Olivia DrakeRonald Ebrecht, university organist, plays Wesleyan's concert organ, which he designed for the Memorial Chapel. Below, the organ pipes are installed in the chapel. (Photos by Bill Burkhart) Posted 02/16/06 Q: When did you become the Wesleyan organist and visiting instructor in music?A: I came to Wesleyan in 1988. Q: How did you begin playing the organ and where? A: I started as a young child, maybe around the age of 10. I loved the organ like kids love fire trucks.Q: Did you have an interest in piano that led to the organ?A: I didnt want anything to do…
Posted 02/16/06 Wesleyan received a $200,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support an ongoing lecture series titled Ethics, Politics and Society. The award was given in honor of Douglas Bennets 10 years as president of Wesleyan University. Wesleyans history of diversity, openness, and activism provides an environment that embraces the opportunity for scholarly discourse around issues of ethics, politics and society, Bennet wrote in the endowment proposal. As a liberal arts college, we have a responsibility to produce graduates who are able to think and act strategically within an ethical and moral framework. A permanent lecture fund,…
Pictured left to right, 9-year-old Monica gets homework help from Wesleyan basketball players Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg '09, Jared Ashe '07 and Nick Pelletier '08 during the Green Street Arts Center After School Program. Below, Gonzalez-Kreisberg, who helped launch an ongoing tutoring volunteer initiative goes over a book report with 7-year-old J.J. (Photos by Olivia Drake) Posted 02/16/06 Students involved in Middletowns Green Street Arts Center After School Program look up to Wesleyan Universitys basketball team in more ways than one. They always tell me that Im so tall! exclaims Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg, a 6-ft. 8-inch tall Wesleyan freshman, recalling how students he…
Posted 02/16/06 Judith Brown, vice president for academic affairs and provost, will step down from her position June 30. She will spend a year on sabbatical, and return to Wesleyan as a professor of history in 2008. Brown was recruited six years ago to help Wesleyan achieve its highest academic aspirations as a liberal arts university. Judith brought extraordinary intelligence and commitment to what is surely one of the most difficult jobs in university administration, says President Doug Bennet. I speak for the trustees and all of us in thanking her for her leadership and celebrating her plan…
Kate Mullen, head women's basketball coach, stands outside the Freeman Athletic Center. She has coached Wesleyan athletes for 14 years. Posted 02/01/06 Q: When did you become the head womens basketball coach at Wesleyan?A: The 1992-93 year was my first year at Wesleyan.Q: What is your record so far this year?A: As of Jan. 30, we are 13-5 overall and tied with Bates for first place in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 5-1 conference record, Q: In the last three seasons, youve had an exceptional 63-13 record. And in 2004-05, you led the team…
Mary Bolich, head of men's and women's swimming, wants her swimmers to be mentally strong in the pool and in the classroom. Posted 02/01/06 Q: Mary, where did you grow up and when did you develop an interest in swimming?A: I grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, a town just outside of Philadelphia. The neighborhood I grew up in had a summer club pool just down the street from my home. My siblings and I lived at the pool each summer. I would say this is where my early interest in swimming started.Q: Where did you attend college and what…
Ferocious Beauty: Genome premiered Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 in the Center for the Arts Theater. Posted 02/01/06 How we heal, age, procreate and eat may soon change because of genetic research happening right now. The world premiere of renowned choreographer Liz Lermans Ferocious Beauty: Genome explores this moment of revelation and questioning in an arresting theatrical work that combines movement, music, text and film. The world premier of Ferocious Beauty: Genome took place Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, in the Center for the Arts Theater. The piece is the result of an unprecedented partnership with scientists and…
James Taft, manager of systems and operations for Information Technology Services, helps keeps Wesleyan's accounts and servers running smoothly. Posted 02/01/06 Q: When did you come to Wesleyan?A: I started at Wesleyan in September 2003 as the manager of systems and operations.Q: Briefly summarize Wesleyans systems and operations. Are you, in a sense, the data center for the university?A: The systems and operations group maintains our user account directories and the technological infrastructure located inside our Data Center. Almost all of the central servers for the university, including Web servers, e-mail servers, database servers, file servers, application servers and…
Lisa Dombrowski, assistant professor of film studies, is a 1992 Wesleyan alumna, and is a specialist on film form, the American film industry and contemporary East Asian cinema. Posted 02/01/06 Lisa Dombrowski rarely watches a movie just once. Or twice. Or even 10 times. In fact, it often takes her more than 20 screenings to fully analyze a film. Each time I watch a film, Im looking at it for different reasons, explains the assistant professor of film studies. Ill watch it once to get the initial sense of the narrative, and the next time Ill count how many…
Stephen Devoto, associate professor of biology, neuroscience and behavior, studies vertebrate developmental patterns in zebrafish. Posted 02/01/06 A tiny fish popular with aquarium enthusiasts is poised to make a big splash in our understanding of muscle development. The results could have implications on the comprehension and perhaps treatment of muscular dystrophy, certain types of heart disease and other serious muscle-based ailments. These findings by Stephen Devoto, associate professor of associate professor of biology, neuroscience and behavior were recently published in the paper titled Generality of vertebrate developmental patterns: evidence for a dermomyotome in fish," in the January issue of the…
Posted 02/01/06 Laura Grabel, the Fisk Professor of Natural Science and professor of biology, is working with Connecticuts Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee on ways to save the state money on a research laboratory. Grabel along with scientists from Yale University and the University of Connecticut, believe at least one core laboratory could be established in the state. The scientists told a panel overseeing Connecticut's 10-year, $100 million stem cell research initiative that they are willing to collaborate and avoid repeating the same work and save money. They said they could share expensive equipment and conduct certain research with…
Posted 02/01/06 Richard W. Dick Couper died on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at a hospital in New Hartford, N.Y. Couper served on the Wesleyan University Board of Trustees from 1972 through 1983 and was elected as a trustee emeritus following his retirement from the Board. He was one of the longest serving trustees of his alma mater, Hamilton College, where he was the sixth generation of his family to attend. Couper served on the boards of more than 60 organizations throughout his life. He was president emeritus of the New York Public Library, having served as president and chief executive officer…