Filmmaker and cinematographer , a graduate of the ’ (VPA) , has been nominated for a prestigious student award from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

Edelson is one of six nominees for the George Spiro Dibie ASC Award—Undergraduate Category—one of the society’s , which champions rising talent at the formative stages of filmmakers’ careers. She was nominated for the narrative short student film “,” on which she served as director of photography. The ASC will announce the winner on Oct. 12.

“My experience working on this film forever changed me as a cinematographer, thanks to my collaboration with the writer and director of ‘The Wren in the Wood,’ [fellow Class of 2025 film major] Emma Baker,” says Edelson. “An important inspiration for the film came from Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ I studied the visual style of that film and noted techniques that suited the story Emma and I hoped to tell. I was struck by how it felt as if the camera knew more than the characters it was following. We wanted to incorporate this feeling to hint at the presence of something supernatural. By using soft, fluid camera movement, we gently guided the audience into the world of the film.”

As a film major in VPA’s Department of Film and Media Arts, Edelson was introduced to the art of cinematography and developed a strong technical and aesthetic foundation, which she continues to build on through practice and exploration. She polished her skills while studying abroad for a semester through Syracuse Abroad’s in Prague, Czech Republic, and completed her education with the , part of the Syracuse University Dick Clark Los Angeles Program, which enabled her to connect with the film industry during her senior year.

Edelson also received a  (SOURCE) Fellowship to fund her senior thesis film “.” The SOURCE supports undergraduate research and creative inquiry. It provides financial assistance for original and innovative work, fostering student-driven exploration and development.

“I am proud to have begun my journey as a cinematographer at Syracuse University,” says Edelson. “I was able to take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that deepened my appreciation for the art of filmmaking and prepared me for a professional career in the industry. I was especially fortunate to learn from professors such as , whose encouragement and support strengthened my love for cinematography and motivated me to pursue the art form with confidence.”

“The American Society of Cinematographers is one of the most prestigious and globally recognized associations in the film industry,” says Méndez, associate professor and program coordinator of film in the Department of Film and Media Arts. “Having one of our students receive such an honor is a clear confirmation that our film education effectively prepares students to compete on an international stage.”

Edelson’s cinematography has been awarded Best Cinematography by the Indian Independent Film Festival. Her work was also selected for the Kookai International Film Festival, Indie Shorts Mag Film Festival and Syracuse University’s New Filmmakers Showcase. Now based in Los Angeles, she works as a freelance filmmaker in the camera department.

Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily lives across the globe, changing how we learned, how we shopped and how we interacted with each other. Over the following two years, the virus caused the deaths of several million people, including more than 1 million Americans.

For the next month the Maxwell School’s Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) will help us remember this time by hosting a traveling version of an exhibition titled “Picturing the Pandemic: Images from the Pandemic Journaling Project.”

The exhibition is drawn from a collection of images and audio files contributed to the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP), which was started in May 2020 by a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut and Brown University. Their goal was to create an online archive of COVID-19 stories, described as a “grassroots collaborative ethnography.” By May 2022, over 1,800 people from 55 countries had shared nearly 27,000 online journal entries of text, images and audio—including almost 3,000 photos.

Maxwell is the seventh stop for “Picturing the Pandemic,” following exhibitions in Heidelberg, Mexico City and Toronto, as well as Hartford, Connecticut, where the show was first launched in 2022.  The from phase one of the wider PJP early in 2024, making it a natural stop for the traveling exhibition. The exhibition can be found in the first floor foyer of Maxwell Hall until May 15.

The kickoff of the exhibition included a panel discussion featuring PJP co-founders Associate Professor Sarah S. Willen of the University of Connecticut and Associate Professor Katherine A. Mason of Brown University, as well as University Professor Amy Fairchild and Maxwell Associate Dean for Research Shana Gadarian. The talk was moderated by Sebastian Karcher, associate director of QDR.

The full PJP data maintained by QDR is currently available for use and re-use by researchers. Though, to protect privacy, access requires prior approval, with requests submitted from the dataset’s page on the . A significant subset of more than 2,000 entries are also publicly available for searching and browsing by anyone on the .

