Lauren RubensteinBeginning July 1, Marc Eisner will serve as Dean of the Social Sciences, Ellen Nerenberg as Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Joseph Knee as Dean of the Sciences and Mathematics. Eisner's appointment was announced April 17, while the appointments of Nerenberg and Knee were made at the faculty meeting in November 2014. Eisner will succeed Joyce Jacobsen; Nerenberg will succeed Andrew Curran; and Knee will succeed Ishita Mukerji. (more…)
The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires and departures for March 2015. Newly hired Zachariah Pfeifer was hired as coordinator of Greek life on March 2. Julian Goldfield was hired as desktop support specialist and art workshops technology administrator on March 2. Pierina Cheung was hired as a research associate on March 6. Francesca Livermore was hired as digital projects librarian on March 16. Alexander Vazquez was hired as the instructional media specialist on March 23. Kera Jewett was hired as a development officer on March 30. (more…)
Laurie KenneyOn April 10, the Career Center hosted its second annual Connect@WES: Creating Connections, an on-campus event bringing together alumni, parents and recruiters as expert advisors for brief one-on-one networking sessions with students. More than 100 students and 32 advisors—including 25 Wesleyan alumni and parents—attended the event in Beckham Hall. Speakers at the event included Ed Heffernan '84, president and CEO of Alliance Data, who spoke to students about big data and the usefulness of a liberal arts education in business; Evan Shapiro P’17, executive vice president of digital enterprises at NBCUniversal, who held two breakout sessions for students interested in careers in digital…
On April 9, more than 200 students gathered at Olin Library for a vigil to remember the 147 people—most of them students—killed in the massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya earlier this month. Speakers at the vigil included Arnelle Williams '17, Giselle Torres '16, Claudia Kahindi '18, Geofrey Yatich '17, Ismael Coleman '15, Nyanen Deng '17, Alexandria Williams '15, and Irvine Peck’s-Agaya ’18. (more…)
#THISISWHY Lisa Pinette, library assistant V, was recently presented with a Cardinal Achievement Award for her work on the Signage Task Force, creating more than 200 new and color-coded signs installed in Olin Memorial Library and the Science Library. Pinette coordinated a group effort to select sign styles that would allow for future changes as needed, solicited input from library staff, worked with University Communications on the design, and ensured that all signs were ADA compliant. Finally, she hired a company to manufacture and install the signs. “The signs look great and provide wonderful consistency and clarity from floor to floor…
#THISISWHY Cathy Lechowicz, director of the Center for Community Partnerships, was one of six people honored with a 2015 Community Service Award by the Connecticut Commission on Community Service and the Office of Higher Education. The winners--drawn from college students, campus programs and faculty and staff--were recognized at a ceremony April 14 at the Connecticut State Capitol. This was the 23rd annual awards ceremony conducted by the Connecticut Commission on Community Service. More than 50 students, faculty and staff attended the ceremony. "I am humbled by the recognition and grateful to work with an incredible team of people at Allbritton,…
When the Nobel Prize-winning German writer Günter Grass died at age 87 this week, The Wall Street Journal turned to Krishna Winston, his translator, for perspective on his life. According to the Journal's obituary, Grass was Germany's best-known contemporary writer "who explored the country's postwar guilt and in 2006 admitted to serving in one of the Nazis' most notorious Nazi military units." Winston remembered Grass as "a gregarious man who loved cooking and invited his children to sit in on meetings with translators that often lasted several days..." (more…)
#THISISWHY Wesleyan students Selin Kutlu ’16, Jacob “Jack” Lashner ’16 and Aaron Young ’16 have been chosen for honorable mention by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program for the 2015-2016 academic year. The award is presented annually to U.S. sophomores and juniors for excellence in mathematics, science and engineering. This year’s recipients were selected from a field of more than 1,200 students nominated by faculty from more than 420 colleges and universities nationwide. Less than half the students nominated each year are selected as a scholar or for honorable mention. Kutlu, a molecular biology and biochemistry and…
Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will deliver the Sturm Memorial Lecture at 8 p.m. on April 29. She will speak in CFA Hall on "The Search for Earth 2.0." Seager is a pioneer in the field of exoplanets, specifically in characterizing the atmospheres and searching for life on those distant worlds. Her talk will address the age-old question: "Are we alone?" (more…)
The following statement was sent April 13 to the campus community from Michael Whaley, vice president for student affairs. To the Wesleyan Community: Many of you have asked for an update on the aftermath of the drug poisoning incident of Feb. 22. Two of the five students arrested have been permanently dismissed from the university; the judicial process for the others, who are currently suspended, is ongoing. Wesleyan is committed to providing a learning environment in which all students can thrive. The use of illicit drugs is clearly an unacceptable detriment to that environment, and our policies in this regard…
This month, Wesleyan was one of 12 colleges and universities across the country selected to take part in a new College Food Allergy pilot program being carried out by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). The program strives to help colleges and universities provide a safer experience for students with food allergies and offers schools "gold-standard recommendations and evidence-based resources needed to effectively manage food allergy, a potentially life-threatening disease." Associate Dean of Student Academic Resources Laura Patey has been instrumental in bringing this program to Wesleyan, and she answered questions about it. (more…)
Wesleyan’s Green Street Teaching and Learning Center has received a $12,500 grant from the Petit Family Foundation to support the center's Girls in Science Summer Camp. Green Street Director Sara MacSorley accepted the gift from Dr. William Petit. The Green Street Girls in Science Summer Camp will take place August 3 - 7 and will be open to girls entering grades 4, 5, and 6. Erika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of environmental studies, Ruth Johnson, assistant professor of biology, and Christina Othon, assistant professor of physics, will participate in the five-day program, covering topics from biochemistry to physics and culminating…