Sal Restivo, professor of sociology, science studies, and information technology at Rensselaer, has been appointed for a second year to the Hixon/Riggs Chair at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif. Restivo also organized the Hixon/Riggs Workshop on Social Studies of Social Robotics at Harvey Mudd College. The conference was previewed in the Los Angeles Times in April. Restivo also served as an NSF panelist at the spring meeting of the science and technology studies panel in San Diego. 6/2/03

Allison Geer ’03 was presented with the prestigious Livingston W. Houston Citizenship Award at this year’s Commencement ceremony. The honor is presented to the "First Citizen" of the senior class. The Houston Award recipient must rank high in character, leadership, scholarship and athletic ability. A captain from Menands, N.Y., Geer is a four-time All-American swimmer who holds seven school records. Throughout her career, she has been the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) Female Swimmer of the Year, the UCAA Rookie of the Year, and she was Rensselaer's 1999-2000 Female Freshman Student-Athlete of the Year. This past season, Geer, who participated in freestyle and sprints, was a three-time UCAA Champion, a two-time New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) Champion, named to the UCAA All-Academic team, and selected as a NYSWCAA Scholar-Athlete. A management major with a minor in psychology, Geer was consistently on the Dean's List while at Rensselaer. She was inducted into the National Management Honor Society and Phalanx, Rensselaer's honor society for leadership, service and devotion. 6/2/03

Ben Fell, Pat Fell, Borjan Gagoski, and Matthew Moog have all been selected to the 2002-03 Verizon Academic District 1 College Division Men's At-Large Teams. The Fells and Gagoski were chosen to the First Team and Moog was named to the Second Team. 6/2/03

Allison Benson earned NCAA Outdoor All-American honor after finishing seventh in the pole vault at the National Meet held at St. Lawrence University in Canton. The junior reached a distance of 11'7" (3.53 meters) to earn her first outdoor All-American honor. The top eight finishers are All-Americans. The All-American honors have capped tremendous seasons for Benson. In seven outdoor meets prior to Nationals, she finished first in six of them, including the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) and New York State Championships, and second in the other (Eastern College Athletic Conference Meet). She set new records in the UCAA (10'6"), the state (11'5.25") and the school (12'0"). 6/2/03

Dwaine Alleyne, Jim Motzkin, and Mike Johnson all earned All-American status by finishing in the top eight in their respective events at the NCAA National Meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton. Alleyne earned the honor in the triple jump, Motzkin in the javelin, and Johnson in the hammer throw. 6/2/03

The Rensselaer baseball team, which recently concluded its season by playing in its 12th straight NCAA Regional Tournament, has handed out its year-end awards. The team's highest honor, the Robert Ducatte Most Valuable Player Award, was presented to senior catcher Seth Shuket. Classmate Pat Hughes earned the Pop Graham Award as the team's leading hitter as well as the Johnny Evers Award for being the top fielding outfielder. Junior Tim Egan won the Evers Award for infielders. Ryan McGough won the Joe Purello Award, presented annually to the team's top pitcher, and Brian Brzek earned the Skip Falkenstein Award as the player who best exhibits the qualities of dedication and high academic and athletic achievement. 6/2/03