Syracuse University has announced the election of six new members to its Board of Trustees. All innovators in their fields, the new members bring diverse backgrounds and experiences as entrepreneurs, investors, executives and visionaries. The new members are Nomi Bergman, Brian D. Grossman, Stephen H. Hagerty ’91, G’93, Allegra F. Ivey G’99, Jeannine L. Lostritto ’90 and Kirthiga U. Reddy G’95,

“We are excited to welcome these new trustees, all of whom have a connection to the Orange community either though their personal experiences or through their families,” says Board Chair Jeff Scruggs. “They have each demonstrated extraordinary vision and expertise in their different fields of interest, and we look forward to their insights and service to our students and the continued growth of the University.”

“Our trustees express their dedication in so many different ways,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “They share their wisdom, their experiences and their generosity of time, talent and treasure in ensuring that we deliver on the promises we make to our students to prepare them for success. The newest trustees are joining a board that works collaboratively and effectively to strengthen our university.”

Nomi Bergman

Bergman is a senior executive at Advance and president of Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership, a subsidiary of Advance. Throughout her career, she has been an executive, investor and advisor in the communications and emerging technology space with a focus on transforming the customer experience.

Bergman also recently served as interim CEO of 1010data, a technology platform provider of decision science, data management and data analytics that was owned by the Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership and acquired by SymphonyAI. Previously, Bergman was president of Bright House Networks and helped lead the company to become the sixth-largest cable operator in the nation. She and her team provided corporate guidance, execution and oversight of technology, product and strategic partnerships across the company’s video, broadband, voice and wireless platforms.

Bergman currently serves on the board of directors for Advance’s growth investment HawkEye360. In addition, she is on the boards of Visteon and Black & Veatch, and was honored to serve as a Comcast board member. She is involved with several industry and nonprofit organizations; as a member of the FCC Technological Advisory Council, The Marconi Society, Adaptive Spirit and Bridging Voice.

She received the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership in 2008. In 2011, she was recognized with Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) highest honor, Woman of the Year.

Bergman earned a B.A. in economics and statistics from the University of Rochester in 1985. Growing up in Syracuse, her association with Syracuse University runs deep. Her father, Bob Miron ’59, is a Martin J. Whitman School of Management alumnus and a life trustee. Her husband, Neal, is a 1981 graduate of the Whitman School. Bergman herself has served on the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Dean’s Leadership Council and taught part-time as an adjunct professor. She is working to complete her own Syracuse degree, as she is enrolled in the Whitman School’s online MBA program.

Bergman lives in Fayetteville, New York, with her husband. They have three adult children, Becca (Hayworth), Dori and Allison.

Brian D. Grossman

Grossman is managing partner and chief investment officer for San Francisco-based PFM Health Sciences, a $1.6 billion health care focused investment advisor. The firm is one of the longest tenured public market life science investment funds, which focuses broadly across health sciences from small biotech firms to large global pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies. The firm also has a long history of investing in hospitals, health insurance and other businesses involved in providing medical services.

Grossman was a founding member of Partner Fund Management (PFM), which started operations in the fall of 2004. Prior to PFM, Grossman spent time as an investment analyst at Andor Capital (2001-2004) and Pequot Capital (2001) where he focused primarily on the biotech industry. He started his career in 1996 at J.P. Morgan Investment in the summer of 1996.

A graduate of economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Grossman grew up in Syracuse and has strong familial ties to Syracuse University. His grandfather Lionel O. Grossman L’1916; his father, Murray Grossman ’43, G’45 (College of Medicine); and his uncle Richard D. Grossman ’51, L’55 all attended the University as undergraduates, with his grandfather, uncle and sister Sarah going on to graduate from the College of Law. His father, Murray, provided medical services for many years to the athletics department, for which he was later recognized in 2016 with a Letterwinner of Distinction Award.

