New Carnegie Classifications affirm RIT’s reputation for science and technology

RIT graduate Sammy Deol won a yearlong Fulbright Scholarship to attend graduate school in England. He will earn a master’s degree in public health in preparation for medical school.   Deol, who is from Ithaca, N.Y., graduated from RIT this year with a BS degree in biomedical sciences. He plans to become a medical doctor and welcomes the chance to conduct epidemiology and social science research in a foreign country. “Even though I want to practice medicine in the United States one day, I want to have exposure to that aspect of medicine and to have the perspective of a different healthcare system,” Deol said. He enrolled in the University of Birmingham for its proximity to one of the largest Sikh communities in England. Deol, who belongs to the Sikh tradition, is looking to contribute to research interventions addressing high rates of alcohol and drug use among the Sikh population in Birmingham. Deol became interested in the impact of addictive behaviors within a family on children’s emotional-social development and health from working in the research lab led by Stephanie Godleski, RIT associate professor of psychology. Godleski’s addiction research inspired the focus of his graduate work. “I also want to explore my culture more,” Deol said. “I am curious to see the differences between American and British Sikhism, and I think that would be a good opportunity do that, as well.” (While on the staff of the student-run Reporter Magazine, Deol wrote “A Sikh Society,” about the population in Rochester and the gurdwara, or temple, near RIT.) In addition to working with Godleski, Deol attributes his success to professors in the College of Health Sciences and Technology, and the RIT Honors Program for his personal growth and development. Deol took courses in parasitology and human immunology from Bolaji Thomas, professor of biomedical sciences. “He made sure that we strove for excellence and pushed us to go as hard as we could, which I really appreciate. He would remind us that it’s not going to be easy to get where we want to be.” Elizabeth Perry, a senior lecturer in biomedical sciences, stressed the human aspect of medicine in all of her courses, but especially in Biomedical Ethics.  “Dr. Perry would talk about the need for people who go into medicine and healthcare professions to have humility and to be able to understand patients’ problems and where they’re coming from , which I think is really important to consider,” Deol said. The RIT Honors program also shaped Deol’s time at RIT through advanced coursework, complementary learning experiences, travel money to present his research at a conference, and required service work. Volunteering at a local hospice home allowed him to see the patients as people facing their own mortality. “The Honors program encouraged me to pursue those types of opportunities and I think it made me someone who will be a stronger practitioner going into the future.”

Quang “Neo” Bui, an associate professor in the Department of MIS, Marketing, and Analytics in Saunders College of Business, has been awarded a Fulbright-University of Vaasa Scholar Award. The prestigious award is administered through the U.S. Department of State and jointly funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation and the University of Vaasa. Bui will head to Vassa, Finland, a city often referred to as the “Nordic Energy Capital” to study cybersecurity best practices. A drastic increase in cybersecurity attacks in the United States over the last few years inspired Bui’s research that will examine how energy firms in Finland build cybersecurity resilience as part of its broader security plans. After interviewing and researching the best practices by Fortune 500 companies in the United States, he plans to interview and survey energy companies in Finland to understand how leadership, culture, and policy contributes to effective cyber defenses. “My initial analysis is that awareness and attention to digital transformations and cybersecurity tends to be lacking at the highest levels here,” said Bui. “The $10 million question is, ‘how to change it?’ I hope to find those solutions in Finland.” This award carries a personal meaning for Bui, who continues to receive inspiration from his family and fellow educators. Bui was born in Vietnam to a family of teachers: his mother currently teaches chemistry, his father, now retired, taught math and physics, and his brother is also a university professor. “My parents were role models who not only inspired me to pursue knowledge, but they also taught me to serve my community,” Bui said. “All of those experiences gave me early exposure on what it means to teach and guide young learners on their growth process. It really inspired me to decide to become a professor.” Coming to the United States in 2003, he eventually found his way to RIT. He has found inspiration and guidance from fellow professors Sean Hansen, Vic Perotti, and Emi Moriuchi. Moriuchi, whose office is next to Bui’s, is a Fulbright alumna whose experience provided the spark for Bui to pursue the award. His patient, methodical teaching style has helped students achieve in his rigorous classes. Annie Hong, a recent MIS graduate from Oradell, N.J., said his mentorship helped her find her footing in the MIS program. Now a business analyst at JPMorgan Chase, she noted that Bui’s teaching gave her practical tools at a crucial point in her life. “He helped me find my vocational identity,” Hong said. “Through his classes, I realized that data can be fun; you can use your own tools and techniques to dissect that data and turn it into a story. It grounded me and completely changed the way I saw my career.” Now a U.S. citizen, Bui said the opportunity to represent the country as a cultural ambassador through the Fulbright program is deeply humbling. “To be able to receive this award is a huge honor,” said Bui. “This is something that I take seriously to fulfill my responsibility, to represent this great country and the cultures and values we have.” Bui will travel to Finland with his wife and young son this August. His wife, who offered invaluable support and feedback throughout the application process, is especially excited about the region’s nature-focused lifestyle—and particularly the famed “sauna culture” in Finland. Their son is eagerly looking forward to visiting the Santa Claus Village. Bui plans to write frequent updates on his experiences on his LinkedIn’s blog articles.

