Brewster, Boland and Brockway (BBB) Halls have welcomed thousands of Syracuse University students over the years. But it’s the buildings’ unofficial residents that possess a special kind of staying power.

According to the Onondaga Historical Association, BBB was built atop the former site of Old St. Mary’s Cemetery, a hillside burial space that used to mark the edge of town. No sooner had BBB opened in 1968 than its residents began hearing unexplained noises, voices and footsteps at night.

“It was pretty creepy,” Alex Carrieri told The Daily Orange in 2009, referring to “loud” classical music that inexplicably surfaced in nocturnal voice recordings that she and her roommate made in Boland Hall.

Meanwhile, several Brewster residents complained of an invisible weight pressing against them while they tried to sleep.

“Ghosts, graveyards and cemeteries go hand in hand,” says Gareth Fisher, associate professor and chair of in the . “They tap into our deepest fears and curiosities about the unknown.”

He teaches a popular course called Ghosts and Ghostbusters, which examines ethnographic studies of people’s encounters with ghosts. The class considers what ghosts represent, culturally and socially speaking, and why they fascinate us.

“Ghosts cut across cultures, generations and geographical boundaries,” says Fisher, who views ghosts through an anthropological lens. “Their stories bridge the known and unknown, especially when conventional science lacks answers.”

The Lure of Lore

Central New York is a hotbed for ghost lore, driven by centuries of turbulence and conflict.

“Themes of mortality and remembrance are everywhere you look,” says Fisher, noting the high density of graveyards, cemeteries and historic properties throughout Syracuse.

He admits that, like most campuses, Syracuse has its share of urban legends. Consider the following:

• The faint sounds of shuffling feet and closing doors in the 120-year-old Butterfield House, home of the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta. Some residents have experienced vivid nightmares and bouts of sleepwalking.
• Horrific shrieks piercing the night in Lawrinson Hall, whose upper floors are believed to be haunted.
• Mysterious echoes and sudden drafts in Slocum Hall, presumably the work of a spirit of someone who died there in 1921.

John Harris isn’t surprised by these eerie tales. A renowned paranormal anthropologist, he regularly accompanies Fisher and his students to nearby Oakwood Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Central New York.

“I had a friend get ‘rushed’ there once by a ghost,” says Harris, who has conducted more than 400 investigations. “It ran up on her so quickly that she felt attacked, like a pick in basketball. It was pure energy.”

The Science of Fear

While a vast number of people believe in ghosts, there’s no such thing as a ghost that’s universal to all societies and cultures.

“Ghosts are understood within their own historical and ethnographic contexts,” says Fisher, a scholar of lay Buddhism in contemporary mainland China, where ghosts figure prominently in religious cosmology. “They’re vivid reminders of our mortality.”

Amy Tran ’27 credits Fisher for helping her see ghosts in a new light. “By learning about different types of ghosts and reading about people’s real-life encounters with them, I’ve realized that they don’t have to carry an evil or scary stigma,” she says.

With ghosts, Fisher says there are skeptics and believers—and that his students are “somewhere in the middle.”

One of the highlights of the class is a spirited, end-of-semester debate.

“Whether or not ghosts are real is less important than how they make us feel,” he says. “Their stories teach us about ourselves.”

As a four-year member of the offensive line for the Syracuse University football team, prided himself on being a team player, someone who would do the little things every day to help the Orange succeed on the field.

That selfless strategy helped Tarullo become a starter for the final 36 games of his career, including earning First-Team All-Big East honors during his senior season.

That same approach guided Tarullo’s entrepreneurial career as partner, financial advisor and vice president of recruiting and sales for , part of Cetera Investors.

For the second straight year, Tarullo is being recognized during the University’s fourth annual��, which on Nov. 12 will celebrate 50 of the fastest-growing global businesses and nonprofit ventures owned or led by Orange alumni.

“I’m very honored,” says Tarullo, who earned dual degrees in psychology and communications and rhetorical studies from the . “It’s a phenomenal event showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit our alumni have, and I strongly encourage other alumni to be a part of this celebration.”

While he’s looking forward to the awards ceremony, Tarullo says he’s equally excited to impart his business acumen to student entrepreneurs at the ’CUSE50 Student Summit, when honorees will share insights with students at the .

Over the summer, Tarullo’s company hosted several current students for internships. Tarullo plans to use this year’s Student Summit to emphasize the importance of giving back to future students.

“It’s beneficial for students to hear stories of success, but also how we overcome problems. I tell students how important it is to have a niche, a passion that motivates your work,” Tarullo says.

for the ’CUSE50 Student Summit and Alumni Awards Ceremony.

The Student Summit runs from noon to 3 p.m. in the Flaum Grand Hall in the Whitman School, with Chancellor J. Michael Haynie and Whitman Dean Alex McKelvie delivering remarks. Latavius Murray G’20, a retired NFL running back, community builder and entrepreneur will serve as the keynote speaker, followed by two panel discussions featuring ’CUSE50 alumni entrepreneurs and a “Five for Five” pitch competition, where five student startups will compete for a winner-takes-all $5,000 prize judged by the ’CUSE50 honorees in attendance. To support student entrepreneurs, consider a gift to the which makes the student prize money possible.

The Alumni Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony begins with check-in and light refreshments at 5 p.m., followed by the awards at 5:30 p.m. in the K.G. Tan Auditorium and a reception starting at 6:45 p.m. in the Bisignano Grand Hall. All events occur in the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building.

Tarullo sat down with Syracuse University Today to preview the ’CUSE50 Alumni Awards.

For students earning a graduate degree entirely online, the chance to sit across from a professor or classmate in person can be rare.

Not so in the (A&S), where its highly regarded (MFT) program intentionally builds that opportunity into the curriculum. Recognizing the human-centered nature of the practice, a signature residency creates a valuable network for participants, while introducing them to the resources and dedicated professionals of the Syracuse University campus.

