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Graduation 2010: Recognizing Faculty and Student Achievements
On Monday, May 17, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs awarded 733 students degrees from its MIA, MPA, PEPM, EMPA, MPA-ESP, and PhD in Sustainable Development programs. SIPA also recognized two faculty members and 21 graduating students for their achievements:
Paola Valenti and Francisco Rivera-Batiz each received SIPA’s Distinguished Teaching Award for 2010. The awards are offered in two categories – Professor Valenti won for courses with enrollment of 45 students or more, for teaching “Economics for International and Public Affairs;” Professor Rivera-Batiz won for courses with fewer than 45 students, for teaching “Development Economics.” Each receives a $1,000 prize and was selected by students through an online ballot that featured ten nominees in each category. The nominees were the top performers in the quantitative portion of course evaluations for the spring and fall 2008 semesters.
Nora Gordon, Mana Miyawaki, Heidi Rosbe, Sandra Scharf, Tracy Slagle and Lauren Ziegler received the Dr. Susan Aurelia Gitelson Award for Human Values in International Affairs. It recognizes a project that promotes a broad understanding of human rights and humanitarian action. The 2010 winners comprised a Workshop in Development Practice team that worked with the Women’s Refugee Commission, on improving vocational training in Liberia.
Lyle J. Morris received the George C. Marshall Prize for Strategic Studies. It recognizes a graduating student for an outstanding paper addressing issues of defense policy, military strategy, arms control, intelligence, peacekeeping, negotiation, and alternatives to the use of force as an instrument of policy. Morris won for his paper “Managing Conflict: A Case Study Approach to China’s Experience with Confidence Building Measure.”
A Capstone Workshop team from the International Energy Management and Policy Program received the Leous/Parry Award for Progressive Sustainability. The award was established by two SIPA alumni, J.P. Leous and Neal Parry, to support interdisciplinary approaches to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development. It presents $1,000 to a student workshop that best examines a social or political program, highlights its environmental roots, and presents a solution. The team was recognized for its work on increasing access to energy in rural Ghana, by developing business models that aim to provide financing solutions. Members of the team were Sumeet Bhatti, Audrey Dessiderato, Sarah Dhere, Parker Fay, Eun-Mee Lee, Kenneth Lee, Danielle Maniscalco, Nicolas Roy, Gbenga Olowoyeye, Brian Smith, Giselle Rossana Velasquez Gutierrez, and Henan Xu.
Julia Harris received the Raphael Smith Memorial Prize for her article in the alumni magazine SIPA News entitled “Improving Health Care in Some of the Toughest U.S. Work Environments – Migrant Worker Camps.” The prize is in memory of Raphael Smith, a member of SIPA’s Class of 1994, who died while retracing his stepfather’s motorcycle adventure across Europe and Asia. It is awarded to the student judged to have authored the best article published in SIPA News.
Tracey Foster received the Harvey Picker Prize for Public Service, which recognizes graduating students who demonstrate exceptional commitment to public service. Foster played a key role in the establishment of the Alaska House- New York. It is a public sector project in New York’s Soho neighborhood, focusing on Alaska’s unique heritage, and connecting it to the rest of the world through art, cultural exchange, education and business and economic development.
Watch the video of the graduation ceremony here. 