News: page 19

Kenneth Joseph "Ken" Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, writer, and political theorist. He was the joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks in 1972. To date, he is the youngest person to have received this award, at 51.

In economics, he was a figure in post-World War II neo-classical economic theory. Many of his former graduate students have gone on to win the Nobel Memorial Prize themselves. His most significant works are his contributions to social choice theory, notably "Arrow's impossibility theorem", and his work on general equilibrium analysis. He has also provided foundational work in many other areas of economics, including endogenous growth theory and the economics of information.

Arrow remained active on the international scene through a variety of initiatives including trustee of Economists for Peace and Security and a member of the Advisory Board of Incentives for Global Health, the not-for-profit behind the Health Impact Fund until his death.

Beginning this semester, the Mathematics, Biology, and Computer Science departments are jointly organizing a seminar on the theme of Data Science, Networks, and Biology. The theme is intended to be interpreted broadly, and a purpose of the seminar is to stimulate synergy about these topics across the campus. We welcome further involvement broadly, at any level of interest or activity. We will meet once every two weeks on Wednesday from 3:30-4:45 in NAC 7/219.

Please distribute to anyone who might be interested. Contact Han Amarasingham (aamarasingham@ccny.cuny.edu) or Mike Shub (mshub@ccny.cuny.edu) with any questions, including speaker suggestions. To be added or removed to the mailing list, send an email to jredman@ccny.cuny.edu.

Dear Colleagues,

It’s that time of year again! Let me reintroduce myself to those who only know me in my modest teacher guise. I am the Social Amenities empress of the department. Welcome to all my new subjects! . And I am at your office door, (or mailbox or email inbox) once again, hand outstretched.

We are having a party (come all ye faithful --old and new) on Dec. 15 (reading day – so no classes) in Shepard 250 to introduce the generations of the department. So dust off your ball gowns (jeans are fine!) The party will take place between 12 -2 PM. Please respond to me (rring@ccny.cuny.edu) to reserve your spot and one for a partner if you wish. Be sure to tell me how many in your group. (We need the information so we can order the correct amount of food.) The royal treasury has become somewhat depleted this year since we had so many happy and sad events that we noted this year. We do not even have enough in the till to cover the modest party that we are planning! Thus, I come to solicit green holiday cheer from one and all. Indeed, we need money for many various and sundry reasons beyond the party. There are the usual births and weddings (please keep me informed or tell Jason to tell me.) Also, this time of year, we also thank some of the College people and others who have lent a hand in running the department throughout the past year (such as our department and College staff.)

Happy Holidays and thank you,

Shelley Ring

Professor Asohan Amarasingham has been announced the recipient of a prestigious Department of Defense grant in the amount of $594,000. Professor Amarasingham will use these funds to support his research in computational neuroscience.

Prof. Jay Jorgenson has been awarded the 2015 Provost's Prize for Pedagogical and Curricular Innovation Award. This award recognizes an individual faculty member or a faculty team which has demonstrated significant positive impact on student learning and retention through pedagogical and curricular innovations.