Current practice (2015) calls for identifying the class years of alumni and students with a two-digit reference to the class to which they belong, followed by an initial indicating the school from which they received (or will receive) their degree if it鈥檚 from any unit other than the School of Arts & Sciences or the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. Use an apostrophe (not an open single quote mark) to indicate that the first two numbers representing the century of the full class year have been elided.
References to a class year are not set off by commas, but use a comma to separate multiple class years and degree references.
For alumni publications, include the maiden name of alumnae who married after graduation to help identify graduates by the name with which they were known as students. For students who attended the University under their married names鈥攆or example, graduate students鈥攊ncluding maiden names is unnecessary. Maiden names are not set off with parentheses or other typographical formatting.
Use quotation marks to set off nicknames if it鈥檚 appropriate to indicate the informal name: Katherine 鈥淜ate鈥 Smith. In many circumstances, it鈥檚 acceptable to use a nickname or a more familiar version of a first name on first reference, but defer to the preferences of the person being referred to.
Use periods and spaces for initials standing for given names: E. B. White; do not use periods for an entire name replaced by initials: JFK. But again, take into account the individual鈥檚 preferences.
Except in formal presentations or where clarity requires it, avoid the use of middle initials when writing about members of the University community.
For those with more than one degree, list the degrees in the order that they were received, beginning with the earliest and ending with the most recent. For references to postbaccalaureate degrees, enclose the abbreviation for degrees in parentheses.
For dual degrees or the same degree from different schools, list the class year for the School of Arts & Sciences or Hajim School degree first, followed by the class year and school initial for the other unit (e.g., 鈥08, 鈥08E).
For those who have received terminal degrees (PhDs, DMAs, EdDs, etc.), an intervening master鈥檚 degree can be omitted if it was part of the coursework toward the terminal degree.
For units who are communicating with their own constituencies, using the initial to indicate an academic unit is often unnecessary.
Undergraduate
School of Arts & Sciences
Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
bachelor鈥檚 degree: 鈥55
Barry Meyer 鈥64 is the former chairman of Warner Brothers Studio.
Ed Hajim 鈥58 chairs the University鈥檚 Board of Trustees.
Patricia Wager Wheeler 鈥62, 鈥65W (Mas) is the author of聽Successful Tails: The Wonders of Therapy Dogs.
Eastman School of Music
bachelor鈥檚 degree: 鈥55E
Jeff Beal 鈥85E is an Emmy Award鈥搘inning composer.
Alexander (Sandy) Courage 鈥41E composed the opening theme for聽Star Trek.
Alice Pillischer Kujala 鈥48E taught violin for many years after graduation.
School of Nursing
bachelor鈥檚 degree: 鈥55N
Connie Lynn Leary 鈥59N is a nurse and nursing educator who taught at the Rochester School of Practical Nursing until her retirement in 1996.
Simon Business School
bachelor鈥檚 degree: 鈥55S
Jane Smith 鈥27S, a business marketing major, will complete her internship this summer.
Graduate
School of Arts & Sciences
Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
master鈥檚: 鈥55 (MS), 鈥55 (MA), 鈥55 (Mas)
The late Galway Kinnell 鈥49 won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
doctorate: 鈥55 (PhD)
Wayne Knox 鈥79, 鈥84 (PhD) is a former director of the University鈥檚 Institute of Optics.
Eastman School of Music
master鈥檚: 鈥55E (MM) 鈥55E (MA), 鈥55E (Mas)
Kate Light 鈥80E, 鈥82E (MM) is a violinist and writer.
Zeneba Bowers 鈥96E (MM) is a violinist, founder, and the artistic director of Alias Chamber Ensemble, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
doctorate: 鈥55E (PhD), 鈥55E (DMA)
Katharine Smithrim 鈥93E (PhD) is a professor of education at Queen鈥檚 University in Kingston, Ontario.
Kevin Puts 鈥99E (DMA) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, Silent Night.
School of Medicine and Dentistry
MD: 鈥55M (MD)
Frederick Parker Jr. 鈥58, 鈥62M (MD) is a professor emeritus and former chair of surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Trustee Paul Griner 鈥59M (MD) is a professor emeritus at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he also served as general director and CEO of Strong Memorial Hospital.
residency: 鈥55M (Res)
David Satcher 鈥72M (Res), is the former surgeon general of the United States.
master鈥檚: 鈥55M (MS), 鈥55M (MA), 鈥55M (MPH)
Robert Scala 鈥56M (MS), 鈥58M (PhD) is the former senior scientific advisor of Exxon Biomedical Sciences Corp.
Stephen Cook 鈥07M (MPH) is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine.
doctorate: 鈥55M (PhD)
Bradford Berk 鈥81M (MD/PhD) served as CEO of the Medical Center.
Eastman Institute for Oral Health
postdoctoral certificate: 鈥55D (Pdc)
Jack Howitt 鈥56, 鈥62D (Pdc) is the founder and CEO of Midland Management, a real estate management firm.
School of Nursing
master鈥檚: 鈥55N (MS)
doctorate: 鈥55N (PhD), 鈥55N (DNP)
Patricia Stone 鈥97N (PhD) is a professor of nursing at Columbia University, where she directs the Center for Health Policy and the doctoral program.
Simon Business School
master鈥檚: 鈥55S (MBA), 鈥55S (MS)
Martin Stern 鈥79, 鈥80S (MBA) is a partner at K&L Gates, an international law firm with offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
doctorate: 鈥55S (PhD)
Marlene Puffer 鈥93S (PhD) is senior vice president of PIMCO Canada as a senior vice president.
Warner School of Education & Human Development
master鈥檚: 鈥55W (MA), 鈥55W (MS), 鈥55W (MAT)
Bakari Kitwana 鈥88, 鈥90W (MA), 鈥90W (MAT) is a leading scholar of hip-hop music.
doctorate: 鈥55W (EdD), 鈥55W (PhD)
Kathy Rideout 鈥95W (EdD) is dean of the University鈥檚 School of Nursing.
Honorary degrees
Note: only the University can award honorary degrees. The honors are not bestowed by individual academic units so should not be used with an initial to indicate a school.
鈥55 (Honorary)
Arthur Miller 鈥56, 鈥08 (Honorary) is a law professor at NYU.
Steven Chu 鈥70, 鈥97 (Honorary) is a former secretary of the Department of Energy.
Renee Fleming 鈥83E (MM), 鈥11 (Honorary) is a Grammy Award鈥搘inning soprano.
Ron Carter 鈥59E, 鈥10 (Honorary) is a Grammy Award鈥搘inning bassist.
Current Students
Undergraduates (School of Arts & Sciences and Hajim School)
Jane Student 鈥15
Eastman undergraduates
John Student 鈥15E
Master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees
Refer to graduate students by the program and academic unit in which they are studying.
Jane Graduate Student is a doctoral student in the physics department.
John Graduate Student is working toward a master鈥檚 degree in economics.
Jane Graduate Student is a doctoral student in composition at the Eastman School.
John Graduate Student has enrolled in the MBA program at the Simon School.
Note: for references to class years from a previous century, it鈥檚 often preferable to include the full year. In such formulations, the word 鈥渃lass鈥 is capitalized.
Francis Bellamy, Class of 1876, is credited with writing the Pledge of Allegiance.