Numerous members of the RIT community will participate in exploring the universe during the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) fourth cycle, set to begin in early July. Researchers will be co-investigators on nine different accepted proposals, including the largest of Cycle 4. Director for the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics Jeyhan Kartaltepe will work on eight programs while Director of the Center for Detectors Don Figer will continue to advance knowledge of the Arches cluster, which he helped discover. Additionally, Postdoctoral Research Associates Santosh Harish and Lilan Yang and Ph.D. student Edwin Alexani will also be involved in JWST Cycle 4 work. Rebecca Larson, who was a postdoctoral research associate with Kartaltepe until recently moving on to the Space Telescope Science Institute, is also included on numerous accepted proposals. “I think the biggest thing to look forward to is a lot of spectroscopy,” said Kartaltepe. “We’ll be getting spectra of high redshift galaxies that we first identified in COSMOS-Web, so it will be exciting to spectroscopically confirm some of them. Another program will focus on ‘little red dots,’ or the high redshift AGN candidates that we’re still trying to understand.” The JWST Cycle 4 programs that include RIT researchers are:Vast exploration for nascent, unexplored sources (VENUS): The largest Cycle 4 proposal accepted, this treasury program will observe apparently bright but intrinsically faint distant objects using gravitational lensing to further explore the first galaxies, black holes, and their evolution. (Kartaltepe, Larson) Understanding the nature of the first wandering AGN candidate in a clump: This program will take a look at active galactic nuclei (AGN), which will open new avenues for chasing distant wandering supermassive black holes and advance understanding of their connection with galaxy mergers and clump formation. (Kartaltepe, Harish) SPAM: Star-formation from photometry through the addition of medium-bands: This work will add 10 new filters to the CEERS legacy dataset. (Kartaltepe, Larson) Brightest & farthest: Confirming intrinsically luminous z~10-12 galaxies in COSMOS: This proposal aims to spectroscopically confirm 30 of the brightest, highest redshift galaxies. (Kartaltepe, Harish) A comprehensive population study of little red dots: Connecting early BH and galaxy growth: JWST has previously revealed an unknown population of dust-reddened active galactic nuclei in the early universe. This work will follow-up to measure and discover more. (Kartaltepe, Harish, Yang) MEGA spectra: Black hole growth and ISM conditions at cosmic noon: This work will create a complete census of the interstellar medium star formation and black hole growth within a targeted area. (Kartaltepe) A new window on galaxy structure: Mid-IR morphology with MEGA: No study has directly examined the morphology of the dustiest galaxies at cosmic noon. This program will describe how dust and star morphology evolves with cosmic time and varies with physical properties. It will also examine how AGN growth correlates with merger signatures in faint and obscured populations, and will shed light on how and where star formation is quenched. (Kartaltepe) A census of galaxy kinematics and outflows to z~7: The goal of this program is to reveal the spatially resolved kinematics of galaxies in the early universe in large numbers for the first time and to detect and characterize the physical and chemical conditions of their outflowing gas. (Kartaltepe) Dissecting the Arches cluster: An ideal test bed to study the metal-rich universe: For the first time, a detailed census and characterization of the heavily reddened massive cohort of the Arches cluster will be taken. This will make the cluster the prototypical template for understanding clusters and their environments in distant, metal-rich, massive star-forming galaxies, including those seen in JWST images of young galaxies in the early universe. (Figer, Alexani) ‌ NASA The Arches cluster is the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way, shown here in a Hubble Telescope image from 2015. The Arches cluster was co-discovered by Figer in the early 1990s as part of his Ph.D. thesis research. As Figer explained, the discovery of at least 150 massive stars in the young cluster was a game-changer because astronomers thought supermassive clusters only existed in the early epoch of the galaxy. In his follow-up research of the cluster using the Hubble Space Telescope, he identified the only known measurement of an upper mass cutoff. Now, JWST provides the ability to get even more detail. “We have a chance to observe fainter stars, and now we have an opportunity to go back and get better mass estimates,” said Figer. Figer has been involved in JWST since its development. As a detector scientist, he led his team to produce results that NASA used to choose detector technology in both the imager and spectrograph on the telescope, resulting in a NASA Space Act award for the work. As JWST has already proved through its first three cycles, its advanced technology is allowing for the best views ever of the universe and more information than ever before. “We see starburst galaxies all around us where we know there’s a lot of new stars being formed, but they are far away so we can’t observe individual stars,” said Alexani. “The fact that our cluster is very metal rich, very young, and in our own galaxy will provide us with a lot of spectroscopic data and we will be able to see individual stars and study them.” JWST Cycle 4 will have the largest general observer time so far, with 274 proposals selected for approximately 8,500 total hours of observations. 2,377 proposals were submitted for consideration, requesting more than 750,000 hours. The cycle’s investigations will cover a wide array of study as astronomers around the world work to uncover more mysteries of the universe.

