Calvin O. Butts III

Newsletters November 22, 2019

No. 457: On micro-credentials, electric avenues and a historic black-and-white kiss, in full color

Well done: Here we are again, dear readers, nearing the end of another busy workweek and the beginning of another well-earned weekend. Outstanding job. It’s Nov. 22 out there – 56th anniversary of the assassination of President John. F. Kennedy and, mathematically, the earliest date on which Thanksgiving can fall, though not this year. Let’s get out of here: Fitting for a Friday, today is also National Go For a Ride Day, celebrating planes,…

Newsletters July 24, 2019

No. 423: Medical Scholars, STEAMy camps and LI’s hottest job-maker – and we can’t stop talking about Simón Bolívar

Welcome to Wednesday: And the midpoint of another busy week of summertime socioeconomic innovation, here on Long Island and around the world. Speaking of world-rounding, there are so many readers to wish well on this 24th day of July – enjoy the Carnival of Awussu in Tunisia, Children’s Day in Vanuatu and Simón Bolívar Day in Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia, marking the 1783 birth of El Libertador (more birthdays below). Young at heart:…

Education April 9, 2019

Old Westbury, Downstate Medical mark a SUNY first

By GREGORY ZELLER // Long Island hasn’t gained a new medical school, technically, though it has picked up a slew of new med students. Billed as a first-of-its-kind agreement, SUNY College at Old Westbury and the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn have partnered on a slate of programs allowing students to “pursue graduate and accelerated degrees,” according to the state university system – essentially, providing Old Westbury students with Downstate Medical degrees. The collaboration,…

Education February 21, 2019

SUNY Old Westbury sets new grad-degree programs

By GREGORY ZELLER // Three new graduate-degree programs – including the college’s first fully online degree program – will debut later this calendar year at SUNY College at Old Westbury. The State University of New York system is introducing a new online MS in Accounting degree program for students of the Old Westbury college, along with new MS in Data Analytics and MS in Students With Disabilities programs. The new degree programs, each slated to…

Education October 22, 2018

Record enrollment keeps SUNY-Old Westbury buzzing

By GREGORY ZELLER // They’re packing them in at SUNY College at Old Westbury. The public college, which boasts facilities in both Old Westbury and neighboring Jericho, has achieved a significant milestone this Fall 2018 semester: 5,077 students enrolled, marking the first time SUNY-Old Westbury has surpassed the 5,000-student plateau. Notching its largest-ever student body continues an impressive trend for Long Island’s only public liberal arts college, which increased enrollment more than 3 percent from…

Education October 3, 2018

SUNY Old Westbury dean earns ACS fellowship

By GREGORY ZELLER // A SUNY Old Westbury dean has joined the ranks of a select group of national scientists. Barbara Hillery, dean of the college’s School of Arts and Sciences, has been chosen for inclusion in the 2018 American Chemical Society Fellows Program. Now in its 10th year, the ACS Fellows Program recognizes existing ACS members for “outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession and the ACS,” according to a statement issued…

Awards and Events April 12, 2018

Top physicist Gates to keynote SUNY Research Day

By GREGORY ZELLER // A noted theoretical physicist and strong proponent of diversity in the laboratory will keynote SUNY-Old Westbury’s annual Student Research Day. Sylvester James Gates Jr., the Ford Foundation Professor of Physics at Brown University, is slated to deliver the opening remarks when the Old Westbury college hosts “2018 Student Research Day: Movement & Motion” on April 17. Gates retired in 2017 after teaching and conducting research for 33 years at the University…

Awards and Events March 15, 2018

Ex-American Express CEO revives Old Westbury forum

By GREGORY ZELLER // The former head of American Express will help SUNY Old Westbury resuscitate its ambitious Executive Leadership Forum. The forum – SUNY-Old Westbury’s effort to bring national business icons to Long Island for informative presentations before regional business leaders – debuted in 2013 with JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon in the center seat. But it’s been dormant since then, with the school focused on “other priorities,” a spokesman said Thursday….

Newsletters February 28, 2018

No. 285: A DNA anniversary, an IPS milestone and connecting Old Westbury to Cuba

Well, that was quick: Can it be? Two months of 2018 in the books already? Be it can, dear reader, as this Wednesday, Feb. 28, finishes off one-sixth of the not-so-new-year. It also marks the 10th anniversary of international Rare Disease Day, as well as National Science Day in India, Peace Memorial Day in Taiwan and Kalevala Day, the day of Finnish culture. Word search: According to the story, Feb. 28 was also the date,…

Education February 14, 2018

SUNY Old Westbury to offer a forensic-accounting first

By GREGORY ZELLER // In a Long Island first – and a New York State rarity – SUNY Old Westbury will begin offering a Master of Science in Forensic Accounting program later this year. The 12-month, 30-credit trek – offered in a three-semester arc – is for graduate students seeking a career as a forensic accountant or fraud examiner. The first forensic accounting master class is scheduled to kick off with SUNY Old Westbury’s Fall…

News September 1, 2016

Old Westbury, CSHL snag chunky NSF grants

High-profile plant-genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and new-fangled teaching methods at SUNY-Old Westbury have earned National Science Foundation backing. The NSF announced this week that professors at SUNY-Old Westbury have been awarded $296,189 to explore new inquiry-based methods of chemistry instruction, while CSHL researchers have received a $4.6 million stipend to continue work on plant genomes, with new edible crops and increased yields as their ultimate goal. Specifically, the $4,616,755 grant will help fund…