The Magazine of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Fall 2018 CONTENTS

VOLUME 23 NO.1 FALL 2018 CONTENTS OF THE TACK ROOM Building on the university’s equine expertise, the Veterinary and Animal Sciences department debuted its concentration in equine science this fall. Giddyap! John Solem LONG READS > 06 14 TARGET: BREAST CANCER POLITICAL FIRE UMass scientists investigate what Marjorie Decker ’94 defies threats causes the insidious disease and to pass a commonsense gun bill. how to prevent it. 28 36 SUICIDE AND RESILIENCE AFTER EUREKA A researcher works with Alaskan UMass scientists turn their tribes to illuminate a heartbreaking revolutionary ideas into issue. businesses. SHORT READS > 20 42 44 ALL-STAR PHOTOGRAPHER PRIME MOVER WHAT IS MY DEAF WAY OF Andrew D. Bernstein captures the A vibrant, visionary alumnus brings SCIENCE? biggest names in sports. rehab clinics and services to Professor Michele L. Cooke tells underserved communities. how her hearing loss adds value to her work.

IN BRIEF > 12 AROUND THE POND 26 STATE OF THE ARTS 18 INQUIRING MINDS 32 SPORTS TALK

BITS > 2 Seen > ONLINE 4 In Other Words For Bookmarks and extra content, go to umass.edu/magazine. 34 Accomplished On the cover: Efosa Guobadia ’07 46 Connections in Guatemala, where the nonprofit organization he founded has built 48 In Memoriam physical therapy clinics. See “Prime Mover,” page 42. Photo courtesy of 52 Teachable Moment Move Together.

FALL 2018 1 > SEEN > John Solem

2 > UMASS> UMASS WED 10:23AM> INTRAMURAL FIELDS What better way to make campus friends than pelting one another with dodge balls at New Students Orientation? John Solem

FALL 2018 3 > IN OTHER WORDS >

The delightful story of the Massachusetts Agricultural College rowing crew’s win brought to mind our next auspicious contest with Harvard University—83 years later. On October 2, 1954, in their first-ever Ivy League football game, the University of Massachusetts challenged Harvard University at Harvard Stadium. This prompted the mobilization of a motorcade from Amherst to Cambridge, led by none other than UMass President Jean Paul Mather. My friends and I excitedly joined the procession. As we approached the stadium we slowed to a crawl, engulfed by a multitude of raucous Harvard fans. At one point, they began dangerously rocking my car while shouting disparaging slogans. My blaring horn and a judicious use of the accelerator provided our escape to safety in a parking lot. The excitement was electric. My year- UNCOWED I hope that future graduates show in their book states, “From the opening whistle, the Reading John Sippel “call” Massachusetts chosen fields the same stamina and endur- UMass rooters cheered each successful play. Agricultural College’s 1871 rowing race ance the Aggies demonstrated. There is an Overconfidence on the part of Harvard and a against Harvard and Brown (“Muscle, Pluck, underlying concept in this story: rank and do-or-die spirit by the Massmen produced a and Yankee Vim,” Summer 2018), I could feel privilege may merit a fair start, but not a 13–7 victory. The Umies went wild with joy. the excitement as if I were on the banks of strong finish. The school had at last gained the recognition the river watching and listening as the Aggies Christopher Read ’67 it deserved.” trounced Harvard, the favorite going into RICHMOND, TEXAS True to form, prior to the game Boston the race. sportswriters termed it “the mismatch of the Eric Sondergeld ’84 When I was involved with starting the crew century” and a Harvard newspaper satirically CANTON, CONNECTICUT program in 1965–66, I had no idea that UMass mocked “the invasion of the cow college from had ever been involved in rowing. Thanks for the western hills.” Having been on the crew team at Wellesley filling in this important chapter in the univer- Back in 1871, our rowing win over Harvard College in the fifties and having devoured The sity’s sports history. prompted the Hartford Courant to note, Boys in the Boat, the best-selling book Jan H. Carstanjen ’66G “Culture and breeding have gone down before about the U.S. rowers’ triumph at the 1936 BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS muscle and practice.” In 1954, UMass once Olympics, I could appreciate the drama of this again showed Harvard that “the cow college great story as well. Excellent tale, beautifully from the western hills” was a formidable written. Kudos. competitor. Nina M. Scott Donal W. Halloran ’55 Professor Emerita of Spanish and Portuguese MARSHFIELD, WISCONSIN AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

Having started rowing and “racing” a full 31 years after my graduation from the University of Massachusetts, I did not know the story of the 1871 regatta. In reading it, I felt like one of the boys in the boat—most likely one of those with “radical faults.” Thank you. Mary Lynch Cadwallader ’79 Write to us: [email protected] PRINCETON, MASSACHUSETTS Go to our website > umass.edu/magazine Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Libraries Massachusetts of University Archives, and University Special Collections

4 > UMASS LIFELONG STRETCH THE JOYS BEYOND THE ‘PENALTY’ UMASS MAGAZINE FALL 2018 Are alumni the chief readers of the UMass Re: “The Persistent Motherhood Penalty” VOLUME 23 • NO. 1 magazine? If so, what do we gain from (Summer 2018): After working as a geologist reading it? for five years, I saw that I could not be both a Executive Editor Alumni are collective graduates of a cer- very good geologist and a very good wife, so Robert Lindquist tain educational institution. They gain knowl- I quit my very well-paying position at an oil Managing Editor edge there, and generally rise up and leave, company and took jobs as a Girl Scout field Patricia Sullivan moving on to live their lives. Time marches on director and a geology lab teacher, which cut Editorial Staff and they work, experience, learn more, mold my salary in half but increased my happi- Judith B. Cameron ’16G Laura Marjorie Miller their existence. ness. Later, after marrying and having chil- John Sippel And then what? How do they take that dren, I wondered how anyone could survive as Director of Design knowledge and experience and keep honing a single parent. I certainly could not have done Matthew Jasiorkowski it, learning from it, sharing it, being inspired— it and, had I tried, my children would have suf- Designer and at least trying to leave the world a fered for it—not because I would have lacked Jack Cavacco ’82 better place? daycare for them, but because they would University Photographer Perhaps it is by widely reading, by casting have lacked the time with me, their own John Solem a net toward continued learning, by gaining mother. My rewards for having stayed home Web Editor inspiration from articles such as “Interwoven,” with my children are not monetary but they Erik Gallant “Down the Rabbit Hole,” and ”Wham in the are far more valuable to me than any material Middle of London” (Summer 2018). And more, benefit I might have received from concen- University of Massachusetts Amherst from diverse sources. trating on my career as a geologist. To be fair, Chancellor Thank you for indeed inspiring us, any article about a “motherhood penalty” Kumble R. Subbaswamy for giving us an intelligent stretch, for always needs to take account of the unsurpassed Vice Chancellor University Relations reaching to improve and move us. though often intangible benefits of full-time John Kennedy ’86 motherhood for those able to take advantage Diane Kearney Doyle ’74 Associate Vice Chancellor PERRYSBURG, OHIO of the opportunity. University Relations Catherine Norman ’75 Nancy Buffone ’95, ’03G, ’09EdD FREMONT, CALIFORNIA Vice Chancellor Development and Alumni Relations Mark A. Fuller Assistant Vice Chancellor MUSIGALS Alumni Relations Thank you so much for publishing the photo JC Schnabl of the a cappella group Vocal Suspects (“Seen,” Summer 2018). It brought me back to former UMass Magazine Slobody Building, Suite C1 times at UMass. In the spring of 1961, Alcie 101 University Drive (Alice) Edgerton ’62, Francis Lovejoy ’62, Amherst, MA 01002-2385 and I organized the first women’s a cappella 413-545-0123 singing group, The Musigals, on campus. Fran [email protected] MOTIVATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE was a member of the men’s singing group The umass.edu/magazine I just read Patricia Sullivan’s captivating Statesmen. Our advisor was Ms. Winifred Address Changes “Wham in the Middle of London” (Summer Field. Auditions were held and 12 women Records Office Memorial Hall 2018). Minouche Shafik is an extraordinarily were selected for the group. UMass Amherst talented and inspirational human being, The group made its first public appearance Amherst, MA 01003 motivating the rest of us to take on more chal- at the 1961 Interdorm Sing. Subsequently, we 413-545-4721 lenges and devote more time and resources to appeared at the Senior Mix, the banquet held for [email protected] improving the lives of others. Minouche is an Amherst’s new residents, President Lederle’s UMass magazine is published exceptional, down-to-earth role model. Faculty Dance, and many other events. three times a year by the It is an enormous credit to the university, I’ve been told there have been many other commonwealth’s flagship and brings me great personal pride, that UMass a cappella singing groups at UMass since that campus, the University of Massachusetts Amherst. educated and shaped the thinking and selfless time. For me this was an experience I shall character of this extraordinary woman. long remember. Thank you for the wonderful Copyright © 2018 by the University of Massachusetts John Hurley ’81 edition of UMass, evoking many memories of Amherst. All rights reserved. BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS those years at college. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission Jayne Hayden Uyenoyama ’62 is prohibited. COTUIT, MASSACHUSETTS Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Libraries Massachusetts of University Archives, and University Special Collections

FALL 2018 5 > TARGET: BREAST CANCER UMASS SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATE WHAT CAUSES THE INSIDIOUS DISEASE AND HOW TO PREVENT IT. BY JUDITH B. CAMERON ’16G > PHOTOS BY JOHN SOLEM

6 > UMASS reast cancer begins with one lethal rogue cell. Cancerous cells in the breast then grow out of control in a mind-boggling process that researchers worldwide have yet to fully understand, despite years of study and billions of dollars in funding. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, researchers in many areas, backed by government organizations and private foundations, are attacking breast cancer on multiple fronts. They are investigating environmental toxins and breast milk, leading large epidemiological studies, creating new treatments, identifying individuals likely to get breast cancer, and advocating for changes in chemical testing and regulation. UMass Amherst scientists work in the forefront of research into breast cancer prevention and causes. This investigative focus is not the norm; most breast cancer funding supports research into early detection and treat- ment rather than prevention and causes. Three years ago, however, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the largest funder of cancer research in the U.S., made prevention research a higher priority. Now, 5 percent of the NCI’s budget is allocated to grants for breast cancer prevention. UMass Amherst received $3.5 million as one of six insti- tutions to receive funding from a breast cancer research program cofunded by the NCI and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

A microscopic view of tumors in an aggressive breast cancer that is hard to treat. Lauren Jansen Lauren

FALL 2018 7 > PROFILED HERE ARE FIVE UMASS AMHERST RESEARCHERS WHO ARE TARGETING BREAST CANCER. THEIR WORK IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO WOMEN, AS 12 PERCENT ARE PREDICTED TO BE DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER IN THEIR LIFETIMES. THIS RESEARCH GIVES HOPE TO THE 268,670 WOMEN AND MEN WHO ARE EXPECTED TO LEARN THEY HAVE BREAST CANCER THIS YEAR AND IT WILL HELP LOWER THE 41,400 ANNUAL BREAST CANCER DEATHS.

D. JOSEPH JERRY: CELLS OF INFORMATION The work of UMass cancer researchers is furthered by a remarkable resource D. Joseph Jerry with an embroidered molecular structure of that provides opportunities to study and estrogen, a gift from a graduate student. experiment with live cells, the Rays of Hope Breast Research Patient Registry. More than 1,000 women with and with- out breast cancer have joined the registry, to learn what makes each of us different and why some women get breast cancer and housed at the nonprofit Pioneer Valley Life others do not.” Science Institute (PVLSI), in Springfield, Jerry, who is science director of the PVLSI and also a professor of veterinary and Massachusetts. Here, patients’ cells are animal sciences at UMass, says he is fortunate to be part of the larger collaboration kept alive in liquid nitrogen tanks, placed between clinicians, scientists, and patients. The PVLSI, established in 2002, is a non- in petri dishes stored in an incubator profit partnership between UMass Amherst and Baystate Medical Center, the largest maintained at body temperature, repli- hospital in western Massachusetts. In 2011, the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer cated, and used in real-life experiments. Research was founded to support advocacy for research in western Massachusetts and The patient registry is rich in information: develop the Breast Research Patient Registry. besides the cells, it includes breast tissue The live cells in the registry demonstrate cellular activities that can reveal sensi- samples, health and demographic informa- tivities to environmental chemicals in a subset of women. They also may reveal oppor- tion, and permission to contact patients in tunities for clinical therapies, explains Jerry. “We’re hoping to use these cells to then the future. more capably say, yes, this is the group of people who are most likely to respond to a UMass cancer biologist D. Joseph particular therapy,” he says. Jerry cofounded the registry with Grace Jerry has been investigating why cells mutate and become cancerous in some people Makari-Judson of Baystate Medical as well as why mutations occur but produce no tumors in other individuals. His work Center. He and other researchers, both at builds on research on the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, a gene that is commonly mutated UMass and elsewhere, are using this trove in breast cancers. In mouse models, he found that the gene is not uniform in its behavior, of information to make strides in under- causing some strains of mice to develop breast cancer while others escape the disease. standing breast cancer. “I don’t know any- This reveals that cancer is more than a single mutation; understanding the context of one who has the breadth of normal breast mutation will bring more insight into the causes of breast cancer. “We have not reached cells that we have,” says Jerry. “The tissue that goal of the cure we have been dreaming about, but we have made real steps toward and cell resources create the opportunity it and we keep hoping that tomorrow will bring the fundamental change,” says Jerry.

8 > UMASS Women from all over the country send Kathleen Arcaro breast milk samples for research purposes.