This year, 25 students traveled from states across the country for the program’s fourth graduate residency since 2020, an immersive three days of workshops, panel discussions and hands-on practice designed to turn distance learning into shared experience. Among the attendees were students from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Washington and New York.

The September residency gives students completing clinical training in communities nationwide a chance to come together in person to sharpen clinical skills, pursue professional development and build connections with peers and faculty. The reflective activities help students integrate their academic and clinical learning while deepening their understanding of systemic therapy and professional practice.

“One of the things I love about the residency is seeing students who already know each other online meet in person for the first time,” says , professor of practice and chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Science. “There’s such a nice moment of recognition because they aren’t meeting as strangers. They already have relationships with each other. Being together in Peck Hall gives them another way to connect, learn from each other and see themselves as part of a larger professional community.”

The residency reflects a broader commitment within A&S to address grand challenges facing society, particularly those tied to health and well-being. By training clinicians equipped to meet growing demand for mental health services, the program extends that mission beyond the classroom and into communities from coast to coast.

“What stood out to me this year was the openness and support of students across programs,” says , the MFT master’s program director. “Online students were meeting with residential students, watching their cases and offering beautiful support. Even without knowing each other, there was a level of openness and trust in their communication and feedback. Each student seemed to understand the delicacy of clinical work and worked as a team during observations.”

In a field built on human connection, that time together may be nearly as essential to a student’s training as anything covered in a syllabus.

“My cohort was already pretty connected in the online space, but spending time together added a layer of understanding and emotional safety we hadn’t experienced before,” participant Anne Esse says. “In an online course, you’re never sure if you’re just a sea of faces instructors see every week or not. It felt like they all knew us individuals, as if we’d been attending their classes in person.”

Fellow participant Nikki Shayer says all of the sessions and exercises “were excellent.”

“Each session was a different topic, of course, but each one made me think about things with a different eye,” she says. “I think that’s what I’ve been loving the most about this program, and about the residency experience—all the knowledge and wisdom shared just lingers, and I’m able to connect dots together that I wouldn’t have been able to before. It was really an enriching experience; I’d love to do it again.”

In the greenhouse atop the Life Sciences Complex, Heather Coleman, an associate professor of in the at Syracuse University, is growing poplar trees. A floor below, in Coleman’s lab, is where these trees got their start. Coleman and her team of undergraduate and graduate researchers work with two hybrid species of poplar—from North America and Europe—and use biotechnology to modify their genomes, creating genetic lines with more desired traits like improved drought resistance.

“My true love is trees and nature—and this question of how trees can be these magnificent organisms that are so huge and beautiful,” she says. “Part of the reason for that is because they produce this very thick secondary cell wall. We want to understand both how and why they do that and how we can potentially manipulate it for our own purposes.”

Coleman, who holds a doctorate in forestry from the University of British Columbia, has studied poplars for decades, specializing in plant cell wall formation and structure. She describes poplar as a “workhorse” for understanding tree genetics. “It’s fast growing, has a wide habitat range and its genome is relatively small and multiple species and varieties of poplar have been sequenced,” she says. “We have a lot of genetic information about them, so it’s an ideal model species for anything to do with wood formation.”

Because of these characteristics, poplars are recognized as go-to trees for researchers exploring biofuels, carbon storage, paper production and high-value chemicals. Beginning in January, Coleman will lead a project to advance the biotechnology that drives the use of trees as a sustainable resource.

Expressing Genes in Targeted Cells

Awarded a three-year, $351,911 grant, Coleman plans to create an accessible, public digital library for tree biology that will aid scientists seeking to turn on gene expression in targeted cell populations within the poplar’s wood-forming zone, or vascular cambium. This is the engine room where cells divide and produce different types of cells that make up wood, including ones responsible for water and mineral transport, structure and regulating responses to internal and environmental factors. At the heart of her research is identifying cell-type-specific promoters—which aid in gene transcription—and how they’re regulated. Promoters control the timing and location of gene expression—for example, turning on autumnal colors or reacting to drought, she explains.

“One of the things we can’t do very well right now is selectively modify specific cells­—and that’s because we don’t have promoters to drive gene expression in each of the different types of cells,” says Coleman, who serves on the advisory board of the Department of Energy’s Center for Bioenergy Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

To address this, Coleman will use existing single-nucleus RNA sequencing data, which reveals genetic data from individual cells with specific expression patterns in the xylem, the vascular tissue that transports water and nutrients and helps form wood. With this information, Coleman will identify and characterize promoters and the molecular switches that regulate transcription in these cells.

Coleman will draw on new and existing datasets—researchers have identified genes transcribed in specific cells—to identify candidate genes and then validate candidate promoters by introducing the altered genes into wood-forming tissues. She’ll pair this with reporter genes, including RUBY, a synthetic gene-reporting system that turns a visible red when expressed. Once she identifies promising candidates, she’ll confirm results in greenhouse-grown poplars, using computer modeling along the way to design synthetic promoters and test whether that cell-type specificity can be engineered.

“I expect we’ll find some promoters that have higher activity in a specific cell type but are still actually activated across the wood tissue,” she says. “Then if we can identify the regulatory elements that drive that expression in the specific cell type, we can create these synthetic promoters.”

Beyond that, Coleman says the approach could eventually transfer to other plant tissues, not just wood.

Creating Genetically Altered Poplar

In her lab’s tissue culture room, Coleman holds up a petri dish containing a leaf tissue that’s been dosed with Agrobacterium harboring a gene construct encoding RUBY. In nature, Agrobacterium creates tumors, or galls, in trees. In the lab, biotechnologists use it to introduce desired genes. Her students inoculate the leaves using Agrobacterium and then use different hormone combinations to produce stem cell-like tissue called callus, which can then be induced to produce roots and shoots. A new genetic line of tree in the making. Shelves line the room, holding a variety of these specimens.

