder of Gymify, won $250.
• Dylan McKinley ’26 (Newhouse School), founder of DylanDoesBasketball, won a Tier 1 Marketing Package from UMiEconomy.
• Jase Malloy ’27 (School of Information Studies), founder of ErgoCraft, won a Tier 2 Marketing Package from UMiEconomy.
• Ethan Barone ’26 (Whitman School), founder of CaneCLamp, won a Tier 1 Intellectual Property Legal Package
• Jonathan “Jack” Wren ’26 (Whitman School) and John “Trey ” Adams III ’26 (Whitman School), founders of Happy Duck, won a Tier 2 Intellectual Property Legal Package

In addition to the pitch competition, the summit included interactive games and workshops around the importance of data in industries such as sports, healthcare, media and finance, and how startups can build long-term value beyond short-term deals.

������ Libraries recognized its student employees with an awards celebration on April 20. The Libraries typically employs about 150 undergraduate and graduate students each year to contribute to the safety of Libraries’ spaces, the quality and repair of collections, and service support to patrons and student entrepreneurs.

Supervisors nominate student employees who have demonstrated dedicated service over time and significant contributions that have made a lasting impact on the Libraries.

The Libraries recognize these students through the generous support of Kathy and Stanley Walters, the family of Patricia Kutner Strait and the many donors to the Libraries Dean’s Fund.

In addition, this year the Libraries acknowledges Carole and Glenn Johnston for their gift in honor of their daughter, Beth Ann Johnson, who was killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“We are incredibly fortunate to work alongside our library student employees, whose energy, commitment and talent strengthen our community every day. In my role, I see firsthand the meaningful impact they have across our organization. Many of these students stay with us throughout their time at ������, growing into trusted and valued members of the SU Libraries community,” says David Seaman, dean of the Libraries and University Librarian.

2026 student award recipients and their respective Libraries departments are:

Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship Awards

• Souleymane Bah ’26 (College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Niah Edwards ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), public services student, Special Collections Research Center
• Grace Hoffman G’26 (College of Law), graduate assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Ava Lubkemann ’27 (College of Engineering and Computer Science), Orange Innovation Scholar, Strategic Initiatives
• Duyen Thum Pham ’26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), student assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Katie Ryder ’26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), preservation assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Alexander Schulz G’26 (School of Information Studies), Information Literacy Scholar, Information Literacy

Patricia Kutner Strait Student Scholarship Awards

• Mason Burley ’27 (School of Education), preservation assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Alani Henderson ’26 (College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Anna Shuff G’26 (School of Information Studies), graduate student archivist, Special Collections Research Center
• Anthony Thomas ’26 (School of Information Studies), innovation mentor/marketing team lead, LaunchPad
• Sreynoch ‘Jess’ Van ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), photographer/videographer, Marketing and Communications

Dean’s Commendations Awards (in memory of Pan Am 103 victim Beth Ann Johnson)

• Hadja Fatoumata Barry ’26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Joel Carpenter G’26 (School of Information Studies), Information Literacy Scholar, Information Literacy
• James Harman ’26 (School of Information Studies), student worker, Access and Resource Sharing
• Iman Jamison G’26 (School of Information Studies), graduate instruction assistant, Special Collections Research Center
• Calvin Silver ’26 (School of Information Studies), public services reference, Special Collections Research Center
• Grace Suhadolnik ’26 (School of Information Studies), student worker, Learning and Academic Engagement
• Camren Wych’26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security

Honorable Recognitions:

• Khadija Kante ’26 (Arts and Sciences), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Philomena Kern’26 (School of Information Studies), student archival processing assistant, Special Collections Research Center
• Hannah Marosi G’26 (School of Information Studies), collections team graduate student worker, Department of Research and Scholarship
• Alexus Rowe ’26 (Arts and Sciences), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Mera Singh ’26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Fatumata ‘Nima’ Sow ’26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Haven Travis G’26 (School of Information Studies), graduate student assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Jiaying Wang ’26 (Arts and Sciences), public services student employee, Special Collections Research Center

Three ������ students have been awarded prestigious graduate research fellowships through the , and one student has been recognized with an honorable mention.

The fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM, social sciences and STEM education in the U.S. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support, with an annual stipend of $37,000 and a $16,000 educational allowance. Students can apply as rising seniors, recent graduates or first-year graduate students.

