Alex Méndez Giner and Sandy Siquier, Department of Film and Media Arts
Alex Méndez Giner, associate professor of film, and Sandy Siquier, assistant teaching professor of film, are co-directors of the film “Domestic Animals,” which was awarded at the International Film Festival The Hague, Netherlands, in the "Women in Focus: Social, Political and Spiritual Stories" category. During the festival, Siquier (pictured) also led the master class "Bringing Performances to Life: Directing Actors for Film," where she shared insights on script analysis, creative collaboration and building respectful director-actor relationships that elevate screen performances.
Li "Lily" Jiang, School of Design
Li “Lily” Jiang, assistant professor of fashion design, received the 2025 Margaret Rucker Paper of Distinction Award – Sustainability for “Advancing Sustainable Fashion Through Usercentric Computational Design: Enhancing User Engagement and Creative Experiences in Garment Customization” from the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA), the premier international scholarly association for textile, apparel and merchandising disciplines. The ITAA’s annual Papers of Distinction are highly competitive “best paper” awards selected from an international pool of peer-reviewed submissions.
Ida Tili-Trebicka, Setnor School of Music
Ida Tili-Trebicka, teaching professor of piano, was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in October 2025 at the historic Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens. The Hall of Fame recognizes the talented educators who foster passion, creativity and discipline in the next generation of piano artists.
Don Carr, School of Design
Don Carr, professor of industrial and interaction design, received the 2025 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Design Management Institute, an international organization that brings together educators, researchers, designers, and leaders to facilitate transformational organizational change and design-driven innovation.
Loren Loiacono, Setnor School of Music
Loren Loiacono, assistant professor of music composition, won the 2025 New England Philharmonic Call for Scores Competition for her work “Beanie’s Chapbook,” which was performed in October.
Alex Méndez Giner and Sandy Siquier, Department of Film and Media Arts
Alex Méndez Giner, associate professor of film, received an Honorable Mention in Screenwriting at the 2025 University Film and Video Association Conference for the feature film script “The Cyclops,” co-authored with Sandy Siquier, assistant teaching professor of film. Set against the backdrop of the turbulent Venezuela of 1992, the film tells the story of Chris and his two irreverent friends, all of whom are cyclopes, partially blind, limited in their ability to see where they’re heading.
Kendall Phillips, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Kendall Phillips, professor of communication and rhetorical studies, was selected by The College of Liberal Arts at Penn State University to receive the 2025 Outstanding Academic Alumni Award from the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences.
Alex Jainchill, Department of Drama
Alex Jainchill, professor of practice of theater design and technology, served as lighting designer for “Gounod’s ‘Faust,’” which won Outstanding Production with Fewer Than Six Performances at the Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards.
Charles E. Morris III, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Charles E. Morris III, professor of communication and rhetorical studies, received the inaugural New Horizons Award from the Public Address Division of the National Communication Association (NCA) at its annual conference in November. The award honors a clear and impressive record of scholarly research; the potential to contribute significantly to future directions of public address through scholarship, teaching and/or community-engaged work; and a record of challenging of disciplinary hegemonies and/or expansion of the domain of public address to include diverse, historically marginalized scholars and areas of scholarship that have historically fallen outside of rhetoric’s traditional scope.
Wendy K. Moy, Setnor School of Music/School of Education
The Chorosynthesis Singers with co-founders/co-artistic directors Wendy K. Moy, assistant professor of music education, and Jeremiah Selvey, was selected as the winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance, 2024, in the professional division. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts.
John Warren, Setnor School of Music
John Warren, professor of applied music and performance (conducting) and director of choral activities, received the Ovation Award from the Syracuse Sounds of Music Association, Inc., at its Music Matters event on Oct. 9 in Syracuse. The award honors Warren’s immense contributions to the Central New York musical community.
Wendy K. Moy, Setnor School of Music/School of Education
Wendy K. Moy, assistant professor of music education, received the Paul and Veronica Abel Award for Choral Performance from Civic Morning Musicals in Syracuse. This annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to the art of choral performance for the community.
