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Newsbriefs
The memory of Julia Child '34,
renowned chef, cookbook author and television personality, was celebrated
on campus in November with a potpourri of events, including a sampling
of her recipes at the Campus Center Café;
a panel discussion on the celebration of food, pleasure,
culture, balance and leisure; and the dedication of a plaque
in recognition of her generosity to Smith. Her gift of $2.35 million
from the sale of her home in Cambridge, Mass., supported the construction
of the Smith Campus Center.
Committees at Smith are closing
in on the final candidates for two high-profile positions: director of
the Picker Engineering Program and director and chief curator of the
Smith College Museum of Art.
Interim engineering director Joseph O'Rourke,
the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor of Computer Science, professor
of mathematics and chair of computer science, reports considerable interest
in the Picker position, which was formerly held by the program's
founding director, Domenico Grasso. Grasso has been appointed dean of
the University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematics. As
chair of the 10-person search committee, O'Rourke expects to bring
a short list of finalists to campus in February and aims to have a new
director in place by July 1. "Smith's bold experiment in
liberal engineering education is a definite attraction," O'Rourke
observes. "Leaders in engineering education recognize that Smith
is at the forefront of a critical national movement to forge a union
between engineering and the liberal arts."
The opportunity to direct one of the most
important college art collections in America is drawing a similarly impressive
pool of candidates. The new director will succeed Suzannah Fabing, who
is retiring in June after 13 years at the college, a tenure that included
a dramatic renovation and expansion of the museum as part of the $35
million Brown Fine Arts Center. The museum's collection, renowned
for its strength in 19th- and 20th-century European and American art, "is
an immeasurable draw for candidates," says Christopher Loring,
director of libraries and chair of the 12-person search committee. With
finalists scheduled to visit campus in February, Loring expects that
a new director will be appointed in early spring.
Community College Scholars: Smith
College is launching a program in fall 2005 that will offer at least
60 women from community colleges across the country the opportunity to
earn their bachelor's degrees throughout the next decade. Made possible by
a $500,000 gift from Janet McKinley '76, a trustee, the Smith Community
Scholars program will fund the tuition for three junior students and,
during each subsequent academic year, the tuition for three junior and
three senior students who transfer with associate's degrees.
Education
Grant: Thirty Smith undergraduate and graduate students will
act as the research and development team on a two-year, $200,000
project, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education, to create
innovative approaches to elementary school literacy. Under the direction
of Susan M. Etheredge, associate professor of education and child study,
the education students will develop technology-enhanced curricula and
instructional units based on picture books.
Energy Sharing: A two-year
pilot effort through Five Colleges, Incorporated, has led
to a newly shared position among Smith, Mount Holyoke and
Amherst colleges. Todd Holland was recently appointed as energy manager
for the three colleges and will assist them in administering the purchase
of utilities and in developing and implementing a self-sustaining energy
conservation program. Holland served previously as senior mechanical
engineer with an engineering consulting firm in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Meridians
wins: Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, a peer-reviewed
feminist, interdisciplinary journal, received in December the Council
of Editors of Learned Journal's 2004 Phoenix Award for Significant
Editorial Achievement. Meridians provides a forum for the
finest scholarship and creative work by and about women of color in U.S.
and international contexts. Paula Giddings, Smith professor of Afro-American
studies, is senior editor, and Elizabeth Hanssen is managing editor of
Meridians, which is a collaborative venture of Smith College and Wesleyan
University.
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