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How a Professor 'Who Cares More About Your Career
Than Your Mom' Inspired a Donor Gift
Yu Gan came to the US from China in 2013 to pursue a career in quantitative finance. The WSAS Master in Financial Engineering program was an obvious choice, he said, because it is “world-renowned” for a “cutting-edge curriculum as well as outstanding career service.”

But another factor influenced him as well. He happened to see a student's comment on the QuantNet forum that said WSAS Professor Dan Stefanica “cares about your career more than your mom does.”

Today Mr. Gan is a quantitative portfolio manager for Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and the founder of AXQ Capital, LP. He and his husband, Bo-Xiao Zheng, the CIO and co-founder of AxiomQuant Investment Management, have just made a major gift to the MFE program. The money will be used over five years to support the Gan & Zheng Directorship of Baruch MFE Fund. The directorship will be awarded to Professor Stefanica, incumbent director of the MFE program. Read the full story on the Weissman blog.
Meet Chief Robert Curry
Did you know that Baruch's public safety director, Chief Robert Curry, holds degrees from three CUNY campuses and has nearly 30 years of experience in his field?

We stopped by his office recently and chatted about the campus reopening, his background, his team of 80 officers, and his tips for a safe semester. Read the full story on the Weissman blog.
Faculty and Student Publications

  • WSAS Professors David Gruber and Jean Gaffney (Natural Sciences), along with two CUNY Graduate Center students from Professor Gaffney's lab at Baruch, Andrew Guarnaccia and Sara Krivoshik, co-authored a research paper about fluorescence in moray eels, published in Frontiers in Marine Science. The research has potential applications in diagnosing childhood jaundice.

  • WSAS Professor Vera Haller (Journalism) was part of a group of reporters covering the flooding from Hurricane Ida. Their story, including her byline, ran on the front page of the Sunday Washington Post.


  • WSAS student Farah Javed '23 is writing for an online immigration blog called Migrant Matters. She's studying journalism, creative writing, and political science, and in an email to WSAS Professor Els de Graauw (Political Science), she wrote: "If I hadn't taken your class (on immigration), I never would have realized I'd like to cover immigration issues in my journalistic reporting, so thank you!"

  • WSAS student Gabriel Rivera '23, who's majoring in journalism, creative writing, and political science, published "America is facing a pandemic of hunger" in RawStory. He also writes for The Ticker.
Events, Events: We've Got Events!
Here's an overview of events at Weissman this fall. Some have Zoom links and registration info; others are FYI "save the date." Events that are part of a series or theme are grouped together. There's also a calendar on the Weissman blog where details will be updated. Want to add or revise something? Email baruchwsas@baruch.cuny.edu.
LATINX HERITAGE MONTH
Detailed listings here
Sponsored by WSAS Department of Black and Latino Studies and ISLA - the Initiative for the Study of Latin America 
  • September 14, 1 pm. Primer Cafecito: An introduction to career success programs and Latinx student groups at Baruch for students, over a virtual cafecito. Register here
  • September 14, 6 pm: Latino, Latina, Latinx: What’s in a Name? Meeting ID 818 9686 9208, passcode BLS2021
  • September 21, 6 pm. Latinas in Activism: Recognizing the involvement and impact of Latinas in social, political, and environmental activism in order to empower and inspire others. Zoom link here
  • September 29, 12:30 p.m. Culture Share: Celebrating Latinx Voices. Tell us about the countries and cultures you feel most connected to, and how that has impacted your life. Zoom link here
  • September 30, 1-2 pm. A Trip Around Las Américas, sponsored by ISLA. An introduction to culture, traditions, food, music, and history in Latin America and the Caribbean. Register here
  • October 21, 1 pm. WSAS Professors Jennifer Caroccio Maldonado (English), Gustavo Quintero (Black and Latino Studies) and Rojo Robles (Black and Latino Studies) host a screening of the film Patitos comiendo arroz, followed by conversation with director Javier Antonio González. Register here
  • New Latinx Visions podcast, hosted by Professors Rojo Robles and Rebecca Salois (Black and Latino Studies). Listen here


NYC LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY WORKSHOP AT BARUCH
Baruch Weissman is honored to have been chosen to host this prestigious annual series of scholarly presentations on Latin America. Securing the event for Baruch was a collaborative effort of the WSAS Dean's Office, the Black and Latino Studies Department, the History Department, and ISLA - the Initiative for the Study of Latin America. Read more about it here.
  • October 1, 11 am-1 pm: Jesse Zarley (St. Joseph’s College), “Redefining Puelmapu: The Borogano Mapuche and Juan Manuel de Rosas, 1825-1835.” Pre-registration required; email mark.rice@baruch.cuny.edu
  • November 5, 11 am-1 pm: Isadora Moura Mota (Princeton), “Looking South for Freedom: Brazil and African American Abolitionists.” Pre-registration required; email mark.rice@baruch.cuny.edu 
  • December 3, 11 am-1 pm: Renzo Aroni Sulca (Columbia Society of Fellows), “Shorn Women: Gender and Punishment in Peru’s Shining Path.” Pre-registration required; email mark.rice@baruch.cuny.edu 

