Summer 2014

Heliotropes Front Image

Heliotropes*

*a small purple flower named for the way it changes direction to face the sun. The title heliotropes conveys dual meaning: “helio,” referring to a constant turning toward the sun, is a metaphor for growth and learning: and “trope,” meaning “a significant or recurrent theme; a motif.” FOR THE 10 STUDIO ART MAJORS who graduated from Williams…

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Chest

Gentlemen Jews

Wurgaft writes that the “actors” shaping Jewish life at Williams “were more often impersonal forces…than heroic college students, administrators or faculty.” Yet it’s worth noting some of the earliest Jewish students who made an impact on the college and society. EMMANUEL COHEN, CLASS OF 1876 It’s not clear how the college’s first known Jewish student,…

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Creating Knowledge

About a third of the Class of 2014 completed a senior thesis – a piece of in-depth, independent research undertaken in close collaboration with a professor. Here are the products of their work… Observing & overlooking in Thomas Hardy’s Wessex, by Abigail Adams • Investigation of the potential neuroprotective effects of estradiol in a mouse…

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The Alumni Network

So often it’s a fellow Eph who opens the door to what turns out to be the rest of your life and says, come on in. Had a great experience with the alumni career network? Share your story here » Aaron “A.J.” Jenkins ’03 made his first Williams connection at age 16, during a visit…

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Chasuble Fragment

A Stitch in Time

Knowing when and where the velvet pieces were made means Deb Brothers’ students could learn about Renaissance textiles in a deeper context. A few fragments of deep crimson silk velvet in the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) have opened the door to understanding the history of ecclesiastic ceremonies, trade routes and the relationship between…

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Michael Brown

Brown to Lead School for Advanced Research

Michael Brown, the James N. Lambert ’39 Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at Williams, has been named president of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, N.M. The author of six books and numerous articles and reviews, Brown researches indigenous intellectual property rights, magic and ritual, the New Age movement and the native…

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Luce Scholars Laura Stamp ’16 & Mary Ignatiadis ’16

New Luce Research Scholars Program Encourages Women in Science

Seven female science majors will spend the summer conducting research alongside their professors as part of the new Luce Research Scholars Program. Established by the college in January with the help of a $246,440 grant from the Clare Boothe Luce Program of the Henry Luce Foundation, the research scholars program funds fellowships for up to…

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"Invention of Religion" by Jason Ānanda

Other Books

The Map Thief. By Michael Blanding ’95. Gotham Books, 2014. The incredible story of E. Forbes Smiley, a respected dealer of antique maps who made millions stealing and re-selling them until he was caught in the Yale University Library. Talking to the Dead. By LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant, Williams assistant professor of Africana Studies. Duke University…

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All Those Vanished Engines

Acclaimed science fiction writer and Williams lecturer in English Paul Park grew up in Williamstown as the child of two professors. He returned to the college to teach while raising his family in North Adams. In All Those Vanished Engines, published by Tor books in July, he draws on these experiences in the three novellas….

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Tuesday Teas

On Writing: Tuesday Teas

History professor Leslie Brown developed her new book, African American Voices: A Documentary Reader from Emancipation to the Present, out of extensive conversations with Williams students about what primary source material to include. Meanwhile, the seeds of political science professor Sam Crane’s latest book—Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern…

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Words and Music

During a master class with acclaimed composer John Harbison in April, three seniors had the chance to share portions of compositions they were working on for their theses. the group delved into harmonic movements and pitch progressions. Then the conversation took a literary turn. Describing the experience of listening to a difficult piece of music,…

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Williams College Physicist

Learning to Think Like a Physicist

For physics majors at Williams, the core curriculum isn’t delivered in a lecture hall or around a seminar table. It’s far more intimate than that. Juniors and senior take three essential classes—classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and quantum mechanics—as tutorials. A signature experience at Williams across all the academic disciplines, a typical tutorial brings together…

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The Spirit of Commencement

Photo above: Robert S. Scherr, Jewish chaplain (left), and the Rev. Richard E. Spalding, chaplain to the college. Late in the afternoon the Saturday before Commencement, Chapin Hall is awash in organ music as more than 1,000 people file in. Graduating seniors clad in caps and gowns fill row after row, surrounded by their families…

