Posted 09/15/06 Each year, the Office of University Communications collects objective and comparative measures of Wesleyan's strengths from data compiled by outside sources. Following is a brief list of recent findings:No. 1 in National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding among Liberal Arts Peers This is an objective ranking based on available NSF funding data. Between 2001 and 2003 Wesleyan received $14.49 million in NSF funding (this reflects the most recent data available – Wesleyan was also No. 1 in the previous survey that ran up to 2001). Next closest was Mt. Holyoke at $5.31 million. Carleton was 3rd, Barnard 4th and…

Science teachers in Connecticut teachers take classes at Wesleyan through the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science Program (PIMMS). PIMMS is teaming up with the Connecticut Science Center to provide science and math education techniques to K-12 teachers. Posted 09/15/06 A new partnership between Wesleyan University and The Connecticut Science Center in Hartford will be designed to engage more students across the state to the sciences than ever before. Specifically, The Connecticut Science Center will be partnering with Wesleyan's Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Sciences (PIMMS). Together they will train Connecticut middle school science teachers how…

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 08/24/06 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 08/15/06 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.

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…

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…

Posted 07/28/06 Immigration, race and the history of U.S. citizenship are just a few of the topics that will be discussed during a summer institute presented by the Center for African American Studies for secondary school teachers from Aug. 7-10. “Race and Membership: A History of United States Citizenship,” has pre-registered more than 20 social studies teachers, most hailing from Connecticut. The four-day institute is open to all secondary school educators (grades six through 12), support staff, curriculum specialists and school librarians. The institute aims to foster a sustained and in-depth discussion among the participants about how to teach United…