WE ARE CLIMATE ACTION
This series, organized by WSAS Professor Mindy Engle-Friedman (Psychology), is part of Baruch Weissman's ongoing interdisciplinary initiative on climate change.
  • September 30, 4-5:30 pm. Climate Change: Health Impacts on Health Policy. Moderator: Elizabeth Geltman. Panel: Jeffrey Shaman, Jeremy Hess, Kim Knowlton. Save the date. 
  • October 7, 4-5:30 pm, Cities Preparing for Climate Resiliency. Speakers: Alice C. Hill, Jainey Bavishi. Save the date.
  • November 18, 4-5:30 pm: Climate Change and the Role of Public Art. Julie Reiss, co-discussant. Panel: Mary Mattingly, Anina Gerchick, Xavier Cortada. Save the date. 

THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
  • September 15, 12:30-2 pm: War in Afghanistan: How Did We Get Here? What’s Next? Sponsored by the WSAS Department of Political Science. Roundtable discussion with a distinguished group of panelists. Register here

WEISSMAN PROFESSORS AT MARXE FALL RESEARCH SEMINAR
135 E. 22nd St., Room 301, or attend via Zoom.
  • September 29, 12:30 pm: WSAS Professor Erica Richardson (English) presents a chapter from her book-in-progress, Empirical Desires: Data, Dispossession, and the Aesthetics of the Negro Problem.
  • November 5, 12:30 pm: WSAS Professor Carolyn Abott (Political Science) presents "A Distaste for Deficits: Voter Opinion and Balanced Budgets in the U.S. States."

SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP
  • October 14, noon- 1 pm. Social media workshop for faculty. We'll get you started on Twitter and other platforms if you're not already there, and we'll offer tips for rookies as well as veterans, focusing on best practices for scholars and researchers. Co-sponsored with the CUNY Graduate Center, which has presented this workshop a number of times. Save the date.

HARMAN WRITER IN RESIDENCE KARLA CORNEJO VILLAVICENCIO
  • October 21, 6 pm. Reading and conversation with Harman writer-in-residence Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, the acclaimed author of The Undocumented Americans. Save the date.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN COMMUNICATIONS
(open to faculty and MA communication students)
  • November 1, 6:30 pm. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Communication Professionals, presented by the WSAS Corporate Communication Graduate Program. Guest speaker: Carmella Glover, DEI Director for the Arthur Page Society. Panel: WSAS Corp Comm MA alumni Mary Anne Ravenel, Diversity Business Partner at Facebook; Sabina Mehmood, Product Manager, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, and Meeckel Beecher, Global Head of DEI at Shutterstock. If interested in attending, email caryn.medved@baruch.cuny.edu

HONORING VETERANS ... AND LISTENING
  • November 9, 5:30 pm. The Soldier’s Story: Listening to Veterans at Baruch. Opening remarks by President David Wu. Speakers include WSAS Professor Glenn Petersen (Sociology/Anthropology), author of War and the Arc of Human Experience. Save the date.
Record Number of Baruch Students at International Conference of Undergraduate Research
Witch hunts, fruit flies, and the New York Aquarium are among the intriguing topics Baruch students will present when they participate in the 8th Annual International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR), Sept. 27-29.

This conference is free and open to the public to attend through the ICUR App, which features the full schedule of panels taking place at 15 universities in 12 countries, all coordinated by Monash University in Australia and the University of Warwick in the UK. (Register on the ICUR app here or through the website.)

Baruch’s 28 participants come from all three Baruch schools and many different fields, but more than half are Weissman students, including history, political science, psychology, and biology majors. They’ll be on panels linked in real time with undergraduates at universities in England, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, and France, all presenting their own research. WSAS History Professor Katherine Pence is coordinating Baruch’s participation in the conference, which is supported by Baruch’s Office of the Provost.

For a look at WSAS presentations, along with student names and majors, check out the full story on the Weissman blog.
Which Weissman Professors Are CUNY Alumni?
Take a Look
Our GIF of Weissman faculty who are also CUNY alumni got a lot of love on social media; you can see it here. We know we missed some of you, and we'll try to do another edition at some point, so send any other names and alma maters to baruchwsas@baruch.cuny.edu.
Faculty Photos and Bios: An Update
Thanks to everyone who sent us new faculty photos. The department pages are much improved. A handful of blurry images remain. If yours is among them, we'd be glad to shoot your portrait in a Zoom photo session. Email baruchwsas@baruch.cuny.edu.

We recognize your continued frustration over the faculty bio pages, which don't generate unique URLs and don't readily appear in Google searches. We continue to press Baruch's tech team for a fix and we're told it's on the to-do list. In the meantime, if you want to update your bio, email baruchwsas@baruch.cuny.edu.
Past newsletters here. Next newsletter: September 27.