Olivia DrakeWesleyan received a $10,000 grant from The Brown Foundation for the Wesleyan Fund for the Cardinal Scholarship and another $10,000 for the Women’s Ice Hockey Program in 2012-13.
Francis Starr, associate professor of physics, received a $100,000 grant from the American Chemical Petroleum Fund for his work examining the properties of extremely thin polymer films. These systems have important applications ranging from nano-electronics to artificial tissues. The work will be supported through August 2014.
Middlesex United Way awarded Wesleyan's Program for Student College Success with a $5,000 grant. The award will support the program through Aug. 31, 2013. Wesleyan’s Program for College Success is a comprehensive program that supports first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students as they move through high school and into college. The program serves 100 high school students (25 in each class), helping them to make a successful transition to college. Led by a director and operated by college students and recent graduates, the program consists of a four-week summer session and 40 weeks of programming throughout the academic year. Wesleyan students…
The Wesleyan Weather Station recorded a strong drop in local air pressure during Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 29. According to the weather report, the local sea-level barometric pressure was a normal 760 mmHg (millimeters of Mercury) on Oct. 28. When Hurricane Sandy passed through Wesleyan's campus on Oct. 29, the pressure dropped to a low of 733 mmHg during the storm's peak. "Low pressure generally indicates stormy conditions whereas high pressure is associated with fair weather," explains Johan "Joop" Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science. "We tend to only see the barometer drop this low in the…
For Robert Nelson P'16 and Jean Fujisaki P'16, nothing means more to them than time with their son, Ryden '16. During Wesleyan's Homecoming/Family Weekend Oct. 19-21, the parents, who visited from La Jolla, Calif. caught a glimpse of Ryden's new home-away-from-home. During their short visit, Nelson and Fujisaki attended Ryden's Japanese class, a general physics lecture, a comedy show, mingled with his new friends and watched bits of the Homecoming football game Oct. 20. "Family Weekend has given us a better sense of what Wes is about," Nelson said, sitting with his family outside Fayerweather on Saturday morning. "We've enjoyed…
(Story contributed by Jim H. Smith) Senior thesis research conducted last spring by Audrey Haynes '12 at Costa Rica’s National University, under the tutorship of Johan “Joop” Varekamp, has shown that many residents of the Central American nation have levels of mercury in their hair that far exceed those recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Varekamp, whose student made the discovery as part of a broad evaluation of environmental mercury in Costa Rica, says the elevated mercury levels are probably a consequence of over-consumption of large ocean fish, not exposure to mercury in the air emitted by volcanoes, as…
Nadja Aksamija, associate professor of art history, is spending her 2012-13 year abroad in Florence, Italy as a Robert Lehman Fellow at the Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. She is one of 15 scholars to receive the fellowship. I Tatti Fellows are selected by an international and interdisciplinary committee that welcomes applications from Italian Renaissance scholars from all nations. While abroad, Aksamija is researching the Bolognese villa in the age of Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti. "My project investigates the Bolognese villa culture at the end of the 16th century, a period marked by Catholic reform…
In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we ask “5 Questions” of Michael Dorsey, visiting professor of environmental studies. In September, he was reappointed to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Advisory Committee. Q: Professor Dorsey, you're a visiting professor of environmental studies and a fellow in the College of the Environment's Think Tank. What is the 2012-13 Think Tank theme, and what is your role in the year-long exploration? A: The 2012-2013 College of the Environment's Think Tank theme is: environmental justice and global health. Despite growing awareness of the problems of environmental injustice and related impacts on health and sustainability,…
Jennifer Tucker will serve as interim director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, beginning immediately through the end of the fall 2013 semester. Tucker has accepted this position in order to enable the faculty and the university to formulate a vision for the Allbritton Center that will engage the curriculum and faculty scholarship, and enhance the intellectual life of the university. Her work this year will provide a framework for strategic planning and guide the search for a new director. Tucker is chair and associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, associate professor of history,…
Robert Schmidt, senior project manager for Physical Plant - Facilities, and Anne Marcotty, senior designer in the Office of University Communications, each received a Cardinal Achievement Award in October. Schmidt and Marcotty were honored for demonstrating extraordinary initiative or providing outstanding service with regard to specific tasks in their departments. This special honor comes with a $150 award and reflects the university’s gratitude for those extra efforts. The award recipients are nominated by department chairs and supervisors. Nominations can be made anytime throughout the year. For more information or to nominate a staff member for the award, visit the Human…
For her exemplary service assisting an organization that improves astronomy research opportunities for undergraduates, Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC) recently honored Linda Shettleworth with a certificate of achievement. KNAC is an organization of eight colleges and universities in the northeast that have banded together to improve astronomy research opportunities for undergraduates. The members are: Colgate, Haverford, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan and Williams. The group's activities are supported by the National Science Foundation through a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grant to Wesleyan. Since 2004, Shettleworth has administered the grant and assisted with the administration of a previous grant from…
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