Honorary Degrees to Putnam and Williams

James A. Putnam, philanthropist and business leader, and Julius P. Williams, composer and professor at Berklee College of Music, will receive honorary doctoral degrees and address KSC graduates at the College Commencement on Sunday, May 7.

President Helen Giles-Gee will award associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees to the more than 838 graduates who are expected to attend. The event begins at 1 p.m. on Fiske Quad.

James A. Putnam is president of MARKEM Corporation, an international manufacturing firm based in Keene. In 2003 the company was named “best large company to work for in New Hampshire” by Business N.H. Magazine.

Putnam joined MARKEM in 1974 following service in the Peace Corps in Libya and Thailand. He has been actively involved with the N.H. Charitable Foundation since 1982, was on the committee that created the Monadnock Community Foundation (MCF) in 1998, and served as the first chair of MCF’s board of directors from 1998-2002. Honored with a Granite State Award by the USNH trustees in 1995 for his service to the people of New Hampshire, Jim has been active in countless civic and nonprofit organizations, including the N.H. Historical Society, the Colonial Theatre, and Monadnock United Way. The Putnam family has contributed to many capital projects at Keene State, including the Putnam Theatre at the Redfern Arts Center. Most recently, Jim chaired the successful capital campaign for Keene State’s new Science Center.

Julius P. Williams is a conductor, prolific composer, recording artist, and pianist who has appeared with major symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. His discography includes the critically acclaimed Symphonic Brotherhood, a collection of original African-American symphonic works, and several other recordings. His cantata Journey to Freedom is a choral tribute to Keene native Jonathan Daniels, who was murdered while working on Martin Luther King’s voter registration drive in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. The piece, incorporating choral music in contemporary, classical, gospel, jazz, rock, and blues styles, was performed at the Jonathan Daniels commemoration in Keene on October 16, 2005.

Williams has served as assistant conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Symphony Orchestra. He was music director of the Washington Symphony Orchestra, and remains Laureate Music Director there. He has held faculty posts at several colleges and universities, including Wesleyan University, University of Hartford, and the University of Vermont. He is now professor of composition and conducting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a codirector of the Videmus Recording Company.

The Commencement ceremony is the culmination of graduation activities at Keene State. On Saturday, May 6, the Spring Honors Convocation will be held at 4 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Emerging Art: The Annual Art Student Exhibition will be on display at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery on Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. For information on Commencement activities call Pauline Dionne in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at 8-2106 or pdionne@keene.edu.

Permits Required for Graduation

Anyone planning to be on campus Sunday, May 7, should arrive early to allow for parking. Parking permits for faculty and staff members participating in the line-of-march and staff members who have volunteered to help on Commencement day will be put in campus mail on May 1. Other staff members must have a special parking permit as well (contact Pauline Dionne in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs at 8-2106 or pdionne@keene.edu). Permits should be placed on the dashboard of the car. Faculty and staff may park in the lots behind Elliot Hall or Carroll House.

Faculty and staff walking in the procession should report to the first-floor lobby of Rhodes Hall no later than 12:15 p.m. Students begin to process at 12:30 p.m., followed by faculty and the platform party.

President’s Portrait Unveiled

From Julie Dickson, executive assistant to the president: At Keene State College, the portraits of current and past presidents of the College hang in the Mason Library. At 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, President Helen Giles-Gee’s portrait will be unveiled in the lobby of the library. Join the president and members of her family for this occasion, held in anticipation of Friday’s inauguration ceremony. Light refreshments will be served.

Earth Day Celebration: London Plane Tree Dedicated to Dr. Giles-Gee

The London Plane tree in the Science Center courtyard that was dedicated to Dr. Helen Giles-Gee in honor of her inauguration has mottled olive-green bark, which gives the tree year-round interest. This species has the potential to grow to 100 feet.

Dedication ceremony guests choose noninvasive saplings to plant at home

Dr. Giles-Gee and her family

Keene Mayor Michael Blastos reads his proclamation

Dr. Giles-Gee

Inauguration Schedule

Friday, April 28
8 a.m. Morning Yoga at the Fitness Center
10 a.m. Campus and Presentations tours. Presentations include displays of service learning and community service. Half-hour tours begin at 10, 10:30, 11, and 11:30 a.m.; meet at the Student Center.
1:30 p.m. Academic Procession from Rhodes Hall to Spaulding Gymnasium. Keene State faculty and delegates from other institutions will be dressed in academic regalia. Please stand along Appian Way to clap them through.
2 p.m. Installation Ceremony, Spaulding Gymnasium. The ceremony will include standing recognition of student groups.
3 p.m. Reception for all students and attendees at the Zorn Dining Commons and plaza.
6-11 p.m. Inaugural Gala, dinner and dance to benefit student citizenship programs in the community.

