SPRING 2009

INSIDE: Do magnets repel sharks? arts&sciences Revered Dean Elsbeth Melville remembered Notorious traveling French sisters

BU (extreme) South

Geomorphologist David Marchant and his team of students discover Antarctica’s secret past C ONTENTS from the dean SPRING 2009 10

Open a newspaper or turn on a TV and it’s hard As all of us at BU come together to withstand this period of to avoid being bombarded by stories about economic uncertainty, Arts & Sciences remains strong. I am very “I felt that all the hours failed financial institutions, corporate layoffs, pleased to say that our ambitious program of faculty recruitment 12 and stock market tumbles. Indeed, these are is not affected by the freeze, and we are moving ahead with plans to they were in neither the troubling economic times. strengthen CAS, not only replacing faculty who retire or leave, but also classroom nor the library, This past fall, President Robert Brown expanding the faculty by as many as 100 new positions within the I was responsible for them.” faced the situation head-on. Rather than taking decade. The newest members of our faculty are impressive indeed. To

a wait-and-see approach to the ongoing finan- get a sense of what they mean for the future of the College, I invite you Dean Elsbeth Melville (CAS’25) cial turmoil, he was one of the first university to take a look at the brief biographies in the roster of new appointments Photo courtesy of Craig O’Connell presidents to take serious proactive measures in the crisis. He ordered found at www.bu.edu/cas/forms/new-faculty-booklet08.pdf. an immediate freeze on hiring for positions not already authorized, This new cohort of teachers and scholars only adds to the luster as well as on capital projects that did not have contracts in place. of the superb professors we already have here. Consider the awards As President Brown stated in his October letter to the University some of them received last fall. Associate Professor of Chemistry profiles features community, “Foremost, we must protect the financial integrity of Mark Grinstaff was a co-winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Award the University through this turbulent time and provide the most stable for Healthcare Innovation presented by the Center for Integration 8 TOTAL IMMERSION 10 environment possible for our students, faculty, and staff.” His fore- of Medicine & Innovative Technology, and his colleague in Chemistry, Alice Gomez (CAS’10) believes in taking full advantage of her student years at BU, SHARK DEFENDER thought and prudent planning will help ensure that the University Professor John Porco, received the 2009 Cope Scholar Award from studying at CAS and SED and playing lots Craig O’Connell (CAS’06) researches how sharks react to magnets weathers the economic storm and remains on solid financial ground. the American Chemical Society. International Relations Professor of clarinet with BU bands. in hopes of saving these storied fish from extinction. Vivien Schmidt received an honorary degree from the Free University 24 ON THE RIGHT TRACK of Brussels. CAS swept the field of winners of the African Studies 12 David Mundy (CAS’96) knows the best Association Herskovits Award honoring the most important scholarly routes to good management and A PARAGON OF HER TIME VISIT THE NEW COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES WEBSITE work in African studies published in English during the preceding year. winning car races. The College Club of Boston commemorates Dean Elsbeth Melville (CAS’25), at www.bu.edu/cas. The top entries were so good that the prize was awarded to two books, who imbued four decades of BU’s women students with self-confidence WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? Read about and see videos of representing three CAS professors: Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, 32 PUNCH LINE and leadership skills. BU’s successes in 2008—in and out of the classroom and lab, in the My Boys’ Jamie Kaler (CAS’87) continued on page 9 City of Boston, and around the globe—in BU’s Annual Report online leaves ’em laughing with his TV roles 16 at www.bu.edu/ar. and stand-up routines. EXTREME DIG In treks to Antarctica, geomorphologist David Marchant and his team a&s insider of Arts & Sciences students have unearthed ancient secrets of a more 2 >> Heralding the Humanities temperate clime. 4 >> What’s Worth Reading 22 5 >> Professors to the World FRENCH SISTERS arts&sciences 6 >> East Asian Explorations Professor Elizabeth Goldsmith writes about the 7 >> Darwinian Selections SPRING 2009 | NUMBER 21 adventurous Mancini sisters of 17th-century France who abandoned their families for life on the road. about alumni Published by Development & Alumni Relations EDITOR Jean Hennelly Keith 26 Reunion Highlights: Distinguished WRITE TO US—WRITE FOR US! at Boston University’s College and Graduate School CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Alumni, New Arts & Sciences THE COVER: of Arts & Sciences. arts&sciences has a fresh new design! Rachel Johnson, Corinne Kator (COM’06), Patrick L. Trustees and Overseers A sparse camp provides the Let us know what you think. DEAN OF ARTS & SCIENCES Kennedy (COM’04), Natalie Jacobson McCracken only shelter for Arts & Virginia Sapiro 27 Class Notes Sciences geomorphologist We welcome all responses and we’ll consider EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Lorna Karaj (CAS’11) David Marchant and his 28 Message from Alumni any contributions for publication. Please write ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT team of students conducting ART DIRECTOR Virginia Belich Association President to the Editor, arts&sciences, Boston University, FOR DEVELOPMENT C. J. Menard research in the harsh PHOTOGRAPHY Boston University environment of Antarctica’s 985 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 145, 30 Thank You, Donors! DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Photo Services, unless otherwise noted McMurdo Dry Valleys. Boston, MA 02215, or e-mail [email protected]. Amy J. Biderman Please include your name, address, Produced by Boston University Creative Services COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST and class year. Photo courtesy of David Marchant Jeremy Schwab E Printed on paper containing post-consumer recycled material. 0309 966301 a&s INSIDER a&s INSIDER News from the College and Graduate School

proposed for the upcoming academic year: Heralding the Humanities Judgments of Value. Posing such challenging questions as what determines aesthetic taste historically, how emotions, reasoning, and English Professor James Winn speaks the senses affect those judgments, and what ardently of the lifelong value of a grounding criteria are used in judging different art in the humanities. “Exposure to drama, forms, the committee has called for faculty opera, art, philosophy, religion—great ideas— proposals on this interdisciplinary topic. will continue to feed your soul,” he says. He notes that Arts & Sciences Dean “We should not be about training students Virginia Sapiro defines the humanities for their first jobs, but preparing them for broadly, and vigorously advocates for collabo- full and meaningful lives. Today’s students ration among the disciplines. “A college of probably will live to be 110. When they arts and sciences cannot be first rate without retire, it would be nice for them to enjoy tremendous strength in the humanities,” cultural riches and broad intellectual life.” she says. “As James Winn takes the helm, the His multiple academic pursuits reflect Humanities Foundation will continue to chart his conviction. A poetry scholar, he has a course that stimulates scholarly creativity written books on Alexander Pope and John through individual work and collaboration Dryden, and last year published his com- “If you’ve been laboring and teaching full-time, across the breadth of the arts and humani- pelling study The Poetry of War. He is also an extra six months could buy you the time ties.” They both hope to attract increased a prize-winning concert flutist, often per- you need, and we can provide the funding.” funding to further the foundation’s impact. forming with colleagues from the College Prizes also are awarded to students who have In some ways, his new directorship is of Fine Arts. Moreover, Winn is interested distinguished themselves in humanities fields. quite familiar to Winn, who has succeeded in the connections among fields of study. Professor Katherine His book The Pale of Words: Reflections O’Connor, associate on the Humanities and Performance explores With images of every book published in England chair of modern the relationship between literature and the from 1475 to 1700, the Early English Books Online languages and compa- performing arts. database was recently added to Mugar Library rative literature and “The reward system in the academy professor of Russian. with funds from the BU Humanities Foundation. is skewed pretty much to specialists,” he says, As founding director “and they often burrow deeply. I’ve spent all of the University of of my adult life pursuing more than one field; In particular, the foundation fosters Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities as a student, I was advised not to let myself interdisciplinary work with financial support from 1988 to 1996, Winn built a $13 million be pigeonholed.” for guest presenters and programs. To enrich endowment and helped nurture a number In September, he was appointed the new research in the humanities, the foundation of vital programs. That success and his expe- director of the Boston University Humanities funds library acquisitions such as the recent rience as chair of BU’s English department Foundation. Established in 1981, the foun- addition to Mugar Library of the Early English from 1998 to 2007 prepared him well for his dation supports the work of humanities Books Online database, with images of every current post. scholars at the University—junior and senior book published in England from 1475 to 1700. Leading a foundation with such wide faculty, undergraduate and graduate students. Since becoming director, Winn has scope enables Winn to significantly boost It grants fellowships to faculty, enabling them, introduced a new approach to running the the resources available to BU students for example, to extend sabbaticals to write foundation. Aiming to make broad-based and faculty in the humanities. He relishes books and complete research. Winn says, programming decisions and to fund awards by his new role: “How sweet it is,” he says, consensus, he has established an executive “to have money to give away to bright people.” New director of the Boston University Humanities committee of senior humanities faculty. Winn —Jean Hennelly Keith and Jeremy Schwab Foundation, Professor James Winn is enthusiastic about the theme they have

LINK TO PROFESSOR JAMES WINN’S BOOK READING at www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/winn.

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Probably the greatest mark of the James Schmidt, a history professor with What’s Worth Readingjournal’s success is the long list of careers Professors to the World CAS and the University Professors Program, it has helped launch. AGNI is known for CAS faculty record their lectures and Stephen Prothero, professor of religion, publishing the work of talented writers early have recorded lectures for The Modern For Bill Pierce, the best part of being senior and India, visit www.agnimagazine.org in their careers. (This may help explain the for all who want to listen Scholar. Schmidt bases his Enlightenment editor for AGNI magazine is the chance to each month. Updated every two weeks with flood of submissions—nearly 5,000 per year series—including lectures on Voltaire, Diderot, meet other writers. “Years back, I was writing new content, including fiction, interviews, —that Pierce and Birkerts sift through.) and the Scottish Enlightenment—on the in isolation. I had no real community of peo- essays, reviews, and poetry, the webzine fea- Authors whose careers AGNI boosted include The cars grind to a halt and the commute longer version he teaches at CAS. “Speaking ple doing what I was doing,” recalls the fiction tures works by prominent authors, as well as Seamus Heaney, Joyce Carol Oates, and stalls. As the drivers begin to lay on their to a microphone was a very different approach writer and essayist. “Through AGNI, I became up-and-coming writers. Jhumpa Lahiri (GRS’93; UNI’95, ’97), who horns, you sit back, relax, and spend the next from teaching a class. We recorded in a connected to a lot of other writers around the Other indicators of AGNI’s success are interned at AGNI and whose short story half hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic Boston studio. I was clearly the least-hip per- city and beyond.” the coveted grants it’s garnered from the “Interpreter of Maladies” appeared in the learning about Mahayana Buddhism from son ever to walk through there. When we journal in 1998, two years before her short an Arts & Sciences professor. were finishing up, rock bands were coming story collection by the same name won More and more, inquiring minds are in to record and there I was, a professor.” “You are always voting on what you think is good—what voices the Pulitzer Prize. accessing the vast knowledge of Boston Roochnik and Eckel agree that recording dif- are good for our cultural moment—and it feels good when it The relationship University professors—on their own terms. fers greatly from lecturing live before gets echoed in the greater culture.” between AGNI and the From lectures on CD to videos at local students. “But in the end,” says Roochnik,

