All News – Page 178

Michelle Personick, assistant professor of chemistry, received the Victor K. LaMer Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. The honor, which comes with a $3,000 monetary award, was presented at the ACS Colloid and Surface Science Symposium June 5-8 at Harvard University, where she presented a plenary talk. The Victor K. LaMer Award is presented to the author of an outstanding PhD thesis in colloid or surface chemistry. LaMer was the editor of the Journal of Colloid Science (now the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science) from its founding in 1946 to 1965. In addition to his seminal…

In the wake of the unparalleled homophobic violence committed in Orlando this month, and the Islamophobic and anti-Muslim sentiments expressed only hours later (notably, by presidential candidate Donald Trump), Professor of Religion Peter Gottschalk writes an op-ed for Inside Sources about the deep roots of all three in America. He opens on a personal note: "As a boy in the late 1960s and 1970s, I knew there were few more destructive suspicions that could be voiced about me than those connoted by the label 'gay.' While the term might be flung at someone by friends as a joke, it could be a…

Irrepressibly optimistic, funny, self-deprecating, at times self-doubting but driven to tackle difficult challenges. These are the qualities that shine through in John Hickenlooper ’74’s disarming autobiography, The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics (with Maximillan Potter; Penguin Press, 2016). It was in a moment of self-doubt, or perhaps profound personal insight, that Hickenlooper chose Wesleyan over Princeton, having been accepted to both universities in 1970. He confesses now that he didn’t think he was good enough for Princeton, but then adds, “I had a feeling that Princeton would be a bit too conservative, too buzz-cut and buttoned-down…

More than 200 members of the Wesleyan community—decked out in red and black—gathered in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal in New York City on June 16 to celebrate the success of the THIS IS WHY campaign, which draws to its end on June 30, 2016. The event was hosted by THIS IS WHY campaign chair John Usdan ’80, P’15, P’18, P’18. At the event, President Michael Roth ’78 acknowledged some of the campaign leaders—including Usdan; Joshua Boger ’73, P’06, ’09, retiring chair of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees; Ellen Jewett '81 P’17, trustee emerita; Alan Dachs ’70, P'98, Hon…

On June 16, the Astronomy Department hosted the Van Vleck Observatory Centennial Symposium: A Celebration of Astronomy at Wesleyan University. Wesleyan’s observatory has been celebrating its centennial during the 2015-16 academic year, with a series of events and an exhibition, "Under Connecticut Skies." The symposium was co-sponsored by the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford (ASGH), and held in conjunction with StarConn. The exhibition was spearheaded by Roy Kilgard, support astronomer and research associate professor of astronomy, and Amrys Williams, visiting assistant professor of history. At the meeting, they discussed the exhibition, which was developed by a team of faculty, students and staff using the observatory's extensive collection of…

Charles W. Smith ’60, professor of sociology emeritus at Queens College, City University of New York, spoke to News @ Wesleyan about his latest book, What the Market Teaches Us: Limitations of Knowing and Tactics for Doing (Oxford University Press, 2015). Q: I was surprised to note that you are a sociologist, not an economist. How, then, did this lead you to studying the stock market? Charles W. Smith: The sociology of knowledge—how do people make sense of the world—has been my intellectual pursuit for the past 50 years? We create narratives, not only in our minds, but also in out communities. The…

This month, the Cardinal community is joining together to secure up to $1 million for financial aid for Wesleyan students by taking the $1 Million Cardinal Challenge. “Thanks to the generosity of John L. Usdan '80, P’15, P’18, P’18, this is the perfect time to make a gift to Wesleyan,” says Chuck Fedolfi ’90, director of annual giving for the Wesleyan Fund. “John will give $500 for financial aid for every gift of any amount to any Wesleyan cause received this month—for a total of up to $1 million.” So far, more than 568 people have accepted the challenge, which translates to $284,000 so far for financial aid.…

Bozoma Saint John ’99 took the stage at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), held this year in San Francisco, and stole the show. "It’s not just that Saint John, head of marketing for Apple Music, was a black female executive appearing onstage at WWDC. It was the way she commanded the room—and the show—that blew everyone away," wrote Davey Albey for Wired. Saint John, who spoke about Apple's streaming music service, which now has 15 million users, had led Apple Music’s marketing division since April 2014, when Apple acquired Beats, the company she had joined three months previously. Prior to that, she led…

Additional photos of the Wesleyan Writers Conference are below: (Photos by Olivia Drake and Tom Dzimian)

Wesleyan's campus is home to 89 acres of natural areas. These meadow areas are only mowed once a year and are home to wildflowers, native grasses and provide food and homes for wildlife. As part of the Wesleyan Sustainability Grounds Initiatives, the university is in the process of expanding no-mow areas across campus. (more…)

Tom Morgan, Foss Professor of Physics, recently attended the 43rd Institute of Physics U.K. Plasma Physics Conference in Isle of Skye, Scotland. He presented a flash verbal presentation and a poster contribution dealing with the properties of water following focused laser induced breakdown. After a plasma (a gas of ions and free electrons) is formed in water by laser breakdown, the energy is dissipated through light emission, shockwaves and cavitation bubbles. When the breakdown is close to the surface of the water, surface waves and water ejection from the surface up to heights of 60 cm also occur. All of these…

Kate Cullen ’16, an earth and environmental science and history major from Bethesda, Md., was selected for MSNBC's Women in Politics: College Edition series. The president of the Wesleyan Student Assembly, Cullen received the University's nomination "as a leader making a difference not only through key issues on campus, but in bridging the gender gap in politics." MSNBC plans to use the series to highlight women candidates and as a springboard for national conversations on women's issues. Cullen, who has "been fortunate to have a lot of strong female role models," says she was motivated to work in student government…

Personick Wins LaMer Award from American Chemical Society

Gottschalk writes on Islamophobia, Homophobia and Orlando

Hickenlooper ’74 Releases Engaging Memoir

Campaign Celebrated at Grand Central in NYC

Astronomy Department Celebrates Observatory Centennial with Conference, Reception

Sociologist Smith ’60: What the Stock Market Teaches Us

Wesleyan’s $1M Cardinal Challenge Is On!

Saint John ’99 Wows Crowd at Apple’s Developers Conference

Poetry, Fiction, Memoir Writing Taught at 60th Annual Writers Conference

Wesleyan’s Campus Boasts Natural Landscapes, Meadows, Wildflowers

Morgan Speaks on Laser-Induced Breakdowns at Plasma Physics Conference

MSNBC’s Women in Politics, College Edition, Highlights Kate Cullen ’16