Saturday, April 29
10 a.m. Cans Across Keene Food Brigade
Join us along Main Street as cans are passed from Appian Gateway to the Community Kitchen.
Noon Baseball vs. UMass-Boston
1 p.m. Softball vs. Southern Maine University
1 p.m. Men’s lacrosse vs. Southern Maine University
5-7 p.m. Alumni Reception, Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery
7:30 p.m. KSC Concert Band, Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond

Sander Lee and Klaus Bayr Honored with Faculty Research Award

Dr. Sander Lee, professor of philosophy, and Dr. Klaus Bayr, professor of geography, have been chosen to receive the Keene State College Award for Faculty Distinction in Research and Scholarship for 2006. They are the fifth and sixth recipients of the award, which recognizes contributions to research and scholarship at Keene State.

Dr. Lee is being honored for his pioneering work on the intersection of aesthetics, ethics, and popular culture and his scholarship on philosophical issues in Holocaust and genocide studies. For more than 20 years, he has analyzed film and television from a philosophical perspective. He has published many essays on the topic, and a book about the intellectual dimensions of Woody Allen’s films, Eighteen Woody Allen Films Analyzed.

In 2004, he combined his areas of interests in the essay “Scapegoating, the Holocaust, and McCarthyism in Billy Wilders Stalag 17,” which appeared in Film and Philosophy. And in 2005 his essay “Rights, Morality, and Faith in the Light of the Holocaust” appeared in the anthology Genocide and Human Rights: A Philosophical Guide edited by John Roth.

He has served as president of the Northern New England Philosophy Association (2002-03) and the International Society for Value Inquiry (1988-1993). In1988 he helped found and served as the first president of the Society for the Philosophical Study of Genocide and the Holocaust.

“Sander is an inspirational teacher. He sets high standards for his students and works closely with them to help them meet those standards,” says Ann Atkinson, chair of the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Philosophy. “His scholarship enriches his classroom, our department, Keene State College, and his discipline.”

Dr. Bayr’s current research has four focuses: analyzing snow measurements for NASA (in the Monadnock region), glacier research in Austria in conjunction with NASA, developing and publishing maps and atlases for area schools (The New Hampshire Atlas, The Vermont Atlas, The Rhode Island Atlas, and The Electronic Atlas of New Hampshire and Vermont), and examining rice cultivation in Malaysia.

For more than three decades Dr. Bayr has pursued numerous research opportunities that have benefited the College. A National Science Foundation grant he received established KSC’s first Geographic Information System (GIS) Remote Sensing Laboratory, which serves traditional students and also continuing education students in a GIS Certification Program that he initiated. He has integrated students into several of his funded projects, such as the New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island atlas projects. Dr. Bayr and his student assistants worked on ground truthing for the Terra Satellite on the Earth Observing System by NASA to measure amounts of snowfall in the Keene area. This information was used by NASA to verify and compare the findings of the satellite with the actual data. KSC was eventually the only academic institution in the United States to be working with NASA in this way.

Dr. Bayr has received the New Hampshire Professor of the Year award (1996) from the Carnegie Foundation and the KSC Distinguished Teacher of the Year award (1995).

“No other faculty member that I know at KSC has achieved so many scholarship accomplishments over such a long time period,” say Jo Beth Mullens, geography professor and department chair. “Clearly, Dr. Bayr is an extremely active and accomplished scholar.”

Student Film Festival Saturday

From Larry Benaquist, chair, Film Studies: We in Film Studies invite you to our once-a-year screening of student work at noon on Saturday, April 29, in the Alumni Recital Hall.

This complex medium demands work in writing, sound design, directing, and editing. Students create their own scripts, train the actors, and do their own blocking, lighting, and editing. Some even held casting calls in New York City.

Most of the films are short, and they represent the best projects of the academic year. The afternoon will conclude with the screening of two senior thesis projects that have been in production for 15 months. I think you’ll be surprised by the narratives our students have created and their ability to use the latest in nonlinear special effects to bring their stories forward.

The Recital Hall was nearly filled last year, so please come a few minutes early. I think you’ll enjoy the afternoon.

Special Hours for Art Exhibit

The annual KSC student art show, Emerging Art, will be on exhibit in the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery through May 7, with special extended hours for Commencement weekend.

Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m., Saturday through Wednesday; noon to 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday. Extended hours for Commencement weekend are noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7. For more information call 8-2720.

Tea to Honor Haines, Nelson

From Nona Fienberg, Dean of Arts and Humanities: Please join in a reception tea to honor Mike Haines and Doug Nelson on their retirement!

See you in the Mabel Brown Room, Student Center, on May 4 at 4!