KATHLEEN F. ARCARO: FINDING CLUES IN BREAST MILK When Kathleen F. Arcaro, professor of women with more geographic and racial diversity. Women from all across the country veterinary and animal science, decided to have donated breast milk samples. study breast milk to see if she could learn Focusing on DNA and genes that can trigger the growth of cancer cells, Arcaro about the origins of breast cancer and how showed that lactating breasts hold valuable information about risk and the beginning to more accurately predict who will get the of breast cancer. She has examined which genes may trigger cancer. “I wouldn’t say at disease, she found little enthusiasm for the this point that I have shown that I can detect breast cancer, but I am getting closer,” says new approach. “Nobody thought it was a Arcaro. It is an important finding, since the majority of women diagnosed with breast good idea, especially the funding agencies,” cancer are past child-bearing age. If women at risk can be identified very early, lives says Arcaro. will be saved. Undaunted, Arcaro initiated research At the heart of Arcaro’s research is DNA methylation, a mechanism that can modify in 2004 by collecting breast milk from the turning on and off of genes. Arcaro is investigating the extent to which the pattern of lactating women in the UMass Amherst DNA methylation that relates to inflammation and cancer can be changed with a diet of community and studying cells in the fruits and vegetables. Women in the study who were given fresh produce to add to their milk. She soon discovered that these cells diet showed an increase of a hormone associated with low risk for breast cancer. She could reveal breast cancer risk. Since she envisions a future where breast milk will be tested for cancer risk as simply and rou- launched her quest to study breast milk, tinely as newborns are screened for metabolic diseases through a heel-prick blood test. Arcaro, a faculty member since 2001 with a lab in the Life Science Laboratories build- The UMass Amherst breast cancer research featured in this story received private support ing, has won millions of dollars in grants from Pew Charitable Trusts, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis and expanded the collection of breast milk Foundation for Health and Policy (JKTG Foundation), Cornell Douglas Foundation, Great Neck from Amherst area women to include Breast Cancer Coalition, Avon Foundation for Women, and Keep A Breast Foundation.

FALL 2018 9 > LAURA VANDENBERG: SCIENTIST AND POLICY ADVOCATE Laura Vandenberg, associate professor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, has two jobs: she works as a sci- entist who documents dangers to human health from chemicals, and she researches public policy changes that are needed based on her findings. Her laboratory work in the Goessman building has centered on the impact of endocrine disruptors—chem- icals that mimic or block hormone action— on breast function and disease. Policy work pits Vandenberg against powerful forces as she promotes tighter chemical regulations and rigorous safety testing. Unlike most researchers, who have focused on the impact of chemicals during fetal development, Vandenberg also studies their effects on mothers. “We have known for a long time that the fetus is sensitive to estrogenic chemicals, but we had assumed that the mom will be fine. How silly was Laura Vandenberg with mouse mammary glands she studies for insight that?” asks Vandenberg. She discovered into the impact of environmental chemicals. that mice are sensitive to environmental chemicals, especially during pregnancy, and impacts are felt on their mammary glands, reproductive tracts, maternal behaviors, and brains. Most of her work has been funded with multimillion dollar grants from the National Institutes of Health. Her work builds on research into the use of DES, a synthetic estrogen that caused cancer in daughters born to women who used the drug during pregnancy and increased the risk of breast cancer in mothers long after they stopped taking it. For Vandenberg, the call for better safety testing of chemicals was a natural outgrowth of her research into the causes of breast cancer. She sought an answer to the question many would ask: “How on earth did we allow estrogenic chemicals to be used in so many consumer products?” She was one of 12 experts who coauthored a highly cited paper on endocrine disrup- tors that sparked meetings of scientific and regulatory organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences. Vandenberg has been lauded for her willingness to be a public critic of agencies that regulate chemicals in consumer goods. “Advocating for public health is the most important thing I can do in my career,” she says. Susan Hankinson uses detailed biologic and survey data to refine risk-prediction models.

10 > UMASS SUSAN HANKINSON: PREDICTING BREAST CANCER If you want to know your risk for breast cancer, ask Susan Hankinson, professor of epidemiology and an internationally renowned breast cancer scholar. “We found that by querying a range of known breast cancer risk factors, as well as taking a single blood sample, we can get an idea of a wom- an’s risk of breast cancer over the next 10 to 20 years,” she reports. Hankinson, who was a nurse, research epidemiologist, and Harvard professor before joining the School of Public Health and Health Sciences in 2011, says know- ing breast cancer risk factors for pre- and post-menopausal women is a first step in the battle to prevent breast cancer. But, she says, “There is a lot of room for improvement.” In her office in Arnold House, Hankinson is refining risk prediction models and ways to better identify whether at-risk women have a low or high chance of developing breast cancer. With the bene- fit of more precise risk-factor calculation, low-risk women will not take unnecessary Shelly Peyton with a microscope that allows researchers to watch breast cancer medicines or undergo needless frequent cells invade, grow, and respond to different drugs. breast screening, and high-risk women can make more informed decisions to lower their risk. “We want to do a much better job at telling women what their risk is,” explains Hankinson. SHELLY PEYTON: ENGINEERING A NEW TREATMENT Hankinson’s earlier work advanced Most women don’t die from the primary breast cancer tumor. It is the metastasis— the understanding of the role hormones insidious spreading of the cancer to bones, lungs, liver, and the brain—that is deadly. play in breast cancer. As a senior inves- Shelly Peyton, a UMass Amherst chemical engineer, wants to know why breast tigator on the Nurses’ Health Study, a cancer survives far away from its original site. Her ultimate goal is to bioengineer long-running study of more than 200,000 a new treatment for breast cancer. women in several cohorts, Hankinson over- In her lab in the Life Science building, she and a team of 20 researchers, includ- saw the collection of blood samples from ing graduate students, undergraduates, and a post-doctoral researcher, have been nearly 60,000 study participants. Research making significant headway with an uncommon approach to breast cancer research. emanating from this sample archive has Peyton is creating artificial tissue that is then injected with different breast cancer provided—and will continue to provide— cells. She has produced artificial bone, lungs, and brain tissue. tremendous insight into the role hormones The experiments have uncovered a treatment that reduced tumor size. “We play in risk of breast and other cancers in really needed these complicated artificial tissue environments to predict how a women. Further, she has worked to estab- treatment will work,” explains Peyton, who began teaching at UMass Amherst in lish a national standardization program for 2011. From 2012 to 2017, Peyton was a Barry Siadat ’77G, ’79PhD and Afsaneh Siadat measuring hormones in women, leading to Career Development Fellow. Her lab’s first funds came from that fellowship; the lab more accurate results. has since generated $10 million in grant funds, including support from the National Hankinson has received many multi- Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Peyton used grant funds million dollar grants over her career. to purchase sophisticated equipment, such as a machine that uses lasers to capture Her latest is a $4.2 million grant from deep images of bone marrow. “Some of the equipment we have here is unmatched the National Cancer Institute to further at any other place that I have been,” Peyton says. study whether hormones increase risk of With the equipment, Peyton watches live cells move through the artificial tissue breast cancer. “I think finding a cure for to learn methods to stop cancer cell migration. “It is this idea of cell movement and breast cancer is critical, but preventing the invading different tissue sites that got me interested in breast cancer research,” disease entirely would be even better,” says Peyton. Using artificial tissue has other benefits, she adds. The need for animal says Hankinson. testing is reduced and results come quicker. UM

FALL 2018 11 > IN BRIEF AROUND THE POND >

THE NEWS FROM MOUNT IDA

Mass Amherst will connect its students with Boston-based employers at its newly acquired Mount Ida campus in Newton. The UMount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst will operate as an extension of the Amherst campus and will not enroll undergraduate students directly. Less than 10 miles from downtown Boston and adjacent to the N2 Innovation District and the tech-focused Route 128 corridor, the campus will serve as a hub for Greater Boston-area career preparation and experiential learning for UMass Amherst students. The programs offered in Newton will align the strengths of UMass Amherst with the growing demand for talent in areas that drive the Massachusetts economy, including health care, business, computer science, and other STEM specialties. In addition, academic-industry collaborations, which currently account for a growing portion of UMass Amherst’s $220 million annual research and development expenditures, will be initiated at the Mount Ida campus. The new campus will also offer other professional development opportunities for UMass Amherst students along with graduate certificate and master’s programs and executive education.

MILLION DOLLAR BRING ON INTERNSHIPS THE BUBBLE

he player you signed for arty Jacobson ’68 believes millions of dollars tears his that athletics truly helps Tknee. A golf tournament is Mthe university by shining rained out. Your team promised a a light on its achievements. huge financial bonus to any player This summer, Jacobson made a named league MVP. Sports and $5.58 million gift to the Univer- insurance intersect at companies sity of Massachusetts athletics like Tokio-Marine HCC, where a department for infrastructure division of the company provides improvements that will benefit specialized insurance products to student-athletes and fans—and cover circumstances like these. the university as a whole. Bill Hubbard ’87, a sport man- Jacobson’s gift, which agement alumnus, is chairman of Chancellor Kumble R. Tokio-Marine HHC. In conjunction Subbaswamy called “a game- with his company, Hubbard has changer,” will fund a seasonal established an endowed fund air-supported structure, aka a with a $1 million gift that will bubble, and other upgrades to provide financial support to Mark McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The H. McCormack Department of bubble will allow teams to train Sport Management students indoors during the winter. The with internships in the sport and facility will also be available to the entertainment industry. university community for selected “The risk management and special events. In honor of the sport promotion industry is one gift, UMass Amherst formally that only continues to grow, and renamed its football team facility touches every single segment the Martin Jacobson Football of the sport and entertainment Performance Center in August. industry,” says Hubbard, who aims Said Jacobson, “I’m excited to alleviate students’ financial about moving McGuirk Stadium challenges while introducing them into a modern era with some of to Tokio-Marine’s segment of the the planned amenities and believe industry. The program kicked off in that the seasonal bubble will allow June with five interns. our student-athletes to train at a higher level than ever before.”

12 > UMASS YOU ARE HERE he University Museum of Contemporary Art created a unique way to unite town and gown while celebrating Tthe positive influence of public art. XTCA: Cross Town Contemporary Art was a series of installations throughout campus and downtown Amherst that added up to one seamless outdoor gallery—an art-and-culture bridge of sculpture composed of 13 pieces by nationally known and local artists, all riffing on ideas of construction and deconstruction, time and location. The exhibition, a collaboration with the UMass department of architecture, was in place from July through October. Pictured is part of Gary Orlinsky’s performative sculpture, “Gioco,” a bocce ball court that connects campus to community visually, physically, and socially. John Solem

FALL 2018 13 > 14 > UMASS John Solem POLITICAL

MARJORIE DECKERFIRE ’94 DEFIES THREATS TO PASS COMMONSENSE GUN BILL. > BY JUDITH B. CAMERON ’16G

FALL 2018 15 > ASSACHUSETTS STATE REPRESENTATIVE MARJORIE DECKER, D-CAMBRIDGE, WAS EXPECTING A ROUTINE DAY LAST NOVEMBER WHEN SHE TESTIFIED IN SUPPORT OF A BILL SHE FILED THAT WOULD TAKE GUNS AWAY FROM THOSE IN DANGER OF HURTING THEMSELVES OR OTHERS.

MCompared to tough anti-gun laws passed by the legislature in 2014, in which the alleged shooter exhibited red flag behavior before he this “red flag” bill seemed uncontroversial. She left Beacon Hill killed 17 people. for a lunch meeting with the Cambridge police commissioner and The National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners’ Action tended to other business. By the time she arrived at the home she League of Massachusetts were vociferous in their opposition. In shares with her husband and children on a tree-lined Cambridge addition to death threats on her social media accounts, opponents street, her social media accounts were flooded with threats. “I made misogynistic statements and released personal information opened my Facebook page and Twitter account and all of a sudden and videos designed to encourage animosity against Decker. “The I could not breathe,” she recalls. The commissioner ordered police stuff being said about me on the internet was awful and scary,” protection for Decker and her family. she says. In an interview in her home months after the bill’s June If her foes knew Marjorie Decker—a 46-year-old progressive approval, Decker was still shaken by her experience. She is angry feminist raised in public housing, the first in her family to grad- at how, at lightning speed, gun absolutists made her a target in uate from high school, a fighter for just causes since a teenager, a the fight over what she sees as a reasonable gun law that has been natural politician and polished public speaker—they would have shown to save lives in other states. “That made me more deter- known that Decker would not back down one iota. Massachusetts mined to get this bill passed,” she says. It sailed through the house House Speaker Robert DeLeo explains, “Throughout this process, on a 132-15 vote and the senate on a 36-1 vote. and facing incredible adversity, Representative Decker was tena- Decker’s effort to pass the Extreme Risk Protection Order law, cious, insightful, and judicious in her work. She was able to bring known as the red flag law, began with constituent service. Decker together stakeholders from many sides of the issue to prevent has represented Cambridge in the State House since 2012 and individuals who pose a risk to themselves or others from owning says it is her priority to talk to high school and college students or possessing a firearm.” about politics and the legislative process. She encourages them Decker says she became angry that her support for a bill to recommend a new law and, when appropriate, vows to put the exposed her family to possible dangers and felt humiliated to have full force of her many years of agitating for social justice and her to call parents of her children’s playdates to inform them of her experience as a member of the Massachusetts legislature into family’s need for police protection. “It took a toll on our family. I getting the bill adopted. was constantly tense and my husband and children could feel it. The campaign for the red flag bill launched with a tragic They were not immune,” Decker recalls. story Decker heard from a Cambridge college student. The stu- An astute politician, Decker did what she does best: organize dent told Decker that his best friend in Oklahoma had suicidal and educate. “Marjorie knows how to work the system and she is thoughts, which were known to his parents. The parents took their wonderful at it,” says retired state representative Ellen Story of son’s legally purchased gun away every time he bought one, and Amherst, who first met Decker as a UMass student, and later hired beseeched the gun store owner to stop selling weapons to their her as a legislative aide. The attempts at intimidation, Story says, suicidal son. Their appeals were to no avail and the young man would make Decker stronger in her resolve. “Sometimes you can ended his life with a bullet. tell a person’s character by who their enemies are and the NRA “The gun store kept selling guns to him because they could,” threatening you is scary but it also is a badge of honor,” says Story. says Decker. Now, under the Massachusetts law, families or house- Decker convinced lawmakers, including Republicans, that mates can go to court and seek an order to remove guns and a gun the red flag bill should be added to the state’s comprehensive set license from a person deemed dangerous to themselves or others. of commonsense gun laws, considered to be the toughest anti-gun Decker introduced her bill before the Parkland, Florida, massacre laws in the nation. Massachusetts has the country’s lowest rate