Coleman says she loves having undergraduates and graduate students in the lab. The NSF grant, she says, will let her advance biotechnology in tree genetics while keeping students active in their own experiments. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m most excited about getting the funding,” she says. “I can keep going along and doing what I like to do and will also be able to mentor students.”

Health is shaped by more than genetics. That’s why one question sits at the center of Catherine García’s research: how do the experiences and opportunities people have throughout their lives become “written” into their health as they age?

García, assistant professor of human development and family science in the (A&S), is featured in the at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology () in Syracuse. The Scientist Showcase Series highlights underrepresented scientists through biographical displays and hands-on activities. It is presented by the and .

García’s illustrated poster, created by artist Eleanor Nolan, tells her story in her own words. A first-generation college graduate, she says her interest in how communities and opportunities shape lives took hold while studying sociology at UCLA. She became fascinated by the idea that health is “not determined solely by biology or individual choices.”

That curiosity led to graduate degrees in sociology and gerontology and a career studying health and aging. García’s research focuses on Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States and Puerto Rico. She combines long-term studies of aging with data about neighborhoods, communities and social conditions.

García calls developing the , a research tool that links neighborhood and community information across Puerto Rico to long-term aging studies, one of her greatest professional accomplishments. The tool helps researchers understand how economic conditions, access to health care and neighborhood environments influence health as people age.

García also values outreach, from time with students to mentoring those from diverse backgrounds.

“I believe everyone should have the opportunity to explore science, ask questions and discover their potential, regardless of where they come from,” she says.

When Jordan Potash ’98 graduated from Syracuse University, he never thought his resume would keep bringing him back to campus.

“The last time I returned was in 2019, when the named a speaker series after me,” says Potash, a Washington, D.C., resident who is an author, educator and licensed art therapist.

Potash also is an advocate for “general peacebuilding and community development, leading arts-based dialogues to bridge differences.”

This ethos will be on display on Oct. 22, when he and student leaders headline the eighth annual Potash Keynote Speaker Series. They will engage in an informal panel discussion about LGBTQ+ community building, running from 7 to 9 p.m. in room 304ABC of the Schine Student Center.

The event, which is part of the University’s observance of , coincides with the center’s 25th anniversary.

“The discussion will touch on how queer culture has changed at Syracuse University,” says Emily Stewart, director of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, which is a member of the University’s (IC). “It will examine how our center meets student needs today and how LGBTQ+ students and allies can contribute to change in the current landscape while taking care of themselves.”

Credited for laying the groundwork for the center as a student, Potash is excited to engage in an open dialogue about LGBTQ+ history and activism.

“Our identities and priorities are everything,” says Potash,��who teaches art therapy at George Washington University.��“It’s our diversity that makes the LGBTQ+ Resource Center viable and sustainable.”

‘I Wanted To Create Support Systems for People Like Me’

If anyone embodied interdisciplinary learning at the University in the late ’90s, it was Potash, a senior class marshal who majored in and studio arts in the .

Potash’s non-academic pursuits—he was a student leader, resident advisor and peer mentor—also shaped his trajectory. “I was heavily involved with , and what became the ,” he says.

Before his senior year, Potash heard about an LGBTQ+ safe space campaign at Beaver College (now Arcadia University) in suburban Philadelphia, where his mother worked and underwent LGBTQ+ ally training.

Not wishing to be outdone by Arcadia, he approached Barry Wells, then senior vice president and dean of student affairs, about bringing an ally training program to Syracuse University.

“I wanted to create support systems for people like me,” Potash says.

Numerous people rushed to his aid, including Missy Mathis-Hanlon G’95, now director of . She not only helped Potash put his ideas on paper but also encouraged him to expand the program into a center.

Convinced of its potential, Wells brought the proposal before the , which, in turn, passed a motion to form an ad hoc committee.

In 2001, more than two years after Potash graduated, the resource center opened its doors. “It was an unforgettable moment,” he says, smiling.

A Welcoming Space for All

Located on the first floor of the Schine Student Center, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center takes a holistic approach to education, health and wellness, and advocacy.

All are welcome at the center, which facilitates systemic change on campus and offers a range of services, resources and programs.

“I see it as a safe space for students dealing with issues about their sexual orientation and gender identity,” says Potash, whose advocacy is rooted in the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. that were instilled in him by his mentor, Francis McMillan Parks. “It’s uplifting to see so many LGBTQ+ allies—friends, family members, colleagues—there, as well.”

Mathis-Hanlon says that, despite evolving societal and political pressures, the center remains true to the original vision.

“As part of the IC, the center is thoughtfully placed to help students embrace their intersectionality,” she says.

Potash admits that while the LGBTQ+ Resource Center remains a “group effort,” certain people, like founding director Adrea Jaehnig (who stepped down in 2010), have left an indelible mark on it.

“Adrea helped grow the center from a single-person office into a robust resource hub for the community,” he says. “She epitomized how to lead with care.”

On a lab bench at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Victoria Alwar ’27 spent her summer running tests to explore how a single genetic mutation disrupts electrical signals in the brain and heart. Gabriella Garcia ’26 explored challenges in behavioral therapy for children by testing setbacks through a video game simulation for adult participants. Annie Knobloch ’26 studied how different cannabinoid compound structures interact with human cannabinoid receptors.

All three Syracuse University students spent their summer down the road from campus, as participants in the . The 10-week fellowship, founded in 1994, draws nearly 40 students from across the country and works closely with . The two programs align their calendars, share social and professional development events and send students to present together at a joint Summer Research Symposium each year.

Over the past 10 years, 25 Syracuse undergraduates have taken part, making up as much as a fifth of the SURF cohort in some years. This year, it’s 14%.

, director of the SURF program, says Syracuse students have served as ambassadors for out-of-town participants over the years, and many continue working in their SURF labs throughout the academic year.

“There is no doubt that SU undergraduates play a vital role in the success of the SURF program, and in turn, they immensely benefit from the biomedical research environment at Upstate,” Herberg says.