—Sven Birkerts College of Arts & Sciences libraries, and even on iTunes, BU lectures are “we’re trying to communicate our subjects began when the increasingly in demand by an information- and it is teaching, and in that sense it’s not journal relocated seeking public. so different from a regular class.” For Editor Sven Birkerts, the best part of from Antioch BU is a prime source for audiovisual Many of the listeners are drawn to sub- Eckel is used to students asking him the job is the chance to be at the forefront College to Boston distance-learning companies keen to acquire jects they have never seriously encountered questions; he just never expected his local of discovery. “I think the thing that creates the University in 1987. top minds and to profit from the new trend before, says Professor of Philosophy and butcher to be one of them. highest level of excitement for me is to pub- Since moving of lifelong learning. “I think it speaks well of Director of Graduate Studies David Roochnik, He tells the story of going into a Whole lish really good literature. You want it, and you to BU, AGNI has the University. It’s a great way to get out the whose repertoire at The Teaching Company Foods in Brighton, Massachusetts: “I was want to get it out.” enriched campus brightness, the engagement of our teaching includes 24 lectures on Greek philosophy. buying chicken, and the butcher stopped me Birkerts’s six-plus years at the helm life by providing Arts to a new audience,” says Associate Professor “The audience is generally well-educated, and said, ‘Are you David Eckel? I just finished of the renowned literary journal, which is sup- & Sciences gradu- of Religion and Director of the Core Curriculum professional; maybe a listener is someone watching your lectures.’ You never know who’s ported by BU’s graduate Creative Writing ate students with a M. David Eckel, recruited by The Teaching who was pre-med in college, who never had been listening to you, who’s watching.” Program, have brought tremendous growth. chance to work as The faculty all agree it’s about reaching Since Birkerts took over as editor in 2002, interns and by hosting a new, wider audience of people impatient he and Pierce have tripled the number of sub- popular literary readings. Creative Writing “I was buying chicken, and the butcher stopped me and said, to learn, and they’re eager to help. “I love to scriptions to the magazine, launched a web faculty also sit on AGNI’s Advisory Board. ‘Are you David Eckel? I just finished watching your lectures.’ teach,” says Eckel. “I really enjoy the Buddhist magazine with exclusive content, and added AGNI’s editors see the journal as a con- You never know who’s been listening to you, who’s watching.” tradition, and I love to get others as excited DVD and CD inserts to the print edition. duit in an ongoing cultural dialogue. “You are about it as I am myself. With the recordings, —M. David Eckel “It’s not so much taking a new direction Massachusetts Cultural Council and the always voting on what you think is good— it’s a different audience, a new audience. as it is evolution,” says Birkerts, an acclaimed National Endowment for the Arts. A Boston what voices are good for our cultural moment I want to inspire spirit, curiosity, a sense of essayist and literary reviewer. “We are open- Globe article (“JOURNALism,” August 24, —and it feels good when it gets echoed Company to record a series on Buddhism. a chance to study philosophy.” The lectures fascination. For a lot of people who wouldn’t ing up new areas. The whole migration onto 2008) lists AGNI among the top 10 literary in the greater culture,” said Birkerts. Pierce “People know we teach well, and they do not offer a complete exposition. “We can’t normally have access to a university, it’s the Web is only a few years old.” magazines in New England. The Globe agrees, adding, “We are trying to influence appreciate the quality we have to offer.” possibly do more than scratch the surface,” a great way to learn.” The addition of the online magazine has quotes Elizabeth Searle, visiting writer at the the discussion of what’s worth reading, worth The organizations that record college lec- says Roochnik in his introduction to Greek “Who do I imagine listening?” asks been a resounding success. More than 20,000 University of Massachusetts in Boston and paying attention to.”—JS tures are seeking top-tier faculty—one in philosophy. However, they do offer a glimpse Schmidt. “People stuck in cars and people readers from across the country, as well as a PEN/New England board member, as saying 5,000, according to The Teaching Company— into new worlds. “It’s about getting people working out at the Y. And people in trucks. from countries such as New Zealand, Australia, that AGNI “sets the gold standard for maga- professors exemplified by Eckel, who attained interested, giving them a taste of a subject,” That’s who I get e-mails from, anyway.” And zines in this part of the world, and for the the spotlight after winning Boston University’s he says. the professors receive e-mails from all over. literary world in general.” Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching Eckel says he once heard from the father of in 1998. continued on page 7

VISIT THE AGNI WEBSITE www.bu.edu/agni. LINKS TO PROFESSORS’ BIOS M. David Eckel www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/eckel, David Roochnik www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/roochnik, James Schmidt www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/schmidt, Stephen Prothero www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/prothero.

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offers BA, MA, and PhD degrees through a East Asian Explorations full range of courses in world archaeology, Darwinian Selections Professors to the World continued Luce Foundation Grant Helps Expand archaeological heritage management, and one of his colleagues (who also teaches archaeological science. The Luce grant Buddhism), who thanked him for the lecture East Asian Archaeology Program enables the department to expand its course series because it was the first time he under- offerings on East Asia and further strengthen stood why his son liked Buddhism so much. its position among peer institutions. The new Roochnik received e-mails from a doctor Discovering the world’s oldest pottery in program also offers graduate student fellow- Born two centuries ago, on February 12, naturalist and a lawyer in Brookline, Massachusetts, Yuchanyan Cave in South China. Learning ships in East and Southeast Asian archaeol- Charles Darwin was to jolt Victorian England who wanted to take him out for coffee about nomads of the early states of the ogy and will help BU attract top students and the world beyond with his theory of evolution to discuss the fundamentals of Greek phi- k c i h

Mongolian steppe. Arts & Sciences c in the field. The grant supports travel for of the species through natural selection— losophy in greater depth. And, although w o r

archaeologists are uncovering East Asia’s past u student research, travel related to faculty col- propelling him into the public arena. This year, the professors cover different topics, as M

t r

and enriching the curriculum for students e laborative projects, and library acquisitions. his life and work will be celebrated around Schmidt says in his opening lecture on b o R

f “This is an incredibly exciting time to be in BU’s classrooms. o the world, and Boston University will join in the Enlightenment, the lectures serve a similar

y s e

t involved in East Asian archaeology,” says

Thanks to a four-year grant from the r the tribute with a University-wide, yearlong purpose: “To satisfy curiosity about different u o c Murowchick. “For two decades, the Luce

Henry Luce Foundation, teaching and o Darwin Festival. ways that human beings can live, and, if we’re t o h

research in East Asian archaeology in the P continued on facing page For many months, the Greater Boston lucky, to acquaint ourselves with certain pos- College and Graduate School will receive a big Darwin Bicentennial Committee, sponsored sibilities, certain opportunities of living that boost. The $450,000 award from the founda- has been appointed to a full-time teaching by University Provost David Campbell and co- we might have lost sight of.”—Rachel Johnson tion’s Initiative on East and Southeast Asian position as assistant professor of archae- chaired by Arts & Sciences History Professor Archaeology and Early History will bring a ology and anthropology. Thomas Glick and Engineering Professor Charles East Asian Explorations continued new slate of courses in East Asian archaeol- The first new East Asian courses— DeLisi, has been planning events around Foundation has played a leadership role in ogy and cultural heritage studies, as well as made possible by the grant—began this campus that explore Darwinian themes from supporting collaborative archaeological field research opportunities and graduate student semester: one focused on the archaeology an array of disciplinary perspectives. As a research in East Asia. As opportunities for support to academic programs in the of Southeast Asia, another examining how member, as well, of the Boston Area Committee, Glick is organizing programs for scholars and students continue to broaden, Department of Archaeology. politics and nationalism affect archaeology. the wider community, including outreach to public schools, with colleagues from the Luce grant gives us the means to usher t c e

j other local universities, including Harvard, Northeastern, Tufts, Brandeis, and MIT. in the next stage of the development of East o r P

e

r BU is hosting numerous events for the Darwin commemoration; he says, “It will Asian archaeology, with important new u t l u c

i be the hub of the Hub.” undergraduate and graduate courses and sig-

“With each astonishing new archaeological discovery that comes r g A

e Festival highlights include a student fair at the George Sherman Union nificant forms of student support. With each c out of Asia, we enrich our understanding of how human societies have i R

y

l celebrating Darwin’s birthday. On a more academic note, a series of multidisci- astonishing new archaeological discovery that r a E evolved across time and space.” e plinary programs sponsored by the Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy & History comes out of Asia, we enrich our understand- h t

f o —Robert Murowchick of Science will gather faculty from around the world to examine the life, work, ing of how human societies have evolved y s e t r

u and influence of Darwin. Campbell and faculty in the various human sciences will across time and space. The increasingly close o c

o

t discuss the impact of human evolution theory on a wide range of endeavors, ties between Western and Asian scholars o

The grant also will help expand the scho- “East Asian archaeology is a dynamic h P including politics, economic markets, religion, attitudes toward mental disorders, encourage a much more open discussion and larly resources of the department’s Interna- and rich field,” says Ricardo Elia, chair of Excavations conducted by David Cohen (right), an and the reception of Darwin’s work from Estonia to Brazil. And biologists from exchange of ideas, approaches, and concerns.” tional Center for East Asian Archaeology archaeology. “As the region continues to ICEAACH staff member and adjunct assistant profes- around the country will convene at The Castle in late March to ponder “Systems Arts & Sciences Dean Virginia Sapiro & Cultural History (ICEAACH), recognized expand, there is a growing need for regional sor in archaeology, and an international team Biology Framed by Ecology.” notes that the Luce grant also will enhance worldwide as a major focal point of East Asian specialists in both archaeological research have yielded some of the world’s oldest pottery at the Beyond Arts & Sciences, a special exhibit is planned for Mugar Library, the activities of the newly formed Center archaeological research and home of one of and heritage management.” 18,000-year-old Yuchanyan Cave site in South China. and in April, College of Fine Arts Theatre School Director Jim Petosa will direct for the Study of Asia, which will become the finest library research collections in the Boston University boasts the only Photo above middle: Thousands of potsherds, such CFA students in Peter Parnell’s Trumpery, a play about Darwin’s family life and his a hub for teaching, research, and public field. In the first phase of the new program, independent archaeology department in the as these from a Longshan culture village site dating publication of The Origin of Species. Visual Arts Professor Hugh O’Donnell will outreach programs on all aspects of Asia Robert Murowchick, director of ICEAACH, United States in its own right, not a sub- to some 4,500 years ago, have been excavated in guide teams of University students in creating Darwinian-themed art to be installed at BU. “The center will promote comprehen- discipline of another department. Recognized Shangqiu, in eastern Henan Province, as part of the Early Shang Civilization Project, based at ICEAACH. at campus sites in the fall.—JHK sive, interdisciplinary, and cross-national as having one of the leading archaeology understanding of Asia,” she says, “con- programs in the country, the department necting the dots among the wide-ranging opportunities and experience we offer at Boston University.”—Amy Biderman FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ICEAACH FIELDWORK at www.bu.edu/asianarc/fieldprojects.html. TO LEARN MORE about the ever-evolving Darwin Festival, see www.bu.edu/darwin2009.

6 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 7 STUDENT PROFILE from the dean continued

Here is a glimpse Q: What kind of Ultimately, I think and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660 (Cambridge, 2007), I want to be a school into the life of music do you like by African Studies and History Professors Linda M. Heywood and psychologist, which to listen to? What’s John K. Thornton, and The Nature of Entrustment: Intimacy, Exchange, one such student, on your iPod? involves the educa- tional, emotional, and and the Sacred in Africa (Yale, 2007), by Anthropology and African Alice Gomez (CAS’10), A: It ranges from clas- other aspects of Studies Professor Parker Shipton. There’s more, but in the interest of sical to country to learning. Teach for space, may I just mention that the BU Mock Mediation Team competed whose interests whatever. I have all the America would give in the American Mock Trial Association's annual National Mediation take her into pep band tunes on my me hands-on experi- Tournament in Chicago and won the highest combined overall advo- iPod. It’s ’70s and ’80s ence in the classroom. the realms of music that’s really bad cate score out of 32 teams? psychology, but really good: “Back Our future also is bolstered by the vital involvement of you, our in Black,” “Vehicle,” alumni, who continue to serve as shining examples of the exceptional education, and : Is it unusual Q “China Grove.” liberal arts education CAS offers. I was pleased to meet many of you for a woman to music. A junior, become president Q: How do you at Reunion and Alumni Weekend in October. This was the first time Gomez plans to of the fraternity? juggle all of your we held a combined Reunion and Alumni Weekend in the fall, and the commitments? turnout was exceptional. Whether I was chatting with young alumni translate her A: It’s a co-ed national or members of the Golden Terriers, I was struck by the extraordinary musical fraternity. A: It forces me to get psychology major things they are doing in their personal and professional lives. Our lib- Our chapter has eight work done. The busier and education girls and eight guys. I am, the better I do eral arts alumni are making great marks in just about every profession minor into a We serve and promote because you make the and walk of life imaginable—proof positive that a liberal arts degree all campus musical time with the time you can lead to great things. career as a school organizations. This have. I think I would The four Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award winners summer, I went to the regret it if I hadn’t got- psychologist. who were honored at the Reunion Weekend dinner certainly exem- leadership symposium ten as involved as for the fraternity I have at BU. There are plify this. Their career paths typify CAS’s emphasis on the importance in Pittsburgh. just so many things to of broad-based learning and discovery. Whether working to improve do. As a student, you Q: What do the literacy of children in inner-city schools, guiding the start-up How many Q: might as well get as you like most of nonprofit organizations, helping entrepreneurial businesses estab- TOTAL hours a week do you immersed as possible. about BU? devote to band? lish new market opportunities, or mentoring and providing internships Q: Was being at A: The University for BU students, all of the honorees are using their liberal arts degrees A: I don’t want to BU a big adjustment cares about its stu- to make a real difference in the world. Meet our 2008 Distinguished know. I don’t think dents. This summer, for you, coming Alumni Award winners on page 26. IMMERSION my parents would want from Irving, Texas? I played in the Scarlet to know. A lot! Band (an ensemble Throughout this issue of arts&sciences, you’ll read about other A: Well, it was a that performs at new alumni—and Arts & Sciences faculty and students—who also are : Can you Q: Where does take Q shock to me that we student orientations), taking bold and innovative steps in their scholarship and research, with Thousands of students describe a typical the marching band don’t have a football and I found out in the impressive results. Our cover story, for example, looks at the remark- courses in the College and day in your life? practice? middle of a perfor- team here. It is a big able discoveries made by David Marchant, associate professor of earth Thursday is my : We practice on thing in Texas—you mance that my friend Graduate School of Arts & Sciences A: A sciences, during expeditions with his graduate students in Antarctica. busiest day. I grab the roof of the facilities know, Friday Night from back home died. A profile of Craig O’Connell (CAS’06) highlights his fascinating each year. Some major at other a Red Bull on my way building off Babcock Lights. But I picked up That same night, out the door in the Street. The roof has hockey pretty fast. my RA knocked on my research on sharks. Taking steps in a different—and more humorous— schools at the University but take morning and get to my the outline of a football I play the clarinet with dorm room door and direction is Jamie Kaler (CAS’87), successful comedian and star of the just said, “If you need first class at 9:30; field with the yard the pep band at hockey TBS show My Boys. All of the people featured are pushing the envelope a large portion of their credits markers. We can’t games, but I would go anything, come then I have to leave 20 and distinguishing themselves in ways that support our mission and minutes early to get use Nickerson Field to the games anyway. talk to me.” Guidance at CAS, ensuring that their BU further our reputation. to my Spanish class. because everyone on I think I’ve missed counselors came to education is grounded in the After that, I meet West Campus would maybe two games talk with me. It wasn’t I can’t close this first message of 2009 without noting the extraor- with Boston University be able to hear us. since I’ve been here. just one time, either; dinary historical step we are taking in the United States. Regardless of liberal arts. Many CAS majors, they followed up. Chris Bands Director Practicing at 10 on what any of our particular political affiliations might be, by the time Saturday morning? Q: What do you Parks said, “If you in turn, pursue minors outside Chris Parks to talk you read this, America’s first African American president will be start- about what’s going We wouldn’t have want to do after you want to go home— ing his leadership era. With all of the challenges facing the world today, the liberal arts, broadening their on with the band. many friends. graduate? if money is an issue— we’ll help you.” I didn’t we must all wish him—and us—good fortune. I have to be at all I’m considering educational experience and A: take him up on it, but the band meetings doing Teach for I really appreciated all because I’m president America (a two-year Virginia Sapiro opening up new career possibilities. the support. of the band fraternity, commitment to —JS Dean of Arts & Sciences Kappa Kappa Psi. teach in rural or urban schools) before going to grad school for psychology.

VISIT ALICE GOMEZ’S PHOTO GALLERY at www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/spring09/gomez. SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 9 BY CORINNE KATOR

Shark Taggers “They wanted you magnets, O’Connell’s is an NBC reality show eating your food. They colleagues at Shark- that follows marine wanted you waking Defense were studying biologists as they track up in the morning, at a chemicals released by and tag sharks in vari- time when you weren’t decaying shark tissue. ous locations around really ready to have a Scientists have long the world. The show’s camera in your face.” noted that sharks flee film crew was working And there’s more from areas where they at Sharklab during camera time to come: can smell a dead shark, one of O’Connell’s visits the Discovery Channel and SharkDefense there last fall. They is also planning a new is working to identify filmed him as he caught series that will focus on and replicate the a hammerhead and a SharkDefense’s work chemical compound

l tiger shark in the waters with chemical shark that triggers this flight l e n

n around Sharklab— repellents. Before response. O’Connell o C ’

O but they didn’t stop they started researching is now assisting with

g i a r there. “They wanted this research and will C

f o absolutely everything,” appear in the Discovery y s

When MythBusters—the popular Discovery Channel e

Do magnets repel sharks? t

r he says. Channel series. u o c

o t

program that tests all manner of myths, rumors, and legends—took up this question o h P last summer, the show’s hosts at first seemed inclined to confirm the theory. But in the end, Craig O’Connell’s research with magnets may help boost shark populations—and TV ratings. they declared the myth busted.

It wasn’t clear whether the sharks were His first opportunity to test sharks’ reactions to magnets came MEDIA PLATFORM being caught accidentally by fishermen soon after his BU graduation, when he landed a two-month volun- Others are enthusiastic about Craig O’Connell’s targeting other species—a phenomenon teer research position at the well-known Bimini Biological Field research—if not for its known as “bycatch” in the fishing industry Station—known as Sharklab—in the Bahamas. When he got there, potential to revive depleted shark popula- —or if the fishermen were intentionally he found a group of researchers from SharkDefense Technologies tions, then for its catching sharks in order to sell their fins also beginning to experiment with magnets. “They had just come potential to make on the black market. To better understand up with the idea before I got to Bimini,” O’Connell says. “It was an thrilling television. In addition to consulting the situation, O’Connell began a daily amazing coincidence.” on the MythBusters tally of the dead sharks discarded on the O’Connell joined the SharkDefense team, helping to design episode, O’Connell has beach near the markets. The number and conduct experiments. After his stint at Sharklab ended been filmed for a new NBC program called of shark carcasses—most of them finless and he moved to South Carolina for graduate school, he continued Shark Taggers, and he —he counted at that single beach was to visit the lab every couple of months to assist with the research. and his SharkDefense shocking, he says, and the experience “What we’ve found so far is incredible,” he says. The research- colleagues are working with the Discovery ignited his desire to save sharks. ers have added magnets to the netting used to create shark fences, Channel on another and in some experiments they’ve seen a 95 percent reduction in shark-related series. Saving sharks Magnetic repulsion the number of sharks entering through holes in the netting. Craig O’Connell (CAS’06) thinks they were While you might expect O’Connell is devel- The idea that magnets could play a part They’ve also placed magnets above the hooks on long-line fishing mistaken. He and his research colleagues oping shark repellents to protect people in shark conservation came to O’Connell lines, he says, “and we’ve reduced shark catch by 50 percent.” have submitted a rebuttal of the show’s from shark attacks, his actual goal is to after he learned that sharks have special The SharkDefense researchers are still refining their under- findings, and they’re hopeful MythBusters protect sharks from people. Scientists esti- sensing organs called ampullae of Lorenzini standing of how various magnets affect different species of sharks. will revisit the topic. mate that humans kill 100 million sharks that allow them to detect electrical fields. Their research, for example, indicates that ceramic magnets are O’Connell is a researcher with every year, leaving many shark species in Sharks use their unique electric sense fairly reliable shark repellents, SharkDefense Technologies, a small com- danger of extinction. O’Connell hopes his to locate prey, and some scientists believe while super-strong rare earth pany working to develop shark repellents. research with magnets will provide shark they also use it to navigate—by sensing magnets are not. This, they believe, is where MythBusters Since he graduated from CAS’s marine conservationists an inexpensive tool for variations in Earth’s magnetic field. If sharks LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAS biology program two and a half years reducing shark deaths by keeping sharks can sense the relatively weak geomagnetic TROPICAL ECOLOGY PROGRAM went wrong. The hosts field, O’Connell wondered what happens at www.bu.edu/biology/undergrad/ of MythBusters started their ago, he’s been testing his theory that mag- away from beaches and fishing lines. tropical-ecology. nets can repel sharks, and he’s convinced Shark conservation has been when they encounter stronger magnetic experiments with ceramic he’s onto something. O’Connell’s passion since his junior year fields. Could a strong magnet startle a shark magnets and then switched at CAS, when he spent a semester in and frighten it into keeping its distance? to rare earth magnets, which O’Connell believes are so strong Ecuador with the College’s tropical ecology that they simply overwhelm sharks’ senses. program. “We made a stop in Ecuador’s O’Connell is enthusiastic about the progress of his research, coastal region, and we saw all these fish and he’s optimistic it will yield reliable magnetic shark repellents markets,” he says, “and I noticed the within four or five years. “The sooner the better,” he says, “so we fishermen were catching a lot of sharks.” can save these sharks.” N BY NATALIE JACOBSON MCCRACKEN

t a Maine alumni Adinner in 1945, Boston University President Daniel Marsh met the

alumna seated next to him, Westbrook A PARAGON College Dean Elsbeth Melville. OF HER TIME Dean Elsbeth Melville The College Club of Boston Honors Dean Emerita Elsbeth Melville “What kind of a dean are you?”

he asked. “A good one,”

she responded. Before they had

finished the entrée, he had

hired her as dean of women.

SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 13 Melville was as attentive to born leaders like Olive Lesueur Maintaining that balance took humor. (CAS’66, MET’85), named among Boston’s Women of Tomorrow Sometime in the fifties, when the Miss as a high school senior. “You didn’t say no to Dean Melville,” America Organization sought academic she agrees, even after graduation; Lesueur remains active in the respectability, BU agreed to sponsor College Club and the Arts & Sciences alumni board because, the student named Miss Massachusetts. long ago, Melville phoned. Melville was her official companion, he incident, one of many she enjoyed retelling, The Dean exemplified the University and community service ironing her gowns (hardly appropriate to represents her well: her self-confidence, humor, and ability to win she advocated. Over the years, she was president of the National Melville’s persona) and chaperoning her, the confidence of others. Melville (CAS’25) was dean of women for Council of Camp Fire Girls and eight local organizations, sometimes even when she appeared with her father 25 yearsT and a leader of Boston women’s organizations. Recently, twice, and a trustee, director, chair of the board, or founder of in public. It became one of Melville’s The College Club of Boston, the oldest club for college women others. And she was the very model of a mid-century professional favorite stories. “When the pageant was in the country, named a handsomely renovated room in its town woman. She didn’t do her own typing, let alone anyone else’s; for a over, I tucked her into her boyfriend’s house for her and a fellow past president. BU cookbook, she contributed a recipe from the College Club chef. car for the trip back from Atlantic City,” In 1945, small residences scattered in the city housed 347 BU At 44, she married BU Dean Atlee Percy (SMG’17, GSM’27), she’d say blandly. “I was certain that women. When Melville retired in 1970, some 4,300 women 24 years her senior, thus acquiring what she called lovingly “instant was fine; they probably even stayed in lived on campus. “I felt that all the hours they were in neither the family” without (although separate hotels.” classroom nor the library, I was responsible for them,” she said. she didn’t put it that way) hav- Then came the turbulent late sixties. She created a structure of advising, student governance, training ing raised children. On campus “Elsbeth wasn’t intimidated by changing programs, and activities “to develop the social and leadership she remained Dean Melville. times,” says Chuck Wexler (CAS’72), who skills they would need as college women.” She made sure every SEE THE COLLEGE CLUB OF “BU has only one Dean Percy,” as president of Miles Standish dorm BOSTON’S WEBSITE at dorm had a silver tea service and held proper teas, where she was www.thecollegeclubofboston.com. she would say demurely; she served on the University committee con- met formally at the door and introduced to each woman present, would no more have changed “A lot sidering student demands to end parietals “although I might well know half of them,” she said, characteris- her professional name than have baked cookies. “She opened —dorm curfews and regulations on visitors tically aware of both the benefits and the humor of the exercise. my eyes to what women were doing before my time,” says Caroline of us of the opposite sex. “She had very strong She also came to dorms for informal visits, Esther Hopkins Chang (CAS’62). “A lot of us thought we were first.” feelings,” he says, “but she was a great (CAS’47) recalls. “She was delightful. When she called you up and Many of “her girls” went on to professional achievement: thought listener and saw changes were necessary. said she wanted you to take part in some activity you always said Lesueur is an associate administrator and director at the Volpe promptly became deputy general counsel of the Massachusetts The students were all impressed by her yes, because she knew you as an individual and what to ask. I was National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge. Chang was Department of Environmental Protection. Hopkins and Chang we insight. She made us more responsible. from a poor family; nobody had gone to college. I saw everybody the long-time manager of the Boston region of the U.S. Department are now retired after Melville’s fashion, with arrays of community She was a leader among deans for change.” at ease and felt like an outsider. Elsbeth opened me up to things of Health and Human Service’s Office of Civil Rights; after BU, leadership roles. were Later, as president of CAS student govern- I could do.” Trustee Emerita and Overseer Hopkins earned another four degrees, Melville said she knew every young woman living on campus ment, he named someone to the Dean retired as a manager and patent attorney with Polaroid, and and every young man who kept one out past curfew. Founder first.” Search Committee: not another student, and permanent chair of the Student-Faculty Assembly, she also —Caroline Chang as expected, but Melville. “She had an knew all the student leaders, in a day when activities were firmly impact on me forever,” summarizes guided by staff or faculty advisors. “I gave her a lot of grief Wexler, executive director of the Police as a student, but we came to love each other,” recalled the late Elsbeth Melville, dean Executive Research Forum. Paul Liacos (CAS’50, LAW’52, Hon.’96), chief justice of the of women in 1945–1970, After reaching the compulsory retire- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, one of many who put was also a leader of all- ment age, she was the unpaid, nearly campus and community BU leadership experience to demonstrably good use. “Dean full-time advisor on alumni affairs to activities and organiza- Melville loved us students and it showed in all her dealings,” tions. Photos: page 12, in a succession of CAS deans for over a says Lou Lataif (SMG’61, Hon.’90), president of Ford Europe cap and gown at the decade, and, until a year before her death, before becoming dean of the School of Management. “As needed, Phi Beta Kappa initiation, in 1997, she remained an extremely she was firm, never brash, always fair.” November 30, 1956; page active alumna and charmingly relentless 14, left, being recognized Through most of Melville’s career, universities acted in loco fundraiser, preparing for Reunion and by the BU Club of Boston parentis, particularly sheltering women students. Melville duti- on Valentine’s Day, Homecoming weekends with energy- fully enforced dress codes and curfews as dictated by Presidents 1963; right, speaking at boosting transfusions. Marsh and Case, while privately lobbying for some loosening of her 90th birthday party, She is still a prominent BU figure: her the rules. June 16, 1994; page 15, portrait welcomes students to the Melville second from left, helping She spoke proudly of alumnae with professional lives but Lounge in Warren Towers; the University plan a fashion show also of those with careers as wives and mothers. She was, above named in her honor, and all three long-standing BU women’s all, a realist: about how much she could advance the roles of her November 18, 1957. organizations award annual Melville schol- young women, her duties as the employee of conservative male arships. Liacos called her “the soul of BU.” presidents, and human nature. The College Club’s new Percy-Dauber Drawing Room reflects her legacy to Boston’s women’s organizations as well. N

14 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 15

t n a

h y c s r e a t r M u

o d i c

v o a t D o

h f Photo courtesy of David Marchant P o Associate Professor David Marchant

Frigid, bone-dry outcrops of rock Middle Miocene period found anywhere on Earth. Published last surrounded by a sea of ice, the McMurdo year in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), the Dry Valleys of Antarctica present one discovery opened a window onto one of the most dramatic climate of the most inhospitable environments shifts in Earth’s history. on Earth. Here, each Antarctic summer, By measuring the level of argon in layers of volcanic ash Associate Professor of Earth Sciences deposited within, above, and below the fossil layer, the researchers David Marchant leads a team of Arts & determined that the fossils were between 14.1 and 13.9 million Sciences students and other researchers years old. (The argon in volcanic ash builds up at a known rate “When from around the world to probe the secrets of Antarctica’s distant past. you first The Dry Valleys are an ideal place to put the

search for clues to Earth’s geologic history. t n a h c

Unlike the other 98 percent of Antarctica, r a M mosses in d

the valleys are ice-free due to an almost i v a D

total lack of precipitation. This means that f o

y s

e water, their geological features remain exposed. t r u o c “When we are walking around Beacon o t o h the leaves Valley, we might as well be walking around P Earth 14 million years ago,” says Marchant. Life at World’s End “Some boulders are still in the same posi- unfurl.” Working in the Dry intrepid graduate stu- —David Marchant tions that they were then.” Valleys during Antarc- dents return year Over the years, Marchant’s National tica’s summer—from after year to participate Science Foundation-funded research about mid-November in this scientific quest. Photo courtesy of (Mitt.) Broth. ex. Paris. discoveries have added volumes to our to mid-February— Indeed, to many, the is a test of endurance. Spartan conditions are knowledge of past climate conditions in David Marchant and part of the draw. Antarctica, earning him a global reputation his team spend long, Kate Swanger while other elements decay, and is used to Above: Stem and leaves of the semiaquatic moss Drepanocladus longifolius. Arts & Sciences researchers found in geomorphology. Until recently, however, grueling days sampling, recalls the isolation calculate when the ash fell.) The volcanic remarkably well-preserved specimens of the moss in an ancient lakebed in the Dry Valleys. Sean Mackay (GRS’13) he and his team were missing a crucial digging, and hauling and bare-bones lifestyle activity during this period was greater than takes field notes. rocks and sediment of her trips to the it is today, accounting for the deposition back to camp for frozen continent. of multiple layers of ash. Above the fossil “When we are walking around Beacon Valley, we might analysis. Their camp “I think one of the past 65 million years that created the a polar desert. We also can be reasonably as well be walking around Earth 14 million years ago.” is little more than a things that really layers, the researchers found coarse rock conditions for Earth’s present-day climate. sure that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, few tents, a stove for struck me was being deposits of the type left by cold-based, Of the three climate shifts, the Middle the largest ice mass on the planet, has —David Marchant cooking, and plenty so far away from non-melting glaciers as exist in Antarctica Miocene Climate Transition is the one that remained permanently frozen for 13.9 mil- of rope to tether the technology,” she says. today. The presence of these coarse scientists knew least about regarding its lion years. Some scientists have suggested tents when the wind “We lived in tents, piece from the puzzle of Antarctica’s climate deposits indicates that the region under- grows violent. Drained and the only connec- timing and its effect on Antarctica. that the ice may have receded during history: at what point did Antarctica of nutrients, the tion to the world went a dramatic, permanent cooling Nobody can say for sure what caused a warm interval roughly four million years become the barren, frozen region that weary researchers end was the limited use following the deposition of the fossils. this dramatic drop in temperature, ago. However, the geological evidence it is today. The answer came in 2004 each day with a huge, of a satellite phone. By comparing the temperatures at which but before the shift, the climate in the unearthed by Marchant’s team and the when Marchant and students Adam Lewis high-protein meal. It was really freeing the fossilized species are known to survive Dry Valleys was similar to present-day exceedingly well-preserved nature of the No matter how much to focus on the small (GRS’05), Douglas Kowalewski (GRS’09), with the temperature required for cold- they eat, however, group of people there southern South America. Mosses and fossils they found indicate that interior and Kate Swanger (GRS’09) unearthed they still lose weight. and to see how based glacier formation, the researchers shrubs covered the landscape, which Antarctica remained, in the words of the a 50-centimeter-thick layer of fossils Despite the endur- tight that community estimated that atmospheric temperatures was pocked by alpine lakes fed by meltwa- research team, a “paralyzed landscape.” from an ancient lakebed in the Dry Valleys. ing cold (the average could be.” plummeted by at least 14°F. This cooling ter from temperate-style glaciers. Beetles This last finding suggests that the East The fossilized mosses, algae, and insects temperature during “Everyone who period, called the Middle Miocene Climate and midges thrived in bogs, while dwarf Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is separate the most recent BU goes to Antarctica has a are so well preserved that “when you Transition, killed off plant and animal species expedition was –5˚F), longing to go back,” southern beech trees may have grown from the more vulnerable and smaller first put the mosses in water, the leaves isolation, near-constant says Marchant. “Maybe and caused glaciers to advance to cover at low elevations. West Antarctic Ice Sheet, could remain unfurl,” Marchant says. In fact, they are daylight, and absence it is the intense quiet, the continent. It was the second of three The upshot of Marchant’s latest find is frozen despite future global warming. among the best-preserved fossils from the of heat and showers, the sense of being on a permanent global cooling shifts over the that we now know when interior Antarctica different planet.” transitioned from a tundra ecosystem to

18 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 19 Polar Legacy Marchant’s worldwide reputation as a glacial geomorphologist attracts a dedicated group of graduate and undergraduate stu- dents to the Arts & Sciences Department of Earth Sciences each year. Many want Out of This World to travel with him to Antarctica, where they can follow in the footsteps of polar Marchant’s sense of being on another planet while in Antarctica is not explorers. Sean Mackay (GRS’13) is one of these. “The location itself holds a lot so far-fetched. With a dry, subfreezing climate for the past 13.9 million years, of significance as a place on Earth that is one of the most ancient and pristine,” Antarctica has a lot in common with Mars. In recent years, Marchant, he says. “There is a little bit of the adven- ture left, which is pretty rare in this world.” his students, and colleagues from Brown University have examined photos Like many of Marchant’s students, of the surface of Mars for telltale features of cold-based glaciation— Mackay came to Boston University specifi- cally to work under his tutelage. “I found features they’ve grown accustomed to while working in Antarctica. BU because of this research,” says Mackay. “They are bringing students into the field Funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, their work to do the cutting-edge work that matters.” Marchant first became interested is aimed at finding likely locations of past glaciers as well as present-day in geology during a cross-country bike trip by James Wordie, the chief scientist for chant after high school. He snapped photos of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, the medal Photo courtesy of David Mar buried ice on the Red Planet. dramatic landforms in Yellowstone National was given to Marchant for his work demonstrating Park and later shared them with a geology the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The researchers have made some promising discoveries. class at Tufts University, where he was on a pre-med track. Marchant became so “Everyone who goes to Antarctica has a longing to go back. Certain Antarctic landforms, such as the polygons formed by periodic fascinated by exploring geologic processes Maybe it is the intense quiet, the sense of being on a different planet.” that he switched to a geology major. “ contractions of the frozen ground, indicate the presence of shallow He initially planned to study beach mor- —David Marchant phology, which might have brought him subsurface ice. The team has looked for similar landforms on Mars. to far warmer climes than Antarctica’s What comes next for Marchant? His team plans to continue Douglas Kowalewski for his life’s work. However, as a graduate drilling into Antarctic glaciers to study the composition of the (GRS’09) uses a Their work was rewarded last year when NASA’s Phoenix Lander student in geology at the University Earth’s atmosphere between two and three million years ago. shallow-seismic reflection technique of Maine, Marchant was persuaded by his By doing so, they hope to find clues about what might have led found ice just below the surface—right where Marchant and his (striking the ground professor, noted Antarctic glaciologist to the most recent major global cooling shift. Marchant also wants to create vibrations George Denton, to travel with him on a to look for evidence of the formation of alpine glaciers in that help “map” what colleagues said it should be. research trip to Antarctica. Antarctica in response to another major global cooling around is underground) to “The science was so fantastic,” recalls 34 million years ago. determine the depth “For the past 20 years, I thought I’d been focused solely on Antarctica of debris-covered Marchant. “We were doing groundbreaking Marchant’s enthusiasm for glacier ice in the and global climate change,” says Marchant. “But now I realize that research. It changed my life, in part because his research bubbles over into Dry Valleys. it was such a hard experience that it gave his family life. Asked whether I’ve actually been working on Earth’s best analog for Mars, and the me a lot of confidence in my ability.” after 20 years “on the ice” he Marchant went on to earn his PhD SEE DAVID MARCHANT’S plans to end his yearly pilgrim- WEB PAGE, with photos of his similarities in surface processes and recent landscape development at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland most recent Antarctic expedition, age, he says he can’t stop and, in 1999, became only the fifth geolo- at www.bu.edu/dbin/es/index.php/ “until I get the chance to show people/faculty/david-r-marchant. are striking. In fact, I am now learning more about Antarctica by studying gist since 1926 to receive the W. S. Bruce my kids this wonderful place.” CHECK THE EARTH SCIENCES Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, WEBSITE at www.bu.edu/es. Marchant’s son, Taylor, is seven images of the surface of Mars.” the Royal Physical Society, and the Royal and his daughter, Olivia, is Scottish Geographical Society. First won four. Their proud father jokes that despite their young ages they “already know about the Mid-Miocene Climate Transition. What have I done?” For BU students, Marchant’s dedication to his work means many more seasons searching for climate treasures in the coldest, driest, and windiest place on Earth. N

20 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 21 BY SHERYL FLATOW

French “I was particularly intrigued by the secular women, who became notorious because they left their families and traveled.” Sisters —Elizabeth Goldsmith

It sounds like a plot dreamed up by a novelist with a vivid Prior to researching Life Stories, she imagination. Two sisters in 17th-century Europe leave their was unsure how the women got from place aristocratic husbands—one a Roman prince and the other a French to place. Goldsmith’s work reveals that the religious zealot—and abandon their families. They spend their sisters’ seemingly arbitrary paths were lives traveling, trying to develop a network that will help sustain the result of an early and often imperfect them. Along the way, there are kidnapping plots, stalking, and form of public transportation—the postal other forms of danger. system. “In the late 17th century, there were But it’s all true. Hortense and Marie Mancini are the central regularly scheduled carriages that carried figures in a book currently being written by Elizabeth Goldsmith, mail all over Europe,” Goldsmith says, “and professor of French and academic affairs director at International that’s what made it possible for the women Programs. Goldsmith first wrote about the sisters in 2001 in to travel the way they did. When I first Publishing Women’s Life Stories in France, 1647–1720, which examines traced their travels, their routes didn’t the memoirs of six 17th-century women—three religious, three make any sense to me. Then I realized they secular—and how they came to be published. were connecting with postal coaches, and “I was particularly intrigued by the secular women, who they weren’t necessarily sure where the became notorious because they left their families and traveled,” coaches would lead them.” she says. “They wrote to defend their reputations. I started looking Goldsmith finds the stories of these more into Hortense and Marie Mancini, trying to figure out how women invigorating. “People tend to they traveled, how they got around.” assume that women from this period The Mancini sisters had been brought up in the court of Louis weren’t able to operate freely at all,” XIV—Marie was the Sun King’s first mistress—and for different she says. “And despite the fact that these reasons and at different times, women had a very difficult time on the both walked out on unhappy road, there’s a kind of exuberance to their marriages, even though it meant stories that I find fascinating and uplifting. leaving behind their children. They really made something of their lives SEE PROFESSOR ELIZABETH “I’m interested in how women’s and their educations in deciding to write GOLDSMITH’S BIO at www.bu.edu/cas/magazine/ travel relates to the idea of about themselves and defend themselves spring09/goldsmith. taking risks and the usefulness and go public with their stories.” of taking risks,” says Goldsmith. She hopes that historical figures like “I also wanted to know why women on the road were so fascinating the Mancinis can help readers see the to everybody. The Mancini sisters were early media figures. Their eddies and whirls in history’s flow. “People travels were documented in news gazettes and in correspondence, are surprised to learn that progress in the in addition to their own memoirs.” area of women’s independence does not Eager to learn more about their experiences, Goldsmith move steadily from this dark period of the searched the family archives of Prince Colonna, Marie’s husband, past toward this bright and open period in Subiaco, Italy. There, she says, “I found an incredible number of modernity. There are different moments of letters and documents that tracked her movements and the in history when you see examples of movements of her sister.” women being able to defy convention in interesting ways.” N Left: Hortense Mancini (top) and her sister Marie (bottom) gained notoriety Reprinted with permission from Research in the 17th century for abandoning their families in favor of life on the road. at Boston University 2008. Photo at right: Professor Elizabeth Goldsmith

SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 23 ALUMNI PROFILE ALUMNI PROFILE

FROM HOUSTON TO BOSTON AND BACK, DAVID MUNDY HAS LEARNED THE MECHANICS OF MANAGEMENT AND MOTOR SPORTS

BY PATRICK L. KENNEDY In the family’s long-term plan, Mundy and his now–business partner were to eventually take over the company from their father and uncle (A.J.’s sons), who Long an had begun easing into retirement. “Then active alum, D AVID MUNDY waited to speak. The boardroom, on the job site, or even behind During the summers, Mundy cut his “I’ve been around it all my life,” my father was diagnosed with terminal David Mundy La Porte–Bayshore (Texas) Chamber of the wheel. Dean Virginia Sapiro has named teeth on industrial work, including in chem- cancer,” Mundy says. “So a seven-year plan he explains. “My dad raced dirt bikes when Commerce was naming his firm the 2006 him to the College of Arts & Sciences ical plants and oil refineries in Texas. “My was condensed into about twelve months.” I was a kid, my uncle raced dragsters, is a member Company of the Year. Introducing Mundy, Leadership Advisory Board. first job was as a helper in a vessel fabrica- After his father’s death in 2002, the young and I hung around a motorcycle shop.” of the new the emcee concluded: “David graduated Mundy enjoyed his time in Boston, tion shop,” he remembers. “I found that managers had to take charge. Nowadays, he races only “on occa- Leadership from Boston University in 1996 and moved he says, despite the climate. “Locals told I liked the business and I liked the people.” The business has not only thrived sion,” Mundy says. He and his wife “have Advisory back to Texas to begin his education.” me, ‘Don’t worry, we haven’t had a real After graduation, Mundy went to but expanded in the years since. Mundy three children under the age of four, with Board at CAS. “That line got a big laugh,” recalls winter in yeeeaahhz,’” he recounts. Cue the work in human resources for the Mundy deflects credit. “We really benefited in that a fourth on the way,” meaning the lure Mundy (CAS’96), an industrial-services con- Blizzard of ’93, freshman year. “I thought Companies. Founded by his grandfather, we inherited an absolutely stellar team of high speeds “fades a bit,” he admits. academy with whom Dean Sapiro can tractor and semipro race car driver/owner. I’d died and gone to hell.” A.J. Mundy, the business provides and here, and that makes a huge difference.” Threaded through Mundy’s work and consult to bounce ideas around, discuss “But in a lot of ways, your education At CAS, he double-majored in philos- manages temporary and permanent work- Mundy also inherited a passion hobbies are not only a fascination with the situations, and seek real-world opinions continues every day. And when you quit ophy and history, and is still a big reader ers for industrial operations. Across the for auto racing. An open-wheel (similar to mechanical but a love of problem-solving, and counsel.” learning, you’re dead.” of history. “One thing I really admired about country, thousands of Mundy employees Indy) car driver, he is co-owner of Mundill, which he intends to turn toward his new “I’m excited to think about the challen- Now, Mundy, president of the BU at the time, and still do, is that in that fill mechanical maintenance, small capital one of the top teams in the Star Mazda role at CAS. As development officer Karen ges the College is going to face,” says Houston-based Mundy Companies, hopes kind of department, you don’t have to toe a project, and operations support needs, Championship circuit, which he likens to Fung explains it, the 15-member Leadership Mundy. “BU is a wonderful, special place.” N to bring to BU the lessons he’s picked up particular line of thought.” such as packaging, railroad loading, ware- “double-A baseball, but for racing.” Advisory Board is “a high-level, thoughtful, over the last dozen years, whether in the house, security, and janitorial work. committed group of people outside the

24 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 25 CLASS NOTES good times and high honors

ARTS & SCIENCES ALUMS REUNITE and PAY TRIBUTE to AWARD WINNERS ARTS & SCIENCES ALUMS IN CHARGE

Alumni enjoyed perfect fall weather when they gathered for More than 70 guests attended the CAS/GRS Distinguished In 2008, two Arts & Sciences alums William Thomas Logan Jr. (CAS’49) of Harpswell, everything she could about beads and beading tech- Boston University’s Reunion and Alumni Weekend, October 24–26. Alumni Awards Dinner on Friday to honor four distinguished alumni were appointed to the Boston University Maine, passed away. His daughter, Heather Logan niques. She writes, “Is there a correlation between CAS (and former CLA) and GRS alums of all ages reconnected with for their outstanding contributions to profession, community, Boards of Trustees and Overseers, Weiler, writes, “It is with great sadness I am writing to mathematics and beadwork? Definitely. In a woven let you know that my father, one of your distinguished piece, the beads are like pixels.” Check out her website classmates and faculty members at events that included alumni college and Alma Mater. The awards were presented by former Distinguished respectively. Stephen R. Karp (CAS’63), alumni, has passed away. He was, as you are aware, at www.BeadingAnswerBook.com. Karen’s first book, classes, an Oktoberfest celebration, and a Young Alumni Community Alumni Award winners. founder and chairman of New England a Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Gamma Mu society member. published in 2001 by the Taunton Press, was Sewing Service Project and BU Beach Bash. Adding to the weekend’s good spirits, Development, Inc., Newton, He was a supporter of Boston University throughout Lingerie That Fits: Stylish Underwear, Sleepwear the men’s ice hockey team routed the University of Michigan, 7–2. Massachusetts, became a trustee his lifetime. His obituary appeared in the Portland Press and Loungewear for Everyday Living. E-mail Karen in September, while Shamim A. Dahod Herald on July 5, 2008. He is survived by my mother, at [email protected]. .” (CGS’76, CAS’78, MED’87), a physician Margaret Miller Logan (PAL’48) Raymond L. McDonald (CLA’73) of Santa Barbara, with Chelmsford Primary Care in George R. Stockbridge (CAS’53, GRS’54; CLA Class Calif., became the executive director of the Santa Chelmsford, Massachusetts, became President) of Old Greenwich, Conn., writes, “I am Barbara County California Workforce Investment Board an overseer in April. still active in my printing/packaging paper brokerage (WIB) on July 7, 2008. He is one of only 49 WIB direc- business, at least part-time, and do substitute teaching tors in California, responsible for the policy develop- Other Arts & Sciences alumni serving on in the Greenwich middle and high schools. Carol and ment and implementation of workforce programs for the University’s boards are: I moved one mile away to a smaller home last year, still job seekers and businesses. In addition to his position in our beloved Old Greenwich community. Would like with the Santa Barbara County WIB, McDonald serves to hear from colleagues at [email protected].” on the Board of Directors of the California Workforce BOARD OF TRUSTEES Association and on the statewide Labor Market Tom O’Connell (SED’60, GRS’61) of Dennisport, Mass., Information Advisory Group. Prior to moving to his new Robert A. Knox, (CAS’74, GSM’75) was invited by Barnes & Noble in Hyannis to present position, he was employed by the San Jose/Silicon Chairman his new memoir, Bugging Out: An Army Memoir (1954), Chairman and CEO at a special Cape Cod Writers’ Night. In early 2007, Valley Workforce Investment Board, work2future, as Cornerstone Equity Investors, L.L.C. his memoir was selected by the Jordan Rich Show for its the manager for grants and development, after serving New York, New York Winter 2008 Book List at WBZ Radio Boston. as the one-stop system manager. McDonald also Margarita M. Muñiz (CAS’72) worked for the State of California in Sacramento as is principal of Rafael Hernández Tom describes Bugging Out as “the misadventures of a program manager and as the director of workforce School, a bilingual school Elaine B. Kirshenbaum (CAS’71, a military misfit.” SED’72, SPH’79) Vice President of Policy, services for the Solano County WIB. Laura Deaton (CAS’86) in Boston that places equal Planning, and Membership Ronald (Courtemanche) Court (CAS’65) of Essex is founder of Full Glass, emphasis on Spanish and Mark Lane (CAS’76, GRS’79) of Ormond Beach, Fla., Massachusetts Medical Society Junction, Vt., was re-elected president and chief a management, fundraising, English literacy. Her presenter is metro columnist for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Matthew B. Smith (CAS’70, Alicia Cannon Mullen (CAS’83) Waltham, Massachusetts executive officer of the Booker T. Washington Society, was Olive Lesueur (CAS’66, A book of his columns, Sandspurs: Notes from a Coastal marketing, and leadership GSM’72) is managing director is founder of Washing Pond a national nonprofit he co-founded to celebrate the consulting firm for nonprofit MET’85). In 2001, the Columnist, was published in September by University of investments for Connecticut Ventures, a Chicago-based Stuart W. Pratt (CAS’69) legacy of Booker T. Washington and help students and philanthropic organiza- Hernández School was one of Press of Florida. The pieces range from state politics, Innovations, Inc., which early-stage venture fund that Chairman become leaders with character and integrity. tions, located in Port St. Joe, 10 Massachusetts schools recog- dashboard sociology, local color, and NASCAR com- provides strategic capital and works with IT-enabled busi- Fort Point Real Estate See: www.BTWsociety.org. E-mail Ronald at Florida. Full Glass provides nized for improved MCAS mentary to Darwinian gardening advice and explo- operational insight for nesses. LANTIMES magazine NAI/Hunneman Commercial Company [email protected]. services to organizations such scores and was named as one of emerging companies in energy, named her as one of the “Top Boston, Massachusetts rations of The Great Florida Myth. The book is part as the Charleston Symphony biotechnology, information Boston’s 23 Effective Practices 100 Women in Computing.” James F. Kaiser (CAS’68) of Norwood, Mass., has of the Florida History and Culture series. E-mail Mark Orchestra, Charleston Breast technology, and photonics. Schools. Muñiz’s many awards As the senior vice president of recently returned from Korea, where he taught coordi- at [email protected]. clude selection as one of the BOARD OF OVERSEERS Center, the YWCA of Greater Judith Hurwitz (CAS’73, in management information nated sciences at The International School of Busan. Charleston, and the Tallahassee “100 Outstanding Women Keith Armstrong (CAS’80) of Fairfax, Calif., COM’75) presented his award. systems for the Chicago Derek Davis (CAS’86, LAW’89) The previous year, he was a member of the faculty Animal Shelter Foundation. in Massachusetts” by the co-authored Courage After Fire (Ulysses Press) with Smith has been involved Mercantile Exchange, Mullen Shareholder at The International School of Penang-Uplands in Deaton was also the executive Women’s Educational and Suzanne Best and Paula Domenici. Courage After with cutting-edge development implemented use of leading- Greenberg Traurig, LLP Malaysia, where he taught physics and general science. director of a San Francisco- Industrial Union. Fire is a self-help book written for U.S. troops in Iraq of health care organizations, edge handheld wireless devices, Boston, Massachusetts After teaching science in Massachusetts for 35 years, area Big Brothers-Big Sisters including HMOs, cancer centers, which transformed the way he has joined the international circuit, substituting as and Afghanistan and their loved ones. The book offers agency. She was presented information and tips for family members and close and medical technology start-up business is conducted on the David B. Ellis (CAS’54, LAW’57) needed in various international schools and enjoying with her award by friends—those who have kept things going on the home companies. At BU, he helped trading floor. At BU, she was the Partner (Retired) visiting and exploring foreign countries. John Connery (CAS’69). found and promote a biotech- first woman to graduate from front and waited anxiously for their veteran’s return. Foley, Hoag LLP Karen Morris (CAS’72) of Belmont, Mass., recently nology affinity group, while the Department of Computer Boston, Massachusetts It is also for doctors, counselors, employers, coworkers, mentoring and providing Science, blazing the trail for published a book on beading. A former associate editor and others who may be asked to help with a veteran’s at Threads magazine, Morris says her new book grew internships for students. the many women computer Esther A. H. Hopkins (CAS’47) transition. Keith is a licensed social worker. E-mail Keith out of her experiences working at a bead store and science majors who have fol- Former Chair, Board of Selectmen at [email protected]. lowed. Mullen recently joined answering questions, teaching classes, and learning Framingham, Massachusetts Daramana Gata (CAS’82, ENG’85) of Plano, Tex., the CAS Leadership Advisory Board. James Argeros (CAS’51) writes, “After a four-year term at AT&T Bell Labs, I have presented her award. been working at Texas Instruments for the past 19 COLLEGE AND GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS years. There, I am the section manager of the Portable Each year, we celebrate Arts & Sciences alumni who have distinguished themselves in service to the community, their profession, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAS/GRS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI Audio Converters Design group in Dallas. My circuit or their Alma Mater. In the spring, we will begin to take nominations for the 2009 awardees who will be honored on October 23. AWARD WINNERS, visit: www.bu.edu/cas. designs have been a part of over $1 billion of generated Please look for the e-mail announcing the start of the nominating process or go to www.bu.edu/cas/alumni/. If BU does not FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON AT BU AT LARGE on Bostonia’s exciting new revenue. I hold seven patents.” have your e-mail address, you can submit it at www.bu.edu/alumni/services/address/. website at www.bu.edu/bostonia. SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING FOR ALUMS IN YOUR AREA and how to become more involved in the BU community at www.bu.edu/alumni. 26 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 27 CLASS NOTES cas/grs alumni association

MESSAGE from the PRESIDENT Hannah (Goldenberg) Venit (CAS’96) of Cheltenham, Pa., and Kyle Venit announce the birth of their son, Daniel Matthew Venit, on November 28, 2007. Hannah can be contacted at [email protected]. Christine (Soo) Dahlquist (CAS’98) of New York, N.Y., married Tor-Björn Dahlquist (CGS’96, MET’99) on October 11, 2008, in New York, N.Y. Colleen Woods Greetings from the Arts & Sciences Alumni Read about Laura Deaton (CAS’86), Alicia Cannon Mullen (CAS’83), Heikka (COM’98) was in attendance. Tor-Björn is Association! As those of you who were able Margarita M. Muñiz (CAS’72), and Matthew B. Smith (CAS’70, GSM’72) an insurance analyst for the Insurance Services Office to attend Reunion and Alumni Weekend 2008 on page 26. They represent the strength of the Arts & Sciences alumni in New Jersey and Christine is a director of finance in October know, it provided a wonderful community, and the Alumni Association is proud to recognize their for Nickelodeon in New York. opportunity for all BU alumni to reunite with tremendous accomplishments. Dana (Grieco) Gulino (CAS’98) of Sparta, N.J., and classmates and faculty. Changing Reunion The Association is also very enthusiastic about the Discoveries Greg Gulino are pleased to announce the birth of their to a fall weekend enables all alums to enjoy learning and lecture series, now in its second year. The events have first child, Leah Patricia, on March 26, 2008. Leah BU the way we remember it: bustling with wonderfully demonstrated the depth and breadth of teaching and is named after Dana’s mother, Patricia Grieco, who students and faculty and buzzing with energy. research at BU. I invite you to attend the panel discussion on April 16, passed away suddenly on November 19, 2007. Dana Next year’s Reunion and Alumni Weekend is planned for Friday, “The Bailout, Six Months Later: Where Are We, and What Lies Ahead?” says she can’t wait to pack Leah up and ship her to BU in 18 years. E-mail Dana at [email protected]. October 23 through Sunday, October 25. Save the date! Please see www.bu.edu/alumni/events for more details, when avail- Meeting this year’s award recipients at the CAS/GRS Distinguished able. Except for perhaps a BU men’s hockey win, nothing can compete Sara (Kustron) Siskavich (CAS’99, GRS’01) of Amherst, N.H., and Brad Siskavich were married Arts & Sciences administrators and BU Marine Program (BUMP) faculty and staff pose with Sea Alumni Awards Dinner was a privilege. The unique and fascinating with the excitement of a room filled with BU alumni gathered to hear on September 26, 2008, in the bride’s hometown of Education Association (SEA) personnel during a tour of the Corwith Cramer in summer 2008. stories that these alumni shared highlighted how their experience from some of the University’s best faculty minds. Milford, N.H. The maid of honor was Brenda Berasi The 134-foot steel brigantine sailed last fall as the research vessel for a BUMP/SEA Marine as Arts & Sciences students at Boston University enabled them (CAS’99, GRS’03). Kristin Foord (GRS’01) was also a Semester course, Tropical Oceanography of the Caribbean Sea. Pictured, from left, are CAS Senior to pursue such a high level of success in their professions, as well as in Han Han (CAS’96) bridesmaid. In June of 2008, the couple relocated from Associate Dean Susan Jackson, Biology Chair Geoffrey Cooper, SEA Academic Dean Paul Joyce, Arts & Sciences Dean Virginia Sapiro, BUMP Program Manager Jennifer Ryan, SEA President their communities. Han Han is an information technology the Boston area to their new home in Amherst, N.H. John Bullard, Rachel Scudder (GRS’09,’13), BUMP Director Rick Murray, SEA faculty project manager at Harvard Business School. They would love to hear from old Boston friends. E-mail Sara at [email protected]. member Gary Jaroslow, and SEA Enrollment Dean Glen Thomas. Valiant Richey (CAS’00, GRS’00) and Sarah (Haines) Richey (COM’00) of Seattle, Wash., were married on August 9, 2008. Benjamin Gardiner (MET’98) served Nick is working at the Meheba Refugee Settlement Shanna Spinello (CAS’03) of New York, N.Y., is the as best man and Colleen Scott (ENG’98) was in atten- on the Adult Skills Project, Women’s Center, Refugee production stage manager for the off-Broadway show dance. Val is a deputy prosecutor for King County and Advocacy Initiative, and Peace Education and Computer The Fantasticks, the longest-running musical in the Sarah is a brand manager for Wizards of the Coast, a Training Center. He will soon move into the camp world. The production is at the Snapple Theater Center Hasbro subsidiary. operations coordinator position. E-mail Audrey at in New York City’s Times Square. [email protected]. class notes continued Jessie (Lemovitz) Lee (CAS’01) and Eric Lee of Will Titus (CAS’05) married Becca Sniderman Shrewsbury, Mass., welcomed their first child, Justin Sally Bessee (CAS’03) of Quincy, Mass., married (CAS’04) on May 31, 2008, at Old Orchard Beach in Connor Lee, on July 26, 2008. He was born at UMass Nathan Penney (CAS’03) on October 4, 2008, in New Maine. BU alumni attending or taking part in the wed- Aaron Kampfe (CAS’90) and David Heinzen (CFA’89) Michael Maguire (CAS’93) and Jill (Coletta) Maguire Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass. Britain, Conn. Attendees and wedding participants ding included Tim Cook (CAS’05), Sarah Fogley Cook of Red Lodge, Mont., announce the birth of their son, (COM’93) of West Roxbury, Mass., announce the birth Kristan (Donahue) Howard (CAS’02) of Philadelphia, included BU alums Brandi (Simpson) Schulze (CAS’03), (CAS’05), Matt Brookover (CAS’04), Mary Aquino Whatever your news, Amos Olivier Kampfe, on February 6, 2008. Aaron of their second child, Meghan Elizabeth, on July 16, Pa., and Patrick Howard were married on June 6, 2008, Jeff Schulze (CAS’03, MED’07), and Dave Huang (COM’05), Bobbie Bencio (COM’05), Rebecca Bourke owns and operates two adventure travel companies— 2008. They note that two-year-old Alexander couldn’t in Philadelphia. Lisa Salzone (CAS’02, SED’03) was a (CAS’03). E-mail Sally at [email protected]. (CAS’05, SED’07), and Rodrigo Pereyra (CAS’05). we want to hear it. OutWest Global Adventures and Mytineraries, Inc. be happier. Contact them at [email protected] member of the bridal party. Also attending the wedding David is the principal cellist for the Billings Symphony or [email protected], respectively. Laura Cali (CAS’03) of San Francisco, Calif., recently Rebekah Lee Conway Roulier (CAS’06) of Wakefield, was Annie Pappas (CAS’02). Kristan and Patrick are Send us an e-mail at and teaches in a private cello studio. They live in attained fellowship in the Casualty Actuarial Society Mass., was married to Gavin Roulier on May 24, 2008, James Lavino (CGS’93, CAS’95) of London, England, both attorneys. E-mail Kristan at kdonahue17@hot- Red Lodge, Mont., a ski resort town near Yellowstone and is working as a consulting actuary for the followed by a reception at Castle in the Clouds in released the soundtrack album to Woodpecker, a film mail.com. [email protected]. National Park. E-mail Aaron at [email protected]. Tillinghast insurance consulting business of Towers Moultonborough, N.H. Many friends and family were by director (and fellow BU alumnus Alex Karpovsky, Audrey (Mahler) Reese (CAS’02, SED’03) and Perrin. E-mail Laura at [email protected]. present, including a few BU alumnae. Rebekah writes, Scott Monty (CAS’92, GSM’96, MED’96) of Dearborn, UNI’97). The Woodpecker album, which is available on We’ll publish your news Nicholas Reese (CAS’02) are in Zambia working with “Gavin and I met on eHarmony and can’t wait to spend Mich., writes, “After two years of writing the Social iTunes, Amazon MP3, and other online stores, is Shara Eisenberger (CAS’03) of Riverdale, N.Y., was FORGE, a nonprofit organization with a mission to the rest of our lives together!” BU alums attending or Media Marketing Blog, an internationally recognized performed by James, Colin Greenwood (from the named one of the 30 under-30 top executives in or photo in Class Notes. build upon the capacity of African refugees to cultivate taking part in the wedding included Meghann Cook site, and a year with crayon, LLC, a strategic advisory band Radiohead), and Lee & Tyler Sargent (from the music industry by Billboard Magazine. Shara is empowered communities and create the conditions (COM’06), Diana Kearney (CAS’06), Elizabeth Lima consultancy in the digital marketing field, I was recruited the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). James also was currently the associate director of music resources And we’ll make sure for peace and prosperity in their countries. Audrey is (SAR’07), and Rebecca Brady (CAS’10). E-mail by Ford Motor Company to head global social media commissioned to write a choral piece for the choir of for EMI Music Publishing in New York, N.Y. working with the FORGE Post-Secondary Scholarship Rebekah at [email protected]. efforts. My responsibilities include setting a cor- Westminster Abbey. You can learn more about his you’re up-to-date Fund to provide the structure and means for excep- porate social media strategy, helping many depart- work by visiting his website: www.jameslavino.com. Hyan Kim (CAS’07) of Saratoga, Calif., was made tional refugee students to attend university, obtain ments—from IT to Customer Service, Product E-mail James at [email protected]. account executive at the interactive agency AKQA’s on what’s new at BU. a degree, and outfit themselves with the qualifications Development to Marketing, Communications to HR— headquarters in San Francisco, Calif. Her clients include necessary to find a job upon their return to their understand the new world of digital communications Xbox and Nike. She has been with the agency since home countries. and connecting Ford with customers in new and February of 2007. E-mail her at [email protected]. unique ways.” E-mail Scott at [email protected]. Eleni Belisonzi (CAS’08) is working as a victim witness advocate at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

