World Science Festival

Be sure to check out the exciting events taking place in May at the World Science Festival! Bring the kids to the WSF Street Fair on Saturday, May 31, from 10:00am-6:00pm.

"The World Science Festival takes to the streets with a non-stop program of interactive exhibits, experiments, games, and shows that will entertain and inspire. Come and join us in the streets around Washington Square — it's fun, it's science, and it's free! Share a laugh with Lucky the Dinosaur, the giant and lovable audio-animatronic creation from Walt Disney Imagineering. Then, travel to the Gobi desert and reconstruct the lives of real dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History’s Paleontology of Dinosaurs Movable Museum. If that makes you ready for some excavating of your own, get your hands dirty doing horticulture with the New York Botanical Garden! Chat with Miss Frizzle and hop on Scholastic's Magic School Bus to explore science the Frizz way. And meet other favorite science TV characters: The members of the CyberSquad from Thirteen/WNET's CyberChase invite you to their virtual world. Then there's Snook, from PBS's "It's a Big Big World", a tree sloth who's always up for a scientific expedition. And did we mention that The Zula Patrol will be there, as well? Meet Clifford, the Big Red Dog, and if you don't quite know what to say to him — Word Girl to the rescue! Get your hands on science: play with electricity (safely!), check out a Segway, and dissect an owl pellet. All this and much more is brought to you by Liberty Science Center, the New York Hall of Science, and the Franklin Institute Science Museum. Then, let The Daily Planet from the Canadian Discovery Channel take you on an exploration of invisibility! And for a break, take a look at the cool robots from the New York/New Jersey FIRST robotics program, and meet the student teams who created them! And that's just the start: explore the Physics of Sports with Dr. Penny Hammrich, watch Mad Science present bubbling potions and phreaky physics, listen to the Science Rapper, and get a makeover from the Cosmic Face Painters! Meet Carmelo, the Science Fellow, and Kenny the Kidney — and be on the look-out for surprise celebrity cameos. Take in the Gazillion Bubbles Show, let yourself be amazed by the Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin, and watch out for the Science Fun Squad improv troupe.

In our Author's Corner, experience engaging presentations by Lucy Hawking ("George's Secret Key to the Universe"), Lynn Brunelle ("Pop Bottle Science"), Saul Griffith and Nick Dragotta ("Howtoons")! All action at the street fair is covered by The Scholastic Kids Press Corps.

Venue: The Street Fair will take place in the NYU campus area on and around Washington Square. More information and a map to follow soon!"

Fashion Designer Dorian May (GSAS '93)

From May issue of NYU Connect

Dorian May has a degree in journalism and a secret obsession with vintage clothes. At a primly located studio at 780 Madison Avenue, the journalist turned designer is now showing a new line that is sparking an interest in buyers and major department stores. "It's about elegant versatility," May says, describing the new line which she calls "Edie Sedgwick meets Mary Tyler Moore."

May's passion for style and elegance began at an early age. She attended her first Couture show at 10 years old and begged her parents to subscribe to French Vogue and Elle magazines. While her own designs have evolved through the years, May says her personal style has remained constant. "I've always worn a round toed shoe and still do," she says, "I worry that things I love will wear out before I do."

After studying fashion design at Parsons School of Art and Design in Paris, May's parents encouraged her to pursue a second vocation. She said with a laugh that they must have wanted her to do something less fickle than fashion. So she came to NYU for her masters in journalism, planning to study journalism and cover fashion after she graduated. She recalls "an amazing and inspirational" professor, Ed Diamond, who wrote a media column at New York Magazine. Diamond recommended May to a colleague at the magazine who took her on as an intern. But her days at NYU only furthered her style fixation, as the neighborhoods surrounding the Village are a playground of vintage shops and boutiques.

May went on to work as a journalist on CNN, Fox, and Access Hollywood, before she put down her notebook and picked up a coat hanger for good. Being given instructions to wait outside a bathroom for Leonardo DiCaprio is the last assignment May remembers receiving before she finally gave her notice. So, in 1999 she left her job writing and producing at Access Hollywood to make the transition to personal-shopping.

In 2004, May was named Best Personal Shopper by New York Magazine. And shortly thereafter, she decided to launch her own line. "Everything inspires me," May says of where she gets her ideas, "I'm always staring at everyone on the street. [Looking] for whatever makes people feel confident," she adds.

And as for her what inspired her new line, May says 1960's "it girl" Sedgwick, "came from my home town, so I guess I always secretly felt some outer body connection to her." And Moore, an "it girl" from the following decade is "that working woman who isn't afraid to make it on her own." A combination of Moore and Sedgwick is exactly what describes May, and the women she is designing for today.

Click here to check out Dorian May's website and collection.

NYU Alumni Day

NYU Alumni Day will take place tomorrow and I hope you are as excited about the events taking place as we are. Over 2,000 alumni and friends have signed up for Alumni Day and we look forward to welcoming everyone for an informative and fun day at NYU.

Registered guests should make their first stop on Saturday the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, located at 50 West Fourth Street (at the corner of Washington Square East). Alumni can check in, pick up an NYU Alumni Day pass, and receive a personalized agenda with times and locations for events. Early birds will also get one of our limited NYU Alumni Day tote bags.

Check-in will be open from 7:30 AM until 4:00 PM.



Here's another exciting event that is quickly approaching:




NYU at the Bronx Zoo | Sunday, June 22, 2008

Zoo Hours - 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Barbecue (Pepsi Pavilion)- 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Sea Lion Feeding (Sea Lion Pool) - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Tiger Enrichment (Tiger Mountain) - 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Bee-Eater Buffet (World of Birds) - 2:45 p.m.
Primate Training (Monkey House) - 3:30 p.m.
Penguin Feeding (Sea Bird Colony) - 3:30 p.m.