SOURCE director Kate Hanson says the partnership contributes to a vibrant cross-institutional summer research community, bringing together students from Syracuse University’s five NSF- and NIH-funded programs, Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry��students and a small number of visiting high schoolers for shared activities that culminate in the Summer Symposium.

“Students learn from each other and are able to explore a broad range of the incredible research being done on the hill,” she says.

Gaining a Sense of their ‘Future Self’

As part of the SURF program, students get hands-on time in a working biomedical lab, often collaborating for the first time with a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow alongside the principal investigator/mentor in one of six research pathways. Through the mentorship, students learn to design and run rigorous experiments, analyze data and read and interpret scientific papers.

Weekly seminars also expose them to the range of research happening across campus and to their mentor’s personal career stories. A journal club—the program’s only formal course—gives them practice presenting and critiquing scientific papers in small peer groups.

Herberg says all SURF students are passionate about research but many are unclear on the nuances between a Ph.D. and an M.D./Ph.D. program—which is where career-focused workshops and “meet the dean” luncheons come in.

“From the feedback we receive, these sessions provide critical advice that has helped many SURF students clarify or substantiate their future plans,” he says.

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Alwar, a dual major in biology and neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences, says she came into the summer with “two pieces of the puzzle”: bench research through fellowships at SU and Upstate and clinical exposure from an internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2025. But she hadn’t yet seen how a physician-scientist operates between the lab bench and the clinic.

“The specific structure of this program around dual identity (being paired with both a faculty mentor and a current physician) allowed me to get direct clinical experience alongside my bench work,” Alwar says.

She started the program thinking it would clarify what she wanted to study or which career path to pursue. Instead, she realized what kind of work environment she thrives in: one built on guidance and collaboration, where mentorship is within reach, but she’s given agency, too.

“One that can still allow me to be trusted with real independence and responsibility and treated as a capable emerging scientist rather than a closely supervised individual,” she says.

Broadening Interests

For Garcia, a biology major with a gerontology minor who is graduating in December, the path to SURF started at the Biology Research Fair in the Life Sciences Complex. That led to a mentorship with at Upstate, who connected her to work at a specialized behavioral clinic and later recommended the SURF program.

During the 10 weeks with the SURF Health Science pathway, Garcia worked in two specialized behavior clinics. Her project tackled a real clinical problem from a safe distance. Children with developmental disabilities often relapse into harmful behaviors once they leave the clinic’s structured environment, but testing that relapse directly would be unsafe. Garcia used a video game created by , a psychologist and pediatrics professor at SUNY Upstate, that simulates the three-stage progression of real-world therapy. The game allowed Garcia and fellow researchers to study how different reward strategies affect how well those skills hold up outside the clinic.

“This video game is a form of translational research that allows us to safely model these high-stress behavioral dynamics in a controlled lab setting through a video game,” she says. “Ultimately, this work helps build a foundation for clinicians to design stronger, more resilient treatment plans.”

Confirming a Path to a Ph.D.

Knobloch, a neuroscience and psychology major graduating in December, went into the SURF program on the heels of doing research at Upstate for about a year. She spent��the 10��weeks in a cannabinoid pharmacology research lab studying how small structural changes in a compound alter its functional effect on the human brain’s cannabinoid receptors.

The experience allowed her to learn more about neuropharmacology in depth and confirmed her love of biomedical research. She knows after the fellowship that she wants to pursue her doctoral degree.

“I learned so much from my new friends and hearing about their research projects,” she says. “The faculty are so great and the research done here is so fascinating. It’s a great trial run of a grad school program.”

Applications for the 2027 SURF cohort open in late fall.

The Maxwell School is pleased to welcome six accomplished alumni to its advisory board: John R. Bass, Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri, Phil Porter, Ian Schuman, Hailey Williams and Dan Zhang.

They represent a range of fields across sectors and join a distinguished group of entrepreneurs, finance leaders, attorneys, educators, public servants and friends of the school.�� Board members meet twice a year and play a vital role in advising the dean and school leadership on policy, planning, fundraising, alumni relations and communications.

Bass, Porter, Schuman, Williams and Zhang were appointed to the advisory board in August. Granieri was appointed by the board this past spring. The board will convene in late October.

“I’m delighted to welcome these new board members and appreciate their strong support and engagement with the school,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “Their diverse experiences and commitment to becoming active advisors helps ensure that the school remains the number one ranked school in the nation.”

John R. Bass

Bass, of Arlington, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 1986. A veteran diplomat, he served the U.S. for 37 years, departing government in 2025 as the highest-ranking member of the Foreign Service. Most recently, he served in three of the top five roles in the State Department, including as chief operating officer, where he oversaw the department’s global workforce of 85,000, and lead crisis manager. He concluded his service as acting under secretary for political affairs, where he oversaw U.S. diplomatic activity globally, including to sustain support for Ukraine’s defense, intensify counterterrorism efforts against ISIS-Khorosan and prevent state collapse in Syria.

A three-time ambassador, Bass led U.S. missions in Afghanistan (2017- 20), Türkiye (2014–17) and Georgia (2009–12) and served in Iraq, Italy, Belgium and Chad. In August 2021, he returned to Kabul to lead the civilian side of the non-combatant evacuation that moved over 120,000 people to safety in two weeks. He has received numerous presidential and State Department performance awards and is currently a diplomatic fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri

Granieri, of New York City, is professor emerita of medicine at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and an affiliate professor at the City University of New York School of Medicine and Hunter College. She previously served as chief of Columbia University Medical Center’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Aging, a division she was instrumental in developing.

Granieri received a bachelor’s degree in dietetics (now nutrition) in 1977 from the Falk College of Sport, followed by a master of public health from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s in education from the University of Southern California and a medical degree from Northwestern University. She has held leadership positions with the American Geriatrics Society and the Association of American Medical Colleges and has received numerous honors, including the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award in 2001.

