Olivia DrakeAnn Burke, professor of biology, spoke on “The origin and evolution of Turtles” during the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphologlogy in Barcelona, Spain July 7- 12. The International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) has emerged as the premier conference for scientists researching the morphology of vertebrate animals at all levels of organization. The Congresses are held typically every three years with the broad goal of providing an opportunity for interaction, integration, and interfacing. Through a mixture of symposia, workshops, and open platform and poster sessions, everyone from senior scholars to students share ideas in an informal and genial setting. More…
Lauren RubensteinAssistant Professor of Dance Hari Krishnan has been nominated for the Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer for his solo performance of "The Frog Princess," which he performed as part of the La Mama Moves! Dance Festival in New York City in June and July. Forty nominees for the 2012-13 Bessies, formally known as The New York Dance and Performance Awards, were announced at a press conference at the Gina Gibney Dance Center in New York on July 17. The 29th Annual Bessie Awards will be held on Oct. 7 at the Apollo Theater in New York. Krishnan was one of…
Professor of Economics Richard Grossman's op-ed, "The Best Way to Reform Libor: Scrap It," was published in The Wall Street Journal on July 25. "The British have learned nothing from the recent Libor scandal" involving the manipulation by banks of a vitally important interest-rate benchmark, writes Grossman. This is clear from a recent decision by a British government-appointed committee to hand over control of Libor to NYSE Euronext, a company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and a number of other stock, bond, and derivatives exchanges. “In other words, the company that will be responsible for…
Wesleyan University Press publications have received awards and accolades this summer. Three Science Fiction Novellas, translated from the French by Danièle Chatelain and George Slusser, was named a 2013 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Award finalist. The SF&F Translation Awards “reward the translation of science fiction, fantasy, and related fiction from other languages into English. They exist both to promote the fiction of non-English-speaking authors and to highlight the valuable work done by translators.” The Connecticut League of History Organizations awarded Ella Grasso: Connecticut’s Pioneering Governor by Jon Purmont with a 2013 Award of Merit. We Modern People: Science Fiction…
Natalie Robichaud ’14Ron Jenkins '64, professor of theater, recently wrote an op-ed for The Jakarta Post about Run, a small Indonesian island. Run was “involved in a war between maritime empires” due to the presence of nutmeg on the island. While “the historic memory of Run’s inhabitants is vague, their pride… in the importance of their island’s past is vivid.” The residents of the small island no longer make a living with the spice trade and must have other jobs to provide for their families, but nutmeg is still a large part of the culture. “The small pale yellow nutmeg fruit still…
Vanity Fair says that Candace Nelson ’96, who reinvented America’s opinion on cupcakes, “is to cupcakes today what Debbi Fields was to cookies in the 1980s.” Nelson’s company, Sprinkles, known for its constant innovation, premiered the world’s first cupcake food truck and cupcake ATM. Wistful for the days of old-fashioned ice cream shops while surrounded by frozen yogurt trends, Nelson decided not to limit herself to cupcakes and introduced slow churned ice cream to her stores. Her most decadent dessert combines her two products; the Sprinkles sandwich is a unique treat of a scoop of ice cream enclosed by two…
Olivia Morgan ’94, after being appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), founded the National Student Poets Program (NSPP), the country’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. According to the PCAH, students who engage in school through the arts have better attendance records, better performance, and are more likely to graduate. Morgan decided to use her position on the PCAH to engage students without a strain on resources. “The amazing thing about poetry, or writing of any kind—you don’t need musical instruments, you don’t technology, it’s just a pen and paper," Morgan said.…
Toni Craige '09 received the SustainUS Lead Now Fellowship for her "innovative approach to women's education about reusable feminine products." Toni is the co-founder of Sustainable Cycles. The fellowship is awarded annually for demonstrated potential to advance sustainable development in communities and includes yearlong training and mentorship from SustainUS and a $1,000 grant. Sustainable Cycles educates women about reusable menstrual products through bicycle tours. Craige, together with friend and co-founder Sarah Konner, first toured down the West Coast on a three-month bicycle trip, handing out 300 menstrual cups donated by from manufacturers, and living on $4 a day. “We are working…
In her pursuit of happiness, Nataly Kogan ’98 found her way to the positions of CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Happier. Kogan’s life before Wesleyan was anything but easy: She escaped her native country, Soviet Russia, as a Jewish refugee at age 13 and made it to the United States after jumping from one refugee camp to another across Europe. Even after achieving the "American Dream," Nataly Kogan wasn’t happy. She believes that “you can't actually be happy, but you can always be happier,” so she spends her days spreading good cheer to as many people as possible with…
Cynthia RockwellRichard Locke ’81 was named director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. On leave from the MIT Political Science Department, he was previously deputy dean of MIT's Sloan School of Management. Locke’s current research focuses on improving the safety and environmental conditions for workers in global supply chains. The author of four books, he most recently published The Promise and Limits of Private Power (Cambridge University Press, 2013). In a recent Q&A for the Brown Magazine, he spoke on his hopes and expectations that the Watson Institute will build on Brown’s strong foundation as well as strengthen its…
Benjamin TraversIn this video, experience Wesleyan from day to starlight in this time-lapse video, captured over the course of six months on rooftops and in iconic locations across campus. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://youtu.be/SFISRDj5BNk[/youtube]
Bill FisherA crowd of more than 160 Wesleyan alumni, parents and friends gathered June 19 at the Knight Conference Center of the Newseum in Washington, DC, to "Talk Politics" with three high-profile Wes alums. The event, a fundraiser for financial aid, featured a lively discussion among Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper '74, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin '79 and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet '87, who all credited Wesleyan's interdisciplinary programs and spirit of inquiry for their political success. The fundraiser was part of a series in the $400 million THIS IS WHY campaign to support the university's endowment. All proceeds from ticket sales—100…