The 2026 recipients of the NSF GRFP are the following:

• Julia Fancher ’26, a physics major and applied mathematics major in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program;
• Daniel Hettrick, a first-year Ph.D. student in anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and
• Gabe Suarez, a first-year Ph.D. student in theoretical physics in A&S.

Eadin Block ’26, a physics major and Spanish language, literature and culture major in A&S, received an Honorable Mention in this year’s competition.

Julia Fancher

Fancher, a University Scholar, Goldwater Scholar and two-time Astronaut Scholar, was gifted a copy of “Rise of the Rocket Girls,” a book about the women “human computers” who worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, when she was in middle school.

“I was instantly captivated by the stories of these women who discovered new insights into our universe through math and physics, and I knew that I wanted to do the same,” she says. To kickstart that path, she actively pursued the STEM resources her school district and community had available.

During her first year at Syracuse, she joined Professor Eric Coughlin’s high-energy astrophysics lab, where she researches tidal disruption events, in which a star is destroyed by the tidal field of a supermassive black hole. Her research has been published internationally and earned several awards.

Her second research project was a collaboration between Coughlin’s lab and local high school students through the ������ Research in Physics summer program. She has also mentored students internationally.

Fancher plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics and become a professor conducting research in theoretical high-energy astrophysics.

“The NSF GRFP will provide me with the resources necessary to continue pushing the forefront of astrophysics research while nurturing the next generation of scientists,” she says. “I want to ensure that students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to explore their interests and are encouraged to pursue careers in STEM just as I was.”

Daniel Hettrick

Hettrick’s research centers on the cultural resilience of the Kootznoowoo Tlingit, a Native Alaskan nation in Southeastern Alaska, during the period following the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.

Hettrick’s dissertation focuses on the former Tlingit summer village of Killisnoo, Alaska, occupied from 1867 to 1928. Using a holistic historical anthropology approach, he combines archaeological excavation, artifact analysis, ethnohistory, oral histories and Indigenous community collaboration to investigate how the Kootznoowoo Tlingit selectively adopted, adapted and rejected Russian and American cultural, religious and economic institutions—all while preserving a distinct Tlingit identity.

His commitment to preservation was deepened through firsthand experience. He visited historic Orthodox churches in Sitka and spoke directly with Tlingit Orthodox Christians while conducting research as an undergraduate. Those conversations also complicated his assumptions: learning that community members held a genuine sense of pride in inhabiting both Indigenous and Orthodox identities pushed him to think more carefully about how people navigate multiple, seemingly contradictory cultural frameworks.

Hettrick is committed to building reciprocal relationships with the Angoon Tlingit before and throughout his research. He recognizes that access to a community’s history, particularly one that has faced exploitation by both the state and academia, must be earned through demonstrated respect, humility and a genuine exchange of value. His long-term goal is to make collaborative, community-centered archaeology the standard rather than the exception.

Gabe Suarez

Suarez works with Professor Alexander Maloney on three-dimensional quantum gravity. His path to theoretical physics was unconventional: raised in rural Danville, Kentucky, he began working as an apprentice electrician at 14, not because the work fascinated him, but because it sharpened a way of thinking he would carry into physics.

“If a system is logical, and you’re honest with yourself about what you do and don’t understand, you can reason your way to the answer,” he says. That principle guided him through self-studying general relativity as a sophomore, completing five graduate courses as an undergraduate and being named Physics Senior of the Year at the University of Kentucky.

His senior thesis furthered a systematic categorical framework for Ward’s conjecture, a 1985 proposal that all integrable systems descend from a single universal gauge theory structure. He is quick to note that the conjecture’s value lies in its proof techniques, not its statement: the algebraic geometry and category theory required to settle it are precisely the tools modern fundamental physics increasingly demands. The tools connect directly to his Ph.D. work on how semiclassical Einstein gravity emerges from ensembles of conformal field theories.

Beyond research, tutoring his brother helped him learn that a teacher’s real job is showing someone they can learn, then stepping back. He has since carried that philosophy into recitation teaching, K-12 outreach and a return visit to his own rural high school, where he spoke to students who, like his younger self, may not yet see theoretical physics as a path available to them.

In addition to their faculty mentors, Fancher, Hettrick, Suarez and Block all worked with the University’s (CFSA) to prepare their applications.

Students interested in learning more about or applying for the next NSF GRFP award cycle or any other nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships should visit the����or email��cfsa@syr.edu��for more information.

