Alexander Orlov, PhD, Professor of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University, has been elected chair of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Environmental Division. With a four-year term starting January 1, 2024, Orlov will lead the Division’s extensive community of scientists toward the goal of applying concepts in chemistry to address the world’s leading environmental and sustainability issues.
Orlov, a Middle Island resident and professor at Stony Brook since 2008, has contributed significantly to environmental protection and sustainability efforts throughout his career. His work as an educator earned him the 2017 ACS Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education and the 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Sustainable Engineering Forum Education Award. He is a member of the US-EU working group on Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials supported by the U.S. White House and European Commission cooperative program on nanotechnology research. In 2022, he was a chair of the Environmental Division at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
For years Orlov has contributed to the United Nations Environmental Program and has helped lead several reports coming out of the program. From 2007 to 2014, he was appointed by two UK Secretary of States to advise the government on environmental issues such as hazardous substances and environmental impact of nanotechnology.
Orlov’s interdisciplinary research seeks to develop new materials for clean energy generation, structural applications, and environmental protection. He currently co-directs two Centers at Stony Brook — the Center for Laser Assisted Advanced Manufacturing and the Center for Development and Validation of Scalable Methods for Sustainable Plastic Synthesis and Processing.
At more than 150,000 members, the ACS is one of the largest scientific societies in the U. S. Approximately 3,000 scientists nationally and internationally are in the Environmental Division. The Division is dedicated to addressing all 17 Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations with an emphasis on issues surrounding climate change.
The Stony Brook women’s basketball team kept Longwood to just 15.4 percent from deep in a 2-for-13 shooting performance on the way to an 85-49 victory against the Lancers at home on Dec. 11.
The Seawolves (8-1) had three players score in double figures, led by Khari Clark, who had 16 points and three steals. Zaida Gonzalez tacked on 16 points and two blocks and Gigi Gonzalez chipped in as well with 16 points, six assists and three steals. Stony Brook grabbed 45 rebounds in Monday’s game compared to Longwood’s 38, led by 10 boards from Shamarla King.
Stony Brook’s defense held Longwood to only 15.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc and 26.2 percent from the field.
Stony Brook started out the scoring by going on a 9-0 run, culminating in a bucket from Clark, to take an early lead with 7:27 left in the first quarter. The Seawolves then added three points to that lead by the end of the period and entered the quarter break with an 18-6 advantage. Stony Brook did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 12 of its 18 points close to the basket.
The Seawolves built that first quarter lead to 30-14 before going on a 6-0 run starting at the 2:45 mark in the second period, highlighted by a three from Victoria Keenan, to increase its lead to 36-14. The squad proceeded to tack on three points to that lead and enjoyed a 43-18 advantage heading into halftime. Stony Brook dominated in the paint, scoring 14 of its 25 points close to the basket.
Following intermission, Stony Brook continued to expand its advantage, pushing it to 50-23 before going on a 14-0 run, punctuated by a basket from King, to expand its lead further to 64-23 with 4:14 to go in the third. Before the conclusion of the third period, the Lancers had cut into that lead, but the Seawolves still entered the fourth quarter with a 68-28 edge. Stony Brook played dominated near the basket, scoring 18 of its 25 points in the paint.
The Seawolves then held on for the victory in the fourth quarter, 85-49.
The team will return to the court next week when they head to New Rochelle to battle Iona at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21. The game will be live on ESPN+.
“I was really pleased with the win today. [The team} was able to stay locked in and focused and disciplined. … I’m excited for them to get some rest in these 10 days and study for finals,” said Coach Ashley Langford after the game.
#24 Jared Frey Jared Frey connected on five three-pointers, a new career-best for the sophomore, during last Saturday's game. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics
The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team came from behind to defeat Bryant, 86-75, on Dec. 9 at Island Federal Arena. The Seawolves knocked down 16 three-pointers and shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half to beat the Bulldogs.
