Five LIU athletic programs received NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program awards. LIU baseball, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s track & field and volleyball all scored in the top 10 percent nationally in Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their respective sports. The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally.

Renowned saxophonist and composer Samuel Newsome, Associate Professor of Music, was awarded the 2020 Instant Award in Improvised Music. Newsome was also named a nominee for Soprano Saxophonist of the Year by the 2020 Jazz Journalist Association. His past recognitions include the New Music USA Grant, the Alpert/Ragdale Prize in Music Composition and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Music Composition.

Dr. Claude Joseph, ’12, is Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Haiti. Joseph previously served as Chartered Ambassador to Argentina. Prior to joining Haitian diplomacy, he served as a professor of public policy at LIU.

The new single “In a Young Person’s Body” by Kora Feder, ’17, was named one of the top “Protest songs on the Rise in 2020” by Austin 360, part of The Austin American-Statesman. Feder’s music has earned over 600,000 on Spotify, spent four months in the top albums on US Folk Radio Charts, and garnered praise from NPR, The Washington Post, The Sacramento Bee, Houston Music Review and more.

Forbes praised the work of Marjan Moghaddam, Professor of Media Arts, naming her Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality (AR) Art project one of the best of the year. Moghaddam is a renowned digital artist and animator. Last year, she was the official AR Artist-In-Residence for Adobe and the AR Keynote Speaker for Adobe’s “Make It Immersive” conference. Click here to read more.

Karl Rove, known as “The Architect” of President George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, discussed how the election process will change in the future, as part of a virtual Q&A hosted by the Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University. Rove served as Senior Advisor to President Bush from 2000–2007 and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2004–2007.

Brian C. Turner, ’98, was named Assistant Director of the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Turner served in the U.S. Army for nearly a decade and also taught at West Point before joining the FBI as a special agent in 2002.

Sean Muzzy, ’99, is President, North America at Matterkind, a new audience engagement company within Interpublic Group, one of the “Big Four” advertising agencies. Muzzy joined Interpublic Group in 2018 to lead help launch Matterkind, formerly known as Cadreon. Prior to that, he spent nearly two decades in senior leadership positions at Ogilvy, including Chief Product & Platform Officer, Worldwide.

Cynthia McCauley, ’88, was appointed Chief Executive Officer at St. Mary’s Medical Center and The Palm Beach Children’s Hospital. McCauley previously served as Chief Administrative Officer. The South Florida Business Journal recognized her as one of the “25 Most Influential Business Women in South Florida.”

Dr. Vincenzo Pascale, Associate Professor of English, Philosophy and Languages, presented his book Il Secolo delle Navi to the Italian House of Representatives in Rome. The book critiques several prominent Italian and Italian American literary works. Il Mattino, one of the top newspapers in Italy, highlighted Pascale’s presentation in a subsequent article.