David PesciAward-winning, best-selling author Anna Quindlen P'07, pioneering entrepreneur and philanthropist Azim Premji P'99, and two dedicated members of the Middletown community, Mark Masselli and Jennifer Alexander ’88, will be the honorary degree recipients at the 177th Wesleyan Commencement on May 24, 2009. Quindlen will also give this year's Commencement Address.
Brad Karsh '87 and Michael Sciola, director of Wesleyan's Career Resource Center, are both quoted in a piece in The Wall Street Journal titled "Graduating with a Major in Go-Getting." The article discusses a variety of strategies up-coming graduates may want to consider for their first post-commencement job search.
An award-winning best-selling author, a pioneering entrepreneur and philanthropist, and two dedicated members of the Middletown community will be the honorary degree recipients at the 177th Wesleyan Commencement on May 24, 2009. Anna Quindlen P’07, who will also give the Commencement Address, is a novelist, a journalist, and a champion of higher education. She currently writes the “Last Word” column on the back page of Newsweek and serves as chair of the board of Barnard College, where she received a degree in English literature. Quindlen has published five novels, all of them bestsellers. Her most recent, Rise and Shine, debuted at…
Olivia DrakeErrors in genomic DNA can lead to tumors and other diseases. By probing specific DNA structures, Ishita Mukerji hopes to gain an understanding of how such medical conditions can be prevented or possibly cured. Mukerji, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, studies how different proteins recognize and bind to DNA. Specifically, she examines four-stranded DNA structures, known as "Holliday junctions," which are involved in DNA repair and recombination. These are different from the common, two-stranded DNA. On April 1, Mukerji will receive a four-year grant worth $798,368 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund her research project, "Structure and…
Corrina KerrJoss Whedon ’87, writer, director and executive producer of such popular TV shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Firefly,” and the new series “Dollhouse,” will give the May 30 keynote address for the seventh annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns. The unique seminar scheduled for May 29 through 31 will focus on “Defining American Culture: How Movies and TV Get Made.” Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, Chair of the Film Studies Department, and curator of the Cinema Archives will be the facilitator for this seminar. Other presenters include successful Wesleyan alumni who work as film and…
During a "Who Done It? A DNA Investigation," elementary school aged children sported white lab coats and became "detectives" hoping to solve a crime. The students learned about DNA structure by isolating DNA from wheat germ and comparing DNA samples from a 'crime scene' with the DNA from five suspects. They learn how DNA forensics actually works – just like on the television show "CSI." (more…)
Wesleyan’s Social Justice Leadership Conference (SJLC) will provide participants an opportunity to learn more about social justice and how to apply it in their lives. The free, all-day March 28 event is open to all members of the Wesleyan community and to anyone who may be interested. The SJLC, which is co-sponsored by the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development (SALD), grew out of the previously held WSA-sponsored Social Justice Day and SALD’s WesLead emerging leaders conference events. “I think what we saw was that both events could be more successful if they were…
Jodi McKenna, head women’s ice hockey coach, was selected to be an assistant coach for the 2009 U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. The team will defend its world title at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship from April 4-12, in Hameenlinna, Finland. McKenna's preliminary roster includes four goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 18 forwards, and will be trimmed by 11 players prior to Team USA's March 30 departure for Finland. Highlighting the roster are 24 players who have competed in previous IIHF World Women's Championships, including 23 who have been on gold medal-winning squads, either in 2005 or…
David LowMatt Tyrnauer ’91, special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, has produced and directed an engaging new documentary, Valentino: The Last Emperor, which was released nationwide in March. (The film opened in Manhattan on March 18 at the Film Forum.) Co-produced by Adam Leff ’90 with Carter Burden ’89 as executive producer, the film celebrates the colorful career of the renowned Italian fashion designer Valentino, covering the period between his 70th birthday and his final couture show. It tells the story of his extraordinary life, examines the fashion business today, and deals with the designer’s relationship with fame. At the center…
Twenty-four Wesleyan students will hit a high note in their singing careers April 19, when they perform with one of the preeminent choral groups in Connecticut. The Wesleyan Concert Choir is teaming up with Greater Middletown Chorale, the region's 32 year-old community chorus, and a 22-piece string orchestra of professional instrumentalists drawn from the New Haven Symphony and Yale Symphony Orchestras for a concert to be held at Crowell Concert Hall. "On measure eight, energize it, not with volume but with energy," says director Joseph D'Eugenio, during a March 10 group practice. "And be very anticipatory of the diminuendo (more…)
The Green Street Arts Center is launching the Green Street Community Mural Project, an 18 month-long art program that will culminate in a large public mural, to be installed in the spring of 2009 on the corner of Main and Green Streets in the North End of Middletown. Led by mural artist Marela Zacarias, the project’s participants are a diverse group of Middletown children, their families, professional artists, Wesleyan students, and other community members. A core group of students in Green Street’s Afterschool Program will work with the artists on the project regularly. The primary goal of the Green Street…
The web at Wesleyan is undergoing major design and functionality changes, and the Website Design Team is seeking input from the Wesleyan community. "This team has been charged with preparing a new website design strategy for the university," says Melissa Datre, director of the Information Technology Service's New Media Lab. "Through their request for feedback, peer school interviews, and faculty and student input, they will, over the next several weeks, propose to a new design concept for Wesleyan’s website presence." In early March, the team launched a web redesign blog to give every member of the campus community the opportunity…