What it Takes: How Harpur attracts -- and keeps -- the best and the brightest

Paul Turovsky '73 and Larry Schorr '75 and '77

Mark Lenzenweger's work in psychology research breaks new ground, bridging the gap between hard-science experimentalists and clinical psychologists. His recent findings are helping others in his field to see that disorders once considered incurable and lifelong may indeed be treatable and temporary. Lenzenweger could teach anywhere. In fact, he was teaching at Harvard before he joined Binghamton University. He has since been courted by Cornell Medical Center. But he chose to stay at Binghamton.

Professor Anne Clark's work may one day help prevent the deadly West Nile virus. But she does not work alone in a laboratory. She invited undergraduate student Becky Heiss '04 to collaborate with her on a study of crows.
The research they conducted together won first prize from the American Ornithology Society.

The list goes on: Martin Arnold, filmmaker and teacher of film theory and history, who continued the tradition of excellence in the Cinema Department when Kenneth Jacobs retired; Omowunmi A. Sadik, whose work in sensor research may one day provide warnings against a broad range of chemical and biochemical threats. At every corner of Harpur College you can find outstanding faculty who are making a difference in their fields and, more important, in students' lives.

" This kind of excellence needs nurturing," says Jean-Pierre Mileur, Dean of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. "Outstanding faculty choose institutions with cultures that support their teaching and research and appreciate how important it is to travel to present their work and gain new perspectives from other leaders in their fields. Our Faculty Development Fund Initiative provides the resources to attract and retain outstanding teachers and researchers, and to promote their work."

Paul Turovsky '73, chair of the Harpur College Dean's Advisory Council, is working actively with Dean Mileur to raise donations for the fund. "I've realized more and more how much of an impact Harpur College has had on my life and how important it was in what I've been able to achieve and attain. More importantly, I have come to understand the role it plays in other people's lives as they struggle to achieve a college education and use it as a launching pad for their future, " says Turovsky. "Without good teachers, students are not going to get a first-rate education. We've taken on the challenge to help Dean Mileur recruit and retain quality faculty by setting up the Faculty Development Fund Initiative. The money that we raise helps him to maintain the highest quality faculty at Harpur."

Larry Schorr '75 and '77, a strong supporter of the fund, serves with Turovsky as the co-chair of this initiative. The idea for the fund came out of a meeting of the Harpur College Dean's Advisory Council after members heard Dean Mileur make a case for more support for faculty. Council members felt that as alumni, they could make a difference not only by contributing themselves, but by encouraging others to do so. Schorr adds, "The Faculty Development Fund Initiative is important because faculty are the core resource of the University. It's very competitive to acquire and retain highly qualified faculty, and this initiative will help."

The Faculty Development Fund Initiative is already a success, having raised $178,000, exceeding its initial three-year goal of $150,000. But, according to Mileur, there is much more work to be done. "Our goal is to raise $1 million by June 30, 2007. It may be a bold goal, but this is our single most important need -- to hire and retain the best faculty. We have seen tremendous support from alumni and others who appreciate what the tradition of excellence meant to them. They want to maintain and enhance that tradition."

The fund provides encouragement and support to faculty who create original research, expand knowledge in their fields and enhance the University's reputation. The fund also supports laboratory equipment, computers and teaching supplies, and helps provide recognition for outstanding teaching and scholarship.

Binghamton has been fortunate in attracting increasingly higher levels of research funding, and in working with legislators and the SUNY system to enhance and expand facilities to keep pace with its growth. However, state funding for operations -- including faculty salaries -- has decreased over the past decade, and tuition has not made up the gap.

Mileur says, "A few thousand dollars can sometimes make the difference between keeping or losing an outstanding professor. I know of no other gift that can make as powerful or immediate an impact."