We continue to follow with interest (and pride!) our alumnae’s achievements as they make their way in the academic world and beyond.  This year’s Queens College Baccalaureate Convocation, for example, provided us with many reasons to celebrate: 

Graduates of September, 2008 listed among this year’s honorees include Stacy Shelly (’05), who graduated magna cum laude with Departmental Honors in Political Science.  Her high school classmate Cheryl (Chana Leah) Spinner (’05) received her degree summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a graduate.  Ayala Young (’03) also graduated in September, earning her degree cum laude, with Departmental Honors in History. She was named a member of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, and was awarded the distinction of a Scholarship Key.  Alexandra (Elbaum) Berman (’04), also listed among this year’s honorees,  graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, as of February, 2009.  She was the winner of the Marc Belth Memorial Award (presented to graduating seniors “who have demonstrated academic excellence” and who plan to pursue studies “in some aspect of the analysis of thought or cognition”).   Jennie Kufeld (’04) graduated cum laude with Honors in Psychology.  Elianna Lader (’05) was another February graduate, magna cum laude, with High Honors in Psychology, and Departmental Honors in Sociology.   Ronit Sonnenblick (’05) graduated magna cum laude with High Honors in Psychology as well. 

2008 graduates of Queens College who were elected to Phi Beta Kappa as graduates (and are listed among this year’s honorees) include our alumnae Lindsey Biller (’04) and Moreeyah Nissanian (’04).

Among the May, 2009 graduates, we find Shana Anavian (’05) a cum laude graduate, who received Honors in Accounting and Information Systems.   Erin (Bracha) Bistricer (’05), graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Departmental Honors in both History and Political Science.  She also received the Award for Academic Excellence in Political Science, and the Koppel S. Pinson Prize for History (“awarded to the graduating senior with the highest record in history courses”).   Rachel Fogel (’05) graduated in May, 2009 as well – summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa - with Highest Honors in Media Studies.  Shelli (Hoffman) Gordon (’05) graduated magna cum laude, with Departmental Honors in Family, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, and Honors in Jewish Studies.  She was also a member of the Phi Upsilon Omicron Family and Consumer Science Honor Society, and received the Dwyer Award in Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences.   Emily Kahgan (’04) graduated summa cum laude, with Departmental Honors in Political Science.  She received the Joel Morrison Scholarship Award in Political Science, and the Roarers Memorial Award for her academic record and her “outstanding contribution to the college through community service.” 

Kate Schnur (’05) graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Highest Honors in English, and Departmental Honors in History.  Last year, in her junior year, she received the Macaulay Honors College Chancellor's Award for Student Leadership and Community Service.  She has also been awarded the Molly Weinstein Memorial Prize (for her “superior record of scholarship” and intention “to pursue a career in college teaching”), the Eleanor Dieckman Picken Study-Abroad Scholarship, the Robert A. Greenberg Memorial Prize in English (for “best performance by a student in the English Honors Program”),  the Myron Matlaw Award in English (for a work of “wit and intellectual excellence” in any genre), the Solomon Lutnick Prize in History (“awarded to a graduating senior for distinguished scholarship in American history”), and the University of Michigan PhD Program in English Graduate Study Fellowship.  During her college career, she also served as Coeditor of the Journal of Jewish Studies, as well as Managing Editor and Literary Editor of “The Knight News,” the official Queens College student newspaper.  Laura Sonneborn-Turetsky (’04) graduated cum laude, with Honors in both English and the Humanities.  She also served as an editor of the Queens College Journal of Jewish Studies, and was the recipient of the Center for Jewish Studies Award.    Dorit Ziv (’04) received Honors in Mathematical and Natural Sciences and was also the recipient of the Young Scientist Award.

And in the realm of graduate education, we extend our congratulations to Lisa (Shor) Gottlieb (YUHSG ’01), upon receiving her Master’s degree in School Psychology from Touro College…. and to Rachel Biller (’00), upon her graduation from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  Rachel will be beginning her residency in Pediatrics at the Montefiore Medical Center.