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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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School Notes School of Architecture School mourns loss of retired faculty member Architect and retired faculty member Peter Millard '51BArch died March 30 at Connecticut Hospice. He was 84. Millard was born in New York City and studied architecture at Dartmouth College before attending the Yale School of Architecture. He served during World War II as a naval aviator, and after the war practiced architecture in New Haven; he also taught architectural design at the school for 40 years. As a partner with the firm Earl P. Carlin, Architects, he was responsible for the design of two award-winning firehouses in New Haven—one of which prompted Robert A. M. Stern '65MArch, then a Millard student and now dean of the school, to write that it “points to a new direction in American architecture—one which … marks a return to architecture that is monumental and urban and public, in the best sense of the word.” Millard is survived by his wife, two children, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Memorial gifts for scholarships may be sent to the school at P.O. Box 208242, New Haven, CT 06520-8242. Funds for green architecture The School of Architecture has chosen five projects to receive the inaugural grants from the Hines Research Fund for Advanced Sustainability in Architecture. While most grants for architectural research are for finite individual projects, the School of Architecture has taken a broader view, selecting projects that explore the connections among academic disciplines to further architectural development. The $5 million endowment fund was created in 2008 by Gerald D. Hines, founder and chairman of Hines, an international real estate firm; he was the first Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Architecture Fellow at the school. The five winning proposals focus on construction methods and materials and optimizing energy use in buildings. The principal investigators for each are Keith Krumwiede, Kyoung Sun Moon, Michelle Addington, Hilary Sample, and Susan Farricielli. Robotic arm aids students in precision work In 2006 the school bought a robotic arm called the Kuka HA 60-3, which architecture students can use to build models for their final projects. The $150,000 purchase, made possible by a gift from an anonymous donor, has helped to make the school a leader among architecture schools in design fabrication. “Robots were originally designed to do simple, repetitive tasks,” says John Eberhart '98MArch, the school’s director of digital media and an instructor in digital media and fabrication. “The big development here is the ability to generate a program to mill out a three-dimensional model that the robot would be able to recognize. The company we bought it from was able to take two different technologies so the software could ‘speak’ to the robot,” enabling it to perform highly complex tasks. Eberhart teaches students to use the arm as part of a required course, and it has been used consistently over the past couple of years. It was the only one of its kind in a university setting until six months ago, when Harvard acquired one. Eberhart says, “Students were going to open houses at both schools and saying, ‘Yale has a robot. Where’s Harvard’s?’”
School of Art Alumni among foundation recipients Six of the 25 Joan Mitchell Foundation grant recipients this year are graduates of the Yale School of Art. The foundation, named for expatriate painter Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), was established in 1993 to honor Mitchell and address the needs of painters and sculptors. It annually awards grants, supports workshops and residencies for individual artists, and provides free art education opportunities for New York City youth. Among the 2009 awardees are: Judith Bernstein '67BFA/MFA, James Biederman '73MFA, Jenny Dubnau '96MFA, Barkley Hendricks '72BFA/MFA, Charles Juhasz '88, '94MFA, and Sigrid Sandstrom '01MFA. Lecture series features international artists A new lecture series at the art school is the latest element in the school’s visiting artists program, which brings to campus international artists to share their work with students, faculty, and the public. Newly enhanced by a gift from the Hayden Fund for Art and Ideas, the program features residencies at the school by groundbreaking figures in the visual arts, selected by dean Robert Storr, who give lectures, meet in seminars with students, participate in studio visits, and gather informally with students and faculty. The lecture series was launched March 24 with a presentation by renowned French installation and video artist Pierre Huyghe.
