Cynthia RockwellWalter J. Pories ’52, MD, professor in the department of surgery at Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University was selected as a 2012–13 recipient of the annual East Carolina University Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award. He joined ECU in 1977 as chair of the department of surgery at the university’s medical school, which had just begun its four-year program. While here, he modified a type of weight-loss surgery into the “Greenville Gastric Bypass” and showed conclusively that not only does it result in durable weight loss but also causes a long-term remission of…
David LowDar Williams ’89 will release her ninth studio album In the Time of Gods (Razor and Tie) on April 17. She recently sat down with Glide Magazine to talk about the album, her time spent on tour with Joan Osborne, her dedication to environmental awareness, and the comeback of vinyl recordings. She has survived the music industry for more than 20 years, which has “allowed her the chance to work with some amazing artists, record songs that she wanted to hear (instead of what fit on radio), and most of all build a career in the grassroots aesthetic, all based…
New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., announced the appointment of Polly Greenberg ’90 as chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau. She first joined the office in 1993, starting in the Appeals Bureau and later in the Investigations Division. After leaving the office in late 2000 for private practice, Greenberg returned in 2005, and prosecuted primarily organized crime cases. She was appointed deputy bureau chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau shortly after its creation two years ago, and has been instrumental in setting bureau priorities and in collaborating with outside agencies to broaden the reach of…
An article by Krista Giovacco at Bloomberg.com recently featured Timothy Clew ’93 and Brian Mota as founders of The Wine Trust, the only private-equity-structured wine-investment fund in the United States with a targeted amount of more than $20 million. Their firm TWT Investment Partners LP, located in Ridgefield, Connecticut, is in the process of raising some $50 million for the trust, which is “more like a private-equity fund. The money invested is basically locked up for as long as eight years, which helps managers ride out a decline.” Clew and Mota are former investment bankers. Clew told Bloomberg: “This was…
A fascinating study by theater critic and scholar Jonathan Kalb '81, Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon Theater (University of Michigan Press), considers large-scale theater productions that often run five hours or more and present special challenges to the artists involved as well as the audience. He takes a close look at seven internationally prominent theater productions, including Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Nicholas Nickleby, Peter Brooks’s The Mahabharata, and the "durational works" of the British experimental company Forced Entertainment. Diverse and savvy viewers who may otherwise be distracted by film,…
Thomas Tucker ’77 joined The Hartford as chief underwriting officer for Commercial Markets and head of Specialty Casualty. In this role, Tucker will oversee underwriting across Commercial Markets and lead The Hartford’s Specialty Casualty segment, which includes National Accounts, Captive & Specialty Programs and Hartford Financial Products. Tucker will focus on the continued delivery of risk solutions for the Specialty segment, as well as risk controls across the Commercial Markets organization. A 35-year property and casualty industry veteran, Tucker joins The Hartford from AIG’s Chartis U.S., where he most recently served as chief underwriter and chief risk officer for its…
Cati Coe ’92 is a co-editor (with Rachel Reynolds, Deborah Boehm, Julia Meredith Hess, and Heather Rae-Espinosa) of Everyday Ruptures: Children, Youth, and Migration in Global Perspective (Vanderbilt University Press), which illuminates the wide-ranging continuities and disruptions in the experiences of children around the world, those who participate in and those who are affected by migration. When children, youth, and adults migrate, that migration is often perceived as a rupture, with people separated by great distances and for extended periods of time. But for migrants and those affected by migration, the everyday persists, and migration itself may be critical to…
Lauren RubensteinFrom March 30-April 1, Shamar Chin ’13 joined nearly 1,200 other students at a meeting in Washington, D.C. of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). According to the Clinton Global Initiative’s website, CGI U, launched by former President Bill Clinton in 2007, “challenges students and universities to tackle global problems with practical, innovative solutions.” CGI U hosts an annual meeting for students, national youth organizations and university officials to discuss solutions to pressing global issues. Prior to attending the meeting, each student must develop and submit a Commitment to Action: a specific plan to address an important challenge on…
Olivia DrakeResearch on PT-symmetric optics by Tsampikos Kottos, associate professor of physics, was mentioned at the 2012 Spring Review of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. In this meeting, program directors from AFOSR Scientific Directorates presented briefings that highlighted basic research programs beneficial to the U.S. Air Force. The review took place March 5-9. Kottos's work appears on page 26 of this presentation.
Jennifer Tucker gave a talk on "An electric shock upon society: The British Association and electro-metallurgy," during the Scholars’ Day Workshop on Victorian Electrotypes March 26 at the at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tucker is associate professor of history, associate professor in the Science in Society Program, and associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies. The workshop was held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's display of electrotypes, the metalwork reproductions that were among the first European decorative arts purchased by the Museum in the 1870s and 1880s. These highly sculptural and often monumental pieces were…
James McGuire, chair and professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, spoke on "Class Structure, Distributive Conflict and Democracy: Brazil and Argentina in Comparative Perspective," during a conference on Guillermo O’Donnell and the Study of Democracy on March 26. The conference took place in in O’Donnell’s hometown of Buenos Aires. The conference was held in celebration of immense legacy of the eminent political scientist Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), one of the pioneers of democratization studies. More information is online here.
Jorge Arévalo Mateus, a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology, received a grant award from the GRAMMY Foundation. Mateus was selected to be an archives and preservation consultant at the Liborio Mateo's Calvary in the Dominican Republic. He will oversee unique recordings of primary source of the musical, celebratory, religious and domestic events at the Calvary. These rare recordings comprises sacred and festive music, rituals, liturgies, interviews and daily life at this important pilgrimage center. These field recordings took place from 2000 to 2006 through close work with Reyna Jimenez. Reyna was keeper of the Calvary for forty years, until her death in 2008.