Professor Kijana Crawford has been described as a women who has “kept an eye on the prize” during her 52-year tenure at RIT. She has watched the university grow in many ways since joining the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 1973. Now, she’s prepared to move onto her next adventure: retirement. Crawford says that while she is leaving RIT on June 30, the university won’t ever leave her heart because of the “tremendous impact” the community has had on her life and her family. “RIT is a great place to raise a family, and it’s a great place to be a single parent. I raised my two daughters here,” she said. “Faculty would let them sit in on their lectures. Students used to help babysit them, and they even helped my daughters learn Mandarin Chinese and Russian and tutored them in math.” Crawford gave back just as much as she says she benefitted from the RIT community. She saw, and advocated for, changes in policy and leadership that helped the university evolve into a more welcoming, diverse campus. She mentored other faculty members, sought ways to increase and retain AALANA faculty at RIT with the formation of the AALANA Faculty Advisory Council, and always smiled in opposition to what she calls the “old white boys network.” In the 2015-2016 academic year, she was awarded the Isaac L. Jordin Sr. Faculty Pluralism Award, which recognizes faculty who make significant contributions to enhance diversity, pluralism, and inclusion in and outside of RIT. One point of pride for Crawford came this past academic year when she partnered with two colleagues—Assistant Professor Makini Beck and Associate Vice President for Academic Access and Success Phillippa Thiuri—and a group of students on a study abroad trip to Accra, Ghana. She says creating this opportunity was the last thing on her “RIT bucket list.” As she begins her next life journey, she shares some reflections on her time at RIT. What are you most proud of when looking back at your time at RIT? ‌ RIT University Photography collection (RITArc.0672), RIT Archives Crawford, second from right, instructs students in a discussion circle during class in 1982. I think that one of my earlier accomplishments was serving on a search committee for the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and being the only female and woman of color on that search team. It was a challenge. There was an internal candidate that the old white boys network wanted to emerge in the front, but there was also an internal female candidate who happened to be Mary C. Sullivan. They did not want her to emerge as part of the finalists. The committee began to put pressure on me when they realized that I was speaking up in opposition to the candidate that they wanted to emerge, and I had to do my homework to push back. I really surprised that group by not caving to the pressure—and I love surprises. I love it when people think that I am the spook who sat by the door. As a result of advocating and standing my ground, Mary Sullivan became the first female dean of the college. Another moment I’m proud of is that I was the first faculty member to introduce a course called the Homophiles and Their Society. I knew then that there was more to same gender relationships than sexual elements, and that things that happen in heterosexual relationships are also things that members of the LGBTQ+ community experience. I worked with the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley and their leader at the time, Michael Robertson, introduced me to people in the LGBTQ+ community. They really taught and nurtured me and helped me organize the class until members of that community could take over and do it themselves. I knew it was important for their voices to be heard, not mine, and that’s why I asked many of them to come in as guest speakers to tell their own narratives. I simply used my platform, the classroom, to allow them to educate and talk about their experiences. It wasn’t my experience, and it was not my right or my place to tell students what their experience was. In that process, I learned a lot myself. How have you seen the campus community evolve over the last 50 years? When I walk around campus, it’s not only buildings changing. The student body is also changing. Their level of consciousness is much higher than when I came in 1973. It is so fascinating now to walk around campus and be among a diverse group of faculty, staff, and students. Today, when we start talking about issues in my classes, students no longer feeling inhibited about saying they’re bisexual or transgender. I'm finding that there are more white male students talking about the privilege that they have as white students, and I don't have to get into a debate about it. It’s a comfortable environment. My colleagues' level of consciousness is also higher. It's not just me solely speaking up and resisting. There are plenty of allies on campus. This is the beauty of RIT—seeing how RIT has grown and developed into a place that is inclusive. I'm seeing how organically faculty members of all colors and persuasions come together to resist policies, laws, and executive orders that are being pushed on the university. And it's not just people of color showing opposition, nor is it only within the liberal arts. It's a collective group across the institute. It's exciting to see it happen. It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than it was in 1973. What are some of your most cherished memories from your teaching career? It’s always commencement, to be