For Immediate Release
June 1, 2009

Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516
Irwin@geneseo.edu

                    Nicodemi

                   Zuckerman

Two SUNY Geneseo Faculty Members Receive High Honors from Board of Trustees

GENESEO, N.Y. – Two faculty members from the State University of New York at Geneseo have received distinguished professorship honors from the SUNY Board of Trustees, a ranking conferred for consistent extraordinary accomplishment.

Olympia Nicodemi, a professor in the Department of Mathematics from Geneseo, was named Distinguished Teaching Professor and Mary Ellen Zuckerman, a professor in the School of Business from Rochester,  was named Distinguished Service Professor.  Nicodemi and Zuckerman were among 26 SUNY faculty members the board honored with the professorships, which are among the highest system tribute conferred upon SUNY instructional faculty.

“The genius of SUNY faculty lies not only in their intellectual capacity, but also in their surpassing excellence in teaching and in their ability to apply their scholarship and research in service to the campus and larger community in which we all live,” said SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Carl T. Hayden.  “These SUNY faculty attract students and scholars to our campuses, enhance the prestige of the entire university and they are most deserving of highest academic rank the university can bestow.  My sincere gratitude and hearty congratulations go to them all.”

The Distinguished Service Professorship is conferred upon instructional faculty members at SUNY’s state-operated and community colleges who have achieved a notable reputation for extraordinary service not only to the campus and to SUNY, but also to the community, the state and/or nation.   The Distinguished Teaching Professorship honors master of teaching at the undergraduate, graduate or professional levels.  Distinguished teaching professors also must demonstrate commitment to their ongoing intellectual growth, scholarship and professional growth.

Nicodemi’s teaching career at Geneseo has yielded her numerous additional awards since her arrival at Geneseo in 1981, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994. 

In 2003, Nicodemi earned two prestigious awards from the Mathematical Association of America:  the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics -- considered the organization’s highest teaching honor -- and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the MAA’s Seaway Section. 

“I am deeply honored to be in the company of the SUNY Geneseo Distinguished Faculty whose uncompromising dedication to teaching, scholarship, and service celebrates what we do here at Geneseo:  teach, learn with, and serve wonderful students who always make our job new and exciting,” said Nicodemi.

Nicodemi earned her master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Rochester.

Zuckerman has been a Geneseo faculty member since 1985 and served as dean of the School of Business from 1999-2008.  She specializes in marketing, market research and organizational behavior and has written extensively on the development of the magazine industry, the history of the marketing research and advertising industries, and gender and media.  Zuckerman received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2006.

“I am honored and delighted to receive this award and am deeply appreciative of the wonderful colleagues and great students I've worked with at Geneseo,” said Zuckerman.

Zuckerman earned a master’s degree in finance and doctorate in American History from Columbia University.