Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20093min
Next fall, Wesleyan students and faculty will perform research activities on the same state-of-the-art animation computers that produced Ice Age the Meltdown, a $652 million worldwide box office hit. The computer hardware was donated July 2 by Greenwich, Conn.-based Blue Sky Studios, the creator of a number of award-winning digital animation features, including the Ice Age series and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, which took in nearly $300 million worldwide. In 2008, Blue Sky Studios refreshed their technology for their latest movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and bought racks of new computers. "The old computer racks still…

Olivia DrakeJuly 14, 20092min
A former Middletown mayor, Olympic volleyball coach, a three-hour marathon runner, and Baldwin Medal winner are among the newest members of Wesleyan's Athletics Hall of Fame. Wesleyan will formally induct the third class into its Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony Nov. 6 as part of Homecoming/ Family Weekend activities. Wesleyan will enshrine four individuals and one team to join the previous two classes of inductees, bringing to total in the Hall of Fame to 20 individuals and three teams. Entering in the fall class of 2009 are Emilio Daddario '39, Winthrop “Wink” Davenport '64, Sally Zimmer Knight '81,…

David PesciJuly 14, 20091min
Wesleyan University has announced the promotion to full professor, effective July 1, 2009, of the following members of the faculty. Stephen Angle, professor of philosophy, came to Wesleyan in 1994. He has served as director of the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, co-directed the NEH summer seminar "Traditions into Dialogue: Confucianism and Contemporary Virtue Ethics" at Wesleyan in 2008, was a Fulbright Research Scholar at Beijing University in 2006-2007, and was awarded Wesleyan's Binswanger prize for excellence in teaching in 2006. His research focuses on neo-Confucian philosophy, and his books include Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy…

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.