Spring2016 Washington College Magazine

WASHINGTON COLLEGE MAGAZINE SPRING 2016

Falling Up PAGE 20

The Risk of Being Human PAGE 26

Carter’s War PAGE 30

The Power of Risk SPRING 2016 i

PICTURE THIS

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Deep in the jungles of Nicaragua, 11 Washington College students experienced a winter break like no other. Jennie Carr and Robin Van Meter, assistant professors of biology, accompanied them to the Makengue Reserve in the Rio San Juan region for a WC first: a short-term study abroad course called “Tropical Ecology of Nicaragua.” During the trip, they spotted the Emerald Basilisk, a lizard that can run on top of water to escape predators.

The accommodations were rustic, offering no hot water and no Wi-Fi, but plenty of contact with the locals and spectacular views of the night sky. Students spent their days focused on independent research projects investigating a variety of organisms, including caiman, bats, lichen, birds, and spiders, or conducting projects involving turtle trapping, constructing a field guide, and trapping fish.

As students collected data for their projects, a bigger point about scientific research became clear. “The scientific process has to be modified, depending on your surroundings,” Van Meter remarked.

“Now the students have a much better understanding of how science works and the unpredictable nature of doing research in ecology, because they weren’t in a lab.

They gained a huge appreciation for the realistic—often frustrating but truly rewarding—aspects of science.

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Photo by Michael Hudson ’17

Research in the Rain Forest

F E AT U R E S

20 Falling Up

Four follow the road less traveled to discover the rewards of risk-taking.

by brenna nan Schneider ’06, wendy

mitman clarke, steven li ’17, and kate Amann ’06

Contents

26 The Risk of Being

Human

An experimental archaeologist traces the route of human migration in the NatGeo series, The Great Human Race. by professor bill schindler

30 Carter's War

Robert Carter ’42 was part of America's effort to build the bomb that changed the course of history. by john lang

D E PARTM E NTS

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Picture This

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Editor’s Note

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President’s Letter

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News IDEAWORKS lab; $2 million grant funds position in entrepreneurial science; veteran ambassadors offer insights into global diplomacy.

12 Faculty Richard De Prospo shakes up early American literature; Christine Wade explores the role of elites in El Salvador.

14 Students World Model UN team wins Best Delegate awards in Rome; chemistry major concocts soil-based paint.

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Alumni Update Class notes; Alumni Spotlights; Alumni Weekend is June 3-5, 2016.

46 Development Dam the Debt helps graduating seniors; Betty Casey ’47 creates new scholarship; Larry Culp ’85 endows faculty chair.

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The Last Word An agricultural business start-up takes root in Kent County.

WASHINGTON COLLEGE MAGAZINE

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LEARNING AT SEA During a four-year family sailing cruise, author Wendy Mitman Clark gave her kids free rein to explore and grow in confidence and responsibility.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Volume LXVI No. 4 Spring 2016 ISSN 2152-9531

Cover illustration by James Arnold

EDITOR

Marcia C. Landskroener M’02 ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Wendy Mitman Clarke CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR

Dainius Jasinevicius STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Shane Brill ’03 M’11 CLASS NOTES EDITOR

Heather Legg COPY EDITOR

Erin Oittinen EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS

Sue DePasquale ’87 Michael O’Connor CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Heather Calloway Meghan Livie ’09 Catalina Righter ’17 ORIGINAL MAGAZINE REDESIGN

B. Creative Group agencybcg.com PRINTING AND MAILING

Dartmouth Printing Company

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Washington College Magazine (USPS 667260) is published quarterly by Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620, in January, April, July, and October. Periodical postage paid at Chestertown, Maryland, and at other offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington College Magazine, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 216201197. Copyright 2016 Washington College.

Dear Readers, T

wo wooden packages, no bigger than a breadbox, are humming with the vibration of 40,000 wings. In each box, three pounds of insects are clinging to the screened walls. They are nervous, hot, and thirsty after their long journey from Georgia in the back of a van. I’m nervous, too. After months of preparation, my two colonies of Italian honeybees have finally arrived, and I wonder if I’m up to the task of keeping so many little souls alive.

It’s a challenge for even the most experienced beekeeper, let alone a “new-bee” like me.

Honeybee colonies, so vital to pollinating our food crops, are dying off at unprecedented rates—a 30 to 60 percent colony loss each year is typical, and some marcia c. colonies disappear altogether. landskroener That’s unsustainable for them and m’02 for people who like to eat. No bees, no food. Scientists say that the cause of colony collapse disorder is likely a combination of factors that includes widespread use of pesticides and fungicides, as well as the spread of viral pathogens and parasitic mites in beehives.

But there is hope: On April 26, Maryland became the first state in the country to pass tough restrictions on consumers’ use of neonicotinoids, pesticides that are particularly toxic to pollinators. This spring, the College hosted a series of events intent on educating folks about the plight of bees, and a colleague and fellow beekeeper installed two hives in the campus garden.

The morning after I installed my bees, they were busily working in my crabapple tree, and they're foraging now in wider and wider circles. From their brightly painted hive boxes in my little corner of the woods, they come and go with a gentle determination to build and protect their brood. If we can do the same, the reward will be so much sweeter than honey.

Address correspondence to Washington College Magazine, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, or by email to mlandskroener2@washcoll.edu. (Telephone: 410-778-7797). www.washcoll.edu. PRINTED IN THE USA.

www.washcoll.edu washingtoncollege @washcoll WashingtonCollege @washcoll

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Raph Koster ’92, an award-winning game designer, knows a Washington College education can lead you into worlds yet imagined.

He draws on his liberal arts education every day to create histories of non-existent lands, and the music and artwork that embody new cultures. He is adept at navigating new technologies, the politics of large player communities, and business.

“The value of the liberal arts doesn’t lie in any one subject, but in the connections between them.

Studying literature is just another way to study history. Studying history is another way to study psychology. Studying psychology drives you to the sciences, and the sciences back to the arts. A liberal arts education teaches you to appreciate the tapestry, rather than just a few threads.”

What new worlds have you imagined? Share your story.

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Risk Management by sheila c. bair

ABOVE In a nationally televised ad for IBM, Sheila Bair and Watson, IBM’s cognitive computing persona, discuss risk management.

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very statesman, every great business leader and scientist, every writer and athlete, and now, even an artificial intelligence computer system, understands that without risk there is no reward. What drives them is a strong belief in the cause. George Washington lost more battles than he won. Henry Ford had his Edsel. Without a string of failures, Thomas Edison might not have become one of America’s most well-known and prolific innovators. “I have not failed,” he once remarked. “I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” Warren Buffet, the most successful investor alive in America today, once said: “Almost every time something negative has occurred—except for medical problems of mine or those close to me—in retrospect the problem has been a net plus in my life, usually by a very significant margin.”

Taking risks is what propels us as humans to explore, create, and discover. It's the only way for businesses to innovate and to grow, and for individuals to reach their true

potential. With risk comes the possibility of failure, but failure is a powerful teacher.

There are good risks and bad risks. The challenge is to discern the difference and to embrace those risks that can bring about positive change.

When I was growing up, I thought I would be a great novelist like Eudora Welty or George Sand. That didn’t happen. My career took a very different path. However, I’ve always had a knack for communication and after decades working in finance, I ended up writing a New York Times bestseller about how shortsighted greed in the mortgage finance industry nearly ruined our country.

In 1990, I ran for Congress and lost narrowly. But I ran a good campaign and caught the attention of President George H.W. Bush who appointed me to serve on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, thereby launching my career as a financial regulator. At the CFTC, I voted against a petition by a company called Enron to lighten anti-fraud regulation, and I lost.

With that vote, I found my voice and the strength to dissent where dictated by moral judgment and basic common sense.

I was vindicated years later when Enron failed because of widespread fraud in its trading operations. Later, as chair of the FDIC during the financial crisis, I found my voice again in opposing lax and abusive mortgage lending practices, arguing against overly generous bailout policies, and advocating for homeowner relief. Did I get everything I asked for? No. Did I make a difference by sticking my neck out? Yes! Due in large part to our efforts at the FDIC, hundreds of thousands of homes were saved from foreclosure, bank regulations were substantially tightened, and Congress passed a law banning future bailouts.

Some people have called me bold and courageous. I’ve been called other names, too. But I’ve never been afraid to confront a problem head-on and to speak my mind.

That’s why I’m now taking new risks in launching novel, innovative approaches to our student debt crisis. Freezing tuition, bravely asking donors who have never heard of Washington College to partner with us in what I hope will be a game-changing effort to reverse the tide on student borrowing – these are risks I eagerly embrace. Because when you speak up and take chances to do what you think is right – those are risks that are always worth taking. And we can already see that our risk-taking is paying off with increased enrollment and a 10% reduction in federal student debt levels among our graduating seniors.

High student debt levels impose personal financial hardship on graduates entering the working world, but they also hurt the broader economy. Numerous studies have indicated that young people put off other financial activity such as buying a house, buying a car, or starting a business, until they pay off their loans. Just as subprime loans hurt our economy as cash-strapped borrowers struggled to pay their mortgages at the expense of other consumer spending, so do high student debt loads promise the same negative impact on economic growth.

To our credit, among the greatest human strengths is our resilience. In the face of peril, we assess the risk, learn from our mistakes, and adapt. Washington College is leading the way in learning how to fix our broken student loan system. Who will dare to be with us?

Watch the TV spot: youtu.be/haadlsFLszk SPRING 2016

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Photo by Brian Palmer LEARNING BY DOING Above: The IDEAWORKS lab in Miller Library offers an array of digital and mechanical tools so students can learn to design and create their own materials and products that serve a specific need. Left: A breakdown of all the components that went into the first version of the SkyTracker astrophotography platform.

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CAMPUS NEWS

Creating a Culture of Makers and Innovators Combining modern digital tools and traditional fabrication methods, Library and Academic Technology's creative production and experimentation facility takes hands-on learning to the next level.

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ichael Cho ’19 hadn’t thought much about the movement of stars, let alone their potential relationship to photography. He’s a robotics guy, by his own admission, and where would these disparate interests—astronomy, photography, and robotics— intersect?

In two places, actually: one, in a new GRW seminar on innovative design called “Cultivating a Maker Mindset,” and two, in a new lab on campus called IDEAWORKS, an evolution of the Multimedia Production Center that's part of the Office of Library and Academic Technology. In IDEAWORKS, Cho and other seminar students put their heads and hands together to create a device called SkyTracker, which enables photographers to shoot the night sky using long exposures without the usual result of streaking white lines (the movement of stars over time) throughout the shot.

“I never imagined photography as having anything to do with robotics—and robotics is what I am very passionate about—but it’s difficult to figure out the precise mathematics to make the camera mount counteract the earth’s rotation,” Cho says.

“It’s been really fun figuring it out.”

That fun is exactly what Brian Palmer, the director of Digital Media Services who co-teaches the seminar with Amanda Kramer, director of Access Services, is enabling with the new dream space for innovators, IDEAWORKS. It combines the video, audio, and photographic assets of the MPC with a 3-D printer, a laser cutter, an industrial sewing machine, and Arduino prototyping platforms to experiment with electrical circuits.

“The underlying goal of IDEAWORKS is to teach students to look at the world as innovators, discover what they are capable of, and develop creative problem-solving skills that can enable them to be active participants in tackling the challenges our world faces,” Palmer says. “The goal is to merge the curricular with the co-curricular.”

It happened for a class of astronomy students who wanted to take pictures of the stars. After a brief photography lesson, Palmer met them for experiential lab work—a nighttime shoot.

“After the lab, the students kept asking if there was a way to prevent the stars from looking like they’re streaking, because a longer exposure makes the stars appear blurry,” Palmer says. “I told them: ‘You can do that, but you have to have something that counteracts the effects of the earth’s rotation.’”

Thus the SkyTracker was born. It’s a camera mount configured to move with the stars. Using nearly all of the technology and gear IDEAWORKS has to offer, the students built the device with lasercut gears, a 3-D printed chassis, and an Arduino controlled stepper motor.

Although SkyTracker and other prototypes under development have generated excitement among students who enjoy the creative process of hands-on design, Palmer has an ulterior motive.

“Honestly, I’m less focused on students coming up with the best product in the world and more focused on giving them great exposure to the resources available to them,” he says.

SkyTracker was also, he says, a perfect example of interdisciplinary thinking, problem-solving, and learning. “It began with a question from students in the astronomy class, became an independent project for students with an interest in robotics, and ended up being used during our photography workshop in the Southwest.”

As for Michael Cho, he loves IDEAWORKS because it allows students to collaborate, combining their interests and specialties.

“It’s exciting to see people from different backgrounds come to this one specific spot and say, ‘Hey, here’s an idea; let’s all come together and make this.’"

See photos from the Spring Break Southwest Photography Workshop. https://goo.gl/sfzRz4

“The underlying goal of IDEAWORKS is to teach students to look at the world as innovators.”

– Brian Palmer

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CAMPUS NEWS

Great Mascots Think Alike: The George Washington Leadership Series Extols “The Wawa Way”

ABOVE Gus and President Sheila Bair greet Howard Stokel and Richard Wood III ’91.

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Richard Wood III ’91 is Wawa royalty. His family founded the company way back in 1964. But don’t think for a second that he didn’t get his hands dirty in order to become the director of government relations and sustainability for Wawa. Every family employee is required to spend two years working in-store, ringing up customers’ coffee and hoagies and stocking the convenience store shelves with bags of chips and candy bars. “I loved working in-store. It was hard work, but I got to meet a lot of interesting people, and more importantly, it gave me the ability to relate to store associates. I would never make a change in the way things are executed in-store without thinking of how it will affect a store associate. It was a very valuable time that I have carried with me ever since.”

His career evolved over the course of 17 years into the position he has today. Wood is in charge of Wawa’s sustainability programs (he implemented a successful in-store recycling program that was the first of its kind for Wawa) and government affairs – a job he truly believes is the best in the company. “The position I have today, I like because I touch every component of

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the business. I get to work with the whole business, from marketing, to policy, to store operations, and I enjoy that. I have the greatest job in the company because I support everyone else’s business needs.”

That passion he has for his position at Wawa started with WC. “I developed relationships at Washington College with great people that I still have today.

My American studies major and minor in political science drove me to the work I do,” he says. “I got into business, and I enjoy business, but I always had a passion for politics, and my undergraduate studies really gave me the foundation to do what I do at Wawa and to make a difference.”

Wood, along with Vice Chairman of the Wawa Board of Directors Howard Stoekel, came to Washington College in March as speakers for the George Washington Leadership Series. Stoekel, author of The Wawa Way, discussed the history, management, and branding of Wawa, as well as the company’s unique business model. Wood took questions from eager business students looking for advice and insight. Even sweeter? The packed house enjoyed Wawa coffee and TastyKakes — the convenient combo of Wawa devotees everywhere.

Philanthropy, American Style Two leading American figures—financial executive David M. Rubenstein and historian Joseph Ellis—will visit campus in May to take part in a symposium about the tradition of giving in American history and then share the stage during Commencement ceremonies the following day.

Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chief executive of the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest alternative investment firms, will offer the Commencement Address. He will receive an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws.

“David is known for his tremendous business success,” notes College President David Sheila C. Bair. “But Rubenstein he is also a generous philanthropist with a longstanding commitment to higher education, as well as a distinguished American historian. Given our College’s own unique place in the history of this country and emphasis on citizen leadership, I can’t think of a more fitting person to inspire our students than David Rubenstein.”

Ellis, an award-winning historian who won the Pulitzer Prize for Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation and whose in-depth chronicle of the life of our first president was a New York Times bestseller, will receive the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters. As a guest at the September 2015 inauguration of Bair, Ellis channeled the spirit of George Washington, offering words of wisdom from one president to another.

For the Commencement festivities, Rubenstein will open the symposium with remarks on “Patriotic Philanthropy.” Ellis will then lead a Q&A session. The event mirrors a lively conversation the duo enjoyed during last year’s National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., when Rubenstein guided questions about Ellis’ latest book, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789.

The symposium will begin Friday, May 20, at 4 p.m. in Decker Theatre at Washington College’s Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts.

Commencement, held on the campus lawn, begins at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 21.

Buoying Science Innovation A generous gift and matching state grant create a $2 million endowment for a new chief of entrepreneurial science.

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ashington College’s Center for Environment & Society this spring gained a newly endowed position that will put an entrepreneurial spin on science, giving students and faculty the opportunity to develop costeffective and commercial solutions to environmental challenges here and around the world.

Doug Levin, deputy director of the CES, is the College’s first Chief of Entrepreneurial Science, a novel position in the liberal arts context. Although the program will be linked to multiple disciplines, its initial focus is on commercializing the Basic Observation Buoys, or BOBs, that form the backbone of Levin’s initiative, the Chester River Watershed Observatory (CRWO).

The position’s funding comes from two sources: a $1 million gift from Louisa Copeland Duemling H ’10 GP ’10, which established the Andelot Endowment Fund for the CES, and a matching $1 million grant from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative, a program designed to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields.

It’s the largest single grant of its type that the State of Maryland has made to the College.

“Louisa Duemling’s foresight and generosity have created a remarkable opportunity for the College,” says President Sheila Bair. “I have no doubt that her gift, and the State’s matching financial support, will result in exciting opportunities for our students to create innovative solutions to a host of environmental and scientific challenges facing our region and our world.

This program is yet another example of how Washington College is applying the analytical and problem-solving skills at the heart of a liberal arts education to the real issues confronting our society, providing practical know-how for our students and generating growth for our local economy.”

ABOVE Doug Levin and his team can build buoys used in water quality monitoring for much less than they would have to pay to purchase them outright. There’s a growing market for affordable solutions like these throughout the world where there are water quality issues.