Phil Porter

Porter, of New York City, received a bachelor’s degree in history in 2017, followed by a master of public administration (M.P.A.) in 2018. He previously worked as a project assistant at Cydecor, a veteran-owned federal government solutions provider as well as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and a senior program analyst at V2X, providing on-site contractor support to the Navy’s International Programs Office. While working for the Navy, Porter received two commendations.

Porter served on the University’s D.C. Regional Council from 2021-26 and has volunteered with the Maxwell Alumni Ambassador Program. In 2020, he established the Philip E. Porter Endowed Scholarship to support Maxwell undergraduates. Porter has visited 193 countries and all seven continents. He’s in the process of applying to doctoral programs with hopes of beginning studies in fall 2027. Another focus: Planning a July 2027 wedding.

Ian Schuman

Schuman, of New York City, received a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics in 1997. He is a capital markets attorney and global chair of Latham & Watkins’ Capital Markets Practice, representing issuers and underwriters in complex, high-profile equity and debt offerings, both in the United States and internationally. He advises on matters involving a range of industries, including in the life sciences, technology, digital infrastructure and consumer retail sectors. He also represents companies and their boards with respect to corporate governance and securities matters.

He received a law degree from New York University in 2000 and has hosted Syracuse University students participating in the Winston Fisher Seminar, through the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences at Latham & Watkins, in 2024 and 2026. He is a member of the board of directors of Melanoma Research Alliance, the world’s largest private nonprofit funder of melanoma research.

Hailey Williams

Williams serves as the board’s young alumni representative. A resident of Washington, D.C., she received a bachelor’s degree in policy studies and political philosophy in 2023 and an M.P.A. in 2024. She works on the diversity, equity and inclusion team at the international law firm Crowell & Moring LLP, where she has worked as an inclusion and organizational strategist since 2025.

As a Maxwell student, Williams supported engagement with the advisory board while working in the dean’s office and launched the Maxwell BIPOC Mentoring Program. She also helped shape the design of the Barner-McDuffie House, which supports academic and cultural success for students of color, and co-founded Syracuse’s Black Honors Society.

Dan Zhang

Zhang, of Palo Alto, California, received a master’s degree in sociology in 2011 as well as a master of science (M.S.) in applied statistics from the College of Arts and Sciences and an M.S. in finance from the University of Illinois. As the chief financial officer and chief business officer at the project management software firm ClickUp, she oversees finance, accounting, corporate development, human resources, legal and strategic initiatives. Previously, she worked in finance, “software as a service” (SaaS), and global sales strategy.

A recognized voice on AI transformation in enterprise businesses, Zhang was named one of the Top 25 Software CFOs of 2024 by Top CFOs and was an inaugural 2026 Bridge Award recipient by Financial Women of San Francisco. Beyond ClickUp, Zhang advises early-stage startups and mentors students at San José State University. A recent gift to the Maxwell School reinvigorated its Student Emergency Support fund, which helps students with emergency funds for housing, food, healthcare and other needs.

Story by Paige Schoen

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, historians and scholars are working to broaden public understanding of the Revolutionary era by centering the perspectives of Indigenous peoples whose nations were deeply affected by the conflict.

Among them is , an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies and English in the (A&S), who recently participated in a Smithsonian symposium presented as part of Our Shared Future: 250, the Institution’s nationwide initiative commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States.

A citizen of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Stevens is director of the and the in A&S. His research focuses on the colonial history of the Northeast, Native material culture, Indigenous sovereignty and the history of ethnographic collecting.

Titled “Turtle Island in 1776: The Native World Caught Between Empires,” the symposium, held at the in Washington, D.C., brought together a distinguished group of Native and non-Native scholars to explore Indigenous experiences during the Revolutionary era. They examined how Native Nations across North America, referred to by many Indigenous peoples as Turtle Island, navigated relationships with competing colonial powers while maintaining sovereignty, diplomacy and cultural continuity during a period of profound political change.

Stevens was among a select group of invited speakers that included prominent scholars Philip J. Deloria (Harvard University), Brenda J. Child (University of Minnesota), Colin Calloway (Dartmouth College) and Nadia Dean (author and filmmaker). Stevens’ presentation, “Between Empires: The Haudenosaunee and the Revolutionary War,” explored the complex political, diplomatic and military decisions faced by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy during the American Revolution.

“Such events are important because they create opportunities to share Indigenous perspectives on history with audiences beyond academia and encourage a broader understanding of the many peoples whose experiences shaped this country’s founding,” Stevens says when reflecting on the opportunity to contribute to a conversation about the nation’s founding and the role of Indigenous peoples in that history.

His participation in the Smithsonian symposium builds on his longstanding record of public scholarship focused on bringing Indigenous histories into public conversation. Stevens recently contributed an essay to American Indian Magazine, published by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, examining how Native Nations navigated the far-reaching consequences of the American Revolution. Drawing on historical research and Indigenous viewpoints, the essay highlights how communities such as the Haudenosaunee, Shawnee and Cherokee adapted and endured despite warfare, displacement and political upheaval.

Stevens is helping ensure that Indigenous histories remain central to the conversation about the nation’s origins. Through both his Smithsonian symposium presentation and his writing for American Indian Magazine, he continues to highlight the experiences of Native Nations whose resilience, diplomacy and sovereignty shaped the past and continue to inform the present.

Three postdoctoral researchers were honored for the quality and impact of their research and creative activity at this year’s Postdoctoral Appreciation Awards dinner.

The and the co-host the annual celebration to honor the postdoctoral community and recognize the scholars, who are joined by their guests, faculty mentors and University leaders. Each recipient received a $750 award and presented a research summary at the event.

In honoring them, Vice President for Research said the University’s 80 postdoctoral scholars are a crucial component of its research enterprise.