16 > UMASS Wearing orange, the color used by advocates for gun violence awareness, Representative Marjorie Decker joins Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker as he signs the red flag bill she shepherded through the state legislature into law. From left: House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Baker, Decker, Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem, and Senate President Karen E. Spilka. Baker presented Decker with the pen he used to sign the legislation.

positions. “There were lots of opportunities to be engaged in what was happening in the world,” she notes. Decker’s campus activism and aca- Mark Ostow Photography Mark Ostow demic studies gave her a foundation as a bold change agent, leading to a career in public service. At UMass, Decker made her first foray into seeking elected office. After “Sometimes you can tell a person’s being told first-year students don’t run for Student Government Association, Decker ignored the conventional wisdom. “My character by who their enemies are dorm mate and I ran stealth campaigns and unseated juniors,” she recalls. She also and the NRA threatening you is scary won a seat on the Amherst Town Meeting. Like many, she left UMass intent on mak- ing the world a better place; in her case, the but it also is a badge of honor.” phrase was more than a cliché. In a stint with Teach for America in Louisiana, she —retired state representative Ellen Story says she challenged norms—she ignored a principal who instructed her not to call parents of absent students. When she returned to Cambridge to run a youth of gun fatalities, according to the Centers and Political Economy. Early on, she says, program centered on basketball programs, for Disease Control and Prevention. Decker she figured out how to be a successful she advocated for activities more mean- found allies in groups like Stop Handgun student at a large research university. ingful to young people. “She sees herself Violence and Moms Demand Action for She found mentors in graduate students as a defender of people who grew up in the Gun Sense in America, whose members and in faculty members such as the well- same situation as she did. It is a huge part advocated for the red flag bill and also known economist Samuel Bowles and of her mission,” says Story. offered comfort to Decker during the height Bill Strickland of Afro-American Studies. In 1998, Decker became the young- of the threats. And, she followed the advice of another est person ever elected to Cambridge City Decker, who stresses that she alone student who told her: “Always sit in the Council, where she served for 14 years. She did not get the red flag bill passed, says her front of the classroom—it won’t feel so big.” was heavily favored to win reelection in drive comes from growing up in poverty When she traveled from her home- November to her fourth term representing and gaining at UMass Amherst a clear town of Cambridge to Amherst, she packed the 25th Middlesex district, known for its understanding of why low-income families her social activism that began at Cambridge progressive propensities. live amongst great wealth. She witnessed Rindge and Latin School, where she was House Speaker DeLeo believes Decker her loving parents work low-wage jobs, vocal in demanding that the high school will win many elections. “It has been a plea- exhausted at the end of the day and still distribute condoms to combat climbing sure to watch her master the legislative unable to break the cycle of poverty. Says rates of HIV and AIDS. At UMass, her process, change minds, and win over the Decker, “So, something else is falling short activism continued unabated. She peace- hearts of her colleagues. The same quali- here; it is not my parents. I think that is the fully protested the first Persian Gulf War ties that empowered Marjorie to champion roots of my own political fire.” and after the Rodney King verdict and riots, the red flag bill and save lives will serve her She finished her bachelor’s degree she led students in demanding the hiring of well in what I’m sure will be an incredibly with honors, majoring in Social Thought more women and people of color for faculty productive career,” he says. UM

FALL 2018 17 > IN BRIEF INQUIRING MINDS >

MAKING MOUNTAINS

ost mountain ranges arise at places where tectonic plates Mcollide. But the Adirondack Mountains occur well within the borders of the North American plate. How they formed has long been a mystery, but the tools for evaluating their arising are now in place, as well as the method to figure

it out—and the facility to crunch that Images Getty much data. Haiying Gao, assistant professor of geosciences, and postdoctoral fellow Xiaotao Yang used data from the National Science Foundation’s EarthScope program, which provided a new 3-D understanding of deep features. Gao and her team then used computers at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke to process the huge amount of data they collected. The team showed evidence that the structures under the Adirondacks were uplifted by a “low-velocity anomaly” in Earth’s asthenosphere—a viscous layer beneath the crust and upper mantle. Around 90 to 120 million years ago, the tectonic plate under the northeastern United States was passing over a geologic hot spot that may have contributed to the uplift. The researchers constructed a detailed model of the tectonic plate down to 62 miles. There, they discovered a “pillow” of low-density, more buoyant rock material. Geologic processes may have triggered an upwelling of this lighter material into a fracture or vacant space, providing the lift that formed the dome-shaped Adirondacks. “I want to see how the deep structures control what we observe on the surface,” says Gao. > LAURA MARJORIE MILLER

REDEEMING STREAMING HOLD THE CHIANTI

here you are, full-throttle octoral student Fatemeh Etemadi binge-watching your favorite is a strong champion of the fava Ttelevision series of the Dbean as a cold-hardy crop that moment, wanting only to forge on thrives in New England’s short growing until the story arc plays out or your season and meets a steady market eyeballs melt, whichever comes first. demand from several immigrant groups. Then comes the glitch: the frozen Etemadi recently began working with her screen, the pixel breakdown, the adviser, Professor Masoud Hashemi at out-of-sync soundtrack. But buck the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, up, sofa spuds: help is on the way, to characterize the amount of L-DOPA courtesy of doctoral student Kevin found in the fava plant’s leaves, stems, Spiteri ’15G and Professor Ramesh roots, and seeds. They’ve come up with Sitaraman from the Laboratory for good news for Parkinson’s disease Internet-Scale Distributed Systems sufferers seeking natural sources in the College of Information and of L-DOPA to ease their symptoms. Computer Sciences. They’ve Previous research focused on L-DOPA written a paper that presents accumulated in fava seeds, but Etemadi three algorithms that enable video has found that other parts of the players to play with fewer stalls plant, especially the leaves, and at higher quality, reduce video provide L-DOPA in impressive quality switches during playback, amounts. She reports and respond faster to connectivity that “all tested varieties changes. The paper recently had the highest amount received the Excellence in DASH of L-DOPA before pod Award from the Association for ripening” and that levels Todd Currier with a robotic Computing Machinery were lowest in stem northern pike. Multimedia Systems. and root samples. Ben Barnhart

18 > UMASS A FAST FISH he northern pike is a twitchy fish— when startled it changes direction T incredibly quickly. Professor Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi’s fluid-structure interactions lab has built a robotic northern pike that mimics this natural movement. The robot can accelerate 25 times gravity in milliseconds. This ultra-realistic rapid movement allows researchers in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering to observe how flexible structures like the fish interact with fluids like water, explains PhD student Todd Currier ’10. Studying the robotic fish can help engineers improve hydrodynamic efficiency, but the lab’s end goal is to deploy the robotic fish as a camera- equipped autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). “We want to use it as a marine observation platform so realistic that it will blend into the ocean environment to collect data without disrupting the marine life that lives there,” says Currier. Currier took the robotic pike out of the tank for its first freshwater swim this summer. “It’s almost eerie how much it moves like a fish in the water,” he says. “With this unobtrusive tool, we can get never-before-seen footage of the way fish behave when undisturbed.” > PATRICIA SULLIVAN

FALL 2018 19 > SHORT READ >

20 > UMASS ALL-STARe PHOTOGRAPHER

ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN CAPTURES THE BIGGEST NAMES IN SPORTS. > BY PATRICIA SULLIVAN PHOTOS BY ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Andrew

Above, Bernstein took hundreds of thousands of pictures of superstar Kobe Bryant during Bryant’s 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers. At left, an emotional Michael Jordan behind the scenes with his father after winning the 1991 NBA Finals— Bernstein’s favorite photo. Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Andrew

FALL 2018 21 > “I try to be prepared and know my subjects. For action shots, you have to know a player’s game.”

ndrew D. Bernstein, one of the world’s top sports photographers, collected a huge honor in September— Athe Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award. After Hall of Fame weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts, Bernstein returned to UMass Amherst, where, as a student, he first had a photo published. “I’m stoked,” he said. “This was an amazing full-circle event.” Bernstein grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and enrolled in UMass in 1975. He spent the next two-plus years with a camera in hand. He left after the first semester of his junior year to get technical training in photography unavailable at UMass. Although his degree is from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, it was at UMass where Bernstein built the impressive portfolio that won him a National Endowment for the Arts fellow- ship, launching his career behind the lens. Just a few NBA seasons after arriving in Los Angeles, Bernstein’s perceptive eye and impressive technical knowledge landed him a gig photographing the 1983 All-Star game at the Forum. Ever since, he’s had the best seat in the stadium: His company has served as team photographer for the Lakers, Kings, Clippers, and Dodgers. He’s photographed athletes for Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. He’s director of photog- raphy for the Staples Center and Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. He’s immortalized Michael Jordan flying, Kobe Bryant attacking, and Magic and Bird battling hip to hip. “How blessed can you be as a photographer to have those subjects in front of you every single night?” Bernstein asks. “I love what I do.”

At right, photographer Andrew D. Bernstein. Opposite, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson vie for position during

the 1984 NBA Championship playoffs. Images D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Andrew

22 > UMASS FALL 2018 23 > Clockwise, from top: Bernstein was unobtrusive when he photographed Kobe Bryant prepping for a game with his ankles and finger in ice; Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors celebrate winning the 2017 NBA Finals; basketball giant Yao Ming; former UMass hockey player Jonathan Quick spread-eagled at the 2012 Stanley Cup final while playing for the Los Angeles Kings.

24 > UMASS How did you get your start in photography? photographer Robert Capa famously said, “If “The Collegian I got my first camera at age 14. My first week your pictures aren’t good enough you’re not at UMass I walked into the Daily Collegian close enough.” I’ve lived by that. and the photo editor took me in. I think I was was a great shooting that same day. It was amazing to see What’s it like to take photos at a my first published photo. The Collegian was a championship game? . great training ground; I would shoot anything— I’ve been in 36 NBA locker rooms and two training ground, features, portraits, theater, dance. NHL locker rooms after championships. I was entrepreneurial and I started a little It’s pandemonium; we call it combat sports campus photography business. I became photography. You have to sharpen your elbows I would shoot the photographer for the fraternities and and get out there. You can’t get caught up in sororities. I built a darkroom in my dorm at the emotion of it. I have to have my eye in the John Adams, room 904. I ran a hose from the camera at all times and shoot as I go. If I see anything— laundry room into my room and put blackout it happen, I’m not doing my job, because that curtains over the windows. I hung a clothesline means the camera doesn’t see it. over my bed to hang prints and used a blow features, dryer to dry them. My whole experience at Have you ever been hurt? UMass revolved around photography. I’ve had all kinds of crazy things happen to me. I took a baseball off my knee once, and portraits, What have been some of the most you haven’t lived until you’ve had Shaq flatten memorable NBA moments in your career? you. This year I had one of the worst injuries theater, dance.” I’ve got to start with the great Celtic-Laker I’ve ever had. The Rockets were playing the rivalry of the 1980s. That was a tremendous Warriors in Oakland during the conference time. I recorded Magic Johnson’s career from finals and James Harden came flying into me start to finish. I was behind the scenes for where I sit right under the basket. He just seven weeks with the Dream Team for the took me out. I busted open my elbow and was Barcelona Olympics in 1992—incredible. I bleeding. A gaffer taped it up, I finished the took the first professional photograph of Kobe game, and went to the emergency room after Bryant as a Laker and built a great working and had it stitched. relationship and friendship with him. It’s been a good run. What is it you find so fascinating about professional athletes? How do you capture such special moments? I relate to their drive and competitiveness, I try to be prepared and know my subjects. how they want to be the best at what they do. For action shots, you have to know a player’s game. I learned to shoot Kareem’s skyhook at What’s next for you? just the right moment to show how graceful I’ve started a company called Legends of and dynamic it was. It took me many games Sport, which will provide a single place where to learn Magic Johnson’s game because he all content lives together. No matter what’s was so flamboyant; the way he played was going on in life or politics, sports binds us unpredictable. On the other hand, somebody together and makes us forget the chaos like Shaq is very predictable. He would dunk around us. We’re launching the company with almost every time he got the ball. podcasts; so far I’ve interviewed Bill Walton, I love being able to record behind-the- Amy Alcott, Magic Johnson, and many others. scenes moments. That requires establishing I want to enhance that experience of sharing relationships over the years to earn people’s family legacies and sports memories. trust. For those shots, I like to get in close. The

For more of Andrew Bernstein’s photos, > go to umass.edu/magazine. Basketball photos: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images. Hockey photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI/Getty Images. D. Bernstein/NHLI/Getty Andrew photo: Images. Hockey D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Andrew photos: Basketball

FALL 2018 25 > IN BRIEF STATE OF THE ARTS >

A PASSIONATE VOICE

oets, Martín Espada asserts, express a power of advocacy, speaking on behalf of those who don’t have a platform. P In June, Espada, professor of English, was presented with the Poetry Foundation’s 2018 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, honoring “a living U.S. poet whose lifetime achievement warrants extraordinary recognition.” He is the first Latinx poet to win the $100,000 prize since its inception in 1986. Espada’s latest collection of poems is Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (Norton, 2016). His writing refers to conquest, immigration, indigenous peoples, and the origins of everyday things created by the hands of the unseen. In his former career as a lawyer—another type of advocate—Espada practiced tenant law. His father, Frank Espada, who was a community organizer, civil rights activist, and documentary photographer, is an important, recurring figure in his son’s poetry. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Espada wrote his poem “Letter to My Father.” “I kept seeing a town by the name of Utuado. That’s the place where my father was born, and my grandmother was born, and my great-grandfather was the mayor. If you saw pictures of the hurricane, you were seeing Utuado. If you read articles about the hurricane, you were reading about Utuado.” Since the elder Espada died, his son has had his ashes in a box. “I found myself talking to him as if he could hear me,” says Espada. “I recalled him bringing me to Utuado as a child. Imagine a kid from the projects in Brooklyn going to the mountains in Puerto Rico: I’d never seen anything that beautiful before or since. And those mountains were destroyed; the towns were destroyed; the people were destroyed. My father was one of those people who filled a room. All heads turned: big man, big voice, big presence. He would be in a snarling rage at this outrage. He would shake his fist.” Topics at the center of Espada’s poems, such as immigration and the Puerto Rican diaspora, are under much pressure right now. But sometimes poetry can be more effective than polemic, by allowing its readers and listeners to create their own connections. “The number of deaths from Hurricane Maria could make it the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history,” says Espada, citing a Harvard study. “Yet the government says, ‘Everything is well in hand.’ So all I can do is continue to read that poem everywhere I go.” >LAURA MARJORIE MILLER

Radin oversees the final touches on his Philly rainMartín forest. Espada reads “Letter to My Father” > and other poems at umass.edu/magazine.