The Chester River Watershed Observatory uses state-of-the-art technologies to monitor every aspect of the Chester River while involving college and K-12 students and teachers on every level of that endeavor—from the hands-on engineering of building a buoy with its attendant electronics and gear, to gathering the data and making it publicly accessible. CES Director John Seidel says that in the past, buoys like this have been too expensive to use on a meaningful scale. But Levin and his team have lowered the cost dramatically, making it possible to deploy them in large numbers. There’s also a growing market for affordable solutions like these throughout the world where there are water quality issues.

Read more about the work of the CRWO: http://www.washcoll.edu/live/ news/8373-its-a-buoy

“Louisa Duemling’s foresight and generosity have created a remarkable opportunity for the College.”

– President Sheila Bair

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CAMPUS NEWS | BY THE NUMBERS

Risk Perception The irony is that college students often exhibit risky behavior that is self-destructive (think binge drinking and unprotected sex), but they are less inclined to take risks that promise great reward.

Informed risk-takers recognize that innovation, exploration, entrepreneurship, and career advancement are all rooted in the notion of taking intelligent risks.

75%

Millennial entrepreneurs create three-quarters of all new jobs in our economy every year.

(Global Risk Insights)

23%

8/10 843 The number of entrepreneurs whose startup businesses fail within the first 18 months. (Forbes)

Nearly a quarter of all Millennial entrepreneurs started a business as a result of unemployment.

(Global Risk Insights)

Austrian paratrooper Felix Baumgartner traveled 843 miles per hour during a four-anda-half-minute free fall achieved during a 22.6mile descent from the stratosphere.

(National Geographic)

52%

22,000

The number of miles early humans migrated from Africa and across the planet.

(National Geographic)

Top Five Career Mistakes Millennials Make: 10

WASHINGTON COLLEGE MAGAZINE

1. Not being proactive 2. Hiding behind technology 3. Not being a team player 4. Assuming you’ll get a promotion 5. Losing momentum (Kiplinger)

More than half of people between the ages of 21 and 36 have their savings parked in cash, indicating extreme risk-aversion among these “recession babies." (Brookings Institution)

48%

Nearly half of Millennials say that owning their own business is a top life goal. One in five plans to quit her day job and start a business in the coming year.

CAMPUS NEWS

Leadership and Service Four alumni were among those honored at George Washington’s Birthday Convocation in February. John A. Moag, Jr. ’77 received the honorary Doctor of Laws degree; Richard L. Creighton ’73 took home the Alumni Service Award, Patricia K. McGee ’81 was one of two President’s Medal winners, and Lauren Littlefield ’91 received a President’s Distinguished Service Award.

A second President’s Medal was awarded to Joseph P. Baker, a board member and procurement director for the Kent County Food Pantry, and the Kent County Backpack Program. Phil Ticknor, assistant to the athletic director for communications and academic support, was recognized with the President’s Distinguished Service Award.

Moag, a former political science major and an emeritus member of the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors, is CEO of Moag & Company, the nation’s preeminent sports investment banking firm. In his keynote remarks, Moag recalled his undergraduate days as a simpler time, and urged students to rekindle the art of conversation.

Over the past two decades, Creighton, a former marketing executive, has served on the President’s Leadership Council, helped promote The 1782 Society as a member of its Executive Committee, and lent his expertise to the College’s communications and marketing team. Most recently, he chaired the presidential search committee that brought Sheila C. Bair to Washington College. He is co-chair of the board.

In presenting McGee with the President’s Medal, Washington College recognized one of the community’s most devoted citizens. The veteran local news reporter is also a high school field hockey coach, a member of the Kent County Board of Education, and a community volunteer.

Littlefield, recognized as Maryland’s Undergraduate Psychology Teacher of the Year in 2007, recently completed a nine-year term as chair of the Department of Psychology. Known for her own scholarship in clinical neuropsychology as well as for engaging young scientists in psychological research, she has co-authored 92 conference posters with Washington College students. Most recently, a chapter on education reform strategies she co-authored has been published as part of Springer’s Series on Clinical Child Psychology.

From The Archives A rare document from the 18th century recently found its way back to Washington College, where a young professor had penned a letter addressed to his father, Mordecai Moore of Philadelphia. Evelyn E. Brame discovered the letter among her family papers. by Heather Calloway

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n April 21, 1794, Jesse Moore was a 28-year-old college professor contemplating his future. In a four-page letter written on a single folded sheet of handmade paper, Jesse relays to his parents news of his situation in Chestertown and considers his next career move.

In the letter Jesse mentions his continued interest in becoming a clergyman of the Presbyterian or Episcopal Church, but noted that the “salaries of most of the Clergy are so mean, that it can not be imagined I would become one for the sake of the pay that is commonly afforded. Scarcely any of the best endowed parsonages in Maryland are much better than the office which I now hold.”

He goes on to talk about Washington College and says, “with respect to my continuance in this college, during the ensuing summer, for several reasons, I am not able to speak with certainty. I have made no possitive (sic) determination…Perhaps I may, notwithstanding, always continue as a professor in some college; yet now it seems very improbably.”

Jesse Moore went on to earn a law degree and became president judge of the Sixth Judicial District of Pennsylvania (Allegheny County) in 1803. He was described as “a great stickler for the observance of court rules” and was a “gentleman of the Colonial pattern, mild, faithful and firm.” He died December 21, 1854.

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CAMPUS NEWS

Perspectives on Global Diplomacy

ABOVE Professor Tahir Shad (center) moderated the symposium on global diplomacy with veteran ambassadors Richard J. Dalton (left) and Frank G. Wisner (right). Photo: Matt Spangler

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rom the stage of Hotchkiss Recital Hall one evening in early December, former U.S. Ambassador Frank G. Wisner and Sir Richard W. Dalton, the former Ambassador of Great Britain, celebrated the historic alliances between their two countries and the joint diplomatic efforts that helped bring about the unification of the European Union, the fall of communism, and the roadblock to nuclear weapon development in Iran.

The two career diplomats, who each received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, also acknowledged that much work remains to be done, and called on the students in the audience to consider careers in public service.

“We live in a most troubled world, not the least of which is the growth of Islamic radicalism,” noted Wisner. “I have faith that Washington College will produce leaders who are capable of negotiating peace and handing over to the next generation a world in better shape than you found it.”

Sir Dalton concurred. “We know

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what kind of world we want: free people, healthy families, respect for diversity, and justice for victims of genocide and other crimes against humanity. We also know how far we are from achieving those ideals.”

Wisner, who also served as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and Undersecretary of State for International Security Affairs, had strong words about the international community’s tepid response to the Syrian refugee crisis. “We are seeing the biggest human migration since the end of World War II. Half of Syria’s population are displaced, and an additional 25 percent have fled the country. The failure of the international community to react begins inside the region itself, but the United States has the ability to take larger numbers, and I think we ought to be doing more. That we would be intimidated by the notion that ISIS could infiltrate the stream of refugees seems beyond understanding.

We are turning our backs on one of the major tenets of American democracy.”

Hundred Proof Art

Once again, the Hundred Proof exhibition of student artwork is spinning, glimmering, and repeatedly detonating in Kohl Gallery. The show contains 48 works by 30 artists, ranging from soil paintings and letterpress poems to soft sculptures and found-object art. The artists represented are as diverse as their media, as this year was the first that students outside of art classes were invited to participate.

English and theatre major Reilly Cox ’16 has seven pieces on display in his first art exhibition. “While it has allowed me the opportunity to see the process of being in an art show, it has also forced me to look at how my works speak to one other and what of that conversation seems important to share.”

April’s Not Cruel, Just Busy From left: Jim Spencer, Rick Moog, and Frank Creegan

Poster symposia, recitals, oral presentations, theater productions, art exhibitions, and thesis defenses peppered the April calendar, as graduating seniors in all disciplines showcased their Senior Capstone Experience projects in public forums. The best of the SCEs—those earning departmental honors or those of high academic merit as selected by a faculty advisor—will be archived in Miller Library.

See a sampling of SCE projects at washcoll.edu/academics/sce-celebration

‘‘ Raising Their Voices

“Palin is not alone among conservatives, particularly those who sympathize with the Tea Party, in their view that the Republican Party is weak-kneed and ineffectual, despite lots of evidence that the GOP has taken a far right turn thanks in no small measure to the Tea Party movement. In my forthcoming book Tea Party Women: Mama Grizzlies, Grassroots Activists, and the Changing Face of the American Right, I interview dozens of women and they, too, uniformly express downright derision toward the Republican Party. These Tea Party women believe that the current crop of GOP leaders will do little to shrink the size and scope of government.… However, I was surprised to find that some of the animosity toward the Republican Party is linked, in part, to their gender. Several activists I interviewed recounted attempts to influence their local or state Republican parties in a more conservative direction, only to encounter a hostile, good ’ole boys network. For example, Katrina Pierson, who co-founded the Garland Tea Party in Dallas, Texas in 2009, hails the Tea Party movement for allowing women to find their voices as a new generation of conservative leaders, telling me, “It used to be that men in the GOP or male leaders could take a woman’s idea as their own—I have had this experience—but with social media, women can be attributed, they can define their own brand, and define yourself and have your ideas heard. You don’t have to go through the good old boys’ club any longer and that has been huge for women.”

CAMPUS NEWS | CITED IN THE NEWS

The Trouble With Easy Money

Seeing Black and White

“While the United States’ higher education system remains the envy of the world, its business model is fundamentally broken. Relentless tuition increases are making the quality of education we provide beyond the reach of students living in this country and an increasingly unattractive option for students living abroad. Experienced managers with business and finance skills can help solve the problem.

But college leaders must also be committed to the ultimate goal of the institutions they lead— educating students. . . .

George’s Brigade is just one component of our full frontal assault on affordability. We have frozen tuition, we are scrutinizing non-faculty hiring, and we have launched another scholarship campaign, Dam the Debt, to help pay down graduating seniors’ student loans.

Making our school more affordable and giving our graduates more financial freedom as they enter the workforce are the right things to do. But they are also the smart thing to do from a business standpoint. Colleges and universities are on an unsustainable path. Similar to the role easy access to mortgage borrowing played in feeding the housing bubble, readily available student loan programs have fed unsustainable tuition increases. And the sad irony is that even as student debt has surpassed $1.2 trillion, the percentage of high school graduates going to college has remained relatively flat for the last decade. We have increased the costs of college.

We have not increased access.

It’s time to bring some business discipline to our system of higher education.”

“Sally decides to sue for her freedom on the grounds that she is not, in fact, an AfricanAmerican slave, but is in fact a free white woman of German descent and was held illegally in slavery. … She’s not African looking but neither are many, many slaves in New Orleans or for that matter in other parts of the United States, so it becomes apparent during the course of the trial that seeing someone enslaved who looks light skinned or white is not shocking to people.

After she wins her appeal her lawyer makes a speech at this party that they have. One of the things he says is part of the reason we know she’s white is because she’s won over so many white people to her cause. That wouldn’t have happened if she were really an African.

Southern whites want desperately to believe that they can tell the difference between white people and black people. And so the fact that white people accept her as a white person, they consider that factual evidence: Well, she must be white because we think she’s white.

It’s also a window on American’s struggle to make sense of the complex issue of race. Americans, typically white Americans, have tried to put people into one of two categories: white and black. And yet, since the earliest days of our history, there are people who don’t fit those binary categories.”

College President Sheila Bair writing in the March 8, 2016, online edition of Fortune, “The Real Reason Why College Students Drop Out.”

Carol Wilson, the Arthur A. and Elizabeth R. Knapp Professor of American History, interviewed in January 2016 on BackStory with The American History Guys, in a program called “Color Lines: Racial Passing in America.” She discusses the story and legal battle of Sally Miller, a New Orleans slave who sued for her freedom after a German woman became convinced that she was really a long-lost German girl.

Melissa Deckman, Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs and chair of the Department of Political Science, in her blog “What Sarah Palin’s Endorsement of Donald Trump May Say About Tea Party Women,” in the Center for American Women and Politics, Gender Watch 2016, January 26, 2016

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FA C U LT Y

Subverting the Literary Canon Professor Richard DeProspo’s new book contests prevailing scholarship about early American literature.

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eretical? Subversive? Maybe groundbreaking?

Whatever the reaction among early American literature scholars, Professor Richard De Prospo’s latest book calls into question the very definition of early American literature and suggests that conventional scholarship misses the mark on many levels.

Since the publication of De Prospo’s Theism in the Discourse of Jonathan Edwards he has been working to revise American literary history by suggesting that early American literature is not the crucible in which modern American literature was formed, as generations of scholars have contended.

In The Latest Early American Literature, published by the University of Delaware Press in January, De Prospo again challenges the idea that early American literature is modern American literature in embryo. “One thing I’m trying to do is to restore the independence of early American literature and to emphasize the differences between it and its modern successors,” he says.

DeProspo takes issue with a number of prevailing attitudes in the field, including American exceptionalism, the ecocritical emphasizing of the land, and the “monumentalizing” of American literature as an exclusively national literature. De Prospo suggests that the most theoretically promising approach— illuminating how radically early American texts differ from modern American ones—can both help restore the “other than humanist, theist content” of the early texts and also expose “the power, influence, and pervasiveness of modern humanism” in the later ones.

In the process he takes on the major American literature anthologies and American literary histories in the field that, he says, “both marginalize and oversell” early American literature to undergraduates in their attempts 14

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to show how it anticipates Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Hawthorne, Whitman, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and all the rest of the modern Americanist—still predominantly male— literary canon. Perhaps most unsettling of all to the status quo, he presents Edgar Allan Poe as an early American writer, not the precocious prodigy of modernism’s avant garde that Poe is almost universally considered to represent.

“The book contests some really powerful people in the field who decide what writers get taught to undergraduates. I’ve been teaching versions of what I write about in the book to Washington College students for over 40 years now, and a lot of it has been previously published in literary theory journals that most Americanists don’t read. But all of this becomes much more exposed now that the book’s out. I’m investigating witness protection.”

Professor De Prospo's book is available at Amazon.com

“The book contests some really powerful people in the field who decide what writers get taught to undergraduates.”

– Richard De Prospo

Turtles Go Royal No one knows the travels of Eastern painted turtles better than Aaron Krochmal, associate professor of biology, who for seven years has been studying how they navigate and migrate.

Last summer, he and his students, along with Krochmal’s colleague Timothy C. Roth, assistant professor of psychology at Franklin & Marshall College, revealed that turtles use spatial memory as they navigate over land.

Their new findings have earned them the cover story in one of the world’s most prestigious international science journals, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences.

The cover photograph in the February 10, 2016 issue—a baby Eastern painted turtle in mid-migration—was taken by Baker Gerwig ’14, a biology major who was part of the turtle project.

Little has been known about how turtles find new habitats or return to old ones until now, largely because scientists could never be sure when turtles would leave a pond and start traveling. Krochmal solved that problem when he started his research in 2009 on a farm near the College, where every summer a large pond is drained on a set date, forcing the turtles to move. Krochmal, Roth, and their undergraduate researchers are able to monitor where turtles go and how they get there.

Previously, the team has shown that turtles are capable of learning how to navigate until they are four years old, after which turtles appear incapable of learning proper migration routes. Last summer, using scopolamine to manipulate the reptiles’ brains, they were able to determine that turtles use spatial memory as they navigate their overland habitat.

Lost Love A one-man publishing firm and a designer of abecedarians, agendas, address books, and “blanks,” this story’s narrator threads together his most complicated design yet: the story of his own past. Robert Day’s story Let Us Imagine Lost Love weaves through his college memories, written in fleeting, Didion-esque vignettes: Berkeley. The ‘60s. Two boys howling Ginsberg in the campus library. Riots. The bourgeois of academia and pretend-doctors. A lab where dogs are bled dry for the “betterment of humanity.” Teeming with reminiscences of the ugly and beautiful, of youthful misunderstandings and secret longings, Day’s newest volume offers us a man’s life as glossy, possible, and vast as a blank book.

— Neal Boulton ’89

El Salvador’s Captured Peace Christine Wade’s new book examines the role of elites in the peacemaking process in El Salvador.

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he locals don’t call it peace. In El Salvador, they call what the United Nations has lauded as one of its major peacebuilding successes “not war.”

And by anyone’s calculation, what is happening today in this Central American country cannot be considered remotely peaceful. More than 6,600 people were murdered in El Salvador in 2015. At a homicide rate of nearly 105 per 100,000—more than 17 times the global average—El Salvador now bears the grim title of murder capital of the world.

In Captured Peace: Elites and Peacebuilding in El Salvador (2016, Ohio University Press), Christine Wade examines how local elites manipulated the peace process, helping lead the country to its present state.

“One of the problems that really puzzled me is that El Salvador is considered to be one of the most successful cases of UN peacebuilding,” says Wade, associate professor of political science and international studies. “The way we measure success in peace processes is about recidivism—did the war recur? El Salvador is durable in the respect that we have more than two decades of peace. The conflict has not resumed. It doesn’t even appear likely to resume.

But El Salvador is not a country at peace. You can’t have the world’s highest homicide rate and call yourself a peaceful place.”

Wade has been working and researching in El Salvador since the late 1990s, just a few years after representatives of the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed the Chapúltepec Peace Accords.

In Captured Peace Wade wanted to

look at the peace process from a fresh angle—that of how elites with the advantage of incumbency influenced the peace process. “From the moment when they set the agenda for what they were going to negotiate, through implementation, the process was completely controlled by economic elites,” she says. She also expanded the concept of regulatory capture to develop a framework for the idea of a peace captured by the oligarchy that ruled El Salvador before, during, and after the civil war to illustrate “what happens when entrenched elites capture a peace process and use it for their own objectives.”

She says entrenched power, political corruption, militarization, and lack of social and economic reform simply serve to continue as a form of “path dependence,” a cultural and political inertia that becomes increasingly resistant to fundamental change.

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STUDENTS

When In Rome ...

Go for the Win! Traveling to Rome to participate in Harvard’s World Model United Nations, Washington College’s Model UN team wins two Best Delegate awards while reveling in the cultural smorgasbord.

ABOVE The Washington College World MUN delegaton celebrates their strong showing.