Grossman now lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children: Brady, Zoe and Sylvie. He currently serves as co-chair of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Health Executive Council, which evaluates business strategies, operations and financial performance for UCSF Health. The Grossmans are active philanthropically in their community, supporting the S.F. Ballet, Planned Parenthood, The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, Tipping Point and their children’s schools.

Stephen H. Hagerty ’91, G’93

Hagerty is a management consultant, entrepreneur and civic leader. He is the founder and president of Hagerty Consulting, one of the nation’s leading emergency management consulting firms that help governments, schools, hospitals, businesses and other large organizations prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. Between 2017 and 2021, he served as the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, successfully leading the city through a global pandemic and social unrest. As a result of his leadership, Evanston had one of the lowest infection and fatality rates in the state and one of the highest vaccination rates. Soon after leaving office, Evanston was named an All-American City in 2021 by the National Civic League.

Hagerty has successfully helped manage the recovery efforts from major U.S. disasters, including 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires. Before starting his firm in 2001, Hagerty worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for eight years building a disaster recovery practice.

Hagerty earned a B.S. degree from the College for Human Development (now the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics) in consumer studies and went on to earn an M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He has served on the Maxwell Advisory Board since 2014.

Together with his wife, Lisa Altenbernd G’93, they established the  in 2022, the Stephen Hagerty and Lisa Altenbernd Faculty Fellow Fund in 2018 and the William D. Duncombe Faculty Research Endowment in 2014. Hagerty and Altenbernd reside in Evanston, Illinois, with their two children, Caroline, a junior at Washington University in St. Louis, and Garrett, a sophomore at Evanston Township High School.

Allegra F. Ivey G’99

Ivey is a managing director at BofA Securities Inc. She has served as a public finance investment banker in the municipal banking and markets division for 15 years, primarily covering large cities, such as New York, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans.

During her 25-year career, Ivey worked for PaineWebber Inc. (which became UBS Financial Services), J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She has helped state and local governments nationwide finance over $40 billion in infrastructure projects, including airports, toll roads and water and sewer facilities, among others.

Ivey earned a master’s in public administration from the Maxwell School, where she has served on the advisory board since 2017. She inspired other Maxwell graduates when she delivered the keynote speech at the 2018 convocation.

Ivey came to Syracuse University after earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 1997. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Matthew Brennan, and their four children, Tiernan (TJ), Ellison (Ellie), Kellan and Braden.

Jeannine L. Lostritto ’90

Lostritto parlayed her interest in architecture into her professional, personal and volunteer experiences, most recently in her engagement with the board of trustees of Friends Academy in Locust Valley, New York, an independent Quaker college-preparatory private school serving early childhood through 12th grade.

A former Friends Academy parent, Lostritto serves as a member of its board of trustees and on its Governance Committee, and helps oversee new building construction, maintenance of the campus and existing buildings as clerk of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

With an undergraduate degree from the School of Architecture, she first took a job as an architectural consultant at Avis Rent-a-Car and on commercial architecture projects. From 1995 to 1998, Lostritto was employed in the civil engineering division at Sear-Brown—an architecture, engineering, planning and construction services firm—where she worked on large highway and expressway projects, such as the renovation of the Queens Midtown Tunnel, as well as drainage and landscape architecture projects.

She is currently a board member of her family’s real estate company, Steel Equities and is a member of the Board of Regents at NYU-Winthrop Hospital. Additionally, she and her husband, Glenn, actively support Syracuse University through contributions to such initiatives as the Barnes Center at The Arch and the General Supported Scholarship Fund. She is also a member of the School of Architecture Advisory Board.

Lostritto lives in Old Brookville New York, with her husband. They have three children, Domenica “Sunny” L’23, Glenn Jr. and Joseph.

Kirthiga U. Reddy G’95

Reddy is an entrepreneur and investor who has been at the helm of technology-driven transformations in innovative companies. She is CEO and co-founder of Virtualness, a mobile-first platform to help creators and brands navigate the complex world of Web3, and use the power of generative AI and blockchain. She is a founding investment partner of f7 Ventures, whose mission is “Bold Women Investing in Bold Ventures.” She is co-founder of Liftery, a social impact initiative focused on working mothers.