Steam rose from bowls of homemade soup as students settled into their seats in the . A presentation on winter traditions in Turkey sparked conversation, drawing murmurs of recognition and a few nostalgic smiles.

When the slideshow ended, attendees gathered in small groups for a matching game connecting landmarks, customs and historical moments. Those more familiar with the traditions offered hints while others brought fresh curiosity to each pairing.

For an hour, Syracuse felt a little closer to Istanbul.

The gathering was part of the Maxwell School’s Culture and Conversation Tables, a series hosted by the Moynihan Institute that brings students and community members together to explore languages and cultures from around the world.

Held about once a month, each table takes a slightly different approach, from language-intensive practice sessions to film screenings and themed cultural presentations. All serve a shared purpose: building community while advancing Maxwell’s mission of exposing students to a wide range of perspectives and preparing them for an increasingly interconnected world.

Moynihan is home to Maxwell’s seven regional centers, focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, East Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and South Asia. Located on the third floor of Eggers Hall, the institute supports teaching, research and programming that prepares students to engage with the world’s most pressing challenges. The Culture and Conversation Tables are a natural extension of that work.

“The tables are one of the most accessible ways we connect students to the world beyond the classroom,” says , director of Moynihan and professor of political science. “Whether someone is preparing for fieldwork abroad, practicing a language they’re studying or simply curious about a part of the world they haven’t encountered before, these gatherings offer something genuinely valuable.”

Much of the tables’ day-to-day coordination falls to George Tsaoussis Carter, event specialist, and , regional programs manager for Asia. “What stands out most is the enthusiasm students bring to these tables, both the ones who help organize them and the ones who show up to learn,” says Baxter. “They leave with more than vocabulary or cultural trivia. They gain a broader sense of the world and a genuine connection to people from very different backgrounds.”

Baxter is also impressed by the care and commitment of table hosts, which, on the Asia side, include faculty such as , and Tomoko Walker from the , as well as graduate students and, on occasion, highly motivated undergraduates.

Originally known as Language Tables, the program was renamed to reflect its broader emphasis on culture, conversation and connection, according to , associate director of the Moynihan Institute.

Over the years, the institute has hosted tables in more than 20 languages, many supported by U.S. Department of Education grants aimed at strengthening international and language education. Currently, 16 tables are offered, spanning languages from Arabic and Hindi-Urdu to Chinese, French and Tamil. For most of the tables, the institute partners with faculty and instructors in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences

The tables have at times reflected the urgency of world events. For instance, visiting scholar Tetiana Hranchak hosted a Ukrainian table that drew strong attendance from students across the University, some directly impacted by the war with Russia. Hranchak, who fled her home in Kyiv after the invasion, joined the Maxwell community through the Scholars at Risk program, which supports academics displaced by conflict and persecution.

The tables also give international students a place to hear their native language and share traditions from home. Open to all ������ students, not just those in Maxwell programs, the tables invite anyone across campus to engage with new regions, customs and perspectives.

Story by Mikyala Melo

As two silver robotic dogs chased each other around the turf field inside the Ensley Athletic Center, 20 school-aged children reacted with excitement as they watched a robotics demonstration put on by .

Closer to the middle of the field, a Central New York high school student picked up a video game controller to steer a metallic robot with pointy spikes toward a target of balloons set up by .

These hands-on demos were just two of dozens of exhibits as part of the second Micron Day on Tuesday. The day’s events brought together more than 700 students—along with families, educators, industry leaders and community partners—to spotlight�� potential career opportunities available in STEM.

“These programs give these students an invaluable opportunity to see what’s next for them,” says Kim Burnett ’91, Micron’s lead for social impact and community development. “They leave feeling like they can pursue a career in STEM and that they belong in the STEM field. When you give kids opportunities to have fun and learn while being meaningfully engaged, it adds up to a great day.”

The most popular exhibit at the Micron Day Tech Expo was the virtual reality (VR) education table. Students lined up to wear VR headsets that took them inside Cornell University’s cleanroom and introduced them to the semiconductor industry.

“This is a unique educational opportunity. These students are face-to-face with me in the cleanroom,” says Tom Pennell, Cornell Nanoscale Facility’s workforce development program manager. “All day I kept hearing students say, ‘that’s so cool!’ We’ve created scalable educational content that gets students excited about the possibilities by blending curiosity with the fun aspects of STEM.”