“Our postdoctoral scholars are central to Syracuse’s research mission,” he said. “They create new knowledge, mentor our graduate and undergraduate students in cutting-edge research and creative work and empower our faculty. The scholars we recognize this year reflect the ambition and rigor that exemplify Syracuse University’s research and creative enterprise.”

Honorees are:

Emily Rabinowitz, “Trauma, Health, and Recovery: Advancing Veteran Behavioral Health Research at Syracuse University.” ( (CHB), . Faculty mentor: , professor of psychology and director, CHB)

Rabinowitz’s research explores how physical injury during military deployment shapes service members’ psychological health. She found those who experienced a traumatic injury had��greater psychological distress than both those exposed to trauma without injury and those with no injury.��Her project is part of a larger program of research examining factors related to military and veteran well-being.

Taylor Snodgrass, “Beyond the Current Error: What a Child’s Speech History Reveals About Treatment Success.” (, (A&S). Faculty mentor: , professor of communication sciences and disorders)

Snodgrass examines why children with residual speech errors (sound errors that persist past the typical age of mastery) respond differently to treatment based on their developmental history. She finds that children with an early, broader speech history and children with weaker phonological awareness skills (the ability to hear and work with the sound structure of spoken language) show smaller treatment gains than those identified later, a pattern consistent across different treatment formats. The findings suggest that speech-language pathologists should consider both developmental history and phonological awareness in setting treatment expectations.

Xubin Wang, “Decoding Earth’s Breathless Past to Predict Our Marine Future.” (, A&S. Faculty mentor: , Thonis Family Professor, earth and environmental sciences)

Wang’s research looks hundreds of millions of years into the Earth’s past to understand how oceans respond to dramatic climate change and what that history says about their future.�� His findings challenge a long-held assumption that severe deoxygenation—the loss of life-supporting oxygen from oceans—is mainly a feature of global warming; he showed it also recurred during some of Earth’s most severe ice ages. He also uncovered how changes in continental weathering reshaped ocean chemistry and helped enable the evolutionary rise of animals with mineralized skeletons. In addition, Wang developed a new geochemical “redox ladder,” a powerful way for scientists to reconstruct oxygen levels in Earth’s ancient oceans.

Three hundred years after the birth of James Hutton, the Scottish scientist known as the father of modern geology, Syracuse University students from the����(EES) walked the same landscapes that inspired many of his groundbreaking ideas. Hutton’s observations of rock formations along Scotland’s coast helped transform scientific understanding of Earth’s history, laying the foundation for today’s discoveries.

Joined by EES faculty and alumni, the students trekked across Scotland’s dramatic glens, crags and coastlines, visiting some of the world’s most important geological sites as part of an international field study. Opportunities like these are central to the (A&S) educational journey, where students across majors and academic disciplines are encouraged to move beyond the classroom and build hands-on research and analytical skills in their field.

In the Footsteps of Geology’s Pioneer

The trip marked the fourth international EES excursion in recent years, following previous visits to British Columbia, Iceland and Newfoundland. Led by professors�������Ի���, the program took students to three key locations: Glasgow, the Isle of Arran and Edinburgh.

The trip gave students the opportunity to visit the places where Hutton observed rock formations during the late 18th century, revealing Earth’s relentless, ongoing geological processes. These observations led Hutton to argue that the planet was far older than commonly believed, and that its history could be explained by processes we can see or infer through observation of the natural world, ideas that transformed scientific understanding of Earth’s evolution.

“He is to geology what Darwin is to biology and what Isaac Newton is to physics and mathematics,” Samson says.

A major destination was the Isle of Arran, often described as a geological miniature of Scotland because of the diversity of rock formations and geological features found across the island. Students were based for four days in the village of Lochranza, where they stayed at a field station and worked closely with a local geology expert who guided the group through important field sites.

Building Skills Through Experience

Students prepared for the trip by reading scientific literature related to the locations they would visit. Once in Scotland, however, the learning shifted from theory to direct observation—as it did for Hutton so long ago as he searched for field observations to support his revolutionary Theory of the Earth.

The group examined rock formations, geological structures and historic outcrops that have helped shape scientific understanding of Earth’s history. Among the highlights was a visit to the most famous angular unconformity described by Hutton, known as Siccar Point, a geological feature east of Edinburgh that demonstrates vast spans of geological time.

“This set of rocks changes your whole world view,” says Ivany.

At Siccar Point, Hutton saw evidence that Earth continually renews itself through cycles of sedimentation, uplift, mountain building and erosion, challenging the idea of a static world with a fixed endpoint. This insight led to his famous conclusion, “We find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end,” capturing his view of Earth as a dynamic planet shaped by continuous cycles of change over immense spans of time.

“His insight completely transformed the study of our planet,” says Ivany. “This place is why we came on this trip.”

“Few people have ever seen it in person,” Samson says. “But this set of rocks is in every single geology textbook ever published in the entire world.”

Fieldwork challenged students to apply what they had learned in the classroom to direct observation. They were tested on their ability to identify and sequence rock samples based on evidence they had gathered in the field.

“They had to put specimens in order from oldest to youngest based on what we had learned at the geological outcrops,” Samson says.

The exercise required students to analyze, interpret and defend their conclusions using real geological evidence, mirroring the work performed by scientists working in the field.

The trip provided students with a valuable first opportunity to study geology at a professional field scale. Rather than examining samples in a laboratory or viewing photographs in a textbook, they worked directly with landscapes, rock formations and geological structures.

For Christopher Paradis ’28, an environmental geoscience major in A&S and an environment, sustainability and policy major in the , the expedition reinforced his passion for field-based science. After hearing about the opportunity from faculty, he was immediately drawn to Scotland’s rich natural history and globally significant geology.

“This experience has absolutely confirmed for me that I want to study a science that puts me out in the field as often as possible,” Paradis says. Exploring rocky riverbeds, rolling pastures and coastal cliffs gave him a firsthand look at landscapes shaped over hundreds of millions of years, bringing the geologic history he’s learned about through his coursework to life.

