Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20092min
Q: Anne, you came to Wesleyan in 2001. What were you hired in as, and what is the objective/purpose of your position? A: I was hired as senior designer in the Office of University Communications. I design and produce many of the print pieces and some of the web sites for various departments in the university. Q: Who are your "clients" on campus? Does this repeat year to year? A: I have worked with many of the academic departments and programs over the years, but much of my recurring work is with University Relations, particularly the events staff and the…

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20092min
A paper co-authored by Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2009. In the article, "Surviving mass extinction by bridging the benthic/planktic divide," Thomas and her colleagues show a very unexpected observations, i.e. that a species of foraminifera, which lives floating in the surface waters of the Indian Ocean, is genetically the same as a species living on the bottom of the ocean in shallow waters (between tide levels, coast of Kenya) - using DNA analysis. "We then show, using a sophisticated way of chemical analysis,…

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20091min
Neely Bruce, professor of music, lead 89 trombones, a soprano and an organ in the East Coast premiere of Henry Brant’s “Orbits” in the rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum June 21, as part of both the museum’s Works & Process series and the citywide festival Make Music New York. A New York Times article on the event is online here. Henry Brant is a 1998 Honorary Degree recipient.

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20092min
Michael Armstrong-Roche, associate professor of romance languages and literatures, associate professor of medieval studies, is the author of Cervantes' Epic Novel: Empire, Religion, and the Dream Life of Heroes in Persiles, published by the University of Toronto Press in May 2009. The 384-page study sets out to help restore Persiles to pride of place within Cervantes's corpus by reading it as the author's summa, as a boldly new kind of prose epic that casts an original light on the major political, religious, social, and literary debates of its era. At the same time it seeks to illuminate how such a…

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20093min
The following promotions and appointments have been made to the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships in July. Trisha Gordon has been promoted to the position of affirmative action specialist/administrative manager. She will oversee the Office of Affirmative Action and specifically work with Human Resources on staff issues, diversity and sexual harassment prevention trainings, and work with me to develop a campus-wide affirmative action plan. She will oversee the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships and manage all strategic initiatives. She will also continue to assist me in day-to-day operations, meetings, and special project. Gordon has been with Wesleyan since 2001 and…