Each year, FIT’s Faculty and Staff Recognition Celebration honors employees who have received grants, release time for research, sabbaticals, and awards.
This year, five faculty members were honored with SUNY Chancellor’s Awards, which recognize the best of the best among the 64 campuses of the State University of New York system.
Michael Cokkinos, Marketing Communications, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which recognized his 36 years of teaching broadcasting and video production, during which he created more than 3,600 video tutorials.
Lorenza Wong, Textile Development and Marketing, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching. She redesigned the TDM capstone course to focus on forgotten fibers such as mohair, abaca, and piña, as well as overlooked links in the supply chain such as farmers and artisans.
Justine De Young, History of Art, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service. She authored The Art of Parisian Chic: Modern Women and Modern Artists in Impressionist Paris (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2025) and edited Fashion in European Art (I.B. Tauris, 2017); she also founded the popular and influential Fashion History Timeline.
Kathleen Monich, International Programs, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service. She has been a vital part of FIT’s Study Abroad team since 2018 and has overseen semester and faculty-led programs across Europe and the Americas, while partnering with leadership on key international grants and joint curriculum initiatives.
Hilary Davidson, Fashion and Textile Studies, received a new honor: the SUNY Chancellor’s Horizon Award for Faculty Research and Scholarship, given to early-career faculty whose scholarly or creative activities have already achieved significant recognition, and who hold strong promise for major impact.
Davidson is a scholar of textile and dress history, and in particular, an authority on British Regency fashion. Her three books, published by Yale University Press, about fashion in Jane Austen’s time have sparked public interest in the topic. She also had a career as a curator, at the Museum of London and the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture in North London.
Additionally, this year’s FIT Faculty Excellence Awards went to Susan Breton, FIT Care Team; Justine De Young, History of Art; Alexander Nagel, History of Art; and C.J. Yeh, Creative Technology and Design.
At the close of the ceremony, President Jason S. Schupbach recognized the 11 faculty members who retired this year: Ronald Basca, Communication Design Pathways; Roberta Elins, Marketing Communications; Pamela Ellsworth, Global Fashion Management; Lourdes Font, History of Art; Kaarin Holmberg, Textile/Surface Design; Elvin (Eli) Kince, Communication Design Pathways and Spatial Experience Design; Lawrence Langham, Communication Design Pathways; William Low, Illustration; Karen Middleton, Fashion Design; Eric Ramirez, Textile/Surface Design; and Carmita Sanchez-Fong, Interior Design. Together, these 11 professors educated FIT students for a total of 337 years!
Below is a slideshow of photos from the Faculty and Staff Recognition Celebration; all photos by Cat Trzakowski.