Ground breaking
On Nov. 30, 2020, Rider broke ground on a new wing of its Science and Technology Center thanks to a $4 million leadership gift from Michael J. Hennessy ’82 in support of the project. The gift is the largest ever received at Rider for the sciences. The University plans to name the building the Mike and Patti Hennessy Science and Technology Center once the project is completed in January 2022.
The one-story addition will expand the size of the building to more than 79,000 sq. ft. and provide modern labs and classroom space for cybersecurity, anatomy and physiology, as well as an evolving program in software engineering. The $7.5 to $8 million project will support a new greenhouse, along with distinct areas meant to encourage collaboration, discussion and study. University Advancement is currently fundraising in support of the project, which will allow Rider to continue to integrate its newer disciplines of cybersecurity, computer science, and health and exercise sciences with traditional offerings in biology, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics and physics.
Hennessy met his wife, Patrice “Patti” Shelmet Hennessy ’82, at Rider when they were both students. Patti, who passed away in early 2020 after a long illness, graduated from Rider with a bachelor’s in office administration. The couple have been longtime supporters of Rider, particularly its Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics. Once Hennessy learned about the expansion plans for the Science and Technology Center, he immediately saw the importance of such growth given his business experience in sciences and health care media, as well as a way to commemorate Patti through this gift.
Hennessy, who earned a bachelor’s in political science from Rider, is the founder and chairman of the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America, MJH Life Sciences. The company delivers health care news to health professionals in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and biotech industries. He served as a Rider Trustee for nine years, completing his third three-year term in 2017.
Business minded
On Jan. 30, Maggie Achanzar, a senior at Mercer County Technical School’s Health Science Academy, was named the winner of the 2021 Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition. Her prize — a full, four-year scholarship to Rider. Achanzar claimed the top prize after pitching her product idea, Sili-Head, a mannequin head that aims to solve many common problems for people who use them to style wigs. She plans to study either entrepreneurship or chemistry at Rider.
The annual competition challenges high school students to develop an innovative business idea and present it in front of a panel of judges, Shark Tank style. It is sponsored by husband and wife Norm ’64 and Elaine Brodsky. Norm, a long-time entrepreneur, is the namesake of Rider’s Norm Brodsky College of Business.
Grammy moment
Seven Westminster Choir College alumni were featured in Grammy-winning recordings this year. In the Best Choral Performance category, the Grammy went to the recording of Richard Danielpour’s oratorio The Passion of Yeshuah. It features the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, whose chorus master is Adam Luebke ’04 (pictured above). Tenor Timothy Fallon ’03 is a soloist, and Ryan Russell Brown ’14 and Stephen Karr ’04 sing in the chorus. Makeda Hampton ’09 is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus in the recording of Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess, which took home the Grammy for Best Opera Recording. Dominic Inferrera ’94 and Linda Lee Jones ’08 sang in the Experiential Orchestra and Chorus on a recording of Ethel Smyth’s The Prison, which won for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
Kickstarter
Junior Danielle “Dani” Jackson, a history and film and television double major, is turning an academic research project into a 12-part documentary series about African American veterans’ fight for civil rights thanks to a recent Kickstarter campaign.
They are carrying the burden of what they are experiencing here at home and they are going overseas and still fighting for a country that doesn’t love them.
College firsts
Rider University was selected to the Center for First-generation Student Success’ 2021-22 First-gen Forward cohort. The designation recognizes institutions of higher education that have demonstrated a commitment to improving experiences and advancing outcomes of first-generation college students.
New site, who’s this?
Rider launched a fully redesigned website on Oct. 28, 2020. The site features updated photography, content, design and interactive elements that reflect the University’s brand identity, as well as enhanced search powered by Google, a user-friendly academic program finder tool and multilingual translation.
The project was a collaboration between University Marketing & Communications, creative agency 160over90 and web development agency KWALL, with input from key stakeholders, such as students, faculty and staff. Five students — studying computer science, marketing and business communication — gained hands-on experience working on the new website.