Previously, she was the first female investment partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers focused on frontier, enterprise and health tech investments. She was managing director for Facebook India and South Asia and then became managing global partner and emerging markets lead for global accounts in markets, including Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Middle East. She has also held engineering and product executive roles at of Phoenix Technologies, Motorola and Silicon Graphics Inc.

Reddy earned a master’s degree in computer engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and later earned an MBA from Stanford University. She served on the ECS Dean’s Leadership Council for several years and has established the Kirthiga Reddy Graduate Scholarship in ECS.

Reddy lives in Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband, Dev G’94, who also attended the College of Engineering and Computer Science. They have two adult children, Ashna and Ariya.

Students in the are getting a taste of what it’s like to take a script for a Hollywood movie from the development stage to the big screen.

A new immersive learning opportunity lets students pitch ideas about actors, directors and producers to senior executives in the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. The executives are also getting feedback on their scripts through virtual conversations with the students. This learning experience is all part of a capstone course this fall for TRF students interested in careers as executives in media, entertainment or the arts.

The collaboration is spearheaded by Erin Westerman ’04, president of production of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, and , a TRF assistant professor. Conversations about the idea started when Westerman returned to her alma mater in May to at the Newhouse Convocation Ceremony for the 2023 graduating class.

“We wanted to offer Syracuse students real feedback to projects they are developing and workshopping,” Westerman said. “Access can lead to opportunity and this class offered real insight from executives who are working in the business.”

It’s the latest example of experiential learning opportunities that Newhouse has developed for Syracuse University students in the TRF executive track. Other experiences this semester included a class trip to the Toronto Film Festival to screen movies, learn from industry veterans and network with filmmakers, as well as Newhouse visits from Robert Halmi ’79, founder and chairman of Great Point Studios, and Joseph Cohen, president of American Entertainment Investors and author of “Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers.”

Lionsgate Motion Picture executives Brady Fujikawa and Chelsea Kujawa, as well as department coordinator Alex Tannebaum, have also been instrumental in implementing the studio’s collaboration for the TRF executive track course.

“All of these experiences culminate with students interacting with Lionsgate executives to pitch scripts they have in active development,” Hamilton said.

“Students must identify the actors, directors and producers that they think would be the most compelling talent choices to transform their project or literary property into a greenlighted success story and present a compelling business and creative analysis for their project,” he added.

While pitching to studio executives might sound intimidating, senior Samantha Meir said the process was conversational, though preparation was key. The TRF major hopes to draw from the experience as she builds toward a career of working at a talent agency to represent television writers.

“The partnership has been really helpful for us to get a more present view (of the entertainment field) from current executives,” Meir said. “They’ve been able to give us a lot of valuable insight on where the industry is going.”

Mia Rodriguez, a TRF senior minoring in theater, said she appreciated the feedback that students received about realistically making cast pitches according to budget. The Lionsgate interaction, coupled with the trip to Toronto, also helped students focus on the business side of the industry and practice their networking skills, which will be important to hone as they enter the entertainment field.

“It was really nice to be able to take this kind of class, especially as someone who wants to enter the business side of the industry,” she said.  Rodriguez, who wants to go into the music industry, is thinking about specializing in copyright law.

The foray into motion picture development with a major Hollywood studio comes on the heels of Newhouse offering students another immersive opportunity in the field of talent representation. launched a robust partnership for Hamilton’s artist representation training course in 2022, which includes in-person instruction from the company’s agents.

Students spent a day at UTA’s New York City headquarters in the Fall 2023 semester, learning from seasoned agents and executives representing clients in music, television and broadcast news. The students also spent part of the day pitching the agency on talent they’ve tracked and who they believe the company should represent, in addition to networking with Newhouse alums working at UTA.

In 2022, Newhouse also launched a partnership with Halmi’s Great Point Studios to offer internships for TRF students enrolled in the program. Lionsgate has also partnered with Great Point Studios on three production facilities in cities including Yonkers, Atlanta and Newark.