Commencement 2017
First World Graduation
Women in Politics Conference
Solar Eclipse on Campus
Engineering Hub Groundbreaking
IN MEMORIAM

Dr. Bruce HottumThe College community mourns Dr. Bruce Hottum ’79 (Biology), who passed away suddenly in Ramsgate, England, July 21, 2017. Hottum died after making a final scuba dive to explore a wartime plane wreck site in the English Channel. He was assisting a U.S. organization search for American servicemen missing from World War II.

An American Safety and Health CPR instructor, Hottum also served as a New York State emergency medical technician, a National Ski Patrol member and instructor at Belleayre Mountain and West Point. He was a member of the Wilderness Medicine Society, the New York State Police Investigators Association Surgeon Group and the American Society for Forensic Odontology.

As a member of the Dental Identification Unit NYC Medical Examiner 9-11-01, Hottum worked long hours in the emergency tents as a member of the FEMA response team following the September 11 terrorist attacks. His work there marked him deeply for years.

After New Paltz, Hottum graduated from the New York University College of Dentistry where he completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Oral Surgery. He was a member of the Pine Street Dental family for 31 years.

Hottum lived in the Hurley hamlet of Glenford, N.Y., and is survived by his father, wife Margaret Smith ’76 (Asian Studies) and their three sons, John Hottum, Dean Hottum ’14 (Management) and Peter Hottum ’15 (Asian Studies). His life was celebrated in a memorial service on Aug. 12, 2017 at the Bearsville Theater, in Woodstock, N.Y. Hundreds of people attended to honor him. Those still wishing to make a donation in his memory may do so to the SUNY New Paltz Foundation, Scholarship Fund, SUNY New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, N.Y., 12561, www.newpaltz.edu/give.

Professor Emerita Susan Wisherd, the former chair of the Department of Art Education, passed away on April 17, 2017 at 88. Former colleagues remembered her fondly as someone "dedicated to her students and department, a calm and intelligent presence." 

Professor Emeritus Ronald Knapp recalled: “Since Sue was a life member of the Mohonk Preserve, I sometimes met her at Preserve events where I learned of how much she loved the Ridge ever since she came to New Paltz in the 1960s. I ran into her a week or so before she left New Paltz more than a year ago and invited her to climb the stairs of the Testimonial Gateway tower and enjoy the spectacular view of the foothills. She reminisced about how much SUNY students meant to her over the years, and how much she enjoyed walking from her nearby home on White Oaks Lane to the oak allée at the Testimonial Gateway.”

Alumni

1930 - 1939
Shirley (Stewart) Kelly ’38
Margaret (Kaemmerlen) Margison ’38

1940 - 1949
Doris (Wiesler) Prehn ’40
Jean (Murphy) Murray ’42
Muriel Crego ’43
Beatrice (Kaufman) Sabin ’43
Beatrice (Goldin) Rothenberg ’44
Alma (Hattenbach) Langevin ’45
William Burns ’47
Frank Galati ’47
Jeannette (O'Connor) Gallup ’47
Ruth (Hudson) Ostrander ’47
Carole Cohen ’48
Beverly Guernier ’49
Jean (MacKennan) Marshall ’49

1950 - 1959
Marion (Devanney) Hager ’50
Grace (Mercer) Blair ’51
Mary (Bell) Aripotch ’52
Floranne (Tewilliger) Moulton ’52
Shirley (Moore) Gregory ’53
Dorothy Henry ’53
Louise (Hayes) Gerard ’54
Nancy (Hansen) McCaffrey ’54
Joan Carbone ’55
Dorothy (Laporte) Chadderdon ’56
Nancy (Hoffmann) Nichols ’56
Antoinette O'Connor ’56
Emily (Mele) Sorbero ’56
Bernard Barnes ’57
Shirley Ruoff ’57
Sandra (Traviesas-Nussbickel)
McCarthy ’58
Harry Smith ’58
Florence Epstein ’59
Maija Thielman ’59

1960 – 1969
Richard Cohen ’60
Richard Gillette ’60
Jan (Bertman) Sarkisian ’61
Peter Castka ’63
Cynthia (Wydur) Craven ’63
Theodore Foote ’63
David Hawkins ’63
Marshall Sussin ’63
Doris (Friedman) Kelly ’64
Frances Mehm ’64
John Ashton ’65
Robert Maurer ’65
Jane (Sanders) Snyder ’65
Donald Pettengill ’66
Marjorie (Myers) Simon ’66
Filomena Simora ’66
Keith Whittingham ’66
Pierre Caubere ’67
Patricia (Brennan) Deflorio ’67
John Harrington ’67
Richard Hixon ’67
Alexandra (Matiss) Marinaccio ’67
Gertrude Miller ’67
Elsie (Musa) Mula ’67
Judith Ryan ’67
Kathleen (Tkach) Getzewich ’68
Eugene Albright ’69
Mary Carroll ’69
John Dimuccio ’69
Paul Edelson ’69
Sarah (Kalmanowitz)
Friedman ’69
Thomas Phelan ’69
Diane (Peppard) Sherman ’69

1970 - 1979
Freda Eisler ’70
Ronald Jones ’70
Laura (Monaco) Monaco-Reed ’71
Stephen Shako ’71
Sheryl (Smith) Butler ’72
Eileen McCudden ’72
Gloria Meggison ’72
Henry Brunnig ’73
Maureen Byrnes ’73
Janna (Cole) Campbell ’73
Robert Cunningham ’73
Natalie Minewski ’73
Lita Stein ’73
Mary Crowe ’74
Cheryl Mason ’75
Andrew Russ ’75
Timothy Shoh ’75
Vivian (Grob) Altman ’76
Randy (Black) Schantz ’76
Judith Stein ’76
Carmen Loperena ’77
Thomas Martin ’77
Marian Zupko ’77
Arthur Freer ’78
Bruce Hottum ’78
Vincent Ottalagano ’78
Robin (Krigstein) Widell ’78
Anthony Catalano ’79
Doris Simons ’79

1980 - 1989
Andrew Ferraro ’80
Elvira Haddad ’80
James Stegmayer ’80
Nadezda Davis ’82
Rita Gross ’82
Phillip Polaski ’82
Ann (Griswold) Thurston ’82
Linda Williamson ’83
Marguerite (Merrick) Geis ’84
Jennifer Gremban ’84
Gregory Kennell ’84
Gary Moskowitz ’87

1990 - 1999
Elaine (Dederick) Giebelhaus ’91
Doris Shultis ’91
Ralph Sotomayor ’91
Christina Watson ’91
Priscilla Butler ’93
David Groom ’94
William Thompson ’94
Mary Foeller ’96
Stacey Strang ’97

2000 - 2012
Brian Lanigan ’06
Rory Cash ’08
Carolyn Martone ’09
Selin Celik ’11
Lauren McKenna ’12

 

Faculty & Staff

Linda Franzella
Donald Hawrylak
Mary Jane Jewett
Robert Presbie
David Straus
Susan Wisherd