Olivia DrakeGRAND GRADUATION: Wesleyan University's 176th Commencement ceremony on May 25 awarded 737 undergraduates bachelor's degrees, 29 master of arts degrees in individual fields, 64 master of arts in liberal studies degrees and 12 Ph.Ds. Commencement speaker U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) spoke spoke about challenges graduating students faced from the daily "busyness" of their own lives to the needs for clean renewable power, more teachers for disadvantaged children, to rebuilding New Orleans. To Senator Obama's left is James van B. Dresser '63, chair of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees; to the Senator Obama's right is Michael Roth '78, president of…
Gim Seng Ng '08 was recently published in two internationally-recognized physics journals. Posted 06/25/08 For his research efforts in mesoscopic physics, Gim Seng Ng '08 was awarded the 2008 Vanderbilt Prize for Undergraduate Research in Physics and Astronomy. Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tenn., offers the annual prize to any undergraduate student in the U.S. doing original research in physics or astronomy. Ng is part of Wesleyans Complex Quantum Dynamics and Mesoscopic Phenomena Group, led by Tsampikos Kottos, assistant professor of physics. The groups objective is to develop models and theories to understand the interplay between quantum mechanics, interactions, and…
Ilana Konerding, postal clerk, is retiring from Wesleyan after 28 years. Posted 06/25/08 Q: Ilana, youre retiring from Wesleyan June 30. How many years does your Wesleyan career span?A: I started at Wesleyan in September 1984. I was an administrative assistant in the Psychology Department part-time for two years, and then I was an admin in the Dance Department part-time for 14 years. I came to Wesleyan Station eight years ago as a full-time postal clerk.Q: Do you remember what stamps cost then?A: Oh, I dont know. Maybe 33 or 34 cents. Q: What have been the biggest changes…
Posted 06/25/08 The Wesleyan University Board of Trustees affirmed the promotion with tenure, effective July 1, 2008, of the following members of the faculty:Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance, was appointed as an assistant professor of dance at Wesleyan in 2001. Prior, she was a visiting assistant professor and interim chair at Antioch College, an adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College and a graduate teaching fellow at Ohio State University. Kolcio was awarded a University Fellowship and was honored for Top Graduate Research in the Fine Arts at Ohio State University and has been the recipient of numerous grants including…
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman star in Notorious. The film will be shown free on July 9 as part of the second annual Wesleyan Summer Film Series. Posted 06/25/08 Ingrid Bergman and four legendary leading men are coming to campus thanks to the Center for Film Studies and the City of Middletown. Ingrid Bergman and her Hollywood Leading Men is the title of the second annual Wesleyan Summer Film Series. The free event will be held at Center for Film Studies Goldsmith Family Cinema and feature four films starring Bergman that will be screened on successive Wednesday nights in July…
John Hammond, Help Desk manager in Information Technology Services, says techniques for solving computing issues are always changing with advances in technology. Posted 06/04/08 Q: John, what is the ITS Help Desk and whom does it support?A: The Helpdesk has two groups, the Student Helpdesk and the Administrative Helpdesk. Together we support all Wesleyan students and administrative staff.Q: Who staffs the desk, and when is it open? A: The Student Helpdesk is staffed by student Helpdesk consultants who are available Monday-Thursday 10 a.m to 10 p.m; Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.…
Doug Allen, assistant facilities manager in chemistry, fills a powerful spectroscopic instrument with liquid nitrogen in the basement of Hall-Atwater Laboratory. The spectrometer is used by chemistry and molecular biology and biophysics students for nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Posted 06/03/08 Q: Doug, when did you begin your Wesleyan career?A: I came to Wesleyan in 2002.Q: Youre currently the assistant to the facilities manager, Donald Albert. Together, what are your job objectives?A: Im very grateful that I can work with some one as generous with their time and talent as Don is. We are responsible for the Hall-Atwater/Shanklin Laboratory buildings.…
Ian Renner '08 will observe, assist and run theater activities for child laborers in Egypt as a 2008-09 Fulbright scholar. Posted 06/03/08 In Egypt, about 300,000 children spend their days laboring six days a week to help support their families and shoulder significant responsibilities at home. As a recent Fulbright scholar, Ian Renner 08 will spend the 2008-09 academic year helping some of these children regain their childhood through theater. He is one of 13 Wesleyan students and recent graduates to receive scholarships under the auspices of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Administered by the Institute for International Education,…
Senator Barack Obama delivered the 176th commencement speech May 25. Posted 06/03/08 When a pinch hitter comes into a game, it's usually a crucial moment hope balanced against uncertainty. At Wesleyan's 176th Commencement May 25, the hope shone through, and by all accounts, the pinch hitter sent a grand slam far over the fences. "I have the distinct honor today of pinch-hitting for one of my personal heroes and a hero to this country, Senator Edward Kennedy," said U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "He called me up a few days ago and I said that Id be happy to…
Alice Hadler is Wesleyan's associate dean for International Student Affairs, adjunct instructor in English and coordinator of the Writing Program Language Services for Non-Native Speakers. Posted 06/03/08 Q: Alice, youre associate dean for International Student Affairs, adjunct instructor in English and the coordinator of the Writing Program Language Services for Non-Native Speakers. How do you manage these three roles?A: Theres a huge amount of overlap among the three roles. The most time-absorbing and perhaps primary one is the teaching position. Teaching writing is very labor-intensive, but also extremely rewarding. Developing new writing courses is also great fun but a…
At right, Ann Campbell Burke, associate professor of biology, and biology graduate student Frank Tulenko, look over Tulenko's research poster explaining how lamprey embryos develop. Tulenko is continuing this research at the RIKEN Institute in Kobe, Japan this summer. Posted 06/03/08 In the past 350 million years of vertebrate evolution, the musculoskeletal system has morphed significantly across taxonomic groups. The first vertebrates, had no jaws or paired fins, and are represented today by the eel-like aquatic the lamprey that continues to thrive with its archaic cartilage jowls. As a recipient of an East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S.…
Posted 06/03/08 A Wesleyan faculty member with Hawaiian ancestry is a founding member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA).J. Kehaulani Kauanui, associate professor of anthropology, associate professor of American studies, is one of six scholars to co-create the professional organization for faculty and researchers who work in American Indian, Native American, First Nations, and Aboriginal or Indigenous studies. The association was officially launched on April 11. "It is clear that scholars in these linked fields are at critical mass, and that the intellectual work has matured in a way that makes the importance of our multi-faceted epistemological…