Olivia DrakePosted 04/19/05 Wesleyan University recently announced that it will confer four honorary degrees during its 173rd commencement exercises on Sunday, May 22 to the following recipients: Amy Gutmann (Doctor of Letters) Amy Gutmann, Wesleyan's commencement speaker, became president of the University of Pennsylvania this year. Formerly, she was provost and Laurence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. She was the founding director of the Princeton University Center for Human Values, a multi-disciplinary center that supports teaching, scholarship and public discussion of ethics and human values. Bill Belichick (Doctor of…
Joyce O. Lowrie, professor of romance languages and literatures, is retiring this semester after 39 years. Posted 04/15/05 It's been a "bon voyage" for Madame Joyce O. Lowrie. After a 39-year career at Wesleyan, the professor of romance languages and literatures has announced her retirement at the end of this semester. But she's not saying "au revoir" just yet. "You could say my retirement is more of an a bientôt I'll be seeing you soon, she says from her third floor office on High Street, a room that once housed President Doug Bennet in the converted all-male fraternity house…
Jerry Maguda, computer operations specialist, helps Wesleyan employees and students solve their computer problems. Posted 04/15/05 Q: When did you come to Wesleyan, and were you always a computer operations specialist? A: I started July 7, 1977 or 7/7/77. A lucky number? I was hired as a computer operator, and in time my title changed to production manager for administrative systems. I left Wesleyan in 1982, because at that point in my career I felt I needed more exposure to ever changing technology. From 1982 to1985 I worked 2nd and 3rd shift jobs for different employers ranging from a…
Debbie Mathre, hostess of Wesleyans University Club, serves a tray of treats inside the eatery on 164 Mt. Vernon Street. Posted 04/15/05 Q: When did you start at Wesleyan? A: About eight years ago. I had been laid off from an office-job and was looking for work and there was an opening at the campus center. Cooking was always a hobby of mine, so I applied, and got a job behind the line. Q: And when did you start working for the University Club? A: The University Club has been in existence for many, many years, but I…
Eva Bergsten-Meredith, adjunct assistant professor of physical education, is the women soccer team's head coach and lacrosse team's assistant coach. Posted 04/15/05 Q: When did you join the Physical Education Department as an adjunct assistant professor and what are your responsibilities? A: I came here in July 2004. Im head coach of the womens soccer team, assistant coach of the Lacrosse team and I teach physical education classes. Q: What is your educational background? A: I have a bachelors degree in graphic communications from Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, and Im currently taking classes through Wesleyans GLSP…
Registrar Anna van der Burg stands outside the registrar's windows in North College where she helps students answer questions about class enrollment. Posted 04/15/05 Not long ago, all Wesleyan students returning to campus each semester had to participate in Enrollment Day. This meant hours of waiting in lengthy lines snaking through the lobby of the Exley Science Center. If they wanted to drop or add a class, students would have to chase down professors and their advisor to sign the drop/add slip. Students would carry this slip over to the registrars office, again waiting in long lines for…
A new grant will expand emphasis on computer science instruction and resources. Posted 04/15/05 An $800,000 Mellon Foundation grant will allow the Mathematics and Computer Sciences departments at Wesleyan University, Connecticut College and Trinity College to collaborate on a new cost and resource sharing arrangement, expand the departments curricula and provide incentives for more computer science faculty to work in a liberal arts setting. The grant will fund the hiring of four post-doctoral fellows in computer science who will develop new courses, seminars and workshops. While each fellow will be employed by a home institution, all four will provide…
Posted 04/15/05 "Vanity Fair" contributing editor Christopher Hitchens and Pulitzer Prize nominee Michael Parenti participated in a debate titled "Iraq and the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy" April 18 at Wesleyans Memorial Chapel. Hitchens is an Oxford-educated self-described liberal who has become a supporter of U.S. intervention in Iraq. A former columnist for The Nation and book critic for Newsday, he is now a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. His books include "Hostage to History: Cyprus From the Ottomans to Kissinger" and his most recent, "Love, Poverty and War: Journeys and Essays." Parenti, a Yale graduate, has been a…
Posted 04/15/05 Vice President for Finance and Administration Marcia Bromberg will retire from Wesleyan at the end of the fiscal year. In her four years at Wesleyan, Bromberg has overseen numerous improvements. When she was hired she was charged with providing a more transparent financial planning and reporting system. This led her to a revamping of the budget planning cycle, budget and long-range planning materials, and the annual budget and financial statements. The result has been a more open and understandable set of processes and documents. Bromberg also opened up the facilities planning process with the establishment of the Master…
P Pictured above, Lydia Bell 07 (center) and area children watch the Footnotes Dance Theater perform during the Saturday for Kids Programs Buddy Day. Bell is a substitute teacher at Saturday for Kids, a recreation/respite program for children with disabilities. At right, Saturday for Kids Program Director and Wesleyan administrative assistant Debbie Sierpinski helps a child with a craft project. Sierpinski is recruiting volunteers and performers for the program. Posted 04/15/05 Twice a month, Lydia Bell 07 gets to mingle with an aspiring rock star. He really loves to get everyone singing Yankee Doodle, or doing the moves for the…
Ernesto Verdeja, assistant professor of government, started teaching at Wesleyan in August 2004. Posted 04/15/05 Ernesto Verdeja joined the Department of Government and College of Social Studies as an assistant professor of government in August 2004. I was attracted to Wesleyan because of its reputation for promoting research and teaching among its faculty, he says. "And the students are fantastic. Verdeja earned his bachelors degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his masters and Ph.D in political science/political theory from the New School for Social Research in New York City. His dissertation, which Verdeja is turning into…
Phil Cotharin, temperature controls mechanic/energy management specialist, examines a variable frequency drive that controls the neighboring air handling unit in the Exley Science Center. The system significantly reduces energy waste. Posted 03/31/05 Use less. Get more. Thats how Phil Cotharin, temperature controls mechanic/energy management specialist, is helping Wesleyan save thousands a year by slashing energy usage. In an agreement finalized February 17, Connecticut Light & Power Company has agreed to pay Wesleyan a $27,450 incentive for keeping energy usage down. When Wesleyan uses less energy, CLPC can produce less energy, and it wont have to build another power plant to…