Yale College Yale trounces Harvard in blood drive challenge In the latest installment of Yale’s rivalry with Harvard, the Bulldogs emerged victorious from the fifth annual Yale-Harvard Blood Drive competition in February. With points tabulated based on units of blood collected, number of first-time donors, and volunteer participation levels, the final score was 301-198. Held over four days in Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the blood drive was sponsored by the American Red Cross at Yale, a student organization. Arts fund brings celebrated director to campus With support from the Lloyd Richards Fund for the Arts at Yale College, acclaimed stage director Robert Woodruff lent his insight to upper-level students in the undergraduate theater studies program through his spring 2009 course, Elements of Composition for the Stage. Conducted as a laboratory-style workshop, the course encouraged participants to explore the various sources of inspiration for creating a live performance. Students conducted weekly creative projects that taught them to reconsider the functions of a range of elements—including time, space, text, and music—in creating artistic representations. Woodruff, a lecturer in directing at the School of Drama, is the former artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He collaborated with Obie Award-winning actor Bill Camp to stage this spring’s production of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground at the Yale Repertory Theatre. The Lloyd Richards Fund for the Arts at Yale College was established by Cheryl Henson '84 to celebrate the legacy of Lloyd Richards, dean of the Yale School of Drama and artistic director of the Yale Rep from 1979 to 1991. In honor of Richards’s instrumental roles as a pioneer in American theater and a champion of the arts at Yale, the Lloyd Richards Fund supports undergraduate access to classes and programs directed by faculty at the School of Drama and Yale’s other premier art schools. Endowed fund will support freshman affairs deanship A fund established this spring by a Yale College alumnus will endow the office of the dean of freshman affairs at the College, effective June 30. Edgar M. Cullman '40 cites the formative experiences of his own time on the Old Campus as the impetus for his gift, adding that it “gives me great pleasure to support Yale’s students by funding this position.” The current dean of freshman affairs, assistant dean Raymond Ou, will be the first to hold the endowed position. As the Edgar M. Cullman Dean of Freshman Affairs he will oversee programming and resources to support students through the crucial transition to undergraduate life. The freshman affairs deanship reflects Yale’s strong commitment to empowering students in their first year of college. Through counseling, mentoring, and allocation of resources, it is an important source of guidance and support to Yale College’s newest students.
Divinity School Divinity School expands student exchange programs to Asia Over the semester break, Divinity School dean Harold Attridge traveled to the northern reaches of the coast of Asia in South Korea and down to the southern extremities in Malaysia. The trip, January 2-10, included visits with alumni, theological educators, and church leaders. When all was said and done, the dean had accomplished one of the trip’s primary goals: to cement agreements with two theological schools in order to expand YDS’s student exchange programs to include Asia as well as Europe. The School will now have exchanges with students at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College in Hong Kong and Trinity Theological College in Singapore, complementing ongoing exchange programs at Westcott House in Cambridge, England, and at three German institutions. Attridge called the expanded program “a step toward a new and more dynamic program to engage the world.” Recruitment efforts hit the road The Divinity School’s student recruitment efforts took a new twist this fall by bringing a bit of Sterling Divinity Quadrangle “into the pews” on a four-stop tour of New York and New England churches, where alumni and potential students were treated to presentations by senior faculty members Thomas Troeger and Emilie M. Townes. This initiative was the collaborative brainchild of the school’s admissions and alumni offices, centered on the idea that churches with significant alumni connections are likely to be fertile ground for finding future YDS students. Each event, titled “An Evening With Yale Divinity School,” was unique and took place in a parish where a Divinity School graduate serves as pastor or assistant pastor. Meanwhile, applications to YDS are up 13 percent over last year’s totals. Dean Harold Attridge told Newsweek magazine, “Maybe people are getting religion in the face of the materialist empire; maybe jobs are scarce out there. Divinity school looks good, especially if there’s financial aid, and i-banking isn’t as attractive as it was a while ago.” Beam me up: Jonathan Edwards in the twenty-first century The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University has unveiled a next-generation digital online text collection relating to eighteenth-century preacher Jonathan Edwards. Editorially tagged and fully searchable by chronology, theme, and scripture, as well as full text, The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online has offered, for the past three years, an expertly guided research experience in the papers of Edwards. Now, version 2.0 of The Works (http://edwards.yale.edu) takes that a step further with more bibliographic search and text object fields, refined search results, and the integration of a multimedia library of manuscript images and video recordings. “This edition of 73 digital volumes consists of almost all of the writings of Edwards. Such a vast collection of digital text, as a result of more than 50 years of scholarly work, will extraordinarily support the continuing and global interest in Edwards’s writings,” said Kenneth Minkema, executive director of the center.