A show of support
Thomas ’70 and Tina Mulhare committed $600,000 to address the University’s top fundraising priorities. Their gift helped support an endowed scholarship, the Annual Fund and a new patio. The Thomas ’70 and Tina Mulhare Patio, adjacent to Sweigart Hall, has become a relaxing spot on campus to enjoy lunch, study or collaborate with peers
Books and basketball
Rider participated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s Time Out for Black Lives initiative. College basketball coaches and student-athletes released videos of themselves reading children’s stories with positive messages about Black culture, justice for all and education on timeoutforblacklives.com. Rider Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kevin Baggett read the book I Got Next by Daria Peoples-Riley. Rider Women’s Basketball Head Coach Lynn Milligan read the book This is Your Time by Ruby Bridges.
Lasting impression
The Rider community recently lost two prominent members, each with a personality that inspired seemingly universal admiration from all — Dr. Jonathan Yavelow and Eugene Marsh ’13, ’18.
Yavelow died on Oct. 29, 2020, due to lung cancer. He was 68. Yavelow taught at Rider for 38 years, serving as the assistant dean for the sciences, faculty director of the University’s Health Studies Institute and the chair of the biology department. Many remember Yavelow for his unwavering optimism, exuberant personality and steadfast loyalty to Rider.
“Anything involving Jonathan was almost guaranteed to be more lively, interesting and fun,” says Dr. Kelly Bidle, the dean of Rider’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “He was not just a wonderful and brilliant colleague; he was an amazing person and mentor who left an impression on everyone who had the chance to know him.”
In addition to his teaching, Yavelow was a consultant and visiting scientist at a number of institutions, and his research was published in numerous scientific journals. Yavelow was the recipient of multiple research grants and was appointed in 2012 by the governor of New Jersey to serve as a commissioner on the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research. Last year, colleagues, former students and friends established The Jonathan Yavelow Scholarship Fund, a new scholarship endowed in his honor to benefit undergraduate science students with financial need.
Marsh died on Jan. 29 from COVID-19 complications. He was 71. At the time of his death, Marsh was enrolled in Rider’s Doctor of Educational Leadership program, the capstone of his relentless late-in-life quest for education. He had previously earned a bachelor’s in liberal studies and a master’s in clinical mental health counseling, both from Rider.
Growing up in South Carolina during an era of segregation, Marsh was among the first African American students to integrate his all-white high school. He went on to become a decorated Vietnam War veteran, but unable to secure employment after returning home, he became homeless for about three years. He eventually began a career in construction with Duke Power Company. In 1998, he founded his own firm in New Jersey, Construction Project Management Services, Inc. The company’s projects included renovations to the Statue of Liberty in 2009.
Marsh wanted to use his education not simply as a means of personal fulfillment but as a tool to help other people. He was particularly focused on mentoring and counseling veterans and Black people.
Future leader
Senior global supply chain management major Nunana Honutse was selected out of 135 undergraduate students to earn the John Galt Solutions’ $10,000 Scholarship for Future Supply Chain Leaders.
My goal is to eventually become a business owner and company executive, to create a scholarship fund to help students, and to use my platform to provide a voice for minorities, especially Africans like myself who are often marginalized.
Climate change collaboration
The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded a team of collaborators that includes Rider biology professor Dr. Kerrie Sendall a $1.6 million grant. They will use the grant to support their efforts to study the effects of climate change on salt marsh plant communities in Maryland.
Transfer credit
Rider was once again named to the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s annual Transfer Honor Roll. Rider was among only 150 colleges and universities nationwide to receive the recognition and one of only six institutions recognized in New Jersey. The Transfer Honor Roll recognizes four-year colleges and universities that have developed transfer pathways that lead to excellence and success among community college transfer students. One of every four Rider undergraduates is a transfer student.
A tribute to ‘Miss Ann’
Those who visited Daly Dining Hall from the 1980s through the 2000s know the name ‘Miss Ann.’ Ann Keith was a constant presence in thousands of students’ daily lives. Whether it was a good day, a bad day or simply an average one, Miss Ann always had time to share a few kind or quick-witted words as she swiped students into the dining hall. After her death in April 2020, faculty, staff, students and alumni showed an outpouring of love for her on social media. Some recall how she never let a student go hungry, her words of encouragement or reassurance that helped them through difficult times, and her perpetual generosity.
