Boston College Chronicle

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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Around Campus

Supported Research

Resolving Conflict

Global Eats program; Amazon “Bench” comes to BC; Leadership Day (right).

Major grants for Psychology/Neuroscience, Chemistry, Biology faculty; 2016 alumna wins Fulbright.

School of Theology and Ministry and Jesuit Refugee Service collaborate on reconciliation initiative in Uganda.

JANUARY 30, 2020 VOL. 27 NO. 10

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Applications for Class of 2024 Near 30,000

‘Blood Brother’ A tall Texan at BC. A sick little girl in Brazil. What did they have in common?

Something very important, as it turned out.

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Nearly seven years ago, Eric Williamson stopped at a table staffed by fellow Loyola University Chicago students promoting bone marrow donations—and because he did, a little girl in Brazil is in remission from leukemia today.

Williamson, then a senior at Loyola— now a Boston College graduate student—happened to wander by a table for the “Delete Blood Cancer” campaign by DKMS, an international nonprofit organi-

BC doctoral student Eric Williamson photo by lee pellegrini

zation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders. The promo-

Continued on page 5

Jesuit Education in a Global World

Innovative Online Master’s Program Will Debut This Fall

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Building on Boston College’s commitment to Jesuit education, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development will offer a new online master’s program—the first of its kind in the U.S.—which prepares educators to teach in the Ignatian tradition.

The Master of Education in Jesuit Education in a Global World, which will formally launch this fall, is a 30-credit program consisting of 10 courses that reinforce the Jesuit core values of social justice, formation, and reflection.

University administrators say the MEd offering will strengthen Boston College’s ability to provide the worldwide network of Jesuit schools with a source for welltrained future teachers and administrators who care deeply about the gift of Jesuit education.

The program draws from the strengths of the Lynch School’s Teaching, Curriculum, and Society Department, the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, and BC’s Urban Catholic Teacher Corps (UCTC). It combines courses in the Master of Education in Global Perspectives: Teaching, Curriculum and Learning Environments—one

Continued on page 5

Boston College has received nearly 30,000 applications for the Class of 2024, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admission, meeting key University projections and objectives for undergraduate recruitment.

The applications-related statistics indicate improved yield and selectivity for the Class of 2024, and augur well for continued efforts to promote diversity in the undergraduate student body, according to BC administrators.

The results also validate the University’s decision to adopt an Early Decision (ED)

program this past year to meet the growing preference of high school students and enroll more “best fit” applicants for whom BC is a first choice, said administrators.

The program provides two application opportunities for high-achieving students who consider BC their top choice: ED I offers a Nov. 1 application deadline with a decision notification by Dec. 15; for ED II, applications are due Jan. 1, and a decision notification is made by Feb. 15.

ED I and II applications for BC’s Class of 2024 totaled about 2,750, while the number of Regular Decision applications rose 37 percent over last year’s total to more than 26,600.

“When we announced plans to replace

Continued on page 3

Fr. Keenan to Lead University’s Global Engagement Efforts

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Canisius Professor of Theology James Keenan, S.J., director of the Boston College Jesuit Institute, has been named vice provost for global engagement—a key leadership position in Boston College’s efforts to enlarge its international presence and impact.

An internationally renowned moral theologian who also co-directs the University’s Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, Fr. Keenan succeeds Alberto Godenzi, the inaugural vice provost for global engagement, who died last fall.

In his new role, Fr. Keenan will oversee Continued on page 7

James Keenan, S.J.

photo by lee pellegrini

They all tackle issues of justice in their work: justice and religion, climate justice, global (in)equity, and social justice related to race and ethnicity.

– lowell humanities series director james smith, page 10

ADDRESS GOES HERE

Chronicle

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January 30, 2020

Around Campus

BC Diners Enjoy a World of Flavors, Thanks to Global Eats Program Boston College’s Global Eats program promotes creativity and innovation by offering diners an international dish never previously served at the University’s dining facilities. Each week a different BC Dining Services employee selects the country and the dish to create, which is served every Thursday in Corcoran Commons.

In addition to bringing new options to their customers, the program expands the dining staff’s familiarity with foods, flavors, and techniques and drives their creativity, according to BCDS administrators.

Global Eats was recently showcased by the magazine Food Management, which covers the non-commercial food service industry.

The inspiration for the program came last year from Derrick Cripps, then the general manager at BC’s Corcoran Commons dining facility, who had been searching for a way to get his children to broaden

Corcoran Commons First Cook Lois Kass has been inspired by Global Eats. photo by peter julian

their palates. Tired of preparing the same food over and over again, he assigned each of them to pick out a dish from a different culture that he had never tried cooking for them. It worked so well, Cripps—who left

the University recently after 13 years—decided to share the idea with his colleagues at BC Dining Services, and so was born Global Eats.

Lois Kass, a first cook in Corcoran

BC Scenes

Commons and 20-year BC employee, decided to make an Armenian dish because she has many Armenian friends. She relied on their expertise and family recipes and visited an Armenian market to prepare lahmajoun, an Armenian flatbread pizza with minced meat paste, vegetables, and herbs.

The meal proved so popular that it will be added to the next menu cycle.

“It is fun to do something different from the three-week cycle menu that is a little more gourmet,” said Kass. “The staff really enjoys it.”