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ust about the last thing Tyanna Baker and Josh Peterson expected when they matriculated with Washington College’s class of 2019 last fall was to be winning Best Delegate awards at the World Model United Nations (World MUN) in Rome. Then again, neither one of them ever expected to be traveling to Italy’s ancient city, participating in an audience with Pope Francis, and mingling with more than 2,400 other students from around the world—all within their first year at WAC. “It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had,” says Peterson, a Texan who plans to major in international studies and Hispanic studies.

“Same,” says Baker, who came to Chestertown from Alaska and is an economics and political science major, with a minor in Spanish. “Definitely the highlight of my life so far.”

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That the two freshmen did so well, however, in such a competitive environment—Harvard’s World MUN is the annual international pinnacle of Model UN competitions—came as little surprise to Tahir Shad, associate professor of political science and international studies who brought Model UN to the campus 25 years ago and has been its director since.

“I would say this is one of the strongest delegations that we’ve taken to the World MUN. It’s incredibly

competitive,” Shad says. For a small liberal arts college, he says, Washington College has a strong national ranking; in the Fall 2014 North American College rankings (World Division) by bestdelegate.com, Washington College was listed in the top 75. “We are ranked highly because of the number of awards that we’ve won at Yale’s Security Council Simulation, World MUN, and the other models where we’ve participated.”

“We’re ranked really high for a small college,” says Shana Brouder ’16, a double major in international studies and German studies and president of the International Studies Council, which oversees the training and selection of WAC’s Model UN team. On the Model UN team since her freshman year, she has participated in World MUNs in Brussels, Korea, and Rome.

“We’re competing against George Washington University, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and we’re still really competitive.”

In Rome, Washington College’s team was among 2,400 students from 115 countries. Only 18 schools from the United States competed, including Yale, Princeton, George Washington, Claremont McKenna, Boston University, Georgetown, Colgate, and the College of William and Mary.

Along with the actual conference, the fiveday event incorporated special ceremonies and opportunities including an audience with Pope Francis, a parade from St. Peter’s Basilica through the city to the Colosseum, different cultural events every night, and opening ceremonies that included a welcoming speech from Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi.

“Academically it’s a really great program, but even more important is this intercultural connectedness that comes about, the international communications that happen,” Shad says. “Our students learn how to deal with and be friends with people from all over the world. And that’s just as, if not more, important for our students.”

The College’s Model UN team gets financial support from multiple sources on campus, among them the Bennett Endowment for International Studies, the Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, and the Student Government Association.

That the two freshmen did so well … came as little surprise to Tahir Shad.

The Good Earth Laurel Jones ’16 is combining art and chemistry in her Senior Capstone Experience project, part of which is on display at the Kohl Gallery as artwork made of soilbased paint.

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ake no mistake: Laurel Jones ’16 loves chemistry. She chose the major— and paired it with math—because she wanted “to understand how the world works on a smaller level. That was the allure. I wanted to be that person, that scientist.” But growing up as an only child on a farm in Harford County, Maryland, she also developed a deep love for art.

“I didn’t have any brothers or sisters or neighbors to play with, and so art was always my go-to,” she says. And, in a quintessentially Washington College way, she has combined these two loves into her Senior Capstone Experience project, combining research in “green chemistry” into an art project using soil-based paints. The first segment of her SCE, “Greener Paints: Pigments of the Earth,” was on display as part of the “100 Proof” student art exhibition in the Kohl Gallery earlier this spring.

Jones’ SCE was inspired by a class that Anne Marteel-Parrish, professor of chemistry and the Creegan Chair in Green Chemistry, and Heather Harvey, assistant professor of art, are developing.

“It’s going to cross the two departments of chemistry and art,” Jones says, “and it’s about combining green chemistry and sustainability with art, and actually completing works in the lab that combine the two different fields. That was one of the options that students could choose for an SCE; I saw that and thought, that’s what I want.”

Her project has multiple parts. In the literature review, she researched the process of making traditional paints on an industrial scale, learning about their core components and the environmental and health implications of the chemicals and processes involved. She also researched the latest information in green chemistry and paints, and finally, discussed green paints she could make herself.

“That’s when the experimental portion came in,” she says. Her first experiment was using different types of soil to create paints. She collected soil samples from seven locations, including Montross, Virginia, Chestertown, and a beach on the lower Chesapeake. Then, she experimented with natural binders.

“All paints need a binder to suspend the particles or pigment into something that can be spreadable,” she says. “So I made this naturally derived binder from casein, which is a protein in cow’s milk. So soil, protein, and I made paint.”

She used the material to create three paintings, all different aspects of leaves of a tree. Though fundamentally earth-toned, the paintings show distinctive greys, ochres, browns, and yellows, and they have a gritty texture that compels you to reach out and touch them.

She hopes that her senior capstone project will inspire people to think differently about the world around them.

“That you can make a painting and make paint without traditional crazy chemicals and toxic materials, I think just seeing that will maybe make people think for a second,” she says. “There are a lot of options available, and some of them are natural and in our own back yards.”

See the exhibit here. www.washcoll.edu/livewhale/?galleries_edit&id=3321

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Moral Injury: An Inquiry Hjordis Lorenz ’16 is conducting pioneering research that could help military veterans affected by the psychological toll of deployment. by By Catalina Righter ’17

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or her senior capstone project, psychology major Hjordis Lorenz ’16 is doing groundbreaking work focused on moral injury, a psychological concept she considers to be at the dawn of its research in its relation to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in military veterans.

“Moral injury can occur if an individual has an experience that goes strongly against his or her moral conscience and profoundly held beliefs where moral transgression is either perpetrated, passively witnessed, or learned about,” Lorenz says. “My hypothesis is that PTSD with moral injury impedes the recovery process.”

Lorenz, an international student from Germany, will attend graduate school this fall at the University of Oxford for a program in experimental psychology. Her senior thesis research will serve as the basis for a research proposal into prevention of complicated PTSD with the Oxford Center for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma.

As part of her undergraduate research, Lorenz surveyed more than 130 U.S. military veterans, working with the Washington College Veterans Association and Veterans Resource Coordinator Gene Davis to extend her reach. Research such as this may lead to progressive improvement in psychological treatment for veterans and others affected by PTSD. “If we find that specific aspects of this disorder hinder primary recovery, we need to change our treatment to target these issues directly,” she says.

Travels abroad as well as experiences close to campus motivated Lorenz to take on the subject of trauma research.

“Through a Cater Society grant, I worked with traumatized women fleeing domestic violence in Ecuador during the summer of my sophomore year, and did two oneyear internships through our psychology

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ABOVE An American soldier secures the site of a bomb blast in northern Baghdad on December 8, 2009. Five powerful car bombs rocked Baghdad, killing 112 people, including women and students, and wounding 207 in the third coordinated massacre to devastate the capital since August of that year. Photo credit: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Afp/Getty Images

department at a rape crisis center and at a drug treatment center in Chestertown,” she says. “There, working with patients, I was confronted with the disabling effects of moral injury that hindered the recovery progress.”

Lauren Littlefield, associate professor of psychology and Lorenz’s faculty advisor, has been closely monitoring her research in psychological trauma, and is proud of her initiative in finding new avenues to explore.

“Hjordis’s excitement and drive about treating trauma-based conditions is unusually high for an undergraduate student. Over the last two years, she has accrued quite an impressive list of related experiences. I have absolutely no doubt that Hjordis has a bright future ahead of her – both in research and in clinical

work,” Littlefield says. “I am so proud of her achievements and pleased to have played a role in supporting her through her research and clinical experiences.”

Lorenz credits Littlefield and the support of other professors with helping her advance her research. “During my graduate school applications, I realized that I had an immense advantage in research experience compared to other applicants, because as an undergraduate I had been able not only to do research with professors but to present research posters at professional conferences,” Lorenz says. “All the skills I needed to complete my thesis, I learned during my Washington College career.”

A Perfect Ten The men’s swim team certainly made waves this season. With no losses ten meets into their regular season, the team made their dream of an undefeated season a reality, and then capped that accomplishment with a third-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships.

Co-captain Charles Logan ’16 attributes this success to hard work and a focused mindset.

“I could not be prouder of the team. We came in with a goal, and we achieved it,” he says.

“Swimming has a reputation as an individual sport, but I think we have proven that wrong.

We came together with the mentality that everything we do is for the betterment of our team as a whole so that we can win.”

Under the guidance of coaches Kim Lessard and Matt Harris, the program has become a Centennial Conference powerhouse. A big factor in the team’s success this year, Lessard notes, was the influence of her veteran swimmers.

“Our seniors provided the leadership to keep the men focused. Every day they were in practice, pushing each other to be the best they can be,” Lessard says. “The team spirit and encouragement they exhibited daily really made me smile; this is going to be a team to remember.”

A National Champ Competing against 40 D-III schools at the 2016 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships in Texas this spring, the College’s Trap and Skeet team placed 18th overall and fielded a national champion.

Patrick H. McGuinness ’17 (above, left) shot a 98/100 in American Trap to be crowned the American Trap B-Class National Champion.

Participating in six disciplines of shotgun sports—American Trap, American Skeet, International Trap, International Skeet, Sporting Clays, and 5-Stand, the team finished ahead of several larger schools, including the University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, the U.S. Naval Academy, and University of Virginia.

Speaking in Poetry

ABOVE Students and faculty gathered to celebrate National Poetry Month with a multilingual poetry reading that included poems read in everything from Middle English and Hindi to Russian and Korean.

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he Rose O’Neill Literary House briefly transformed into a global village one afternoon this spring as a packed house listened to poetry readings in 13 different languages. The event, called “Whan that Aprille Day,” marked National Poetry Month with a celebration of multilingual poetry and Geoffrey Chaucer—with a few extra poets like Sappho, Neruda, and Rilke thrown in for good measure.

“Appreciate the beauty of this language,” Courtney Rydel told the audience, “like Chaucer standing on the docks, straining to hear snatches of new tongues and new tales.” Rydel, assistant professor of English, and Olivia Serio ’17, president of the Poetry Club, emceed the event, which was co-sponsored by the Poetry Club, Sigma Delta Tau (the English Honor Society), the Global Education Office, and the Lit House.

Speakers read different versions of excerpts from Chaucer; for instance, Serio read his “General Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales in contemporary English, Leslie Rothstein ’16 read it in Middle English, Mook Lim, assistant professor of economics, rendered it in Korean, and David Hull, assistant professor of Chinese language, in Mandarin.

Erin Smedley ’16 read Chaucer’s famous tale “The Wife of Bath” in Middle English, followed by Olabisi Alabi ’16 “reading in my Nigerian accent” British poet Patience Agabi’s more modern twist on the story, “Wife of Bafa.”

Rachel Brown ’16 read “Alturas de Macchu Picchu” by Pablo Neruda in Spanish; Anna Black ’16 read “The Prayer of Francois Villon” by Bulat Okudzhava in Russian; Kayla Kyle ’16 read “Gerfunden” by Johann Wolfgang von Geothe in German; Cody Bistline ’19 read “Le Vin des Amant” by Charles Baudelaire in French; and Rhea Arora ’18 read “Varsha Aayi” by Madan Gopal Sharma in Hindi. Casie Jahnigan ’17 and Valerie Wilson ’17 took sides reading Arcite and Palamoun’s fight from “The Knight’s Tale” in Middle English.

Philip Walsh, assistant professor of English and instructor of Latin and ancient Greek, read from Catallus and Sappho in Latin and Greek, respectively.

And Bennett Lamond, professor of English emeritus, gave a raucous rendition of Chaucer’s “To Rosamonde” ensuring that listeners of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” will never hear the song quite the same way.

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FALLING When your world falls apart and the best-laid plans go awry, when your instincts propel you to give up the comfort of everything familiar in search of something that resonates with your authentic self, those are the moments of truth.

Only those who find the courage to face down their fears and the risk of the unknown can find a way to do something extraordinary.

Failing My Way Forward

by Brenna Nan Schneider ’06

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n a 17-mile solo hike in Aspen, I gave myself four months to make a choice: get a job or launch a business. Two weeks earlier, I had been working for a U.S. apparel manufacturing company designed to empower single moms. We had just closed our manufacturing plant and laid off our team. MoJo’s closing seemed to indicate that apparel manufacturing had failed to make a U.S. comeback and to create the jobs we envisioned. On that cold Aspen hike, I processed my heartbreak and committed myself to an ultimatum that in retrospect sounds

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bold and brave. In reality, there was nothing about the prospect of launching a business that felt brave.

The company that had closed was founded by talented and well-funded serial entrepreneurs; I had never started a business and brought no capital to the table. Every external indicator seemed to point to a closed door for U.S. apparel manufacturing. I knew the pain of closing a factory and I couldn’t imagine taking any risk that could come to that again. Far more personal fears weighed in. The counter to those fears, however, was a deep-seated belief that apparel

manufacturing was on the cusp of a return.

I applied to a Massachusetts business accelerator. I learned the Lean Startup method and began obsessively testing the assumption that U.S. apparel could scale again in the U.S. I cold-called, pitched, and put my half-baked ideas in front of the smartest people I could find.

My vision became clearer; it morphed with each conversation. By the end of the accelerator, I had a business model in hand. I could envision the industry’s return and also the jobs it would create, a business in which people could work out

UP G

Entrepreneurship

“The liberal arts offers the ideal training for business leaders because we understand how to weigh risks and returns from multiple perspectives in search of the best possible decisions.”

ABOVE Brenna Nan Schneider ’06 is CEO of 99Degrees Custom.

of post-industrial poverty and into the future innovation economy.

I launched 99Degrees Custom with two sewing machines, two machine operators, one customer, and $7,500 in prize money from EforAll. I quickly learned that failure was not behind me; instead it was constantly with me. I think back with intimate recollection to countless failures — some small and others large enough to leave a mark.

Three years later, 99Degrees Custom employs 36 people. We work for brands like Under Armour, New Balance, Rhone Apparel, Yoga Smoga, and Polartec. We are tripling in 2016. Many of my early assumptions have proven true. We have begun to actualize our vision of job creation as we build the future of apparel manufacturing right here in the U.S. I once believed that failure marked the end of a vision. I now know that failure is, in fact, the only way to realize a vision. Some wonder why so many

business fail. It seems obvious to me.

Every business is launched in a state of failure. Every start-up operates in a state of failure for months, if not years.

And each business either turns that transformative corner and makes it, or it shut its doors. No matter, failure is an experience that entrepreneurs share. The best businesses experience failure day in and day out because risks are both bold and calculated. The best entrepreneurs risk hard enough that failure is inevitable but not crippling. The best teams face failure head-on. They either innovate through or change gears and pivot. I learn to wake up every day to face the day’s failures with resilience and a continued commitment to risk again. My ability to risk and fail means the return of an industry many of us thought was long gone, an industry that will create thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs in the next decade.

wc board chair Larry Culp ’85, former ceo of danaher

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Parenting True North

by Wendy Mitman Clarke

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as it risky to take our young son and daughter traveling fulltime for four years on our 45foot sailboat? Of course. Which is only one of the reasons we did it.

“Hey.” I gently shake my son’s shoulder.

He rolls over in his blankets, yawns. In the bunk below him, his little sister hears me and opens her eyes, a nested bird, blinking, wary.

“You up for it?” I ask. She nods.

“OK then.” I turn and take the three steps into the main cabin, leaving behind the linty warmth of sleepy kids, and put the teakettle on. Then I begin the last round of duties for my watch, which is ending now at midnight.

In the logbook open on the counter, I make my notes with fine-tipped pen: date and time, latitude and longitude, bearing, speed over ground, distance covered in the past hour, barometer, wind speed, sea state.

I write some comments about the last hour, which has been, thankfully, uneventful. It’s a beautiful, easy night here in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, somewhere between Panama and Florida, a thousand miles from anywhere. The stuff of dreams.

By the time I’m finished, my son is ambling out of his cabin, sliding into his safety harness. I hand him the small bracelet velcroed to my wrist—it’s a transmitter that will send a shriek through the boat if he gets more than 40 feet from the cockpit.

Both of these pieces of gear are to prevent the horror of falling overboard in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean without anyone knowing about it. Some of the most experienced sailors in the world have been lost precisely this way. The stuff of nightmares.

So I hand my son the bracelet, as I brief him about the last four hours and what he needs to be aware of as he takes the watch: Update the log hourly; run the radar every 22

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hour to look for contacts; watch for any lights, which could be ships or fishing boats; call them if we’re getting too close; wake me or his father if he has any doubts about anything. Stay alert. Don’t leave the cockpit without waking one of us up. Ever.

The last thing I do is hand him and his sister mugs of hot chocolate. Then I go to sleep, leaving to my 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter the responsibility of running our 45-foot steel sailboat through a four-hour night watch alone on what has been called, so romantically, the wine-dark sea.

It’s not hyperbole to say that I am putting all of our lives in their hands.

Nor is it disingenuous to say that one reason my husband and I can sleep well is because we trust them entirely with this responsibility.

Some people might say that what we’ve done is crazy—selling a lucrative business and most of our stuff at the peak of our socalled earning years, pulling our kids from good schools and a nice home in a popular town to live, travel, and homeschool fulltime on a boat. Why jump out of a perfectly good plane, as it were.

Those same people also say that these risks we have taken with our children are crazy, if not borderline negligent. We have sailed in places where piracy is a real concern. We have traveled in countries where drug violence is rampant, where a human life can be bought with a hundred dollars, U.S. In those countries, we have gone on field trips that included hiking mountains and falling, jumping, and swimming down 27 waterfalls to the bottom (the best waterpark ever) and climbing Mayan temples via extremely steep and dubious ladders. We have lived with dengue, malaria, and zika before anybody knew it was zika. We have scuba dived with sharks, and—once—snorkeled with a

saltwater croc we didn’t realize was there at the time. Routinely, we finish homeschool for the day and turn our kids loose with the family car—a 10-foot, outboard-powered dinghy—and tell them to go get lost on an island for awhile.

