Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20058min
Ed Below, director of Administrative Applications helped develop systems on the electronic portfolio.   Posted 05/02/05 Q: When did you come to Wesleyan? A: I came to Wesleyan in 1987 as the director of Financial Aid. In 1998, I became the project manager for the PeopleSoft Student Administration System, and later the director of administrative applications. It was a new position. Q: What does it mean to be “director of administrative applications?” A: I have overall responsibility for how the Student Administration System (SFIS) and the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) are used by the functional offices around campus. My…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20058min
Kirk Davis Swinehart, assistant professor of history, specializes in early American history. (Photo by James Ward Swinehart, Jr.)   Posted 05/02/05 Kirk Davis Swinehart, assistant professor of history, has been spending most of his time in the 18th century with an Irish knight and a Mohawk woman. Swinehart’s research and teaching focus on events from the period just before and leading up to the American Revolution. He has also done extensive research on the New World soldier-adventurer Sir William Johnson (1715–74) and his families, Irish and Mohawk, both of which fought for Britain during the American Revolution. Funded by an…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20057min
  Above, Tula Telfair, professor of art, sits near her students' work inside her office in Art Studio South. At right, Telfair's oil on canvas, "Obscured to the Eye Apparent on the Map," measures 79 by 100 inches.   Posted 05/02/05 Many people who see Tula Telfair’s landscape painting titled “To Make Space Distant,” are confident the artist painted a place familiar to them. However, before she painted it, the grassy field, split by a pond highlighted in fire brush existed nowhere but in Telfair’s mind. It’s part of a world that the professor of art at Wesleyan creates from…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20059min
Pamela Tatge is Director of the Center for the Arts and spearheaded the development of the Green Street Arts Center.   Posted 05/02/05 When Pamela Tatge became the director of the Center for the Arts (CFA) six years ago, Wesleyan had a golden reputation in the arts.  Unfortunately, not enough people in the community – or on campus  –  were taking notice. “We were an undiscovered gem,” Tatge recalls.” I saw the richness in this institution and believed the resources should be shared with the community.” Tatge would spend the first five years of her Wesleyan career raising the public’s…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20058min
Leah Kelley, assistant dean of admission, looks through a student's file in the Office of Admission.   Posted 05/02/05 Q: When did you come to Wesleyan? A: I came to Wesleyan as an assistant dean last fall after graduating from Yale in the spring. Q: What led you into working in an admission office? A: I have a bachelor’s of arts in psychology, but in college, I became very involved in college awareness and SAT prep outreach programs. The different programs that I worked with opened up my eyes to the complexity of admissions. After working with high school students…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20054min
  Mark Flory, assistant professor of molecular biology, studies genomic integrity in Hall-Atwater Laboratory. Mark Flory joined the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department as an assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in January 2005. Flory, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, completed his bachelor’s of science degree at the University of Richmond majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry in 1994. He earned his Ph.D. at the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2001. His dissertation was titled, "Isolation and Characterization of Calmodulin-Binding Centrosome Components Related to Sacharomyces cerevisiae Spc110p from the Fission Yeast…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20058min
Bill Holder, director of Publications, is the the editor of "Wesleyan" magazine. Q: Your history with Wesleyan goes back more than three decades. How did it start? A: My story with Wesleyan begins in 1971, when I came here as a freshman, graduating in 1975. I ended up working here most of my professional career here in the Office of University Communications, formerly the Office of Public Information. Q: As director of publications, what are you in charge of? A: I’m the editor of “Wesleyan" magazine. I plan content for the magazine, write, edit and oversee production, but really, the…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20058min
At left, Wesleyan Jewish Chaplain Rabbi David Leipziger and Muslim Chaplain Imam Abdulla Antepli try on traditional Turkmenistan hats in an Egyptian Bazaar. At right, Jessica Strom ’07, Alana Miller ’08 and Jeremy Gillick ’07 observe the only mosque in Ankara, Turkey.   Posted 05/02/05 What is life like in a secular Muslim nation, especially for Jews? This was the question that motivated 17 Wesleyan students – 12 Jewish, 5 Muslim – to go to Istanbul, Turkey, in March during spring break to see for themselves. The eight-day trip, which was envisioned and created by Wesleyan’s Muslim Chaplain Imam Abdullah…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20054min
Posted 05/02/05 More than 150 guests, many from academia and the pharmaceutical industry, attended the 33rd Peter A. Leermakers Symposium May 5 at the Exley Science Center. The annual, one day meeting brings together internationally recognized chemists for a day of intensive examination of a particular subject in chemistry. This year’s symposium, titled “Chirality,” united scientists working in the general area of stereochemistry. The speakers have played a fundamental role in the control and understanding of stereochemistry. Stereochemistry is a property that certain molecules have that can make two molecules behave completely differently as drugs, even though the structures of…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20052min
  From left to right, Ambika Ahuja ’05 of Thailand, Zaheed Essack ’05 of South Africa, Phudorji Sherpa ’05 of Nepal, and Lianne Morris-Smith ’05 of Jamaica converse at the International Student Senior Reception. Posted 05/02/05 The Office of International Student Services held an International Student Senior Reception at the Russell House April 27. More than 25 international students and exchange students attended. Some gave brief remarks about their experiences at Wesleyan while others mentioned ways they plan to stay connected with Wesleyan after graduating. “Whether they stay in this country or travel back to their home country, these students…

Olivia DrakeMay 2, 20054min
The Human Resources department's new Virtual Orientation Web site provides vital information for new employees.   Posted 05/02/05 Prospective employees can learn all about Wesleyan before they even set foot on campus -- just by going online. The Human Resources department has launched a Virtual Orientation Web site this month for new employees. The site can be viewed at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/hr/newemployee The site features a list of important resources, interesting facts and valuable information that employees will need before they arrive and during their first month at Wesleyan. “We wanted to create a place for new employees to learn as much…