Olivia Drake – Page 130

The Liberty Bank Foundation awarded the Green Street Arts Center with a $5,000 grant to support the center's Discovery AfterSchool Program. The funds help provide scholarships for students who need financial assistance to attend the program. The Discovery AfterSchool Program offers a range of classes in the arts, math, and sciences for children in Grades 1-8. The program brings those things together in a safe space for children to build self-esteem and problem-solving skills. The AfterSchool team is made up of core education staff, professional instructors and Wesleyan students who serve as teaching assistants and homework tutors.

Susanne Fusso, professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, is the translator of Sergey Gandlevsky's autobiographical novel, Trepanation of the Skull, published in November from Northern Illinois University Press. Sergey Gandlevsky is widely recognized as one of the leading living Russian poets and prose writers. His autobiographical novella Trepanation of the Skull is a portrait of the artist as a young late-Soviet man. At the center of the narrative are Gandlevsky’s brain tumor, surgery and recovery in the early 1990s. The story radiates out, relaying the poet’s personal history through 1994, including his unique perspective on the 1991 coup by Communist hardliners resisted by Boris Yeltsin.…

#THISISWHY Lynne Gambell of the Finance Department and Krystal Gayle O’Neill of Residential Life each received a Cardinal Achievement Award in November. Gambell, accounting specialist provided assistance to the Physical Plant-Facilities Department by processing more than 100 vouchers in one day. If the vouchers were not processed on time there were concerns that it would negatively impact Wesleyan's local contractors. “Lynne demonstrated extraordinary initiative in helping Wesleyan ensure that our contractors were paid in a timely fashion,” said Joyce Topshe, associate vice president for facilities. O’Neill, area coordinator, was honored for taking the initiative to create a women’s group on…

College of the Environment major Oliver James '14 is the author and illustrator of A Field Guide to the Birds of Wesleyan, published by Wesleyan University Press in November. This 48-page book, originally published in May by the student-run group, Stethoscope Press, was slightly revised and republished. Sixteen campus birds are featured in the book. James has been an avid birder since about the age of 5. One of his earliest memories accompanying his aunt, a field ornithologist, to Bodega Bay, where she was researching the vocalizations of a type of sparrow. The book features original color illustrations by the author in mixed…

More than 30 vendors met with Wesleyan staff and faculty Nov. 12 at the 4th annual Green Vendor Show held inside Beckham Hall. Vendors included W.B. Mason, Sprint, the Inn at Middletown, Raymour & Flanigan, Premier Limo, Fisher Scientific, AT&T, Enterprise, Avery, Smead, Sanford, Dupli, Richo, 3M, Bon Appetit, Gateway Limo and more. Middletown Toyota and Crowley Ford brought four sustainable vehicles. More than 160 attendees learned about new innovative products and ideas, and received free samples, refreshments and raffle prizes. In exchange for the gifts, attendees were asked to donate non-perishable items for Amazing Grace Food Pantry. About 68…

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The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires, transitions and departures for October 2014: Newly hired Samantha O’Neill was hired as marketing and outreach coordinator in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program Office on Oct. 1. Scott Rohde was hired as director of public safety in the Office of Public Safety on Oct. 1. Anya Backlund was hired as exhibitions coordinator/institute for curatorial practice in performance coordinator in the Center for the Arts on Oct. 6. Jonathan Farrar was hired as senior investment associate in the Investment Office on Oct.14. Roney Thomas was hired as post doctoral research associate in the Physics Department…

Wesleyan received a $150,000 grant from the George I. Alden Trust to support a Digital Design Studio currently under construction in the Davison Art Center. The interdisciplinary Digital Design Studio will equip Wesleyan students and faculty to address current and future needs with the tools to imagine and test new frontiers in design. The Digital Design Studio will become a new hub within Wesleyan’s existing facilities in the Center for the Arts. The studio will provide a much-needed space for digital production for students enrolled in numerous studio arts courses and design-related fields. Emblematic of liberal education at Wesleyan, the new digital design studio is…

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As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October, Information Technology Services launched a new security awareness campaign titled “Protecting You, Securing Wesleyan”. The campaign consists of security awareness training videos; tips and tricks provided on the ITS Facebook and Twitter pages; posters distributed around campus; and a new website about cyber security initiatives on campus. The information will help Wesleyan faculty, staff and students be safer online, at work, home or on the road. (more…)

George Creeger, professor of English, emeritus, died Nov. 1 at the age of 89. Creeger joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1951 after receiving his BA at DePauw University, and his MA and Ph.D. at Yale. He taught American literature in the English Department for nearly 50 years. He was an expert on romantic poetry — particularly Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keats, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, and on the works of Herman Melville. Creeger also brought some of his other passions into the classroom through courses on Early Connecticut Houses and Opera as Myth and Literature. He served as dean of…

On Nov. 3, Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, spoke to students at the Green Street Arts Center about polymers. As part of the hands-on workshop, Northrop taught the participants how to make their own silicone polymer putty with glue, water, Borax and food coloring. Similar putty was accidentally invented during World War II when an American scientist working for General Electric in New Haven, Conn. was trying to create synthetic rubber using silicone oil and boric acid. The result produced a "solid-liquid" goo that had a high melting temperature, could bounce when dropped, and stretch. The product is most commonly known as Silly Putty, a trademark…

Liberty Bank Foundation Funds Scholarships for GSAC’s AfterSchool Program

Fusso Translates Gandlevsky’s Trepanation of the Skull

Gambell, O’Neill Receive Cardinal Achievement Awards

Wesleyan U. Press Publishes James’ ’14 New Field Guide

30 Vendors Share Green, Sustainable Products with Wesleyan Employees

Freeman Scholars, Freeman Alumni Gather at Reception

Staff on the Move, October 2014

Alden Trust Supports New Digital Design Studio

Youth, Business, Healthcare Discussed at Africa Innovation Summit

ITS Launches Security Awareness Campaign

Professor Emeritus Creeger Remembered for Teaching Romantic Poetry

Northrop Teaches Students at Green Street about Polymers through Putty Workshop