School of Drama Play about Guantánamo wins Drama Series Award A play about a former Guantánamo Bay detainee has been selected as the winner of the third annual Yale Drama Series Award. Playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig will receive the David C. Horn Prize of $10,000 for her play Lidless, which will be published by Yale University Press and receive a reading at the Yale Repertory Theatre in September. Lidless, chosen from over 650 submissions, is Cowhig’s play about a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who journeys to the home of his female U.S. Army interrogator 15 years after his detention, demanding half her liver for the damage she wreaked on his body and soul during her interrogations. Cowhig, a graduate of Brown University and the International School of Beijing, will receive her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas in Austin this May. The Yale Drama Series Award, jointly sponsored by Yale University Press and Yale Rep, was inaugurated in 2007 to support emerging playwrights. Professor recognized for technical production achievement Ben Sammler '74MFA, chair of the technical design and production department and production supervisor at the Yale Rep, received the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award in Technical Production from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT), the association of design, production, and technology professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry. Sammler was honored at USITT’s 49th annual conference and stage expo in March. “USITT’s Distinguished Achievement Awards are designed to recognize those who have achieved outstanding success not once, but throughout their careers,” said Carl Lefko, president of USITT. “Mr. Sammler's work has made a lasting contribution to the American theater by revolutionizing production-based training.” Music theater institute to workshop three plays Three new works have been chosen to inaugurate the Yale Institute for Music Theatre in June. The musicals will receive two-week workshops at the institute, which was established last year by the School of Drama and the School of Music. The three selected works are Cancer? the musical, an autobiographical new work with music, book, and lyrics by Sam Wessels, a 2008 graduate of the University of Utah Actor Training Program, where he received his BFA; Invisible Cities, an opera about Marco Polo and the downfall of Kublai Khan’s empire, with score and libretto by Christopher Cerrone, who is currently pursuing his doctorate at Yale School of Music; and POP!, a musical re-imagining of the events leading up to the shooting of Andy Warhol as a pop-art murder mystery show, with book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman and music by Anna K. Jacobs. The Yale Institute for Music Theatre seeks to identify distinctive and original music theater works by emerging writers and composers, and to serve those writers by matching them with directors, music directors, and actors/singers who can help them further develop their work.
School of Engineering & Applied Science Yale engineers revolutionize nano Yale engineers have created a process that may revolutionize the manufacture of nano-devices from computer chips to biomedical sensors by exploiting a novel type of metal. The material can be molded like plastics with nanoscale detail and yet is more durable and stronger than silicon or steel. The work was reported in the February 12 issue of Nature. (For a Yale Alumni Magazine report and photo, see “Eau de Nano.”) The search for a cost-effective and manageable process for producing higher-density computer chips with nanoscale precision has been a challenge. Researchers have been exploring the use of “amorphous metals” known as bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) for about a decade, according to senior author and professor of mechanical engineering Jan Schroers. BMGs do not form crystal structures when they are cooled rapidly after heating, and although they seem solid, they are more like very slow-flowing liquid that has no structure beyond the atomic level—making them ideal for molding fine details. “We have finally been able to harness their unusual properties to transform the process of both making molds and producing imprints,” Schroers said. “This process has the potential to replace several lithographic steps in the production of computer chips.” While “plastics!” was the catchword of the 1960s, Schroers says, “we think 'BMGs!' will be the buzzword for the coming decade.” Engineering undergrads step beyond the theoretical While Yale has long since dropped its formal program in civil engineering, members of the Yale chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) are receiving hands-on civil engineering training, sometimes far from the classroom. EWB-USA is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide to improve their quality of life through the implementation of sustainable engineering projects and training of responsible international engineers and engineering students. The Yale EWB chapter was founded in 2004 by associate professor William Mitch. Since its inception, it has tackled two significant water resource challenges: the first in El Rosario, Honduras, and the second in Kikoo, Cameroon. This past December, EWB made its third trek to Kikoo, a village whose primary drinking water source, until recently, was a stream rife with E. coli and other fecal coliforms. With the support of the villagers, in excess of 10,000 man-hours, EWB has succeeded in supplying spring water to a portion of the community. The team also led sanitation classes in the primary school and taught village leaders how to test the system periodically for bacterial contamination. The group is working diligently to raise funds for a return trip next year. In the interim the team will move ahead with design plans and training workshops in the local area. They always welcome the participation and expertise of alumni and donations of old equipment.
