SUNY Ulster Faculty

Noteworthy Keynote Address by Dr. Ray Raymond

by
Portrait photograph of Raymond Ray

Dr. Ray Raymond has been a well-known professor at SUNY Ulster since 2005. He teaches government, politics, international relations, and American history. In addition, he is an adjunct professor of comparative politics and international relations at the US Military Academy. He is known for riveting lectures complete with an eloquent English air about them.

Teaching students at SUNY Ulster is one of many commitments Dr. Raymond is regularly engaged in. He is also a regular visiting lecturer at the US Air Force Academy and Fellow of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy. He is also the Director of the Katt Institute for Constitutional Studies. His efforts have been recognized numerous times, including by the Times Herald Record Online.

An Address of Importance

On Saturday, April 13, Dr. Raymond gave the keynote address at the World Affairs Council of the Hudson Valley’s 6th annual student conference. He illuminated the diffusion of power in the international system since the turn of the century and suggested that that US international leadership has to be collaborative, not unilateral.

The outline of an eagle is filled with red and white stripes and a blue pattern containing white stars

Dr. Raymond suggested that the US does not have the power it once did. He also defended the liberal rules-based world order and recommended reforms in the US intelligence process to ensure that we avoid blind spots, in hopes that this will improve our understanding of the new strategic political environment.

Curious about this man and what the feel of his lectures are? Worry not, because he has contributed mini-lectures to AcademicMinute.org which are broadcast on WAMC Public radio from Albany. His broadcasts set out his views on US foreign policy and explain some key points of commitment and co-dependence between the United States and the United Kingdom. Listen to one of his broadcasts below.

The U.K.’s and The U.S.’s Special Relationship

Dr. Raymond’s Background

So where does our noteworthy professor get his skills from?
First, he is a former British diplomat who held a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Yale University in American History. Secondly, before coming to SUNY Ulster, Dr. Raymond spent twenty years in Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service as a specialist on the United States. During that time, he analyzed US government and politics, US defense and national security issues as well US trade policy. Between 1997 and 2005, he advised then British Prime Minister Tony Blair on US politics as well as secondary and higher education. He also served as policy adviser and speech writer for High Royal Highness, The Duke of York. In recognition of his diplomatic work, he was honored by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the Order of the British Empire.

A flag is bisected diagonally, the upper half depicting a partial american flag and the lower half depicting a aprtial uk flag

 As political officer of the British Consulate General, New York he played an integral role in the UK’s response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 when 77 British nationals were killed in the World Trade Center. This included organizing events and giving speeches conveying the message to the United States that the United Kingdom would support it fully in the war on terror. One of them was at SUNY Ulster when Dr. Raymond gave the Howard St. John Lecture in late September 2001.

Dr. Raymond’s research  has been published by The Atlantic Council and the National Interest. Currently, Dr. Raymond is working on a new book which will be published late next year by the US Naval Institute Press. It is about five of West Point’s most courageous young officers and their heroic service in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Political Influence Aside

An open book sits on a table with a pair of glasses on top, there is a phone behond the book
Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay

Dr. Raymond’s top priority has always remained his students, however.  In addition to teaching, he has mentored many SUNY Ulster students long after they graduated, helping them win places and often scholarships at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and New York University among others.

This influential man also has a high satisfaction rating from his students. He has multiple inspiring reviews on sites such as RateMyProfessors.com. One anonymous reviewer, a political science student, left a rating of five out of five, saying, “Dr. Raymond always remained very professional, and he is thorough. He will explain it a second or third time if needed and always responds to my emails in a timely manner… I personally enjoyed learning from him. A stand up man/professional if there ever was one.”

His Method

A student in cap and gown puts his thumb up with a wide smile

Dr. Raymond says he gets students into history by making it stimulating. He stresses the importance and relevance of political history in ways that ensure students will be able to make an argument using facts long after they’ve forgotten details of the lesson. “If you’re not excited about it yourself, you can’t expect students to be excited,” he commented.

Ashli Skura Dreher, Adjunct Professor Named State Teacher of the Year

by
Portrait photo of Ashli Skura Dreher

SUNY Ulster Adjunct Professor Ashli Skura Dreher Honored, Named State Teacher of the Year

SUNY Ulster online adjunct professor Ashli Skura Dreher has been named the2014 New York State Teacher of the Year by the State Board of Regents.

Dreher, a high school special-education teacher for the Lewiston-Porter Central School District, has taught the online course Supporting Students in Reading and Writing through the College since 2005.

A teacher in the Lewiston-Porter district for 15 years, she is the first in the district to earn National Board Certification for Professional Teaching Standards, one of teaching’s highest honors. She teaches special education in a high school classroom working with students with moderate intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities.

“New York’s teachers are among the best and most professional in the nation. Still, Ashli manages to stand out,” said New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi. “In her classroom, students with special needs receive a mix of research-based instruction and innovative lessons. Her focus on community and volunteerism, and her close collaboration with parents, make her a sterling example of what happens when great teachers and concerned parents work together on behalf of our children. I join every member of NYSUT in congratulating her.”

Dreher is a dissertation level doctoral student in the teaching and curriculum department of the University of Rochester’s Margaret Warner School of Education and Human Development, where she enjoys researching literacy, specifically the best instructional practices for teaching reading to students with moderate intellectual disabilities. Dreher also served as the NYSUT Education and Learning Trust regional coordinator for the Western New York and Rochester areas for 10 years to promote turnkey training and professional development for teachers and aspiring teachers.

Faculty Achievement: Fernando Valdivia Poem Chosen for Publication

by
SUNY Ulster campus during the day

Fernando Valdivia Poem Chosen for Publication

SUNY Ulster English, Foreign Languages and Philosophy department faculty member, Fernando Valdivia, has had a poem accepted for publication in the Winter 2015 issue of Pentimento Magazine. Of the 143 poems submitted, Fernando’s was one of eleven chosen for publication.

His poem appears below.

SEA SORROW
By Fernando Valdivia

When my mother’s nine-month bulge of water burst, she bled,
and though my tiny brother’s spine was smashed,
his kidneys crushed, the doctors put him in a cast
and told my Dad his son might walk but always wet the bed.
As kids in summer we would start off for the beach,
and I would be ashamed to walk beside him as he lurched
like some drunk sailor pitching on the sober earth,
his brace cleats pivoting beside my perfect feet.

But once immersed, I’d watch his burly shoulders churn
through walls of waves, way out past the tide,
while I’d remain embroiled in shallow surf and guilty pride.
My starfish toes gripping rocks like clams, I’d see him turn
and, like some mighty Neptune, ride the cresting foam,
then swim in close enough to flounder on the shore
and hobble home.