Adam Fenster
J. Adam Fenster is the University photographer.
Adam Fenster's Latest Posts
A rite of passage for new medical students
During the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s annual Robert L. & Lillian H. Brent White Coat Ceremony, first-year medical students don brand new white coats to symbolize the start of their journey to becoming medical professionals. This year’s event took place at the Larry and Cindy Bloch Alumni and Advancement Center, with the participants’ health and safety top of mind.
2019: The year in pictures
As 2019 winds down, we asked University photographer J. Adam Fenster to share some of his top selections from among the many thousands of pictures he captured this year, and his thoughts about what makes each one special.
An evening with Secretary Madeleine Albright
“I understood early that international affairs was not just another academic subject, it was a matter of life and death for real people whose fate could be determined by the moral and policy choices that were made,” said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. “These convictions were only strengthened for me in my years as Secretary of State.” Albright spoke to a packed house at Strong Auditorium on the University of Rochester River Campus. Her talk is part of the University’s “Difficult Conversations as a Catalyst for Change,” which is presented by Donald Hall, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering.
Sunset rainbow
A rainbow appears over Eastman Quadrangle and Rush Rhees Library after an October rainstorm, and was widely photographed across campus and the city. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)
Remembering September 11
From left, Naval ROTC midshipmen third class Cal Niezabytowski ’22 and Andrew Lazarus ’22, and midshipmen second class Vanessa Carollo ’21 stand at attention on Eastman Quadrangle at a vigil remembering the terrorist attacks of September 11. Among the nearly 3,000 people who died during the attacks were six University of Rochester alumni: Jeremy Glick ’93; Jean Hoadley Peterson ’69N; Jeffrey Smith ’87, ’88S (MBA); Zhe (Zack) Zeng ’95, ’98S (MBA); Aram Iskenderian ’82; and Brendan Dolan ’86. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)
‘Finding the Courage to Lead’
In her keynote address at the 10th Annual Diversity Conference, novelist, activist, and commentator Samina Ali described the fear she faced when the birth of her son left her with brain damage. “I was scared, and I was completely alone,” says Ali. “Courage is like any other physical function in your body … each time we exercise our brave heart we are reinforcing our neural pathways for courage.” (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)
Make me a perfect match
Michael Estephan is congratulated after opening his Match Day envelope. At noon precisely, Estaphan and approximately 100 students from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry joined medical students from around the country to simultaneously open sealed envelopes and learn where they’re headed for their residencies. The day caps off years of work and study as the students learn where they will spend the next several years in training for their first jobs as physicians, with Rochester students filling residencies at the top medical centers in the country. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)
‘Young people have always been at the forefront of change’
Scholar, political activist, and author Angela Davis, center, arrives at Schlegel Hall to meet with students before her talk, “The University’s Role in Educating Students to be Engaged Citizens,” part of the series Difficult Conversations as a Catalyst for Change. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)
First in the family
“I grew up feeling I would go to college no matter what,” says Hajim Scholar and computer science major Maisha Idris ’19. Idris’s story is striking, but not unusual at Rochester, where about 20 percent of undergraduates are first-generation, or “first-gen” students.
2018: The year in pictures
As the University photographer, J. Adam Fenster sees—and subsequently documents—more than the average person at Rochester. Here he picks some of his favorite photos and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what makes each special.