WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE ANNOUNCES FOUR NEW FACULTY CHAIR ENDOWMENTS

Dr. Joseph Hankin, president of Westchester Community College, is pleased to announce the establishment of four new Endowed Faculty Chairs at the college. Each Faculty Chair was endowed by a gift of $75,000 to the Westchester Community College Foundation. The college, with a total of 37 Faculty Chairs, now has one of the nation’s most successful endowed faculty chair programs among two-year institutions of higher education. The chairs represent a total endowment of $2,775,000. 

The Endowed Faculty Chair Program was initiated by Dr. Hankin in 1990 to recognize outstanding faculty and to provide funds for professional development for them and their departments. This, he felt, was essential to the continued excellence of the college. All of the new Chairs were gifts from the Joseph Abeles family of Pleasantville, bringing to 27 the number of endowed chairs established by Mr. Abeles and his late wife, Sophia. 

Professor Rowan Lindley of Cortlandt Manor has been named to hold the Joseph and Sophia Abeles Chair in Computer Science. Lindley started teaching at Westchester Community College in 1991 and has chaired the college’s Department of Computer Science and Technology since 2000. She was born in Cambridge, England and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mathematics from Oxford University. She lived and taught in Kenya for several years before coming to the United States in 1982. 

Soon after earning a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University she joined the faculty at Westchester and has been instrumental in advancing the study of computer science at the college. One of her major goals is to improve teaching methods and techniques in order to enable more students to discover how interesting and fun the study of computers can be.    

“I am particularly interested in attracting more women and underrepresented minorities into Computer Science, hoping that they will find it as fascinating and enjoyable as I do”, she says. “I love teaching at this community college with its population that is diverse in every way.” 

Professor José Quiñones of New City is the holder of the Abeles Endowed Chair in Respiratory Therapy and Care. In addition to being chairman of the college’s Respiratory Care Department and curriculum, he is a respiratory therapist at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center.

One of a handful of respiratory therapists who possess all five credentials issued by the National Board for Respiratory Care: CRT, RRT, NPS, CPFT, RPFT, he has worked at medical facilities including Roosevelt, St. Vincent’s and St. Agnes Hospitals, Blythedale Children’s Hospital, and Westchester and Montefiore Medical Centers.

“My educational philosophy includes the principle that I can only continue to be an effective educator in respiratory care if I continue to practice as a respiratory therapist so I can bring current real world experiences to my students,” says Quiñones. “Holding this Chair will enable me to pursue continuing education that will further enhance what I can bring to my students. It also allows me to share the gift of continuing education with my colleagues, and it validates the decades of dedication I have given to my profession,” he says. 

Professor Meralee Silverman of Chappaqua will hold the Joseph and Sophia Abeles Endowed Faculty Chair for Developmental Education. Silverman was hired to teach reading and study skills in 1973; five years later she was selected to chair the then newly formed Reading & Study Skills Department, which now houses both developmental reading and study skills courses that help students prepare to take more advanced courses at the college as well as the college’s College Success freshmen orientation course.

For more than three decades, Silverman, who holds Master’s degrees from Queens College and NYU, has been an advocate for developmental students at the college. She has dedicated herself to the needs of these students and to advancing first-year student success by spearheading important initiatives such as the College Success course and the development of offerings for the non-traditional student population. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, she was instrumental in creating a two-tiered reading and study skills program, now called “Foundations of College Reading” and “Analytical Reading,” oriented toward first year students.

“I am delighted and honored to hold the Joseph and Sophia Abeles Endowed Faculty Chair in Developmental Education,” says Silverman. “The award recognizes the ongoing needs of our developmental students and the importance of providing educational opportunities to nontraditional students. It also recognizes my three decades of service and the service of my entire department to the needs of the many thousands of developmental students whose lives have been enriched by going to Westchester Community College.” 

The new Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship has been awarded to Prof. Phyllis Fein of West Harrison, the Curriculum Chair for Retail Management/Fashion Merchandising. As a corporately trained marketing executive, as well as the daughter of a small business owner, Fein has first-hand knowledge of what characterizes an entrepreneur, and how the vision of a true entrepreneur cuts across all types of people. Fein, who holds an M.B.A. from New York University, believes that “entrepreneurship is the ultimate chance to combine one's determination, innovative spirit and a real sense of accomplishment into a business opportunity.”  

“I am an optimist, believing that, both in business and personal circumstances, everyone's dream is important to happiness and success. I am honored to hold this new Chair, and envision a strong breed of entrepreneurs building our world's economic future,” she says.