Stony Brook found itself down 17-5 out of the gate after Connor Withers made his first five shots, including four from beyond the arc. Bryant maintained a double-digit lead for a majority of the opening 13 minutes of the contest, thanks to hot shooting from three-point range. The Seawolves made it a one-possession game on two occasions down the stretch in the first half, but would go into the locker room facing a 36-31 deficit.
The second half told a much different story, seeing the Seawolves flip the script on the Bulldogs. Stony Brook shot better than 65 percent from the floor and 73.3 percent from downtown in the second half to overcome a 12-point, first-half deficit and overcome Bryant.
Momentum began swinging in the Seawolves’ favor early on in the second half, and by the 12-minute mark the game was tied for the first time since the opening tip. Dean Noll’s trifecta made it 47-47, capping off a 9-0 run by Stony Brook.
Stony Brook then grabbed its first lead of the evening, 51-49, on a Tyler Stephenson-Moore trifecta. Chippiness between the two sides followed, seeing a pair of double-technicals assessed to players from either side.
With the contest tied once more at 55-55, Withers struck again from downtown, but an extended celebration directed towards Stony Brook’s bench earned him a technical foul. Bryant’s three-point lead then turned into a seven-point deficit after the Seawolves went on a 10-0 run after the tech, punctuated by another Stepheson-Moore triple.
The Seawolves never trailed again, though the Bulldogs came within a possession of the lead with just under five minutes to play. The Seawolves buckled down however, expanding its lead to double figures with under two minutes to play and closing things out at the charity stripe to earn its biggest victory of the season to date.
“Tonight … we needed everybody to play well … and the eight guys that went in there made key contributions. It was a great win for us,” said Coach Geno Ford after the game. “At the end of the day, we showed a level of toughness and resolve that we need to show to win a game against a really good team.”
Predicting extreme heat events is at least as important as tracking the strength and duration of approaching hurricanes.
Ping Liu
Extreme heat waves, which have become increasingly common and prevalent in the western continental United States and in Europe, can have devastating impacts through wildfires, crop failures and human casualties.
Indeed, in 2003, extreme heat in Europe caused over 70,000 deaths, which was the largest number of deaths from heat in recent years.
Recently, a trio of scientists at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) received $500,000 from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to study heat events by using and analyzing NOAA’s Seamless System for Prediction and EArth System Research, or SPEAR, to understand heat waves and predict future such events.
The first objective is to evaluate simulations in the SPEAR model, by looking at how effectively this program predicts the frequency and duration of heat events from previous decades, said Ping Liu, who is the Principal Investigator on the project and is an Associate Professor at SoMAS.
Liu was particularly pleased to receive this funding because of the “urgent need” for this research, he explained in an email.
The team will explore the impact of three scenarios for increases in overall average temperature from pre-Industrial Revolution levels, including increases of 1.5 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees Celsius and four degrees Celsius, which are the increases the IPCC Assessment Reports has adopted.
Answering questions related to predicting future heat waves requires high-resolution modeling products, preferably in a large ensemble of simulations from multiple models, for robustness and the estimation of uncertainties, the researchers explained in their proposal.
“Our evaluations and research will provide recommendations for improving the SPEAR to simulate the Earth system, supporting NOAA’s mission of ‘Science, Service and Stewardship,’” they explained.
Kevin Reed, Professor, and Levi Silvers, research scientist, are joining Liu in this effort.
Liu and Reed recently published a paper in the Journal of Climate and have conducted unfunded research on two other projects. Liu brought Silvers into the group after Reed recommended Silvers for his background in climate modeling and dynamics.
Reed, who is Interim Director of Academic, Research and Commercialization Programs for The New York Climate Exchange, suggested that the research the heat wave team does will help understand the limitations of the SPEAR system “so that we can better interpret how the modeling system will project [how] blocking events and heat will be impacted by climate change.”