For decades, scientists have relied on a simple rule of thumb: temperatures above 60°C (140°F) should prevent complex cells from surviving. A newly discovered heat-loving amoeba is now challenging that assumption.

Microbiologists have long studied extreme environments to understand “how life can survive at the edges of its limits,” says biologist��, an assistant professor in the and a co-author of the recent ��documenting the newly discovered organism. This fundamental question, she notes, “helps inform our search for how life might exist elsewhere in the universe.”

Most of this research has focused on bacteria and archaea, which lack nuclei and the complex internal structures found in eukaryotic cells. Far less is known about how eukaryotic life responds to extreme heat.

That question led Oliverio and Beryl Rappaport, a Ph.D. candidate in her lab, to California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park. There, they sampled geothermal sites with collaborators Gordon Wolfe of Chico State and Ken Stedman of Portland State University. Lassen hosts a wide range of chemically diverse, high-temperature geothermal springs, making it an ideal natural laboratory for probing the limits of life. But the team did not find the record-breaking amoeba in one of the park’s famous acidic pools. Instead, it was recovered from an unremarkable-looking tributary. Their discovery underscores how much life may remain hidden in Earth’s extreme habitats.

Fieldwork at Lassen was no walk in the park. Its geothermal areas contain scorching geothermal pools and unstable ground.

“Since we’re sampling from really high-temperature environments, we had to take a lot of safety precautions,” says Rappaport, the study’s lead author.

The team relied on extra-long sampling tools to maintain a safe distance from boiling water and fragile terrain. And in the narrow tributary where the fire amoeba was ultimately discovered, the team even traded standard equipment for makeshift solutions, using barbecue tongs to collect samples in the tight confines of the stream.

Discovering the Undiscovered

After bringing samples back to Syracuse, the team began raising the temperature in their incubators. The amoebae continued to grow as temperatures increased from 57°C to 60°C. They kept dividing at 63°C (145°F), setting a new record for eukaryotic life. At 64°C, they were still motile. At 70°C (158°F), they formed cysts, dormant structures that can survive the extreme conditions and reactivate when temperatures cool.

Biologists previously theorized that eukaryotic membranes could not remain stable above roughly 60°C (140°F). This new organism, which they’ve named “Incendiamoeba cascadensis”—Latin for “fire amoeba from the cascades”—reflects both its heat tolerance and the region where it was discovered.

“What we thought was true is not,” Oliverio says, emphasizing how the new data expands the realm of what is biologically possible. She adds that many more heat-tolerant eukaryotes may remain undiscovered.

Understanding the thermal limits of life can help scientists narrow the search for life beyond Earth. Temperature, pH and pressure all place physical constraints on where organisms can survive.

“By expanding the known thermal range for complex life, the discovery opens new possibilities for where eukaryotes might exist,” says Oliverio. That includes extreme environments on Earth and potentially other planets.

Future Frontiers

The implications extend beyond astrobiology. The organism may offer new insights for biotechnology. Cellular adaptations that help membranes and proteins may eventually inform the development of thermostable enzymes, more resilient biomaterials, or high-temperature bioprocesses. Current genomics and sequencing technologies make it possible to investigate these adaptations in ways that were far more difficult just two decades ago.

The research also extends beyond��Incendiamoeba.��Using the same culturing techniques, members of the Oliverio lab are discovering additional extreme microbes, even on campus. Undergraduate students are investigating how similar heat-loving organisms colonize human-made environments.

One case study focuses on a��. By collecting samples from high-temperature soils and surfaces exposed to steam, then culturing the microbes they find, students are learning that extreme microbes aren’t confined to hot springs or deep-sea vents. They can also thrive in unexpected human-made environments.

Pushing the Boundaries

For Rappaport, part of the thrill comes from seeing something entirely new under the microscope. She recalls the first time the amoebae crawled across the flask.

“Seeing organisms that maybe no one has seen before is just an incredible feeling,” she says.

Oliverio sees the discovery as a reminder that the boundaries of life are not always where scientists expect them to be.

“We should expand our search,” she says.

Key Takeaways:

Record-setter:��Incendiamoeba cascadensis, a newly discovered amoeba, thrives at 63°C, hotter than any other eukaryote yet documented.

Bigger picture:��The discovery raises the known temperature limits of complex life, expanding the search for eukaryotes on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

Biotech potential:��The fire amoeba could provide new approaches for developing heat-stable enzymes, tougher biomaterials and high temperature industrial processes. Modern genomic tools can help uncover molecular adaptations that allow complex cells to withstand extreme heat.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the American Physical Society, the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Water and Life Interface Institute, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Syracuse University, the European Commission, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

Syracuse University Libraries, in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, is hosting several events as part of Banned Books Week, Oct. 5-9. All events will take place in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Room 114 of Bird Library. All events are free and open to members of the University community.

This year’s Banned Book Week events include:

• The Libraries will feature a banned book display, “,” on the first floor of Bird Library from Oct. 5-9. The display was researched and created by Marissa Smith G’27 (School of Information Studies). There is also a for additional resources on book challenges, banning and intellectual freedom.
• A will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 2-3 p.m. This dynamic conversation on censorship, education and the right to read will be led by Teukie Martin, a Ph.D. candidate in inclusive education in the School of Education.
• A panel discussion, “,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 4-5 p.m. The discussion will explore both the enduring value of academic freedom and the threats confronting it today. Panelists�� will include Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and professor, magazine, news and digital journalism in the S.I. Newhouse�� School of Public Communications; Thomas M. Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics in the Department of Political Science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; and Thomas A. Perreault, professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment in the Maxwell School.
• A screening of the film “” and a post-screening discussion will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The screening will take place from 3:30-5:10 p.m., with the discussion to follow from 5:30- 6:30 p.m. The film is the winner of the 2026 Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
• “” will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from noon-2 p.m. In this interactive event, volunteers bring challenged and censored titles to life that patrons can “check out.” This event is being coordinated by the student group Beyond the Book.
• A lecture on “” will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from 3- 4 p.m. Presented by Ian Spangler, visiting lecturer and interim director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Richmond. Spangler argues that we need a better vocabulary for understanding and disambiguating non-neutrality within cartography that bans and is banned.
• A will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Participants can select a passage from a banned/challenged book and read it aloud. Bring your own title, select from a curated compilation or choose from books on hand. Every reader will be entered into a raffle for prizes, and refreshments will be provided.

