Adam Fenster

Students, faculty, and staff participate in the first ever 'I Heart Eastman' Day, sharing what they love about the Eastman School of Music, and posting thank-you notes to Eastman alumni. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Walter Cooper '56 greets violist and ROCmusic director Alexander Peña, who performed at the 2016 University of Rochester Diversity Awards reception at Witmer House on January 20. The Diversity Awards recognize the accomplishments of faculty, staff, students, grads, units, or departments of the University that contribute to diversity and inclusion through exemplary leadership. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

With 2015 coming to a close, we asked University photographer J. Adam Fenster to select his favorite Rochester photos from the past year.

The bust of abolitionist and leader Frederick Douglass sits in its new home on the stairway landing in the Great Hall of Rush Rhees Library. The statue is one of the oldest on campus, having been dedicated and placed in Sibley Hall on the University's original Prince Street campus in 1879.

As part of National Suicide Prevention Month, the University chapter of Active Minds planted 1,100 pinwheels-- representing the number of college students lost to suicide each year-- in Wilson Quad in an effort to raise awareness about the incidence and impact of suicide, connect students to needed mental health resources, and inspire action for suicide prevention.

Joel Seligman, University president and CEO (right), and Rob Clark, senior vice president for research and dean of the Hajim School, address the media after this week's announcement about AIM Photonics. In addition to announcing a new seven-member governance board that will include a representative from the University, Cuomo announced that the headquarters for AIM Phototics will be located in Legacy Tower, the former home of Bausch and Lomb, in downtown Rochester, while the Sibley building, where the University-affiliated High Tech Rochester is developing new space, will include a workforce development center, and Eastman Business Park will be the site of the project's manufacturing operations.

University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology NROTC midshipmen hold a vigil at the Meridian on the Eastman Quadrangle to honor members of the university community who were killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Seventh-grade English language arts teacher Craig McManus and ninth-grade global history teacher Rob Snyder ’12, ’13W (MS), an East High School graduate, talk with sixth-grade social studies and English language arts teacher Khieta Davis during a professional development training session at East last week. East Upper and Lower Schools —under a new partnership with the University—will welcome students back to the classroom September 8. The University is serving as the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO) for East starting this school year, with Shaun Nelms ’04W (MS) ’13W (EdD) leading the effort as EPO superintendent.

The Interfaith Chapel sanctuary is being renovated to accommodate an increasingly diverse religious and spiritual campus community. Updates include new carpeting, a handicap-accessible lectern platform, a hearing loop to improve sound quality for the hearing-impaired, and expanded seating for up to 500 people.

A view from the roof of the Hopeman Building as construction gets underway at the site of Wegmans Hall, the future home of the Goergen Institute for Data Science.