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Eminent evolutionary biologist appointed F&ES dean Sir Peter Crane, a distinguished evolutionary biologist, will take over as dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies on September 1. (See “Biologist to Head Yale’s Environment School” for a Yale Alumni Magazine report.) He succeeds Gus Speth, dean of the school since 1999, who is stepping down to teach at Vermont Law School. Crane, the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago, is the former director of England’s renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Earlier in his career he also led the scientific programs at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Crane’s research is focused on the diversity of plant life, including its origin and fossil history, its current status, and its conservation and use. Seeking to understand large-scale patterns and processes of plant evolution, he has worked extensively on questions relating to the origin and early diversification of flowering plants and, together with Paul Kenrick, published The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study in 1997. He has written several other books and authored nearly 200 articles and essays. F&ES students hold environmental film festival A Yale film festival intended to raise awareness of global environmental issues featured a special advance screening of the Disney film Earth and a documentary by Madonna that chronicled the suffering of children in Malawi orphaned by AIDS. The three-day environmental film festival took place in April and showcased feature-length documentaries and short films, as well as panel discussions, conversations with filmmakers, and workshops that explored issues raised in the films. The festival was sponsored by F&ES. “Film is a unique medium to inform, educate, and influence the public on environmental issues,” said Eric Desatnik, an executive director of the festival and a master’s student at the environment school. “We wanted the series to not only be entertaining, but promote reflection, further inquiry, and environmental literacy.”
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Application numbers break all records Historically, when the job market tightens, more people apply to graduate (and professional) schools, and 2009 was no exception. This year broke all previous records for the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with approximately 9,550 applicants vying for about 500 slots. Close to 8,400 sought admission into PhD programs and over 1,150 into master's programs. Last year, 8,766 candidates applied to the Graduate School, and the year before that, the total was 8,542. The previous record was set in 2003, when 9,046 students applied. Associates in teaching Graduate School dean Jon Butler recently announced a pilot program designed to expand the range of teaching experiences for advanced PhD students to make the students more competitive in the job market, while preserving Yale College’s commitment to courses taught by faculty. In its first year, the pilot program will include two courses in the sciences, two in the social sciences, and two in the humanities. According to the dean’s description of the program, a participating student will work closely with a faculty member as an Associate in Teaching (AT) to design or redesign, plan, and deliver an undergraduate course. ATs will also play a significant role in classroom teaching, delivering lectures or leading seminar discussions up to 20 percent of the time. Whenever possible, faculty members and their ATs will co-lead discussion sections and share in the delivery of lectures. Alumnus heads Yale Day of Service David R. Sanchez '84MA/MPhil (political science) is coordinating the first-ever global Yale Day of Service, which will take place May 16. On that day, alumni will join together to volunteer in their local communities. This is the first time the university has organized a world-wide volunteer effort. Alumni from Alaska to Florida and California to Maine, as well as from Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Turkey will participate. “Yale’s founding principles included a commitment to service, a commitment that has been lived out individually by alumni for over 300 years,” said Sanchez, who is managing director of Stonehaven, LLC, an investment counseling firm. “I am delighted to be chairing this effort … as we give back where we live. Yale’s greatest resource lies with its people: students, alumni, families, parents, faculty, and staff. It is our hope that the first Yale Day of Service will engage a record number of alumni and their families in projects that are meaningful and rewarding to both alumni and recipients.”