People have asked me, wasn’t I scared?

Well, yeah. What risk worth its salt comes without some element of fear and doubt?

But few rewards come without such risks. Our kids have a completely unique perspective among their peers. They’ve learned about lives and worlds far beyond the bubble-wrapped safety and entitlement of American suburbia. They’re adaptable, tolerant, and know how to endure uncertainty and discomfort. Having taken

“When you learn to see things from another’s point of view, it takes away the emphasis on the individual and opens the path to future inquiry.” michael roth, president of wesleyan university, speaking at wc in feb. 2016

ABOVE The author's son perched high in the rigging, just for fun.

on great responsibility, they have a bedrock confidence in themselves and each other.

This night watch will be a challenge for our son, who is in charge for the first time on this passage north. At 14, he’s more experienced out here than most adults. And while I have to pry him from his bunk in the mornings for school, he’s up and out for this job with just a nudge. Still, it’s dark, the sea is empty, and the night is long. All the more reason, then, I am glad we are here.

These hours, these days, these miles, will be his true north. As they are mine.

Wendy Mitman Clarke, director of media relations for Washington College, spent four years with her family aboard Osprey, writing stories and a monthly column for the national sailing magazine Cruising World.

You can access some of those stories here: http://www.cruisingworld.com/taxonomy/ term/1008055

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Talking to Strangers

by Steven Li ’17

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’m an entrepreneur and an explorer. After my sophomore year, I went to Rome for a month, and it opened up the gate for exploring the world. I’m still friends with everyone I met on this trip, including a girl from Sydney named Georgie.

When I went to Australia, she showed me around. It’s fascinating how people connect.

I put my energy out there; they can accept my energy to talk to me and have an interesting conversation, or they don’t. Usually they do.

I used to be shy, but now I can start conversations easily. When I talk to people from all over the world I am like a sponge. I absorb everything. You never know who you are going to meet; they might become friends or business connections.

For me, coming from Beijing, China, studying abroad was a huge step. When I got here in August 2013, I did not know anyone in America. I could barely speak English at the time. But I still took the initiative to make the biggest change of my life by pursuing my college degree in America—a country with a totally different educational system than mine. That’s what I wanted.

Now I have a lot of American friends. I started the Chinese Student Union because I thought it was important for American students to understand Chinese culture.

I'm thinking about going to graduate school in Europe or Australia. But I will definitely travel. I'll backpack through Europe and take the opportunity to get to know the people I meet on the road. I love exploring this fascinating world!

Steven Li ’17, a business management major, has visited four continents. He hopes to work in Germany this summer. To learn more about his adventures visit: steven-li-t8qt. squarespace.com/#explore

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Discovery

LEFT Steven Li ’17 visited the Mayan ruins on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula this spring.

My Long Way Round

By Kate Amann ’06

I

n November 2015, I walked out of my job, got on my first of 21 trains, and over the course of three months went all the way to Bangkok, Thailand, without ever leaving the earth.

I jumped into Lake Baikal in December, I took silly pictures with the world’s biggest Lenin head, I ate horse intestine in Mongolia, I celebrated New Year just outside the toilets at the Chinese border station, I walked through a city made of ice and light in Harbin, I drank piña coladas on the beach in Vietnam, I wandered around Angkor Wat feeling like I was in an Indiana Jones film, I danced the Lindy hop in the street in front of the tallest pagoda in Thailand.

And those are only the headline moments.

The best bits are the largely unremarkable ones, like seeing the color of the sky change over Moscow as the sun set on my aimless wander around the Boulevard Ring, or blaring Sidney Bechet in my headphones while I watched China roll by in the middle of a sleepless night on the train.

These things don’t make it to the shiny Instagram layer of the trip that everyone admires. They live in the iceberg part that belongs to you, the part you can never really figure out how to explain.

I should back up though. How did this big adventure even come about?

The best reasons I can offer for wanting to see half the world at ground level is “because it’s there” and “well, I bet the food is good.”

It started 12 years ago when I was up late in a hotel room in Edinburgh, at the end of my semester abroad in St. Andrews, watching the first few episodes of The Long Way Round, in which Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman ride their motorbikes from London to New York via Russia.

Motorbikes are not my jam, but I knew about the Trans-Siberian railway, and almost immediately a compulsion to take my own version of this epic overland adventure formed. I dreamed it and planned it for a decade.

The obvious risks involved were not things I thought about specifically; they just hung around the periphery of my plans, silently intimidating me. I’d more or less decided to kick my permanent, high-payingbut-miserable job to the curb, but about a year ago I was slowly backsliding into “oh, maybe I’ll just ask for extended leave.”

Then a friend served me a crucial bit of real talk: “This trip gets shorter every time I talk to you” – stop wimping out and DO IT PROPERLY. That was the moment that locked it down.

It’s so, so easy to drift into a spot in life where you’re not even aware of your own hesitation to shake things up. But easy things are boring, and boredom is self-perpetuating.

Sometimes you need a push.

I saw over and over on this trip how things rarely go the way you plan, but they still go.

That space between your expectations and reality is where you do all the learning. There were plenty of difficult or scary moments; I got through every one.

Now it seems easier to make decisions to do things that are really hard. It’s fun to do something terrifying. The best bit of surviving such big risks is realizing you never want to avoid them again.

Now back in Scotland, Kate Amann ’06 is doing digital freelance work and perfecting her Lindy hop. For more stories, visit gettingwhere.com

World Travel

ABOVE Kate Amann ’06 gets up close and personal with an eagle in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park in Mongolia.

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THE RISK OF BEING HUMAN

By Professor Bill Schindler

I BEFORE THE KILL Filming Episode 3, “Hunt,” in Ethiopia, Bill Schindler chews on Cuntiesa, a plant used by the indigenous people to cover human scent. Using a replica 200,000 year-old stone tool he created on-site, Schindler speared a goat that wandered into the clearing. Levallois was the first stone tool technology used by Homo sapiens.

am alone, shivering, bobbing in a dugout canoe off the coast of Oregon, wearing a soaking wet loincloth I fashioned from brain-tanned deerskins. The water is 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and I’m worried that my body temperature is getting dangerously low. The camera crew left a while ago to get drone shots, and then the fog rolled in like a blanket. The distant shoreline has disappeared. I can’t help asking myself some serious questions.

Why did I take a semester off to follow this crazy idea? Hadn’t I been living the academic dream, teaching archaeology, a subject I love, at a college with great colleagues and enthusiastic students?

Photographs courtesy of National Geographic

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ABOVE Filming Episode 9 of The Great Human Race in Alaska, experimental archaeologist Bill Schindler and survival instructor Cat Bigney follow in the footsteps of the first people to cross the Bering Land Bridge and enter the North American interior 15,000 years ago. The extreme conditions on the arctic tundra are among the most brutal on the planet.

Nine months before, National Geographic had contacted me — through a LinkedIn message I recovered from the junk-mail folder — to audition for its new television series, The Great Human Race, which would retrace the migratory routes of our ancestors, from the roots of humanity in Africa to the "new world" of North America.

In each location and time period, I would be required, with a partner, to survive and adapt with only the tools and technologies that were available to our ancestors of that time and place. At first I didn’t know how to respond. To say yes would mean traveling off and on for seven months, away from my family.

Beyond the physical, mental, and emotional challenges, I had no idea how this would affect my work. I had never heard of a professor hosting an entire television series — certainly not one in which he would run around the world on national TV in a 28

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homemade loincloth, living on bugs and raw bone marrow.

But I decided that the show offered me a way to inform my teaching like never before.

It was a ticket for the closest thing we have to a time machine, a chance to try living authentically in the crucial periods of our evolutionary past.

It also offered me a chance to experience learning through the process of "soul authorship" — a concept coined in 2003 by the blacksmith Michael McCarthy — which has become the foundation of my teaching philosophy. I firmly believe that students comprehend ideas wholly and retain them the longest when they engage with the material using all of their senses. They do this best by following a project hands-on, from beginning to end. For my students, these projects can include learning how to use fermentation to preserve foods, making stone tools they then use to butcher deer,

and brain-tanning skins to tailor their own clothes, which they wear while giving public presentations about Stone Age life.

Now I would get to engage in soulauthorship education of my own. I agreed to a Skype interview, which quickly led to a second Skype interview (they didn’t like the shirt I was wearing in the first one) and several phone conversations. Eventually I was given a “chemistry test”—a day of filming in North Carolina’s mountains with my future partner Cat Bigney to see how we worked together in front of the camera.

The producers offered me the position about three weeks later.

Learning in this new context meant learning what it feels like to be truly hungry, dehydrated, cold, hot, stressed, scared, sick, exhausted, and, at times, triumphant. I was able to push my understanding of and skill with prehistoric technologies to the test.

Sheltered from the pouring rain under a pine tree in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, I learned what it was like to try to start a fire by friction when my fingers were so cold they had stopped moving. Hunting in the highlands of Ethiopia, I understood what it meant to copy and then rely on a 200,000-year-old stone-tool technology to create spear points, my only option for finding food. While traversing a melting glacier in Alaska, I was able to see how well the animal-fat waterproofing I’d put on my homemade skin boots protected my feet, which were already frostbitten. In Uganda, I felt what it was like to rely on an acaciabrush fence and a fire as our first line of defense from more than a dozen hyenas that encircled Cat and me. (They began to leave only when a lion showed up.)

For years I had been using primitive technologies to make my own clothes, tools, and foods, but always in a 21st-century context. Now I got a glimpse — directly, with all of my senses — of what life might have been for our ancestors.

I learned what it felt like to adapt and overcome.

The experience made the archaeological record come alive in a unique way, a sort of

“archaeology in reverse.” Instead of finding an artifact, material, or cultural residue and then having to make sense of it, I became the person leaving that residue.

It’s one thing to make some stone tools in front of my class. It’s another to be on the ground, having just killed an animal, and to deal with immediate problems like re-sharpening a knife or making a new spear point, with darkness coming on.

How do these factors influence what’s left on the ground? I am now a more informed archaeologist and better prepared to interpret that archaeological record.

More than changing me as a researcher, my experiences with the program have transformed my teaching. To reach millions of people, in 171 countries, I had to expand my notion of the classroom and adapt my teaching style. I needed to find new ways to convey information by doing, while focusing on a few key messages that could reach a general audience in just 10 episodes of 42 minutes each. I had to avoid lengthy tangents and technical language. After all, the power of the message doesn’t matter if people aren’t tuning in.

Back on campus, I continued to try to broaden the learning community when

the show aired, every Monday night, by creating an online classroom chat with students and faculty members at a handful of other institutions — including the State University of New York at Potsdam, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and Monmouth University. These weekly sessions provided me with the opportunity to engage directly with my own students and facilitate conversations among them and those from other colleges.

In my actual classroom, I’ve brought the tools that I made so that my students, who saw me making and using them on the show, can handle them and feel their heft and strength. Being a part of The Great Human Race reinforced my drive to create experiences for students outside of the traditional classroom. I want to provide them with learning opportunities that are versions of what I experienced, a chance for them to author their own learning from start to finish, using all of their senses. I feel confident that not only can I create such experiences for them, but that the effort is worth all of the extra time and energy.

My soul-authored education has changed the way I look at the world, from how I interpret our distant past to how I respond to what is happening right now. It has deepened how I perceive myself, my family, my community, and the planet, and will guide my efforts to deepen my students’ learning.

Because what more could I want than to create a similar opportunity for them?

Used with permission of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Copyright© 2016. All rights reserved.

Learn more about the show. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/ the-great-human-race

ABOVE At the conclusion of the filming, Bill Schindler returned to the classroom and his sole-authored teaching style. In April, he invited primitive technology specialists to work with Washington College students and archaeology students from other colleges and universities who had been participating in the live virtual Twitter "classroom," GHRchat, that coincided with each episode. During a full day of hands-on teaching and learning, Schindler demonstrated how to use ancient hunting weapons including the bow and the atlatl. Photo credit: Geoffrey DeMeritt ’02

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F R O M A H I L LT O P I N N E W M E X I C O I N J U LY 1 9 4 5 , R O B E R T C A R T E R ’4 2 WITNESSED ONE OF THE MOST MOMENTOUS EVENTS IN HISTORY — THE T R I N I T Y T E S T AT L O S A L A M O S . R E C R U I T E D I N 1 9 4 3 F O R A M E R I C A’ S T O P S E C R E T E F F O R T T O B U I L D T H E W O R L D ’ S F I R S T AT O M I C B O M B S , T H E P H Y S I C S M A J O R H E L P E D T O PAV E T H E WAY F O R T H E N U C L E A R A G E .

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story by john lang illustration by dainius jasinevicius

Carter’s War T

he United States was six months into World War II and so far mostly losing it when Robert Carter matriculated from Washington College in the spring of 1942. The only physics major on campus at the time, Carter expected to go into a PhD program at Indiana University the next fall. The military expected him to go into combat. None of that worked out.

Through a series of improbable circumstances he only partially controlled, Carter ended up helping to create the most powerful weapon in the history of the world.

The atom bomb.

Now 96, with thoughts as quick and words as clear as anyone a fraction his age, Carter tells a Quixotic saga in reverse, of trying to get deferments from warfare to continue his education while his intellectual curiosity impelled him through secret doorways on an adventure that led to the nuclear age. At every step he had to give up the security he'd sought to reach… well, he knew not exactly what.

After graduation Carter went down the road to his hometown of Berlin, Maryland, “where everybody knew everybody,” to ask the head of his draft board, a family friend, whether he would be deferred from military service. “No way,” said his friend, “we're preparing a letter to draft you as we speak. You'll get it in two weeks.”

But soon Carter heard from Purdue University, offering a deferred job teaching Navy enlisted men how to do shipboard electrical repair. He jumped at that and also registered for courses in physics.

From another grad student, Harry, he heard that the physics department had a nuclear research program underway with some kind of machine called a cyclotron. “This was a fairly big machine invented in the late 1930s to accelerate nuclear particles,” he explains.

Carter wrangled a look at the device, got to

talking with the professor in charge, “and somehow the subject came up of my working there part-time as a volunteer.” Soon Carter was given a contract with security clearance, working with his friend Harry on the cyclotron. A year later he was told the team was moving “somewhere out west.” Carter gave up his sinecure at Purdue.

“We didn't know where we were going. All mail was addressed to a post office box in Santa Fe. We went to Los Alamos. We didn't know until we got there, but the first day on the job they handed us a pile of literature all classified and told us what it was all about. The Manhattan Project.”

As junior staffers working with a new type of nuclear chain reaction, Carter and his friend Harry would be involved in tests aimed at “unscrambling the uncertainties about nuclear processes and chain reactions.” Carter talks with equanimity about the risks involved. “There was concern about radioactive materials. Enough was known at that time about the kind of radiation that comes from the fission process that could cause sickness or death. We took precautions. We didn't have any shields or special clothing; we just avoided and controlled the handling of radioactive materials.

Like handling rat poison, you do it carefully.

“And we weren't so much concerned about the chain reaction getting out of hand. The principal concern was that it wouldn't work at all.”

The physicists and technicians involved in the Manhattan Project believed they were in a lifeand-death race. Carter explains: “We knew the fission process of uranium had been discovered in Germany, which was controlled by the Nazis, and Adolph Hitler had declared his intent to conquer the world. It was important for the U.S. and the Allies to determine if it was possible to get control of the fission process. And it wasn't obvious at the beginning that a nuclear bomb would work.”

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ABOVE Robert Carter ’42 (far left) poses with Manhattan Project colleagues—nuclear physicists Enrico Fermi (center) and David Inglis.

In July 1945 Carter witnessed the test of the first bomb though he wasn't supposed to be there. The first test at Alamogordo was for bigwigs and essential workers only. As a junior team member, Carter wasn't building the device itself but had been working with instruments to test its effectiveness when, or if, it went off. So he wasn't invited to attend.

He went anyway. From a supervisor who'd been to the site he learned there was a bluff a safe distance away where he could witness the world's first atomic blast. “I rode a motorcycle in those days, so a colleague and I hopped on and drove the 120 miles to the site. We sneaked on after dark and found the hillside. We sat there and observed the explosion. We were spies in a way.”

What he saw awed him. “We were sitting on a hill about 15 miles from the blast site. It was a rainy night and we didn't know exactly what the timing of the detonation would be.

Suddenly the whole landscape, the clouds, and the sky lighted up. It was like the sun suddenly coming up. About a minute later the shockwave of sound almost knocked us over. We could feel the air strike our chests and faces, and the sound echoed through the desert hills on and on, as a cloud of gases and molten materials rapidly rose through the air and glowed for hundreds of feet.”

His initial reaction was something like: “What have we done?” Then, he says, “The kind of feeling I had was somewhat like a young couple seeing their newborn baby for the first time, and thinking, ‘Oh, wow, we produced a near-miracle here.’ And then realizing, “We're obligated to care for it the 32

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rest of our lives and make sure it benefits society.’”

Carter recalls that those watching the explosion understood immediately the bomb would affect the outcome of the war although he hadn't to that point considered actually using it on the enemy. “I was focused on finding out for sure that we could produce one to be prepared. I guess I didn't really expect the U.S. would use one.”

Of course, after that successful test, two atomic devices were dropped on Japan the very next month. That ended the war.

The benefits and risks of developing the bomb, as Carter sees it, are double-edged.

Seeing the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world, “I kept worrying that the U.S. had not adequately impressed on these other countries the futility of planning wars with nuclear bombs.” On the other hand, he believes, “To some extent the possession of nuclear bombs has prevented wars, because rational leaders are very reluctant to use nuclear bombs on enemies.”

And, he concludes, the U.S. had no choice but to proceed with The Manhattan Project

the nuclear core of that device, to confirm that it met design specifications. “He got overexposed to a sudden flash of highenergy radiation from it. So far as I know, Harry was the first person of The Manhattan Project to die because of a radiation accident.” Of the loss, Carter says, “We all knew in our hearts that somebody might make a mistake. But we didn't expect it.