An expert in hurricanes, Reed added that blocking events, which can cause high pressure systems to stall and lead to prolonged heat waves, can also lead to unique hurricane tracks, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“A longer term goal of many of my colleagues at Stony Brook University is to better understand these connections,” said Reed, who is Associate Provost for Climate and Sustainability Programming and was also recently appointed to the National Academies’ Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.
Liu will use some of the NOAA funds to recruit and train a graduate student, who will work in his lab and will collaborate with Reed and Silvers.In the bigger picture, the Stony Brook researchers secured the NOAA backing in the same year that the university won the bidding to develop a climate solutions center on Governors Island.
Reed suggested that the “results of the work can be shared with our partners and can help to inform future societally relevant climate research projects.”
Focus on two regions
The systems that have caused an increase in heat waves in the United States and Europe are part of a trend that will continue amid an uneven distribution of extreme weather, Liu added.
Heat waves are becoming more frequent and severe, though the magnitude and impact area vary by year, Liu explained.
The high pressure systems look like ridges on weather maps, which travel from west to east.
Any slowing of the system, which can also occur over Long Island, can cause sustained and uncomfortable conditions.
Over the past several years, Liu developed computer algorithms to detect high pressure systems when they become stationary. He published those algorithms in two journal papers, which he will use in this project.
Personal history
Born and raised in Sichuan, China, Liu moved to Stony Brook from Hawaii, where he was a scientific computer programmer, in November of 2009.
He and his wife Suqiong Li live in East Setauket with their 16-year old daughter Mia, who is a student at Ward Melville High School anda pianist who has received classical training at the Manhattan School of Music. Mia has been trained by award-winning teacher Miyoko Lotto.
Outside of the lab, Liu, who is five-feet, seven-inches tall, enjoys playing basketball on Thursday nights with a senior basketball team.
Growing up in China, Liu was always interested in weather phenomenon. When he was earning his PhD in China at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, he had limited computer resources, working in groups with IBM and, at times, Dell computer. He built several servers out of PC parts.
With air trapped inside the basin surrounded by tall mountains, Sichuan is particularly hot in the summer, which motivated him to pursue the study of heat waves.
Liu appreciated how Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory had created BlueGene, which he used when he arrived.
As for the future of his work, Liu believes predicting extreme heat waves is increasingly important “to help planners from local to federal levels cope with a climate that is changing rapidly and fostering more frequent and more severe heat events,” he explained.
A scene from a previous production of ‘The Nutcracker.’ Photo from Dimitri Papadakos
The Seiskaya Ballet’s Nutcracker, a perennial holiday favorite on Long Island, returns to Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts Main Stage, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook for a five-performance run from Dec. 15 to 17. This classical ballet rendition has earned praise from critics and audiences alike.
Seiskaya Ballet principal dancer Madeleine Martufi
The cast will be led by guest artist David Wright, dancing the dual roles of Cavalier/Nutcracker, a featured artist with the Dance Theater of Harlem. Seiskaya Ballet’s award winning principal dancers Vivian Ye, Madeleine Martufi, Nina Zhang and Kaede Urso plus returning principal dancers Brianna Jimenez, Eva Pyrros, Diana Atoian and Lara Caraiani.
Seiskaya Ballet’s Nutcracker is truly an international collaboration beginning with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s most famous score.Sets and several costumes were designed by Poland’s Margaret Piotrowska whose highly respected work in Polish television and stage productions has garnered wide praise. Directed by founder Joseph Forbes, scenery was executed by Scenic Art Studios which has been credited with painting over 300 Broadway shows.The imaginative and unusual sculptures utilized in the Seiskaya Ballet’s production were the brainchild of creative artist Matt Targon. Choreographed by celebrated Russian-born Valia Seiskaya, this acclaimed production is imbued with bravura dancing, energy and endearing charisma.
Performances will be held on Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 for adults, $38 children and seniors. To order, call 631-632-ARTS (2787) or visit www.nutcrackerballet.com.
