Dr. John J. Lee, Distinguished Professor of Biology at CCNY
Robin Villa, '75MA, Director of the Honors College at CCNY
Dr. John J. Lee, Distinguished Professor of Biology at The City College of New York (CCNY), received the 2010 Faculty Service Award from the CCNY Alumni Association at the Association’s 158th Annual Meeting June 10, in The Great Hall. In addition, the Association presented its second Administrative Service Award to Robin Villa, ’75MA, Director of the Honors College.
An internationally recognized researcher in marine microbial ecology, Professor Lee was honored for his 40 years of service to CCNY and CUNY. He has been an outstanding teacher and mentor to undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom now work in research and teaching.
Over his tenure, Professor Lee has organized many conferences, congresses, meetings, field trips and workshops. He has been invited to teach overseas and he spends at least a month each year at the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat, Israel.
One of his legacies at CCNY has been the Radiation Safety Program. In addition to serving as a volunteer administrator for the program, he has been the College’s Radiation Safety Officer for more than 34 years and is a member of the Faculty Senate and Faculty Council.
Ms. Villa was lauded as an indispensable member of the CCNY administration in her capacity as Director of the Honors College. She has consistently gone above and beyond her duties by assisting individual students in applying for prestigious national scholarships. This includes aiding Rhodes Scholars Lev Sviridov (2004) and David Bauer (2008) and Truman Scholars Claudio Simpkins (2005), David Bauer (2008) and Don Gomez (2009).
She has also worked tirelessly to build a bridge program between the New York National Guard and the College. This culminated in the “Veterans’ Social” on campus earlier this year to which the “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment and the 369th “Harlem Hellfighters” were invited to learn about the educational opportunities available at CCNY.
In addition to the awards for Professor Lee and Professor Villa, Alumni Service Awards for outstanding service to the College and Association were presented to:
• Dr. Bruce Billig ’70, ’72MA, ’75MSE, secretary, Education Alumni Group.
• Gloria Feerst ’51E, Chair of Programs, South California Chapter.
• Allen J. Rothman ’68, co-founder and President, ROTC Alumni Group, member Alumni Association
Board.
• Jacob (Jack) Seidman ’49CE, member Engineering School Alumni Board.
• Jack N. Sachs ’41, executive board member Southern California Chapter.