ONEONTA, N.Y. --
Associate Professor Alexander
Thomas, Chair of the
Sociology Department
at the SUNY College at Oneonta, has been awarded the College's 2007 Susan
Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence. Dr. Thomas will deliver the
annual Susan Sutton Smith Lecture, a presentation entitled "The Other New
York: A Look at the Issues Facing Upstate New York," on Friday, April 20, at
7:30 p.m. in the Craven Lounge of the Morris Conference Center. Members of
the community are invited to attend the presentation, and admission is
complimentary.
Thomas's talk will explore the relationship between upstate New York
and New York City and the global economy. His presentation is based on
his interdisciplinary research of the central New York region.
Dr. Thomas is co-author of the forthcoming book Upstate Down (SUNY
Press) and author of the books Gilboa: New York's Quest for Water and
the Death of a Small Town (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), In Gotham's
Shadow: Globalization & Community Change in Central New York (SUNY
Press, 2003), and Spotlight on Social Research (Allyn & Bacon, 2002). He
has produced numerous studies of the central New York area, including
"Rural Retail Redux: Supermarket Pricing in Rural Central New York,"
"Shopper's Paradise Lost: Shopping by Elderly Adults in the Age of Big
Box Businesses," "Adjusting to Change: The Face of Downtown Oneonta,
1945-2005," and "Economic Activity in Downtown Cooperstown, 1979-2003."
The recipient of Walter B. Ford Foundation grants for studies on
"Sprawl in the Catskills" (2006) and "Schoharie Reservoir" (2002), Dr.
Thomas served from 2000 to 2003 as the Coordinator of the College's
Center for Social Science Research, an interdisciplinary faculty
organization dedicated to fostering active research by faculty and
students in the social sciences. The thirteenth recipient of the Susan
Sutton Smith Prize, Alexander Thomas joined the College at Oneonta
faculty in 2000. He holds a doctorate and master's in sociology from
Northeastern University.
The Susan Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence, named in honor
of the late SUNY-Oneonta professor of English, recognizes outstanding
faculty achievement in research, scholarship, or art. The recipient is
chosen from nominations submitted to a committee of faculty and
administrators. The prize is made possible through gifts to the College
at Oneonta Foundation by Dr. Thomas Smith and Mrs. Mary Smith in memory
of their daughter.
The Susan Sutton Smith Lecture will cap a day of events recognizing
academic excellence at the College. At an awards breakfast, Dr. Thomas
will receive the Smith Prize, and students with grade-point averages of
3.9 or above in the fall semester will be recognized with gift cards to
purchase textbooks at the College store.
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