Picture Stony Brook University Hospital. It’s over a million square feet of facilities provide a wide range of medical services. The people who run the operations in this complex have created policies and procedures that make the entire hospital much greener than the distinctive two-tone building that’s visible from a distance along Nicolls Road.
For the hospital’s plethora of policies that protect the planet, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently recognized Stony Brook, among others, for a commitment to decarbonize its operations and improve its resilience amid climate change.
Barbara Boyle is the director of Healthcare Safety at Stony Brook University Hospital. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine/ Jeanne Neville
During the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, called COP28 in Dubai, HHS recognized Stony Brook as one of more than 130 organizations that joined the White House-HHS Health Sector climate pledge, which committed to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and have net zero emissions by 2050.
The recognition is “validating” and “wonderful” and provides the kind of excitement that “pushes you along a little further,” said Barbara Boyle, Director of Healthcare Safety at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Carol Gomes, chief executive officer and chief operating officer at Stony Brook University Hospital, added that green practices were not only good for the university, but were also supportive of the bottom line.
“When you reduce bio hazardous waste from the waste stream, it reduces expenses related to carting away” the more dangerous refuse, Gomes said. Such actions are part of the school’s fiscal responsibility.
Numerous measures
Stony Brook University Hospital has taken a wide range of steps to reduce its carbon footprint, to minimize toxins, and to reuse and recycle materials to encourage sustainability.
One of the first initiatives was to install motion and LED lighting. While the cost of a bulb might be higher initially, the lights last much longer.
“You have to think longer term, not shorter term in terms of savings,” said Gomes. “I was so proud of that project” which included retrofitting every light in the hospital, parking garage and on the roadway on the campus.
Carol Gomes is the chief executive officer and chief operating officer at Stony Brook University Hospital. File photo
Hospital efforts include using cleaning materials that are better for the environment. In 2022, 76% of the housekeeping chemicals were green, well up from 18% in 2021.
Additionally, electricity use at the hospital declined by 13 percent from 2020 to 2022.
In the operating room, anesthesiologists use considerably less desflurane, which is damaging to the atmosphere, with an extended lifetime in the atmosphere that has 20 times the environmental impact of other gases. The use of desflurane declined by 80 percent from 2017 to 2022.
The hospital also recycled 1,635 tons of paper. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. That means, among other benefits, the hospital saved about 28,000 trees and 11.5 million gallons of water. That is 10,000 more trees than are in all of Central Park.
Coordinating emergency care
Stony Brook has also worked on a climate resilience plan to ensure that it can remain operational in case of a major climate event, such as a hurricane, an extended heat wave, or a nor’easter, among others.
“We need to make sure the hospital can continue to remain operational,” said Boyle, which includes anticipating the needs of communities that are at a disproportionate risk of climate harm.
The hospital also has extensive plans in case Stony Brook needs to provide shelter for staff who can’t return home and return to work.
Hospital staff recently joined a discussion with community members, the Suffolk County Department of Health, emergency services such as the Red Cross, and volunteer organizations to discuss how to ensure efficient and effective communication pathways and resource allocation.
Boyle explained that she learned the specifics of Red Cross shelters and cooling centers in Municipal Buildings.
Changes in personal habits
Such professional efforts are consistent with the lessons Gomes learned from her grandmother, who herself grew up during the Great Depression. Gomes recalled how her grandmother encouraged her to turn off lights when she left a room and to shut off the faucet in the kitchen sink in between cleaning dishes.
Boyle explained that her mother-in-law Beryl Ellwood Smith, who grew up in England during World War II and had lived with Boyle’s family for the last two years, didn’t believe in throwing things out. She believed everything had a second or third use, repairing and mending items to keep them longer.
“In my family, we’ve really taken this to heart, recycling and eliminating waste,” Boyle said.
The hospital encourages staff to take similar approaches to saving and recycling in their own lives.
Staff recently received a note about ways to think about sustainable holiday decorations.