Band, BBQ, Kick-off

From Joe Darby, social chair, Keene State College Education Association (KSCEA): On behalf of KSCEA, I am extending an invitation to you to join faculty and staff (and their families) at an end-of-the-academic-year celebration at the College Camp at Wilson Pond on Monday, May 8, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Please invite your families to join us, too. The end of the academic year is a great time to reward yourself, and what better way than to meet up with old friends and get acquainted with new ones! Sodexho is catering the event with classic BBQ fare. Live music entertainment will be provided by the Scott Mullett Trio from 4 to 6 p.m. The BBQ is a kick-off event for Professional Development Weeks, so more reminders and info will be forthcoming.

Plan for Your Retirement

Mark Foster, from TIAA-CREF, will be on campus on Monday, May 1, hosting two educational seminars in the Madison Street Lounge, Student Center. To reserve a seat at the seminar(s), please visit the TIAA-CREF website at www.tiaa-cref.org/moc, or call Susan Geist at 800-842-2004.

Seminar 1: 9 to 10 a.m.
“Developing an Investment Strategy”
With so much information available today, it’s often difficult to know what approach to take regarding your finances. This seminar explores some of the key factors that go into formulating an investment strategy, including a review of investment basics, asset allocation, the benefits of a managed portfolio, and what to look for when selecting a financial services company.

Seminar 2: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“Your Retirement Income Options” (for individuals one year or less from retirement)
Developing a sound financial strategy for retirement can make a big difference. Now is the time to get answers to some important questions and begin planning. Come find out how TIAA-CREF can help you get organized, identify your goals, and develop a strategy to help achieve your goals today.

Professional Activities

Linda Hadden, assistant professor of management and advisor to the Society for Advancement Management (SAM) accompanied two students, both e-board members of SAM and graduating Management majors, to the 2006 SAM International Business Conference held April 6-9 in Orlando, Florida. Both students, Jennifer Fox and Meghan O’Toole, presented papers written for Professor Hadden’s Management Information Systems class this fall. Professor Hadden also served as a conference discussant for a paper entitled “Using a Web-based Solution for Competitive Advantage”. This was the first year that Keene State College has been represented at this international business conference.

Dan Carr, type designer and lecturer in typography in the Graphic Arts Department, has won a prestigious Book Club of California grant to research 16th-century French typeface designs by Simon DeColin. Results of his research will be published in the organization’s San Francisco journal.

Barbara Ware, assistant professor of Spanish, presented “La autoridad de la voz femenina en la poesía posmodernista” at the V Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica in Lima, Peru, March 8-10. Her paper detailed the poetry of Delmira Agustini and Alfonsina Storni and their role in the emergence of the feminine voice in Latin American poetry during the first decades of the 20th century. Barbara, together with a group of other presenters at the conference, extended her stay in Peru to participate in a guided tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Ollantaytambo, Urumbamba, Cusco, and Machu Picchu. The site for the conference can be found at www.lhup.edu/CILH.

Founders Day

From Anne McMillan, Counseling Center: Founders Day for Operating Staff has been set for Friday, May 12. More information, will be published in Campus News shortly.

200 Bows

KSC Arborist Jeff Garland lines Appian Way with red and white bows in anticipation of the inauguration of Dr. Giles-Gee on April 28. Garland estimates that more than 200 bows have been placed on trees around campus and on Main Street.

Integrative Studies Program Passed

From Gladys Johnsen, professor of music and professional studies and chair, KSC Senate: The Integrative Studies Program was passed by the Senate: 21 were in favor of the program, 5 were not in favor of the program, and there were no abstentions. Congratulations to the General Education Committee for this success, resulting from long hours of thought, work, and dedication to the process.

Campus Calendar
selected events

Friday, April 28
8 a.m. Morning Yoga, Fitness Center.
10 a.m. Campus and Presentations tours, Student Center. Half-hour tours begin at 10, 10:30, 11, and 11:30 a.m.
1:30 p.m. Academic Procession from Rhodes Hall to Spaulding Gymnasium.
2 p.m. Installation Ceremony, Spaulding Gymnasium.
3 p.m. Reception. Zorn Dining Commons and plaza.
Emerging Art: The Annual KSC Art Students Exhibition (through 5/7), Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery.

Saturday, April 29
10 a.m. Cans Across Keene Food Brigade, Main Street.
Noon. Student Film Festival, Recital Hall, Redfern.
Noon. Baseball vs UMass-Boston, Owl Athletic Complex.
1 p.m. Softball vs. Southern Maine University, Owl Athletic Complex.
1 p.m. Men’s lacrosse vs. Southern Maine University, Owl Athletic Complex.
5-7 p.m. Alumni Reception, Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery.
7:30 p.m. KSC Concert Band, Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond.

Send in Your News

Campus News is published every Wednesday during the academic year and every other Wednesday during the summer. Send news or items for Professional Activities by e-mail to campusnews@keene.edu or by mail to Campus News, College Relations Office, Mailstop 1502. No phone submissions, please. The editor is Robin Dutcher. The deadline is at noon on the Friday prior to publication. We reserve the right to edit. Due to space limitations, not all items can be published in Campus News.