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News Notes

Susan Godar, marketing and management, and Tina Lesher, communication, are serving as Fulbright Ambassadors for 2010-12. The Fulbright Ambassador Program identifies, trains and engages a select group of Fulbright scholar alumni to serve as representatives for the Fulbright program at campus workshops and academic conferences across the United States. Both Godar and Lesher served as Fulbright scholars during the 2006-07 academic year, Godar in Latvia and Lesher in the United Arab Emirates.

Ofelia Garcia, art, has again been nominated to serve on the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (NJSCA). Garcia has served on the council since 2007, and is currently second vice chair and chair of the grants committee. She previously served as chair of the board of trustees of the Jersey city Museum.

Leslie Agard-Jones, former dean of the College of Education, and Robert Guarasci, executive director of the New Jersey Community Development Corp. and a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, were named to the advisory commission for the Great Falls National Historic Park in Paterson. The commission will work to develop a general management document for and make critical decisions about the park’s educational and historical themes.

Music professor Payton MacDonald’s work “Cowboy Tabla/Cowboy Raga” was performed by Alarm Will Sound, of which he is a member, on September 4 at Musikfest Bremen in Germany. “People Coming Together,” a new orchestra work by MacDonald that was commissioned by the Bloomingdale School of Music, premiered on June 11 in a concert at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church in New York City.

Librada Sanchez, director of the Women’s Center, received the Vision and Achievement Award presented by the Mental Health Association of Passaic County at its annual awards dinner on June 8. Sanchez was honored for her “outstanding service to the Passaic County community.” She also received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for her “longstanding dedication and continued commitment to the residents of Passaic County and the State of New Jersey.”

Stephen Bryant, music, performed from May 29 to June 12 at the Spoleto USA Festival in Charleston, S.C., as Old Hob in the opera Flora. The performances were staged at the Dock Street Theater, where Flora was the first opera staged in America in 1736.

Mulgrew Miller, music, served as artist-in-residence for the 31st Annual Detroit Jazz Fest, which was held September 3-6. Miller conducted workshops, supervised rehearsals, and met with city officials. He also performed with his trio, which joined Grammy Award-winning gospel/jazz group Take 6 on September 3, and with Wingspan, his ensemble, on September 4. In addition, Miller chose a group of William Paterson University students who performed at the Jazz Fest on September 4. The ensemble consisted of Caleb Curtis of Ann Arbor, Mich., on alto saxophone; Nathan Giroux of Burnt Hills, N.Y., on tenor saxophone; Harrison Young of Mahwah, N.J., on vocals; Julia Brav of Princeton, N.J., on piano; Nicolas Indalecio of East Hanover, N.J., on guitar; Bill Thoman of Ridgewood on bass; and Anthony Benson of Camden, N.J., on drums.