Olivia Drake – Page 84

For her outstanding efforts in pioneering studies in micropalaeontology and natural history, The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS) awarded Wesleyan's Ellen Thomas with the 2016 Brady Medal. The Brady Medal is TMS's most prestigious honor and is awarded to scientists who have had a major influence on micropalaeontology by means of a substantial body of research. Thomas was honored for "communicating to an extremely broad audience fascinating, impactful and often thought-provoking research" and "academic encouragement of students and peers over the years with [her] generosity of time in a very busy and successful career," noted TMS President F. John Gregory. Thomas, research professor…

Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of "Pteropoda (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Thecosomata) from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plain," published in Palaeontologia Electronica, Article 19 (3) in October 2016. The Paleocene Epoch lasted 65 to 54.8 million years ago and the Eocene Epoch lasted from 56 to 33.9 million years ago, and was a period of rapid global warming. The response of many organisms to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) has been documented, but marine mollusks are not known from any deposits of that age. For the first time, Thomas and her…

A Brazilian play, translated by Wesleyan's Elizabeth Jackson, will make its American premiere at The Yale Cabaret in early February. "The Meal: Dramatic Essays on Cannibalism" tells three stories about people consuming — and being consumed. This poetic piece by Newton Moreno, one of Brazil’s leading contemporary playwrights, was translated into English by Jackson, adjunct associate professor of Portuguese for Wesleyan's Romance Languages and Literatures Department. Jackson's translation of "The Meal" first appeared in Theater, Yale's journal of criticism, plays, and reportage (Vol. 45 No. 2, 2015). "The Meal" is one of four texts by different playwrights that Jackson translated for the journal.…

Abigail Hornstein, associate professor of economics, presented two papers at the 2017 American Economic Association meeting held Jan. 6-8 in Chicago. In her working paper, "Words vs. Actions: International Variation in the Propensity to Honor Pledges," Hornstein used data on contracted and utilized foreign direct investment in China to show that firms fulfill an average of 59 percent of their pledges within two years. "The propensity to fulfill contracts is lower for firms from countries with greater uncertainty avoidance, power distance and egalitarianism; and is higher if the source country is more traditional," she explained. Prior literature has shown that…

Former men's head basketball coach Herb Kenny will be inducted to the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame on Jan. 26. The Middletown Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was created to honor the numerous outstanding athletes and other sports-minded individuals, and to preserve the deep and rich history of sports in the life of the City of Middletown. Kenny, an adjunct professor of physical education, emeritus, coached the Cardinals from 1968-1995 and ended his career with a 312-280 record. Kenny was known for his intense coaching style and intricate offenses. To honor Kenny for his 27 years of coaching, Wesleyan annually…

More than 100 Wesleyan students completed a full-semester course in two weeks as part of Winter Session 2017. Now in its fourth year, this was the highest enrollment to date. Winter Session was held Jan. 9-24 and classes typically met for four hours a day for 10 days. Courses this year included Introduction to Digital Arts, taught by Christopher Chenier; The Dark Side of the Universe, taught by Edward Moran; Homer and the Epic, taught by Andrew Szegedy-Maszak; Introduction to Programming, taught by James Lipton; U.S. Foreign Policy, taught by Douglas Foyle; Masculinity, taught by Jill Morawski; and Applied Data Analysis taught…

Wesleyan's Green Street Teaching and Learning Center is currently accepting applicants for its Discovery AfterSchool Program. Spring semester classes will be held Jan. 30 through May 12. The Discovery AfterSchool Program offers a range of classes in the arts, sciences, and math for children in Grades 1- 5. The program encourages children to be curious and creative while they build self-esteem and problem-solving skills. For middle school students in Grades 6-8, GSTLC offers the Wesleyan Bound college experience class on Friday afternoons. "Classes range from visual arts to dance, even to kung fu this semester," said Sara MacSorley, director of GSTLC.…

Campus acquires picturesque winter beauty with the first significant snowfall of 2017 on Jan. 6. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)

"Hamilton" writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda '02, Hon. '15, bested Beyonce, Adele and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, among others for the title Associated Press Entertainer of the Year for 2016. The award is voted by members of the news cooperative and AP entertainment reporters. In 2016, Miranda also won a Pulitzer Prize, multiple Tony Awards, a Golden Globe nomination, and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. He also hosted Saturday Night Live, asked Congress to help dig Puerto Rico out of its debt crisis, performed at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Broadway, lobbied to stop gun violence in America and teamed…

Sixty-eight Wesleyan student-athletes were honored for their excellence in the classroom when the New England Small College Athletic Contest (NESCAC) announced its 2016 Fall All-Academic Team. Nine others were named to the All-Sportsmanship Team. To be honored on the All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.40. A transfer student must have completed one year of study at the institution. The women's soccer team led the way for Wesleyan with 14 selections, followed by men's soccer with 12, golf with nine and football…

The National Endowment for the Arts approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. Included in this announcement are Art Works grants of $30,000 for Wesleyan's Center for the Arts' Breaking Ground Dance Series and $25,000 to support Wesleyan University Press in the publication and promotion of books of poetry. The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. The…

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration planning committee invites all members of the Wesleyan community to take part in a MLK Commemoration from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Feb. 3 in Memorial Chapel. A reception will follow in Zelnick Pavilion. Theodore Shaw ‘76, Hon. '14 will deliver the keynote address titled "Freedom is a Constant Struggle." Shaw is the Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. Professor Shaw was the fifth Director-Counsel and President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,…

Thomas Honored by Micropalaeontology Society

Thomas’s Research on Marine Biota during a Period of Rapid Global Warming Published

Brazilian Play on Cannibalism, Translated by Jackson, to Make American Debut

Hornstein Presents Papers at American Economic Association Conference

Coach Kenny Inducted into Middletown Sports Hall of Fame

Record Number of Students Enroll in Winter Session 2017

Register Children for Green Street’s AfterSchool Spring Semester Program

Snow Blankets Campus While Students Are Away on Winter Recess

Hamilton’s Miranda ’02 Named Associated Press Entertainer of the Year

68 Student-Athletes Named to NESCAC’s Fall All-Academic Team

NEA Supports Center for the Arts, Wesleyan U. Press

Celebrate the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Feb. 3