FALL 2017 The Trinity REPORTER GROWING HARTFORD Trinity among partners awarded portion of $30 million Innovation Places grant THE EVOLUTION OF ‘THE MOST AN INSIDE TRACK INSIDE THE BANTAM NETWORK EXTRAORDINARY Program ofers insight into being a physician Strong bonds play key role TOOTH ON THE PLANET’ in mentoring program’s success Martin Nweeia ’77 seeks to solve the mystery of the narwhal FALL 2017 F E A T U R E S 14 The evolution of the Bantam Network Strong bonds play key role in mentoring program’s success 18 Growing Hartford Trinity among partners awarded portion of $30 million Innovation Places grant 22 An inside track Health Fellows Program ofers valuable insight into what it takes to be a physician 28 ‘The most extraordinary tooth on the planet’ Martin Nweeia ’77 seeks to solve the mystery of the narwhal 32 Welcome to Dream Camp Academic and mentoring program celebrates 20 years on campus 2 / The Trinity Reporter / CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS 02 ALONG THE WALK 06 TRINITY TREASURE 11 AROUND HARTFORD 36 ATHLETICS 41 CLASS NOTES 76 IN MEMORY 82 ALUMNI EVENTS 84 ENDNOTE The Trinity Reporter Vol. 48, No. 1, Fall 2017 Published by the Ofce of Communications, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106. Postage paid at Hartford, Connecticut, and additional mailing ofces. The Trinity Reporter is mailed to alumni, parents, faculty, staf, and friends of Trinity College without charge. All publication rights reserved, and contents may be reproduced or reprinted only by written permission of the editor. Opinions expressed are those of the editor or contributors and do not reflect the ofcial position of Trinity College. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Trinity Reporter, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106 The editor welcomes your questions and comments: Sonya Adams, Ofce of Communications, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106, [email protected], or (860) 297-2143. www. trincoll.edu ON THE COVER Trinity College is a key partner of the Hartford/ East Hartford Innovation Places Planning Team, one of four groups selected on June 6 to receive a share of $30 million in state funding. The grant is part of a statewide Innovation Places competition run by CTNext, a subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations, the state’s venture capital firm. ILLUSTRATION: LILLY PEREIRA ON THIS PAGE One soon-to-be graduate shows class pride from head to toe at Commencement 2017. For more on the big day, turn the page. PHOTO: AL FERREIRA / Fall 2014 / 3 ALONG THE WALK 2 / The Trinity Reporter / Commencement 2017 “We must protect freedom of speech. Let people speak their minds, but then do not hesitate to criticize them for spreading falsehoods,” philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist Daniel C. Dennett said to the 615 graduates at Trinity College’s 191st Commencement on Sunday, May 21. Dennett, co-director of Tufts University’s ACCOLADES Center for Cognitive Studies, as well as University Trustee Awards for Faculty, Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Student, and Staf Excellence Faculty: Sarah A. Raskin, Philosophy at Tufts, spoke to Trinity’s largest Charles A. Dana Research graduating class ever, with 581 undergraduates. Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Students: Thirty-four graduate students also received their Dung Anh Dam ’17, Elizabeth master’s degrees. Valenzuela ’17 Staf: John In recognition of his distinguished career and of Rose, John Rose College Organist-and-Directorship his enormous contributions to the world of thought, Distinguished Chair of Chapel Dennett was awarded an honorary doctor of humane Music and Adjunct Professor letters degree. Trinity alumnus D. David Dershaw of Music, ex ofcio ’70, founding director of the Breast Imaging Service The Thomas Church Brownell at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, re- Prize for Teaching Excellence Sarah Bilston, Associate ceived an honorary doctor of science degree, and Professor of English LaTanya Langley ’97, vice president and general counsel of BIC International Company, received The Dean Arthur H. Hughes Award for an honorary doctor of laws degree. Achievement in Teaching Douglas Barrett Curtin, chosen as the Class of Katherine L. Bergren, Assistant 2017 student speaker, talked about how the simple Professor of English; Abigail Fisher Williamson, Assistant act of saying hello to someone can lead to life-chang- Professor of Political Science ing interactions. “I said hello to a homeless man out- and Public Policy and Law side my internship one day. That man, Jake, ended The Charles A. Dana Research up inspiring me to start a Food Recovery Network Professorship Award chapter at Trinity, which has led to more than Kent D. Dunlap, Professor 4,000 pounds of food being donated from Mather of Biology PHOTOS: AL FERREIRA PHOTOS: Dining Hall [to McKinney Shelter in Hartford],” The Charles A. Dana said Curtin, a double major in political science and Research Associate Professorship Awards educational studies from Wayland, Massachusetts. Christopher Hager, Associate Phong Kim Quach of Vietnam was named vale- Professor of English; Sara dictorian. He graduated summa cum laude with ma- Kippur, Associate Professor of Language and Culture Studies jors in biology and chemistry, both with honors. The salutatorian was Jessica Yetta Chotiner of North Carolina. She earned a B.S. summa cum laude with honors in her major of biology. She also minored in Italian language. Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney said in her charge to the graduates, “Your education is not only good for you, it is for the good of society. My charge to you, in turn, is not only to use your good Trinity education, but to go out and show the world what it means to do — and to be — Trinity good.” For more Commencement photos and a video of the ceremony, please visit commons.trincoll.edu/Reporter. / Fall 2017 / 3 4 / The Trinity Reporter / ALONG THE WALK TRINITY DOWNTOWN THE COLLEGE’S CONSTITUTION PLAZA SITE OPENS SOON Construction is well under way at 10 Constitution Plaza, where Cresswell said that LAAL teams will partner with neighbor- the College plans to open, by December 2017, the first of its two hood organizations, city government, small businesses, faculty Constitution Plaza spaces. In doing so, Trinity will join a growing members already engaged in community research, and others presence of higher education institutions with students, faculty, to define and prioritize the challenges to be tackled. A guiding and staf who have become part of the central business district principle will be that true civic engagement means recognizing community, helping Hartford evolve into a true “college town.” that the LAAL teams and community partners possess a range of Trinity’s Constitution Plaza Planning Committee, co-chaired skills, knowledge, and expertise; by working together, they will by Sue Aber, vice president for information services and chief greatly enhance opportunities to address significant concerns. information ofcer, and Stefanie Chambers, professor of political Cresswell noted that Capital Community College is an ideal science, has been working since fall 2016 to guide the design partner for this project. Since its move to Main Street in 2002, process leading to the launch of the downtown space at 10 Capital has steadily increased its footprint in Hartford through a Constitution Plaza and the third floor of One Constitution variety of programs, including social work service-learning proj- Plaza, an adjacent ofce tower. This past summer, the ects, nursing and health career clinical placements in hospitals, focus was on transforming 10 Constitution Plaza, and business apprenticeships with area corporations. which was previously home to a cable television net- Professor of Educational Studies Jack Dougherty was named work. The planning committee has been working the inaugural faculty director of the LAAL. Megan Brown, the closely with JCJ Architecture and Enterprise full-time director of the LAAL, began Builders to design space that will be easy to in August, joining Trinity from the modify as diferent programs take shape. University of Washington, where she has For more about Trinity’s A signature program for 10 undertaken a doctorate in geography. Constitution Plaza site, please visit Constitution Plaza, a freestanding, Space at 10 Constitution Plaza also commons.trincoll. low-rise building, will be the Liberal will serve as a base for Trinity students edu/Reporter. Arts Action Lab (LAAL), which engaged in internships downtown and will bring together faculty and may be used during the orientation pro- students from Trinity and Capital gram for J-Starts, a new cohort of incoming first-year students Community College to collabo- who will begin their Trinity studies in January. rate in researching and addressing local Entrepreneurial track programs and events hosted by the challenges, using a liberal arts lens to solve College’s Center for Caribbean Studies also are anticipated for real-world problems. An LAAL Programming/ 10 Constitution Plaza. Graduate studies and certificate programs Planning Committee, chaired by Trinity Dean of the are planned for One Constitution Plaza. Trinity expects to move Faculty and Vice President for Academic Afairs Tim forward with plans for occupying the One Constitution Plaza Cresswell, has been working concurrently with the Constitution space approximately one year after 10 Constitution Plaza opens. Plaza Planning Committee to develop a program that will mobi- The establishment of a campus in downtown Hartford has lize liberal arts-based skills and knowledge about Hartford to been a Trinity goal for several years. A significant step came in drive social innovation and deepen civic engagement. 2014, when the College purchased 200 Constitution Plaza, the Describing how the LAAL will work, Cresswell said, “At former Travelers Education Center, for $2.1 million. As Trinity the outset, there will be 10 Trinity students and 10 Capital began developing plans for the building — which would have Community College students, broken up into groups of the appro- meant becoming a landlord since the building had more square priate size for the specific problems to be addressed.