So do their customers. According to Kass, one student was so disappointed to miss the lahmajoun she prepared that he left his email address so he could be notified the next time it is offered.

Go to bc.edu/menus for information on upcoming Global Eats dishes.

—Christine Balquist

photos by christopher huang

Leadership Day

The Amazon “Bench” self-service kiosk at 90 St. Thomas More Road.

Boston College students, faculty, and staff can pick up Amazon packages or drop off Amazon returns without having to leave campus, thanks to the addition of a secure, self-service kiosk called “Bench” located at 90 St. Thomas More Road, directly across from Corcoran Commons.

The Amazon lockers area is open between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., but can be accessed after 11 p.m. using a BC ID. There are 134 lockers of varied sizes to accommodate letters, flats, and boxes.

When ordering from Amazon, BC students, faculty, and staff can select Amazon Hub Locker – Bench, 90 Saint Thomas More Dr, at Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA 02467-3826 as the delivery address. Once the package has been dropped off, a one-time pickup code will be sent to the customer,

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

allowing access to a select locker with their package inside.

“It is a big help on our end because we are just getting inundated with packages,” said Thomas Clarke, manager of BC’s Mail and Package Services. “It is a convenience for everyone, and people really like it.”

Packages can be picked up at “Bench” at off-hours and there is no additional charge to use the facility. Since the mail center does not process the delivery, the package is available for pickup as soon as it is delivered.

The Amazon lockers were tested on the Newton campus in the Kenny-Cottle Library and the response was highly favorable, according to Clarke. The address for the Newton locker is Amazon Hub Locker – Lopez, 885 Centre St, at Boston College, Newton MA 02459-1148.

–Christine Balquist

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Sean Smith

photo by peter julian

Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian

The Office of Student Involvement held its second Leadership Day on Saturday, titled “Empowering Generation Z,” with events and activities taking place in Gasson and Lyons halls. The conference was open to all undergraduate students interested in learning to use their skills, knowledge, and strengths—both individually and in groups— to pursue social change and practice social justice in their communities.

The keynote speaker was Amy Mahler, director of SPARK Boston, a leadership and engagement council for 20-35-year-olds established by Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

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Chronicle

January 30, 2020

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Johnson to Head WCAS Graduate Programs

BY PATRICIA DELANEY SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Tristan Johnson, an educator with significant experience in building online and onground academic programs, strengthening curriculum quality, and enhancing industry alignment, has joined the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College as associate dean for graduate programs.

Johnson comes to BC from Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, where he served as assistant dean of multidisciplinary graduate education and digital learning. In that role, he planned and deployed three online and on-ground master of science programs at three regional campuses; developed a graduate engineering cooperative education strategic plan that increased both the number of industry partners and students’ co-op completion; conducted a study of workplace-graduate curriculum alignment; and increased the graduate engineering applicant pool. Previously, he had served as the NU College of Engineering’s executive director of graduate education initiatives and director of online education.

At Boston College, Johnson will be responsible for the development, main-

Tristan Johnson

photo by peter julian

tenance, and ongoing assessment of curriculum, related programs of study, and research activity for the Woods College portfolio of professionally oriented graduate degree and certificate programs.

“We were looking for a strategic leader to help bring our graduate programming to the next level,” said Woods College Dean Karen Muncaster. “Tristan’s experience developing and growing on-ground and online graduate programs while working with internal and external partners made him stand out from an exciting pool of ap-

Avalle Is New Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Robert Avalle Jr., former vice president for facilities services at Brandeis University, has joined Boston College as associate vice president for facilities services.

The organization Avalle heads up is responsible for ensuring the long-term protection and enhancements of the University’s capital assets. In addition to landscape and custodial services, the department encompasses facilities trade maintenance and athletic facilities maintenance as well as Boston College’s mail services.

“I am excited to have Bob joining the BC Facilities team,” said Vice President for Facilities Management Daniel Bourque.

“He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of facilities management, leadership, and operations.”

During his almost six years at Brandeis, where he supervised eight departments and 140 employees, Avalle oversaw and directed a capital construction budget of

more than $20 million annually. Among the campus projects during his tenure at Brandeis was the Skyline Residence Hall, which last year was chosen for a Project Achievement Award from the Construction Management Association of America, New England Chapter. The award—which went to BOND, the construction firm for the hall—recognized Skyline for its use of open spaces and common areas and in particular as one of the only geothermal, zerofossil fuel residence halls in Massachusetts.

Avalle also was director of operations and maintenance at the College of William and Mary and director of campus services at the University of California-Merced. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; he holds an MBA from California University-Stanislaus.

–University Communications

ED Program Seen Aiding Admissions Continued from page 1

Early Action with Early Decision one year ago, we anticipated a total pool in the range of 25,000 to 30,000 applications,” said Director of Undergraduate Admission Grant Gosselin. “We are fortunate to have attracted an applicant pool on the high end of that range and look forward to shaping the class in the weeks and months ahead.”

While a complete statistical profile of next year’s freshman class is still in process,

Gosselin said there are positive indications—including the fact that AHANA students comprise 36.5 percent, compared to 33.7 percent last year—that the Class of 2024 will maintain its upward trajectory in academic excellence and other important categories.

“We’re extremely pleased with the size, diversity, and quality of the applicant pool for BC’s Class of 2024,” he said.

plicants.”

