Kate CarlisleJohn Frank ’78, P '12 believes in the power of a well-written sentence. So much so, he will tell you, that knowing how to write can make the difference between success and failure in life. He will also tell you that he learned to write, and write well, at Wesleyan. To Frank, a lawyer and investor in California, and his wife Diann Kim P’12, it was critical to ensure continued success for Wesleyan’s writing instruction, especially the Writing Certificate launched and overseen by his sister, Anne Greene. Their gift of more than $2 million will fund Writing at Wesleyan's Writing…
Olivia DrakePrivate lessons instructor and music Ph.D. candidate Bill Carbone MA '07 will cap off a busy summer of music festival performances with a trip to perform at the 24th annual Zappanale Music Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. The festival invited his trio, The Z3, which performs the music of Frank Zappa rearranged for a trio of Hammond Organ, guitar, and drums (Carbone's instrument), with all three members singing, to headline the second day of the festival and host the jam session on the third day. The festival also features more than a dozen alumni of the bands Zappa led between…
Natalie Robichaud ’14Vanity Fair says that Candace Nelson ’96, who reinvented America’s opinion on cupcakes, “is to cupcakes today what Debbi Fields was to cookies in the 1980s.” Nelson’s company, Sprinkles, known for its constant innovation, premiered the world’s first cupcake food truck and cupcake ATM. Wistful for the days of old-fashioned ice cream shops while surrounded by frozen yogurt trends, Nelson decided not to limit herself to cupcakes and introduced slow churned ice cream to her stores. Her most decadent dessert combines her two products; the Sprinkles sandwich is a unique treat of a scoop of ice cream enclosed by two…
Olivia Morgan ’94, after being appointed to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), founded the National Student Poets Program (NSPP), the country’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. According to the PCAH, students who engage in school through the arts have better attendance records, better performance, and are more likely to graduate. Morgan decided to use her position on the PCAH to engage students without a strain on resources. “The amazing thing about poetry, or writing of any kind—you don’t need musical instruments, you don’t technology, it’s just a pen and paper," Morgan said.…
Toni Craige '09 received the SustainUS Lead Now Fellowship for her "innovative approach to women's education about reusable feminine products." Toni is the co-founder of Sustainable Cycles. The fellowship is awarded annually for demonstrated potential to advance sustainable development in communities and includes yearlong training and mentorship from SustainUS and a $1,000 grant. Sustainable Cycles educates women about reusable menstrual products through bicycle tours. Craige, together with friend and co-founder Sarah Konner, first toured down the West Coast on a three-month bicycle trip, handing out 300 menstrual cups donated by from manufacturers, and living on $4 a day. “We are working…
In her pursuit of happiness, Nataly Kogan ’98 found her way to the positions of CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Happier. Kogan’s life before Wesleyan was anything but easy: She escaped her native country, Soviet Russia, as a Jewish refugee at age 13 and made it to the United States after jumping from one refugee camp to another across Europe. Even after achieving the "American Dream," Nataly Kogan wasn’t happy. She believes that “you can't actually be happy, but you can always be happier,” so she spends her days spreading good cheer to as many people as possible with…
Cynthia RockwellRichard Locke ’81 was named director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. On leave from the MIT Political Science Department, he was previously deputy dean of MIT's Sloan School of Management. Locke’s current research focuses on improving the safety and environmental conditions for workers in global supply chains. The author of four books, he most recently published The Promise and Limits of Private Power (Cambridge University Press, 2013). In a recent Q&A for the Brown Magazine, he spoke on his hopes and expectations that the Watson Institute will build on Brown’s strong foundation as well as strengthen its…
Bill FisherA crowd of more than 160 Wesleyan alumni, parents and friends gathered June 19 at the Knight Conference Center of the Newseum in Washington, DC, to "Talk Politics" with three high-profile Wes alums. The event, a fundraiser for financial aid, featured a lively discussion among Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper '74, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin '79 and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet '87, who all credited Wesleyan's interdisciplinary programs and spirit of inquiry for their political success. The fundraiser was part of a series in the $400 million THIS IS WHY campaign to support the university's endowment. All proceeds from ticket sales—100…
Bill HolderJohn "Jack" C. Hoy '55, the dean of admissions at Wesleyan in the 1960s who oversaw a radically new commitment to expanding racial, religious and economic diversity on campus, died July 9 at his home in Duxbury, Mass. He was 79 years old. Hoy, who also held an MALS degree from Wesleyan in 1961 and was the parent of two alumni from the classes of 2003 and 2005, was deeply involved with Wesleyan for nearly his entire adult life. As an undergraduate, he majored in history, competed on the swim team, and was a member of the Eclectic Society fraternity.…
Echoes of the fight song were still bouncing off Foss Hill after Commencement when word got around about a big offseason win for Wesleyan athletics: a generous commitment by Frank Sica ’73 to endow the position of athletic director. Sica is a former trustee who wrestled and played football at Wesleyan. The gift to fund the post currently held by Michael Whalen ’83 firmly establishes the importance of athletics in co-curricular learning at Wesleyan, according to Dennis Robinson ’79, P ’13, immediate past chairman of the Athletics Advisory Council. “Nearly 25 percent of the entire student body plays a varsity…
With the U.S. Capitol glowing to the east, the White House 10 blocks west and Pennsylvania Avenue buzzing eight stories below, a crowd of more than 160 Wesleyan alumni, parents and friends gathered June 19 to “Talk Politics” with three high-profile Wes alums. The event, a fundraiser for financial aid and the annual Brown Lecture, featured a lively discussion among Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper ’74, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin ’79 and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet ’87, who all credited Wesleyan’s interdisciplinary programs and spirit of inquiry for their political success. “If you were to ask any of the people I…
Postdoctoral Associate Intan Suci Nurhati ’05 and others from the Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) are the first team to drill for coral samples in Singapore waters. Nurhati is a climate scientist but she works alongside a marine biologist and a professor of ocean geochemistry, creating “an interesting synergy where [they] work on different topics" but use the same material - corals. As a climate scientist, Nurhati’s main focus is changes in the climate that have been recorded by the coral. “By studying the chemistry of corals, you can tell…