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 its 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 namesfor example, graduate studentsincluding maiden names is unnecessary. Maiden names are not set off with parentheses or other typographical formatting.
Use quotation marks to set off nicknames if its appropriate to indicate the informal name: Katherine Kate Smith. In many circumstances, its 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 individuals 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 those who have received terminal degrees (PhDs, DMAs, EdDs, etc.), an intervening masters 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
bachelors degree: 55
Barry Meyer 64 is the former chairman of Warner Brothers Studio.
Ed Hajim 58 chairs the Universitys Board of Trustees.
Patricia Wager Wheeler 62, 65W (Mas) is the author ofSuccessful Tails: The Wonders of Therapy Dogs.
Eastman School of Music
bachelors degree: 55E
Jeff Beal 85E is an Emmy Awardwinning composer.
Alexander (Sandy) Courage 41E composed the opening theme forStar Trek.
Alice Pillischer Kujala 48E taught violin for many years after graduation.
School of Nursing
bachelors degree: 55N
Connie Lynn Leary 59N is a nurse and nursing educator who taught at the Rochester School of Practical Nursing until her retirement in 1996.
Graduate
School of Arts & Sciences
Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences
masters: 55 (MS), 55 (MA), 55 (Mas)
The late Galway Kinnell 49 won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
doctorate: 55 (PhD)
Wayne Knox 79, 84 (PhD) is a former director of the Universitys Institute of Optics.
Eastman School of Music
masters: 55E (MM) 55E (MA), 55E (Mas)
Kate Light 80E, 82E (MM) is a violinist and writer.
Zeneba Bowers 96E (MM) is a violinist, founder, and the artistic director of Alias Chamber Ensemble, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
doctorate: 55E (PhD), 55E (DMA)
Katharine Smithrim 93E (PhD) is a professor of education at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.
Kevin Puts 99E (DMA) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, Silent Night.
School of Medicine and Dentistry
MD: 55M (MD)
Frederick Parker Jr. 58, 62M (MD) is a professor emeritus and former chair of surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Trustee Paul Griner 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: 55M (Res)
David Satcher 72M (Res), is the former surgeon general of the United States.
masters: 55M (MS), 55M (MA), 55M (MPH)
Robert Scala 56M (MS), 58M (PhD) is the former senior scientific advisor of Exxon Biomedical Sciences Corp.
Stephen Cook 07M (MPH) is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine.
doctorate: 55M (PhD)
Bradford Berk 81M (MD/PhD) served as CEO of the Medical Center.
Eastman Institute for Oral Health
postdoctoral certificate: 55D (Pdc)
Jack Howitt 56, 62D (Pdc) is the founder and CEO of Midland Management, a real estate management firm.
School of Nursing
masters: 55N (MS)
doctorate: 55N (PhD), 55N (DNP)
Patricia Stone 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
masters: 55S (MBA), 55S (MS)
Martin Stern 79, 80S (MBA) is a partner at K&L Gates, an international law firm with offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
doctorate: 55S (PhD)
Marlene Puffer 93S (PhD) is senior vice president of PIMCO Canada as a senior vice president.
Warner School of Education
masters: 55W (MA), 55W (MS), 55W (MAT)
Bakari Kitwana 88, 90W (MA), 90W (MAT) is a leading scholar of hip-hop music.
doctorate: 55W (EdD), 55W (PhD)
Kathy Rideout 95W (EdD) is dean of the Universitys 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.
55 (Honorary)
Arthur Miller 56, 08 (Honorary) is a law professor at NYU.
Steven Chu 70, 97 (Honorary) is a former secretary of the Department of Energy.
Renee Fleming 83E (MM), 11 (Honorary) is a Grammy Awardwinning soprano.
Ron Carter 59E, 10 (Honorary) is a Grammy Awardwinning bassist.
Current Students
Undergraduates (School of Arts & Sciences and Hajim School)
Jane Student 15
Eastman undergraduates
John Student 15E
Masters 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 masters 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, its often preferable to include the full year. In such formulations, the word class is capitalized.
Francis Bellamy, Class of 1876, is credited with writing the Pledge of Allegiance.