We believed we had all thought it through enough to avoid accidents. I suspect he made a faulty judgment on how to handle the materials. And something slipped out of his hand that caused the actual radiation event.”

It was Harry's death in part that influenced Carter switching fields to radiation biology and a job researching atomic effects on living tissue at a Defense Department installation.

And Carter never did get that PhD. Life happened. While getting his master’s degree at the University of Illinois, he met a fellow grad student, Dorothy Williams, to whom he would be married for 53 years until her death in 2000, the year he retired. They had 11 children. “All the boys and most of the girls

“Suddenly the whole landscape, the clouds, and the sky lighted up. It was like the sun suddenly coming up.”–Robert Carter once it was understood that the Nazis were trying to build the bomb. That nuclear cat was loose.

Carter likens the hazards of his war work to handling rat poison, or the risk people take every day driving a car. “You can make a mistake at the wheel, the brakes can fail, the accelerator can get stuck, the other driver does something. We all live with these kinds of risks and get accustomed to them after a while. Ordinary life is full of risks of various kinds, and some are lethal.”

Carter's war, however, was hardly ordinary.

"When we got to Los Alamos and found out what the project was about, there was a lot of concern among the group, and the work my friend Harry and I were doing was among the most risky of the whole laboratory at the time.”

Before he left Los Alamos, Carter would sadly know more of the danger.

At war’s end, the U.S. had all the components of a third atomic bomb.

Carter's buddy got the assignment to test

have gone into scientific or technical work, and all our children were inclined toward mathematics or physics or chemistry. Three have doctorates. Four others have master’s.”

Today Carter still serves on a professional Committee of the American Nuclear Society, one that develops standards and reviews designs for radiation sources such as nuclear power stations and research reactors.

This very old grad has remained far more active than many who are much younger. Every spring he's gone kayaking out west on feeder streams of the Colorado or Rio Grande rivers. Every summer he goes camping at a beachside state park in California with his children and their children. Carter has a second home near Ocean City, Maryland, where he enjoyed taking long walks along the shore. That came to an end last year when he started having vision troubles that keep him from driving.

These days, says a man who helped build the bomb, “I mostly just putter.”

CLASS NOTES 34 | BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS 41 | WEDDINGS 43 | OBITUARIES 46

SPRING FLING The year, we think, was 1976 but the couple pictured here is unidentified.

If you recognize them, please contact the editor at mlandskroener2@washcoll.edu.

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WC Alumni: Share your news!

We are proud to share your stories with our community in “Class Notes.” Submit your alumni news and photos to CLASS_NOTES@WASHCOLL.EDU

1942

Robert Carter P’73 visited Chicago last June with a grad school friend and then camped at the beach in California in July with several of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

His son, Dr. Bill Carter, retired in August after 25 years in the Navy.

Bob still lives home alone and enjoys frequent family visitors. He is also pleased to be connected with WC in a variety of ways. He joined classmate Miriam Sewell at the OWLS dinner during Alumni Weekend for the umpteenth year and had a pleasant visit with the head of WC’s physics department, too. Recently he had a very welcome phone call from Bill Nagler and some correspondence with Mort Garrison’s daughter about his old roommate who lives with her. Bob hopes that this evokes notes from his classmates.

1947

Nancy Sutherland Morrison is a retired teacher. Nancy lives at Seely-Brown Village in Pomfret, Conn., where she previously taught art to residents.

Barry and Anne Grim McKown ’56 traveled to Tennessee with 18 fellow travelers from St. Mary’s County, Md. They embarked on a tour of Civil War museums and battle sites throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. They visited Fort Donelson, Shiloh at Savannah, and Lookout Mountain where important Civil War battles took place. They also enjoyed their evenings in Nashville, where they attended a performance at the Grand Ole Opry.

1950

E. Rankin Lusby and his wife, Carole, have moved after spending 45 wonderful years in their old home.

They spend their winter months at their condo located in Naples, Fla. Each February, they both enjoy attending the Alumni Toast to George with the Southwest Florida Chapter.

1951

Stanford Paul Sadick is retired from his position as a physician in the Air Force. He lives in Prescott, Ariz., and invites alumni in the region to contact him at donetdoc@ gmail.com.

1952

Howard Levenberg spent a fulfilling career in direct mail marketing and business fundraising. Last summer, Winston Sims was invited to deliver a paper at the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)

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Bob Reck ‘63, Vance Strausburg ‘66, Bob Leitch ‘62, Barry Evans ‘63, Frank Everett ‘64, Phil Tilghman ‘64, Jerry Jenkins ‘65, Dick Natwick ‘66, Ron Brannock ‘65, Dick Wunderlich ‘67, Bob Natwick ‘64, Fred Weiss ‘65, Larry Manogue ‘64, Dave Wayson ‘64, Bob Clagett ‘63, Jim Francis ‘66, Jack Shannahan ‘65 and Jim Holloway ‘59, all brothers of the Kappa Alpha Order, got together for an annual golf outing September 24, 2015.

Conference at the Hague Institute for Global Justice on “UN Accountability and the Internal Administration of Justice.” Part of that paper can be found at the ACUNS website under “Scholarly Articles.” Look for 2015: United Nations Policies and Values for Individual and Corporate Accountability.

1954

Channing Chapman is not an actor, but recently had the opportunity to submit a short video audition about his Bucket List. He was selected to be a principal in a 2 min 43 sec. video commercial for Canon Rebel cameras and got to fly a WWII T-6 fighter/trainer.

Channing did his own rolls and loops! He wants to share it with all of his alumni friends and Washingtonians to see what fun it was to fly that plane! Go to YouTube and search for “Rebel With A Cause - Nik Wallenda” and enjoy the videos. Robert F. Stahl and his wife have moved to a retirement community in Lancaster, Penn.

They enjoy attending Franklin & Marshall College sporting events whenever they play WC; he joked that F&M is not used to seeing people cheering for the opposing team. Robert recently found (and shared with the College Archives) some family photos of his graduation from WC, which President Eisenhower attended.

1956

Robert Powell has had three pieces published in National Fisherman magazine in recent months. “Pretty Work,” a tribute to Chesapeake watermen, appeared in the January ’15 issue.

“The Future of the Fisher Poets Gathering” was published in September ’15, and most recently “The Faded Glory of Chesapeake Bay” appeared in February ’16.

1959

Jim Scott and his wife, Judy, recently moved to Vero Beach, Fla. They are enjoying their time in the Sunshine State and look forward to reuniting with old friends at the 2016 Alumni Weekend. They also encourage friends to visit them at their new home.

1963

Douglass Bailey recently updated his two published novels, Fortune and Shimabara, to e-books, available for purchase on Amazon.

Douglass changed the spelling of his name to differentiate himself from another author of the same name. He encourages his friends to check out his profile on Amazon. Malinda Lassiter Genoni has been teaching for 38 years—first as a high school English teacher and later as a preschool teacher.

A L U M N I U P DAT E | S P O T L I G H T

1964

Louis B. Rappaport spent 15 years as an administrator and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. He also spent 35 years working as a real estate developer and investor in commercial and industrial markets on the East Coast.

1967

Carl E. Ortman recently retired from 30 years of work in independent education and 10 years in real estate. Carl was inducted into the WC Hall of Fame; once individually and once as co-captain, along with Jim Chalfant, of the 1967 lacrosse team, ranked fifth in the nation. This honor complements several other Hall of Fame inductions: The St. Paul’s School Inaugural Hall of Fame and the Friends School Hall of Fame as the coach of the 1978 and 1980 lacrosse champions. Carl and his wife, Joanna, live in St. Michaels, Md. He enjoys trips back to the Chestertown area for reunions and to golf with his brothers from Theta Chi. He looks back on his time at WC as some of the best years of his life. After a long and varied career that ranged from teaching German at the University of Maryland College Park and math at the Defense Language Institute, Parkside High School in Salisbury, and Wor-Wic Community College, Miriam Huebschman Scheck is happy to share that she is retiring this year. Cathy Riggin recently moved into an over-65 community in Baltimore, and is enjoying retirement with her faithful companion, a lop-eared rabbit named Pumpkin. She likes to keep in touch with Sally Dobbs ’66, who lives in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY.

1968

J. King Seegar is the medical director at Pendleton Community Care and is co-founder of The Mountain Institute (TMI), an international non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the world’s mountains by conserving mountain ecosystems and empowering the

people in mountain communities.

He is enjoying life as a physician and pediatrician.

1969

David C. Shumway is working at Mercy Housing & Shelter Corporation in Hartford, Conn., and serves on boards that fight to end homelessness.

1970

Cyndy Renhoff attended the wedding of Kitty Bailey’s daughter last summer. Kitty graduated in 1968. Cyndy also had the chance to visit with Gay Hunter.

1971

Barbara Harrison Price is retired from her job as chaplain. She is “keeping on keeping on” by teaching writing, exercising frequently, line dancing, and needle-working.

1973

Jean Carter is a psychologist at the Washington Psychological Center in Washington, DC. Curtis Kiefer was honored with the 2016 Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award at the Oregon Book Awards, hosted by Literary Arts.

Walt Morey is best known for his best-selling book, Gentle Ben, and the award given in his honor is presented to a person or organization that has made a significant contribution that has enriched the lives of Oregon’s young readers. Kiefer is a recently retired Youth Services Manager from the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.

Still a Superstar E

leanor Shriver Magee ’93, a standout studentathlete and former head coach for women’s lacrosse at Washington College, was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in January.

Magee, a political science major, won varsity letters in field hockey, tennis, and swimming, in addition to lacrosse. Team captain in her senior year, she was the female recipient of the College's Senior Athletic Award. As a junior, she received the Elizabeth "Bo" Blanchard Memorial Sportsmanship Award.

After graduation, Magee coached at Kenyon College and Alfred University, and then was the offensive coordinator for the Loyola College women's lacrosse team before returning to her alma mater as head coach in October 1997.

Magee coached the squad to a 60-43 record over six seasons. Her 2000 team won a school-record 14 games against just three losses, and played in the ECAC Tournament. Three years later, in her final season, the Shorewomen went 14-6, played in their third consecutive Centennial Conference semifinal, and reached the ECAC Tournament final.

1975

Jerry Moye was named vice chairman of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Moye is president of Cobb-Vantress, Inc., and the former chair of The Poultry Foundation.

1976

Mark Henckel is preparing to retire from his law practice. He will be moving to the beach.

ABOVE Eleanor Shriver Magee ’93 and her mother, Margot Shriver, at the Greater Baltimore Lacrosse induction ceremony at the Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Md.

1977

Jeff Coomer and Susan Aiken Coomer have enjoyed traveling

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The Mother of Invention A young alumna juggling work and motherhood creates her own brand of luxury leather goods for the playground set.

ABOVE Children’s shoemaker Heather Holiday ’06 has learned to maximize her time in her studio; it’s just a block from her home in Fishtown. Photo: Ashley Crandall Photography

H

eather Holiday ’06 has always had the urge to create. With a double major in drama and art, the young graduate worked in photography and graphic design, but it wasn’t until she dropped out of the Parsons New School of Design, married a furniture maker, and started a family that Holiday discovered her superpowers.

“When Charlotte was six or eight months old, we had this social event to go to for my husband’s work,” Holiday recalls. (She’s married to Dusty Mears ’04, who manages the

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Philadelphia woodshop for BDDW, a Brooklynbased artisanal furniture company.) “Many of his coworkers are from New York and care about fashion. I felt that Charlotte needed a pair of moccasin booties to go with her outfit.

I had a scrap of leather I had been hoarding, so that afternoon I traced her foot, cut out and sewed up the moccasins, and made some cute laces. She wore them that night at the party and everyone was dying over them.”

Thus was born Mason Dixon, a cottage industry that, last fall, was a contender in Martha Stewart’s “American Made” competition. With her status as a finalist and the power of social media, Holiday’s boutique line of children’s goods has gained traction.

Beyond the online presence, two shops in Philadelphia now carry Mason Dixon.

“It’s really hard to sell something handmade wholesale, so I’m very selective in who can sell my line,” she says. “The ideal client is someone who appreciates handmade heirloom pieces. According to the new trend of slow fashion, people are choosing quality over quantity. They are willing to spend more on a few wonderful pieces.”

Since sewing Charlotte’s first pair of moccasins two years ago, Holiday has been perfecting her craft—learning Old World shoemaking techniques and experimenting with new prototypes and materials that baby Harrison can also wear.

“I worked briefly in BDDW’s upholstery department, so I reached out to one of the suppliers and they sent me a box of scrap leather,” Holiday says. “I gave my early prototypes to moms on the playground. Women were flocking to me; I never made friends so quickly!” she recalls.

She is also growing her product line to include handmade baby quilts, bags, and nursery décor items. There are even plans for adult shoes on the horizon.

“I don’t have a lot of business experience, but I’m proud to have made it this far. I really just want to be making things, supporting my family, and living a happy life.”

and volunteering since Jeff’s retirement from Stanley Black & Decker, where he served as the Global CIO until 2007. They moved from their land in northern Maryland to Charlottesville, Va., in 2011. Jeff’s first book of poetry, A Potentially Quite Remarkable Thursday, was published by Last Leaf Press in November 2015.

Jeff and Susan would love to hear from former classmates and hope everyone is doing well.

1978

Karen Nicolette Lammann recently retired from nursing after 40 years. She spent the last 23 years as an E.R. nurse. Edward Watson is happy to report that he is working in the beautiful state of Hawaii. The Rev. Carlos Wilton’s latest book, Principles of Presbyterian Polity, was published in February 2016 by Westminster John Knox Press. It is a guide to Presbyterian Church government.

Wilton served for 25 years as pastor of the Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. He is also Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Monmouth and an adjunct professor at New Brunswick and Princeton Theological Seminaries.

You can find his book for sale on Amazon.

1979

Margaret George Quimby has retired from her career as a psychiatric nurse. She is excited about her transition and looks forward to her time off.

1981

Kathy Waye M’90 has been working in higher education for 35 years. Kathy worked at Washington College for over 16 years in admissions before serving at Keuka College in her hometown. Kathy was recently recognized as Keuka College’s “2015 Staff Member of the Year” for her continued enthusiasm and dedication to students, families, alumni, and the community. Kathy is very involved in community service. She serves on several boards and is chairwoman of the Yates County Chamber of

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Commerce Board. Kathy loves to see her friends from WC and invites you to contact her if you come to the Finger Lakes Area of New York.

a non-profit academic medical center that provides clinical and hospital care. He would love to meet other Cleveland-based alums.

1982

1991

Byron Welch is living in Fredericksburg, Va. He is working for IBM in the Smarter Commerce Division.

1985

Arthur Littman has been working with the Turner Construction Company as the senior project manager since 2013. Carole Pursell Coulson is living in Carlisle, Penn. She will be moving to Massachusetts this summer to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts.

Carole was diagnosed with breast cancer last March and will be finished treatments by May. Carole would love to hear from folks in the Boston/Salem area. She can be reached at coulsongirls@gmail. com.

1986

Lisa Thomas Gomez was recently promoted from senior manager to partner at Deloitte Consulting.

1988

John Kennedy is the president of Daivoad Associates Corporation.

1989

Leta F. Fennell earned a master of science degree from Wilmington College. She is an associate professor in the social sciences at Chesapeake College. Derick Serra is working for the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services where he is in charge of professional development and training.

Derick enjoyed seeing his classmates at his 25th reunion in 2014 and hopes all of his classmates are doing well.

1990

Stefan Strein moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in November to become the first chief investment officer of the Cleveland Clinic,

ALUMNI WEEKEND

Brooks Durkee, who passed away in April 2015, is being honored by alumni and the Maryland Steeple Chase Association. MSA’s Leading Timber Rider Award has been named for him. More information can be found regarding the MSA annual awards dinner and the award through the Maryland Steeple Chase Association website and www.gofundme.com/x4m6qs.

JUNE 3-5, 2016 Please join us in Chestertown to celebrate Alumni Weekend 2016. Catch up with great friends, visit with faculty and staff, and explore the newest changes to campus. With accommodations available both on campus and off, and three days of fun events for the whole family, we look forward to your visit. Mark your calendars! Registration is open!

1992

Carey Smith will be wrapping up Visual Effects work on Disney Studios’ Alice in Wonderland sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass. The movie will be released in May 2016.

1993

Jude M. Pfister represented Washington College on October 2, 2015 at the inauguration of MaryAnn Baenninger as president of Drew University.

1995

Lisa MacKendrick Gowe was recently appointed to the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum board of directors. She will serve a three-year term.

1996

Meredith Davies Hadaway’s third collection of poetry, At the Narrows, was awarded the 2015 Delmarva Book Prize for Creative Writing. Hadaway is the former VP of College Relations & Marketing for Washington College and served as Rose O’Neill Writerin-Residence, 2013-14.

1999

Brett Gaba wrote a book called Fly Fishing the Tidewaters of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. He returned to Maryland in early November to promote the book and to do book signings and readings at local fly shops and

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bookstores. Brian Yeagle is working for Baltimore County as the communications supervisor at the 911 Center.

2000

Julianne Marissa Bowers Waskiewicz and her husband, Eric, have started their own business: Sapphire Delta Consulting Group. They focus on executive coaching and business process improvement and have high hopes for a bright future for the company. In 2015 Julianne also started working with Summit Insurance Advisors as an employee benefits account manager. She works with other insurance brokers to help employers and individual clients with their health insurance and other insurance needs. “I have finally found my niche and love where I landed!”

2001

Leah Singleton joined the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in 2003. She earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 2009 and is now Chief of the Internal Affairs Division for a D.C. government agency.

2003

Courtney Busch Cambouris ac-

cepted a new job as a business development manager for a start-up biotech company. She is responsible for developing business in the UK, Germany, and the United States. She is still living near Paris, France, and says she enjoys learning French. Creg Fleetwood was appointed president of FAM&M Insurance. Creg serves on numerous boards including the Kent County Community Food Pantry, Kent County Chamber of Commerce, and the Washington College Hall of Fame Committee.