2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10460-1099
718-367-1010
Barbecue: Pepsi Pavilion


The College of Arts and Science Alumni Association and the Recent Alumni Network are pleased to offer NYU alumni, their families, and friends a day at the Bronx Zoo, a landmark venue featuring over 4,000 animals from around the world and a 265 acre lush green space to explore. It is the largest urban zoo in the USA and is consistently rated as a top New York area attraction.

As part of our exclusive event, guests will receive discounted parking and all-access passes to the zoo that include upgraded exhibits and attractions such as the Asia Monorail, Zoo Shuttle, Skyfari, Children's Zoo, Butterfly Garden, Bug Carousel, and the Gorilla Congo Exhibit. This event also includes a two hour reception that will give everyone a chance to reconnect, meet and greet alumni and friends, and enjoy a delicious, all-you-can-eat barbecue picnic. We hope to see you there!!!


Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased online at https://www.nyu.edu/alumni/events/zoo.shtml prior to June 10.


Pre-registration is required.

For more information, contact the CAS Alumni Relations Office at 212-998-6880 or cas.alumni@nyu.edu. Tickets will be mailed one week prior to the event.

Congratulations NYU Class of 2008

This is an exciting week full of celebrations and graduations. Today is the 12th Annual Grad Alley, a Commencement Eve celebration marking the accomplishments of all NYU graduates from 5:00pm-8:00pm. A carnival type atmosphere is created along West Fourth Street, La Guardia Place, and the NYU plazas. Banners will serve as a guide while you stroll down Grad Alley enjoying the many entertainment opportunities including jugglers, mimes, Lady Liberty, arcade games and more. Food is available for a bite to eat while taking in the sights. The sounds of a live D.J. fill Gould Plaza encouraging graduates, their families and friends to dance and party the night away. The campus on the square is alive with an air of nostalgia and excitement. As the sun sets, a fireworks display off the rooftops from Gould Plaza announces the roar of Commencement to follow the next morning. Be sure to stick around for the fireworks at 8:00pm by Gould Plaza.

Be sure to stop by the Alumni Tent to pick up a bag of goodies.

NYU Commencement will take place tomorrow, May 14th at Yankee Stadium. You can watch a live webcast of the events here.

2008 GSAS Alumni/Alumnae Award

Congratulations to our two 2008 GSAS Alumni/Alumnae Achievement Award recipients, Toi Derricotte (GSAS '84) and Kate Medina (GSAS '92), who will be honored at the Dean’s Luncheon on May 17, 2008.





Toi Derricotte was born in Hamtramck, Michigan. She earned her B.A. in special education from Wayne State University and her M.A. in English literature from New York University.

Her books of poetry include Tender (1997) which won the 1998 Paterson Poetry Prize; Captivity (1989); Natural Birth (1983); and The Empress of the Death House (1978). She is also the author of a literary memoir, The Black Notebooks (W.W. Norton, 1997), which won the 1998 Annisfield-Wolf Book Award for Non-Fiction.

Together with Cornelius Eady, she co-founded Cave Canem, a workshop retreat for black poets, in 1996.

About her work, the poet Sharon Olds has said, "Toi Derricotte's poems show us our underlife, tender and dreadful. And they are vibrant poems, poems in the voice of the living creature, the one who escaped—and paused, and turned back, and saw, and cried out. This is one of the most beautiful and necessary voices in American poetry today."

Her honors include the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, two Pushcart Prizes, the Distinguished Pioneering of the Arts Award from the United Black Artists, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Guggenheim, and the Maryland State Arts Council.

She teaches at the University of Pittsburgh.




Kate Medina, is Executive Vice President, Associate Publisher and Executive Editorial Director of Random House, the flagship imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. In her twenty-two years at Random House, Ms. Medina has been responsible for acquisition, editing, development, sales, marketing, and profitability of books for a wide readership.

Among the authors she has edited are Alan Alda, Peter Benchley, Elizabeth Berg, Amy Bloom, Bill Bradley, Tom Brokaw, Anita Brookner, Elisabeth Bumiller, Gail Caldwell, Ethan Canin, Michael Chabon, Robert Coles, E.L. Doctorow, Fannie Flagg, Jane Fonda, Charles Frazier, Alan Furst, Carlos Fuentes, Elizabeth Gaffney, Mavis Gallant, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Amitav Ghosh, Carol Gilligan, Kathryn Harrison, John Irving, Robert Kaplan, Tracy Kidder, Annie Leibovitz, Yiyun Li, Wynton Marsalis, Bobbie Ann Mason, Jon Meacham, James A. Michener, Nancy Milford, Azar Nafisi, Marsha Norman, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anna Quindlen, Nancy Reagan, William Safire, Maggie Scarf, Sally Bedell Smith, Hedrick Smith, Gloria Steinem, Christopher Tilghman, and Alice Walker. She has also recently acquired forthcoming books by Katherine Boo, Jonathan Darman, Adrien Nicole Leblanc, and has fostered new talent in debut fiction authors Ellen Baker, Alan Drew, and many others.

Kate Medina began her career in publishing at Doubleday & Co., Inc., rising to Executive Editor, Vice President before joining Random House in 1985. The recipient of the PEN/Roger Kline Award for Editorial Achievement and Creative Editing, she has been a Fellow at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College. Ms. Medina is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has served on the Advisory Boards of the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Henry Street Settlement, and the Century Association.

Ms. Medina lives in New York City and has one son.