26 > UMASS John Solem

FALL 2018 27 > Lisa Wexler

28 > UMASS SUICIDE AND

A UMASS RESEARCHER WORKS WITH ALASKAN TRIBES TO ILLUMINATE RESILIENCEA HEARTBREAKING ISSUE. > BY LAURA MARJORIE MILLER

Lisa Wexler, associate professor of community With the suicide deaths of Anthony health education in the School of Public Health Bourdain and Kate Spade this past and Health Sciences, is known for her ongoing work studying suicide prevention in Alaska summer, people have begun speaking Native communities, where suicide rates are among the highest in the world. In Northwest more openly and honestly in public Alaska, from 1990 to 2000, Iñupiat young peo- ple were dying by suicide at a rate as high as 185 forums about suicide—about people per 100,000 people, significantly higher than the rest of the U.S. during that same time, with they’ve lost to it, and even admitting a rate of 10.7 per 100,000. to their own suicidal thoughts. Much Yet Wexler, a recipient of multiple grants from agencies like the National Science of the discussion has centered on Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, observed that suicide rates were mental illness and depression. But declining in some Native communities. So she began investigating what those communities one UMass researcher is discovering are doing to save lives. Several times a year, Wexler flies to that there are more approaches to Kotzebue, Nome, and Bethel, then travels by addressing this crisis than we may hopper plane and snowmobile to villages that can’t be reached by road. She often bunks in have come to believe. clinic exam rooms. As locked in deep freeze as the Alaskan landscape is, Wexler partic- ularly likes going up in January because she can see the spread of the light as the season moves toward spring. Just as she focuses on

FALL 2018 29 > John Solem the surging daylight at winter’s end, it is important to Wexler to Wexler knew there change the conversation surrounding suicide in the communities was something import- she works with from one of risk to one of strength. ant she was not getting. “Figuring out imminent THE GLIMMERS OF A SOLUTION risk is almost impossible in Suicide risk in Native communities is exacerbated by forces a totally different cultural imposed from outside: resettlement, rapid and relentless social context. You don’t even change, and national policies of assimilation. These forces are know what you don’t know! destructive to Native culture—and slow to let go. I was making decisions I Nevertheless, after 20 years of tribal suicide prevention was ill-equipped to make. efforts in Northwest Alaska, suicide rates have fallen. In the past So, when I feel confused five years, in the Northwest Arctic Borough, some communities about the work I’m doing, have cut rates by a third. So, what is working? If you examine the I go back to school.” remedies alongside the risk factors cited above, you’ll find them to Wexler’s PhD studies be the diametric opposite: local control of institutions and families, in work, community, and the power of tribal governments to follow through with their own family education at the decisions, sovereign health care structures in local communities, University of Minnesota added dimension to her understanding. and revived and thriving cultural practices, including sites to per- “If we focus only on mental health, we understand suicide in a very form spiritual activities. limited way that ignores all the historical violence and policies A number of the prevention efforts in the region over the last that are marginalizing. The assessments I’d been making were two decades were put in place by the Maniilaq Association, a trib- based on things that weren’t ever Alaska Native people’s norm. ally led nonprofit that provides all health and social services to the They were based on white, middle-class people.” 12 tribes they serve in Northwest Alaska. Maniilaq Association’s Wexler points out that the therapist-client model of talk interventions include a tribal suicide surveillance system, media therapy, isolated within an office, is not something often sought campaigns and events that promote culturally specific messages out or followed through on by indigenous people, even when it’s about the importance of family and sense of belonging and respon- recommended as a prevention. It simply doesn’t connect to the sibility to one’s tribe, outreach to those who have exhibited suicidal way they live their lives. behavior, and training for clinical staff in culture-specific risks for “Our knowledge comes from a very particular, individualized suicide—as well as making sure those staff are versed in cultural perspective,” she continues. “When I was starting out as a ther- idioms and practices. Village leaders attend retreats for healing, apist, a woman came in and I asked her a basic question about inspiration, and leadership training, from which they return to how she was doing. She told me about her son, her husband, all develop local wellness initiatives. And there are other powers at of these people who were primary relationships in her life. Why play in addition to Maniilaq: the Northwest Arctic Borough School wasn’t she telling me about herself?” It occurred to Wexler later District, for one, implemented a peer leaders program to support that the woman was giving information about herself: “I realized personal and cultural identity and to boost school attendance. The she was telling me, ‘You can see the contours of how I’m doing, resulting higher grades and decreased alcohol and drug use are because I’m telling you about all the people who shape my world.’” also considered factors that protect against suicide. Today, community contribution and leadership is crucial As the causes contributing to suicide are multilevel, Wexler to Wexler’s approach to her work. “We don’t tell people why we is insistent that solutions must also be. Picture a system of nets think these risk factors or protective factors are occurring; we that can catch you if you’re falling: you might fall through one, but give them the information and ask them what they think is going there’s another right below it. on in their community, then ask what they want to do about it.” Multiple nets are better than one, which is something Wexler Wexler, Maniilaq, and researchers at the University of Alaska learned from experience. Fairbanks are working with PC CARES, a health education intervention directed by the tribes to bring down suicide rates. WEXLER’S STORY Wexler is also involved in forming the Alaska Native Community When Wexler first came to Alaska from Florida as a newly minted Resilience Study, part of the new Alaska Native Collaborative Hub social worker in her mid-twenties, she knew nothing about Alaska for Resilience Research (ANCHRR). Their work will result in a Native culture. mapping tool that villages can use to identify the community-level As a counselor, Wexler’s job was to intervene to “keep a per- factors most associated with reduced suicide risk. son’s body safe” if she felt there was a suicide risk. But the protocols she was given had consequences. “If I was really worried about EXPAND THE RANGE someone, I would send the troopers to go get them and put them In many ways, Wexler says, we have limited ourselves in prevent- in the hospital,” she narrates. “And the hospital was a locked cell, ing suicide by “shrinking it so small that it fits within a mental so they called it ‘hospital jail.’ I was taking kids from their families. health box” and assuming the only way to deal with suicidal ide- So I was messing up other things. I felt like I was doing harm.” ation is to go to a therapist. Suicide rates around the United States

30 > UMASS Lisa Wexler (at left) says, “My job is to make the research as relevant as possible, step back and let the Native communities take over.” Pictured is Kotzebue, Alaska. Chris Lott

are actually going up, having increased by 25 percent sentences, to people’s sense of purpose and control nationally between 1999 and 2016. With nearly 45,000 over their future. Which is why prevention must suicide deaths in 2016, it is now the tenth leading cause happen on many levels, by fostering a healthy soci- of death in the U.S. ety where people feel safe, valued, and self-deter- One clue that suicide may be more than a mental mining. Public policy can reduce suicide risk. health issue is demographics. People who are more Wexler is emphatic about this: “Suicide is a likely to die by suicide look different in different places. health outcome. For instance, we know that unem- Older white men in the lower 48 states. Young farm- ployment is a suicide contributor, but instead of ing wives in rural China. Young Native men in Alaska. fixing unemployment, we teach people how to deal SOME Wexler urges us to “back up a little and look at the con- with their depression. We should change the context tours” to see that sociological issues, in addition to to serve the people, instead of changing the people mental health, drive suicide risk: for example, the value so they can deal with the context.” COMMUNITIES that society places on certain people yet not others, or Something the successful measures instituted the different ways people are asked to be successful. by the tribes have in common is that they help IN ALASKA’S For instance, young Native men, who have the people experience how much their life is of con- highest suicide rates in the communities Wexler sequence to others. People see that through their studies, are under stress from the rapid shift in gen- actions and their existence, they make a difference NORTHWEST der roles brought in by colonization. “There is a lack in their community. While the tribes’ efforts in of ways to be a good indigenous man and to succeed Northwest Alaska are specific to their needs, these in Western culture,” explains Wexler. “The things that remedies could be a paradigm for other societies. ARCTIC boys are good at, and give meaning to, activities like hunting, riding machinery, and fixing machinery, are RESILIENCE BOROUGH not employment-ready kinds of things.” Resilience, in ecology, refers to the capacity of a dis- Community belonging and cultural continuity turbed environment to bounce back to its optimal, are resilience factors. Yet in Northwest Alaska, school original functioning. Even though suicide rates in HAVE CUT schedules and work schedules imported from the the Arctic are currently the highest in the world, outside have frequently interfered with important this was not always so. And the drop in those sta- tribal practices—a slow, subtle way of marginalizing tistics over the last five years suggests that it need SUICIDE cultural processes and values. The start of school in not always be so. autumn is prime hunting time for caribou and salmon, In addition to observing ways the harms caused RATES BY as well as berry picking season. And employers are not by colonization can be undone, Wexler’s collabora- always flexible when allowing time off for these essen- tion with the tribes suggests approaches that even tial tribal observances—nature does not provide an non-Native populations can consider, which could A THIRD IN advance schedule—so a man has the options of losing ultimately decrease the global burden of suicide. his family’s subsistence and a personal connection What are the nets that catch people when they find THE PAST to his cultural rhythms or losing his job. Neither is a themselves falling? What sense of inner value and good alternative. self-determination can imbue them with the ability One wonders if it’s easier to shorthand suicide as to bounce back? FIVE YEARS. a mental health issue because it’s simpler to categorize “With suicide, there’s a lot that’s unknowable,” that way, and to offer a clinic-based solution—even one Wexler admits. “But there’s a lot that we could be that’s not effective— than to change the system itself. thinking about: what makes life worth living, how we give pathways to people to live the life they want CHANGE THE SYSTEM! to live, to support their capacities, to be happy— Suicide arises from a confluence of factors beyond whatever that means for them—and to work for psychology. Those can be economic and sociological: social justice in a way that makes a future people related to employment, health care, housing, criminal want to walk into.” UM

FALL 2018 31 > IN BRIEF SPORTS TALK >

TWO TIMES TWO wo-sport varsity student-athletes on college campuses are rare these days, even more so at the Division 1 level. However, this Tyear, among the 650 intercollegiate athletes at UMass Amherst, two, Randall West (football and basketball) and Kelly Marra (soccer and lacrosse), are taking on the extraordinary challenges of competing in two different sports. The biggest key to success, West and Marra agree, is time management. Juggling classes, practices, games, meetings, and homework is tricky for all student-athletes, but adding the commitments for a second sport puts several more balls into the air. West, a red-shirt junior from Moorestown, New Jersey, came to UMass to play football. He added basketball to his résumé after successfully showing his stuff at open tryouts last winter. He attributes his extreme organization to the time management course he took as a freshman in high school. “When I came to college I thought I was more prepared than anybody else because I was already taught how to manage extra time wisely and correctly,” he says. Marra, who came to UMass for the opportunity to play both soccer and lacrosse, says she was ready to be time-efficient after playing multiple sports, plus being on travel and club teams in high school on Long Island, New York. “It is a challenge, but I get a lot of help balancing everything. I wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of others; coaches and academic advisors check in on me and friends on teams keep me in the loop. It makes it easier because I have so much support.” Marra keeps organized the old-fashioned way. “I have a planner and know what I am going to do. I look at it every night and I plan early so I don’t get overwhelmed. I am disciplined and I like sticking to a regimen.” Both West and Marra savor their down time, little as it is, to prevent burning out. Marra unwinds with her friends, catching a movie at the mall or going out to eat. Classic ’70s and ’80s movies and television shows are West’s go-to entertainment. > ROBERT LINDQUIST SOUPED-UP STUDY SPACE

was the first person in my family to ever go to college,” said Bob Foote ’62, a longtime supporter of UMass Amherst, outstanding Minutemen gridiron “Istar, and member of the George “Trigger” Burke Hall of Fame. “Without the scholarship and academic support, I may not have been able to do that and complete my degree work. I feel that I owe UMass and we’re happy to do whatever we can to support current and future student-athletes.” Foote and his wife, Marianne ’77, contributed $250,000 toward the renovation, modernization, and expansion of academic support space for student-athletes. The Bob and Marianne Foote Academic Success Center in the Boyden Building, completed in August, provides more room and better technology for individual, group, and collaborative learning. The Two-sport athletes Randall West and new academic area includes space for advising, learning specialists, one- Kelly Marra sit still for a minute. on-one and group tutoring, workshops and seminars, and private rooms for individual counseling. In addition, three expansive lounge areas are available to foster peer-to-peer learning among student-athletes from all sports. “Bob and Marianne especially appreciate how a renovated academic success center will directly impact our current student-athletes and future Minutemen and Minutewomen,” said Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford. “I’ve been lucky,” says Foote. “Things have worked out well for me, and my days at UMass had a lot to do with my success.”

