Bill HolderFour faculty members have received promotions incurring tenure effective July 1. Additionally, six faculty members were promoted to full professor, and eight adjunct faculty were promoted. Newly tenured faculty: Mary Alice Haddad, associate professor of government, has taught at Wesleyan since 2004. Her scholarship studies comparative politics, with a focus on civil society, and a regional specialization in East Asia. She is the author of Politics and Volunteering in Japan: A Global Perspective (Cambridge, 2007), Building Democracy in Japan (Cambridge, forthcoming in 2012), numerous articles and book chapters, and has delivered more than 25 invited talks and conference presentations. She is currently…
Wesleyan University is establishing the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, which will support students who want to create programs and organizations serving the public good – anywhere in the world. The Patricelli Center and its programs are supported by a generous $2 million leadership gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Robert E. Patricelli ’61 is chairman and chief executive officer of Evolution Benefits and of Women’s Health USA and an emeritus trustee of Wesleyan. Margaret Patricelli is president and CEO of the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. The Center will provide workshops, speakers, and networking opportunities…
Every year Wesleyan recognizes outstanding teaching with three prizes awarded at Commencement. These prizes, made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., Hon. '85, underscore Wesleyan's commitment to its scholar-teachers, who are responsible for the university's distinctive approach to liberal arts education. Recommendations are solicited from alumni of the last 10 graduating classes, current juniors and seniors, and current graduate students. Recipients are chosen by a selection committee of emeriti and current faculty members, as well as members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee. This year, Wesleyan honored Wai Kiu Chan, associate professor of…
Rob Rosenthal, provost and vice president for academic affairs, the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, announced a change of title for several faculty members. These new titles take effect July 1, 2011. New University Professors Ronald Kuivila, University Professor of Music, has been teaching at Wesleyan since 1981. He creates sound installations, performs experimental music, and integrates computer programming with music composition. More than 50 of his sound installations have been exhibited internationally, more than 40 works of his concert music have been given major performances, 12 of his works of music for dance have been performed in dance…
Paul Farmer received a Doctor of Science during the 2011 Commencement. Farmer is an inspirational scholar, doctor, teacher, and leader. As a physician-anthropologist, he has dedicated his life to serving the world’s poor and to raising the standard of health care around the world. In 1983 he co-founded Partners In Health, an international nonprofit organization that provides direct health care services and undertakes research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. His work focuses on community-based treatment strategies for infectious diseases, health and human rights, and the role of social inequalities in determining…
Robert 61, P’88, P’90 and Margaret Patricelli are among the Hartford area’s leading citizens and friends of Wesleyan. Their philanthropic and service activities have ranged from the arts to a science museum; from hospitals and educational institutions to programs that assist low-income neighborhoods. For their efforts, President Michael Roth awarded them with the Baldwin Medal during commencement ceremonies May 22. The Baldwin Medal pays tribute to the late Judge Raymond E. Baldwin ’16. Baldwin was the only man to have held the offices of Connecticut governor, U.S. senator and chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. First awarded September 20, 1981,…
In the video below, Joshua Boger '73, P'06, P'09, chairman of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, talks about his lifelong interest in chemistry, entrepreneurship, his Wesleyan Experience, and the toughest challenge of his professional life: developing cures for hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFiJDK1I8xE[/youtube]
Bill Herbst, the John Monroe van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, will serve as director of graduate studies, beginning this fall 2011 through spring 2014. Herbst received his B.A degree from Princeton University, his M. Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto and has taught at Wesleyan since 1978, often serving as chair of the Astronomy Department and as director of the Van Vleck Observatory. In 2003, he received the Wesleyan Alumni Association's Binswanger Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has recently served on the Advisory Committee, as chair of the Merit Committee, as vice-chair of RAB and, over the years, on many other faculty…
Peter Patton, professor of earth and environmental sciences, has been appointed as the first Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science, currently housed in the College of the Environment. The endowed chair was created with the generous support of Alan Dachs ’70, P’98, chair emeritus of the Board of Trustees. "I am delighted that Peter Patton will be the first to hold the Alan M. Dachs Chair in the Natural Sciences,” says Dachs. “It is only fitting that a scientist and teacher of his caliber should be recognized in this way. Wesleyan, and science at Wesleyan, have always come first in Peter's…
Nell Irvin Painter will deliver the 9th Annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns Keynote Address titled, "What the History of White People Can Tell Us about Race in America." "Americans are likely to think first and only of black people when the topic of race comes up," she says. "But in the past Americans considered as white have also been raced and ranked as belonging to better or worse white races. In and of itself this history is fascinating, but beyond its intellectual interest, it can also offer some ideas about the functions of racial categorization in science and in…
University Photographer Bill Burkhart retired in early March after two decades of service to Wesleyan. Known particularly for his portraiture work, he was the principal photographer for Wesleyan magazine and provided images of classrooms, faculty and staff, students at work and play, alumni across the country, and just about every aspect of campus life one could imagine. His work contributed to the magazine’s receiving several national awards. “If you’ve seen images of Wesleyan and its people on the web or in print, you’ve almost certainly seen a Burkhart image,” says William Holder ’75, director of university communications. “He did a…
The Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, Jack M. Balkin, spoke on “The First Amendment is an Information Policy,” during the 20th Annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression. Professor Balkin received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University, and his A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and writes political and legal commentary at the weblog Balkinization. Professor Balkin is the founder and director of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and the…