Getting Excited About STEM Possibilities

There were exhibitors conducting demonstrations and answering questions from 35 different organizations—including 13 representing ������—as well as Micron camps and activities, community partner organizations, military and emergency response partners, higher education institutions and local tech employers.

For students like Om Vaidya, a freshman at the in the Syracuse City School District, the day sparked something. Vaidya envisions a career in STEM and hopes to one day work in robotics.

“This has been a great learning experience. I’m always excited about STEM possibilities, and after today, I know more about what it will take to get a job in STEM,” Vaidya says. “The robotic dogs were really cool, and it tied back to what we’re learning in school about how the sensors and actuators work to power the robots.”

The STEAM High School was among the dozens of schools that attended Micron Day. For educators like Jody Manning, executive director of STEAM High School, the hands-on, interactive activities served to enhance and complement the lessons being taught in the classroom, creating a more authentic learning environment.

“Students need to realize just how many opportunities are available for them in STEM fields. Having ������ and Micron serve as those key collaborators to make everything work for a day like this is crucial,” Manning says. “This sends a very clear message that we’re all in this together when it comes to creating STEM opportunities for the greater Syracuse area.”

Anyone Can Do This

After the robot dog demonstration, the middle and high school students were quick to approach Jiayu Ding G’26 and his classmates, eager to learn more about how the robots were able to easily move and chase after each other.

Over the summer, Ding helps run a six-week program where high school students gain coding skills and build robots from scratch.

Sharing the lessons from those classes with the students at Micron Day was a rewarding experience for Ding, who will graduate with a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering in May.

“Everyone loved the demonstrations with the robot dogs, that was definitely making many of the students curious about the technology,” says Ding, a member of the . “It makes me happy seeing how excited the students are about STEM. They want to know everything there is to know about this technology. The great part is anyone can do this.”

After the expo, Micron Day featured additional programming focused on the families and caregivers of young people in the region. There was an esports competition in the University’s new Esports Classroom, followed by a town hall that educated parents and students about the clubs, campus and programs available at both the University and elsewhere in the region.

Ten graduate students competed in the finals of this year’s (3MT) competition held recently at Bird Library. The annual event, sponsored by the , challenges participants to share highlights of their research and scholarship in succinct, engaging presentations lasting no longer than three minutes.

Three participants received recognition:

• Zehui Han, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering in the (ECS), won the competition with her presentation, . She received a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip and a one-year gold membership in a professional organization of her choice (the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation).
• Terese Millet Joseph, a doctoral candidate in human development and family science in the (A&S) earned the People’s Choice award for . Her prize was a set of Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones.
• Allie Thompson, a doctoral candidate in Earth and environmental sciences (A&S) earned an honorable mention for Using Hydrogen Isotopes in Leaf Waxes to Understand Ancient Rainfall.

Han’s winning project involves engineering smart urinary catheters that mimic nature’s immune defense system by using magnetically driven artificial cilia—microscopic, hair-like structures on cells—to physically sweep away bacteria and prevent life-threatening infections.

She says winning the competition “was both exciting and meaningful because it recognized not only the quality of the research but also the importance of communicating complex ideas clearly. Preparing for the competition showed me that presenting research in a way that connects with a broad audience is just as important as the work done at the bench.”

“Judging the Three-Minute Thesis competition is always exciting,” says Daniel Olson-Bang, director of professional and career development in the Graduate School. “I am continually fascinated by both the breadth of research our graduate scholars have underway and the quality of their presentations. This year, both aspects were particularly impressive.”

Glenn Wright, executive director of professional and career development in the Graduate School, says this is the school’s 12th year hosting the competition. “Participation and interest in the 3MT event continue to grow, and it is great to see that graduate students appreciate the professional development opportunity it represents. It also offers an excellent chance for them to showcase their research and skills.”

The other 3MT finalists (all doctoral candidates) are:

• Ava Breitbeck ’22, college science teaching, A&S: Science for the Greater Good
• Fasika Melese ’18, instructional design, development and evaluation, (SOE): What Happens When Future Educators Use GenAI Tools to Plan Lessons?
• Jacob Reese ’25, English, A&S: Sustainable Play: Encouraging Ecological Behaviors Through Slow Video Game Mechanics
• Ilaria Siriner G’25, cognitive psychology, A&S: How the Options Available Change What We Decide Is Right
• Mehrnoosh Nemati, biomedical engineering, ECS: A Window into the Placenta
• Hemalathaa Kasiviswanath Yuvaraja, instructional design, development and evaluation, SOE: Proof-of-Concept Augmented Reality iPad Application for Psychomotor Skill Learning: A Convergent Mixed Method Using Think-Aloud Protocols
• Nasim Khatibi, biology, A&S: New Targets, New Hope: Rethinking Rett Syndrome

Competition judges were of the ; , assistant professor of�� biomedical and chemical engineering in ECS; and Olson-Bang. Wright moderated the event.

was first developed at the University of Queensland in Australia and is now held at colleges and universities around the world.