32 > UMASS John Solem

FALL 2018 33 > ACCOMPLISHED >

WRITE ARABIC NOW! forces you to become more mentally supple the department of English, created a fiction Language and accepting of difference.” She believes debut that was the toast of 2018’s Best of instructor language training is a holistic affair: “Arabic Summer lists, even landing on the cover of and translator wants your heart and soul, not just your The New York Times Book Review. The first Barbara effort and time.” novel to be released by Random House’s Romaine ’86G >LAURA MARJORIE MILLER One World imprint, Confessions of the Fox is discovered a framed by the notes of a literature professor very specific who finds a manuscript about Sheppard’s need: she had CONFESSIONS OF life and quests to determine its authenticity. observed some THE FOX Placing a love story and an aching story of of her students Reading early 18th Sheppard’s self-discovery and self-awareness struggling to century “gossip at the core of Confessions, Rosenberg master the rag” material conjures up a multilevel narrative that is Arabic writing system and wanted to give while doing part Possession, part Cloud Atlas, yet a wholly them more confidence. Since the resource research for original, intense contemplation on personal— she required didn’t exist, she created it. a monograph, and community—freedom. Supported by a faculty grant from Jordy Rosenberg >LAURA MARJORIE MILLER Villanova University where she teaches, became intrigued Romaine authored Write Arabic Now! by Jack Sheppard, (Georgetown University Press, 2018), a a professional hands-on workbook with tracing paper thief and jailbreak bound in, including words handwritten by a artist who caught and held the popular native Arabic speaker. attention, gaining status as a resistance hero Romaine began her career as a classicist, during the time of the birth of capitalism and it was, serendipitously, a research trip to and increasing police presence in London. Alexandria, Egypt, that made her fall in love Given that history has been known to leave PERCUSSIONIST MILFORD GRAVES with Arabic culture and language. Learning a out significant details, Rosenberg speculated: new language—especially one that goes right what if Sheppard was transgender? to left and in an entirely different alphabet— From that speculation, Rosenberg, “stretches your mind in a number of ways,” an associate professor who teaches 18th observes Romaine. “Even learning the script century literature and queer/trans theory in

quotable

“For our patients, invention means hope. And nurses are natural innovators—if you want to know how to hack a problem, just ask a nurse.”

—RACHEL WALKER, assistant professor of nursing, on being the first nurse selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Lemelson Foundation as an AAAS- Lemelson Invention Ambassador. Walker has worked on such UMass Amherst inventions as special glasses that measure fatigue in cancer patients.

34 > UMASS Sheehan Beowulf Commons; Rosenberg: Andy Newcombe/Wikimedia Graves: #UMASSPROUD TO BE:

UMASS AMHERST’S RANK AMONG NATIONAL PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES. —BEST COLLEGES 2019, U.S. NEWS & WORLD # REPORT. (THERE ARE MORE THAN 700 FOUR-YEAR, PUBLIC 26 UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES IN THE U.S.) FOR BEST CAMPUS FOOD. —PRINCETON REVIEW #1 (3RD CONSECUTIVE YEAR) #7 “COOL SCHOOLS.” —SIERRA MAGAZINE FOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER # EDUCATION. —ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF JORDY ROSENBERG 9 SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, TOP AND QUEER (LGBTQ) STUDENTS. —CAMPUS PRIDE 30 (8TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR) For more new books by UMass authors, > go to Bookmarks at umass.edu/magazine.

WHOLLY HOLISTIC

Back in his days as a communication and film student, Jake Meginsky ’01 saw Milford Graves perform at UMass Amherst’s Fine Arts Center and was intrigued. A percussionist who has graced the bolder fringes of the jazz world since the 1970s, Graves is as much a life force as a musician and is immensely charismatic. He is renowned for his grasp of music’s spiritual dimension and his fearlessly independent approach to seeking essences and cosmic connections. After graduation, Meginsky became Graves’s protégé and spent 10 years talking to and filming him. Their relationship has resulted in the film Milford Graves Full Mantis, an intimate, category-defying look into the man’s mind and creative process. It boasts deep UMass roots—Meginsky worked alongside coproducers George Myers and Gabriel Chicoine ’10 and cameraman Marcus DeMaio ’01—and has garnered superlative reviews, received the Independent Vision Award at the Sarasota Film Festival (the first documentary ever so honored), and been named Best Documentary Feature at the Oak Cliff Film Festival in Dallas. > JOHN SIPPEL

FALL 2018 35 > AFTER FOUNDING DIRECTOR EU REK A

UMASS SCIENTISTS TURN THEIR REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS INTO BUSINESSES. BY PATRICIA SULLIVAN PHOTOS BY JOHN SOLEM

36 > UMASS CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCHER

INVESTIGATOR

SCIENTIST

FALL 2018 37 > ENTREPRENEUR

CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER

38 > UMASS STARTING A BUSINESS IS TERRIFYING, TO SAID MORGAN BAIMA ’18PHD, JUST AFTER “ BE FRANK, INCORPORATING THE UMASS START-UP COMPANY SOLIYARN.

Scary though it may seem, Baima and other Some professors need a nudge to try UMass scientists can be bold in their entre- commercializing their ideas. “It’s not some- preneurial efforts—the UMass Institute for thing that appealed to me,” says plant genet- Applied Life Sciences (IALS) has their backs. icist Samuel P. Hazen, associate professor of IALS was launched in 2015 to help turn sci- biology. But Hazen has found the process of entific discoveries into marketable products launching Genoverde Biosciences, of which that improve human health and well-being. he is chief scientific officer, a lot of fun. ”“I’ve IALS works in step with the Berthiaume changed my way of thinking and now I can’t Center for Entrepreneurship at the Isenberg help but consider ways to market the work we School of Management, with the office of the do in the lab,” he says. Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement Once IALS gets microbiologists talking through its Office of Technology Transfer and to engineers talking to computer scientists, the UMass Innovation Institute, and other nurses, and financiers, the institute supports entities to fortify the campus start-up culture. their entrepreneurial goals with training, The interdisciplinary institute includes 250 mentoring, and funding. Scientists quickly faculty from 28 academic departments and accept that there is no formula for turning manages unique resources. These include an idea into a business; budding entrepre- state-of-the-art equipment organized into neurs have to hug uncertainty. “Starting core facilities accessible to academic labs a business is a working hypothesis,” says and industry alike, interdisciplinary lab space Alexander Smith ’17, a PhD student in organized into research themes that allow biomedical engineering and president of the faculty from different departments and even startup e-Biologics. “I’ve got my ideas about from different colleges to work close together, what could work and it will keep on changing.” and lab space for start-up companies. Faculty, The three emerging companies profiled students, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs here—e-Biologics, Soliyarn, and Genoverde— mingle in the institute’s conference spaces. benefitted from IALS start-up funds, inspi- To operate IALS, the university contributed ration, advice, and collaborative space. more than $60 million in capital funds and According to Reinhart, they all have the two operational support. The Commonwealth key things it takes to successfully propel a of Massachusetts itself is behind IALS, project from a glint in the eye to a valuable new having invested $95 million through the company developing real-world product can- Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. didates: a killer idea and the passion to develop Peter Reinhart, the founding director of it. “You have to be able to say, ‘I believe in this, IALS, is the man charged with firing up the I’m going to make it mine and I’m going to run entrepreneurial spirit on campus. He sees with it as hard as I can,’ ” he says. “Nothing else himself as a matchmaker. “Can we get peo- comes close in importance.” ple together who ordinarily would not talk to each other and help them do amazing things?” he asks.

IALS innovators shown on the previous page, from left: Peter Reinhart, Jun Yao, Trisha Andrew, and Derek Lovley. At left: Alexander Smith and Samuel P. Hazen.

FALL 2018 39 > EMERGING BUSINESSES…

e-BIOLOGICS ust before last year’s Thanksgiving break, Alexander At first, Smith pitched the broad applications of e-Biologics Smith ’17, sent an email out of the blue to Derek Lovley, technology: protein nanowire sensors have the potential to provide Distinguished University Professor of Microbiology. early detection of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, among Smith, a first-year PhD student in mechanical and indus- others. But along the start-up path, he determined a better way to Jtrial engineering and Shark Tank fan, had read about get funding was to zero in on a single, marketable application. He Lovley’s groundbreaking research in microbial nanowires and, focused on a skin sensor patch, worn like a Band-aid, that measures having an entrepreneurial bent, hoped to talk to the professor pH and glucose for the early detection of diabetic ketoacidosis, a about potential commercial applications of the technology. common complication of Type 1 diabetes. “Entrepreneurs need to Lovley, one of the campus’s most accomplished researchers, pivot,” Smith says, citing the canny business advice of his mentor regularly on the list of the world’s most frequently cited scien- Peter Reinhart and of MBA student Brian McCarthy ’17. McCarthy tists, agreed to meet with the 22-year-old student. Five months is part of the IALS Business Innovation Fellow program at UMass, later, their fledgling company, e-Biologics, won the top prize in which provides mentoring, networking, and guidance from MBA the UMass Innovation Challenge, the campus’s premier start-up students and regional business leaders to science entrepreneurs. competition, run by the Berthiaume Center. The e-Biologics team After victory at the Innovation Challenge, Smith dedicated of Smith, Lovley, Jun Yao, assistant professor in the department of summer 2018 to e-Biologics. He took part in the Berthiaume electrical and computer engineering, and advisor Peter Reinhart Center Summer Accelerator, a crash course that helps student of IALS, was off to a red-hot start. and faculty entrepreneurs launch UMass ventures, and spent time The products of e-Biologics will be developed using bacteria in the lab learning how to make and use protein nanowire devices. called Geobacter, which Lovley discovered in 1987. In recent years, The next major steps for e-Biologics include incorporating, making Lovley and his colleagues have found they could use Geobacter prototypes, and getting commercial-grade patents. and other microbes to make protein nanowires with remarkable “I want to work with science that will benefit society,” Smith powers of electrical conductivity—heralding the start of a green says. He adds that Reinhart has encouraged him to think big: “It’s electronics revolution. One of the first ways protein nanowires contagious, and good for a start-up.” may be put to work is to electrically measure biomarkers in bodily For his part, Lovley is pleased to see his research on its way fluids with higher sensitivity than synthetic materials. to becoming a product. “It’s interesting to do basic science,” he “I love the Geobacter,” says Smith, with requisite entrepre- says, “but also rewarding to see an application take shape. This neurial fervor. “Dr. Lovley’s research is really beautiful; it needs wasn’t something I imagined when we started flopping around in to be applied.” the mud researching Geobacter.”

SOLIYARN hey click. Professor of Chemistry Trisha Andrew and military special operations: electrically heated garments, starting Morgan Baima ’18PhD both like to think the IALS way— with gloves made from ordinary fabric coated with super-thin with a practical eye on scientific problems. “It’s what conductive polymers via a process developed in Andrew’s UMass drew me to her lab,” says Baima. “She likes applicable lab. The gloves are powered by a tiny battery and are lightweight, Tsolutions, and so do I.” flexible, and washable. “It’s a simple and useful application for Baima made the move with Andrew from the University of our new technology,” says Andrew. Wisconsin, where she had earned a master’s degree in materials Andrew and Baima predict that the buyers of their heated science and engineering, to the University of Massachusetts in gloves and other garments will include motorcyclists, winter ath- 2014. Now, having earned her PhD in chemistry at UMass, she’s letes, and outdoor workers, and they foresee further mergers of taking another leap with Andrew: she’s the CEO of a company tech and textiles. “You could give me a T-shirt,” Andrew says, “and they formed to merge technology and textiles—Soliyarn. “It’s a we could paint an electronically active pattern on it with our coat- brand-new world for me,” says Baima. ing that could tell you your heart rate, measure your blood sugar, Soliyarn’s first product will be an innovation that’s gotten or store a charge.” Or, she says, Soliyarn could make a high-fashion lots of attention, including from Nike, Under Armour, and U.S. gown that heats up, generates power as its skirt swirls, and stores

40 > UMASS ...BORN AT UMASS

GENOVERDE fter many years as a student and scientist, intensive Program operated by VentureWell, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurial training, and a couple of years start- innovators and entrepreneurs; Valley Venture Mentors, an ing up Genoverde Biosciences, one of the most critical entrepreneurial boot camp in Springfield, Massachusetts; and things Michael J. Harrington has learned is the value of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovation Corps Asumming up his company’s first product in the fewest program. In 2016, a $225,000 grant from the NSF’s Small words possible. He’s got it down to six: “We’re growing bigger, Business Innovation Research Program gave Genoverde another faster, stronger trees,” he says. significant boost. The trees are bioengineered loblolly pines, and they are After working in Hazen’s lab and then materials testing in expected to grow to be a full 20 percent denser than ordinary trees, the IALS collaboratory space in the Life Sciences Laboratories, making them attractive to farmers who grow them for paper, lum- Harrington is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is ber, and fuel. The denser trees will also sequester more carbon working with landowners to get trees in the ground. “I’m applying dioxide from the air, helping to reduce global warming. The beauty science to industry,” he says, “I bring the scientific approach that of the company’s product, explains Harrington, is its simplic- I learned while getting my PhD to entrepreneurship. To me there ity. Genoverde’s trees use carbon dioxide more efficiently; they are many similarities between a question like ‘How do you make a require no additional land, fertilizer, or water to achieve their plant grow faster and bigger?’ and the question, ‘How do you make dense growth. your business grow faster and bigger?’” The technology for the trees comes from the lab of UMass On September 13, in Raleigh the day before Hurricane Amherst plant geneticist Samuel P. Hazen, an outgrowth of Florence hit the south, Harrington heard, after months of wait- his years of research into biofuels, funded mostly by the U. S. ing, that Genoverde was awarded a second NSF small busi- Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research ness grant—for $750,000. He took a break from his hurricane program. The lab used gene technology, adapted from its work preparation to text Hazen back in Amherst with the good news. with grasses, to increase the trees’ cell wall growth. “This means we can hire more people and really get going,” said With the help of IALS, Hazen and Harrington, who worked Hazen. Harrington said, “The money will be used to grow our as a senior research biologist in the Hazen lab, formed Genoverde operations in North Carolina as we continue to develop and test to further develop the plant technology and bring the trees and, our trees.” eventually, other crops, to market. As the company’s chairman Harrington added, “I came through the storm just fine. Being and CEO, Harrington takes the business lead and oversees daily here in North Carolina, seeing the hurricane and its aftermath research activities, while Hazen serves as Genoverde’s chief sci- firsthand, allows me to better understand the problems of our entific officer. A third founder, Todd Michael of the J. Craig Venter customers—the farmers—and think about what we can do at Institute, is chief technology officer. Genoverde to make things better for them.” Harrington had strong support in his pivot from science to business: he participated in the CleanTech cohort of the ASPIRE

power, too. One day, you will be able to sew or knit all kinds of we’re good to go, and we can manufacture garments cheaply,” electronic devices using coated threads. How about a car seat? Andrew explains. “Our operational costs will be low: the coating Or a baby bottle warmer? A curtain that harvests solar energy? is a few microns thick—one-hundredth the width of a human Like e-Biologics, Soliyarn is moving fast, boosted by seed hair—and the polymers are cheap.” money from IALS and guidance from IALS Business Innovation Chasing their shared goal, the partners continue to click: Fellow Emily Wilson, an MBA student. Andrew published “Trisha is the smartest person I’ve ever met,” says Baima. “I really her groundbreaking research on electrically heated textiles in believe in our tech and I think it’s going to be influential in the September 2017. Soliyarn was incorporated in January 2018. coming years.” Baima defended her PhD dissertation in June 2018 and moved to “I’m enjoying the business end,” says Andrew, “but I wouldn’t Boston within the week to start intensive entrepreneurial training want to do it exclusively. Morgan wants to pave the way. I’m happy at the prestigious MassChallenge start-up accelerator. to say to her, ‘You be the CEO.’” UM The top priority for the new company will be funding. “We’re equipment heavy on the front end, but once we have the money to build the chambers we need to put the conductive coating down,

FALL 2018 41 > SHORT READ >

Efosa Guobadia at a Guatemalan clinic.

Prime A VIBRANT, VISIONARY ALUMNUS BRINGS REHAB CLINICS AND SERVICES TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES AT HOME AND Mover ABROAD. > BY JOHN SIPPEL 42 > UMASS EFOSA GUOBADIA ’07 is a physiotherapist, a world citizen, and a man more enterprising than any five mortals have any right to be. He brings a missionary zeal to his work—practically, spiritually, and geographically.

As Guobadia sees it, physical therapy keeps us moving as On one trip, in 2015, on a boat headed for a Peruvian ser- well as we can at any given point in our lives. Healthier movement vice site, Guobadia began wondering whether physical therapy makes for healthier people who can better engage with the world students, staff, and clinicians around the country and around in every facet of their lives. And healthy, engaged people make for the world might somehow be enabled to join in an annual day a better world. of service. The first PT Day of Service was organized that year; Guobadia is a cofounder and the president and CEO of the people from 28 countries and all 50 U.S. states participated. By nonprofit organization Move Together. It helps bring quality rehab 2017, some 10,000 volunteers from 55 countries had taken part. medicine to what Guobadia hopes will someday be “a clinic in Move Together’s four components have distinctive objec- every community and a sense of community in every clinic,” both tives. Its Clinic Development Program builds new clinics, at home and in needy settings overseas. In only its second calendar enhances existing ones, and provides education and access to year, Move Together has already made an international mark, rehab resources in underserved communities. It has thus far been thanks in part to Guobadia’s exceptional ability in inspiring follow- responsible for creating two clinics in Guatemala, each in a single ers and drawing financial support from sponsorships, individual day, thanks to prefab parts and enthusiastic help from student donations, t-shirt sales, and whatever else it takes. volunteers, including some from UMass Amherst. One of them, Guobadia was born in Nigeria. His family immigrated to the Alec Shostek ’18, calls the experience “deeply inspiring. Efosa is United States when he was an infant. He grew up in Brooklyn, New a powerful leader and speaker, able to unite people from all sorts York, and Baldwin, on Long Island. His well-educated, hardwork- of backgrounds. He’s a great person with a great heart.” ing, goal-oriented parents—his father an economist, his mother a In a related effort, Move Together enhances partner clinics nurse—made sure he followed their examples. by providing education and adding equipment and resources to In middle and high school Guobadia excelled in football, wres- promote cleanliness and fight the spread of disease. It has also tling, and lacrosse. The latter brought him to UMass Amherst, created a grant program supporting the development of and inno- with which he fell in love on a recruiting trip and to which he has vations in U.S. pro bono clinics. remained devoted. In bonding with his teammates and classmates, Finally, PT Day of Service, now integrated within Move he found a diverse, dynamic community that spawned what have Together, unites physiotherapy professionals of all kinds in ser- turned out to be many enduring friendships. vice, nationally and internationally. It is a perfect reflection of Partially inspired by his older sister’s example, Guobadia Guobadia’s social conscience and managerial acumen. Move Together Move majored in what was then called exercise science but was soon At the end of November, Guobadia will set off on an eight- renamed kinesiology. It was a natural choice. Family lore has it month trip that will take him through 20 countries in Latin that “stethoscope” was the first word that Guobadia, fascinated America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. He will focus on ser- by his mother’s nursing gear, burbled as a baby. “The kinesiology vice work and international connections and relationship-building department prepared me well for my graduate studies,” he says. “I and hopes to gain a truly universal perspective on physical therapy, loved the variety of settings and challenges the profession offered. health, and service and what might make them more effective. Between that and lacrosse—I considered Garber Field my true Guobadia credits his successes to what he calls servant campus home—UMass really helped me develop the foundation leadership. “Leadership is about service,” he explains. “From for many of my professional actions.” what I’ve seen, you get the best results when you, the manager, After receiving his doctorate of physical therapy at the serve alongside everyone else and empower and actually love University of Scranton in 2010, Guobadia took a job with ATI your team members. That brings out the best in them and leads Physical Therapy, a company with over 400 physical therapy to the greatest achievements and the greatest sense of fulfillment. outpatient clinics in 12 states. There he collaborated with The whole effort is intensively bidirectional and collaborative.” colleagues in creating a mission trip and service program to send All true enough, of course—if, as in his case, the manager shows health clinicians to remote, underserved corners of the world. It exceptional passion and focus. was the first of many such trips he has led. To see Efosa Guobadia discuss his work, > go to umass.edu/magazine.

FALL 2018 43 > SHORT READ >

What is my deaf way of science?

44 > UMASS Michele L. Cooke Professor of Geosciences

cademic success was not always expected of me. I have a severe-profound high-frequency hearing loss and was A language delayed in my early education. The letters on the page don’t match the sounds that I hear, so it took until second grade for me to figure out the basics of reading. I also had years of speech therapy to learn how to pronounce sounds that I can’t hear. Just before middle school, some visual-based aptitude tests showed I actually had some talent and I also started to do well in math. So, then teachers started expecting more of me and as you probably figured out, I caught up well enough. Now, as a professor at a university that serves a predominantly What is my hearing community, my broken ears are a nuisance sometimes. But I don’t want to talk about overcoming challenges. Instead, I want to talk about something called “deaf gain.” This term coined by Gallaudet scholars describes the value that deaf and hard-of- hearing people provide to the larger community because of their differences. Our ecology colleagues tell us that more diverse eco- deaf way of science? logical communities can better withstand stress than homogenous communities—so too with science communities. Here are three examples of deaf gain in my research approach: Deaf gain 1: My way of doing research is intensely visual. My students know well that I have to show 3-D concepts in the air with my hands and sketch whenever we do science. I don’t believe it until I can see it. We use the figures in our papers to tell the sci- entific story. In this way, my research is not about elegant verbal arguments and instead focuses on connections between ideas and demonstration of geologic processes. Deaf gain 2: Deaf are known for being blunt. My students will tell you that my reviews can sometimes be painfully blunt. For deaf scientists, being understood is never taken for granted. So, we strive for clear and direct communication of our science. Deaf gain 3: Being deaf in a hearing world requires stamina, courage, empathy, self-advocacy, a flexible neck to lip-read people in the corners of the room, and a sense of humor. An added benefit is being able to accessorize using blue hearing aids with blue glitter molds that match any outfit. I’ve been lucky to have great students and colleagues who have joined up in my deaf way of science and we’ve had a blast.

From remarks by Michele L. Cooke upon receiving the 2018 College of Natural Sciences Outstanding Research Award for her work on how geologic structures develop in the crust of the earth. Associate Professor Ana Caicedo of the UMass Amherst department of biology and Professor Cooke recently launched a blog for deaf and hard-of- hearing academics, themindhears.org.

To see Professor Cooke give her speech > augmented with some American Sign Language, go to umass.edu/magazine.

John Solem FALL 2018 45 > CONNECTIONS >

ANSWER ME THIS > When did you know UMass was home? Steve Koloski Steve Here’s what alumni told 2011 JUST MARRIED. Pamela Angel ’11 and Craig Kessler ’11 were married us on social media. on campus in June. Before the ceremony, they stopped by Moore Hall, where they were neighbors freshman year. After UMass they The first time I drove in from stayed in touch and began dating after eight years of friendship. the center of Amherst and caught sight of the campus. I would liken it to walking up the concrete ramps at Fenway and first catching a glimpse of 1961 she was an instructor in psychology. Marie the field. Both take my breath Ben (Gordon) Benoit is approaching his 78th and Frederic met at Webster Hall in Orchard away every single time! birthday. He attributes his accomplishments, Hill (as did their daughter Jennifer and Lori Silveira ’79 summarized below, to his education at son-in-law Brendan Foley ’02) and settled in UMass and the then-new Hampshire Amherst. Their daughter Emily ’11 married When I learned of the UMass Andrew Gaylord ’08. Minuteman Marching Band!! College. He also had classes at Amherst, My visit to campus clinched it! Mount Holyoke, and Smith. 1972 Penny Smith Ploski ’90 Mel Yoken, Chancellor Professor Emeritus of 50 Years in 9 Lines French Language and Literature at the First night in Southwest! Graduated class 1961 June 6th University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Catherine Murney Donovan ’83 June 7th North Shore Music Theater has been awarded the French Legion of US Army Signal Corp as a film director Honor by a decree from Emmanuel Macron, I was walking out of an evening Free-lance film director NYC & LA class in South College…I president of France. The Legion of Honor Building contractor looked over and watched the acknowledges services rendered to France Producing director California Repertory snow falling on Draper Hall. by persons of exceptional merit. Marilyn Vennell ’79 Theater Designer & builder of custom wine cellars 1974 Orientation during the summer (23 years) James Ulwick has been recognized for legal of ’87 sealed the deal when Retired to Mexico 2015 excellence and client service by the 2018 Back to the Future showed on Opened B&B and winery an outdoor screen and I met a Chambers USA legal ranking guide. He great group of friends. 1968 is an attorney with Kramon & Graham in Baltimore, Maryland. Michael Cahalan ’91 Jack Polidoro ’68G, ’72PhD is retired after 45 years in pharma/biotech. Every year Snowtober 2011. UMass 1981 provided food and shelter to Polidoro, of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Lynne F. Riley, a partner in Boston-based so many off-campus residents and Gilbert “Chip” Carnathan ’79G, ’82PhD Casner & Edwards’ bankruptcy and who lost power after the crazy of Hillsborough, North Carolina, return restructuring group, was selected for storm. A place that keeps us to Amherst to visit their former animal inclusion in the 2018 Chambers & Partners safe, warm, and overfed— sciences professor, Donald Black, who USA Guide - America’s Leading Business that’s home to me. turned 90 this year. Polidoro writes: “Dr. Lawyers. Zhiren Zhu ’13 Black is a fascinating human being who as an adviser to many students and department 1985 head/professor influenced all our careers, Lenore (Baxter) Difiore received the with some students going on to vet school Excellence in Teaching award from St. and to prominent research positions.” Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine, where 1968, 1974 she is assistant professor of biology. Make Connections! Marie (Roberts) Hartwell-Walker ’68 and 1986 Follow UMass Amherst on Frederic Hartwell ’74 celebrated their 50th Gerald DeSimas Jr., who has been covering Facebook and Twitter to see our wedding anniversary in August. The couple sports for more than 35 years, became the question for the next issue. has many UMass connections: Marie’s first sports journalist from Connecticut to To read more news and grandfather was a pomology professor, and be inducted in the New England High School submit yours, go to Wrestling Hall of Fame. DeSimas has won UMassAlumni.com/classnotes. more than a dozen writing awards from

46 > UMASS 1949, LONG MARRIED. Marilyn (Moser) Barstow ’49 and Arthur Barstow ’51 celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in June. They have four 1951 children. Art and Lynn lived in East Granby, Conn., for 50 years and now they live at East Village Place in East Longmeadow, Mass.

the Connecticut chapter of the Society of James Spink has received Mental Health 2005 Professional Journalists, the New England News Education’s 2018 Leadership Award. Virginia (Spiess) McGarrity was elected a Press Association, and United Press He has worked for Beacon Health Options, a 2018 Fellow of the Connecticut Bar International. behavioral health management company, for Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows 21 years. Program. She is a partner at Robinson & Cole Robert Hochschild has launched The Media in Hartford. Narrative, a podcast featuring interviews 1991 with authors, journalists, musicians, artists, Jeffrey Seyler has been named chief division 2006 and others. He is an associate professor officer for the eastern division of the Kathleen (Murphy) Dion was recognized as a of liberal arts at Berklee College of Music, American Lung Association, composed of 2018 “40 Under 40” winner by BusinessWest. where he has worked since 1992. 25 states. Seyler has worked for the associ- She works in the Hartford, Connecticut, ation for 25 years. He lives in Wilbraham, office of Robinson & Cole, where she focuses 1987 Massachusetts, with his wife, Abney, and on all aspects of civil and criminal litigation. David Sharin and Elissa Sharin announce the their children, Charly and Cally. birth of their baby girl, Julia Raye. She was 2007 born on August 6, 2018, and weighed 8 lb., 1996 Robert Shepherd was recently promoted to 2 oz. She joins sister Amy Rose, who is 5 Jake Sullivan is the new vice president of manager at Durbin Bennett Tax Advisors years old and older brother, Matthew Isaac, government and community affairs at in Austin, Texas. He focuses on complex who is 3 years old. They reside in Atlantic Boston University. Prior to joining BU two areas of taxation, including estate planning, Beach, New York. David can be reached at: years ago, Sullivan worked for Boston Mayor oil and gas, non-profit organizations, and [email protected]. Martin J. Walsh and for his predecessor, the international tax. late Thomas M. Menino. 1989 2012 Meaghan (Quigley) LeClerc was recently 2002 Corey Colbert was named a 2018 “30 under promoted to brigadier general of the Andrew Helman has joined the Portland, 30” exceptional young professional by Massachusetts National Guard. Her sister Maine, law firm Murray Plumb & Murray. He the Institute of Real Estate Management. Susan Quigley Blodgett ’87 and UMass lives in Freeport, Maine. The award honors the next generation of friends Gayle Hansen Schumacher ’90, Leslie 2004 industry leaders who have made significant Perre Oross ’88, Heather Hartman Howard ’89, impacts in their career and community. As a Brian Mirasolo, a field services administrator and Anne Vivaldi Sheehan ’89 attended her student, Colbert was active in promoting the with the Massachusetts Probation Service, swearing in at Hanscom Air Force Base. permaculture initiative. won the 2018 George M. Keiser Award John J. Morrissey became president-elect of for Exceptional Leadership, presented 2013 the Massachusetts Bar Association on by the National Association of Probation Gabriela Rossi ’13 and Robert Perrault ’13 September 1. Morrissey is a founding partner Executives to a corrections professional who were married in May 2018. of Morrissey, Wilson & Zafiropoulos LLP in has demonstrated exceptional leadership Braintree, Massachusetts. An accomplished qualities. trial lawyer, he has been named a New England Super Lawyer every year since 2005.

Submit address changes and notifications of deaths to [email protected].

FALL 2018 47 > IN MEMORIAM >

1940s Jane S. (Dockerty) Ross ’52, 6/29/2018, Ipswich N. Joseph Dahrouge ’61, 5/20/2018, Pittsfield Frank M. Collingwood ’40S, 7/15/2018, Betty-Lou (Johnson) White ’52, 5/26/2018, Louisa, VA Joseph L. Dupont ’61S, 7/6/2018, Beverly Bloomfield Hills,MI John C. Belding ’53, 6/23/2018, Barre, VT Walter R. Hartfield ’61, 6/21/2018, Goleta, CA John E. Filios ’40, 6/12/2018, Longmeadow Thomas E. Cauley ’53, 4/9/2018, Yorba Linda, CA Edwin J. Panichas ’61, 5/8/2018, West Monroe, LA Arthur A. Hagelstein ’40, 8/18/2018, Johnston, SC Richard K. Cornfoot ’53, 5/20/2018, Warren E. Parsons ’61, 8/23/2018, Haw River, NC Millicent (Carpenter) Wettstein ’40, 7/1/2018, Surfside Beach, SC Richard E. Barnes ’62G, 6/11/2018, Hinsdale, NH Shelburne, VT Jeanne (Parker) Gold ’53, 5/6/2018, James B. Loew ’62, 6/12/2018, Salem, NH East Brunswick, NJ William Robbins ’42, 8/8/2018, South Hadley Carl A. Signet ’62, 6/15/2018, Holyoke Warren R. Gove ’53, 5/5/2018, Leominster Doris (Johnson) Kraemer ’43, 4/17/2018, Beverly Francis I. Broadhurst ’63, 7/5/2018, Centerville David E. Hawes ’53S, 7/10/2018, Claverack, NY Frederick A. McLaughlin ’43, 12/2/2017, Johanna M. Butler ’63G, 8/6/2018, Boston Donald L. Hooper ’53S, 5/24/2018, Laurel, DE Chapel Hill, NC Lewis P. Councilman ’63, 6/13/2018, Bondsville Barbara (Thayer) Lenhardt ’44 Ronald H. Smith ’53, 8/6/2018, Prescott, AZ , 6/1/2018, Walter M. Crotty ’63, 8/16/2018, Marietta, GA Schenectady, NY Andrew A. Ayers ’54, 8/11/2018, Naperville, IL Barbara J. (Fitz) Wilson ’63, 7/18/2018, Gloucester Ruth M. (Cole) Howard ’45, 4/6/2018, Longview, WA A. Clayton Copeland ’54, 6/16/2018, Litchfield,CT David S. Mitchell ’64, 6/3/2018, East Falmouth Shirley M. (Carlson) Roberge ’45, 9/7/2017, Avit R. Dostaler ’54S, 6/19/2018, Northampton Robert A. Paoletti ’64, 8/18/2018, Mountain Top, PA Hendersonville, NC Edward A. Filiault ’54, 7/11/2018, Williamstown Richard F. Phillips ’64, 8/20/2018, Mathews, VA Henry L. Brahlit ’47, 5/15/2018, Sequim, WA Richard L. Miller ’54, 7/6/2018, New Hartford, NY Charles A. Sherman ’64, 5/30/2018, Troy, NY Carol (Bateman) Hall ’47, 7/21/2018, Peabody Charles F. Reeves ’54, ’57G, 5/2/2018, McFarland, WI Hsiao-Kang Yeh ’64G, 4/27/2018, Fremont, CA Janice (Riley) Van Riper ’47, 4/27/2018, Mary A. Shea ’54, 5/18/2018, Amherst Arthur G. Busher ’65S, 5/17/2018, Ashburn, VA Vineyard Haven Carolyn R. (Fiske) Threadwell ’54, 8/8/2018, Jerene E. (Taylor) Kruszewski ’65, 7/7/2018, Newton Elinor (Meiers) West ’47, 8/12/2018, Jaffrey,NH Albuquerque, NM Francis M. Signet ’65G, 10/23/2017, Springfield,VA John W. Mastalerz ’48, 6/1/2018, Chandler, AZ Thomas M. Cahill ’55, 5/29/2018, Winchendon John H. Bergstrom ’66, 10/30/2016, Plymouth Jean (Bayles) McGill ’48,’50G, 5/7/2018, Columbia, MO George H. Kennedy ’55S, 6/6/2018, Sunderland Sergius J. Bernard ’66G, 5/17/2018, Stow Edith (Jaffe) Sapolsky ’48, 5/27/2018, Providence, RI Robert L. Levesque ’55, 1/31/2017, Winthrop David C. Cafarelli ’66, 5/7/2018, Pittsfield Ruth M. Beebe ’49, 6/7/2018, Haydenville Philip H. Mitchell ’55, 6/22/2018, Orleans Robert C. Chisholm ’66, 6/25/2018, West Boylston Anthony E. Koptuck ’49, 6/20/2018, Danvers Kenneth R. Orff ’55, 5/5/2018, Hopedale Ronald L. Cole ’66, 6/21/2018, Milford Henry R. Macina ’49, 6/9/2018, San Antonio, TX David L. Shores ’55, 4/10/2018, Cushing, ME Gema J. (Sermuknis) Danahar ’66, 4/17/2018, William J. Mellen ’49, 6/15/2018, Amherst Roger L. Streeter ’55, 4/21/2018, Bow, NH Worcester Andre Patron ’49PhD, 2018, Vevey, Switzerland James J. Dunham ’56, 7/5/2018, West Hartford, CT Hyla (Gold) Foulis ’66G, 12/22/2017, South Hadley Arthur E. Plourde ’49S, 7/29/2018, West Gardiner, ME William F. Lepp ’56, ’64G, 5/3/2018, Harrisburg, PA Karin (Holzer) O’Neil ’66G, 4/25/2018, Columbus, OH Ann R. (Kennedy) O’Brien ’56G, 6/9/2018, Sally (Hanchett) Rivers ’66, 8/12/2018, Springfield 1950s Poughkeepsie, NY Harvey Shultz ’66, 8/7/2018, Cherry Hill, NJ Henry G. Boucher ’50,’68G, 7/14/2018, Westborough James K. Stewart ’56S, 5/31/2018, Montague James R. Dennis ’67, 3/29/2018, The Villages, FL Rachel (Blouin) Bourdon ’50, 8/22/2018, Whitinsville William H. Walker ’56, 7/13/2018, Champaign, IL Delbert P. Gariepy ’67S, 7/20/2018, Mansfield,MO Morris D. Cave ’50, 8/10/2018, Florence Robert E. Arthur ’57, 8/9/2018, La Crosse, WI Everett T. Kilbride Jr. ’67, 6/9/2018, Madison, CT Jo-Anne Clark ’50, 4/15/2018, Castle Rock, CO Anthony J. Kozak ’57, 3/16/2018, Jacksonville, FL William H. Shaw ’67S, 11/23/2015, Rumney, NH Melvin C. Crain ’50, 5/14/2018, Falmouth John Towse ’57, 12/2017, Tacoma, WA Thomas H. Trotman ’67G, 7/12/2018, Amherst Theodore Delevoryas ’50, 6/29/2017, Cedar Park, TX Walter J. Wojner ’57, 4/26/2018, Weymouth Charles T. Wallis ’67, 7/1/2018, Ipswich Shirley (Adams) Foss ’50, 7/9/2018, Westborough Peter B. Childs ’58S, 4/24/2018, West Barnstable Edward E. Berrett Jr. ’68S, 5/19/2018, Bath, ME John P. Karpuk ’50, 6/2/2018, Northborough Walter F. Cislo ’58, 7/2/2018, White Lake, MI Stephen H. Brown ’68, 8/16/2018, Carthage, ME William F. McCann ’50, 3/8/2015, Cranford, NJ Richard P. Coleman ’58, 1/24/2018, Marblehead Ellen (Murphy) Carpenter ’68, 4/6/2018, Cohasset Joseph A. Roulier ’50, 6/26/2018, Adams Edward G. Denton ’58S, 7/22/2018, Moravia, NY Robert C. Godwin ’68, 2/13/2016, Pensacola, FL Alphonse F. Torchia ’50, 6/17/2018, Adams Richard Gamble ’58, 8/17/2018, Alexandria, VA Russell G. Philbrook ’68, 5/30/2018, Blandford William P. Wing ’50, 4/8/2018, Suffield,CT Edward J. Gilbody ’58, 5/13/2018, Falmouth, ME William R. Seley ’68S, 6/2/2018, Wellington, FL Warren Averill ’51, 8/8/2018, Amherst Donald J. Goodwin ’58, 6/25/2018, Cape Neddick, ME Betsy (Lincoln) Bashaw ’69, 7/28/2018, Salem, NY Norman D. Bornstein ’51, 6/3/2018, Spartanburg, SC Thomas S. Madru ’58, 5/19/2018, Westfield Gary L. Carroll ’69G, 4/25/2018, Westminster Beryl (Fanning) Crosby ’51, 5/20/2018, Bradenton, FL Theodore D. Sargent ’58, 7/29/2018, Leverett Robert K. Clapp ’69PhD, 5/13/2017, Jenks, OK Martin F. Flynn ’51, 4/9/2018, Slidell, LA Lynn W. Anderson ’59, 7/1/2018, Holyoke Richard E. Colman ’69, 5/6/2018, Manchester, NH Richard J. Footit ’51, 6/8/2018, Longmeadow Thomas F. Champion ’59G, 8/21/2018, Newburyport Joseph F. Dingman, Jr. ’69, ’70G, ’72PhD, 7/16/2018, George L. Gallerani ’51, 7/25/2018, Woodstock, CT Eleanor (Matheson) Dexter ’59, 6/18/2018, Lancaster, PA Richard R. Gleason ’51, 8/20/2018, Old Town, ME Indianapolis, IN Roy A. Duddy ’69G, 5/6/2018, Hampton, NH Arnold J. Kaye ’51, 6/23/2018, Delray Beach, FL Henry J. Frederickson ’59, 2/29/2016, Boxborough Joan E. (Samuels) Kaiser ’69, 12/13/2017, Melvin J. Lederman ’51, 5/8/2018, Homosassa, FL D. C. McDonough ’59, 4/11/2016, Manchester Boynton Beach, FL Constance B. (Whitney) Lehto ’51, 4/24/2018, Syma (Daniels) Mulich ’59, 6/20/2018, Fairport, NY Paul A. Leary ’69G, 4/29/2018, Charleston, WV Maynard John M. Naughton ’59, 4/16/2018, Bonita Springs, FL Paul A. Parent ’69S, 8/13/2018, Kennebunk, ME Llan Starkweather ’51, 6/15/2018, Amherst Laurence K. Treadwell ’59, 5/9/2018, Indianapolis, IN James T. Pye ’69, 5/26/2018, Duxbury William E. Dunn Jr. ’52, 5/29/2018, Monkton, VT Gary K. Schubert ’69G, 7/27/2018, Milwaukee, WI Eleanor (Zamarchi) Landau ’52, 7/13/2018, 1960s Christopher A. Sullivan ’69, 7/10/2018, Oceanside, CA Robert L. Clarkson ’60 , 7/27/2018, Naples, FL East Longmeadow Richard W. MacCallum ’52, 7/27/2018, Stratham, NH Charles R. Gillette ’60, 6/3/2018, Unionville, VA Christopher P. Sullivan ’69S, 6/23/2015, Pittsfield Americo Palatino ’52S, 4/17/2018, Ludlow Paul E. Maynard ’50S, ’60, 4/30/2018, Greenville, DE Kenneth N. Urquhart ’69S, 4/12/2018, Russell I. Pomeroy ’52S, 8/1/2018, North Hatfield Michael J. Whiteman ’60, 6/5/2018, Cummington New Sweden, ME

48 > UMASS Submit address changes and notifications of deaths to [email protected].

