March 31, 2006
VIA FACSIMILE
Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson
Vice Chancellor of University Relations and
Secretary to the Board of Trustees
The City University of New York
535 East 80th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10021
Dear Vice Chancellor Hershenson:
I am pleased to announce the following faculty and student awards and significant
grants for Hunter College.
Significant Hunter College Grant:

Hunter College was recently awarded a $600,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation to review and strengthen its undergraduate curriculum. The work
supported by this grant will bolster Hunter’s efforts to raise retention and graduate
rates at the College.
Faculty Awards and Honors:

Dr. Emily Braun, a Professor of Art at Hunter College, and Emily Bilski, a Hunter
College High School alumna, won a 2005 National Jewish Book Award for their book
Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversation. The illustrated book
took the prize in the Visual Arts Category.
Student Awards and Honors:

Sonjae S. Wallace, a graduate student at Hunter College, has been selected to
participate in the 56th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, June 25-30,
2006. He is being sponsored by the National Center for Research Resources’
Research Center in Minority Institutions (RCMI). Approximately 500 students and
young scientists from all over the world are invited to Linau each year to attend
lectures by and engage in discussions with Nobel Laureates. This year the meeting
will focus on chemistry.

Alex Rodriguez, a Hunter College junior and member of the CUNY Honors College,
has been selected to participate in the Congress-Bundestag Exchange Program for
Young Professionals. One of 75 Americans participating in the program, he will
spend a year in Germany doing two months of intensive German language study, four
months of classroom instruction at an institute of higher education and a five month
internship in his career field.
I am extremely proud of the awards and honors achieved by Hunter’s faculty and
students. I would appreciate your assistance in announcing these outstanding achievements of
Hunter’s faculty and students at the next Board of Trustees meeting. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jennifer J. Raab
cc: Ms. Hourig Messerlian
Dean Linda T. Chin
JJR:lh
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