Nov 28, 2007 -- “Composers have always relied on the kindness of patrons,” says David Glaser, assistant professor of music at Stern College for Women, who was recently selected by the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University to receive a 2007 Fromm Commission Award, with a prize of $10,000. He is one of a number of YU faculty who have recently been honored in their fields. Glaser—one of 12 composers out of 224 applicants to receive an award—notes that, unlike those who commission paintings, “music patrons have nothing to hang on their walls. They have to be passionate about music.” The foundation—established by the late Paul Fromm, who came to the United States from Germany in 1939 fleeing Nazi persecution—seeks to strengthen composition while bringing contemporary concert music closer to the public. Now in its 52nd year, it has commissioned more than 300 new compositions and sponsored hundreds of concerts. The Stern College professor is no stranger to music honors—he received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his body of work in 2005. At a concert held at Stern in honor of the award recipients, the Momenta Quartet played the world premiere of Glaser’s String Quartet No. 2. The group has now become the university’s first ensemble in residence. Glaser is writing a piece for four viols, an instrument popular during the late Renaissance and Baroque periods. He hopes to have his piece ready for a Manhattan premiere in the spring of 2009. The ensemble Parthenia, which will perform the work, received $2,000 from the Fromm Music Foundation. “I’m learning the bass viol myself,” Glaser says, explaining that the instrument is “kind of a cross between a guitar and a cello.” Since he already plays guitar and has wanted to learn the cello, he was drawn to the viol. Glaser mainly composes chamber music, which he likes for the form’s intimacy. “It is also easier to get this kind of music performed,” he says. And, while Glaser is delighted with the commission, he says that “even more important than the money is that my work has been acknowledged by my peers. That is gratifying.” Dr. Leon Schwartz Honored for Management Achievements Leon Schwartz, PhD, visiting associate professor at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, was recently awarded the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Fellow Award as well as the INFORMS New York Chapter Moving Spirit Award. The INFORMS Fellow Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding and exceptional accomplishments and experience in operations research and the management sciences. The Moving Spirit Award celebrates Dr. Schwartz’s 20 years of active membership, during which he has served in numerous positions, including president and vice president for programs, a post he currently holds. “Leon has been a moving spirit of the chapter over his years of service and has contributed greatly to the ongoing success of the chapter,” said the citation for the Moving Spirit Award. “During his three terms as president he led the chapter through some difficult times and implemented initiatives focused on building new leadership and strong college relations.” Dr. Schwartz has 30 years of experience in the fields of management consulting, marketing, information technology, product development, applied research, and higher education. He led the corporate Management Science consulting group at Pitney Bowes, Inc. for many years until leaving the corporate world in 2001 to form Informed Decisions Group, a customer relationship management consultancy. Seminal Work on Ethics Wins Dr. James Otteson Major Book Award James Otteson, PhD, professor of economics and philosophy and director of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, won first place in the 2007 Templeton Enterprise Awards for his seminal book Actual Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2006). The awards are among the largest in the publishing industry, with the top prize of $50,000 exceeding that of both the Pulitzer Prizes and the National Book Awards. Given by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the prominent national educational organization, the awards are presented annually to scholars under 40 years of age who have produced the very best books and articles in the field of humane economics and culture over the previous two years. “There was a strong consensus within the institute and its panel of judges that Dr. Otteson’s important work was the class of the field,” said Dr. Rich Brake, director of ISI’s Culture of Enterprise Initiative, which sponsored the book award program. “Actual Ethics was a remarkably easy and enjoyable read that puts at the disposal of the ordinary reader such great thinkers as Aristotle and Kant, and then applies their insights to the pressing economic and political questions of the day in a way that is enlightening and fun.” Otteson joined YU at the beginning of the fall semester from the University of Alabama, where he chaired the philosophy department. Dr. Joanne Jacobson Publishes Memoir of Suburban Childhood Joanne