Photo Spotlights

Bill Nye, scientist and beloved TV personality, provided the keynote address at RIT’s 127th commencement celebration May 25 in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center. Nye’s message on fostering a scientifically literate society proved popular among graduates, many of whom grew up watching “Bill Nye the Science Guy” during its originally run on public television from 1992 to 1998. To see more photos from Academic Convocation, go to bit.ly/Kb0pEG.

Bernard Brooks is a 2012 recipient of an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. Brooks is an associate professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Science and a gifted researcher and teacher. The award is named in honor of M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart. Mr. Eisenhart was the longtime president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc. and a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years.

Neil Hair is a 2012 recipient of an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. Hair is an associate professor of marketing in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business. In 2006, he received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Both awards are named in honor of M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart. Mr. Eisenhart was the longtime president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc. and a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years.

Dan Bogaard is a 2012 recipient of an Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. Bogaard, an associate professor of information technology in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, is a faculty advisor for the college’s Web development minor and teaches courses in information technology, including Web client-side and client-server programming. The award is named in honor of M. Herbert and Elsa Bausch Eisenhart. Mr. Eisenhart was the longtime president and board chairman of Bausch & Lomb Inc. and a member of RIT’s Board of Trustees for more than 50 years.

The creativity of student artists from RIT’s School for American Crafts was highlighted during the school’s annual “Walk-Through” event May 21.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris toured the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies on May 21. Harris visited RIT to learn more about the Finger Lakes Food Processing Cluster Initiative, an effort led by the center in the nine-county region. The project is focused on enhancing the food-processing supply chain, such as growing crops or raising livestock, food-processing equipment and packaging and selling food products. Federal, state and local leaders see more opportunity to increase economic development regionally.

Paula Garcia, a third-year industrial design major from Bethesda, Md., has re-designed a hand splint for spinal cord patients. Garcia is currently applying for a provisional patent. She has presented her design at the University of Buffalo and at the University of Maryland. Garcia is involved in various campus clubs including CSTEP, Entrepreneurship Hall, the McNair Scholars Program and Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity. She is also a fellow in the Center of Student Innovation.

Jason Kolodziej, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, is the 2012 recipient of the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award is given each year to a faculty member with one to three years of teaching experience at RIT. Read more about Kolodziej in Athenaeum.

Dylan Heuer, a photo intern for RIT’s Sports Information Department, has landed a job as assistant photo editor for MLB.com. He has also worked with the Rochester Red Wings for the past two summers as a team photographer.

Grover Swartzlander, professor in the Department of Physics and the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, created the optical vortex coronograph to help astronomers find planets in other solar systems. Now, he is extending his research to extract information from other unresolved sources of light.

RIT welcomes dt ogilvie as dean of the E. Philip Saunders College of Business, effective Aug. 1. She joins RIT from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers Business School at Newark-New Brunswick, where ogilvie serves as a professor of business strategy and urban entrepreneurship. She is the founding director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development and founding director of the Scholars Training and Enrichment Program at Rutgers. Ogilvie takes over the helm from Ashok Rao, who joined RIT as dean of the Saunders College in 2007 and will retire at the end of the academic year.

Daniel Maffia, a sign-language interpreter for the College of Liberal Arts team and fitness instructor, shares his dramatic weight-loss story on the new TurboFire DVD workouts. Maffia’s accomplishments are featured on the DVD, and he is also one of featured trainers in the nationally televised infomercials.