People who work in the hospital can offer their friends and family experiences rather than adding to the collection of material goods often packaged in styrofoam or plastic for holiday gifts.
The hospital is encouraging its staff to “make the connection between the workplace and the home and the importance of protecting the Earth in general,” Gomes said.
#21 Andre Snoddy takes a shot during last Saturday's game.
Photo from Stony Brook Athletics
The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team fell to Wagner, 60-59, on Dec. 2 at Island Federal Arena. Despite leading for more than 30 minutes, the Seawolves faltered in the second half and were ultimately overcome by the Seahawks.
Stony Brook led from the get-go, opening up an early 12-point lead, limiting Wagner to just three points over the opening five-plus minutes of action. The Seawolves’ lead grew to as large as 16 during the first half, with Stony Brook shooting better than 40 percent in the period and holding Wagner to a 9-for-36 mark from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Stony Brook carried a 13-point lead into the break, but Wagner showed no quit.
The Seahawks would outscore the Seawolves 39-25 in the second half, stealing a win away from Stony Brook on its home court. Wagner whittled its deficit to single digits in the opening minute of play in the second half, eventually using a 13-2 run to tie the contest at 45-45 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. A triple from Melvin Council, Jr. gave Wagner its first lead of the contest with 8:55 to play.
The Seahawks imposed their will and clung onto a lead for the next five-plus minutes before a Jared Frey jumper put Stony Brook back in front with two minutes remaining.
The deciding points came at the free throw line for Wagner with just over a minute to play, the final points of the contest. Frey had a good look, but misfired in the final 10 seconds and Wagner would hold on.
The team continued its four-game homestand, welcoming Stonehill on December 6 as part of another doubleheader with the Stony Brook women’s basketball team. Results were not available as of press time.
Zaida Gonzalez scored a career-high 26 points and Gigi Gonzalez added 22 to push the Stony Brook women’s basketball team over the Buffalo Bulls 83-52 at home on Dec. 2.
Zaida Gonzalez also tacked on five rebounds and three steals and Gigi Gonzalez added six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Khari Clark also helped out with a double double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, her third of the season.
Stony Brook utilized fantastic ball movement in Saturday’s game, piling up 16 assists on 32 made field goals. Gonzalez’s eight assists paced the Seawolves.
The Stony Brook defense was effective at taking away the basketball in Saturday’s game, forcing 18 Buffalo turnovers while committing 11. Those takeaways turned into 27 points on the other end of the floor. Zaida Gonzalez’s three steals paced way individually for the Seawolves.
After falling behind 14-8, Stony Brook went on an 8-0 run with 2:45 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Zaida Gonzalez, to take a 16-14 lead. The Bulls fought back, taking the 17-16 lead into the second quarter.
Stony Brook chipped away at that deficit and built a 25-24 lead before going on a 5-0 run, highlighted by a bucket from Sherese Pittman, to increase its lead to 30-24, a score that would hold until halftime. Stony Brook was strong from deep in the period, knocking down two three-point shots to account for six of its 14 points.
Following intermission, the Seawolves continued to expand its advantage, pushing it to 34-26 before going on an 11-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Zaida Gonzalez, to expand its lead further to 45-26 with 6:05 to go in the third. Before the conclusion of the third period, the Bulls had cut into that lead, but the Seawolves still entered the fourth quarter with a 57-40 edge. Stony Brook scored seven fast break points in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Stony Brook kept widening that lead, expanding it to 72-50 before going on an 11-0 run, finished off by Gigi Gonzalez’s jumper, to grow the lead to 83-50 with 1:43 to go in the contest. The squad took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring 14 of its 26 points in the paint.
Up next, the team took on Yale at Island Federal Arena on Dec. 6. Results were not available as of press time.