Jacobson, PhD, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of English at Yeshiva College, recently published a memoir, Hunger Artist: A Suburban Childhood (Bottom Dog Press, 2007). The book depicts the author’s experiences as a Jewish child raised in the Midwest in the 1950s and 1960s and is based on personal essays published in journals such as American Literary Review and The New England Review. “My work as a writer and teacher is defined by my particular generation,” Jacobson says, noting that she is among those “with immigrant grandparents and first-generation American parents. I grew up in the country of hope and change.” Jacobson has made her mark as an essayist who combines the literary strategies of fiction with the craft of writing a memoir. The author – who has taught American studies, American literature, and creative writing at the University of Iowa, the University of Angers, France, and Middlebury College – has also published a scholarly book as well as critical essays. Other Faculty and Staff News Yitzhak Berger, visiting assistant professor of Bible at Yeshiva College for 2007-2008, authored a monograph, “Peshat and the Authority of Hazal in the Commentaries of Radak,” and an article in the Journal of Jewish Studies (Spring 2006), “Radak’s Commentary to Chronicles and the Development of his Exegetical Program.” Rabbi Benjamin Blech, assistant professor of Talmud, was keynote speaker at the Conference of Chevra Kadisha, a gathering with representatives from all over the world. Alan J. Brava, director of operations at YU’s Center for the Jewish Future, received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College for his 25 years of service to the Jewish community. Anatoly Frenkel, PhD, associate professor of physics at Yeshiva University, coauthored an article, “Nanoscale Disorder in CaCu3Ti4O12: A New Route to the Enhanced Dielectric Response,” Physical Review Letters, vol. 99 no. 3. Sumanta Goswami, PhD, assistant professor of anatomy and structural biology, AECOM, and assistant professor of biology, YC, coauthored a paper, “Cofilin Determines the Migration Behavior and Turning Frequency of Metastatic Cancer Cells,” that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Cell Biology. Daniel Laufer, PhD, MBA, associate professor of marketing at Sy Syms School of Business, was invited to be keynote speaker at the Westchester Business & Professional Divisions 2007 Fall Breakfast, UJA Federation of NY. He spoke on “Doing Business in Israel: A Different Kind of Normal.” Norman Linzer, PhD, the Samuel J. and Jean Sable Professor of Jewish Family Social Work at Wurzweiler School of Social Work, lectured on “Torah and Caregiving” at the JCC of Staten Island. Chaim Nissel, PsyD, director of the Yeshiva University Counseling Center and associate dean of students for health affairs, presented a suicide assessment workshop at the St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center, Department of Psychiatry-Grand Rounds. James Otteson, director of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, was a member of the American delegation to the Sino-American Symposium on Philosophy and Religious Studies,” held at Tsinghua University, Beijing. The conference topic was “Happiness: A Multidisciplinary, Cross-Cultural Dialogue.” He delivered a paper, “The Scottish Enlightenment and the Tragedy of Human Happiness.” Daniel Pollack, JD, professor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work, published “Should social workers be mandated reporters of child maltreatment?” in International Social Work, 50(5). Rabbi Bernard Rosensweig, professor of Jewish history at Yeshiva College, wrote the historical introduction to the scholarly edition of the Responsa of Rabbi Jacob Weil, published by Machon Jerusalem. He also delivered a lecture on "The Philosophy of Maimonides and its Lessons for Contemporary Times" at Oheb Zedek Synagogue in Belle Harbor, NY, and on "Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Austritt - The Philosophy and Limitations of Orthodox Separatism from Frankfurt to New York" at the Adult Education Lecture Series for Women sponsored by Torah Umesorah. Peninnah Schram, associate professor of speech and drama at Stern College for Women, participated in three programs: “Last Talks and Tales of Barbara Myerhoff,” which launched the new book, Stories as Equipment for Living; “Sephardic Folktales,” a performance of storytelling with music at the 92nd Street Y; and “The Jewish Oral Tradition” at the West Texas A & M University. Her new book, The Magic Pomegranate, an illustrated children’s folktale, was recently published by Milbrook Press. She published an essay, “Better to Go to Israel: Identity & Heritage,” in A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them (ed. Jeffrey K. Salkin). Victor Schwartz, MD, university dean of students, was a speaker at the seminar, “Lessons From Virginia Tech,” sponsored by the New York City Bar Association Mental Health Law Committee; and he spoke at Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, on “Challenges and Dilemmas in College Mental Health: Is There Anything to Learn from Virginia Tech?”