The Wesleyan Connection

The Chemistry Department received a $125,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust of Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 21. The funds will be used to replace, reconfigure, and add fume hoods in a teaching lab used for introductory chemistry courses.

Stephen Horst, professor of philosophy, received a grant for $17,476 from the University of Oxford on Sept. 9. Horst will use the funds for a study titled “Whose Institutions, Whose Dualism.”

Pam Tatge, director of the Center for the Arts, received a grant for $2,000 from Arts Presenters. The grant, awarded on Oct. 1, is for a project titled “Sustaining Strategies.”

Philip Bolton, professor of chemistry, received a grant for $76,037 from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The grant, awarded on Sept. 30, is for research titled “Structures and Complexes of Vertebrate Telomere Repeat DNAs.” This is a Supplemental Recovery Act Award.

Jill Morawski, director, Center for the Humanities, professor of psychology, and Don Moon, dean of the Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Programs, the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Professor in the College of Social Studies, professor of government and tutor in the College of Social Studies; received a $142,000 Mellon Foundation grant on Oct. 2. The award will fund the John E. Sawyer Seminar on “Comparative Study of Cultures.”

Suzanna Tamminen, director of the Wesleyan University Press, received a grant worth $4,000 from the J.M. Kaplan Fund. The award, presented July 24, will fund publication of a book by Ann Cooper Albright titled An Artist Inspired: Abraham Walkowitz on Isadora Duncan.

Nadja Aksamija, assistant professor of art history, received a grant for $13,500 from the Kress Foundation for her research on “Sala Bologna at the Vatican.” Her grant, which was awarded May 1, spans for one and a half years.

Philip Bolton

Philip Bolton, professor of chemistry, received a grant for $331,800 from the National Institute of Health on Drug Abuse for his research on “Finding Small Molecules that Modulate Gene Expression.”

The grant, awarded on Sept. 1, spans for two years.

Seth Redfield

Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, received a grant for $20,000 from NASA for his research on “Development and Flight Testing of High Efficiency Echelles & Detectors for the Future of Ultraviolet Astronomy.”

Redfield is collaborating with the project’s lead institution, the University of Colorado. NASA awarded $2.1M for the entire project.

Rex Pratt

Rex Pratt, the Beach Professor of Chemistry, received a grant for $414,750 from the National Institute of Health and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The continuation grant was awarded July 30. Pratt’s research is titled “Beta-Lactamases & DD-Peptidases: Active site Chemistry.”