Ithaca College

Submitted on behalf of Tanya R. Saunders, Dean, Interdisciplinary and International Studies.

Patricia Zimmermann, codirector of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) and professor of Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts, has just been named the Shaw Foundation Professor, an endowed chair, at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communications at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, the premier school of communications in Asia.

The Shaw Foundation is one of the largest and most visible philanthropic organizations in all of Asia. The foundation is the nonprofit component of the Shaw Organization, the oldest film producer and exhibitor in East and Southeast Asia, with offices in Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and elsewhere in East, Southeast, and South Asia.

The endowed chair is the most prestigious at NTU. Professor Zimmermann will be engaged in an international curatorial project and exhibition exploring open-space concepts in cinema and new media. She will teach a seminar focusing on FLEFF films, new media, and concepts, with an emphasis on documentary and historiographic theory as they intersect with international environmental issues during her sabbatical at NTU.

I am very proud of Professor Zimmermann, the international impact and recognition of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, and of her association with the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies.