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 A Guide to Arts and Sciences' News, Events and People

June 2010

Contents
Congratulations Class of 2010!

A GW Legacy

A Navajo Experience

Mapping the Future

Lucky Alumnus Wins Lottery

New Research Discoveries

Nuclear Physics Students Collaborate

New Trustees Announced

Representing American Youth

In Memoriam


Columbian College Video

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Make a Difference

Upcoming Events
Organizational Sciences Open House
June 16, 6:30 pm
Graduate Education Center, Arlington

Art Therapy Roundtable Information Session
June 18, 2:00 pm
Alexandria, VA

Alumni Events
Alumni Only Career Fair
June 18, 11:00 pm
Marvin Center Continental & Grand Ballrooms

Alumni Event : King Lear
June 22, 6:00 pm
The Shakespeare Theatre Company Studios

GW Alumni Association Annual Meeting & Reception
June 24, 6:30 pm
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

International Business Post Crisis: Prospects for Latin America
June 30, 7:00 pm
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Kudos
Robert Adcock, assistant professor of political science, authored "Political Science" (with Mark Bevir) in The History of Postwar Social Science.

Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean, edited by Associate Professor of Classics Eric H. Cline, was recently published.

Luther Rice Fellow Melissa Cradic, BS '10, has received a Bender Scholarship to study at Cambridge University and a full scholarship to Berkeley's Anthropology Doctoral Program in 2011. 

Enze Han was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program for 2010.

Double major in Chinese and International Affairs Amanda James was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force and awarded the Distinguished Graduate Award and the Major Jeanne M. Holm Leadership Excellence Award.

Political Science major Craig M. Kauffman was awarded the Inter-American Foundation's Grassroots Development Fellowship for his research regarding environmental management in Ecuador.

MFA candidate Sarah Koss and Fine Arts Major Lindsay Routt each received a Young Artist grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Alison McDougal, BS '10, received the Baer Award for Individual Excellence, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commendation of Service, and the Good Neighbor Award.

Medlir Mema, a graduate student in political science, was awarded an ACES-EU Center of Excellence Pre-PhD Dissertation Award to study the International Criminal Court.

Daniel Nerenberg, a recipient of a fellowship from the GW Institute for Middle East Studies, was awarded the 2010 Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace and a grant from Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture.

Thomas Richards, Phi Beta Kappa, BA '10, was invited to a young artists program in Leipzig, Germany and was accepted for graduate study in voice by six music schools, including Juilliard and Yale.

John Sides, assistant professor of political science, authored "Do Voters Perceive Negative Campaigns as Informative Campaigns?" (with Keena Lipsitz and Matthew Grossmann) in the May issue of American Politics Research.

The book IRSE ("Leaving") by Sergio Waisman was published in May. Waisman delivered a keynote paper "Argentine Scenes of Translation" at the V International Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Imperial Characters: Home and Periphery in Eighteenth-Century Literature, by Tara Ghoshal Wallace, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, was recently published.

A book by Professor of History Andrew Zimmerman, Alabama in Africa, was recently published.


Department Blogs and Newsletters
Anthropology Department

Chinese Program

English Department

Japanese Program

Korean Program

Medieval and Early Modern Studies Institute

Physics Department

School of Media and Public Affairs

Solar Institute

Speech and Hearing Sciences

Theatre and Dance Department

Congratulations Class of 2010!
"We've encouraged each of you to think big, act boldly, and change lives...I look to you, with anticipation and pride, for innovations, creativity, discovery, leadership, and service. Congratulations and all the best!"
       -Peg Barratt, Dean of Columbian College

Commencement weekend ushered the 2010 GW graduates into the world with flair, joy, and inspiring words from First Lady Michele Obama. The weekend included a Celebration at the Charles E. Smith Center for Columbian College undergraduate and graduate students. Dean Peg Barratt applauded the College's newest alumni for their accomplishments and encouraged ongoing creativity, service, and leadership in future endeavors.  Graduates also enjoyed inspiring words from faculty speakers Kerric Harvey and Stephen Lubkemann; graduate student speakers Megan Lebow , MPP '10, and Amanda Dawson, MFA '10; and undergraduate speakers Lauren Chun, BA '10, and Jennifer Day, BS '10, MPP '10. Read more.


The Gaffney Family: A GW Legacy
For Dean Barratt, one of the many moments that made Commencement weekend so special was her time with alumnus John Gaffney, BA �82, chairman of the Columbian College National Council Advisory Board and a speaker at the Celebration. John's mother and the rest of the Gaffney family had gathered to celebrate the graduation of Sean, the next generation of Gaffneys at GW. The Gaffney legacy continues this fall when Sean's sister, Caroline, enters Columbian College as a freshman, and brother, Conor, transfers from Franklin and Marshall College for his third year. Read more.