Graduate students Jamea Candy Johnson ’25, G’27 and Adara “Darla” Hobbs ’26 are taking their affordable housing research out of the classroom and directly to the landlords, developers and community organizers working to solve one of Syracuse’s most pressing challenges.

Thanks to a revamped partnership with (TMR), a longstanding, community-focused series of events hosted by the , Johnson and Hobbs shared their findings directly with key public housing constituents.

The two students are conducting the research as , alongside three of their peers.

“My research focuses on the intersection of housing and health care, especially as it relates to economic stability, and this experience has only solidified that interest,” says Johnson, who is on a pre-med and pre-law track while pursuing a master’s degree in public health from the .

“We need community-driven solutions to the problems facing Syracuse. This needs to be about bringing people together from different backgrounds and perspectives and seeing what we can collectively do to address and solve the housing issue,” says Hobbs, who in May will earn a master’s degree in Pan-African studies from the .

Research With the Community, Not About It

The collaboration with TMR pushed Johnson to conduct qualitative research after engaging directly with those who provide and build housing in the city, and not just those people who need housing.

“It turned out to be one of the best ways to conduct research,” says Johnson, who works for both the Onondaga County Legislature and at the Salvation Army Women’s Shelter.

Rather than crunching numbers and visualizing datasets, the fellows conducted one-on-one interviews with each panelist before every session. They used those conversations to write discussion questions tailored to each speaker’s expertise, questions designed not just for academic audiences, but for the community members filling seats in the room.

Housing as a Health Issue

When panelists from Housing Visions—which develops large multi-unit complexes—and A Tiny Home for Good—which builds small-scale permanent housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness—described how they partner with Helio Health and Upstate Medical to bring health care directly to residents in their units, it reframed the entire conversation.

“We’re not just talking about giving people housing. We’re talking about giving people health care. Health care plus housing is going to lead to better lifelong solutions overall,” Johnson says.

It’s a point echoed by Hobbs, who was born and raised in Syracuse.

“Access to adequate health care, education and healthy food, that all comes underneath the umbrella of economic mobility,” Hobbs says.

Lived Experience as Expertise

What surprised Hobbs most through the TMR process was being recognized as an expert by many of the community leaders she had long admired and respected.

“I’m not just taking something from the panelists, they’re learning something from me as well. I do know what I’m talking about. I do have something valuable to contribute,” she says.

“Our lived experiences as locals and residents are the experiences that should be the change agents,” says Hobbs, who has spent more than a decade working in the Syracuse City School District.

Sharing Their Research Insights

Johnson and Hobbs will participate in “For Syracuse or With Syracuse? What Lender Student Fellows’ Research Reveals About Housing and Health in Syracuse” during the . The session runs from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Room 100A of the Nancy Cantor Warehouse Auditorium.

“This research program has really emphasized human connection more than anything, and I think that’s the greatest part,” Johnson says.

“Now, I can bring those collective experiences back to my community and hopefully continue to make a difference,” Hobbs says.

Shivam Kumar, a first-year Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Assistant Professor research group, recently��identified��a��security vulnerability in the Linux kernel,��a key��component��of countless computing systems and the largest open-source project in existence.

For many people, the Linux kernel operates invisibly in the background. But its reach is enormous: servers, supercomputers, Android devices, embedded systems and cloud infrastructure all run some variant of it. “From the servers to the cloud, Linux is the silent engine powering virtually the whole internet,” says Hoque.

Working to Reduce Security Vulnerabilities

Kumar is a member of the (SecuritY��of Networked��systEms), led by Hoque. The SYNE Lab works to reduce security vulnerabilities in computer software, developing tools that can automatically detect and repair potential vulnerabilities.