28 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 29 HONOR ROLL supporting arts&sciences

HONOR ROLL of DONORS College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Alumni and Friends Richard O. Michaud, GRS’69, ’71* CORPORATIONS, Combined Jewish Philanthropies Merck Partnership for Giving Anthony Miller FOUNDATIONS, Conservation International MIB Inc. Eileen Miller* and OTHER David and Lucile Packard Foundation Michael Abby Modell Foundation Trust Guy L. Mintz, CAS’80, MED’84* ORGANIZATIONS Thomas Mitts* Anonymous (2) Dean S. Edmonds Foundation Microsoft Matching Gifts Program Andrew T. Moo, CAS’78 * Abbott Laboratories DHE Living Trust Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Alexander Woodrow Moore, CAS’84* Advanced Chemistry Development Rita A. Moore, CAS’69* DM-STAT, Inc. The Mitchell & Hilarie Morgan Hilarie A. Morgan, CAS’76 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Family Foundation The College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences gratefully Lovett C. Peters Karen E. Daly, CAS’67, GRS’68, MET’72 * Dubai Port Authority * Robert Alan Nagourney, CAS’75 Astrid O. Peterson, CAS’74, MED’77 Jonathan D. Darrah Alzheimer’s Association Dubai World The Mundy Family Foundation acknowledges the following donors, who made gifts of $1,000 * * Gurramkonda N. Naidu Frank L. Politano, CAS’71 Mark A. Degatano, CAS’80, GRS’81 Muscular Dystrophy Association * * Harini Sriya Naidu, CAS’08, CAS’08 American Chemical Society Earhart Foundation or more to the College or Graduate School in Fiscal Year 2008 Francis S. Ryan David M. DeSimone, CAS’72 * * * Scott G. Nichols The American Council The Nagourney Institute (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008). Virginia Sapiro Patricia Anne Dinndorf, CAS’73 Ella Lyman Cabot Trust * * Jennifer Stewart Niles, CAS’89 of Learned Societies Kevin Edward Schmidt, CAS’86, MED’86 Peter B. Doeringer * Exxon Mobil Corporation National Council for Science & the Enviroment * * Kenneth Scott Norton, CAS’93 Marion Appel Simon, CAS’59 Richard H. Donnell, CAS’63 * American Diabetes Association The Nature Conservancy * * Herbert J. Paine, DGE’65, CAS’67 ExxonMobil Foundation Marshall M. Sloane, SMG’49 John G. Smith, CGS’72, CAS’74 Thomas J. Downey * $1,000,000 or MORE * Eunice Panetta American Heart Association The Neu Foundation of California Inc. Dean S. Edmonds H. Eugene Stanley Leslie Sparks* Barbara E. Duff ExxonMobil Pipeline Company * Petros Papageorgiou, GRS’76 American Mathematical Society Henry S. Newman James H. Walsh Janet R. Stradley Dorothea H. Edwards, CAS’43 * Neurocognitive Associates, PC * Valerie P. Parsegian, CAS’67 Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Richard F. Woodward, CAS’44 Laura Walsh Strandskov Helen Brew Eilts American Philosophical Society E. Lee Perry Flex Biomedical, Inc. Norman M. Shack Charitable Foundation Frank Wunschel, SMG’52, GRS’53 Robert Szafranski Albert Louis Elias, CAS’69 $250,000 to $499,000 * Florence E. Perry, CAS’49 American Physical Society Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc. Ira Leon Rennert Richard Lee Taikowski, CAS’81, MED’85 Saul Engelbourg * FMC Corporation Matching Gift Plan * George M. J. Perry, CAS’02 Robert F. X. Sillerman Richard H. Waldman, CAS’75 Carole S. Evans, CAS’69 * The Andrew and Lisa Rodman Foundation O’Neill and Associates LLC $5,000 to $9,999 * * Sandra S. Pershing, CAS’64 GE Foundation Anonymous (1) Grace G. White, CAS’47 Robert I. Evans, COM’68, SED’71 * Anthony’s Pier Four, Inc. * * Kenneth G. Peters, CAS’71 Getty Foundation Organic Syntheses Inc. Ioannis Alafouzos Graham Wilson Zev Z. Feigenbaum, CAS’00 * $100,000 to $249,000 * * * Kathryn A. Piffat, LAW’89; GRS’92, ’01 Aramark Corporation The Penates Foundation Stephen D. Bechtel Miriam Greene Bernstein, CAS’52 Yosef Joseph Wosk, UNI’92 Gary L. Feinberg, CAS’75 GlaxoSmithKline * * Alan Jay Pines, CAS’78 Alfred I. Tauber Robert D. Brownson Mark G. Filler, CAS’67 * ArtusLabs, Inc. Peter & Deborah Lamm Foundation * * Marilyn M. Pratt, CAS’61 The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. Suzanne Cutler, SMG’61 $1,000 to $2,499 Marion K. Fitzpatrick Family Trust AstraZeneca Richard Ethan Pride Hess Companies Pfizer Foundation Ada A. Draper Anonymous (1) Patricia M. Flynn, GRS’73, ’80* $50,000 to $99,999 William E. Racolin, CAS’66 Bank of America Pfizer Inc. Warren J. Adelson, CAS’63, GRS’64 Jeffrey B. Eskind Cathy M. Abrams, CAS’80 Jean A. Follett-Thompson, GRS’82, ’86 * The Huisking Foundation, Inc. Nancy E. Rasmusson, CAS’60* Bank of America Northeast Gerald S. J. Cassidy Laurence T. Ginsberg, CAS’75* Michael J. Agganis, SED’67 Fayne L. Frey, CAS’83, MED’87* Prometrika Inc. Saimi L. Read, CAS’38, GRS’43* Incyte Corporation Richard D. Cohen, CGS’67, SMG’69 Vinod Gupta David Agus Anne H. Germanacos The Baruch Fund * * Karen Bedrosian Richardson, DGE’66, CAS’68 The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation Marcia H. Carter DeWolfe Ralph A. Kulberg, CAS’52 Alex N. Alexiades Paul A. Giusti, CAS’68, GSM’76 * Institute of Turkish Studies *† * * Andrew O. Rodman, CGS’77, CAS’79 Bat Conservation International, Inc. Richard B. DeWolfe, MET’71, ’73 Martin W. Lynn, CAS’77 Haidhi Angkawijana, CAS’85, GRS’86 John R. Hackett * International Media & History Foundation Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc. * * * Lisa M. Rodman, CAS’81 Bonnie T. Feld, CAS’73 Brian John McNally, CAS’80 Patricia Cadigan Armstrong, CAS’42 Samuel H. Hallowell, CAS’70 * Beacon Architectural Associates The Renco Group, Inc. * * * Christopher du P. Roosevelt The International Psychoanalytical Association Kenneth J. Feld, SMG’70 Bruce I. McPhee Neil H. Aronson, CAS’79 Anne F. Hamilton, CAS’78 * * * Cheryl M. Rosenberg, CAS’74 Bedford VA Research Corporation, Inc. Research Corporation for Science Advancement Edgar D. Fulton, CAS’77 Peter H. McPhee Anthony S. Athanas, SMG’64 Arnold C. Hanson, CAS’48 * iStar Financial Inc. Beryl J. Rosenstein, CAS’57 Bennett Manufacturing Co., Inc. Linda Yellin, CAS’62 Joseph P. Mercurio, MET’81 Mary Ann Barbieri, CAS’64, SED’65 Douglas E. Hart, SMG’76 * The Jack & Frances Sall Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation * Ruth W. Rosenthal Robert E. Yellin, CAS’61 Patrick O’Leary Joanna Barnish, CAS’92 Peter H. Heerwagen, CAS’68 Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Inc. Russ & Andrea Gullotti Charitable Foundation * * * Anne F. Rothenberg, CAS’67 Japan Fund Elton Price, GRS’61 John R. Beatty Douglas Henderson, CAS’40, Hon.’69 * * * * Edward Rydzak, CAS’83 The Bernard Family Foundation Saint Gobain Corporation Raymond R. Sackler Diane P. Beemer, CAS’67 Janice R. Hight, CAS’57, GRS’57 * The Jeffrey & Donna Eskind Family Foundation $25,000 to $49,999 Renee Sall, COM’81 The Better Than Average Foundation Melvin C. Cannon Family Ronald M. Thalheimer Thomas J. Beggins, CAS’80 Arthur B. Hodess, CAS’70 * The San Francisco Foundation * * * Robert A. Salvatore Jewish Communal Fund Russell A. Gullotti, CAS’64 Carlos H. Tosi Donna Belusar David E. Hollowell, ENG’69, ’72; GSM’74 * Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough Foundation * * P. G. Schmanska, CAS’56 Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Schering Corporation Ratan Jindal Richard James Towle Victor L. Berman, CAS’62, GSM’66 Kathleen A. Hollowell, GRS’71, SED’77 * * * John Silber, Hon.’95 The Boston Foundation Kansas City Schlumberger Technology Corporation Steven M. Karbank, CAS’79 Lee J. Twomey, CAS’66 Yale J. Berry, CAS’55 Mary Louise Persons Hoss, GRS’92, ’04 * * * David Slan* Alan and Sherry Leventhal Paul M. Verrochi Margaret E. Black, CAS’67 Wu-The Hsiang Bresky Foundation Jindal Stainless Ltd. Shell Oil Company Foundation * Kathy and William Smilow, CAS’86 David Andrew Mundy, CAS’96 Clifford Viner Adele Ludin Boskey, GRS’71 Orton P. Jackson, CAS’74 * Bristol-Myers Squibb Company * * * * John R. Smith, GRS’92, ’99 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The Shipley Foundation William F. Shirley, CAS’68 Jon Westling, Hon.’03 Harvey R. Boulay, CAS’66; GRS’68, ’73 Elizabeth P. Jaeger, CAS’67 * * Rebecca Tseng Smith, CAS’80, STH’82 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Johnson & Johnson Silicon Valley Community Foundation Marcia J. Trimble, CAS’59 R. Martin Wright Ari Brooks, CAS’92 Royal D. Joslin * * Richard J. Snyder, LAW’63 Adam D. Wizon, CAS’78 Jennifer Sall Brooks, SMG’90 Paul Michael Kaplan, CAS’73 C. & J. Viner Family Foundation The Key Foundation Stephen H. LaCount LLC * * * Susan M. Spelios, CAS’80 Kenneth L. Buch, CAS’74 Helen Kondel Katsidhe, CAS’52 Carnegie Corporation of New York $2,500 to $4,999 * * G. Ander Steele Labcoat Limited The Steven and Laurie Eskind Family Foundation Anonymous (1) Cheryl Ann Buckingham, CAS’70* Victor Menas Kazanjian, CAS’89* $10,000 to $24,999 Richard M. Steinschneider Carol Young Brooke Foundation The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Michael M. Adler William Y. W. Au, CAS’51, MED’55 Richard T. Burke, CAS’56, GRS’57 Paul Keck * Leon S. Newton Foundation * * * * Mark Sultan Alice H. Barreca, SAR’53 Nicholas D. Cahill Erika Verdean Burley-Wilson, CAS’93 Judith K. Keller, GRS’64 * Cassidy & Associates Louis N. Cassett Foundation Suzanne Campagna Living Trust * * Ray P. Thek, CAS’83 Christopher A. Barreca, DGE’50, LAW’53 Chun-Yuan Chen Robert Burns James D. Killian, GRS’51 Charitable Flex Fund * * * Alison M. Thompson, GRS’95 MacAllister Machinery Co., Inc. The Tomorrow Foundation Hwei Li Chang Steven Keith Davidson, CAS’82; GRS’82, ’83* William I. Calhoun, GRS’78 In-Sook Kim * Barry J. F. Twomey The Charles Schwab Charitable Fund Robert S. Cohen Robert V. DiClemente, CAS’74 Jennifer Carey Thomas R. King, DGE’62, CAS’64 * Marilyn & Mike Grossman Foundation Unilever Research Laboratory * * * Herbert Walsh, CAS’64 Erika J. Glazer* Steven J. Eskind Damion Carufe* Lowell V. Kingsley, CAS’40, SED’43* The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. Marine Biological Laboratory The UPS Foundation Inc. Gerard Garnett Ward, CAS’75* Crawford H. Greenewalt Florence Dunn Friedman, CAS’69* In Sung Chang Carolyn S. Kline, CAS’47* The Chickering Group, an Aetna Company Scott A. Webster, CAS’93* Marion R. Kramer Trust Urix Inc. Hideo H. Itabashi, CAS’49, MED’54 Deirdre M. Giblin, CAS’90* Barrett H. Childs, CAS’78* Stephen H. LaCount, CAS’72* Hilton S. Weiner, CAS’78* Ching-Kuo Chiang Foundation Marshall M. & Barbara J. Sloane The Verrochi Family Charitable Trust Jeffrey Y. Kao Michael W. Goldberg, SMG’82* Toy Har Chin, CAS’56* Alvin P. Lafon, CAS’51* Fred Bruce Weiss, CAS’85* Private Foundation Marion R. Kramer, CAS’63 Terri L. Goldberg, CAS’85* George A. Clay, GRS’64, GRS’68* Peter D. Lamm, CAS’74* Chubb & Son Inc. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Vincent J. Wernig, DGE’48, CAS’49* Lawrence S. Lipkind, CAS’56 Marshall I. and Merle Goldman Henry Cohn Richard A. LaRhette, DGE’55, CAS’57* Clementi Family Charitable Trust Martha Washington Straus & Harry H. Virginia T. Wetherill, CAS’52* Wallace Research Foundation Nancy Livingston, COM’69 Esther A. H. Hopkins, CAS’47 Francesco Colangelo* Robert Laughlin* Straus Foundation Deborah E. Wiley, CAS’68 CMGRP Inc. Abby Grossman Modell* Howard D. and Elaine B. Kirshenbaum, CAS’71, John W. Connery, CAS’69 Larry Lerner Walsh Brothers, Incorporated * * James R. and Margaret L. Wiseman Mary & George Herbert Paul M. Montrone SED’72, SPH’79 Biagio A. Conte, CAS’52 Jacques P. Leveille, GRS’76 * * Cathleen Ann Woods-King, CAS’86 Zimmerman Foundation Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Richard W. Neu, CAS’61 Todd L. C. Klipp John F. Crowe, CAS’69 Bernard B. Levine, LAW’53 * * Doris Wright, CAS’34 Worcester Center for Performing Arts Thomas P. O’Neill Jonathan N. Krivine, CAS’72 Peter J. Cusato June K. Lewin, CFA’61 Mary M. B. Wakefield Charitable Trust Jeffries Wyman, GRS’60* Leandro P. Rizzuto Benjamin F. Lambert, CAS’55 Ralph, CAS’62, GRS’64, Stephanie Behrakis Liakos, GRS’91* The MathWorks, Inc. Wyeth-Ayerst Research Laboratories Steven L. Yellen and Karen B. Leeds* Wallace Osborne Sellers Cathi Ellen Luski, CAS’80* and Leilanie D’Agostino, CAS’64* James Loftus* Sherrie Zacharius* The Medical Foundation Inc. Richard C. Shipley, SMG’68, GSM’72 David Luski, SMG’80* Anastasia Sylvester Lyman, CFA’72 Kathryn J. Zox, CAS’69, SED’72* Gladys F. Marple, CAS’41* Tosui Machida* Merck & Co., Inc. Amy Merrill Elijah Chandler Marentette, CAS’93, GRS’93* Cynthia Caldwell Martin, CAS’77* * Denotes Annual Fund Leadership John Procter Maynard, CAS’88* Giving Society member ANNUAL GIVING www.bu.edu/alumni/giving/annualfund. Gerald E. Mayo, CAS’53* †Denotes deceased Maureen Merrill, CAS’76* PLANNED GIVING www.bu.edu/alumni/opg.

