Olivia Drake – Page 66

This semester, Wesleyan's Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which assists students from underrepresented groups in preparing for, entering and progressing successfully through post-graduate education, received a five-year renewal grant from the U.S Department of Education. Wesleyan's program will receive $232,265 annually, for a total award of $1,161,325. The federal money is supplemented with an additional $50,000 per year from the President. Since 2007, the program has supported 135 students all of whom were first-generation college and low-income and/or from groups underrepresented in graduate school. The program provides research opportunities and funding, mentoring, graduate school admissions assistance and academic support…

In recognition of their career achievements, faculty members Karen Collins and Ellen Thomas were appointed to endowed professorships. Karen Collins, professor of mathematics, received an Edward Burr Van Vleck Professor of Mathematics, established in 1982. Collins joined Wesleyan’s department of mathematics in 1986 after receiving her BA from Smith College and her PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on graph theory, enumerative combinatorics, and algebraic combinatorics. Her most recent publication was “Split graphs and Nordhaus-Gaddum graphs” (Discrete Mathematics, 2016). She has served on several prize committees, most recently the committee for the 2016 George Polya Prize in…

On Nov. 28, Wesleyan's Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship received a $10,000 grant from the Newman's Own Foundation to support student internships. "The gift from the Newman Foundation will be used to offer stipends to students doing social impact and entrepreneurship work during the summer," explained Makaela Kingsley '98, director of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. "We are grateful for the support of Newman’s Own and our other donors who make this work possible." Trustee Emeritus Bob Patricelli '61 P'88 P'90 is a board member for Newman's Own and has generously encouraged the foundation to support Patricelli Center programs over…

In this Q&A, Assistant Professor of Government Justin Peck speaks about his research interests, teaching at Wesleyan and road-tripping across the United States. (Brandon Sides ’18 contributed to this article.) Q: Professor Peck, what are your primary areas of research? A: My dissertation attempts to explain when and why post-WWII Congresses enacted legal constraints on executive authority. And that's now my primary area of research; the second area of my research concerns when and how the Republican Party’s position on civil rights issues has changed since the Civil War. Q: What are your current projects? A: I'm working on a book…

During an initiation ceremony on Dec. 6, 17 Wesleyan seniors were elected to the Connecticut Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honor society. To be elected, a student must first have been nominated by the department of his or her major. He or she also must have demonstrated curricular breadth by having met the General Education Expectations and must have achieved a GPA of 93 and above. During the ceremony, Gamma Chapter PBK President Steven Horst, professor of philosophy, professor of science in society, said this class has a 94.4 GPA and above. "For students elected this fall, it is…

As the northern hemisphere nears the winter solstice (Dec. 21), the Wesleyan community acclimates to shorter days. Pictured are scenes of campus between 5 and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 6: (more…)

Robert Rosenbaum, University Professor of Mathematics and the Sciences, Emeritus, died on Dec. 3 at the age of 102. Rosenbaum received his AB from Yale in 1936, and his PhD in mathematics from Yale in 1947. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1953 and taught mathematics here for 42 years until he retired in 1995. He was a member of the “Mystic Nine” — a group of faculty in the early 1960s who were instrumental in developing Wesleyan’s graduate programs. He became dean of sciences in 1963, provost in 1965, the first-ever vice president of academic affairs and provost in 1967, and chancellor…

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Molecular Biology and Biochemistry PhD candidate Brandon Case and Emily Kessler '18 recently won poster awards at the North Eastern Structural Symposium (NESS) at the University of Connecticut on Oct. 28. Both students research the mechanisms of action of DNA replication and repair proteins with Manju Hingorani, chair and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, professor of integrative sciences. Hingorani's DNA Lab investigates proteins responsible for DNA replication and repair. These proteins maintain genome and cell integrity, and their malfunction leads to cancer and other diseases. Case received an Outstanding Poster Award for his work, "Coordinated Actions of Four ATPase…

The late Jeffrey Butler, professor of history, emeritus, is the author of Cradock: How Segregation and Apartheid came to a South African Town, published by the University of Virginia Press, December 2017. Richard "Rick" Elphick, professor of history, emeritus, co-edited the book with the late Jeannette Hopkins, a former director of Wesleyan University Press. According to the book's abstract, Cradock, the product of more than 20 years of research by Butler, is a vivid history of a middle-sized South African town in the years when segregation gradually emerged, preceding the rapid and rigorous implementation of apartheid. Although Butler was born and raised in Cradock,…

McNair Program Receives Refunding, Will Continue to Support Underrepresented Students

Collins, Thomas Honored with Endowed Professorships

Newman’s Own Foundation Awards Grant to Support Internships

American Political Development Expert Justin Peck Joins Government Department

17 Seniors Elected to Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society

Campus Glows during Early Evening Hours

PIMMS Founder Rosenbaum Dies at the Age of 102

Students Teach DNA, Self-Awareness Workshops to Local Children

McKee Leads Graduate Series Discussion on Fossils, Climate’s Effect on Leaves

Political Anthropologist Vine ’97 Speaks to Campus Community about Military Overseas under Trump

Case, Kessler ’18 Honored for Outstanding Poster Presentations

Elphick Edits Late Professor’s Book on the History of South Africa’s Racial Segregation