Posted 09/15/06 David Titus, Professor Emeritus of Government, died on June 13, 2006. Professor Titus taught at Wesleyan from 1966 until his retirement in 2004, serving as chair of the Government Department, the College of Social Studies and the East Asian Studies Program. He played a crucial role in establishing East Asian Studies at Wesleyan; he served as Resident Director of the Kyoto Program three times, and was a member and frequent chair of its Executive Board. His masterwork was his Palace and Politics in Prewar Japan, which established his reputation as a leading scholar of Japanese politics; it was…

Posted 09/15/06 Wesleyan celebrated the 10th anniversary of Constitution Day. According to Federal law, Wesleyan and other federally-funded institutions are required to offer programs commemorating the Constitution. “We want to take something that is required by law, and turn it into something meaningful for the Wesleyan community,” says the Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian Barbara Jones. Jones, whose primary professional interests include intellectual freedom, presented a talk titled “Libraries and the Constitution After 9/11” in recognition of Constitution Day 2006 Sept. 19 in the Smith Reading Room in Olin Library. R Jones has served one term as chair of the…

Posted 08/24/06 The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., has awarded a challenge grant in the amount of $500,000 to Wesleyan University. This grant will be applied toward the purchase of equipment for several Wesleyan science departments, including biology, chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry, earth and environmental sciences and physics. To apply to the Science Equipment Program, Wesleyan had to raise $500,000 and now must raise an additional $1 million to meet the terms of Kresge challenge grant and establish an endowment for repair and replacement of science equipment. According to the tenets of the grant, Wesleyan must raise $1.5 million…

Tom Morgan, the Foss Professor of Physics, developed a laser lab in the basement of Exley Science Center. He uses a control panel to fire atoms and study quantum mechanics. His atom research is supported by a recent National Science Foundation award of $200,000. Posted 08/24/06 In outer space, some protons and electrons can travel millions of years alone before colliding, forming super-excited exaggerated atoms. Tom Morgan, the Foss Professor of Physics, wants these atoms to come back down to earth. For the past 20 years, Morgan, an atomic and molecular physicist, has experimented with these excited atoms known as…

Posted 08/24/06 A team of staff members is updating Wesleyan's emergency response plan, which describes protocols for maintaining personal safety and the continuity of operations in the event of a crisis. Led by Director of Physical Plant Cliff Ashton, the Business Continuity Planning Committee is updating a plan that was implemented in 2002. The plan covers hurricanes and other natural disasters, as well as such manmade crises as power outages and chemical spills. The committee is exploring responses to more recent threats—such as the possibility of a pandemic contagion. It also is reviewing the plan for consistency with protocols established…

Posted 08/24/06 Wesleyan’s Music Department will sponsor a memorial service for David McAllester, professor of music and anthropology, emeritus, at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel Sept. 24. McAllester, a founder of the Society for Ethnomusicology, died April 29, 2006, after suffering a stroke. He was 89. “David had a huge impact on generations of Wesleyan students, many of them not music majors or grad students,” says Mark Slobin, professor of music, who worked with McAllester for 15 years. “When I was hired at Wesleyan in 1971 and looked at a college guide, the only course singled out was McAllester’s…

Artist Mary Lum works on her painting, which is part of the exhibit "Up Against the Wall" opening in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery on Sept. 8. Posted 08/24/06 “Up Against the Wall,” an exhibit featuring art that relies exclusively on the interior surfaces of architecture for inspiration and material support, will open at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery on Sept. 8. Organized by Nina Felshin, curator of Zilkha Gallery, the exhibition includes work by William McCarthy, gallery supervisor of Zilkha Gallery and Davison Art Center gallery supervisor, as well as artists Shoshana Dentz, Elana Herzog, Mary Lum…

Grigori Enikolopov ’08 was one of more than 50 students to present their research at the Hughes Program in the Life Sciences Poster Session in the Exley Science Center. Posted 08/24/06 When Grigori Enikolopov ’08 studied the leaf economics in river, swamp and upland areas, he found that the wetter the area, the more ridges – or teeth – the leaves of woody tree species possessed.   During the Hughes Program in the Life Sciences Poster Session Aug. 4, Enikolopov, explained that 70 percent of the trees in a swamp have teeth compared to 60 percent in the upland areas.…

Posted 08/15/06 Noah Lior Simring, originally a member of Wesleyan's class of 2007, died recently in New York City, his hometown. He was 21. Noah, who was on leave from Wesleyan for the past two years, graduated from the Horace Mann School in New York City where he enjoyed fencing. His interests included the sciences, theater, music, wilderness living, animation and rocketry and volunteerism. He is survived by parents Ruth and James Simring and sister, Mia Simring. Donations in his memory may be made to the Horace Mann School or Children International.

Friends and family celebrated Kay Butterfield’s 100th birthday July 27 in the Office of the President. Kay Butterfield is the wife of the late Victor Butterfield, who served as Wesleyan’s president 1943-1967. Pictured above is Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano declaring July 27 Kay Butterfield Day in the City of Middletown. Posted 07/28/06 Kay Butterfield, wife of former Wesleyan President Victor Butterfield, turned 100 July 27. She celebrated the day with friends and family during a celebration at the President’s House. Kay has lived a life of idealism and service. She was born July 27, 1906 in Brooklyn, N.Y., the daughter…

The American Story Project, a theater company comprised of Wesleyan students and alumni, will perform We Can't Reach You, Hartford at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland Aug. 7-19. Posted 07/28/06 In 1944, the Hartford Circus Fire caused more than 150 deaths during an afternoon circus performance. Although the cause of the fire remains officially undetermined, five employees of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and the circus was forced to accept full financial responsibility for the fire that occurred during their show. This tragic, yet compelling story, will be retold…

Max Schenkein '08 chats with an alumnus during a Wesleyan Fund fund-raising drive. Below, Sean Collins '08 and Ana Lombera '09 request gifts for Wesleyan. The student callers, along with staff in University Relations, helped raise more than $35 million this past year. Posted 07/28/06 Wesleyan enters its 175th anniversary year celebration with a tremendous gift from its alumni, friends, and other supporters: a record-breaking $35,054,196 in cash gifts, surpassing the 2005 record by $3.7 million. These funds will support financial aid, faculty, facilities, and programs. Fifty-four percent of alumni participated in giving to Wesleyan in 2006, equaling 2005's participation…