Cecilia Aldarondo, a filmmaker and assistant professor of English at Skidmore College, has been named a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the prestigious award to 168 scholars, artists and writers Wednesday, April 10. The foundation said recipients are selected for “prior achievement and exceptional promise.”
“When applying for an honor as elusive as a Guggenheim Fellowship, I mostly had to close my eyes and hit ‘submit,’ and put all hope out of my mind,” Aldarondo said. “I am thrilled to have the support I need to continue two documentaries I am currently directing, one on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and the other exploring the keen anguish of adolescence.”

The application period for the Leadership Saratoga Class of 2019-20 is open.
The program is designed to orient and train persons who are interested in becoming more involved in their community in volunteer leadership capacities. In addition, participants will receive in-depth knowledge about some of the critical issues facing Saratoga County.
This will be the 36th class of this award-winning program.

The number of applicants for the incoming Class of 2023 at Skidmore College has climbed in each of the past four years. This year, Skidmore received 11,050 applications, the largest number in college history.
Applications have grown 31 percent over five years. Skidmore received applications from 50 states, Washington, D.C., five U.S. territories, and 141 foreign countries. New York, Massachusetts and California yielded the largest number of applications.
Officials said applications from domestic students of color also continue to grow, increasing from 20 percent to 34 percent of Skidmore’s applications over the past decade.