“Censorship has no place in a library—or in academia. When we expose ourselves to the widest possible range of ideas, we don’t just protect an invaluable principle—we generate new knowledge, sharpen our critical thinking and ensure that we continue to grow,” says Melinda Dermody, associate dean for academic success at the University Libraries. “That’s why we’re proud to stand alongside our community partners in providing a robust program throughout Banned Books Week and taking a strong stand against censorship in any form.”

Banned Books Week sponsors include the Departments of Religion; Women’s and Gender Studies; Art and Music History; LGBT Studies; Languages, Literatures and Linguistics; Political Science; Writing; and the Humanities Center; as well as the Tully Center for Free Speech and the Maxwell School’s Community Geography Program. Thanks also to the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), Beyond the Book and staff who volunteer to support these events.

Additionally, the Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences is hosting a “” on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Sims Hall.

The Law Library in Dineen Hall will also be highlighting legal cases on banned books in the display case, along with handouts that provide access to free banned books online and a research guide on the legal issues around banned books.

For additional information, contact Patricia Giles pmgiles@syr.edu and/or Katherine Kidd��kakidd@syr.edu

The gives first- and second-year students in select research labs a rare opportunity: 15 months of mentored, full-time research support from the .

Two Syracuse University students participated in the cohort of scholars for the first time in 2026: ’28, who is double majoring in applied data science in the ��and biotechnology in the , and ’28, who is double majoring in medicinal chemistry and biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Lepper has been working in the lab of biology professor , developing tools to make protist genome analysis—the reading and interpreting of the DNA of a diverse group of single-celled, non-animal/plant/fungus organisms—more accessible. Choy has been working in chemistry professor ‘s lab developing imaging agents to detect liver disease.

Kate Hanson, director of the (SOURCE), says the Beckman Scholars Program provides an “unparalleled opportunity” for students interested in research careers to excel through a sustained undergraduate research experience.

During the 15 funded months, scholars are supported by mentors and engaged in activities with the University’s Beckman cohort, the BioInspired Institute and opportunities with the Beckman Foundation.

“We are eager to continue building the Syracuse Beckman cohort with promising students committed to research,” Hanson says.��The program supports two students for 2027-2028 and two for 2028-2029.

As part of the scholarship program, Lepper and Choy attended the Beckman Symposium in Irvine, California.

“Becoming a Beckman Scholar has been an incredibly rewarding experience even just a few months in,” Choy says. “Immediately, you are introduced to a whole new world of science and a network of individuals that span across many disciplines.”

Below, Choy and Lepper share more about their research.

Joanna Lepper��

Lepper says she was drawn to the project in Oliverio’s lab of building a pipeline to recover microbial eukaryote, or protist, genomes from samples because of the technical work involved. She’s spent the past several months testing software for assembly, binning, quality control and taxonomic evaluation, then compiling the strongest tools into a resource designed for researchers without a bioinformatics background.

Aiming for a career as a computational scientist, she says the hands-on coding experience has been “so valuable.”

“My project aims to simplify complicated downloads and commands into a single line of code, so I was drawn to the idea of aiding in the accessibility of genome analysis,” she says, pointing to a of hers that focused on how understudied protists remain.

Where she once planned to head straight into research through industry, she’s now weighing graduate school, buoyed by a support system she says makes the prospect feel less intimidating.

“It’s also solidified that bioinformatics is the place for me,” Lepper says. “I love coding and statistics, but I also fell in love with science, so it’s a happy medium. There’s a new drive, after receiving this award, that really makes you want to change the world, and a new realization that you can, if you put your mind to it.”��

Sydney Choy

Choy has worked in Doyle’s lab since her freshman year, and her project as a Beckman Scholar builds on that foundation. She’s developing peptide-based PET imaging agents that target an immune system protein, interferon-gamma. The aim is to non-invasively detect, diagnose and monitor metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, a progressive liver disease, reflecting the lab’s focus on unmet clinical needs.

“With my interest in the intersection of medicinal chemistry and healthcare, a project that allowed me to explore my own curiosity while developing future diagnosis techniques stood out heavily to me,” she says of choosing her project. “As I continue to take more rigorous science courses, I get to see how my research is applicable across various fields and disciplines.”

Choy says balancing lab work with the rest of her life, including time away from family over the summer, was the hardest part of the 15-month commitment. Still, she found comfort in Doyle’s lab, calling it “a very positive and supportive environment” that let her see a new side of Syracuse outside the classroom.

“Prior to becoming a Beckman Scholar, I could not fully dedicate my time to research, leaving me in less of an independent role,” she says. “Yet, this past summer my understanding and ability to take initiative and strive for progress grew immensely.”

What to Know About Applying

First- or second-year students are eligible to apply for the program through the process if they are working in labs led by Beckman Mentors. Mentors include Doyle, Oliverio, (chemistry and biology), (physics), (biomedical and chemical engineering), (biology), (biomedical and chemical engineering), (biology), (chemistry), (biomedical and chemical engineering), (physics), (physics), (chemistry) and (biomedical and chemical engineering).

Students interested in the program should note that an “Intent to Apply” form is due Feb. 11, 2027, and the full application is due Feb. 25, 2027. Students can contact Hanson at khanso01@syr.edu, or through Orange Success, to discuss interest, even if they have not yet joined a lab.