News

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is inviting the local community to a pasta dinner on Oct. 17 that will benefit the New York City Fire Department Widows and Orphans Fund. The dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, bread, salad, and dessert, will be served from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the McNeil Room of the Rensselaer Student Union on 15th Street. The cost is $10 per person, $5 for Rensselaer students. The dinner will include a 50/50 raffle. No registration is required.

Troy, N.Y. — Ten colleges and universities across the country will receive $2 million in grants from The Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign at the Center for Academic Transformation at Rensselaer. The grants were announced by Carol A. Twigg, executive director of the Center.

NSF to Provide $10 Million in Funding Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., was selected by the National Science Foundation to receive $10 million to develop one of six Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSEC), the NSF announced today.

Troy, N.Y. — Ray Tomlinson, inventor of e-mail, and Alan Voorhees, world-renowned city planner, are two of eight new members of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s 2001 Alumni Hall of Fame. The newest members will be formally inducted during a ceremony on campus Sept. 21. The accomplishments of the members of the Hall of Fame are celebrated in etched windows that line Thomsen Hall in the Darrin Communications Center on campus.

Troy, N.Y. — As most of you know by now, the United States has sustained today the worst act of apparent terrorism it has ever faced. This is, of course, a horrible day for our country. Therefore, I have decided, effective immediately, to direct that both the Troy and Hartford campuses of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute be closed. In addition, I am directing the closure immediately of all Rensselaer facilities at every location.

Troy, N.Y. — The Hirsch Observatory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be open to the public every clear Friday evening throughout September and October. The observatory, which is located atop the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center, will open at sunset and remain open for approximately three hours, weather permitting. Members of the physics department and the Rensselaer Astrophysical Society will be on hand to talk about the night sky and answer questions.

Troy, N.Y. — Thomas M. Apple, professor of chemistry, has been named dean of graduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Smithsonian Astrophysicist Margaret Geller Will Discuss the Evolution of Galaxies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, N.Y. — Using today’s largest telescopes and space observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists can peer back billions of years into the history of the universe — with a gaze that almost reaches to the beginning of time.

Troy, N.Y. — Two Rensselaer graduate students, Dean Nieusma and Elizabeth Press, have been awarded prestigious Fulbright student grants to do research and to study abroad. They are the first Rensselaer students to receive the awards, which were recently announced by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Troy, N.Y. — A new book by Alan Balfour, dean of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Architecture, traces the development of New York City into the “quintessential city of the 20th century.” World Cities: New York describes New York City’s historical development and explains how the roots of its infrastructure influence architecture today. Balfour accomplishes this with photographs and essays of the city’s most significant works of architecture both built and projected, from the past 10 years and 10 years into the future.