Student Sucessess: 2008 - 2009
Our 2009 Outstanding Student in Philosophy is Eric Umpreyville who came to BSC with an Associate’s Degree from Erie County Community College. Eric started out studying science, Geology in particular, and went on to earn a 4.0 GPA in Philosophy. He is currently working on a second major at BSC in History with plans to attend graduate school. During the Department Awards Ceremony Eric was commended for his intellectual integrity and humility, his well disciplined mind, his love of learning and joy in discovering ideas.
The 2009 Outstanding Student in Religious Studies is Robert Krause who obtained a GPA in the minor of 3.17. Bob graduated with a philosophy major. His GPA in this major was 3.13, while his overall GPA at BSC was 3.33.
Our new Sterling Scholarship was awarded to Philosophy major Joseph Yoder who is currently maintaining a 4.0 in Philosophy and his minor in Religious Studies. Joe presented his paper titled "Happiness: A Combination of Virtue and Fortune," at the Spring 2009 Student Colloquia.
The Sterling Scholarship Award was established to provide scholarship assistance to outstanding students majoring in departments within the School of Arts and Humanities, in this case Philosophy, to be used to provide multi-year scholarships of $300 to $1,000 annually, to outstanding sophomores whose major is within the School of Arts and Humanities. Award recipients must be enrolled full-time at BSC, continue to have a declared major in Philosophy, and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in their major and a minimum GPA of 2.5 overall.
The Department is grateful to our award donors Professor George T. Hole, Ph.D. and three emeriti Philosophy faculty: James Grunebaum, Ph.D., John Carbonara, Ph.D., and Lanse Pollock, PhD.
The first Victor Balowitz Scholarship was awarded to three deserving students.
Darla-Jo Joyce ‘09 came to BSC in 2006 having earned an Associate’s Degree from Erie County Community College; she has also studied philosophy at SUNY Brockport. Formerly an Anthropology major, Darla-Jo changed her major to Philosophy in 2008 and maintained a 3.83 GPA in her major. In Spring 2009 she presented a paper for the Student Colloquia titled "The Possibilities of Inquiry," as well as commenting on another student paper the same session, titled "Doubt It: Skepticism as a Virtue in Science." Darla-Jo is seriously considering pursuing her Ph.D. in Philosophy.
Jacob Platt ’09 came to Buffalo State in 2007 as a Design major with an Associate’s Degree from Niagara Community College. At BSC Jacob earned a 3.58 in Philosophy.
Yevgeny Yarmolinets ’09 came to BSC in 2003 from Brooklyn, NY and earned a 3.85 in Philosophy while also pursuing a minor in Psychology. Gene was a regular participant in our Faculty-Student Colloquia. In Fall 2006, he served as commentator for a student paper titled "Intelligent Design 101 (with Statistics)"; in Fall 2007 Gene commented ably on a faculty paper by Jerry Nosich, Ph.D., titled "Two Short Arguments, From Science, on the Non-existence (or Non-Involvement) of God"; and in Spring 2008 Gene presented a new paper he wrote for the colloquia series, titled "Can Intellectuals Be Decent Human Beings?"
The Victor Balowitz Scholarship fund was established to provide scholarship assistance to outstanding students majoring in Philosophy. Victor Balowitz (1931-1996) received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Columbia in 1969. He started teaching at BSC in 1964 where he pursued his interests in Frege and Descartes. In 1994 Professor Balowitz received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Please see the memorial that ran in the American Philosophical Association Proceeding and Addresses (November 1996).
Philosophy major Collette Davenport ’09 was awarded a $15,000.00 annual scholarship for three years to UNC Chappell Hill Law School. Congratulations!
Kudos to Justin Donhauser ’06 for being awarded a prestigious fellowship from the National Science Foundation for the next two years of doctoral study at SUNY Buffalo where he is specializing in Metaphysics and Applied Ontology. Justin earned his MA in Philosophy from SUNY Buffalo (2008) after graduating Summa Cume Laude from BSC and receiving the 2006 Dean’s Medal for Excellence in Philosophy. Most recently Justin received rave review for his PHI 101 which he taught here at BSC Summer 2009.