MMC Recognizes Outstanding Students and Faculty at Honors Day 2010

Click here to view the Honors Day 2010 schedule. 

Each year at Honors Day, students are selected from each College division to present academic research projects. Faculty members present Awards for Excellence and induct students into various honor societies. President Judson R. Shaver, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs David Podell, Ph.D., and Vice President for Institutional Research Peter Baker, M.A., will present remarks during the opening ceremony. 

Marymount Manhattan will also recognize outstanding faculty members for their work and dedication. In addition, the Excellence in Teaching Award will be presented. Past winners include Sue Behrens, Ph.D., (2008) and Peter Naccarato, Ph.D. (2009). 

As part of a fall 2009 semester project, the Academic Honors Committee published On Inspiration and Excellence, a brochure by Marymount Manhattan students on the topic of inspiration. The cover features István Orosz’s 1999 work Portrait of Shakespeare, which won first prize in a poster competition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. 

The committee encouraged students from each division to reflect on the nature of excellence and inspiration by submitting responses to one of the following questions: “What brings out the best in you,” “What is your source of inspiration,” or “What is excellence?” In his entry entitled “Passion, Interest and Dedication,” Matthew Barnett ’11, a communications major, describes excellence as “the achievement of self, both internally and externally.” 

“I feel excellence comes from interest that can form into successful work if the passion and dedication are there from the start,” Barnett said. 

Eleven additional MMC students and one alumna also contributed original works to the brochure: Laura Assante ’10; Gunes Atalay ’09; Sarah Badger ’10; Colin Burridge ’12; Caroline Collins ’11; Melina Davis, a visiting student in the fall 2009 semester who attends Barnard College; Diana Graham ’12; Caroline Kaczor ’10; Katie Martin ’11; Emma Ramos ’11; Caroline Robinson ’13 and Sarah Rohlfing ’13. 

Copies of the brochure will be available on the day of the event. 

The Academic Honors Committee includes Chairman and Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Jeff Morrison, M.F.A.; Assistant Professor of Art History Adrienne Baxter Bell, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Philosophy Carrie-Ann Biondi, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Anthony Naaeke, Ph.D.; and Assistant Professor of International Studies Ghassan Shabaneh, Ph.D. 

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: March 08, 2010