Campus News
Promotions and Appointments
By Greta Petry (October 8, 2004)
|
J. Philippe Abraham |
Abraham Named
Director of Career Development
J. Philippe Abraham was recently promoted to
the position of director of Career Development.
Abraham has a long history of service and dedication
to this institution, dating back to 1980 when
he entered the University as a freshman EOP
student. Active in student government as an
undergraduate, he chaired the Pan Caribbean
Association.
While finishing his master�s degree at UAlbany,
he served as a teaching assistant, and since
that time has variously taught classes for both
Hispanic and Italian Studies and for Latin American
and Caribbean Studies. In 1989, he began his
career as a full-time academic adviser, eventually
becoming associate director of ASC/US, where
he was perhaps best known for his coordination
of the academic portion of orientation.
Abraham was elected to the University Senate
for 2004-06, where he is a member of the Undergraduate
Academic Council and chairs that body�s Appellate
Subcommittee on Academic Standing. In addition,
he has been re-elected as a representative of
United University Professions� Delegate Assembly,
a position he has held since 1993.
Abraham has consistently worked to assist large
numbers of undergraduates to define and achieve
their academic goals and career objectives.
In 1991, the Student Association awarded him
a certificate of appreciation for outstanding
service to students. In 1993, he received the
Disabled Student Services Achievement Award,
and in 2001, he won both the President�s and
the Chancellor�s awards for Excel-lence in Professional
Service.
David Liebschutz
Appointed Associate Dean
David S. Liebschutz has been appointed associate
dean for Career and Alumni Programs at the Rockefeller
College of Public Affairs and Policy. Liebschutz
replaces Gretchen Manning, who left to be the
new executive dean at Bunker Hill Community
College in Boston.
Liebschutz earned law and policy degrees from
Duke University and an economics degree from
Yale. He has taught budget and finance classes
for Rockefeller College since January 2000 as
a public service professor. In addition, he
served as executive director of UAlbany�s Hillel
for the past four years and recently received
two community awards for his work there.
Prior to joining Hillel, he was the 1999 Ian
Axford Fellow in Wellington, New Zealand, and
before that spent nearly 15 years in government-related
work in Albany and Washington, D.C.
Robert Nakamura
Heads CLD
Robert Nakamura, professor of political science
at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs
and Policy, has been appointed director of the
Center for Legislative Development (CLD) following
a national search. The center is one of the
college�s main windows on the world, focused
on institution building in emerging democracies.
With funding from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), it is currently
implementing a major project in Lebanon.
�Bob Nakamura brings valuable experience to
the center,� said Rockefeller College Dean Frank
Thompson. �He has been involved in several projects
focused on nation building in Africa, Latin
America, and elsewhere. He also has a strategic
vision for the center that I believe will allow
it to sustain and enhance the tradition of excellence
associated with the center�s former director,
the late Professor Abdo Baaklini.� Baaklini,
who passed away in November 2003, led CLD�s
efforts to assist the government in Lebanon
beginning in 1993, following a 16-year civil
war.
Nakamura�s academic specialization is in the
study of policy implementation. He has been
published in numerous professional journals
and has written six books, including Taming
Regulation, co-authored with Thomas Church
and published by the Brookings Institution in
2003. He is a co-author, with John Johnson,
of USAID�s Handbook on
Legislative Development and the United
Nations Development Programme�s (UNDP) Legislatures
and Good Governance, and How
to Conduct a Legislative Needs Assessment.
In addition, Nakamura has done policy and legislative
development work in more than a dozen legislative
bodies in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe
as a consultant to USAID, UNDP, the Inter-American
Development Bank, the U.S. General Accounting
Office, the New York State Assembly, and other
organizations.
|
Peter
A. Vellis |
Vellis Joins
as Health Center Director
Peter A. Vellis, D.O., has joined the University
Health Center as director after a national search.
Vellis comes to UAlbany from Seton Health
in Clifton Park, N.Y. Vellis brings rich clinical
and administrative experience to the position.
Board certified in family practice with a specialty
in sports medicine, he has a medical degree
from the University of New England�s College
of Osteopathic Medicine, and a bachelor�s degree
from Union College.
|