Law School Yale to offer accelerated JD/MBA program A new program of the Law School and the School of Management will enable students to earn both a juris doctor and a master of business administration degree in three years. The Accelerated Integrated JD/MBA program is unique in that students can complete the two degrees in three academic years without having to take summer classes. Law School dean Harold Hongju Koh said, “Students will master analytical and quantitative skills that will be of value for a business law-related practice but also more broadly for careers as entrepreneurs and managers in business and nonprofit organizations." The accelerated program will be offered initially for a provisional term of two years, after which the schools will jointly assess the program’s success factors and future course. The two schools will continue to offer the existing four-year joint degree program as an option. Supreme Court Clinic wins third case Yale Law School’s Supreme Court Clinic scored its third victory on April 1 in the case Harbison v. Bell. By a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court justices agreed with the clinic that Tennessee death row inmate Edward Harbison is entitled to federally funded counsel in state clemency proceedings. The Supreme Court Clinic assisted in the merits briefing in the case. Begun in 2006, the clinic allows Yale Law School students to work on real-life public interest cases pending before the high court. Its first victory came in January in the case Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee, which concerned a lawsuit against a school district brought by parents who claimed their kindergarten daughter was being sexually harassed by another student. Its second win came in March in the case Negusie v. Holder, when the high court overturned a lower court decision that said a former Eritrean prison guard who was forced to persecute inmates was not eligible for asylum in the United States. The Harbison team included clinic supervisors Dan Kahan, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and Mayer Brown attorney Andrew Pincus; as well as clinic members Catherine Barnard '09JD, Paul Hughes '08JD, and Michael Kimberly '08JD. Distinguished scholars join faculty Three new faculty members will bring their expertise to the Law School faculty in July. John Fabian Witt '94, '99JD, '00PhD, is the George Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia University; his research and teaching focus on the history of American law. Oona A. Hathaway '97JD rejoins the Yale Law faculty after serving as professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley. She is one of the nation’s leading voices on international law and international relations, transnational law, and the law of U.S. foreign policy. Claire Priest '94, '00JD, '03PhD, professor of law and history at Northwestern University, teaches and researches in the areas of property and American legal and economic history.
School of Management SOM proposes code for institutional investors and proxy services Proxy voting services advise institutional investors on their relationships with corporations and often advise them on how to vote. But there is no law, regulation, or professional standard that forbids a proxy voting service from recommending a vote in favor of a corporation it works for. Now, the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance is pushing the first industry-wide code of professional conduct for proxy services, which includes a ban on a vote adviser’s performing consulting work for any company on which it provides voting recommendations or ratings. “The economic crisis has highlighted as never before that the capital market’s health hinges on a reliable, open, and efficient proxy voting system to keep corporate boards accountable,” said Ira M. Millstein, senior associate dean for corporate governance at the School of Management. “The time has come for practical fixes.” The proxy code is one of several steps the Millstein Center is proposing to boost transparency among institutional investors and proxy services. Other proposals call for institutional investors to disclose how they vote as shareholders of public corporations, what ownership policies they follow, and what resources they put into engagement efforts. Visit mba.yale.edu/news_events/CMS/Articles/6763.shtml for a link to the report. New program allows students to earn JD/MBA in three years Yale SOM and Yale Law School have announced the creation of an accelerated JD/MBA program that will enable students to earn both degrees in six semesters, without the need for summer classes. It is designed primarily for students interested in business law but will be useful in a variety of settings involving business and management. Students in the program will be fully immersed in the required curriculum and community life at each school and will graduate with their entering class at both the Law School and SOM. During the two summers, students are free to gain experience in law or business-related positions. “Both schools have a strong reputation for developing leaders for business and society, and this program allows us to draw more efficiently on the unique strengths of each institution,” said SOM dean Sharon Oster. Conference launches India/China initiative The Yale Center for Customer Insights hosted a conference on April 3 and 4 dedicated to its new China India Consumer Insights Program, an initiative aimed at nurturing and supporting multidisciplinary research on the evolving consumption and investment behavior of China and India, two rapidly changing societies. The program brings together researchers from economics, psychology, and sociology who seek to advance a holistic understanding of these markets and their evolution. The conference hosted top academic and business leaders from the United States, China, and India for discussions on such diverse topics as media influence on consumption in the two nations, how urban social networks in China shape consumer behavior, and infrastructure factors preventing the flourishing of a market for durable goods in rural India. Learn more about the China India initiative at http://cci.som.yale.edu/cici.asp.
