HARTSDALE RESIDENT NAMED SUNY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR

The State University of New York has named Westchester Community College Professor Louis M. Rotando of Hartsdale, New York a distinguished service professor. He is the seventh faculty member from the college to receive this honor. This is the highest SUNY system designation conferred upon instructors.  
 
“In bestowing our highest faculty honor, we proudly recognize the extraordinary achievements of these faculty members and thank them for their continued commitment to excellence," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher.
 
“The Board is pleased to present these individuals with SUNY’s distinguished ranking,” said Board Chairman H. Carl McCall. “Their commitment to the students, faculty, and staff at their respective campuses and their vast achievements within their respective professions is astounding and much appreciated.”
 
The Distinguished Service Professorship honors and recognizes extraordinary service by those who have demonstrated substantial distinguished service not only at the campus and SUNY, but also within the immediate community, region, and state. Many of those appointed have also rendered influential service contributing at the national and international levels. To be considered for this rank, service must exceed the work generally considered to be a part of a candidate’s basic professional work and should include service that exceeds that for which professors are normally compensated.  It must also extend over multiple years and, very importantly, must involve the application of intellectual skills drawing from the candidate’s scholarly and research interests to issues of public concern.

Professor Rotando has been teaching full-time at Westchester Community College for more than 45 years and has been the Chair of the Mathematics Department for more than 30 years. He is known for his innovation in the teaching of mathematics, his enlightened leadership of his more than 100 faculty members, and his unflagging support for students.

His promotion of student excellence is reflected in the success of students in International Mathematics Modeling competitions, where the college has continually placed among colleges considered to be Ivy League schools. He is the author of a textbook, Finite Mathematics in Business, Social Science and the Liberal Arts. He has been awarded a full-year fellowship from the National Science Foundation and is the recipient of several VEA grants and two Title VI grants. He holds the Joseph and Sophia Abeles Endowed Chair in Mathematics and two Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence, as well as the Westchester Community College Foundation Award for Excellence in Scholarship. 

Other professors who have been honored as distinguished professors by SUNY are John Christesen, Barbara Connolly, Iris Cook, William Costanzo, Frank Madden, and Carlo Sclafani,