Kumar’s research focuses on a specific component of the Linux kernel: Non-Volatile Memory Express over TCP (NVMe/TCP), a communication protocol that enables data transfer between computing servers and remote storage systems over standard Ethernet networks. Widely adopted in modern data centers, the technology helps boost application performance, particularly in artificial intelligence training workloads and shared storage environments.

“In a desktop or laptop, the disk where data is stored is physically inside the machine,” Kumar says. “In contrast, computing servers often rely on storage located elsewhere—for example, in a remote storage server that houses a large pool of high-performance NVMe solid-state drives. NVMe/TCP is one of the protocols that allows computing servers to access these remote storage pools over a network while delivering performance that is close to having the drives locally attached.”

The SYNE Lab team is working on building an��automated tool that will systematically find vulnerabilities in operating systems. In their preliminary testing, Kumar found a vulnerability that��bad actors could easily exploit.��By sending malicious input from a client machine, an attacker could��crash��a remote storage server, posing��a serious threat to data centers and the infrastructure they support.��Kumar discovered a��missing input validation: the kernel code was not properly checking��incoming data before processing it.

After discovering the vulnerability, Kumar and Hoque contacted the Linux developer team and spent several weeks working back and forth to reproduce the issue and create a fix. The SYNE Lab developed both a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the vulnerability and the patch itself.

Kumar originally came to ������ as a master’s student, but after taking one of Hoque’s courses, his interest in operating systems grew. In 2025, he was accepted into the computer science Ph.D. program and is now a teaching assistant for CSE 486: Design of Operating Systems—the same topic that sparked his interest in pursuing his Ph.D.

“A student from ECS contributing to the security of the Linux kernel is a landmark achievement for the department,”��says Hoque. Kumar’s��patch has now been merged into the main Linux kernel��codebase,��where it will be pushed to all developers building on the platform going forward.

and the have partnered to launch an , a new self-paced credential designed to help business students evaluate sources, identify misinformation and apply research skills in a professional landscape increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI).

The program, offered in collaboration with the Office of Microcredentials, is open to both Whitman undergraduate and graduate students and encourages the development of core skills in information literacy, which is a crucial competency for academic pursuits, and one that employers also describe as being essential. The skills learned also connect to the University’s of Information Literacy and Technological Agility and Critical and Creative Thinking.

“For Whitman students, the certificate fills a meaningful gap between classroom learning and professional readiness,” says Assistant Director of Experiential Programs Roshawn Kershaw. “It increases a student’s ability to find reliable information, assess its credibility and apply it with confidence. This is important for a business environment increasingly shaped by excess data and AI content. It sets them apart from others before they even realize. The certificate is now available to both undergraduates and graduate students, which means it can meet Whitman students wherever they are in their academic journey, reinforcing skills that will serve them from their first internship to the boardroom.”

To earn the certificate and digital badge, students take online self-paced tutorial modules that introduce them to key information literacy skills and library resources:

• Identifying Bias and Misinformation
• Types of Sources
• Evaluating Information
• Research as Process
• Search Basics, Part 1
• Search Basics, Part 2
• Syracuse Libraries Resources
• Student Guide to AI

“I am so excited to have these online tutorials become an official certificate and digital badge that is now available to both grads and undergrads,” says Librarian for Business, Management and Entrepreneurship Steph McReynolds. “We’ve offered the tutorials as part of the program for years, and students have asked for a certificate to show employers their accomplishments in this area, and now we can provide that digital credential.”

Information Literacy Librarian Kelly Delevan sees this certificate as an excellent template for the development of information literacy badges for other schools and colleges at Syracuse. The certificate is even serving as a model beyond our institution, as a librarian from another university has recently reached out to use the certificate module categories at their own library.

Molly McConnell, a Ph.D. candidate in composition and cultural rhetoric in the (A&S), was selected as the 2026 winner of the prestigious Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award for her work titled “Working with Microbes: The Collaborative Nature of Techne.”

A&S and the ������ Library Associates will host a on Wednesday, April 8, at 1 p.m. Anyone interested in attending can register by emailing libevent@syr.edu by April 3.

McConnell, this year’s recipient, will receive a $1,000 prize. Her essay explores what it means to consider a domestic, small-scale fermentation practice as a techne. She frames techne as a collaborative effort and questions what that collaboration means for the practice itself as well as the actors involved. McConnell relies on work in the field of more-than-human studies and in the social study of microbes, along with various work on fermentation as a practice, to think about how humans collaborate with microbes and what power dynamics are at play in that situation. This article asks about the temporality and intimacy in the collaboration when fermentation is viewed as techne.