School of Medicine Yale alumnus will head Yale Cancer Center Thomas J. Lynch Jr. '82, '86MD, was named director of Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief of the new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale–New Haven, which will open in October. For a Yale Alumni Magazine report, see “Custom-made Cancer Care.”) Lynch, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, was chief of hematology/oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center. A lung cancer expert, he was director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at MGH and director of medical oncology at the MGH Thoracic Oncology Center. In 1996, he helped found the Boston-based Kenneth B. Schwartz Center for the Promotion of Caregiver/Patient Relations and became vice chair of its board of directors in 2006. Lynch, who started his new job April 1, also will oversee a new institute for cancer biology at West Campus. Road rage linked to cardiac arrests Before exploding the next time you are cut off in traffic, consider findings from medical school researchers linking changes brought on by anger or other strong emotions to future arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrests, which account for 400,000 deaths annually. Research led by Rachel Lampert, associate professor of medicine, studied 62 patients with enlarged hearts and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). Patients were monitored three months after the ICD was implanted and given a mental stress test requiring them to recall a situation that angered them. The team found that those with more anger-induced electrical instability were more likely to experience arrhythmias a year later than those in the control group. Lampert’s work builds on research linking strong emotion to sudden cardiac death. A piece in the Alzheimer’s puzzle is identified Yale researchers have filled in a missing gap on the molecular road map of Alzheimer’s disease. They identified a protein required for amyloid-beta peptides to block brain function in Alzheimer’s patients. “It has been a black box,” said Stephen M. Strittmatter, senior author of the study and director of the Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair Program at the medical school. “We have known that amyloid-beta is bad for the brain, but we have not known exactly how amyloid-beta does bad things to neurons." Now, researchers believe they’ve identified the culprit: cellular prion proteins. These prion proteins are normally harmless and exist in all cells, but when amyloid-beta peptides latch onto them a cascade starts that makes neurons sick. The good news, Strittmatter said, is that since the prion proteins act at an early stage of disease development, they make a promising target for new Alzheimer’s therapies.
School of Music Renowned musicians to join faculty Emanuel Ax, one of the world’s most celebrated keyboard artists, and Masaaki Suzuki, the eminent Bach scholar and conductor, will join the School of Music faculty next fall. Emanuel Ax has been appointed visiting professor of piano. His distinguished career has encompassed solo recitals, chamber music performances, and appearances with orchestras in the world’s great concert halls. Ax has appeared several times at Yale in performances and master classes over the years and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the university. Masaaki Suzuki will be visiting professor of choral conducting and conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum, the university’s celebrated chamber choir. He is a conductor, organist, and harpsichordist acclaimed for his artistry and insightful interpretations. The founder and director of Bach Collegium Japan, he has recorded 40 volumes of Bach’s choral music on the BIS label and works with leading European ensembles. His scholarly work includes a translation into Japanese of the entire Genevan Psalter, a book of psalm settings developed in the Reformation. In addition, two other faculty members will work in expanded roles. William Purvis’s term as interim director of Yale’s distinguished Collection of Musical Instruments has been extended by two years. A noted horn player and conductor, Purvis is also a professor of horn and coordinator of winds and brass. Violinist Syoko Aki will serve as coordinator of strings. Upon joining the Yale faculty in 1968, she became a member of the renowned Yale Quartet. She has also served as concertmaster of the New Japan Philharmonic, Waterloo Festival Orchestra, and the New Haven and Syracuse symphonies, and has appeared as soloist with several leading conductors. Her recordings appear on the Delos, Pro Arte, and Epson labels, among others. School’s website revamped On March 1, the School of Music launched its new website at http://music.yale.edu. This fresh online presence for the Yale School of Music offers many features for current, past, and prospective students, staff, faculty, concertgoers, and music lovers. Design manager Monica Ong Reed sees the website as “a place where the Yale School of Music fosters relationships with a broad range of people. We took that into consideration in every aspect of its design, from the user interface to the photography to the use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.” The school has also entered the blogosphere with a news blog offering press releases and announcements for and about the YSM community. More features are still to come; the new site offers the flexibility to expand into new media, such as streaming concerts live and on demand.