David Jensen is working as an occupational therapist in southwest Virginia. He continues to follow his passion for art through photography and design. David recently had photographs from a trip to Scotland, Iceland, and Norway published in SOME/THINGS magazine, an online journal based in Paris. Every issue has a distinct conceptual theme and is available in 25 countries worldwide.

S/T magazine is created using environmentally responsible production methods and works with visionaries in art, music, and other fields. David’s work can be viewed at www.someslashthings.com/ online-magazine/2015/8/29/ somewhere-iceland-norway-andthe-scottish-highlands. Heather Russell, who spent two years SPRING 2016

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WC Alumni: Share your news!

We are proud to share your stories with our community in “Class Notes.” Submit your alumni news and photos to CLASS_NOTES@WASHCOLL.EDU

teaching math at her alma mater, is now an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Richmond.

2004

Natalie Liccketto Edwards is working as an auditor and CPA. Kathryn Riley Hayman is teaching for Baltimore City Public Schools. She is active in the American Federation of Teachers’ Teacher Leaders Program, where she advocates for Baltimore City students and teachers, and is working to advance Maryland’s

literature. Previously, Marie worked at The Maryland Zoo as an educator, volunteer coordinator, and visitors’ services manager, while teaching in Southern New Hampshire University’s online program.

2005

John Beck and his beautiful wife, Carol Landis ‘06, are living happily in Chestertown, where they’ve resided since 2011 when they got married. They really do intend to send in a wedding photo for the magazine before their 5th anniversary. Monica Lynn Sharpley Sullivan is newly married. She is working as a sonographer in a private urology practice. Monica recently completed her final semester of graduate school at the University of Baltimore, where she received an MS in health systems management.

2006

Several people identified their classmates in the photo that opened the Alumni Update section of the latest WCM. Pictured from left to right: Cindy Peddicord Lehmann ’68, Mike Park ’68, Sandy Cissell, Bill Thompson ’70, Linda Towne Cades ’68, and Bill Manning ’68.

“Many memories here,” wrote Henry Biddle ’68. “The two ‘Bills’ were my teammates on intramural softball and touch football teams—the Sunova Beach Boys. We took delight in each win over frat boys.” Cynthia Bevier Saunders ’68 concurred: “Fun to see in the new magazine!”

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educational policy on technology.

Lea “Fox” Svendsen joined the Army upon acceptance to Officer Candidate School shortly after graduating from WC. After an injury cut her military career short, Lea returned to school to earn a degree in funeral service education. She graduated from Northampton Community College in 2013, receiving the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors’ Award for Excellence. Lea lives in Allentown, Penn., and is a fully licensed funeral director, embalmer, and crematory operator for Jeffrey A. Naugle Funeral Services in nearby Quakertown. Anne Marie Morganelli M’04 recently accepted a position as an associate dean in the writing, composition and literature division of the College of Online Education, where she oversees more than 100 instructors of beginning composition and teaches composition and

Tammy A. Barnes was a 2015 recipient of the Association Forum of Chicagoland and USAE Magazine’s Forty Under 40 Award, which recognizes up-and-coming association or nonprofit professionals who demonstrate high potential for success in leadership roles, and exhibit a strong commitment to the association management profession. Tammy was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Rural Mental Health. She currently serves as the 2015-2016 Chair of the Young Professionals Committee of ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership.

2008

Kevin McGarry and his wife, Laura, live in Lancaster County, Penn., where Kevin is an assistant district attorney and Laura is an assistant county solicitor. Many alumni joined in on their marriage celebration. (see Marriages, p 43) Rob Sentman graduated from the Widener University School of Law (now known as Delaware Law School) in May 2015 and was admitted to the practice of law in Maryland in December 2015. He

is working as an assistant state’s attorney in Cecil County.

2009

Eric Abbott graduated from Anne Arundel Community College’s physician assistant program and earned a master’s degree in medical science at St. Francis University in July 2014.

He started working at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center’s Emergency Department in September 2014. He and his wife, Lauren, have an infant daughter (see Oh, Baby!) Elyse Joelle McGlumphy graduated from medical school in 2015 and has started her residency in surgical ophthalmology at the University of Maryland. Brittany Lambert Suszan moved duty stations from Whidbey Island, Wash., to Jacksonville, Fla., with her husband, LT Suszan USN, and their daughter Mia. This spring they will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in Italy. During their stay in Rome, Brittany will play lacrosse with the Roma Leones women’s team. Brittany coaches lacrosse at Fleming Island High School, leading the 2015 team the furthest through playoffs in school history. She is also the vice president of market development at a Baltimore-based startup website SpotCrime.com, the most-visited crime mapping and largest crime-alerting website in the U.S. Check out the Oh, Baby section for a family photo.

2010

Kirsten Hower is now working as social media coordinator for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Karen Hye recently completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at La Salle University. She is living in the Pacific Northwest and pursuing work in primary care behavioral health.

2011

Zachary Taylor Morgan graduated from the Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2015.

Catherine Rappole graduated with a master’s of public health

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in global epidemiology from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in May 2015. She is working as an epidemiologist through an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) fellowship with the U.S. Army Public Health Center (Provisional).

2012

Lindsay Dodd was inducted into the inaugural Carson Scholars Hall of Fame. Lindsay is one of 20 former scholarship recipients chosen for her demonstrated success. She was awarded a Carson Scholarship in 2005. Lindsay was inspired to go into environmental legislation after growing up on a farm in Queen Anne’s County, Md. She earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland and is currently working as a policy and programs associate for Maryland Agriculture Associates. She also works with the Chesapeake Bay Program to promote accuracy in modeling agricultural inputs.

2013

Maegan Clearwood spent a year working at the Olney Theatre Center as the dramaturgy apprentice. Following her apprenticeship, Maegan worked as the literary associate for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

She is now working for the WSC Avant Bard as the Director of Audience Engagement and Dramaturg, and at the Folger Shakespeare Library as the public programs administrative assistant.

2014

Rachel Lynn Landale is working with Creative Learning Inc. where she manages and implements programs, assists in business trainings for international artisans and entrepreneurs, and develops budgets and proposals. Creative Learning Inc. is an international nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that is dedicated to protecting human rights, supporting economic and social development, and building peace. Through this job, Rachel enjoys travelling abroad to assist with program implementation.

Lindsey Wieser started her career

Diving Deep with Special Forces As a battalion surgeon with the U.S. Army Special Forces, Ian May ’03 serves with—and provides medical care for—America’s most elite soldiers. By Meghan Livie ’09

I

an May has always taken the road less traveled. As an undergraduate, he accomplished more in four years than might seem humanly possible: study abroad on four continents, concentrations in Latin American studies and sub-Saharan studies, and fluency in Spanish, all wrapped up in a relentless drive to make a difference in the world.

More than a decade later, May continues to push the envelope, now as part of the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) that quietly carries out missions around the world. In addition to earning a medical degree and completing his residency in emergency medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, May has undergone rigorous military training that includes Flight Surgeon School, Airborne School, and Dive Medical Officer School.

It’s an unusual path to follow but perfectly logical for May, a double major in international studies and Spanish who, after graduation, interned with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State and then joined the Peace Corps. Returning from a two-and-a-half year stint in Costa Rica, where he focused on rural community development, May joined the Army with the intention of becoming a doctor. He worked at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in HIV and Hepatitis C research before starting medical school at the University of Michigan.

At the senior awards luncheon in 2003, students asked retiring professor of history and political science Daniel Premo what piece of advice he had for them as they made their way into the world. May vividly remembers that moment. “Wisely, he said ‘I cannot offer any advice, you have to make your own way.’” He has done exactly that.

May credits Washington College for providing the strong foundation of education and experiential learning for his career. “WC

ABOVE Ian May ’03 is adding underwater missions to his repertoire. As a U.S. Navy diving medical officer, he will be qualified as a SCUBA diver, a hyperbaric chamber inside tender, and a surface-supplied air diver.

had the best of many worlds. Specifically it was a small school with great student-professor ratios and it also offered a plethora of studyabroad experiences that let you set out your own path. I had all the advantages of a large university without being stuck in a lecture hall with 400 other students,” May says. “The study abroad opportunities I had, traveling to Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, and South Africa, as well as the focus on writing and critical thinking, set up a base for me to continue my education and interact with the larger world.”

Offering his own words of wisdom for today’s students, May echoes his former professor. “I would say the same, but that you have to make your own way relentlessly.”

See video of the Navy Dive School at vimeo. com/162860118.

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at Educational Testing Service (ETS). in Princeton.N.J., as a data analyst for the Advanced Placement (AP) exams. She says that she would not have been able to get this kind of job without her math degree from WC, as well as the nice recommendation letters from professors Louise Amick ’69, Nathaniel Schwartz, and Matthew Kibler ’05. Lindsey previously worked as a preschool teacher assistant at a daycare. As much as she loved working with kids, she couldn’t be happier getting a job very much related to her degree!

2015

Valerie Bardhi is happy to be working at WC in the Alumni Office as the annual giving specialist; she thanks all of you who picked up for the Phonathon to speak to students. Molly Kathleen Gallagher is working as a 4th grade teacher at Deep Creek Elementary School. Daniel Smith was appointed chief of staff for Del. Kevin Hornberger of Cecil County.

About Smith, Hornberger said: “When I saw his résumé, I said, ‘I gotta grab this guy, he’s perfect.’”

Daniel is originally from the Philadelphia area. He completed internships with Del. Steve Arentz (R-Queen Anne’s) and U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Penn.), and also served on a campaign committee for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Katie Dell Hinkle and Mike Hinkle, together with Dells Generation Farms, host an annual family pumpkin party. The children (and adults) enjoyed moon bounces, hay rides, pumpkin picking and dinner together. This year, they had a professional photographer take family photographs and, of course, some Washington College photos! WAC alumni are always well-represented among the guests. Pictured L-R: Melissa Ellwanger Abbott ’97, Barbaranne Mocella Liakos ’98, Kyla Donovan Porter ’98, Bobbi Ford Franchella, Kristi Masimore Phillips ’01, Katie Dell Hinkle ’98.

(Not pictured: Nicole Delisio Burke ’00 and Kelly Collison Mocella ’00.) Pictured L-R: Timothy Pilarksi ‘97, Rob Page ‘01, Alex Phillips ‘98, Skip Gibson ‘95, Mike Hinkle ‘98, Joe Burke ‘98, Matt Hanifee ‘00, Chris Mocella ‘01, and James Buck ’99.

How will Washington College remember you?

After graduation, college sweethearts Bonnie Abrams and Mike Travieso married, pursued law degrees, volunteered in service to their alma mater, and provided for Washington College in their estate plans. For information about how you can leave a legacy at Washington College, please contact Emily Kate Smith ’10 at 410-778-7715.

Michael J. Travieso ’66 Baltimore, Md., B.A., English Literature, Lambda Chi Alpha, SGA, ELM Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief, Mount Vernon Literary Society, Judiciary Board, Student Affairs Committee, Cross Country, Track, Dean’s List, ODK, George Washington Legacy Society.

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Bonnie R. Abrams ’66 Jenkintown Pennsylvania, B.A., Philosophy, Alpha Omicron Pi; Pan-Hellenic Council; Women’s Residence Association, Women’s Vice President; ELM, Honorable Mention Dean’s List, George Washington Legacy Society.

The Class of 1966 Cutest Couple (of Benefactors)

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Oh Baby!

Claire Marie Abbott, born May 16, 2015, is the daughter of Eric Abbott ’09 and his wife, Lauren.

Jenn Carey Svehla ’03 and her husband, Mike, welcomed their second daughter, Julia Van, in October. Big sister Lucy adores her new sibling.

Bennett Finbarr Righi, born December 29, 2015, is the son of Katherine Honold ’08 and Brandon Righi ’07. Finbarr is the patron saint of Cork, Ireland, where the Righis lived a few years ago.

Adrian Peterson ’07 and Meredith Weaver Peterson ’08 welcomed son Callum on November 13, 2015. Callum joins older brothers, Kieran, 4, Rowan, 2, and Lyndon, 6.

Bennett Christopher Dodge was born October 14, 2015 to Chris ’05 and Amelia Barnard Dodge ’07.

Samantha Halpin Ott ’05 and husband, Alex, welcomed William Edward on November 26, 2014. He joins siblings Georgiana and Paul.

Brittany Lambert Suszan ’09 is enjoying life in Jacksonville, Fla, with husband, LT Suszan USN, and their 1 1/2 year old daughter, Mia. Carrie Kerr M’05, WC’s assistant athletic trainer, and her husband, Timothy Kerr ’06, who is WC’s assistant men’s lacrosse coach, recently welcomed their second child, Hayden Matthew. Big sister Riley is a happy helper.

Erin Honaker Petrocelli ’05 and husband, Patrick, welcomed Henry Joseph September 25, 2015. Photo: Jessica Mitchell Hill ’05.

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Allison Wade Rapp ’04 and her husband, Aaron, were happy to welcome their daughter, Evelyn Lee Rapp, to the family on August 8, 2014.

Nike Pantazes Gonnelli ’05 and her husband, Justin, are happy to announce the birth of their son, Justin Dean Gonnelli. JD was born August 18, 2015.

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Megan Wolff ’00 and Nicole Derr ’03 welcomed twins Eli and Stella in July 2015. The family lives in the Baltimore area.

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Just Married

Ellyn Baines ’00 and Brandon Crippes were married August 28, 2015. Ellyn works as an astrophysicist for the Naval Research Laboratory.

Kevin McGarry ’08 married Laura Magnotta July 12, 2014 at St. Ann’s Basilica in Scranton, Penn, with a reception following at the Scranton Cultural Center. Pictured back row L-R: James Winn ’11, Matt Violette ’11, Chris Soper ’11, Anthony Capone ’06, Steve Reuter ’09, Chris Reese ’11, Tim Beadell ’11, Tony Lopiano ’11, Dan Wentzel ’09, Josh Arnie ’07. Pictured middle row L-R: Rich Skipp ’05 M’08, Diane Swenson Taylor ’08, Liz Shoemaker Becker ’07, the bride and groom, Abbey Holcomb ’13, Megan Jasion Wentzel ’09, Kim Dannenfelser Manen ’06, Mike Manen ’07, Tammi Porter Stricker ’05, Lauren Brunt Beadell ’10. Pictured front row L-R: Eddie Raleigh ’08, Matt Bounds ’08, Brandon Becker ’08, Dan Beadell ’10, David Stricker ’05, and Brian Taylor ’08.

Anna Guðbjörg Cowden ’10 married Bogi Brimir Árnason August 22, 2015 in Reykjavík, Iceland. Louisa Kathleen Muldowney ’12 made the trip over to the land of Ice and Fire for the wedding and was the maid of honor.

Aundra Weissert ’08 married John Anderson ’11 October 31, 2015 in Odessa, Del. Their Halloween wedding was well attended by WC alumni and staff.

Pictured are Bob Bishop, Raven Bishop, Cynthia Sebian-Lander ’07, Theresa Capule, Lexie Sumner ’15, Justin Barker ’13, Lauren Gibson, Zach Briglia ’16, Dan McCloskey ’11, Obella Obbo ’13, Thomas Landskroener ’13, Taylor Fields ’16, the bride and groom, James Arnold, Carly Ogren ’14, Satyajit Dattagupta, Bradley Booke, Ian Flinn ’16, Brittany McWilliams-Longworth ’12, Nick Longworth ’12, Vickie Anderson P’08 ’11, and Eric Broussard. (Not pictured: Emily Summers ’16.)

On September 5, 2015, David Hosey ’07 married Leigh Finnegan in Weaverville, NC. David met Leigh at Wesley Theological Seminary, where they both earned M.Div degrees. They now live and work together at Georgetown University.

Kaitlyn Sidney-Werner ’13 and Kyle King were married August 15, 2015. The pair celebrated with many of their WC friends. Pictured in the back row, from left to right: Según Fadeyi ’14, Eshan Patel ’13, Tyler Brice ’13, Billie Ricketts ’13, Alexandra Shull ‘13, Joseph KearneyArgow ’13, Andrew Eckstein ’12, Erin Franco ’13, Kelsey Mills ’13, Rachel Dumbolton ’13, Shannon Stocklin ’12, Emma Schlauch ’13, and Keegan Fisher ’15. Pictured with the bride in the front row: Alysia Long ’13, Corinne Staub ’13, Caitlyn Moss ’13, Rita Rivera ’13, and Chelsea Corona ’15.

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Mission Critical: The Battle to End Ebola At the height of the Ebola crisis in West Africa, Mark Stenger ’90 was among the army of U.S. humanitarian aid workers mustered to help end the outbreak and restore desperately needed health services. By Marcia C. Landskroener M’02

ABOVE Working with UNICEF vaccine teams traversing the communities throughout Monrovia, Mark Stenger ’90 helped innoculate 170,000 children against polio and measles.

W

hen he landed in Liberia’s capital city that night in April 2015, the air was thick with humidity. In the dark landscape of Monrovia, he could see fires burning in the slums off in the distance and by the side of the road. For a brief moment, Mark Stenger ’90, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, had second thoughts about volunteering for this humanitarian mission.

Eight months and three deployments later, he was standing by, ready to go again.

As an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Stenger’s job is to study disease trends and the sociocultural factors influencing patterns of transmission. He is a Project Officer for the STD Surveillance Network, responsible for monitoring high-risk populations and overseeing sentinel surveillance programs around the country. For this mission, he was part of a team of public health experts deployed to help end the world’s largest outbreak of Ebola in West Africa—a crisis the World Health Organization (WHO) 44

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had declared “a public health emergency of international concern.”

