Lison Baselis-Bitoun ’70
Lecturer at Harvard University
Major: French Literature and Anthropology
Lison Baselis-Bitoun arrived in the United States in June 1965 from Paris, France. After a couple of years at Newburgh Free Academy to improve her English, she enrolled at SUNY New Paltz in 1967 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Lison went on to teach at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT and then had a long and productive career at the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA. During her tenure as a secondary school teacher and department chair at the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, she designed and developed a new French curriculum and published numerous guidebooks for the preparation of the AP French Literature Exam and for the study of French and Francophone literatures. Seeking new challenges, Lison was accepted to a doctoral program in romance languages and literatures at Harvard University in 2002 and received her Ph.D. in 16th Century French Literature in June 2007.
Lison went on to teach at the university level both at Harvard University and at Tufts University. She specializes in 16th century French literature with a particular interest on the impact of scientific advances and discoveries on the literature of the time. She is currently working on a manuscript on Jean de Léry, a French Huguenot who traveled to Brazil in the middle of the 16th century. Her research interests also include visual culture, history, philosophy, and ethnography. One of her articles: “Jean de Léry précurseur de Montaigne” was published in Montaigne Studies. She is co-editor and author of Portrayals of Medicine, Physicians, Patients, and Illnesses in French Literature from the Middle Ages to the Present, a collection of essays published in 2011 from Mellen Press. She left teaching in 2012, and is pursuing her research and writing.
Lison has been honored by Cornell University (1995) and by Tufts University (1998) as an Outstanding Educator. She received a grant from the French government to study at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (1995). She was named “Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” (1995). Lison has served on the editorial board of The French Review (1999-2004) and received more than 10 teaching awards while at Harvard.
Jessica Faieta ’85
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General
Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean
United Nations Development Programme
Major: Economics
Jessica Faieta was appointed UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean in May 2014. Previously, she held the position of deputy regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean starting October 2012. From 2010-2012, she was the senior country director in Haiti, leading the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) recovery and reconstruction efforts after the January 2010 earthquake.
Prior to her assignment in Haiti, Jessica was the UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in El Salvador and Belize (2007-2010). From 2005 to 2006, she served in the executive office of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as director of the office of the deputy secretary-general. She was also deputy chief of staff to the UNDP administrator.
Jessica started her career with UNDP in 1991 as a UN volunteer in Guyana. In 1993, she became special assistant to the director for finance and administration. In 1997, she was appointed deputy resident representative (DRR) in Cuba and subsequently, DRR in Panama (1998-2001) and in Argentina (2001-2002). Before joining UNDP, she worked for the Canadian Embassy in Ecuador (1987-1991).
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from SUNY New Paltz, a Master of Business Administration degree, and a master's degree in international affairs, both from Columbia University. She is a Yale University World Fellow.
Heather M. Graham ’97
Digital Director
The Daily Gazette
Major: Black Studies
Heather M. Graham is the digital director of The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, NY. She began her career in digital media in 2000 as an arts and entertainment editor and continued to find success as a health and lifestyle editor. Before joining The Daily Gazette, Heather spent six years at NBC News Digital as a health editor for iVillage.com until its 2014 integration into sister site Today.com. Prior to working for NBC, she honed her expertise as a health editor while on the launch team for the consumer website Everyday Health.
Heather has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Black Studies from SUNY New Paltz and a Master of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from New York University.
Lynne D. Johnson ’90
Digital and Social Media Engagement Strategist
Major: Journalism
Lynne D. Johnson is an acclaimed digital strategist and storyteller, best known for her visionary work leading cross-functional teams to develop cutting edge content and community platforms for top media brands like Vibe, Spin, and Fast Company. As a marketing and public relations agency executive, she also developed creative campaigns that helped businesses transform prospects into customers, and customers into loyalists. Currently, Lynne is a consultant, adjunct professor, and tech evangelist who writes a weekly tech column for Ebony.com, and is a frequent guest on the widely viewed web series This Week In Google. Previously, she served as a director of digital and social media strategy at Waggener Edstrom, senior social media strategist at R/GA, SVP of social media at the Advertising Research Foundation, senior editor and community director at Fast Company, and general manager of digital at Vibe and Spin.
An expert in the areas of marketing and technology, Lynne was awarded a MVMT 50 Top 10 Innovators award in 2015 at SXSW Interactive, and was also the recipient of the 2006 Black Weblog Awards Black Blogger Achievement award. In 2015, she was featured as a tech innovator in an AT&T ad spot called "Seeing Stars." A notable speaker, Lynne has keynoted and presented at many conferences including PRSA Digital Impact, Web 2.0 Expo, and AdTech. Her writing has been featured as both poetry and essays in anthologies, as well as in many print and digital publications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from SUNY New Paltz, an Advanced Certificate in Multicultural Studies from The College of Mount Saint Vincent, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Media Management from Metropolitan College of New York.
Lani Nelson ’13
Independent Video Journalist
Major: Asian Studies
From January 2014 to February 2016, Lani Nelson was a reporter and video editor at SinoVision English Channel: the English department of SinoVision, a Chinese television network based in midtown Manhattan. She primarily contributed to SinoVision Journal, creating 3.5-minute long video news segments that gave greater visibility to the various contributions being made by New York City-based Chinese and Chinese-American residents to the fields of art, entertainment, science and technology, business, education, and more. She has since left her job and taken a hiatus from her life in New York City to pursue an interest in travel and independent video journalism.
Hailing from the wooded hamlet of Stone Ridge, NY, Lani attended SUNY New Paltz from 2009 to 2013, majoring in Asian studies and minoring in linguistics. From fall 2011 to spring 2012, she studied abroad at Nanjing University, China, and in the summer of 2012, she left China to study abroad at Dankook University, South Korea. When she was a resident of Brooklyn, NY, Lani enjoyed drawing, conversations with strangers, walking in Manhattan rather than taking the subway, and foodie trips to Flushing. She continues to enjoy these same pleasures, only now, the world is her Flushing.