Students Examine Environmental Hazards, Formulate Policy in Navajo Nation
Rukia Dahir, Jennifer LynetteJason Fraley, Elizabeth Krone, and Macrina Xavier are passionate about environmental justice issues . . . a passion that took them to the Navajo Nation this spring to analyze and address hazards left behind by the federal government's extensive uranium mining and milling operations during World War II. Their findings, part of a capstone project in Columbian College's Environmental Resource Policy graduate program, were presented to officials at the U.S. Department of Energy. The federal agency partnered with the program to formulate a cleanup strategy and offer remediation proposals. Read more.


Graduate Maps His Future
Recent graduate Peter Gray Smith, BA '10, has an explorer's spirit and the tools to map out his adventures. While at GW, Smith completed a double major in Geography and International Affairs, minored in Geographic Information Systems, worked with the National Geographic Society, and spent his final spring break on the adventure of his lifetime . . . so far. Read more.


Alumnus Wins $266 Million in Lottery
Plans to Give Back to Community and Church
On May 4, Jacki Cisneros woke up her husband Gilbert, BA '94, and asked him if he had bought a lottery ticket at the L & L Hawaiian BBQ where he had eaten dinner the previous night. Sure enough, the numbers on one of the tickets Gil bought matched the California State Lottery's winning numbers. The couple was $266 million richer.

"My first thought was just sign the ticket and make copies then put it somewhere safe," said Cisneros, who lives in Pico Rivera, Calif., and recently lost his job. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. I think once I take a look at my new portfolio, then it will hit me." Read more.


New Discoveries Place College at Leading Edge of Research
Columbian College researchers are at the leading edge of new discoveries. Among their latest findings are the astonishing developments below:

Anthropology researchers Paul Constantino and Peter Lucas discovered a new method of linking tooth chips in fossils of early humans with their eating habits. Based on chip and tooth size, their research suggests that early humans consumed large, hard foods such as seeds and nuts and occasionally used very high bite forces to do so.

Gustavo Hormiga, the Ruth Weintraub Professor of Biology, and postdoctoral researcher Dimitar Dimitov uncovered the identity of a spider that was originally found by Charles Darwin in Brazil more than a century and a half ago.

Associate Professor of Anthropology Brian Richmond helped a team of scientists identify what may have helped fuel the evolution of the human brain two million years ago. Based on analysis of animal bones and stone tools they excavated, the research team found that our early ancestors incorporated aquatic "brain food" in their diet.


Students Play Key Role in International Nuclear Physics Collaborations
As participants in the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project, graduate student Zoe Marinides and undergraduate student Berhan Taddesse had the rare opportunity to conduct research with international collaborators in experimental nuclear physics in Germany and Sweden. The IRES project is part of the National Science Foundation's Developing Global Scientists and Engineers Program. Mentored by Professor of Physics Bill Briscoe, the students determined the neutron detection efficiency of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors and presented their results at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.


Columbian College Alumni among Nine New Trustees
The GW Board of Trustees elected nine new members, including four Columbian College alumni: Christopher Bright, M.Phil '03, PhD '06, Deborah Ratner Salzberg, BA �75, Kerry Washington, BA'98, and Ellen Zane, BA '73. The new members will begin service on July 1, 2010.
Read more.


Representing American Youth
At the urging of his undergraduate advisor, political science major Sloan Dickey represented the United States in May at the annual G8/G20 Youth Summit in Vancouver. Dickey, along with GW sophomores Sean England and Kevin Norchi, was selected to be part of the eight-member American delegation. The international conference brought together over 100 young leaders from 19 nations and the European Union to discuss international affairs, promote cross-cultural understanding and build global friendships.

"This was one of the best experiences I've ever had," said Dickey. "I got to know and interact with people from so many different viewpoints, backgrounds and cultures. It was an incredible opportunity." Read more.


In Memoriam
We note with regret the passing of alumnus and Heritage Society member John W. Kendrick, PhD '55, a professor in Columbian College's Economics Department for more than 30 years. He was 92. A noted scholar in the field of productivity analysis, his published works include the monumental Productivity Trends in the United States-a detailed empirical study of productivity from 1899 to 1957. At Columbian College, he is remembered as a dedicated colleague whose influence on generations of scholars and practitioners is profound. The 2010 Sixth Biennial North American Productivity Workshop, held at Rice University last month, was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Kendrick. 


 

 

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