As students return to the Iona campus after the summer months, plenty of news has been happening on campus while the Gaels have been away.

1. Dr. Darrell P. Wheeler began as new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Wheeler began his new position at Iona on July 1. He previously served as dean of the School of Social Welfare, vice provost of public engagement and professor at the University of Albany. Wheeler has held many positions in higher administration at various colleges in New York State, as well as Loyola University Chicago. Wheeler has published and presented work in areas of health and mental health, particularly regarding minority health, HIV prevention and intervention, and LGBTQ health and intervention. Wheeler has also done work regarding social justice, individual and community resilience, and community service. Wheeler succeeds Vincent Calluzzo, Ph.D. Calluzzo continues to work as a member of Iona College faculty.

2. Scholarships Awarded to Gaels at 29th Annual Kenneth Dolan Memorial Run

Sophomore Kaitlyn Kilroy and recent graduate John Murphy ’18 participated in the Dolan Memorial Run, a 5k race in Prospect Park in New Rochelle on June 3. The run is held annually in memory of alumnus Kenny Dolan who died in an automobile accident in 1990. The Kenny Dolan Memorial Fund was established at Iona College to financially assist students in completing their education. Kilroy and Murphy were this year’s scholarship recipients.

3. Groundbreaking for new business school

Iona College celebrated the official groundbreaking of the new business school building on July 26. A $17.5 million donation from notable alumnus Robert V. LaPenta ’67, ‘00H began plans for the new building, which is anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2020. Some of the features of the new building will be high-tech classrooms and computer labs, a central atrium and event space, a trading floor classroom and a media suite.

4. Br. Cornelia family visits Iona College

Family members of Brother William Barnabas Cornelia, the founding president of Iona College, visited Iona on July 16 to tour the campus. The family toured the campus with Br. Robert Novak, Ph.D., formerly a professor in physics at Iona and a current member of the office of Advancement & External Affairs. Cornelia’s family, visiting from Ireland, visited his grave at the Christian Brothers Cemetery in West Park, New York prior to touring Iona’s campus.

5. Iona students win award in European entrepreneurship program

Juniors Lisbeth Baez, Tiara Griffith and Maimouna Mbacke and graduate students Marina Falisi and Joseph Gitter traveled to Turin, Italy to participate in the European Innovation Academy (EIA) for a three-week summer entrepreneurship program. The EIA was hosted at the Polytechnic University of Turin and featured numerous keynote speakers and mentors for its 300 participants. Mbacke worked with a team of students whose pitch for a mobile app earned an award of a year’s worth of consultation from Pitch60, an organization that consults early-stage startup companies.