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In Memoriam

George Pistorius, the Frank M. Gagliardi Professor of Romance Languages, died on March 15 at the age of 92. Pistorius taught at Williams from 1963 to 1992 and chaired the Romance languages department for 11 years. Fluent in four languages, he wrote five books and many articles about 19th and 20th-century French literature and 20th-century…

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Reed ’75 Named VP at Dickinson College

After eight years as Williams’ VP for strategic planning and institutional diversity, Mike Reed ’75 will be joining Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., as the VP for institutional initiatives in the fall. At Williams, Reed was a leader in important college initiatives such as the formation of the Diversity Action Research Team and the re-envisioning…

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College Announces Changes to Board of Trustees

The college welcomed Sarah Mollman Underhill ’80 to the Board of Trustees on July 1. She was elected by the Society of Alumni and appointed by the trustees. A recipient of the Rogerson Cup, the college’s highest award for alumni service, Underhill is past president of the Society of Alumni and has been a class…

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By the Numbers: Alumni Professional Lives

 

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Convocation, Bicentennial Medals Kick off the Book Unbound

  During Fall Convocation on Sept. 20, six alumni will receive Bicentennial Medals from the college. This year’s honorees were selected for distinguished achievement in fields relevant to The Book Unbound, a yearlong initiative celebrating the dedication of Sawyer Library taking place that weekend. The medal recipients are: Kristen Anderson-Lopez ’94, Oscar-winning songwriter for the…

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Ephs Lead Start to Finish to Win 17th Director’s Cup

Williams won the Learfield Sports Director’s Cup in June—its 17th in the 19-year history of the cup. The award is presented each year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to the best all-around sports program for team performance. Colleges accrue points based on how their teams finish in NCAA championship events….

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Celebrating ’14

The college’s 225th Commencement on June 8 was a festive send-off for the Class of 2014. During the ceremony, President Adam Falk bestowed honorary degrees on Gregory M. Avis ’80, outgoing chairman of Williams’ Board of Trustees and founding managing director of the venture capital and private equity firm Summit Partners: Michael R. Bloomberg, entrepreneur,…

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A Powerful Network

The difference our alumni make—to the world, to Williams and to our students—is astonishing. After the last of this year’s seniors walked across the stage at Commencement to accept a diploma and a  handshake (or a hug) from me, Dennis O’Shea ’77, president of our Society of Alumni, took to the podium to address the…

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Alumni Values

The fall 2013 issue’s “By the Numbers” on alumni values included a question about the importance of participating in religious activities and groups. Fifty-nine percent of alumni responded “not important at all.” It may interest them to know that at an earlier time in Williams’ history, nearly 100 percent of its constituents would have said…

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Beyond Living Buildings

“A Living Laboratory” (fall 2013) and recent correspondence with fellow classmates and President Falk prompted me to write this letter. The Living Building Challenge is a worthy environmental initiative. Green building is what we must do in the future if indeed we have one. Of more immediate concern to me is the fate of our…

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Libraries and Legos

I greatly enjoyed the spring 2014 issue, in particular “Typology of a Library.” I’m encouraged that Williams continues to believe strongly in the written word—on paper, that is—to the extent of enlarging the Sawyer Library. Another article that I pumped my fist and yelled “Yes!” about was “The Mathematics of Legos.” When I entered Williams,…

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Editor’s Note

We ran the incorrect photo with the bio of All-American track and field star Healy Thompson ’03 (left) in “40 at 40.” Our apologies.

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Black and White

As a longtime colleague (and admirer) of Professor Charles Dew ’58, who has taken a post-retirement job at the University of Mississippi, I was delighted to read that he and Professor Leslie Brown are engaged in a dialogue with their students about the cruelties of the segregated South (“The South in Black and White,” spring…

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A Spiritual Instrument

When Cole Porter died in 1964, he left his 40-acre summer estate, Buxton Hill, and its contents to Williams. His gift included a Bechstein grand piano (above), upon which he wrote most of the score of his best-known musical, Kiss Me, Kate. The piano currently has a home in Thompson Memorial Chapel. Bechstein pianos have…

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Higher Edukation

Mari Edwards ’14 has been writing and playing music since his high school days in Chicago, drawing on personal experiences and using music to explore who he is and who he will become. He released his first full-length album, Higher Edukation, on SoundCloud in April. A psychology major with a concentration in Africana studies, Edwards…

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