Cynthia RockwellTwo Wesleyan graduates, Michael Jacobs ’85 and Arthur Haubenstock ’84, joined five other experts in the field of renewable energy in Washington, D.C., on April 26, on a Capitol Hill panel. The seven offered a presentation to Congressional staff on advances needed to integrate renewable resources—including wind and solar energy—into the electric grid. The panel was organized by the EESI (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) and WIRES (the Working Group for Investment in Reliable and Economic Electric Systems). Jacobs, a senior engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focuses on wind power, and Haubenstock is chief counsel and director…
David LowFans of Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, the creator and composer of the long-running Tony Award-winning Broadway musical In the Heights, have a chance to catch him perform again on stage. Miranda has joined the national tour of In the Heights to recreate the role of bodega owner Usnavi as the show plays a five-week run at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. from late June through July 25. The Los Angeles Times and the Ventura County Star recently caught up with Miranda. He will also be appearing with Freestyle Love Supreme, the hip-hop improv group, at the Gramercy Theater in New York…
The White House recently announced this year's 13 White House fellows, and among them is Harley Feldbaum ’97, director of the Global Health and Foreign Policy Initiative and a professorial lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He directs all daily operations of a $1.6 million Gates Foundation grant to improve global health policymaking and train future leaders at the nexus between international relations and global health. Feldbaum also serves as an author and senior consultant to the CSIS Global Health Policy Center and is a fellow with the Truman National Security Project. He resides in…
Candace Nelson ’96, co-founder of Sprinkles, the first cupcake-only bakery, is one of three judges - and one of two permanent judges, along with Florian Bellanger, chef and co-owner of online macaroon company MadMac - of Cupcake Wars. The show, a new baking competition on the Food Network, airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST, and features four of the country’s top cupcake bakers facing off in three elimination challenges. Leah Douglas, summer intern at Serious Eats, posts a blog on Cupcake Wars, which begins: “Have you ever looked at a small, beautiful cupcake and thought, ‘The preparation of this cupcake…
Olivia DrakeMany families with a child with autism or Asperger Syndrome feel that involvement in the community is not for them. In Lisa Jo Rudy’s new book, Get Out, Explore, and Have Fun!: How Families of Children With Autism or Asperger Syndrome Can Get the Most Out of Community Activities (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, May 2010), Rudy ’81 offers a rich and varied menu of suggestions for how such families can take full part in community life and support the strengths and interests of their child at the same time. Rudy explains that informal learning experiences can be the key to self-discovery,…
Bill HolderHonoring a professor of music emeritus who oversaw the establishment of Wesleyan University’s renowned program in world music, the university has established the Richard K. Winslow Chair in Music. The chair is made possible through a generous $2.5 million gift from the Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation. The foundation’s gift expresses the appreciation of Burt Kaplan ’62, who took an introductory course in Western classical music from Winslow that proved to be a significant influence in his life. Professor of Music Mark Slobin will be the first holder of the chair. (more…)
Sarah Dashew ’94 has released her second album, Where I Belong (Whistlefoot Records), a 10-track set which deals with the themes of love, place, and belonging. The title track is a light, sweet love song with a spirited horn solo that sets an upbeat tone for the rest of the album. In addition to writing and performing song, Dashew also co-produced the project with Los Angeles-based producer Eric Peterson. Drawing upon influences as diverse as James Taylor and Prince, her unique style mixes elements of folk, pop, country and soul. She grew up sailing the high seas with her family…
Patrick Maguire ’83, a writer and blogger—and a 30-year veteran of the service industry—was highlighted in the Dec. 9 Boston Globe Magazine in an interview about the message behind his site, www.servernotservant.com. For Globe staffer Jenn Abelson, Maguire outlines the message behind his Boston-based blog, which also serves as a platform to launch his book-in-progress and is gaining some wider media attention. His goal is to increase civility in our day-to-day dealings with each other, in general, and with those who work in service industries, in particular, where people are often treated with little respect. The customer, he says, is…
Singer and songwriter Chris Pureka ’01 has released her third album, How I Learned to See in the Dark (Sad Rabbit). The musician usually performs solo, but she is currently on tour for the first time with a three-piece band, including an electric guitarist, a fiddle player, and a drummer. In a feature about the new recording at Madison.com, Rob Thomas wrote: “With its cryptic, sometimes ominous lyrics and dense arrangements, Dark goes beyond the stripped-down Americana sound that Pureka fans are familiar with. … Creating the layered, offbeat arrangements on "Dark" took Pureka nearly a year to complete.” In…
In a May 30, 2010 op-ed in The Boston Globe, Juliet Schor ’75, the author of a new book Plentitude: The New Economics of True Wealth, offers some observations about the U.S. economy and how it can improve for the better. She argues that a debt and consumption-led process in not a viable way to build wealth. Schor observes changes in some Americans’ attitudes toward consumption. She asks: “Do Americans need more cellphones, cheap air travel, and junk food?” and goes on to write: “A growing number of people are answering that question in the negative, pioneering a lifestyle that…
Ron Bloom ’77 is cited in this year’s issue of Time 100, in which the magazine singles out 100 people who “most affect our world.” His name has been included on the list of “Leaders.” For the Obama administration, Bloom serves as senior adviser for manufacturing policy and has been chief adviser to the Treasury Department on the auto industry. Time writer Bill Saporito notes: “Would it be fair to say that Ron Bloom has a unionist's heart and an investment banker's soul? Or would that insult one or both parties? A Harvard-trained banker who later hired on with the…
By Nina Terebessy ’11 Last week, she enjoyed a Bahrainian feast. This week, she is savoring traditional recipes from Bangladesh. For Sasha Foppiano Martin ’02, however, these culinary travels do not involve passports or airplanes. She is enjoying these meals from the comfort of her own kitchen in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives with her husband and 10-month-old daughter. Every Tuesday, Martin chooses a new country, researching its culture, traditions and cuisine. She assembles a list of recipes, and photographs the preparation of each meal for her blog titled “Global Table.” It is her goal to cook 195 meals from…