Johnson’s appointment follows the recent arrival of Michelle Elias Bloomer as associate dean for undergraduate programs and the expansion of Associate Dean for Enrollment Management Claudia Pouravelis’s role to include oversight of student engagement—developments designed to strengthen the Woods College’s commitment to providing a transformational educational experience for nontraditional students, added Muncaster, who joined the school as dean last July.

In particular, Johnson said, he seeks to balance the dual priorities of providing high-quality master’s degree programs that meet the needs of both students and employers in high-growth fields, while maintaining the focus on values that reflects the overall mission of Woods College.

“In educating the next generation of innovators and leaders that will advance workforce capabilities, we are building a team to make a difference in the world,” he said. To that end, “the ultimate goal is to provide workforce-aligned master’s degree programs that are engaging, effective, and efficient. Each program provides learning opportunities to develop the skills needed to create innovative, practical, and effective solutions that can be easily applied to cur-

rent professional challenges.”

Prior to joining Northeastern, Johnson was on the faculty of Florida State University and served as associate director of the school’s Learning Systems Institute, an international, multi-institutional education research center. During his tenure, he obtained and oversaw more than $13.6 million in research and development funding, and provided educational consultation services to the Learning Strategies Consortium think tank, as well as to senior executives of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.

In addition to his academic career, since 2014 he has served as editor-inchief of Educational Technology Research and Development Journal, one of the top five journals in the field. An award-winning researcher, he is widely published in the areas of education and digital technology and has been a keynote speaker at numerous international conferences and symposia.

Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Utah, a master’s degree in biomedical communication from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and a doctoral degree in educational technology from Purdue University.

Health Expert to Speak at MLK Banquet David R. Williams, an internationally recognized authority on social influences on health, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet on Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the Yawkey Center Murray Function Room.

The banquet—a major event of the Boston College academic year that brings together administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the University community—will culminate in the presentation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, which recognizes a BC junior who has demonstrated superior academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, community service, and involvement with the African American community and African American issues.

This year’s scholarship candidates are Daniel Adedeji, Kathryn Destin, Berlindyne Elie, Langston Swafford, and Shakalah Thompson.

Williams is the Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also a professor of African and African American Studies and sociology at Harvard University. The author of more than 450 scientific papers, Williams has pursued research to heighten understanding of the ways in which race, socioeconomic status, stress, racism, health behavior, and religious involvement can affect physical and mental health.

David R. Williams

The Everyday Discrimination Scale Williams developed—a comprehensive series of questions to assess an individual’s experiences involving potential discrimination in various situations and contexts, including education, housing, and the workplace—is one of the most widely used measures of discrimination in health studies. He has served as the staff director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America and as a key scientific advisor to the award-winning PBS film series, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”

Williams has received lifetime distinguished contribution awards from the American Sociological Association, the American Psychological Association, and the New York Academy of Medicine. His research has been featured by such outlets as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC Evening News, CNN, PBS, C-SPAN, and the Discovery Channel.

For more information on the banquet and the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, see www.bc.edu/mlk.

–University Communications

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January 30, 2020

NSF Grants Support Learning, Memory Research

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Psychology and Neuroscience Department faculty members Sara Cordes, Joshua Hartshorne, and Jaclyn Ford have received National Science Foundation grants to support their research projects that focus on different aspects of human learning and memory.

•Cordes, an associate professor, was awarded two grants: $870,968 for “The Developmental Emergence and Consequences of Spatial and Math Gender Stereotypes,” and $479,009 for “Collaborative Research: Social Influences of Math Learning.”

•Hartshorne, an assistant professor, received $706,549 for “CompCog: A Challenge Suite for Statistical Word Segmentation.”

•Ford, a research assistant professor, received $635,528 for “Age Differences in When—Not Whether—Sensory Regions Are Recruited During Memory Retrieval.”

Professor Elizabeth Kensinger, chair of the recently renamed department [see separate story below], said the grants were a testament to the innovative research BC Psychology and Neuroscience faculty is undertaking. “These projects showcase the breadth of methods—neuroscientific, computational, and behavioral—that our faculty are using to understand how humans learn throughout the lifespan, from childhood through older age.

“The broadly overlapping themes of these grants emphasize that the research being led by different faculty interrelates and, together, will provide a more holistic picture of human learning and memory, with the potential to transform how we think about the human ability to learn from instruction and from experience,” said Kensinger, who is co-principal investigator on the memory retrieval project with Ford.

Research Asst. Prof. Jaclyn Ford

One of Cordes’s research projects addresses the heretofore little-explored area of children’s attitudes about spatial abilities and how these, along with views on math skills, may affect female participation and career-attainment in STEM fields. A series of behavioral studies will examine the emergence of and assumptions behind spatial- and math-gender stereotypes; the realworld impacts of spatial-gender stereotypes on STEM participation and achievement in childhood; and the malleability of these stereotypes in hopes of identifying ways to ameliorate their impact early in development.

Cordes’s other NSF-funded project scrutinizes the impact of social contexts in learning difficult mathematical concepts among young children (four to nine years old). This will entail assessing how social framing affects children’s learning of two traditionally counter-intuitive concepts, proportions and negative numbers; exploring factors that facilitate the transfer of knowledge between math concepts in in-

Psychology Adds ‘Neuroscience’ to Its Departmental Name The Psychology Department has formally changed its name to Psychology and Neuroscience, reflecting the department’s integrated approach across these fields of study.

This past fall, the department began offering a major in neuroscience to address a longstanding student demand for the program, capitalize on departmental strengths, and put the University on par with many peer institutions. Neuroscience also offers compelling subject matter for a Jesuit, Catholic university with a liberal arts-based curriculum that champions interdisciplinary work and a concern for the human condition, according to administrators and faculty.

“Our faculty were in strong support of this name change because ‘Psychology and Neuroscience’ more accurately captures the breadth of research and teaching

expertise housed within our department,” said department chair Professor Elizabeth Kensinger. “The department name is now consistent with the majors we offer: BA and BS in psychology, BS in neuroscience.

We expect this will provide greater clarity for current and prospective students, and we are thrilled that this name change has taken place during the first academic year in which the neuroscience major is offered.”

Neuroscience has been one of the fastest-growing disciplines in academia during the past few decades: Studies show the number of undergraduate neuroscience programs in the U.S. tripled from 1996 to 2006 alone, while the number of core journals in neuroscience rose from 11 to 22 during 2006-2015.

–University Communications

formal scenarios in daily life (for example, sharing) and more formal, symbolic-based contexts (such as division); and determining how socio-contextual influences promote or hinder children’s learning.

“The culmination of this work should paint a broader understanding of social influences on math learning, pointing to new directions for math education practices,” she explained in her proposal.

Hartshorne’s work tackles the scientific puzzle of how children manage to acquire language despite limited and inconsistent explicit feedback. “Numerous mathematical results seem to suggest that acquiring a language should be impossible,” he wrote in his grant proposal, “The fact that children do it every day reveals a deep gap in the science of learning.” While research has suggested that an innate ability to detect patterns assists children in learning about language, according to Hartshorne, it is unclear what methods of pattern-detection are used in such situations.

Assoc. Prof. Sara Cordes photos by peter julian and christopher soldt

Snapshot

Asst. Prof. Joshua Hartshorne

His project will involve creating a “challenge suite,” or dataset, to systematically evaluate and compare the pattern-detection methods; in the process, he said, it will determine whether challenge suites are beneficial for the science of learning while providing valuable resources and training to the research community.

Ford and Kensinger will examine whether researchers systematically misinterpret age-related changes in memory by not giving older adults sufficient time to complete tasks during testing situations, therefore leading to ineffective strategies and solutions for their care. The project builds on recent findings that aging may hinder—but not strip away, as has been generally believed—older adults’ ability to engage sensory processes in the service of memory.

“With the population aging and older adults staying in the workforce longer,” they note in their abstract, “the need to understand memory changes that occur with aging is more urgent than ever.”

PHOTO BY FRANK CURRAN

Art After Dark

The McMullen Museum of Art hosted a late-night showing of its new exhibition,“Indian Ocean Current: Six Artistic Narratives,” on Jan. 24 as part of the Art After Dark program aimed at students. The event also featured performances by the Dynamics and Beats, gallery tours, and environmentally themed games.

Chronicle

January 30, 2020

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“Giving up one week of time was nothing compared to the potential benefit for the recipient” – Eric Williamson

Boston to Brazil – and a Life Is Saved Continued from page 1

tional material he read characterized the chances of a bone marrow match as low, but noted that the potential impact on a recipient could be life-saving.

“I was curious, and after learning the risk on my part was very small, I felt there was no reason for me not to sign up,” recalled the Dallas native, a doctoral student in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment department.

Williamson agreed to a cheek swab, which resulted in the addition of his DNA into a worldwide registry—and so began the chain of events that would bring him into the lives of a six-year-old-girl named Thaiza from Sao Paolo, and her parents.

Bone marrow is the fatty tissue within the bone cavities containing stem cells that produce red blood cells, which carry infection-fighting white blood cells and clotproducing platelets. The transplanted marrow replaces tissue damaged or destroyed through disease, infection, or high-dose chemotherapy. According to DKMS, 30 percent of patients find a matching donor within their families, but 70 percent—or nearly 12,000 annually—must rely on a benevolent stranger to voluntarily donate.

What were the chances that the marrow of a tall male Texan would match a little Brazilian girl?

“The lion’s share of our genes are very similar or nearly identical between humans,” explained Biology Professor and Chair Welkin Johnson. “But there are a few exceptions, and one major deviation comprises the genes that encode the socalled human leukocyte antigens (HLA).

The HLA encodes immunity proteins that have evolved to protect the human population from a broad, diverse array of pathogens, and consequently, these genes vary considerably from one person to the next.

“Even siblings can have very different HLA genes, which is why the search for donors involves casting a very wide net to increase the chances of finding a match.

Thus, the most critical element of finding an equivalent is HLA typing. A close HLA match—meaning that the donor and recip-

Last fall, Williamson traveled to Brazil to meet little Thaiza (the photo above is taken from a video of the visit). “Eric is a gift from God to our family,” says Thaiza’s father, Chicao. “He was chosen by God to save her life. He said ‘yes’ simply to be good to his neighbor! We will always be grateful to him for such a noble gesture.” ient’s tissues are more likely to be immunologically compatible—increases the chance that the patient’s body will accept donated cells as its own and not fight them.”

Following graduation from Loyola, Williamson joined AmeriCorps, the national voluntary civil service program, and moved to Boston to teach at a charter school. But in April of 2015, he received a surprising message: His bone marrow matched a cancer patient in need of a transplant. Would he be willing to donate?

After consulting with a surgeon and previous donors at Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute, a worldwide leader in comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution, Williamson underwent the two-hour procedure in July. He spent a

week at home recuperating.

“The worst side effect of the surgery was just some soreness where they withdrew the marrow,” he said. “Giving up one week of time was nothing compared to the potential benefit for the recipient.”

Meanwhile, Williamson’s bone marrow was headed to Brazil, where Thaiza—already a survivor of bone cancer—was undergoing treatment for cancer of her body’s blood-forming tissues at Grupo de Apoio a Crianças e Adolescentes com Câncer (Support Group for Children and Adolescents with Cancer, or GRAACC), an oncology hospital and social-service institution affiliated with the Federal University of São Paulo. GRAACC annually treats as many as 3,500 children and adolescents with cancer

throughout Brazil.

Nearly 18 months after Williamson’s surgery, his bone marrow was transfused into Thaiza, giving her a lifeline and a chance for remission, with success rates running as high as 80 percent.

Now 10 years old, she leads a normal life without restrictions, and returns to GRAACC for regular examinations.

“Eric is a gift from God to our family,” said Thaiza’s father, Chicao. “He was chosen by God to save her life. He said ‘yes’ simply to be good to his neighbor! We will always be grateful to him for such a noble gesture.”

Thaiza understands that her blood was sick, so she had chemotherapy, Chicao explained, and to be cured, she had to change her “blood factory” through a special blood bag, and that Williamson was the donor of this new blood.

“He’s the blood brother she doesn’t have,” said Chicao.

This past September, Williamson received a second unexpected, and extraordinary, surprise: a five-day visit to Sao Paulo arranged and underwritten by GRAACC, so he could meet Thaiza and her parents.

A video crew captured the entire trip, from Boston to Brazil, including the emotional rendezvous between donor and recipient [a video is available at https://youtu.be/5rmm9w-ioc].

“Meeting Thiaza changed my life,” said Williamson. “I’ll always hold in my heart the memory of the first time we saw each other, and the overwhelming feeling of being loved that came from—literally— dozens of hugs from her parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins, and close friends. I felt such overwhelming joy from an entire extended family I didn’t realize I had, all because over seven years ago I happened to stop at a table and swab my cheek.”

“Eric is a very special human being,” said Chicao. “We loved meeting him, and now he is part of our family.”

To learn more about donating bone marrow, which can be done repeatedly, go to www.dkms.org, or call 212-209-6700.

New Online Master’s Program Will Have Global View Continued from page 1

of the nation’s first curriculum and instruction programs to apply global solutions to solve complex educational challenges— with Jesuit studies courses that inspire students to learn about the Jesuit and Ignatian teaching heritage. Students will also have the opportunity to reflect on their own educational settings in the culminating action research courses as they conduct case study analyses and practitioner research.

“Currently, the global Jesuit and Ignatian network includes approximately 800 traditional schools serving nearly 900,000 students, and over 1,300 non-traditional educational settings worldwide,’’ said

UCTC Director Charles Cownie. “Our objective is to meet the ongoing need of domestic and international Jesuit and Catholic schools for highly skilled, intentionally prepared and well-formed educators. This new degree builds upon the more than 470 years of Jesuit educational commitment to forming people of faith committed to justice. Educators completing this degree will learn from the educational heritage of the Jesuits while concurrently engaging in cutting-edge educational research and deep learning.”

One overarching pillar of the program is to explore educational viewpoints across

countries and cultures to form global citizens for the common good. Courses in the program include topics from mobility and immigration to whole-person development while incorporating a global lens to equip educators to serve diverse and increasingly globalized student populations.

“Global citizens go beyond their local and national citizenship to see themselves and their actions as having an impact on the global community,” said Belle Liang, a professor in the Lynch School’s Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology department.

In complement to this pillar, the Soci-

ety of Jesus has named global citizenship as one of the identifiers of a Jesuit school.

“The program merges the Lynch School’s strengths in curriculum and instruction, educational studies, and international education with BC’s rich assets in Jesuit studies,” said Stanton Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., dean of the Lynch School. “We hope to provide the global Jesuit educational community with a professional degree to enhance their crucial work in forming global citizens.”

For more information, contact Charles Cownie (charles.cownie@bc.edu) or Cristiano Casalini (cristiano.casalini@bc.edu).

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January 30, 2020

Niu and Altindis Earn Coveted Research Grants

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Two Boston College scientists have been awarded research grants by the National Science Foundation and the Mathers Foundation.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jia Niu received a five-year, $675,000 CAREER Young Investigator Award from the NSF while the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation selected Assistant Professor of Biology Emrah Altindis for a three-year, $300,000 grant.

Niu’s award will support the project “Radical Cascade-Driven Polymerization and Depolymerization,” which will endeavor to grow polymer chains more uniformly than during a conventional chemical reaction. The NSF CAREER awards program supports early-career faculty in the sciences.

It is the third major grant in the past year for Niu, whose research focuses on creating sustainably-oriented polymers to address pressing needs in biomedicine, materials, and environmental sciences.

