The latest issue of Keene State Today just hit the streets. Read all about the latest and best that’s happening on campus, and what our amazing alums, faculty, and staff are up to; for example, the deep insight and scholarship that James Waller brings to the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program, the impact that the CELT (Center for Engagement, Learning, and Technology) office is having on education at KSC, how the Aspire program helped Kelly Fournier ’04 find the path to success, how Distinguished Teacher Beverly Ferrucci finds artistic expression in mathematics research, and much, much more. Don’t miss a thing!

In mid-November, nearly 40 local and national employers gathered in the lobby of the David F. Putnam Science Center to meet students and alumni who wanted to create a stronger presence in the job market. Sponsored by the Academic and Career Advising office, with strong support from the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, the Career Connections job fair attracted representatives from many businesses, including the American Red Cross, the Social Security Administration, and the FBI.

Several KSC alums were there as representatives of participating companies. Those included Emily Tinkham and Deb Tisdale from Entergy Vermont Yankee in Vernon, VT; Andre Smith from Enterprise Holdings in Londonderry, NH; Scott Ettl from Gartner, Inc. in Stamford, CT; Sarah Vezzani and Charles Owusu from Liberty Mutual Insurance in Keene; Sherryl Bemis from Masiello Employment Services in Keene; Katherine Thomas from PC Connection in Keene; Peggy Madden from Peerless Insurance in Keene; Dominic Perkins from Savings Bank of Walpole, Keene; Jeremy Kullman and Scott Hogg from Skanska USA Building, Boston; former Alumni Director Mike Maher from the Student Conservation Association, Charlestown, NH; and Luca D’Italia from Waddell & Reed, Bedford, NH. Visit the Career Events page for a link to all the companies in attendance.

Several of the alumni representing companies offered valuable advice and contacts to student job seekers. The Alumni Association Career Support Committee had representatives at two tables to talk to the students, answer career-related questions, and encourage the students to join our recently established Alumni and Student Career Network on LinkedIn. This group was formed as a career network for students and alums where members can pose questions, initiate discussions and seek/provide career advice.

Economics adjunct faculty member John Hackett died at his Keene home on Thursday, November 18. Dr. Hackett joined the KSC faculty in 2004 after a distinguished career in economics and taught a variety of courses, from intro sections to those on public policy, financial economics, and financial analysis. He also contributed to the Integrative Studies Program through a course in quantitative literacy. His earlier professional life included positions as CFO of Cummins Engine Co, Assistant Vice President and Economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Managing General Partner of CID Equity Partners of Indianapolis (a venture capital company that he helped organize), and board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and various publicly traded companies. He was VP of Finance and Administration at Indiana University-Bloomington, where he also served as an adjunct member of the faculty of the Department of Economics. 

Dr. Hackett authored or co-authored books, chapters, and articles on economic and corporate finance. He wrote Race to the Bottom, a fictional history of the rise and decline of a Midwestern company and its community.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) and served on the Board of Trustees of Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. He also served on the Visioning Committee for the Master Plan for the city of Keene.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts be made in memory of Dr. Hackett to the Leelanau Conservancy, 105 North First Street, Leland, Michigan 49654, or to the Indiana Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, 620 Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, or to Hospice at Home Healthcare and Community Services, 312 Marlborough Street, Keene, NH 03431.

The wheel of the College’s master plan is still turning, and now it’s time for renovations to begin on Butterfield Hall and the Adams Technology Building. According to VP for Finance and Planning Jay Kahn, work will begin on them in the summer of 2011 and continue for a year, thanks to help from USNH. Although the College realized a few years ago that these buildings were in need of upgrade, others, including Fiske, Huntress, and the MAC, were put on the list first.

Butterfield Hall and Adams Technology Building include facilities for the Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences, Sustainable Product Design 
and Innovation, and Architecture departments. Butterfield also houses the National Grange Mutual (NGM) Safety Center.

Read all about it in the Equinox.

You might think it’s a long way from Appian Way to Hollywood, but the distance got a lot shorter last month when Film Studies Professor Emeritus Larry Benaquist traveled with KSC Sr. Major Gift Officer Sean Gillery ’89 to reconnect with film studies alums in California. Dr. Benaquist got to see what several of his successful students had done with their degrees, and the duo got tours of the fabled Warner Bros. lot and Dreamworks studios.

Read more about this amazing trip.

The KSC community is saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of Lisa Henkel from heart failure on October 30.  Lisa was a student, an alumni, an employee, and the beloved daughter of KSC music lecturer Sussan Henkel. Lisa was also an inspiration.  She worked in the Office of Disability Services using adaptive technology, helping to develop materials in Braille for vision impaired students.  Her particular talent was in translating math and music, a difficult enterprise requiring knowledge and skill but made effective by her connection to the students she served.

Memorial services were held this morning (Nov. 4) at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Church in Keene.

In September, we told you about the CANstruction competition, in collaboration with The Community Kitchen and Scully Architects, where groups use canned goods to design and create clever structures. Three teams created remarkable sculptures in the Student Center atrium on Monday (Nov. 1). If you didn’t get a chance to see them, you can catch them in today’s Candid Campus gallery.

And don’t forget to use the “comments” link to tell these clever and socially conscious designers that you appreciate their worthy efforts.

If you’ve been kicking yourself for missing the world premiere of Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve: the First Hundred Years of Keene State College, you can stop later this month. The KSC Film Society will be showing this excellent film by Larry Benaquist and Lance Levesque every night at 7 p.m. from November 28–December 3 in the Putnam Arts Lecture Hall. The film chronicles the College’s rich history through rarely seen footage and photographs, with interviews from some of the earliest alumni, and with a sound track of music with regional connections.

Don’t miss this chance! Free and open to the public, of course.

Harold E. Nugent ’58, age 77, died suddenly on October 14, 2010, at his home in Gainesville, Fla. Dr. Nugent taught English and linguistics at KSC from 1965–1989 and helped start the Center for Writing while he was here. As a proponent of developmental studies, he helped design and deliver a course on critical thinking and supported the assessment of all incoming freshmen for placement in English composition. He was also a dedicated environmental educator who earned several awards and citations for the conservation work he did in Florida.

The Gainesville Sun published a nice obituary for him. Dr. Nugent touched many lives while he was at KSC. If you were one of those lucky lives, please use the “comments” link to let us know.