Eloise Brière of the Department of French Studies has been elected vice president of Le Conseil International des Etudes Francophones, the largest international association in the growing field of Francophone studies.
S.S. Ravi of the Department of Computer Science was given a Teaching Award from the Graduate Student Organization for excellent standards of teaching and consistent dedication during the Spring semester of 1996.
André Ntonfo of the French African and Caribbean literatures department at the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon is this year’s Fulbright scholar-in-residence in the Department of French Studies. During his tenure at Albany, Ntonfo is scheduled to conduct research on the cultural and political impact of the the U.S. occupations of Haiti. He will also be lecturing here and at universities across the nation.
Jacqueline Elliott, 30, a staff member of the Physical Plant since 1989, died on June 15 of this year. Her last assignment was in the plant’s fiscal office as a clerk. A 1988 graduate of Hudson Valley Community College, she was a Rexford resident.
Those wishing to make a contribution in her name may do so to the Ellis Hospital Foundation for Neurology Research and Equipment, 1101 Nott St., Schenectady, N.Y., 12308.
Hannah Applebaum, 79, a 20-year member of the University staff in the Graduate School of Public Affairs and then the University Libraries, died on June 14 of this year after a long illness.
Born and raised in New York City, she had a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and master’s degree in library science from Columbia University. She was a librarian for the Museum of Modern Art before coming to Albany.
Contributions in her name may be made to Temple Israel, 600 New Scotland Ave., Albany, N.Y., 12208.
Steven D. Gold, 52, former professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy and one of the country’s leading authorities on government fiscal issues, died on Aug. 14 in Washington D.C. after a long illness.
Gold had left the University after five years this January to join the Urban Institute in Washington as its co-director of the New Federalism project.
Gold was also a member of the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, where he served as director of its Center for the Study of the States. His work there established him nationwide as a specialist on state and local government financing. He wrote or edited 17 books on state and local finances.
• Laura Marello of the Department of English completed two writers residencies this
summer: the Hawthornden International Writer’s Retreat in Edinburgh, Scotland; and
the NALL Foundation residency in Vence, France. • Nancy Denton of the Department of Sociology gave the Sorokin Lecture at the Eastern
Sociological Society meeting last Spring in Boston. • Betty C. Daniel of the Department of Economics returns to the campus this Fall
after a year at the University of Pennsylvania though a National Science Foundation
professorship. Daniel was chosen for the honor because of her research on the
economics of international capital flows and foreign exchange markets. • Deepak Kapur of the Department of Computer Science was recognized for leadership in
his field when he was invited this summer to lecture at the 1996 Federated Logic
Conference held July 27-Aug. 3 at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He spoke on
“Rewrite-Based Automated Reasoning: Challenges Ahead”. Martin V. Hildebrand and Michael Stessin are the newest faculty members in the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Hildebrand, an assistant professor, most recently held a visiting lecturer position
at the University of Texas, a postdoctoral position at the University of Minnesota’s
Institute for Mathematics and its Applications and an assistant professorship at the
University of Michigan. He received his bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from
Williams College in 1986, and his doctorate from Harvard University in 1990. Tim Lance, chair of the department, described Hildebrand as “one of the leading young
researchers in the world in the areas of random walk and convergence of Markov
chains. His expertise increases departmental strength in probability and statistics,
and enhances existing degree programs as well as our new degree in Actuarial and
Mathematical Sciences.” Hildebrand has also had experience as a teaching assistant at Harvard University,
participated in research with the Geometry Supercomputer Project at the University of
Minnesota, and has written many papers on different subjects within mathematics along
with giving talks at conferences for specific areas in mathematics.. Stessin, an associate professor, has been a visiting associate professor at Albany
since 1995, before that holding similar positions at the University at Pittsburgh
(1993-95), Albany (1992-93), Northwestern University (1990-92), and, in the late
1980s, at Moscow Institute of Radio and Electronic Engineering. From 1978-90 he was a
senior research analyst at the National Institute of Energy Research, in Moscow,
Russia. He received both his master’s and doctoral degrees from Moscow State
University. “Michael Stessin is a senior researcher who has solved major problems in topology and
analysis and for 14 years worked as an applied mathematician in the Soviet Union,”
said Lance. “His primary area of research is complex analysis. As a visitor here this
past year, he wrote our prospectus on the mathematics of finance. “Michael will play a central role in the every aspect of departmental life. This
Fall, for example, he will teach the preparatory course for SOA Course Exam 110, and
continue his research collaboration with several members of the department.” Linda Chavis
