In Review

A longtime alumna leader is returning to the Board of Trustees. Cathy Minehan ’68, who served as a trustee from 1995 until she moved to life trustee status in 2015, was re-elected by the board this winter.

A former CEO and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and well-known for her work in national and international payment systems, Minehan has served as dean of the School of Management at Simmons College in Boston, and as managing director of Arlington Advisory Partners, a Boston-based business services provider. Minehan currently chairs Massachusetts General Hospital’s board of trustees. She is the first woman to lead MGH’s governing body in the organization’s 200-year history.

A political science major at Rochester, Minehan has ties to the University that span generations. Her father, Harry Jones, was a 1957 graduate; her son, Brian Minehan, graduated in 2004, and her daughter-in-law, Cherie Minehan, in 2005.

She began service as a trustee in 1995 and was chair of the board’s executive committee from May 2003 to May 2012. She had a consequential role in the board’s audit and risk assessment committee, among other board committees. Minehan also served as a national cochair of The Meliora Challenge, the University’s $1.2 billion comprehensive campaign that concluded in June 2016 and raised more than $1.368 billion. Her leadership helped drive giving from more than 200,000 donors and exceed the campaign goal by more than $168 million.

In 2014, Minehan and her husband, Jerry Corrigan, committed an additional $1 million of support to the Cathy E. Minehan and E. Gerald Corrigan Endowed Scholarship, which they began at the University in 2004. She and her husband additionally established the Corrigan-Minehan Professorship in Political Science in Arts, Sciences & Engineering in 2007. They are charter members of the George Eastman Circle, the University’s leadership annual giving society.

Report Points to Global Growth

The University continues to grow as a global institution.

That’s according to Open Doors 2016, an annual report on international education trends released by the Institute of International Education.

The University ranks 76th among the more than 1,500 institutions surveyed on their total international student enrollment.

With 2,755 international students studying at Rochester in the 2015–16 academic year, international students represent about 25 percent of the total student body.

“International exchange is critical for our position as a leading global institution,” says Jane Gatewood, the vice provost for global engagement, who leads and manages initiatives related to the University’s global activities.

“We want to provide the best educational opportunities for our students and help our faculty foster productive research connections, and increasingly, this means engaging in a sustained and systematic way with other institutions throughout the world. We are working to build strong and strategic partnerships with peer institutions throughout the world,” Gatewood says.

New York is the second leading host state for international students, just behind California. Students coming to New York from international origins bring a positive economic impact of more than $3.8 billion statewide, according to the National Association of International Educators.

The report also highlights the annual trends in U.S. students studying abroad.

According to Open Doors, a total of 370 University students went abroad for an academic program in 2014–15, with most choosing to do so in their junior year.

And in 2015–16, the estimated number is 425, according to data from the University’s Center for Education Abroad. A major expansion of opportunities for Rochester students has created several new exchange partners in the United Kingdom, Asia, and Australia.

The next five years are expected to be a period of increasing international engagement for the University, with the expansion of global partnerships in research and increased opportunities to study and intern abroad.

More connections for research and exchange are being made with major universities globally, and existing partnerships are being strengthened to provide a more comprehensive experience for students.

Cardiologists Offer Smallest Pacemaker

A western New York man who was experiencing dangerously slow heart rates was the first person in the Medical Center’s 19-county service area to receive a pacemaker that’s a 10th of the size of traditional devices.

Electrophysiologists David Huang and Mehmet Aktas implanted the lightweight device directly into the heart of a 67-year-old man during a procedure last fall.

The device, the Micra Transcatheter Pacing System, is considered the most advanced technology available for people with bradycardia, a condition characterized by a slow heart rhythm.

“This new pacemaker provides another tool in our arsenal for treating cardiovascular diseases,” says Huang, director of the Heart and Vascular Electrophysiology Lab at Strong Memorial Hospital. “It is smaller than any other pacemaker available today, and we are excited to offer this for our patients.”

Traditional pacemakers are about the size of a half-dollar coin and about three times as thick. They’re placed in a small “pocket” just under the skin in the chest and have wires that extend from the device to send electrical impulses, when needed, to keep the heart rate from dropping too slow. The new system provides the same level of support, but it is about the size of a large vitamin pill and weighs two grams, the same as a penny.

The heart usually beats about 60 to 100 times per minute. Bradycardia is diagnosed when that rate is abnormally slow, and the heart is unable to pump enough oxygen-rich blood through the body, which causes people to feel dizzy or lightheaded, short of breath, tired or like they are about to pass out. The condition is common in the elderly.

Computer Scientist Recognized for Innovative Research

Rochester computer scientist Ehsan Hoque is earning widespread recognition for his work in the field of human-computer interaction.

In December he was recognized with a World Technology Award from the World Technology Network, and in August, he was named one of “35 innovators under 35” by the editors of MIT Technology Review.

An assistant professor of computer science, Hoque also serves as assistant director for research outreach at the Goergen Institute for Data Science. He applies a computational lens to understand and model the ambiguity that language, facial expressions, gestures, and intonation introduce in human communication.

He has developed a system that allows individuals to practice speaking and social skills and receive feedback in a repeatable, objective, and respectful way. He has also developed systems that help musicians practice singing vowels and provide live feedback to public speakers while they’re engaged with audiences.

Eastman Student Highlights 40th Anniversary Warfield Concert

Mezzo-soprano Alicia Rosser ’17E is the latest Eastman School of Music student chosen to help celebrate the legacy of William Warfield ’42E, ’46E (MM).

A senior in the studio of Grammy Award–winning artist and Professor of Voice Anthony Dean Griffey, Rosser is this year’s Warfield Scholar. As the scholar, she was the featured performer for the 40th annual William Warfield Scholarship Concert in January. Baritone Lawrence Craig, who was mentored by Warfield and has appeared internationally in operas, concerts, and recitals, was a guest performer for the concert. Among others joining them were singer and pianist Thomas Warfield, a nephew of Warfield and founder of PeaceArt International and director of dance at the Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

Since the scholarship was founded in 1977, recipients have included such notable singers as soprano Julia Bullock ’09E, winner of the 2014 W. Naumburg Foundation’s International Vocal Competition; soprano Nicole Cabell ’01E, winner of the 2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition; and bass-baritone Jamal Moore ’12E, who was a member of the University’s a cappella group the YellowJackets when the ensemble was featured on the NBC competition The Sing-Off in 2011. He now performs internationally with the a cappella group the Exchange.

Simon Rises in Bloomberg Businessweek Ranking

The Simon Business School moved up six spots to 30th among the leading U.S. business schools in Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking of top full-time MBA programs.

Simon also was eighth in the U.S. for placement three months after graduation.

Other areas of strength included alumni assessment (17th) and student satisfaction (29th). Simon also moved up three spots to 41st in terms of salary, and the school held steady at 38th in terms of recruiter assessment.