School of Nursing Helen Varney Professor of Midwifery named Holly Powell Kennedy has been named the inaugural Helen Varney Professor of Midwifery at the School of Nursing. Her appointment will begin on July 1. Kennedy’s research focuses on the relationship between the work of midwives and the positive outcomes of midwife-attended births. She intends to explore this relationship as part of her future work at Yale. Kennedy recently became the president-elect of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and is the co-chair of the International Confederation of Midwives research standing committee, which connects midwife researchers around the world. As a 2008 Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, Kennedy also conducted research on England’s national commitment to normal birth. Currently on the faculty at the UCSF School of Nursing, Kennedy received her certificate in nurse-midwifery from the Frontier School of Midwifery & Family Nursing in 1985 and her PhD from the University of Rhode Island in 1999. She is also a retired colonel of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve, with 31 years of service. “YSN has been a leader in midwifery education for nurses for over five decades, and I am delighted that we have been successful in recruiting Holly Powell Kennedy to Yale,” said Margaret Grey, dean and Annie Goodrich Professor at YSN. Panel addresses Latin American issues The Yale Center for International Nursing Scholarship and Education hosted a panel discussion on Latin America in February, with speakers Felix Maradiaga, 2008 Yale World Fellow and former Nicaraguan defense secretary; Enrique Mayer, Yale professor of anthropology and an expert in Andean agriculture and peasantries; and John Powers, YSN director of public affairs and mission team director in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The three panelists emphasized the connections between ethnicity and poverty in Latin America. Mayer described the history of indigenous peoples' struggles to preserve their culture and gain political autonomy. Maradiaga recounted leaving Nicaragua for the United States by himself at age 13 to avoid forced military service—a fate typical of indigenous children. Powers described the primitive living conditions of Haitians working in Dominican sugar cane plantations. The audience prompted a discussion about the best ways to help people in need without creating new problems, and later bid on Nicaraguan crafts to raise funds for health care in that country.
School of Public Health Older women live longer than men after first “mini stroke” Elderly women who suffer a first “mini-stroke” are less likely than men of the same age to be readmitted to a hospital, new research has found. Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is known as a mini-stroke because it produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. TIA is often considered a harbinger of more serious health problems, including full-fledged strokes, coronary artery disease, and even death. Almost one in ten TIA patients are readmitted to the hospital within a month after the initial event and half are readmitted within a year. The study reviewed records on more than 122,000 patients, 65 and older, who were hospitalized with a TIA in 2002. Follow-up research showed fewer women were readmitted for stroke or coronary artery disease, and women had lower mortality rates after an initial TIA. The findings could help to improve care and outcomes for men and women, said Judith H. Lichtman, an associate professor in the division of chronic disease epidemiology. High-stress jobs can take a toll on employee’s family The daily stress of a high-pressure career can adversely affect the mental health of a worker’s spouse. This work-related “spillover” from an unhappy mate can be as significant to a spouse’s mental well-being as his or her own physical and mental health. Associations between spouses in areas such as education and intelligence have long been established. Research also has shown that some couples have similar mental health outcomes, but it is difficult to show whether the similarity is based on “spillovers" from one another or because they are exposed to many of the same environmental and social conditions. Jason M. Fletcher, an assistant professor in the division of health policy and administration, found that spillover is potentially significant. The study isolated the role that workplace conditions have on the mental health of an employee’s spouse. Future research will seek to quantify the magnitude of the spillover effect. New prevention strategy may significantly reduce HIV infections The risk of HIV infection in high-risk populations may be substantially reduced by an antiretroviral drug treatment currently being tested in clinical trials. The study examined the costs and benefits of giving antiretroviral drug regimens to high-risk populations in order to protect them from HIV infection, a prevention strategy known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Investigators created a mathematical model that focused on homosexual men of a mean age of 34. They estimated that PrEP would reduce lifetime HIV infection risk in these populations from 44 percent to 25 percent while increasing their mean survival rate from 39.9 to 40.7 years. A. David Paltiel, a professor in the division of health policy administration, said the model is the first to establish performance benchmarks of the clinical, epidemiologic, and economic potential of PrEP. |
Note to Readers The Yale Alumni Magazine carries this supplement in every issue for news from Yale’s graduate and professional schools and Yale College. This supplement is underwritten by the university and is not produced by the magazine staff but provided by the schools. |
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