Campus News & Events

William "Bill" Firshein, the Daniel Ayres Professor of Biology, emeritus, died Dec. 7 at the age of 85. Firshein arrived at Wesleyan in 1958 after receiving his BS from Brooklyn College and his MS and PhD from Rutgers University. He taught at Wesleyan for 47 years before retiring in 2005. Firshein was an active scholar who was awarded research grants totaling more than $2 million over his career. He investigated the molecular biology of DNA replication cell division in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli and their plasmids. In his most recent book, The Infectious Microbe, published by Oxford University Press…

The gift-giving season came early for four non-profit organizations in the local community. On Dec. 7, a class of 10 innovative problem solvers with an interest in philanthropy, awarded $10,000 in grant funds to selected organizations. As part of the the course Money and Social Change: Innovative Paradigms and Strategies, students spent the fall semester thinking about the role of capital in social change. Students researched the mission statements of 188 organizations in Middlesex County, compared them side by side, and after a final six-hour voting process, whittled their selection to four. The surprise monetary awards, provided to the class by the Learning by…

Wesleyan's First Year Seminar Program (FYS) is benefiting from a three-year, $225,000 grant from The Endeavor Foundation of New York. The FYS program is part of a comprehensive effort to realize the potential of the first year of college to be academically transformative. With the Foundation’s support, Wesleyan will expand and enhance the program. This fall 43 FYS courses were offered to students; 10 FYS will be offered in the spring. “The FYS program is a key part of our structure to support development of multiple student competencies, in this case in the area of writing, and to tie competency-building…

#THISISWHY For the second consecutive year, Wesleyan recently was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its work diverting food waste. It is the only educational institution in Connecticut to receive a "Regional Food Recovery Achievement Certificate." Wesleyan joined the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge in 2013. Through this program, organizations pledge to improve their sustainable food management practices and report results. Organizations are encouraged to follow the EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy to prioritize their actions to prevent and divert food waste. The hierarchy suggests a range of options, from reducing the volume of surplus food generated and donating extra food…

On Dec. 8, Wesleyan received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and two grants from National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants will support a poetry program at Wesleyan University Press, a faculty fellowship, and electronic dance and theater publications. The NEA provided an Art Works award of $25,000 to Wesleyan University Press to support its poetry program. The Art Works category of the NEA supports the creation and presentation of both new and existing work — a goal that aligns with the mission of the Wesleyan University Press, a program that has already published an internationally renowned…

Fifteen seniors were inducted to the university's Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa during a ceremony on Dec. 2. (more…)

Arpita Vora ’16 clicks through a website that seeks to raise awareness about the hardships faced by low-income families in North Carolina. Middlesex United Way, the organization at which Vora was placed through the Center for Community Partnerships’ yearlong pilot Nonprofit Board Residency Program, is hoping to create a similar site using data from Connecticut. (more…)

Four Wesleyan undergraduates and a faculty member received awards in the latest call for proposals from NASA's Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. Astronomy major Rachel Aronow '17 was awarded an Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the amount of $5,000 for her project, "Planet Formation and Stellar Characteristics in Tatooine-like Systems." She is working with Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, studying Tatooine-like systems (named after the fabled home system of Luke Skywalker), which are planet-forming disks that surround a close pair of stars that are in orbit around each other. Aronow conducted research with Herbst last summer, and these funds will support further…

#THISISWHY The Wesleyan community joined together in an amazing show of support for students on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 1, raising more than $1 million. “I was awestruck by the generosity of the Wesleyan community,” said Wesleyan President Michael Roth. “We set an ambitious goal, and the Wesleyans blew right through it!” (more…)

Two evenings of theater will be presented by the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures this month. Both events are free and open to the public and will take place at the department's common room at 300 High Street in Middletown, Conn. Students from French 281 and Theater 291 will present three plays in French on Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.: "Tu honoreras ton père et ta mère" or “You Will Honor Your Father and Mother," by Samira Sedira; "Ah! La belle vie" or “Oh! The Good Life," by Anne Giafferi; and “First Lady,” by Sedef Ecer. A reception will follow. The…

In this issue of News@Wesleyan, we speak with Assistant Professor of Mathematics Felipe Ramírez, who joined the Wesleyan faculty this fall. (more…)

Wesleyan Earth and Environmental Sciences students and faculty attended and contributed to this year’s Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting, held Nov. 1–4 in Baltimore, Md. (more…)

Firshein Remembered for being a Founding Member of the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department

Money and Social Change Class Awards $10K to 4 Local Non-Profits

The Endeavor Foundation Supports First Year Seminar Program

Wesleyan Recognized for Efforts Diverting Food Waste

NEA, NEH Supports Wesleyan U. Press, Humanities Books, Fellowships at Wesleyan

15 Seniors Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

Pilot Program Gives Students Insight into Local Nonprofits

Several Wesleyan Projects Awarded NASA’s CT Space Grants

Giving Tuesday: Wes Rallies for $1 Million Day

RL&L Presents Two Evenings of Theater

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Ramírez Studies Ergodic Theory, Dynamic Systems

E&ES Faculty, Students Contribute to GSA Annual Meeting