McConnell’s essay was chosen from those submitted by A&S graduate students currently enrolled in African American studies; English; art and music histories; languages, literatures and linguistics; philosophy; religion; and writing studies, rhetoric and composition.

McConnell will be graduating in May. She serves as an editor for , an organization that publishes creative work of people impacted by the carceral system, and she volunteers for .

Professor Mary Hatch Marshall was a founding member of the Library Associates and holds a distinguished place in the college’s history. In 1952, she became the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature —the first woman appointed a full professor in the college— after having joined the faculty four years earlier.

Library Associates established the annual Mary Hatch Marshall Award to honor and help perpetuate her scholarly standards and the generous spirit that characterized her inspirational teaching career, which lasted through her retirement in 1993. Members of Library Associates, Marshall’s friends and family, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Central New York Community Foundation all contributed to the endowment, established in 2004, that funds the award.

Library Associates are a group of dedicated ������ Libraries supporters who help to raise funds and accessibility for the Libraries’ special collections, rare books and manuscripts through opportunities like the Faculty Fellows program.

Christine Cordon, a city manager and executive master of public administration student in the , has received the Ethical Hero Award from the California Local Government Management Collaborative, the California affiliate of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

Cordon serves as city manager of the City of Westminster, California.

Launched in 2012, the Ethical Hero Award recognizes local government leaders who demonstrate integrity, transparency and a steadfast commitment to ethical governance—particularly in challenging circumstances. Cordon is the sixth recipient since the award began in 2012.

The award was presented at the League of California Cities City Manager Conference in early February.

When Cordon stepped into the city manager role, first on an interim basis in 2021, Westminster was confronting a multimillion-dollar deficit, political infighting and years of turnover in the city’s top administrative position. Cordon was the city’s fourth manager in two years.

“I was a familiar face in the organization who had a strong generalist understanding of the city’s issues, politics and priorities; and I was tapped to be the interim city manager, with the understanding that the incoming council would decide what to do about the position after the election,” Cordon says. ��“After seven months as the interim city manager, the council offered me the full-time position, effective June 2022, and I have been proudly serving ever since.”

At a time of uncertainty, Cordon became the city’s first Vietnamese American city manager, bringing both her professional experience and a personal connection to a community with a large Vietnamese American population. Previously, she served in a newly established dual role for the city as the city clerk and communications director.

Her leadership has focused on restoring stability, rebuilding public trust and reinforcing strong governance practices, and she has worked to guide the city through budget challenges while maintaining essential services for residents.

Cordon says her decision to pursue an�� is directly connected to that work. She began online courses in the fall of 2025 and hopes to complete the degree in May 2027.

“The insight I’ve gained from my professors and while engaging with others in the Maxwell family has really reaffirmed the importance of what I do in my profession to promote transparency, democracy, good governance and stewardship of local government,” she says. “The program will continue to help me evolve as a strategic, reflective leader, and I will gain a solid intellectual foundation from a school with an indisputable reputation for excellence in public administration.”

Cordon, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chapman University, has made an impression on her Maxwell instructors, including Chris Mihm, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs.

“Christine leads her community by navigating the complex and often contentious intersection of policy, politics and administration,” says Mihm. “That takes enormous skill, not only in the technical sense, but also in how to work across organizational boundaries with employees, stakeholders and citizens with different perspectives, expectations and needs.�� She provides a road map for the rest of us to emulate.”

Maxwell has maintained a longstanding partnership with the ICMA, a global organization representing more than 13,000 local government leaders. In 2023, Maxwell and ICMA formalized and strengthened that relationship through a memorandum of understanding.

Through joint programming, conference engagement and leadership development initiatives, Maxwell and ICMA collaborate to support current and future city and county managers. For executive M.P.A. students like Cordon, that connection bridges academic preparation and professional practice at the highest levels of the field.

Nell Bartkowiak, assistant dean of online programs, says Cordon’s recognition reflects both her individual leadership and the program’s mission.

“Christine exemplifies the kind of principled, forward-thinking public service leader our executive M.P.A. program is designed to support,” Bartkowiak says. “Our students are experienced professionals who bring real-world challenges into the classroom and immediately apply new insights to their communities. Christine’s recognition by Cal-ICMA is a great example of how ethical leadership and rigorous professional education go hand in hand.”