Dr. Bahar Zoghi, Dr. Jack Thomas, Professor David Guarino, and Associate Registrar Marilyn Flores are the 2014 recipients of the Farmingdale Foundation Awards at Farmingdale State College.
The Farmingdale Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that provides financial
assistance in advancing the purposes and development of the College. It provides scholarships,
faculty development grants, and support of programs and projects that are not funded
by the State budget. The Foundation also receives gifts and bequests from individuals,
foundations and other organizations and institutions.
Its membership consists of a volunteer board of directors that are representative
of business and industry, as well as the education community.
Dr. Zoghi, a resident of Melville, teaches Mechanical Engineering Technology in the Department of Architectural and Construction Management. She also is the lead researcher – studying wind energy – at the campus Renewable Energy and Sustainability Center.
Her research interests lie in the area of sustainable environment, ranging from renewable energy to water efficiency. She has advanced expertise in the field of green building, and has nearly 10 years’ experience as a professional engineer in the private sector. Prior to joining the Farmingdale faculty she did research at the International Center for Environmental Resources and Development at City College of New York.
Dr. Thomas, of Levittown, won his award in the adjunct professor category. He teaches nutrition and bioethics in the Department of Biology. This month he is submitting an application to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program to study childhood obesity. He is known in the department as one who steps up to substitute for professors who cannot make their classes due to illness, and the chair of his department describes his teaching as “excellent, complete, and thorough.”
Professor Guarino, who also won in the adjunct professor category, is a resident of Coram. He teaches in the Department of Visual Communications, and is an award-winning photographer whose work has been reproduced in many elite national and international fashion publications. Professor Guarino is also director of the department’s digital photography studio.
Ms. Flores has spent seven years as associate registrar in Farmingdale’s registrar’s office. She is well known for the initiative she takes in all her projects and has been praised for her team-building ability. Her responsibilities include course scheduling, graduation, inputting grade changes and course waivers/substitutions. Farmingdale’s registrar describes her as “the type of professional that any institution would be proud and lucky to have on their side.” Ms. Flores lives in Manhattan.
