All News – Page 178

This summer, Wesleyan hosted the second annual Wesleyan Scientific Imaging Contest, which recognizes student-submitted images from experiments or simulations done with a Wesleyan faculty member that are scientifically intriguing as well as aesthetically pleasing. This year, 33 images were submitted from six departments. The entries were judged based on the quality of the image and the explanation of the underlying science. The images were judged by a panel of four faculty members: Steven Devoto, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior; Ruth Johnson, assistant professor of biology, assistant professor of integrative sciences; Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of…

Michelle Personick, assistant professor of chemistry, and her graduate student Melissa King, are co-authors of a paper titled “Bimetallic Nanoparticles with Exotic Facet Structures via Iodide-Assisted Reduction of Palladium,” published in the journal Particle and Particle Systems Characterization, Vol. 34, Issue 5, in May 2017. The research was featured on the inside front cover of the issue. In this study, Personick and King explain how gold–palladium tetradecapods (14-pointed nanoparticles) with an unusual combination of both well-defined concave and convex facets can be synthesized by introducing dilute concentrations of iodide during nanoparticle growth. Iodide directs the formation of the tetradecapods by increasing…

Richard Winslow, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, died July 24, 2017 at the age of 99. A service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Antrim Baptist Church, 85 Main St. in Antrim, N.H. All are welcome. Winslow received his BA in English from Wesleyan with the Class of 1940, and his BS and MS from the Julliard School. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1949 and taught music here for 34 years until he retired in 1983. During this time, he advocated for and oversaw the establishment of Wesleyan’s renowned program in…

All cells — bacterial or human — secrete up to 10 or 20 percent of the proteins that they make. Human secreted proteins, for example, include components of serum, hormones, growth factors that promote cell development during embryogenesis and tissue remodeling, and proteins that provide the basis for immune cell signaling during infection or when fighting cancer. The secretion process, however, isn't an easy feat for cells, as they need to move the proteins across a membrane through a channel. Transport requires the formation of a hairpin, formed by an initiator protein. In a recent study, Don Oliver, the Daniel Ayres Professor…

In light of President Trump's tweeted ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, Richard Slotkin, the Olin Professor of English and American Studies, Emeritus, writes in The Conversation about the long history of integrating minorities into the U.S. military. The armed forces have long "played a vital role in shaping American social policy toward the country's minorities," Slotkin writes. He recalls how "fear and resentment" of African-Americans and immigrants from Asia and Europe "generated a political backlash," resulting in oppressive Jim Crow laws and an anti-immigrant movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Then, "The crisis produced by…

Peter Rutland, the Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, is the author of an article, "Imagining Russia post-Putin" published by The Conversation. The article appeared in Raw Story, Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Rutland writes that Vladamir Putin is almost sure to win re-election as president of Russia in the March 2018 election. The Russian Constitution requires him to step down after two consecutive terms, a problem Putin solved in 2008 when he moved sideways to prime minister as his protege took over as president. Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. (more…)

Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, assistant professor of music, is called a "preternaturally talented multi-instrumentalist who has built a career in the territory between standard definitions" in an extensive profile in The New York Times. "In some circles, he’s thought of as a jazz drummer; in others, he fits in more as an avant-garde composer," the article says of Sorey, who is about to release his sixth album, "Versimilitude." The article discusses Sorey's background, from his modest upbringing in Newark—where his public schools offered little in the way of arts education and his father "helped foster his affinity for music"—to his study…

In light of news that the Justice Department will investigate college affirmative action, President Michael S. Roth writes in Inside Higher Ed to urge resistance to efforts to restrict affirmative action. "Ever since the founding of this country, we have recognized that education is indispensable to our vision of a democratic society. All men may be created equal in the abstract, but education provides people concrete opportunities to overcome real circumstances of poverty or oppression," he writes. "Promoting access to a high-quality education has been key to turning American rhetoric of equality into genuine opportunity. And throughout our history, elites threatened by equality,…

Five alumnae and one student are collaborating on a play that will debut Aug. 10-13 in New York City. Resistance, written by May Treuhaft-Ali '17 and directed by Maia Nelles-Sager ’17, is about Libby, a 15-year-old girl from Queens struggling with her weight. Everyone in her life from her mother to her "specialist" is trying to help her lose weight, but none of them seem to understand the underlying issue. When her favorite spin teacher is fired, Libby discovers that violent revenge fantasies makes her feel better. But every time she has a violent revenge fantasy, she gains 16 pounds.…

On Aug. 2, Stephen Angle, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of philosophy, together with colleagues at Notre Dame and Fordham, received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support a two-week NEH Summer Institute for college and university faculty focusing on the idea of teaching "Philosophy as a Way of Life." Twenty-five faculty from around the country will be invited. The award—worth $137,045—is part of the NEH's recent $39.3 million in grants for 245 humanities projects across the country. The "Reviving Philosophy as a Way of Life: A NEH Summer Institute for…

Michelle Personick, assistant professor of chemistry, received a two-year doctoral new investigator grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) to synthesize and test new metal nanomaterials designed to make industrial chemical processes more energy efficient. Her study, titled “Tailored Bimetallic Catalysts with Highly Stepped Facets for Selective and Energy-Efficient Epoxidation and Hydrogenation Reactions," will be supported for two years with a $110,000 award. "Global energy consumption is steadily increasing, and the chemical industry is the second largest consumer of delivered energy," Personick said. "The chemical industry is unique in that it uses energy resources, such as petroleum…

Earlier this year, the Fries Center for Global Studies sponsored its annual Wes in the World Photo Contest, which celebrates the spirit of global citizenship and encourages students to reflect upon their global experiences. Photos were submitted by students and recent alumni who have studied abroad or who have a home country outside of the United States. Selected photos are below. View all submitted photos online. (more…)

Plasma Bubble, Stem Cell Images Win Scientific Imaging Contest

Research Paper by Personick, King Published in ‘Particle’ Journal

Winslow Remembered for Establishing World Music Program

Mukerji, Oliver Co-Author Study in PNAS on Basic Cell Function

Slotkin Writes About History of Integration in the U.S. Military

Peter Rutland Writes About Putin, Future of Russia

Sorey Is ‘Obliterating the Lines,’ According to New York Times Profile

President Roth Writes a Strong Defense of Affirmative Action

Alumnae Collaborate on Play that Debuts Aug. 10 in NYC

Angle Awarded NEH Grant to Fund Innovative Philosophy Teaching Institute

Personick Awarded Grant from American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund

View Wes in the World Photo Contest Winning Submissions