Giancarlo Traverso, SUNY New Paltz Professor Emeritus, began the Italian Studies program in 1968, helped establish the Urbino summer and academic year programs, 
and was director of international education for three years (1980-82). Traverso taught French language and literature courses as well as Italian language, literature, and cinema courses until his retirement in 1998.
To honor his parents, he created the Luigi and Anita Traverso Endowment for Italian Studies (2001) and the Luigi and Anita Traverso Endowed Photography Scholarship (2013). To honor his brother Giuseppe, he created the Giuseppe Traverso Citizen Naturalist Endowed Internship (2014), to support awards to SUNY New Paltz student interns who participate in ecological monitoring and other conservation science programs of the Mohonk Preserve.
Mr. Traverso was the recipient of a SUNY New Paltz Heritage Award in 2018 and currently lives in New Paltz, N.Y.