30 arts&sciences | SPRING 2009 SPRING 2009 | arts&sciences 31 THE LAST WORD

A great education is a gift. Pass it on. Punch Line BY JEREMY SCHWAB

At the heart of Jamie Kaler’s comedy is a fascination with life’s blunders and bizarre moments. A stand-up comic and actor who plays Mike Callahan in the TBS sitcom My Boys, Kaler (CAS’87) says he likes to make people laugh, often at his own expense. “I focus a lot on the dumb things that happen to me every day,” he said during a recent trip to Boston. “To tell a joke and then someone laughs—it’s the ultimate drug. I’m sometimes surprised I can make a living at it.” On a Friday evening in September, Kaler brought his routine before a packed crowd of undergraduates in the basement of the George Sherman Union, part of BU’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Series. He regaled the crowd with bawdy tales of romantic mishaps, BU misadventures, and insights into everything from the lottery to chimpanzees. He even made light of the age gap separ- ating him from his audience members: “I’m at the age where I need to tell a woman I’ve been divorced, just so she thinks I’m capable of committing.” Following the show, Kaler joked with fans and friends, clearly in his element. While success may be coming more easily for Kaler now, it took him years to reach this high point. When he first decided he wanted to become an actor, he was living in California, working as a bartender, after five years in the Navy. One day, he auditioned for Acting was not Kaler’s original career a Sea World commercial and got the part. That first experience— “To tell plan. He says that when he was a student easy money and a chance to perform for an audience—was enough at CAS, he had no idea he would wind up as to get him hooked. a joke an actor and comedian. He wanted to follow He soon discovered, however, that landing a part is not always in his father’s footsteps and join the Navy. so easy. For a while, he made commercials whenever he could. and then He credits BU with continuing his personal “I went to so many auditions and got rejected so many times,” development and introducing him to a broader he reflects. “I think one of my best skills is that anytime I do fail, someone world. Arriving on an ROTC scholarship, I learn from it. Each year, it’s gotten better.” Soon, Kaler started to he was immediately struck by the energy get appearances on TV shows like Will & Grace and The King of laughs— on campus and the opportunity to meet Queens. He also got parts in movies, including The Family Stone and all sorts of people. Spanglish, and performed in a few plays. it’s the “One thing I liked about the University “The last couple of years, it’s been amazing for me,” he says. was it’s in a big city,” says the New Hampshire “You finally reach the point where you get to do what you want ultimate native. “You didn’t need to be in a frat; you to do. But I still kind of feel as if I am pulling the wool over someone’s were in the city of Boston. There were people eyes whenever I get a spot.” drug.” of all different backgrounds, and you were The success of My Boys, a sitcom about a tomboy sportscaster just thrown in together.” and her group of guy pals, may have surprised some people, The chance to interact with a wide range but not Kaler. “I knew right away that the show was going to go,” of people is part of what keeps stand-up Help give tomorrow’s students what BU gave you. he recalls. “The chemistry’s amazing on the show. We were hang- comedy interesting to Kaler. He loves meeting ing out from day one. We have a ball shooting it.” fans, and can’t imagine why anyone would be By including BU in your long-term philanthropic plans, you can help students achieve an Now, My Boys is in its third season, and Kaler is making the shy about approaching him in a crowd. “I went outstanding education. most of his breakthrough success. He writes a popular My Boys to Fenway Park last night and got recognized There are a number of ways you can do this. You can make a provision for BU in your will blog and is touring the country to broaden the fan base for his by a whole boatload of guys,” he said during or make a gift that pays you income for life. Your gift can be directed to help students, stand-up show. He even landed a spot in the traveling comedy his most recent swing through Boston. “I am faculty, or the program of your choice, and provide a charitable tax deduction for your estate. show “Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation.” always amused by people who come up to me and say, ‘I’m so sorry for intruding.’ I’m glad Take a minute now to help ensure BU’s future and create your own legacy. To learn more, visit www.bu.edu/opg or e-mail us at [email protected]. You can also call Planned Giving people are excited about the show. If they at 800-645-2347 or 617-353-2254. weren’t, I’d be back to bartending.” N Boston University College of Arts & Sciences Development & Alumni Relations

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