“Our feeling was that a major humanitarian crisis in West Africa could also potentially be a worldwide threat; since the start of the outbreak in 2014, more than 28,000 people had been infected, and 11,300 died,” Stenger says. “While the CDC is primarily focused on the health and safety of Americans at home and abroad, that obligation becomes global because air travel, economic migration between countries, and refugee crises with hundreds of thousands of people on the move can easily spread diseases that were once isolated in specific regions. Our mission was to go to the center of that epidemic— Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone—to help end that outbreak so we don’t see a global spread of Ebola.”

Assigned to work in contact tracing and surveillance, Stenger partnered with community leaders to identify clusters of illness or persons who were ill, and made sure they were tested and isolated until they were determined not to have the virus. At the same time, he was part of the effort to halt the transmission of disease.

“One of the things that facilitated the fast spread of Ebola in West Africa was the funeral practice of washing the body, which is an incredibly moving ritual of separation as people say good-bye to their relatives. But it is also quite dangerous if that relative had Ebola. Early in the epidemic, we helped set up burial teams to assist in conducting safe and dignified internment that respected local beliefs while also protecting people from infection. In our section of urban Monrovia, I was responsible for seven zones, conducting active case finding, following up when we had a suspected illness, and making sure we quickly shared test results with the public health community.”

As the surveillance teams saw the number of cases, and then contacts under active monitoring,

ABOVE Healthcare workers sweltered in their protective gear. Photo by UNMEER

drop to zero by early May 2015, Liberia was declared free of Ebola transmission by the WHO for the first time. And while there have been sporadic cases since then, this was a major milestone.

“Then our job was to work toward the restoration of healthcare services,” Stenger says. “One of the big impacts of the Ebola disease was on healthcare facilities.

We lost a lot of healthcare providers to the disease and there was a great deal of fear in the community about going to healthcare facilities because they were centers for the spread of disease.” The CDC teams helped local facilities institute safe practices, and also hire and train new healthcare workers.

Stenger also assisted UNICEF teams vaccinating children for polio and measles. “In my first deployment we were seeing an epidemic of measles cases in young children because so few people brought their babies in for routine vaccination out of fear of Ebola. We went out into communities throughout Monrovia and vaccinated about 170,000 children. We see that as part of restoring health services in that region, which makes it safer for people here in the US as well. People do move around, so it’s important that we maintain vaccine rates there.”

ABOVE An aerial view of Monrovia. United Nations photo

restore health services in a part of the world that is truly in need of this kind of help.”

In December 2015, Stenger returned to Monrovia’s Redemption Hospital, the site of the Ebola survivors’ project. “It was amazing to see how much had changed since my first deployment,” he recalls.

“The Liberian Ministry of Health has done so much to bring hospitals up to standards, to bring new people into the system, and to train nurses and orderlies.

It was a night-and-day difference. But more than anything, I was impressed with the lasting partnerships we built throughout the emergency response process with our colleagues from WHO, Doctors Without Borders, the International Medical Corps, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the World Food Program, just to name a few. I couldn’t be more proud of our response as an agency and what the United States has done for West Africa and for the world.”

Despite the initial WHO all-clear signal following two 21-day incubation periods without additional cases in May 2015, a new cluster of cases emerged in late June that resulted in several deaths. That outbreak, and new scientific data, also prompted Stenger’s return to Liberia in October.

“We had discovered from earlier clusters of cases that it’s possible for Ebola to be transmitted sexually,” Stenger notes. He worked with the Ministry of Health and with WHO partners to screen male survivors for evidence of infection and to reduce their risk of transmitting the virus. “Our observation is that most people will eventually clear the virus from their system, but there is a period of time when their immune system is struggling to eliminate the last bastions of the virus from sensitive areas—in the eyes, testicles, and cerebral spinal fluid.”

Healthcare experts are also seeing long-term health consequences in Ebola survivors, including hearing and vision problems, and rheumatoid arthritis. “We feel it’s in the best interest of our agency and the world public health community to do our best to help Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone set up an infrastructure to care for survivors over time—that’s the best way to stop the outbreak but also to

Editor’s Note: On April 1st, a woman died of Ebola in Monrovia, months after Liberia was declared free of the virus. The region has continued to see small flare-ups even after the West African nations at the center of the crisis received the all-clear.

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In Memoriam Dorothy Van Lenton Copper ’31, of Quarryville, Penn., died February 11, 2016. She was 105.

She was the last surviving member of her immediate family.

Jean Harshaw Lesko ’37

Catharine “Kitty” Hepbron Harris ’33, of Chestertown, died January 29, 2016. She was 103.

“Mrs. Kitty” spent her entire life in Kent County and attended Washington College, where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. She married Carson West Harris in 1935; they were married for 41 years. Kitty worked in the printing department of LaMotte Chemical for 25 years, and was a member of the Old Kent Chapter of the DAR for 72 years.

She enjoyed genealogy research, antiquing, and handwork such as sewing, quilting and knitting.

Jean Harshaw Lesko ’37, the second woman inducted into Washington College’s Athletic Hall of Fame, passed away December 21, 2015 at the age of 98. Lesko had the distinction of playing on the men’s tennis team long before women’s varsity athletics were introduced at the College.

“Whether making a grand slam in a bridge game, swinging a hockey stick, shooting baskets, attending council meetings, presiding over a Mount Vernon meeting, or tearing around a tennis court after a small white ball, Jean Chute Harshaw enters wholeheartedly into the activity of the moment,” said the 1937 Pegasus yearbook. The “activity of the moment” led Lesko to play two years on the men’s tennis team, 1936-1937. A former junior champion in her home state of Pennsylvania, she was outstanding against all opposition.

Save for female coxswains on the men’s rowing teams—who would compete decades after her—she

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is the only known female athlete on a varsity men’s team in College history. “That was one of our victories,” recalled Miriam Ford Hoffecker ‘36 about Lesko’s time on the men’s team in a 1991 Washington College Magazine article about the history of coeducation at WC. “She could beat all the men.” Lesko was also considered the best of her era on the women’s field hockey and basketball teams in their on-campus competition.

She was inducted into the College’s Hall of Fame in 1986.

Clara “Dolly” McCool Thornton ’38, of Dover, Del., died February 4, 2016, while cruising around South America. She was 99. Dolly was president of Sigma Tau Delta at WC and helped the sorority attain a national charter with Alpha Omicron Pi, becoming the second National Panhellenic Conference organization on campus.

She went on to earn her teaching certification and devoted her life to literacy programs throughout the state of Delaware. After retiring, she worked with the Literacy Volunteers of America. Dolly was active in numerous organizations throughout her life including the Kent County Republican Women’s Club, the Odessa Women’s Club, the Alliance Family Fellowship, the Dover Century Club, and the Red Hat Society.

Marion M. “Gus” Towner ’38 died December 9, 2015. He was 98. Gus was the loving husband of Marie Miller Towner, who died in 2003. He and Marie were longtime residents of Millersville, Penn. Gus graduated from Washington College with a bachelor of science degree. He proudly served in the Army Air Corps during World War II as an airplane maintenance technician and crew

chief. Following his honorable discharge, Gus went to work for PP&L Electric, where he retired as a shift foreman. Gus was a member of the former First United Methodist Church of Millersville.

He loved to garden and belonged to the Men’s Gardening Club of Lancaster, earning the Gardener of the Year title in 1984. A 32nd Degree Mason, Gus belonged to the Charles M. Howell Lodge No. 496 for more than 50 years. He was also a member of the Millersville Senior Citizens Club.

Mary Berry Moore ’39, of Port Tobacco, Md., died December 28, 2015 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. She was 97. Mary taught at Hyattsville and Bladensburg high schools. In 1943, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was sent to Officers Training in North Hampton and then on to Harvard Business School. She reported to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola and was later transferred to Solomons Island. She received an honorable discharge in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant. Mary returned to Charles County and worked in the Treasurer’s Office.

She then worked as a bookkeeper at Hawthorne Country Club and the Charles County Public Library.

A board member and secretary/ auxiliary member of Physicians’ Memorial Hospital, she was also a member of Colonial Dames of America, Alpha Omicron Pi, and the American Legion.

Michael Kardash ’41, of Rehoboth Beach, Del., passed away January 13, 2016. He was 97. Mike, an inductee in WC’s Athletic Hall of Fame, was a former professional baseball player and scout, and a World War II veteran who fought in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

At Washington College, he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player. After college, Mike signed a contract and played for the Baltimore Orioles, among other pro clubs. In 1943, he joined the Navy, and served aboard the Australian cruiser, HMAS Shropshire, in the Pacific

theatre. In 1946, Lt. (jg) Kardash was honorably discharged and returned to professional baseball as the manager of the Tarboro Tars. In 1961, he served as President of the Maryland Professional Players Association. In 1986, he was inducted into the Maryland Old Timers Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in 1997, and he was admitted to the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. A golfer and member of the Rehoboth Beach Country Club for more than 50 years, Mike was a three-time club champion; he won the Delmarva Peninsula Amateur Golf Championship in 1975. Mike and his wife, Eleanor Rieck Kardash ’43, who survives him, were founding members of the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Rehoboth Beach.

Oliver Wilbert Littleton, Jr. ’42, of West Grove, Penn., died January 25, 2016. He was 95.

Ollie graduated from Washington College before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, where he served as the skipper of a minesweeper from 1944 to 1946. Following the war, Ollie married his college sweetheart, Dorothy Reindollar ’45, who survives him. He spent 38 years with E.I. DuPont de Nemours, working in Brazil, China, Australia, and Wilmington, Del. In retirement, Ollie enjoyed traveling with his wife, and spending time at his lake cabin in Wisconsin.

William Winchester Paca Jr. ’42 P’78, a World War II veteran and a former member of the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors (1978-1984), died September 11, 2015. He was 94.

Bill was a proud U.S. Marine who served in the Pacific theater—in Tinian, Guam, Hawaii, and Japan— and received a Purple Heart. After the Korean War, Bill retired in 1957 as a Captain USMCR. A direct descendant of William Paca, Governor of Maryland and signer of the Declaration of Independence, he was a member of several historical organizations including

Descendants of the Signers, Society of Colonial Wars, Historic Annapolis Inc., and the Country Club of Virginia. Bill worked for many years at E.M. Todd Co., Inc. and then at the Department of Agriculture in Virginia. He was an avid hunter, skier and golfer. He is survived by his wife, Gene Smith Paca P’78, and four children, William W. Paca III, Guthrie S. Paca, Helen Paca Blackwell ’78 and Robert T. Paca, all of Richmond.

John Cree Eliason ’44, of Chestertown, died February 5, 2016. He was 96. A native of Chestertown, John attended Washington College where he played on the men’s basketball team and later joined WC-ALL. Active in scouting, he became an assistant scoutmaster in 1937, became a Life Scout in 1940, and served as a scout leader from 1941-1942. John spent six years in the U.S. Army, serving in both WWII and the Korean Conflict. He was stationed in the Philippines, New Guinea, and South Korea. Mr. Eliason returned to Chestertown as parts manager, then owner of Eliason Motors. John was also a member of the Chestertown Fire Company, where he was a firefighter, chief, and board member.

In 2012, he was honored by Scout Troop 130 for being a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America for 75 years.

2015. He began his scientific pursuits at Washington College, where he majored in chemistry and biology, played varsity soccer, basketball, and baseball, and joined the Theta Chi fraternity. He met Phyllis “Bucki” R. Buckingham ’47, of Baltimore, whom he married on September 4, 1948; she survives him. Bill put his education on hold during World War II, volunteering for the U.S. Navy, where he completed training as a carrier-based F6F (Hellcat) fighter pilot. After the war, he completed his college degree and went to Indiana University, where he earned his PhD in zoology (endocrinology). He began his career as a research scientist in 1952 at the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, working in metabolic diseases, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis research, until he ultimately reached the position of research director for diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases.

While at Upjohn, he wrote and presented many invited papers in the U.S., Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, France, Italy, and Israel. He was also an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University in the biomedical department. He was active in many professional societies, including the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine; Endocrine Society; American Diabetes Association; American Physiology Society; and American Heart Association. He is credited with over 100 scientific publications. Bill won the Upjohn Award in 1961 for Recognition of Special Accomplishments, and the Washington College Alumni Citation Award in 1985 for contributions to medical science.

He retired from Upjohn Co. in 1985, and moved to Marco Island, Fla., until 2010, when he and Bucki returned to Kalamazoo. He loved fishing, boating, handball, tennis, and socializing with his friends. In retirement, he and Bucki traveled extensively.

Dr. William E. Dulin ’47, a former Navy fighter pilot and research scientist, died November 29,

Betty Pinder Clark Simpers ’48, a longtime elementary school teacher in Kent County, died

Edwin R. Boyer Jr. ’43, a World War II veteran, died December 16, 2015 at the Charlestown Retirement Community in his native Baltimore. Upon earning his college degree in three years, Edwin was called into the Navy and ended up in the Pacific theater after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

He worked for Brown and Bigelow, married Marian Whiteford in 1950, and had three sons. He spent his summers on the Chesapeake Bay, boating, entertaining, and renovating a property on Bodkin Creek.

October 26, 2015. She was 89.

Mrs. Simpers taught elementary school in Kennedyville, Millington, and Worton Elementary School; she retired in 1989. She was a member of St. James United Methodist Church in Worton, the Red Hat Society of Chestertown, the Maryland Teachers Association, and the National Education Association. She enjoyed quilting, cross-stitching, sewing, and spoiling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Roland Tilghman “Bucky” Larrimore ’49, of Chestertown, died February 5, 2015. He was 82. Born in Rock Hall, Bucky started classes at Washington College and then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving two tours of duty in Korea. After his military service he completed his undergraduate degree, graduating in 1962. A standout in soccer and baseball, he was inducted in the College's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. In addition to working for 35 years as a State Farm agent, Mr. Larrimore served a term as a Judge of Kent County's Orphans Court, and two terms as a Kent County Commissioner. Bucky enjoyed his family, sports, reading, politics, travel, conversation, gardening, and American history.

Daniel B. “Bix” Wheeler ’49 of Hampton, Md., died on February 16, 2016. He was 93. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces as a mechanic working on B-24 Liberator bombers. After the war, he attended Washington College on the GI Bill, earning his bachelor’s degree. He earned his master’s degree in education from the University of Maryland and began teaching in Baltimore county public schools in 1949, and was later promoted to vice principal, and then principal. Dr. Wheeler took a sabbatical in 1968 and moved his family to Louisiana, where he earned his doctorate in education from Auburn University. He returned to Maryland in 1970, and was named principal of Ridgely Junior High School. In the SPRING 2016

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mid-1970s Wheeler was appointed chief negotiator of Baltimore County’s public schools. He was later assistant superintendent, and then associate superintendent of physical facilities when he retired in 1982. In his retirement, Dr. Wheeler enjoyed woodworking and maintained an impressive woodworking shop in the basement of his home.

James J. Hadaway, Jr. ’50, a World War II veteran and a longtime schoolteacher who held a master’s degree from Duke University, died September 15, 2015.

He was 88. He lived most of his life in Chestertown before moving to Waycross, Ga., in 1970. He served in the United States Marines during World War II and was awarded the Combat Ribbon. He was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, China-Burma-India Veterans Association, Marine Corps League, First Marine Division Association and the China Marine Association. A beloved teacher, counselor and administrator, Mr. Hadaway worked for Buckingham High School, Stephen Decatur High School, North Caroline High School, Waycross High School, Brantley County High School, and Southwood School. He also served as Maryland’s state safety education supervisor. He retired after 47 years of teaching. A former Eagle Scout, he was Scout Master and troop committee chairman, and was an active member of First United Methodist Church.

Conlyn E. Noland, Jr. ’51, of Fenwick Island, died January 6, 2016 at Delaware Hospice Center in Milford. He was 85. Born in Chestertown, he studied math at Washington College and then went on to the University of Maryland. A Certified Public Accountant, he served on the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Con worked at the DuPont Company for more than 30 years and retired in 1987 as an assistant controller.

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Lady Lake, Fla., where he enjoyed playing golf. He was a member of Lady Lake United Methodist Church. Conlyn loved fishing, crabbing, and boating with his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Dr. William Barnett ’55 passed away at his home in Annapolis on November 21, 2015. At Washington College, he was an All-American lacrosse defenseman and a member of the 1954 national championship lacrosse team. Bill earned a Doctor of Optometry degree from the Illinois College of Optometry and went on to serve as a Captain in the Army’s First Cavalry Division at Fort Dix and Fort Sam Houston, and in Korea with the 15th Medical Battalion.

Bill married Anne Funkey Barnett ’59 in 1962. She survives him. The couple and their four children settled in Annapolis and were members of St. Mary’s Parish and the Annapolis Yacht Club. Bill cared for patients at his optometric practices in Edgewater and Bowie until his 80th birthday. He enjoyed reading, Bible study, handball, tennis, golf, and sailing; and he continued playing, coaching, and supporting the game of lacrosse for many years.

George B. Burns ’57, of Havre de Grace, Md., died February 8, 2016.

He was 80. George received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and went on to work as a computer specialist for National Cash Register and Aberdeen Proving Ground. He was an avid baseball player and was voted MVP of the Shoremen team. In later years, he enjoyed watching football and classic films. Mr. Burns donated two homes and property to the City of Havre de Grace, in hopes of preserving town history.

John B. Kenny ’57 of Roland Park, Md., passed away November 11, 2015. John earned a degree in economics from Washington College, where he played lacrosse and was a member of Lambda Chi fraternity. After working for Montgomery Ward, John enlisted in

the Army and served in Germany.

Following his time with the Army, John worked in sales for Lever Brothers and rose to national sales manager before establishing his own golf course apparel company, OfCourse Custom Apparel, in 1993. John recently celebrated 30 years of sobriety and led many through the steps of recovery. He enjoyed playing golf at the Bon Air Country Club in Glen Rock, Penn., where he was a member.

Mary Lou Verdon Joseph ’58, who taught at Caesar Rodney High School for 32 years, died October 6, 2015. At Washington College, she met her future husband, Ebe Joseph ’56, the very first week she arrived. He survives her. She graduated from Delaware State University and then earned a master’s degree in education from Wilmington University. She and Ebe made their home in Smyrna and raised three girls. After they both retired from teaching, they enjoyed traveling the country.

