NEW ACADEMIC DEANS TAKE THE REINS
ALMA MATTERS
This spring, President H. Kim Bottomly and Provost and Dean of the College Andrew Shennan announced the appointment of two new academic deans: Richard French, McDowell/Whiting Professor of Astrophysics, and Kathryn Lynch, Bates/Hart Professor of English. They replace Deans Joanne Berger-Sweeney ’79 and Adele Wolfson, who concluded six years of service in the dean’s office at the close of the academic year. “Dick French and Cappy Lynch exemplify the excellence of our faculty in all dimensions of their work,” Shennan said in making the announcement. “They are prolific and highly regarded scholars, with long publication records and extensive recognition from external agencies and professional associations. They are dedicated and skilled teachers and mentors. . . . And both Dick and Cappy have made innumerable contributions to the strength and vitality of this faculty community.” They have each served multiple terms as department chairs and program directors, as elected members of the Committee on Faculty Appointments, and as initiators of major programmatic initiatives such as the Observatory renovation and the Newhouse Center for the Humanities. Shennan called the retiring Berger-Sweeney and Wolfson “remarkable stewards of our academic program” and praised them for “the projects and priorities [they] have carried forward to such good effect.” These included a rapid expansion of the tenure-track faculty, reallocating resources from the nontenure track; the increased diversity of the faculty; and the development of interdepartmental faculty appointments and the strengthening of interdepartmental majors.
MOVING OUT, NOT THROWING OUT At the end of the school year, Wellesley held its first “Sustainable Move Out.” Students donated reusable items at marked locations in their residence halls. Clothing and shoes were donated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Small and large household items will be resold at an on-campus rummage sale this fall to raise funds to support sustainability projects on campus. ASIAN STUDIES HONOR Katharine Moon, the Edith Stix Wasserman Professor of Asian Studies and professor of political science, will join the first class of reRICHARD HOWARD
search associates at
designed to reinvigorate and promote the study of Asia relevant to public policy.
are given each year at commencement to faculty members who have achieved particular distinction in the classroom. This year’s winners were:
NINE NSF FELLOWS The National Science Foundation has awarded Graduate Research Fellowships to nine alumnae to support their
Connie Bauman Associate Professor of the Practice of Sports Medicine
study in master’s or doctoral degree programs. The recipients are: Emily Cibelli ’09, Rebekah Dawson ’09, Debra Hausladen ’09, Sanja Jagesic ’08, Esther Kim ’04, Kaitlyn Lucey ’08, Anne Madden ’06, Kali Wilson ’04, and Christina Woo ’08.
Connie Bauman, Daniel Brabander, Paul Fisher
AT THE TABLE WITH NAPOLITANO
Paul Fisher Assistant Professor of American Studies Almost every nomination letter written by Paul Fisher’s students praised his willingness and unique ability to read students’ work and help them understand concretely how they can become better writers. Students also described him as “fiercely smart, funny, [and] humble,” encouraging students to pursue unconventional lines of argument, to reach beyond their selfimposed limitations, and to appreciate the power of literature.
President H. Kim Bottomly participated in a roundtable discussion with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and highereducation leaders at MIT
JUSTIN KNIGHT
To his students, Daniel Brabander’s signature is a teaching style that is both dynamic and inquisitive, with an approach to science that is both collaborative and interdisciplinary. Describing him as a student of his own classroom, student nominators said Brabander’s ability to show his evolving thought and tap students’ unique interests means that his classes are “never identical and almost always surprising.”
The new two-year
International Center for Scholars, is
The Pinanski Prizes for Excellence in Teaching
Daniel Brabander Associate Professor of Geosciences
Research Program.
Asian Research and the Woodrow Wilson
2010 PINANSKI PRIZES
Students of Connie Bauman lauded her devotion to teaching and to them, saying her “dedication to her students is unparalleled. . . . Her preparation is impeccable.” Bauman was praised not only for her use of technology and interactive tools in the classroom, but for reaching beyond Wellesley’s walls with a program in which students mentor local middleschool girls in sports medicine.
the National Asia
program, run by the National Bureau of
RICHARD HOWARD
RICHARD HOWARD
WINDOW ON WELLESLEY
on April 16.“We discussed, among other things, how colleges and universities can work with government to develop the world’s next generation of leaders in public service,” Bottomly says. Summer 2010 Wellesley 11