These are C. albicans cells growing invasively into tissue in a mouse model of an oral infection. The candida hyphae are stained black, and the tissue is stained a blue/green. Photo by James Konopka
A study that assesses the effects of hypochlorous acid (HOCI), commonly known as bleach, as it is generated during the immune response of a cell (phagocytosis) when fighting a common fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, reveals that HOCI is a potent killing agent. The laboratory finding, highlighted in a paper published in the coming issue of the American Society of Microbiology’s mBio, also uncovers some of HOCI’s mechanisms of actions in that killing process. The work could be a significant step toward using HOCI as a novel therapeutic strategy against C. albicans, and potentially other pathogens.
C albicans causes much infection worldwide. It is particularly virulent in immunocompromised patients and the cause of dangerous systemic infections in this population. There have been many effective treatments against the fungal pathogen, but for decades drug resistance has been problematic when treating infections cause by C. albicans.
Most studies looking at this immune response against the fungal pathogen have focused on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), not HOCI. Phagocytes capture the fungal invader and in the process two oxidants are created – H202 and HOCI. Myeloperoxidase converts H2O2 created during the oxidative burst in the phagosome into HOCI, the more potent killing agent.
“We discovered that hypochlorous acid kills cells by targeting the plasma membrane and oxidizing cellular components in a very different way than hydrogen peroxide,” says James Konopka, PhD, lead author and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “It disrupts the C. albicans plasma membrane, produces a very different transcriptional response than hydrogen peroxide, is more effective and disruptive to the plasma membrane, and therefore has a more distinct effect on killing these fungal cells.”
Konopka explains that neutrophils are the critical cell type for controlling infections by C. albicans and other fungal pathogens. They are distinct because they make high levels of myeloperoxidase compared to other phagocytes, such as macrophages. This study shows the important aspect of the neutrophil response, essential to the oxidative process that produces this fungal killing HOCI or bleach.
While the laboratory results will not have any immediate impact on new treatments against C. albicans infections, Konopka believes the findings provide a basis for designing new therapeutic strategies against this pathogen that causes infections worldwide.
The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease (grant number RO1AI047837), and in collaboration with researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea.
From left to right: Department of Music Chair Christina (Tina) Dahl, Dr. Brian Margolis, Dr. Rachel Bergeson, scholarship recipient Owen Dodds and Katherine and Bob Bayer (Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Advancement)
By Christine McGrath/ Stony Brook News
When Drs. Rachel Bergeson and Brian Margolis became friends with new neighbors Katherine and Bob Bayer, they had no idea they would participate in a tradition spanning 40 years. Rachel and Brian began attending frequent in-house recitals in the Bayers’ home in St. James, where Stony Brook Department of Music graduate students put their talents on display. The Bayers’ special showcase of Stony Brook talent eventually inspired Drs. Bergeson and Margolis to recognize the impact their friends have had on generations of Stony Brook musicians by establishing an endowed scholarship in the Bayers’ name.
The Katherine and Bob Bayer Endowed Scholarship will now be available to graduate students in the Department of Music, with a focus on those studying piano or string instruments. With this scholarship, these close friends will add their impact to the generous way the Bayers have left their imprint on the Department of Music over the years through those recitals.
Rachel and Katherine have strong ties to Stony Brook: Rachel has spent 40 years working as director of the university’s Student Health Services, while Katherine graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a music degree. So, what led to this nearly lifelong connection, and how did this scholarship come to be?
Supporting Students Through Music Concerts
While Katherine studied at Juilliard’s Preparatory Division as a young child, it was not until many years later that she completed her undergraduate degree in music. After she earned her associate degree after high school, she and Bob got married and had a child. Katherine then began working office jobs and helping Bob with his business. Several years later, she decided that she would love to go back to school. “I enrolled in a part-time bachelor’s degree program in music at Stony Brook. It took me five years to graduate!” she said. Each semester, she was required to take lessons with graduate students. “I learned so much from them and how much pressure they were under to prepare for their recitals at the Staller Center,” she said. “They didn’t have many opportunities to prepare.”