Henrietta “Penny” Stenger Lemen ’58, of Elkton, Md., passed away December 18, 2015.

She was 78. Born in Chestertown, Penny attended Washington College, where she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, the basketball team, glee club, and choir. She graduated from Towson University in 1959 and taught at Wakefield Elementary School from 1959 until 1965. Mrs. Lemen was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, where she was a choir member from 1969 until 2005.

She participated in Reach for Recovery through the American Cancer Society and was a member of the Woman’s Civic Club and the Cecil County Choral Society.

She was also a fan of Maryland Terrapins basketball and Baltimore Ravens football. Survivors include her husband of 52 years, Richard Lemen, and her brother, W. Jackson Stenger Jr. ’49.

Louise Townsend King ’59 passed away October 21, 2015 at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin,

Md. Born in Philadelphia, she was the daughter of the late Robert and Louise Pancoast Townsend.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Scott King.

Robert E. Eissele ’60, of Catonsville, Md., died February 26, 2016.

He was 77. Robert was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order and president of the Inter-Fraternal Council at WC. He also ran track, and served as the sports editor and business manager for The Pegasus. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Alice Blumenberg Eissele, two children, and four grandchildren.

Suzanne R. Kemp Thompson ’60, of Cockeysville, Md., died February 9, 2016. She was 77.

Sue earned a master’s degree in library science from Drexel University and was a university librarian for many years at UMBC. A member of the Sigma Tau chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi during her time at WC, she was a longtime member of the Baltimore Alumni Chapter.

Nancy Combs Sanger Townsend ’64, a former medical technologist, passed away November 24, 2015, in Raleigh, N.C., with her children by her side. She was 73. Nancy was a longtime supporter of her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. In 1984, she married Chandler “Sonny” Townsend, who preceded her in death.

Nancy continued to work in family medical clinics and all the while pursued her real passion, which was all things equestrian. There was nothing she enjoyed more than training and riding her horses for both showing and fox hunting, and walking the foxhounds. Nancy also had quite the green thumb and loved working in her garden, tending to vegetables and flowers.

Richard B. Holloway ’71, president of the L. Holloway and Brothers Company, died September 14, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Karen A. Holloway.

Sarah Tilghman Gearhart ’75 died October 2, 2015 of pancreatic cancer. She was 62. Sarah began her education in Centreville, Maryland, where she skipped the third grade. When the family moved to Baltimore, she continued in public school and then attended St. Paul’s School for Girls. During her senior year of high school, the family moved to England, where she studied at Wycombe Abbey in High Wycombe. She also studied at the university level, designing her own program in history and literature at the University College of London. She returned to the States to complete her bachelor’s degree in English literature at Washington College, and then earned a master’s degree at Washington University. While living in New York City, Sarah worked in publishing, book selling, and freelance writing, and taught at Baruch College of the City University of New York. Returning to Baltimore, she taught English courses at Morgan State University and the Community Colleges of Baltimore County. Sarah cared deeply about her communities and many circles of friends. In London, she volunteered at the Simon Community, a program for homeless people. In Baltimore, she volunteered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where she focused on the Edgar Allen Poe collection. A resident in publishing at Washington College since 1986, she also helped to produce a collection of alumni memories of the Literary House.

Melissa MacDonald Lankler ’76 died November 26, 2015 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., surrounded by her family.

She was 61. Missy enjoyed a childhood full of riding horses and playing with her younger sister Lesley. In between weekends of foxhunting, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in art history at Washington College. She went on to wear a number of professional hats. She took photographs for the Potomac Almanac and worked for the Georgetown Medical

School. Later, she created, developed, and ran the Field of Dreams Therapeutic Riding Center for children with disabilities. Missy greatly enjoyed the time she spent as a member of the Potomac Hunt Club, the Monocacy Garden Club, and Boyds Presbyterian Church.

discharge, Jimmy lived in Georgetown and graduated from Northern Virginia Community College with an associate’s degree in liberal arts. He later returned to the Eastern Shore and attended Washington College. Jimmy was a disabled veteran.

faculty. He developed a system to chart the durability of materials in different temperatures and humidity at the Library of Congress at the end of his career and served as President of the American Institute for Conservation, which named him an honorary member.

Kathryn L. Campbell ’77, of Chestertown, died February 10, 2016. She was 60. Kathy was a member of the Washington College women’s crew,and recipient of the Elizabeth “Bo” Blanchard Memorial Sportsmanship Award.

She worked as the office manager for Ramsey GMC for the past 19 years. Kathy enjoyed rowing, reading, gardening, playing with her kittens, and helping with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Breakfasts.

John Love Kuntz M’98, of Summerville, S.C., died November 21, 2015. He was 68. Dr. Kuntz held degrees from Washington College and Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate from Glamorgan University in Wales, where he graduated summa cum laude. He proudly served in Special Forces in the U.S. Army and retired as a Command Sergeant Major.

After retirement, he taught in the Charleston County School District and was a JROTC instructor. His passion in life was teaching.

Stanley A. Schottland, a World War II veteran, a successful businessman who became president and CEO of the American Packaging Corporation, and a philanthropist who made a significant impact at Washington College, died February 2, 2016. He was 96. Mr. Schottland enlisted in the Army the day after Pearl Harbor, was promoted to Lieutenant, and landed on Omaha Beach in July 1944 as part of George Patton’s army. He fought bravely and was wounded in action in September of that year. Three months later, on December 24, he and Ellen Bordley ’42 were married in her hometown of Chestertown; their union lasted 61 years, until her death in 2005. Mr. Schottland’s first major gift to Washington College funded construction of the Ellen Bordley Schottland ’42 Tennis Center. In 1988, he established the Stanley A. Schottland Business Leadership Award, recognizing graduating seniors with promising futures in business, and providing tuition assistance to those pursuing advanced degrees in business and leadership education. To date, 27 students have directly benefited from the scholarship program, and seven of the award winners have gone on to earn MBA degrees. The most recent recipient, Connor Harrison ’15, is pursuing a master’s in accounting in the Raymond Mason School of Business at William & Mary.

Joan Culver Merriken M’77, of Chestertown, died January 25, 2016. She was 86. Joan received her master’s degree from Washington College, and became the founding headmistress of Kent School. Under her 28 years of guidance, the school grew from a kindergarten to seventh grade school of 79 students to a pre-K through eighth grade school of 198 students. In 1996, Joan became a founding member and president of the Board of Trustees for Radcliffe Creek School. She was presented the Navigator Award and was named an “Overseer” of the Kent School in 2010. In 2014, the Board of Trustees named the Joan C. Merriken Administrative Building in her honor.

James E. Leager ’82 passed away at his home in Salisbury, Md., on December 25, 2015. He was 61. Jimmy grew up in Wye Mills and graduated from Queen Anne’s County High School in 1972. He then joined the military, serving in the U.S. Army Reinforced 3rd Infantry from 1972 to 1975. He was stationed at Fort Meyer, Va., where he was appointed to the “Old Guard” Presidential Honor Guard at Fort Wainwright, Ark. Following his honorable

Bryan Botti '12, 25, was killed in a traffic accident September 7, 2015. He earned a B.A. in business management and, at the time of his death, was working as a Senior Operations Associate at Brown Advisory, an investment management firm in Baltimore.

Bryan was a four-year member of the men's lacrosse team, serving as a team captain his senior year.

He was named the team's Most Improved Player as a freshman and went on to earn a spot as a starting defenseman for his final three seasons. As a senior, he helped lead the Shoremen to their first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in four years.

Donald Keith Sebera, a former chemistry professor at Washington College, died August 27, 2015. He held a PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago and served in the Chemical Corps of the Army during the Korean War. After leaving the Army, he taught chemistry and supervised graduate students at Wesleyan University. Dr. Sebera also taught chemistry at the State University of New York in Cooperstown and the University of Delaware before joining the Washington College

These obituaries are excerpted from published newspaper accounts.

SPRING 2016

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DEVELOPMENT

Dam the Debt Reduces Burden of Student Loans Unprecedented in higher education, President Sheila Bair’s new program reduces graduating seniors’ federal debt load by 10 percent.

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n a move that shows fresh initiative and immediate action to make higher education more affordable, Washington College President Sheila Bair has managed to reduce the debt of all graduating seniors carrying federally subsidized loans this semester by more than $313,000. This is the first payment under the new Dam the Debt program, the only one of its kind at a U.S. college or university. Initiated last fall after Bair, the former chairman of the FDIC, was inaugurated as the College’s 28th president, Dam the Debt has already raised nearly $1 million committed over four years; the College hopes to raise at least $2 million more for future debt reductions.

“We want our students to be both academically and financially prepared when they graduate from college,” Bair says. “And we are just getting started. We are grateful for the support of donors in helping us battle high student debt loads. With their help, we are moving full speed ahead.”

“Dam the Debt is an initiative like no other I have seen before,” says Lily Britt, a double major in business management and French studies from Tamarac, Florida. “I’m excited that it will relieve some stress from our overall amount of loans, and I commend President Bair for bringing so much of the spotlight to this pressing issue of exorbitant college debt that is impacting millennials nationwide.”

Dam the Debt is funded by donors who grasp the national economic consequences of high student debt that hamstrings the ability of young adults to save or invest, buy cars and homes, and otherwise move forward economically and in their careers. Among the donors are Avant, BB&T, blooom, inc., TD Bank, Santander Bank, Jack ’52 and Peggy Bacon, and two anonymous donors.

Dam the Debt represents only one facet of Bair’s campaign to increase college affordability

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and access. She has also launched George’s Brigade, which provides financial and social support to high-performing, high-need, firstgeneration students. By covering the students’ full tuition, room, and board, and allowing them to apply with others from their community and high school, the initiative works to guarantee the success of students who would not otherwise have had access to an excellent private liberal arts education.

“We want our students to be both academically and financially prepared when they graduate from college.”

– sheila c. bair

Million-Dollar Honor A great executive assistant is worth a million dollars, but very few get that kind of recognition. Annie Brown Coleman, who has worked in the President’s Office for the past 32 years, is finally getting her due, thanks to one of the College’s most generous donors. Betty Brown Casey ’47 (no relation) is endowing a $1 million scholarship in her name.

When Coleman retires at the end of June, her legacy will live on through the Annie Brown Coleman Scholarship, awarded to students “of impeccable character” from her native Kent County. Mrs. Casey, who has chaired the Casey Foundation since her husband’s death in 1986, has requested that Mrs. Coleman participate in choosing the scholarship recipient.

The executive assistant to seven College presidents first met Mrs. Casey during the Douglass Cater administration in the 1980s. “She was a highly respected member of the Board of Visitors and Governors; when she called to speak to the president, I knew it was important,” Mrs. Coleman recalls. “I was the one who answered the phone when she called and oftentimes the president would be out of the office.

In recent years, Mrs. Casey seemed satisfied to talk to me about the happenings at the College when the president was not available.”

Mrs. Casey’s generosity has been longstanding, providing essential support for renovating existing buildings, constructing new facilities, and creating endowed scholarships now valued at more than $10 million.

“This scholarship pays tribute to two outstanding women who have played major roles in the history of Washington College,” remarked President Bair. “Each in their own way has contributed to the grace and beauty of our campus, and our culture of support and caring for our students. We owe them both huge debts of gratitude."

Board Chair Larry Culp ’85 Endows Faculty Position in Psychology Honoring his late mother with a $2 million gift, the former Danaher exec creates the Carol C. Culp Chair in Psychology.

ABOVE Cynthia Gibson (right) is the inaugural holder of the Culp Chair in Psychology.

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hen Larry Culp ’85 was growing up in Rockville, Maryland, his mother Carol was running a household, raising two children, and pursuing her own education. With an undergraduate degree in business from American University, she earned a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Culp, who died in 2010, was a well-respected teacher, researcher, and clinician who practiced in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and held appointments at Salisbury University and Dickinson College.

“The irony is that I never took a psychology class at Washington College,” Culp admits, “but it’s meaningful for me and my family to endow a faculty chair because what happens in the classroom is the most important thing that happens here.

The fact that she introduced me to Washington College, that this was her field of study, and that she taught and

enjoyed being in the classroom is all part of what motivates us to do this.”

Cynthia Gibson, associate professor of psychology and department chair, is the inaugural holder of the Carol C. Culp Chair in Psychology, which he endowed with a gift of $2 million.

Culp also hopes that his gesture will help underscore for students and young alumni that Washington College needs their support as well.

“This place is special because over the years people have made a commitment to Washington College. As a graduating senior, I never harbored the idea that I might one day serve on the board, let alone be chair. I could imagine giving back, but only in a modest way. At this stage in my life, I’m fortunate to be able to do some things that matter in the way that Col. Clarence Hodson and others have done for Washington College. I do feel that sense of responsibility, and happily so. Hopefully we all share that sense of responsibility, which can manifest in different ways.”

SPRING 2016

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THE LAST WORD

The Greening of Local Business On a century-old family farm just outside of Chestertown, there’s something new growing.

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ucked behind the hay barn, the milk house, and the utility sheds on Bryan Williams’ Red Acres Farm, two high tunnels gleam in the early spring sunshine. Inside, rows of lettuces in various stages of maturity flex their green muscles, unhindered by cold or drought, untreated with pesticides, and untouched by fossilfueled equipment. This is hydroponics, a high-tech growing process whereby crops are grown in rock wool embedded in plastic trays, fed by water and nutrients in climatecontrolled greenhouses. While the computer panel at the rear of the growing facility controls the temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and humidity, the human touch is very much in evidence in the sowing, harvesting, marketing, and distribution of the yearround crop.

Joseph Bauer, a lecturer in business management at Washington College who helped develop the business plan for Red Acres Hydroponics (his daughter, high school science teacher Liza Goetz, introduced the concept to Bryan and Tracey Williams), thinks this new enterprise could be the start of something big for Kent County. Red Acres could become the model for other entrepreneurs and work as a business incubator that helps other agricultural start-up companies get off the ground.

“Kent County is the smallest county in Maryland, but the largest from an agricultural standpoint,” Bauer says. When we talk about economic development for our county, we shouldn’t try to become something we’re not. We do a very good job of being ourselves—people who care about preserving our agricultural heritage, but who also want to add value to their farm properties.”

When Bryan Williams’ father was working the farm, he was raising dairy cows. Before his death, the elder Williams encouraged his son to move into grain

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Bryan Williams (left) and Washington College business professor Joe Bauer survey the newest crop at Red Acres Farm.

ABOVE

production. Deer corn and hay have been Williams’ crops of choice until last winter, when two chance encounters — one in a high school classroom where Goetz had a small hydroponics system on display, and another at a Farm Bureau dinner, where hydroponics was mentioned as “the next big thing in farming” — convinced Williams to go all in.

“People told me I was crazy to get into this because it represents a serious investment,” Williams recalls, “but given the interest in the local food movement, we thought it was a smart risk to take.”

While Red Acres is expanding its circle of wholesale distribution to restaurants and food brokerage companies, Williams has converted the milk house into a tiny storefront where neighbors can stop in and pick up their orders. Along with the eight varieties of lettuces available, spinach, kale, English spring peas, and herbs will soon be on the menu. Red Acres also has a presence

at the Chestertown Farmers Market.

As is all farming, it’s hard work, but Williams seems to relish the challenge of growing a new business—for the future of his family and for Kent County.

January 10:11 AM

April 11:11 AM

OMG! I’m going to WAC

Did you see the piece in WaPo about President Bair?

Congrats! I know u were hoping to get in. Isn’t it $$?

Yeah I was worried but I got a scholarship.

Very cool what she’s doing to help today’s grads So proud of my alma mater.

Finally, a

in charge.

So happy & thankful I can go to my dream school!!!

Today 12:01 PM

Just got my acceptance letter for grad school!

June 11:10 PM

OK. Who’s going to Alumni Weekend?

it!

Yesss! Wouldn’t miss

Can’t wait to get back to Chestertown and see all my favorite peeps.

I’m getting full funding too, through a teaching assistantship.

Congrats!

So happy for you.

That 8:30 class really paid off.

I

WAC. I know! Me too!

that place!

WAC Forever.

Put your where your is.

Give to The Washington Fund. give.washcoll.edu

Washington College Magazine Volume LXVI No. 4 Spring 2016 ISSN 2152-9531

Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

In Person: Mikhail Zaborskiy ’11 For Mikhail Zaborskiy, a Russian-born student who enrolled at WC at the tender age of 16, the most valuable lesson he learned in college was how to be part of a team. It happened on the Chester River, in a narrow shell with eight young men dipping their oars out of sync, wobbling and bobbing in the current.

“When your timing is off your momentum is hindered, but when you have eight guys striking the water at the same time, and you are in the right headspace, you get into a groove. You start to glide along the water.

Being part of the rowing team was definitely a highlight of my college career,” says Zaborskiy, who steals time away from his MBA studies at Harvard Business School to row as part of a club team.

The analogy between rowing and business success is easy for Zaborskiy to make and, for someone with an individualist, analytical bent, his studies at Harvard have served to reinforce that lesson of teamwork. “What I’ve learned is that it’s all about the people. It was a novel concept to me, as an analyst. But what makes a successful manager is being able to empathize with people.”

A business and economics major, Zaborskiy launched his career with ChemTreat, an industrial water treatment company in Virginia.

“I was looking at forecasts, tracking company performance, and helping draft budgets.

It was also my job to analyze how each department could contribute, and then channel that information up,” Zaborskiy says. “I had my finger on the pulse of the company, from product manufacturing, to sales, to the corporate office, so I became this conduit between the work force and strategic decisionmakers.”

That ability to understand every stakeholder’s perspective will serve him well in his post-MBA position with a consulting firm. “I am interested in film and television, but also in energy and in political and social issues. I am not sure what the future holds for me, but this path will allow me to experience a lot of industries in a short period of time.”

SPRING 2016

iv