honest. It’s always an emotional time for me and I simply cannot hold it together. It is an accumulation of the students’ work and the faculty and staff’s work. When they start lining up, I enjoy seeing the creativity that comes out in terms of how students decorate their caps and the signs that they have, and the dances they do walking across the stage. I have not gone through a single commencement without tearing up. What are your post-RIT plans? I will be headed to Madison, Alabama, which is near Huntsville. I’m already a registered voter there and I plan to become more politically involved and engaged. I’ll be working very actively with the Greater Huntsville chapter of Links, Incorporated, the Greater Huntsville chapter of my sorority Delta Sigma Theta, and the Greater Huntsville Chapter of Jack and Jill Associates. I’ll work closely with them and be involved in the political process for voter empowerment. I grew up in Troy, Alabama, and was born in Tuskegee. I was the only female among the seven students that integrated the local white high school in 1965, Charles Henderson High School. The experience that I had there, how I was treated, really set the background and the seed for my activism and resistance to white supremacy. I’m eager to continue that work back in Alabama.

RIT has received a gift of $11.1 million through the estate of late alumnus and former trustee Henry Navas and his late wife, Deborah Robbins. Included is a gift of $4.8 million to RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the largest gift in its history. Throughout their lives, the couple supported several areas of RIT. With this latest gift, they have given a total of $12.4 million. NTID will use the gift to support student scholarship and success, according to NTID President Gerry Buckley. “Henry and Deborah were lifelong friends of NTID,” said Buckley. “It is through this friendship and the mutual respect shared among Henry, Deborah, and I that our students will be able to live, learn, and thrive as part of our very special community. We are so grateful.” Additionally, $800,000 from the estate will support RIT’s Big Shot photo project produced by the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. Navas, a champion of the “painting with light” project, visited several potential sites with the Big Shot team. Professor Michael Peres wrote about Navas, “We had many long and wonderful conversations about Big Shot and its future. Being a person who enjoyed challenges and process, Henry dreamed big things for Big Shot. He liked Big Shot because it brought people together and it had both social and cultural components. He often commented how Big Shot was about art, technology, and so much more. His impact on Big Shot will be forever remembered and honored.” In 2024, the Navas-Robbins Poetry Fund in the College of Liberal Arts was established with a $150,000 gift to provide students with opportunities to meet and work with professional poets, writers, and artists, and to expand learning across disciplines. Today, the fund provides copies of visiting poets’ books to students, staff, and faculty; creates broadside art prints of poems by visiting poets printed on RIT’s letterpress; facilitates the work of student poets at readings; and establishes partnerships with local literary organizations. RIT’s Eugene H. Fram Chair in Applied Critical Thinking, who leads the charge to foster the application of exercising effective thinking, has been permanently endowed thanks to the couple’s $5.3 million gift. Navas and Robbins established the Fram Chair in 2012, funding it anonymously during their lifetimes, but has given the university permission to posthumously share their names. Navas, who died in 2022, earned an MBA in 1974 and a master’s degree in accounting in 1977 from Saunders College of Business. He served on RIT’s Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2015. His career included work in Xerox’s internal operations analysis department; as director of internal audit at Advanced Micro Devices; and at Cisco Systems, where he became controller and treasurer and helped launch the company’s initial public offering in 1990. He served on several RIT committees, including the board’s education and audit committees, as well as the RIT West Coast Board of Advisors from 2014 to 2020 and the Strategic Plan Task Force from 2014 to 2016. He was also honored with the Saunders College of Business Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. Robbins earned her Ph.D. in English Literature with a specialization in American Studies from Northwestern University. She taught in the English departments at Marquette University and University of Michigan. After her teaching career, she worked at Xerox and Apple, where she managed editors. After retiring from Apple, Robbins devoted much of her time to volunteering at the Peninsula Humane Society and volunteering at a gibbon sanctuary in Thailand. She was also a board member of the San Francisco Zoo. Both Navas and Robbins were avid readers and supporters of the arts. Robbins died in early 2022, a few months before Navas. Navas and Robbins “worked tirelessly to support RIT through their generous giving and dedication to its students, faculty, and staff,” said Phil Castleberry, vice president of University Advancement. “All those who knew Henry and Deborah immediately felt a sense of connectedness. We are forever grateful to them for their passion toward the university and their belief in the power and impact of higher education.”