Wanting to give back to the Stony Brook Department of Music after she graduated, Katherine asked Bob if he would be open to hosting concerts in their own home, and he was completely on board. “I wanted to give graduate students an opportunity to play through their programs prior to their recital — a sort of practice performance,” said Katherine.
The in-house recitals started small, with just a few neighbors, including Rachel and Brian, attending, and they have grown to about 30 attendees. The couple hosts up to 10 concerts a year, and at the beginning of the fall semester, Katherine will send a letter to Stony Brook’s music department inviting piano and string students to play. “Usually, within minutes, we get a bunch of bios from the musicians,” said Bob. They sort through the bios and choose students based on availability and the music they will play. Those who play piano can perform on the couple’s restored 1876 Steinway concert grand piano.
The Bayers’ restored 1876 Steinway concert grand piano. (Photo courtesy of Katherine and Bob Bayer)
An Invitation Leads to a Scholarship
Rachel said she and Brian have been attending concerts for years. “We are privileged to have been part of this unique audience at their home for such a long time,” she said. In fact, a discussion at one of these performances is what led them to create their scholarship. “We heard there was little funding for the music department and that they were losing interested students to other institutions that provided scholarships,” Rachel said. “We decided to name it after Bob and Katherine simply because of their generosity and spirit that’s always been out there.”
The Bayers were honored and thrilled for the support when they received the news. “We were shocked! It was so generous of them to do this to support graduate students,” said Katherine.
Students perform an in-house recital at the home of Katherine and Bob Bayer. (Photo courtesy of Katherine and Bob Bayer)
True Music Appreciation
Both couples’ love of music runs beyond the concerts at the Bayers’ home. They often enjoy shows together at the Staller Center. Bob has loved seeing the Emerson String Quartet perform over the years, while some of Katherine’s favorite memories are seeing the recitals of the students who performed in their home. Rachel said she and her husband enjoy the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra shows. “Brian and I grew up with classical music. My mother was an organist, and I sang in the Messiah choir in college,” said Rachel. “Music has always been something that I’ve enjoyed.”
Both couples met the first scholarship recipient, Owen Dodds, who is working on getting his doctorate in music, earlier this year. “Owen is just delightful,” said Rachel. After receiving the scholarship, he performed his recital in the Bayers’ home — on the restored 1876 Steinway piano. “We were very impressed with him,” said Katherine. “He gave a beautiful performance.”
Owen, who not only performs classical music but also composes it, said the scholarship is helping to pay for his tuition. “I’m incredibly grateful for the support from Rachel and Brian,” he said. “It really makes it possible for me to do what I’m doing.” He added that he can’t wait to perform again at the Bayers’ home. “It was such a wonderful experience, and I hope to keep playing there even after I graduate.”
From left to right: Department of Music Chair Christina (Tina) Dahl, Dr. Brian Margolis, Dr. Rachel Bergeson, scholarship recipient Owen Dodds and Katherine and Bob Bayer (Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Advancement)
Inspiring Music
The Stony Brook Department of Music is able to attract talented students due to its extraordinary faculty, including Gilbert Kalish, leading professor of piano and head of performance activities, and Department of Music Chair Christina (Tina) Dahl. “Our graduate students go on to have successful music careers — we’ve had quite a few students win a Fulbright,” Tina said. “Stony Brook has a great history of placing music students in good academic jobs. Some graduates joined music faculties at Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music and Yale.”
Tina is grateful to have performed at the Bayers’ home herself as a music student, saying, “We recruit some of the most talented artists to Stony Brook because of student scholarships. Scholarship support not only allows the students to pursue their musical aspirations but also allows the music department to continue growing into a thriving musical community.”
Once students start studying music, being around other musicians is important. “Stony Brook is great because Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) students are all around you,” Owen said. “Being in the music community is so important to growing personally and professionally. We inspire each other.”
Rachel said she and Brian truly believe in the importance of music and the arts in the community. The couple is already considering supporting another scholarship or a Staller Center award in the future.
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