{"id":219522,"date":"2026-05-04T18:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219522\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T18:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:00:12","slug":"11-queens-college-faculty-and-staff-members-honored-at-2026-excellence-awards-ceremony-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219522\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Queens College faculty and staff members honored at 2026 excellence awards ceremony \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queens College<\/a> recognized 11 faculty and staff members with citations during the 2026 excellence awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 14, in the school\u2019s Lefrak Concert Hall, located at 153-49 Reeves Ave. in Flushing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The faculty members were honored for their excellence in teaching, research and creativity, while the staff members earned recognition for their efforts in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion on the Queens College campus, as well as their service to the school.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s 11 honorees included Rajiv Singh, Kirsten Beck, Marissa S. Matta, Patrick Moran, Jeffrey Satenstein, Nicole Cooley, Salvatore Garofalo, Marc-Antoine Longpr\u00e9, Elissa Bemporad, Anna Rossini and Jian Xiao.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe annual faculty excellence award presentation brings all of us at the college a great deal of joy,\u201d Queens College President Frank Wu said. \u201cIt\u2019s vital that we make space for recognizing the contributions of our faculty on all levels, including as mentors and role models. They are widely noted for their excellence in providing our students with a rigorous, world-class education, both in the classroom and experientially in the lab and in the field. Their example of service to the college is integral to how we function as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh earned the Presidential Staff Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for coordinating two CUNY Black Male Initiative (BMI) conferences at Queens College over the last five years. BMI was created to help increase, encourage and support the inclusion and educational success of students from groups underrepresented in higher education, with a main focus placed on African, African American\/Black and Caribbean and Latino\/Hispanic males.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rajiv Singh (fourth from left) received the Presidential Staff Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Photo courtesy of Queens College<\/p>\n

Singh has helped increase student participation by 100%, thanks in large part to his work as the director of Project ExCEL, which is part of CUNY BMI and provides men of color with services and support that contribute to their academic and professional success in college. He is also an adjunct English lecturer in Queens College\u2019s SEEK program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Singh] connects students to a myriad of opportunities, including mentorship, internships and career opportunities,\u201d Wu said. \u201cMr. Singh wears various hats as he supports students through their undergraduate studies. As an academic advisor, he delivers superb advice and clarity for students\u2019 academic journeys\u2026He fully embodies the Queens College motto, \u2018we learn so that we may serve,\u2019 not only professionally but personally as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Singh, Xiao was also a recipient of the Presidential Staff Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
\n\"\"<\/a>Presidential Staff Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion recipient Jian Xiao (fourth from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College\n<\/p>\n

Excellence in Teaching Awards were given to Beck, Matta, Moran and Satenstein. Beck teaches classical, Middle Eastern and Asian languages and cultures at the School of Arts and Humanities. Matta teaches in educational and community programs in the School of Education. Moran teaches family, nutrition and exercise sciences in the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Satenstein teaches accounting and information systems in the School of Business.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Excellence in Teaching award winner Jeffrey Satenstein (third from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College
\n\"\"<\/a>Excellence in Teaching award winner Patrick Moran (third from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College
\n\"\"<\/a>Excellence in Teaching award winner Marissa S. Matta (third from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College<\/p>\n

Cooley, Garofalo, Longpr\u00e9 and Bemporad each received the Excellence in Research and Creativity Award. Cooley teaches English in the School of Arts and Humanities. Garofalo works in secondary education and youth services in the School of Education. Longpr\u00e9 teaches earth and environmental sciences in the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Bemporad is a history teacher in the School of Social Sciences.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Excellence in Research and Creativity Award recipient Marc-Antoine Longpr\u00e9 (third from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College
\n\"\"<\/a>Excellence in Research and Creativity Award recipient Salvatore Garofalo (third from left). Photo courtesy of Queens College<\/p>\n

Winners of the Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Research and Creativity Awards were determined by an internal process for submitting nominations to a collegewide committee made up of the previous year\u2019s winners.<\/p>\n

The Excellence in Service Award was given to Rossini. Rossini has spent more than 32 years serving as an administrative assistant at the college\u2019s Office of Alumni Relations, with her time there having been marked by unwavering kindness and professionalism.<\/p>\n

Nominations for the Excellence in Service Awards were made by students, faculty and staff at Queens College. This award emphasizes the advancement of Queens College\u2019s strategic plan, support for its students and the implementation of its diversity, equity and inclusion goals.<\/p>\n

The awards ceremony occurred right after Wu delivered his 2026 state of the college presentation. Some of the notable updates he shared included the dedication of the Freda and Mehran Soroudi Commons in Rosenthal Library by an alumnus, who was inspired by a group of fellow alumni who gave back to the school, as well as Excellence in Arts funding that will enable five Media Studies majors to attend this summer\u2019s Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change<\/a>, where they will join emerging media leaders from around the world to try and develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wu speaks during the 2026 state of the college presentation. Photo courtesy of Queens College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queens College recognized 11 faculty and staff members with citations during the 2026 excellence awards ceremony on Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2470,86455,9,24,63,752,122,86456,86457,124,123],"class_list":["post-219522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-awards","tag-excellence-awards","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens-college","tag-queens","tag-queens-college-president-frank-wu","tag-queens-college-state-of-the-college","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}