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Olivia DrakeApril 11, 20162min
Registration for Wesleyan’s Reunion & Commencement Weekend is open! (Register online here prior to May 6.) From May 19-22, alumni, parents, students and families can participate in reunion gatherings, a festival on Foss Hill, WesSeminars, THIS IS WHY campaign dedications and celebrations, stargazing, a conversation with President Michael Roth ’78, a parade of classes, an all-campus college sing and campus party, the 184th Commencement Ceremony and much more. View the entire schedule of events online here. Classes celebrating their reunions are those ending in a "1" or "6," and the weekend celebrates the graduating class of 2016. All alumni planning to attend…

Andrew Logan ’18April 11, 20162min
The Portland Business Journal named Kaiser Permanente President Andy McCulloch ’76 one of the top 10 executives of 2016. This award honors area executives whose business strategies have successfully expanded their companies over the last year. During the past year with Kaiser Permanente, McCulloch boosted membership by 3 percent while maintaining a member retention rate of 97 percent. In just their two hospitals, Kaiser Permanente physicians logged 3 million doctor visits and 420,000 dental appointments while earning $3.4 billion in yearly revenue. McCulloch began his presidency in 2006 and directs Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Washington State. During this time, the…

Cynthia RockwellApril 11, 20163min
Award-winning science fiction writer Jack McDevitt MALS ’71 received an out-of-this-world honor: Lowell Observatory astronomer named an asteroid for him. In an e-mail, astronomer Lawrence Wasserman, explained, “I discovered the books of Jack McDevitt early in 2015 and spent most of the year plowing through every novel he has written. I was especially taken by his naming the first Mars spaceship for Percival Lowell, our founder. And, as a person who spent their teens in the ’60s reading Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, I was very pleased to find someone who writes science fiction that doesn't have any elves, dwarfs,…

Lauren RubensteinApril 11, 20162min
The 74th annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference in Chicago April 7-10 was attended by several Wesleyan faculty members, students and recent alumni. The conference, held every April, is one of the largest political science conferences with more than 5,000 presenters from throughout the United States and around the world. It is traditionally held in Chicago's historic Palmer House Hilton. Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, Assistant Professor of Government Logan Dancey, and Assistant Professor of Government Yamil Velez all presented research at the conference. They were accompanied by Joli Holmes '17, John Murchison '16, Grace Wong '18,…

Frederic Wills '19April 11, 20163min
Sue Rappaport Guiney ’77 and her organization, Writing Through, received one of six prestigious international Freedom Through Literacy award. Hosted by Judith’s Reading Room, an organization that provides literature to those who do not have access to it, the competition will donate $1,000 to the work of Writing Through. Guiney and the five other recipients will be honored at a dinner co-sponsored by the Colonial Association of Reading Educators (C.A.R.E.) in May. A novelist, poet and educator, Guiney founded Writing Through as a way to develop English fluency, conceptual thinking, and self-esteem through the creative writing process. She began on a…

Andrew Logan ’18April 11, 201610min
On April 5, six Wesleyan alumni–David Rabban ’71, Roxanne Euban ’88, Lyle Ashton Harris ’88, Rick Barot ’92, Adam Berinsky ’92 and Jonas Carpignano ’06–were each awarded Guggenheim Fellowships by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. According to the foundation, these prestigious awards aim to “further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color or creed.” Rabban is an award winning author and academic whose research focuses on labor law, higher education and the…

Olivia DrakeApril 9, 20164min
(Story by Caroline MacNeille '16/Wesconnect) In a recent episode of the podcast Cellar Door, Piers Gelly '13 and a handful of alumni discuss the infamous Drawing I final project: a life-sized nude self portrait. The podcast focuses on objects, featuring often-overlooked subject matter like pockets and pearls. Gelly, who reports, writes, mixes and illustrates for The Chipstone Foundation, an arts non-profit, produced this episode that also features music by Jack Ladd '15 and Anna Schwab '16. The 'Student Body' episode features a dozen alumni talking about their experience creating the final project and its fate after the semester's end. No…

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Lauren RubensteinApril 4, 20161min
Author, professor and LGBT activist Jennifer Finney Boylan '80 will speak at Wesleyan from 4:15–6 p.m. on April 21. The event will be held in Beckham Hall. The talk will open with a short reading from Boylan’s bestselling memoir, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, as well as the anthology It Gets Better, and then open up into a discussion of gender and society. The talk touches upon Transgender 101 (a brief overview of the wide range of gender expression), and then moves outward to address the embracing of diversity in its many forms. The event concludes with an audience Q&A. (more…)

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Laurie KenneyApril 4, 20162min
Nagasaki: Life after Nuclear War, by Susan Southard '78, has been awarded the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism and Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. One of three annual Lukas Prizes honoring the best in American nonfiction writing, the Book Prize is given to a book exemplifying "the literary grace, commitment to serious research, and the social concern that characterized the distinguished work of the award's namesake, J. Anthony Lukas."  The prize comes with a $10,000 award. "I couldn't be more honored that Nagasaki: Life after Nuclear War has been included among the remarkable books…

Lauren RubensteinMarch 30, 20162min
In May 2009, Bill Rodgers ’70 – a decorated cross-country, and track and field athlete at Wesleyan – was featured in an article in Runner’s World magazine by Steve Rushin. Following graduation, Rodgers became one of the best-known and most popular American marathon runners ever. The feature takes a look at Rodgers’ life and his successes, which include four wins in the Boston Marathon, four consecutive wins in the New York Marathon, and twice qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team. In all, Rodgers won more than 20 marathon events in a span of 11 years (1973-1983). In addition to his athletic success,…

Andrew Logan ’18March 28, 20162min
NPR’s All Songs Considered featured the former Wesleyan band Overcoats in its preview of the 2016 South by Southwest Music festival in Austin Texas. Overcoats, made up of Hana Elion ’15 and JJ Mitchell ’15, have made the leap from small on-campus concerts to performances in New York City's Mercury Lounge and the Longitude Festival in Ireland. Currently, Overcoats resides in New York City where they are performing and recording new music in studio. Overcoats describe their style as “combining electronic backdrops with soaring, harmonic intimacy — a sort of Chet Faker meets Simon & Garfunkel.” Their songs "draw strength from…

Frederic Wills '19March 28, 20161min
Dr. Joseph Wright ’77, MD, MPH, and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Howard University College of Medicine, was recently elected to the American Pediatric Society (APS). “Election to the APS is a special honor,” said Wright, noting that membership provides a platform for him to further, not only “Howard’s commitment to outstanding patient care and service to the community,” but also the missions of the numerous national advisory bodies he serves on, including the Department of Transportation’s National EMS Advisory Council, the American Hospital Association’s Maternal and Child Health Council, the March of Dimes’ Public…