People News, October 2017

Elizabeth Davidson-Blythe ’21 joined Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble as a guest violinist in concert at Harvard University in September. Davidson-Blythe was a participant in Silk Road’s weeklong Global Musician Workshop last summer.

Five Smith students have been named University Innovation Fellows by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design: Nybria Acklin ’18, Lisa Feiden ’18, Lucy Kneissler ’19, Van Nguyen ’18and Haven Sandoval ’20. They are among 229 global student leaders selected for the Stanford program this year to create new engagement opportunities for their peers through innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design thinking. A video of the Smith students’ project pitch video is available online. 

Carrie Baker, associate professor of the study of women and gender at Smith, will help mark the 45^th anniversary of Ms. magazine by joining co-founder and contributing editor Gloria Steinem ’56 for a conversation in November at Hunter College in New York City.

Professor of physics Gary Felder gave a talk on “The Big Bang and Beyond” at an October 23 Nerd Nite Noho event at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Felder explained how the theory of relativity led to the Big Bang Theory and what the latter says about the history of the universe.

Randy Frost, Harold Edward and Elsa Siipola Israel Professor of Psychology at Smith, was a speaker for “Hoarding Disorder: Recovery is Real,” a conference held this month in Hadley, Mass., on the latest research and treatment for hoarding disorder.

Karen Kukil, associate curator of special collections at Smith, was a panelist for a symposium on Sylvia Plath held earlier this month at the Grolier Club in New York City. Kukil discussed her experiences editing The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol. 1, published this year by Faber and Faber.

Jennifer Malkowski, assistant professor of film and media studies, is editor of Gaming Representation: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Video Games, a new book published by Indiana University Press.

Associate professor of history Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor discussed her book Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship Before the Civil War at an event hosted last month by the David Ruggles Center for History and Education in Florence, Mass.

Professor Susan Voss has been named the Achilles Professor of Engineering at Smith. One of the founding members of the college’s Picker Engineering Program, Voss is the recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation Career Award for her research on acoustic energy flow through normal and abnormal middle ears.

Marianne Yoshioka, dean of the Smith College School for Social Work, is the recipient of a mentorship award from the Women’s Council of the national Council on Social Work Education. Yoshioka “truly exemplifies the most stellar qualities of a social worker and a mentor,” said Rhoda Smith, a Bertha Capen Reynolds Fellow at the SSW, in nominating Yoshioka for the award. “She is caring, supportive and committed in her efforts to understand her mentee’s needs.”

Shannon Sarna ’04 is the author of Modern Jewish Baker: Challah, Babka, Bagels & More published by Countryman Press. Sarna, who majored in government at Smith, writes a food blog, “The Nosher,” and her work has been featured in Edible Brooklyn, Parade, Tablet and BuzzFeed.

Nicole Jennings ’04 is one of seven women chosen for the Eileen Fisher Foundation’s “Power in the Words of Women” campaign. Jennings, who majored in psychology at Smith, is founder of Just Ask Me, a peer-led sex education program at the Bronx Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corp.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ’02 is the recipient of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary for her film about honor killings, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness. A Smith Medalist, Obaid-Chinoy has produced more than a dozen documentaries since graduating from Smith with a degree in economics and government. A Pakistani native, she is president of the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of Pakistani culture.

Emily Zucal ’99 is the new principal of Lakeville Elementary School in Great Neck, N.Y. Zucal, who majored in government at Smith, had served as Lakeville’s assistant principal and also taught elementary school in New York City. She earned a master of arts in teaching and curriculum from the City University of New York.

Katherine McGrady ’82 has been inducted into the National Association of Professional Women’s VIP Woman of the Year Circle. McGrady, who majored in chemistry at Smith, earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in macromolecular science from the University of Michigan. President and CEO of CNA Corporation, a nonprofit research organization in Arlington, Va., she conducted field research and analysis during the Gulf War and in Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope.

Isolde O’Hanlon ’81 has been elected to the board of directors of Conifer Holdings, Inc., a Michigan-based insurance holding company. O’Hanlon, who majored in economics at Smith, serves as principal and founder of Insurance Consulting Associates and previously held positions at JPMorgan.

Karen Kukil, associate curator of Special Collections at Smith.