Last spring, Niu was one of 10 researchers from across the U.S. to be named a Beckman Young Investigator, which carries with it a four-year, $600,000 grant. In October, he was awarded a $2.3 million National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award, part

Snapshot Unity Breakfast

Celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Faculty, Staff, and Administrators Association at Boston College hosted the Annual Unity Breakfast on Jan. 22. Associate Professor of English Rhonda Frederick was the guest speaker.

Asst. Prof. Jia Niu (Chemistry), left, and Asst. Prof. Emrah Altindis (Biology).

of the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program.

Discussing his project, Niu said conventional acrylic plastics usually have their functional groups—the chemical structures that give them their unique properties—appended on the side of the chain, with the backbone, or “main chain” being simple hydrocarbons. This, however, limits the properties of these plastics and also makes them non-degradable.

“The NSF CAREER-funded project of my lab will develop a new technique that can use PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI

photos by peter julian

radical polymerization to produce plastics with their functional groups incorporated in the backbone, rather than on the side chain,” Niu said. “The important advantages of our technique include creating a completely new class of plastics with novel functions, and making these plastics degradable and sustainable.”

The Mathers Foundation grant will support Altindis’s research on Type 1 diabetes.

Altindis and his team will explore the role of gut microbes and viruses triggering the autoimmunity of Type 1 diabetes.

According to Altindis, molecular mimicry is one autoimmune mechanism in which the immune system cannot distinguish between a foreign antigen that shares a structural similarity with a host protein and the actual host protein.

Altindis recently discovered viral insulins and bacterial insulin epitope mimics. Altindis’s lab is looking for evidence that Type 1 diabetes is caused by a molecular mimicry mechanism, where exposure to a microbial insulin or insulin epitope mimic elicits an autoimmune response, which attacks both the microbial insulin and our own normal insulin and causes Type 1 diabetes.

“The main focus of our lab’s research is to understand the role of microbial mimics of human hormones in human disease and health,” said Altindis. “We are very grateful to receive this award and recognition of our work in this early stage by the Mathers Foundation.

This awarded project is at the center of our research program. It will allow me to ask some high risk/high reward questions that have the potential to better understand the cause of Type 1 diabetes.”

Altindis’s grant marks the first time a University scientist has been awarded funding from the Mathers Foundation, which sponsors scientific research to advance knowledge in the life sciences, with potential translational applications.

A Return to South Africa for Alumna, Via Fulbright Julia Biango, a 2016 Boston College alumna, has won a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to South Africa, where she will work for nine months as an English Teaching Assistant at the University of Pretoria.

Biango, who was scheduled to leave this past weekend, said she also seeks to develop “fruitful cultural interactions and enrich my understanding of South African society.” Among other activities to promote civic engagement, Biango plans to teach community yoga classes and host braais (barbecues) to gather friends, community members, and neighbors “to bond through local social and culinary customs and new experiences.”

This is Biango’s second South African sojourn. As an undergraduate majoring in philosophy and international studies (ethics and social justice track) at BC, she was awarded a McGillycuddy Logue Travel and Research Grant and went to Cape Town, where she explored the concepts of social and economic progress from a developing nation’s perspective.

“I examined contemporary international debates on the social discourses and practices that perpetuate injustice and inequality in South African society,” she explained.

Biango supplemented her studies by working as a tutor in the Manenberg Township and volunteering through an NGO as an instructor at an after-school tutoring project for middle school children.

Julia Biango’16

“I found that development necessitates strides in education, basic resource allocation, race relations, and equal opportunity; it calls for a reversal of compromised historical institutions, which currently serve as barriers to opportunity. Studying in South Africa granted me greater perspective on the linkages between economic and social factors that perpetuate inequalities within society.”

After graduating from BC, Biango went on to study sub-Saharan development policy and global political economy at the Columbia University Master of Arts in Global Thought program, where she earned her degree in 2018.

–Sean Smith

Chronicle

January 30, 2020

7

Adair’s First Book Wins Ritvo Poetry Prize

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

English Department faculty member Allison Adair has been awarded the third annual Max Ritvo Poetry Prize for her forthcoming poetry collection, The Clearing—“a lush, lyrical book about a world where women are meant to carry things to safety and men leave decisively,” according to acclaimed poet Henri Cole.

Cole selected Adair, a professor of the practice, for the prestigious first-book prize, which is named in honor of the late poet and recognizes the work of emerging poets.

“Allison Adair’s poems are haunting and dirt-caked, but there is also a tense beauty everywhere,” he added. “I found The Clearing devastating.”

The prize, which includes a $10,000 award and publication of her book by Milkweed Editions in June, was announced late last fall by Milkweed, in partnership with Riva Ariella Ritvo-Slifka and the Alan B. Slifka Foundation.

“If I could have designed a set of dream

Prof. of the Practice Allison Adair (English): “If I could have designed a set of dream circumstances in which I would publish The Clearing, it would be these.” photo by peter julian

circumstances in which I would publish The Clearing, it would be these,” said Adair. “Milkweed is a stunning press, full of energy and vision—publisher to some of my favorite poets, too, including Ada Limon and Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

“The associations the book will carry with it are so meaningful: Henri Cole, this year’s judge, is someone whose work has inspired me since my undergrad days. And my BC students across various courses will recognize the name of Max Ritvo, the young poet for whom the prize was named. It’s an honor to be in the company of these writers I admire so much, and I hope The Clearing reflects their profound influence,” she added.

Widely published, Adair’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Arts & Letters, Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, and Kenyon Review Online, among other journals. She has been honored with the Pushcart Prize, Florida Review Editors’ Award, and Orlando Prize; she also took first place in MidAmerican Review’s Fineline Competition.

Praising The Clearing, poet Maggie Smith said the title poem leads us “tooth by tooth, line by line, into this dark forest of a book. Adair’s phrases are spell-like, their ingredients mixed in surprising, potent ways. I would follow this poet wherever her mind goes—even into the deepest woods, into memories of grief and loss—and I would trust her words to lead me out again.”

Adair specializes in creative writing, with a focus on poetry and flash fiction and a special interest in digital humanities.

At BC, she teaches a First-Year Writing Seminar, multilevel workshops in poetry, short fiction, creative nonfiction, literature core courses, and electives.

“There is nothing like a competition for a first-book prize to confirm our sense of the richness and liveliness of American poetry today,” says Milkweed Editions Publisher & CEO Daniel Slager. “Hearty congratulations to Allison Adair for winning the third annual Max Ritvo Poetry Prize! We are very excited to publish The Clearing in 2020.”

Fr. Keenan Named Vice Provost for Global Engagement Continued from page 1

the University’s commitment to global engagement, as inscribed in BC’s Strategic Plan, which among other objectives calls for incorporating greater attention to global issues in the undergraduate curriculum and among graduate, professional, and faculty programs, and educating leaders for the Catholic Church around the world.

The blueprint for BC’s global engagement came from a 25-member committee—co-chaired by Godenzi prior to his appointment as vice provost—which during its yearlong (2017-18) study identified areas critical to internationalization, such as pursuing global partnerships and alliances; integrating global education into curriculum, research, and outreach programs; formulating policies and practices to help faculty thrive in global settings; attracting high-achieving students around the world while providing a wide range of international learning opportunities for all students; and emphasizing the academic, faith, and formational characteristics that distinguish BC—especially its Jesuit, Catholic heritage.

A website created in 2018, www.bc.edu/ global, provides an overview of BC’s progress in global engagement, including news of BC partnerships with colleges and universities abroad or organizations such as the Jesuit Refugee Service, research and teaching with an international dimension, and students’ educational and formational activities in other countries.

“I am delighted to follow up on the insightful initiatives that Alberto Godenzi developed,” said Fr. Keenan last week. “He launched a University-wide conversation on global engagement and took noteworthy steps with the International Federation of Catholic Universities, the International

Association of Jesuit Universities, and other networks that furthered BC’s role in the global community. Over the past few days, I have been able to track some of these developments, and I have also discovered how the deans of BC’s schools have engaged other parties across the globe. This conveys to me an extensive and compelling BC interest in being more present throughout the world through recognizable relationships.”

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said he and University President William P. Leahy, S.J., “look forward to working with Jim Keenan in his new role as vice provost for global engagement. His wide-ranging, international collaborations as a moral theologian position him espe-

in 2002. The organization has transformed the field by bringing together thousands of Catholic theological ethicists from more than 70 countries to learn from one another and speak out on pressing issues, such as climate change and migrants and refugees.

Fr. Keenan served as chair of the CTEWC from its founding until he stepped down in 2018. Under his leadership, the CTEWC convened several conferences around the world, published a book series, and launched a scholarship program to support the next generation of ethicists.

“Over the past 18 years of working in a global network, I learned to collaborate with others interested in networking,” said Fr. Keenan. “Anyone who gets others connected is already an enormous asset

Through his various international experiences, Fr. Keenan said, “I have learned firsthand that students, faculty, and administrators elsewhere want to be better acquainted with BC...I look forward to collaborative endeavors with those institutions that can help BC live its mission and attain its well-defined strategic goals.” photo by lee pellegrini

cially well to lead the University’s efforts to expand opportunities for students and faculty to study, research, and serve in and with communities around the world.”

A centerpiece of Fr. Keenan’s international experience is Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC), a worldwide network of some 1,600 theological ethicists and practitioners he founded

for a top-tier research university with an international reach. More specifically, having taught in Rome, Bangalore, Pune, and Manila, I have also learned firsthand that students, faculty, and administrators elsewhere want to be better acquainted with BC. Finally, within the Jesuit network itself, BC has an integral leadership role.

I look forward to collaborative endeavors

with those institutions that can help BC live its mission and attain its well-defined strategic goals.”

Fr. Keenan came to the University in 2003 from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology as the Gasson Professor, a post he held for two years before joining the Theology Department. His research interests include fundamental moral theology, history of theological ethics, Thomas Aquinas, virtue ethics, HIV/ AIDS, genetics, and Church leadership ethics.

In 2018, Fr. Keenan was selected as recipient of the John Courtney Murray Award, presented by the Catholic Theological Society of America in recognition of a lifetime of distinguished theological achievement. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the CTSA, the principal association of Catholic theologians in North America and the largest professional society of theologians in the world.

That same year, he received the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, presented annually by BC students in the national honor society.

This year, he became president-elect of the Society of Christian Ethics.

Fr. Keenan is an accomplished scholar who is the author/co-author or editor/coeditor of numerous books, including Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition; University Ethics: How Colleges Can Build and Benefit from a Culture of Ethics, Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS Prevention, which won an Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award, and The Bible and Catholic Theological Ethics, which received recognition from the Catholic Press Association.