1970s Robert R. Perry ’76, 6/9/2018, Jennings, FL Dana M. Tracy ’91, 7/15/2018, Northampton Robert D. Brown ’70S, 7/28/2018, Queensbury, NY Carol J. (Aldrich) Plourde ’76, 4/22/2018, Kathleen M. Gorski ’89G, ’92PhD, 6/19/2018, Hampden Lisbon Falls, ME Leonard P. Coffin ’70, 5/24/2018, Naples, FL Timothy J. Gloster ’93, 6/18/2018, Washington, DC Paula Rogers-Zofrea ’76, 7/11/2018, Derry, NH Alice E. (Vartanian) King ’70, 6/30/2018, Concord, NH Richard S. Lizek ’94, 2/15/2017, Granville Charles Burack ’77, 6/30/2018, Worcester Robert C. Singer ’70, 7/30/2018, Durham, NC Christopher P. Parker ’94, 7/5/2018, Plainville Paul J. D’Onfro ’77, 7/11/2018, Leominster Kenneth L. Bergstrom ’71G, 1/18/2017, Fort Myers, FL Kathleen A. (Horgan) Terry ’94, 7/20/2018, Christopher E. Doyle ’77, 8/16/2018, Richmond Belchertown Edith M. (Mantyla) Bugbee ’71, 7/23/2018, Citra, FL Gayle (Leppin) Smith ’77, 7/29/2018, Dalton, PA Elizabeth Moses ’95, 7/23/2018, Union, SC Leo M. Melanson ’71G, 4/27/2018, Ocean Isle Beach, NC Alan R. Townes ’77, 3/14/2015, Seattle, WA R. C. Wilkins ’95, 7/19/2018, Boston William J. Quinlan ’71, 4/11/2018, Neil E. Waisnor ’77, 7/26/2018, Andover Joel A. Connor ’96, ’98G, 8/14/2018, Brockton North Palm Beach, FL Philip J. Clarkson ’78, 5/22/2018, Wolfeboro, NH Ina J. McCravy-Buntin ’96G, 8/6/2018, Springfield Robert F. Robinson ’71, 8/12/2016, Kingwood, TX Gale A. Hartel ’78, 4/13/2018, Cumberland, MD Ronald J. Bohonowicz ’97G, 5/16/2018, Elizabeth M. Schneider ’71G, 5/21/2018, Florence Gloria Hooper-Rasberry ’78, 5/7/2018, Syracuse, NY South Deerfield William J. Fleming ’72, 8/4/2018, Winchester Thomas L. Kent ’78, 7/2/2018, Gainesville, FL Andrew P. Hamlen ’97, 7/6/2018, Sandwich Loraine S. (Smith) Gates ’72, 8/11/2018, Mesa, AZ David J. Nicoll ’78, 8/5/2018, Enfield,CT Keiley A. (Branch) Banfield ’98, 4/18/2018, West Tisbury Harvey W. Gendreau ’72, 6/17/2018, Michael H. Sharff ’78, 3/24/2017, Columbia, MD Karen B. Cavanaugh ’98 Colorado Springs, CO Jeffrey W. Weinstein ’78, 4/18/2018, Framingham , 6/1/2018, South Hadley Debra A. Heffernan ’72, 8/15/2018, Gloucester Daniel J. Barry ’79, 5/2/2018, South Dartmouth John M. Hogan ’72, 7/28/2018, Miami Beach, FL Robert M. Cudd ’79, 6/5/2017, Spartanburg, SC 2000s Heidi A. Kozikowski ’00, 4/16/2018, Chicopee Gerald C. Kirby ’72, 7/16/2018, Carthage, NC William L. Debo ’79, 5/1/2018, Hudson, OH John E. Schmitt ’00, 7/2/2018, Fiskdale James J. McCarthy ’72G, 6/14/2018, Easthampton Melinda J. (Martin) Gildea ’79, 6/12/2018, Cohasset Stephen T. Phaneuf ’01, 8/9/2018, West Springfield James W. Murphy ’72, 7/19/2018, Saint Petersburg, FL Pamela J. (Arnold) Meadows ’79, ’82G, 7/28/2018, Timothy S. Perry ’02, 5/22/2018, Waltham Margaret J. Petersen ’72, 7/15/2018, Bozeman, MT Amherst David A. Coughlin ’71S, ’04, 7/23/2018, Agawam Charlotte A. (Curci) Plaxico ’72, 6/23/2016, Barbara Pridham ’79, 8/5/2018, Plymouth Fredericksburg, VA Kelly C. Hickson ’06, 4/16/2018, Boston Carolyn A. (Ouellette) Racicot ’72, 4/21/2018, East 1980s Christopher R. Hans ’07S, 5/24/2018, Kensington, CT Longmeadow Michael J. Bufis ’80, 8/18/2018, Pittsfield Daniel D. Damm ’08, 5/21/2018, Grantham, NH Susan T. Watson ’72, 5/17/2018, Canton, NY Roland E. Chaffee ’80, ’05G, 4/27/2018, Pittsfield John J. Morris ’09, 12/25/2016, Ware, MA Francis E. Abbondanzio ’73, ’80G, 5/9/2018, Gordon H. Fletcher-Howell ’80, ’82G, 7/23/2018, Millers Falls Amherst 2010s Mark D. Bramble ’73, 7/10/2018, Cambridge William F. O’Meara ’80G, 2/17/2017, Avon, CT Conor V. Stenerson ’11, 7/19/2018, Plympton Peter T. Bull ’73, ’77G, 7/18/2018, New Milford, CT Kenneth E. Roos ’80, 7/29/2018, Danvers Deborah D. Becker ’12, 6/4/2018, Plainfield Michael J. Chalifoux ’73, 6/25/2018, North Adams Richard F. Walsh ’80, 5/15/2018, Lanesboro Joann Gill ’13, 5/27/2018, Charlotte, NC Anthony W. Czaja ’73, 6/13/2018, Moscow, VT Charles F. Crowley ’81, 7/15/2018, Trenton, ME Holly M. Llewelyn ’14, 7/9/2018, Northfield Valerie J. (Goldzung) Faith ’73G, 4/26/2018, Christopher J. Desler ’81, 7/23/2016, Delhi, NY William W. Kazar ’15, 7/15/2018, Greenfield Amherst William C. Lawler ’70G, ’81PhD, 6/16/2018, Harvard Augusta S. Mfuko ’07G, ’15EdD, 6/30/2018, John F. Hennessey ’73, 4/28/2018, Orono, ME John E. Mauldin ’71G, ’81PhD, 5/5/2018, Hamden, CT John H. Kucinskas ’73, 7/22/2018, Bristol, CT Fort Pierce, FL Alex D. Stolicny ’16, ’18G, 6/20/2018, Shrewsbury Susan V. (Cross) Meader ’73, 4/12/2018, Harwich David L. Thurlow ’81, 8/4/2018, Leicester Radha R. Dutta ’17, 4/9/2018, Worcester Terry P. Roof ’73, ’74G, 4/13/2018, Santa Barbara, CA Belinda J. Brooks ’82, 5/22/2018, Garnet Valley, PA Leonard P. Silvia ’73, 4/12/2018, Westport Paul F. Devine ’82, 6/19/2018, Las Vegas, NV Faculty Douglas M. Buitenhuys ’74, 7/11/2018, Kingston Lester M. Friedman ’82, 4/6/2017, Thousand Oaks, CA Jeanne Antill, 2018, Amherst Jamie A. Cope ’74, 4/18/2018, Montpelier, VT Jeffrey Houston ’82, 1/22/2018, Westfield Richard S. Ellis, 7/2/2018, New York, NY Stephen C. Crooker ’74, 11/23/2017, Natick Ann D. (Batchelder) Lashendock ’82, 8/8/2018, William Fanslow, 7/1/2018, Albuquerque, NM James J. Culhane ’74, 5/29/2018, Marlborough Cape Elizabeth, ME David J. Foulis, 4/3/2018, South Hadley Francis A. Kriff ’74, 5/8/2018, North Billerica Judith L. Kinley ’85, 4/18/2018, Brattleboro, VT Craig S. Harbison, 5/17/2018, Montague Hugo B. Wallgren ’74G, 6/21/2018, Middletown, RI Christine L. McGinnis ’85, 7/6/2018, Belchertown Merle L. Howes, 5/8/2018, Amherst Richard M. Wolters ’74G, 2/4/2017, Lincoln, NE M.D. Milbier ’85, 9/30/2015, Windsor, CT John F. Hubert, 8/23/2018, Amherst Eric J. Cesan ’75, 10/12/2017, North Fort Myers, FL David G. Dolan ’86, 8/18/2018, Otego, NY David P. LePak, 12/7/2017, Amherst William A. Condon ’75, 4/28/2018, Barrington, NH Joseph J. Gutt ’86, 6/21/2018, Westfield Thomas G. Lessie, 5/5/2018, Madison, WI Susanne (Bracker) Cousineau ’75, 6/18/2018, Philip J. Malone ’87, 8/22/2018, Westboro Paula F. Mark, 8/24/2018, South Deerfield San Jose, CA Michael J. Stennes ’87, ’90G, 7/22/2018, William J. Mellen ’49, 6/15/2018, Amherst Thomas P. Deane ’75, 5/10/2018, Green Bank, WV Melton M. Miller, 5/28/2018, Sarasota, FL Egg Harbor Township, NJ Mary A. Siok ’88, 5/23/2018, Melrose Anne Mochon, 4/28/2018, Amherst Jeffrey E. Fisher ’75, 8/5/2018, Lakeville Federico I. Agnir ’89, 7/9/2018, Wesley Chapel, FL Alex R. Page, 5/4/2018, Amherst Francis J. Fitz-Gibbon ’75S, 10/9/2010, Holyoke Lawrence D. Engstrom ’89, 7/25/2016, Milford, MI Peter L. Pellett, 5/10/2018, Amherst Gregory E. Gunter ’75S, 6/12/2018, Miami, FL Theodore D. Sargent ’58, 7/29/2018, Leverett Jerome P. Morin ’75, 11/22/2017, North Augusta, SC 1990s David M. Schimmel, 5/9/2018, Boca Raton, FL Elizabeth F. Burke ’76G, 4/25/2018, Schenectady, NY Valerie O. Hamilton ’90, 7/7/2018, Pittsfield Robert L. Stern, 8/28/2018, Amherst Michael M. Doyle ’76, 7/22/2018, Warwick, RI Carlos M. Santos ’90, 4/14/2018, North Billerica Michael J. Whiteman ’60, 6/5/2018, Cummington Thomas M. Heffernan ’76, 7/7/2018, Bayside, NY Sandra (Mcintyre) Walker ’90, 7/5/2018, Springfield William D. (Pappas) Papagelis ’76, 5/22/2018, Carolyn H. Sawyer ’91G, 5/26/2018, Pittsfield Gloucester

FALL 2018 49 > TIME TO RENEW? GET THE UMASS PLATE

Your purchase contributes to scholarships and programs that advance students, alumni, and UMass Amherst.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR DEDICATED PLATE OWNERS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

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Don’t have a plate? Get yours at UMassAlumni.com/LicensePlate A Passion for Guitar Leads to Future Gift

ONNA B. ERICKSON ’81 is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts RAmherst College of Natural Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy. She began her career as a technician in the instrumentation lab of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, then went to work at Millitech, a UMass department of astronomy spinoff. She later rejoined the FCRAO as an engineer. In 2009, Ronna took up classical guitar and when she retired she continued her practice on a more serious level. She enjoyed it so much that she started to attend regional guitar events. As she met more guitarists, she realized the need for venues that would support local artists. Ronna’s passion to increase audience exposure to the classical guitar and to local per- formance artists has led her to advocate and support the Fine Arts Center at UMass Amherst. After many years of generous support, Ronna has made a gift in her estate to create and support the ¡Guitarra! Classical Guitar Concert Series Endowment Fund. This endowment will fund the concert series, master classes, and visiting artists and composers. She says, “I like to give to things that have a direct impact on the community. This endowment will help pay for things that grants may not cover.”

Ronna Erickson’s gift to UMass Amherst will increase audience exposure to classical guitar and support local performance artists. To learn more ways you can support the UMass Amherst programs that are important to you, contact Theresa M. Curry, JD, at (413) 577-1418 or [email protected].

Whether you seek a tranquil countryside escape, Make the University of or prefer a more extravagant approach, the UMass Massachusetts Amherst campus has a number of unique locations that can the ideal venue for be tailored for your special day. Visit www.umassweddings.com your wedding. or call (413) 577-8200 to inquire. TEACHABLE MOMENT >

Think Like a Plant

ucculents are trending right now for a host of reasons. It’s all about LIGHT. Human eyes are liars when it comes to how much Outdoors, their drought resistance makes them great light a succulent needs. Because our eyes adjust when we go indoors, we automatically assume light candidates for water-conserving landscaping, and S levels are higher than they are. Place your plants in their hardy ability to stand up to intense sun and desiccating a south-facing window for the most constant light during the day. winds makes them an object of desire for green roofs. Indoors, It’s also about WATER. they appeal to those of us who consider our thumbs to be For soil, Formosi recommends cactus mix or a peat moss mix with perlite for drainage. “You don’t want somewhat less than green. They are low maintenance, an anything that’s going to hold on to water for long appealing impulse buy at Trader Joe’s, and exude character. periods of time,” he says. “You want something with air pockets to facilitate gas exchange.” If roots But many things about these beguiling plants are not rot, the plant can’t draw the water it needs, so an underwatered plant and an overwatered plant can immediately obvious. Michael Formosi ’88, the greenhouse get the same crinkly appearance as they draw on their reserves. Water your plant, and make sure it manager of Durfee Conservatory—where succulents have drains clear.

their very own room—shares his expertise in giving succulents Don’t worry too much about TEMP. the best life possible. Temperature variability is not such a problem for hardy succulents. Think of the hot days and cold nights of the desert. . . . Which is why in Durfee Conservatory, succulents are grown in an outer room—because they can handle the cold blasts when the door opens and closes in the winter. >LAURA MARJORIE MILLER

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Superswamy! Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy danced with a welcome squad on move-in day after spending the morning helping unload cars, posing for selfies, and chatting with students and parents. The Class of 2022, with approximately 5,050 students, is the university’s largest, most academically accomplished, and most diverse first-year class. John Solem