Associate Professor Brian Barry began his RIT career in 1973. After 52 years of teaching, he is set to retire on June 30. Barry was jointly appointed to the College of Liberal Arts’ Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Psychology. Early in his career, he served as the Caroline Werner Gannett Professor. When reflecting on his time at RIT, he says a point of pride was introducing new courses to campus, including the ever-popular Death and Dying course. Barry describes himself as an intellectually curious person and an avid reader. Teaching was the perfect career for Barry, as it allowed him to read and explore those curiosities. Working in higher education was a particular joy because, he says, college students are really beginning to think and explore various issues as they settle into their own beliefs, making for engaging and fascinating conversations. When it came to his approach to instruction, Barry made room for these student-driven conversations. He says that one thing that has marked his teaching career is that he didn’t bring notes to class.  “At one point, I convinced myself that it was unfair to expect students to learn things that I haven’t learned or that I needed to reference notes to report on,” said Barry. “There was a spontaneity to that way of interacting with students that was enhanced by this approach.” Many of the courses Barry taught explored topics that are very personal. He describes the subject matter as exploring the “broader spectrum of who the students are personally,” and he says he is proud of the community of trust he and the students created in the classroom. As he looks toward starting his retirement, he shared some reflections on his career. Why were you interested in teaching Death and Dying? Originally, I wasn't interested in it. My first dean in the College of Liberal Arts, Paul Bernstein, saw that Johns Hopkins was offering a course in death and dying. He asked me whether I'd be interested in setting up a parallel course, and I said no. I was much more interested in political issues than I was in death and dying. But then my mother died of breast cancer, and I realized that there were some things happening to me, and things that I observed in other people, that were worth analyzing more academically. So, I put together the course. One of the ironic things about the process was that when the curriculum committee looked at it for their approval, they said I needed to change the title to something like Thanatology 101. They thought Death and Dying may be too foreboding and it wouldn’t attract much of an audience, but if we called it Thanatology—which is the Greek word for death—maybe I’d be able to get it started. I ignored that advice and, as it turned out, we didn't encounter that problem at all.  I've taught Death and Dying for over 40 years now. At one point, when we were on the quarter system, I was teaching it up to 10 times each year. The demand for the course has been insatiable. I’m proud of both the fact that I put the course together and that it was received so well.  I always joke that nobody taking the course has ever died during the course. I tell students that we deal with some heavy topics, but I try to keep a relatively light approach. I didn’t want this to be a course that students dread coming to because it brings them down psychologically. I've never received a negative reaction saying this course was too depressing. I tend to get a welcoming response because very few people have an opportunity to talk about what's going on when they're grieving. I oftentimes get letters from students at the end of the semester, or even much later, saying that they were dealing with a death in their family or friendship network and they think the course really helped them get through it. That is always gratifying to learn. What are some of your most cherished memories from your teaching career? ‌ Provided Some of Brian Barry’s fond memories from his time on campus include seeing his daughter Christine earn her RIT diploma. The best memories come from the relationships I’ve built with my students. A few years ago, there was a student in my Death and Dying course who made infrequent but very thoughtful contributions to the discussions we were having. I told her how impressed I was by her contributions and invited her to be my teaching assistant for two years. We've stayed in touch since she graduated. In fact, we formed a two-person book club together and we try to pick a book each month to read and discuss. We’ve not always done things on time, but her friendship has meant a lot to me.  There's another student that I formed a friendship with who went on to set up her own company where she offers grief services to people in prison. She now works in five different prisons in the Midwest. To find out that some of the students are not only benefiting personally, but they’re also finding a way to integrate what we talked about in class into their lives and careers, is really a gratifying experience.  What are your post-RIT plans? I'm going to do a large amount of reading, which has been a lifetime habit. I may even read some books that I don't have to take notes on, so there could be a more relaxed kind of approach. I hope to do a little bit of writing, and I've got two topics I want to expand upon. I also hope to continue to nurture the good relationship I've formed with our granddaughter. Unfortunately, I am also someone with Parkinson's disease now, which is the reason I had to retire. I'm going to be spending more time than I'd like going back and forth to medical appointments. But generally, I’m looking forward to a relaxed retirement.