Olivia DrakeJeremy Zwelling, director of Jewish and Israel Studies Certificate Program, associate professor of religion, is retiring from Wesleyan after 43 years. Zwelling came to Wesleyan’s Religion Department to teach a range of courses in Jewish studies in 1967. He established Wesleyan’s Program in Israel Studies, and helped create Wesleyan’s Certificate Program in Jewish and Israel Studies. Zwelling received a bachelor’s degree in religion from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Hebrew literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He received a M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. At Wesleyan, Zwelling…
Shirley Lawrence celebrated her 34 years at Wesleyan with a retirement party Dec. 14 in the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies. Lawrence began her Wesleyan career in a part-time position the Mathematics Department where she remained until 1977. Lawrence moved to the Center of Humanities where she worked until 1985, and she worked in Alumni Programs until 1987 when the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies officially opened on Washington Terrace. She is retiring as a program coordinator. Over the years Lawrence has coordinated such events as tours of the Freeman Family Japanese Garden, lectures on U.S.-Japan…
For 25 years, Diane Kischell has cared for the children of dozens of Wesleyan employees and Middletown community members. This month, Kischell, director and head teacher at the Wesleyan-affiliated Neighborhood Preschool (NPS), is retiring. She started at NPS in 1983. "Diane's teaching, mentorship and commitment have guided the Neighborhood Preschool, fostering a school where children can be themselves and where they develop a firm foundation of self-esteem and communication skills that sustain them as they grow," says Suzanna Tamminen, director of Wesleyan University Press and mother of Hugh Barrett NPS '07, Fiona Barrett NPS '08 and Silas Barrett NPS '12.…