Olivia DrakeThe Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires and departures for May 2014: Newly hired Adam Fischer was hired as a research assistant/ lab coordinator in the Psychology Department on May 5. Emily Macleod was hired by Information Technology Services as a web and mobile developer in the New Media Lab on May 12. Sarah Hopkins was hired by the Career Center as an employer relations coordinator on May 27. Departures Mark Hellerman, research technician in the Biology Department. Doug Gilchrist, boiler tender in the Central Power Plant. Jason Raiti, associate director in the Investments Office.
Kate CarlisleIn the fall of 2008, Andrew Olivieri felt like he was staring down four years of uncertainty, dissatisfaction and "wasting my parents' money." A senior at the Bronx High School of Science, where most graduates are expected to attend college, Olivieri just didn’t feel ready. But the Army life had always attracted him, as a path that led to maturity, a work ethic, and an opportunity to be part of something larger than himself. "I wanted to be a part of history, and contribute to it," Olivieri said. "I never wanted to be one of those people who just say,…
Next summer, Wesleyan's Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) will offer a new Master of Arts in Performance Curation degree program, in addition to the permanent establishment of the Certificate Program in Performance Curation. The Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance was founded in 2010, and introduced as a pilot initiative in 2011, by Wesleyan graduates Samuel Miller '75 and Pamela Tatge, director of the Center for the Arts, in partnership with Judy Hussie-Taylor and New York’s Danspace Project. ICPP is the first institute of its kind, a center for the academic study of the presentation and contextualization of…
Lauren RubensteinO'Connell: An ability to predict the tides is crucial for any amphibious operation, but is not simple
The almost-century-old 20-inch Van Vleck Refractor, which lives on Foss Hill in its iconic dome, is undergoing a major renovation. Work began June 2. The rare historic telescope will be dismantled, cleaned, repaired, reassembled and modernized over a period of about 15 months in preparation of the observatory centennial in 2016. The refractor has been deteriorating gradually since its retirement from research around 1993. Antique Telescope Society members and Ray Museum Studios founders Fred Orthlieb, Ph.D. and Chris Ray are leading the renovation. Astronomy major Julian Dann '17 and German Studies major Rebecca Hanschell '16 are assisting with the project this summer. Read…
Professor of Economics Richard Grossman's paper, "A Monthly Stock Exchange Index for Ireland, 1864-1930," was published June 5 in the European Review of Economic History. Co-authored by professors at Trinity College Dublin, All Souls College (Oxford, UK), and Greater London Authority, the paper constructs new monthly Irish stock market price indices for 1864-1930. According to the abstract: "In addition to a total market index covering 118 equity securities issued by ninety-four companies, sectoral indices are presented for railways, financial services companies, and “other” companies. Nominal equity prices doubled between 1864 and 1898. Between the turn of the century and 1914,…
Kilgard presented new images of the Whirlpool Galaxy from NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory
Nicole Arulanantham, who is entering her second year as a graduate student in the Astronomy MA program, was awarded a Chambliss Medal by the American Astronomical Society at its June 3 meeting in Boston. The awards are given to recognize exemplary research by a student presenting a poster paper at an AAS meeting. Arulanantham worked on the study with her advisor, Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, chair of the Astronomy Department, and Ann Marie Cody of the California Institute of Technology. It involved analysis of data obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Read more about the…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the author of a paper titled "Rapid and sustained surface ocean acidification during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum," published in Paleoceanography, May 2014. In this paper Thomas and her colleagues document that ocean acidification of the surface ocean not only occurred during past times of global warming and high CO2 levels, but also by how much — about 0.3 pH units. The group studied planktic foraminifers from a drill site in the North Pacific. Thomas' study has been highlighted in a press release from Columbia University and also on Phys.org.
The Board of Trustees recently conferred tenure to two Wesleyan faculty and promoted five faculty to full professor. Their promotions take effect July 1. Victoria Pitts-Taylor, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, and Charles Sanislow, associate professor of psychology, will receive tenure. Pitts-Taylor will join Wesleyan as a new faculty members and chair of the FGSS program on the same date. They join four other faculty members who were awarded tenure earlier this spring. Those promoted to full professor are Martha Gilmore, professor of earth and environmental sciences; Yuri Kordonsky, professor of theater; James Lipton, professor of mathematics and computer sciences; Brian Stewart,…