For 20 years, he was the editor of Georgetown University Press’s Moral Traditions series, which produced more than 50 titles.

Chronicle

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January 30, 2020

Principal Interest Learning to run a school is a tough task. A Lynch School faculty member hopes to make it easier.

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

There are numerous books—Amazon lists more than 20,000—written to help and guide school principals, those education leaders who play an absolutely pivotal role in supporting K-12 students worldwide.

Stepping into this crowded field are Lynch School of Education and Human Development Associate Professor Rebecca Lowenhaupt and Northwestern University faculty member James P. Spillane, who coauthored Navigating the Principalship: Key Insights for New and Aspiring School Leaders with an eye toward presenting pragmatic ways for recently hired principals, or those considering the position, to manage the seemingly never-ending job while balancing work and home life.

“We wanted to take an accessible, solution-oriented approach to the enduring dilemmas that all principals face, regardless of where they work,” said Lowenhaupt, who teaches in the Lynch School’s Educational Leadership and Higher Education Department. “Although anchored in the urban environment, the book’s themes are universal to the position and can be applied broadly.”

Underwritten by a grant from the Spencer Foundation, and published by the As-

sociation for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the slim, readable volume is based on original research conducted in Chicago public elementary and middle schools over five years.

“This is a book about practitioners, for practitioners, and based on the accounts of practitioners,” note the authors. “We are confident that the challenges they face mirror the experiences of new principals in many places. Our hope is that by sharing their stories and the dilemmas they managed, we can help others anticipate and manage their own crossings and meet the challenges that come with moving into the principals’ office, and not only becoming but being the principal.”

Often likened to company CEOs—but without the high salary, perks, benefits, and abundant resources—senior school leaders account for 25 percent of a school’s total impact on student learning, according to Jean Desravines, who heads New Leaders, a national nonprofit organization that seeks is to ensure high academic achievement for high-poverty students of color by developing transformational school leaders and advancing policies and practices.

“Principals work strategically to hire the right staff, cultivate effective managers at all levels of their organization, ensure staff are supported and held accountable for

BC School of Social Work and India-based Nonprofit Sign MOU The Boston College School of Social Work and India-based nonprofit Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, formalizing a longstanding relationship and outlining new academic initiatives over the next five years.

FES works with more than 21,000 rural and peri-urban village communities in eight states across India on conservation and restoration of some 6.5 million acres of common and forest lands. The foundation seeks to preserve land and water resources in ecologically fragile or degraded regions and to assist the 11.6 million people living on the front lines of environment and climate risk whose livelihoods depend on these natural assets.

The MOU is a direct outcome of current BCSSW-FES collaborations in India, including projects that model the dynamic complexity of social, ecological, and livelihood systems and examine clean energy options in rural households. More recently, the two have worked on the India Observatory, which utilizes social, economic, and ecological data to inform and empower communities and decision makers.

The BCSSW-FES partnership will accelerate new joint research projects, classes, conferences, symposia, and workshops and calls for BCSSW students and BC undergraduates to engage with FES staff for

practical training through field placements, internships, and research projects. FES staff will receive professional training from BCSSW faculty and staff.

BCSSW Dean Gautam N. Yadama described FES as a critically important partner whose efforts to solve complex social and environmental problems of the poor corresponds with the school’s mission and strategic directions. The relationship with FES also advances BCSSW’s strategic goals to foster innovation in research and practice and to expand its global presence, he said.

“It is these types of partnerships that we need to foster and grow more if universities are going to be talking about local and global impact.”

FES Executive Director Jagdeesh Rao praised the BCSSW-FES partnership, which he said is “focused on understanding how people and nature interface and is technologically driven.”

“Our collective goal is to underscore people and ecosystem dynamics and find viable alternatives that sustain people’s lives and livelihoods while conserving and preserving the Earth’s precious and finite natural resources,” he added.

Read more about the BCSSW-FES Memorandum of Understanding at http://bit.ly/ bcssw-fes-MOU. –Boston College School of Social Work

Rebecca Lowenhaupt: “We provide proven coping strategies for principals as opposed to simple, one-size-fits-all solutions.” photo by tony rinaldo

results, create systems to promote efficient operations, and cultivate a positive culture focused on their vision for success,” says Desravines. “It is not hyperbole to sug-

gest that CEOs—whether of companies or schools—can make or break the success of their organization and in many ways, of our country.”

Lowenhaupt and Spillane, who is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change at Northwestern, examine how new principals adapt to the role, establish an instructional agenda, and build cooperation and collaboration among various stakeholders while facing a dizzying array of daily challenges.

They focus on the problems that define the position, particularly the inevitable and complex conflicts that frequently arise from the collision of worthwhile values that resist simple solutions.

Of particular note is what the authors characterize as the “responsibility dilemma,” a quandary driven by the deluge of new duties and obligations merging with the realization that principals are ultimately accountable for both the successes and failures of their school.

“We provide proven coping strategies for principals as opposed to simple, onesize-fits-all solutions,” said Lowenhaupt.

“We see the book as a useable, ethnographic tool that would be particularly relevant at conferences and training sessions for new education leaders as they chart a course for effective school leadership.”

“This is yet another example of the exciting momentum and belief in our athletics program,” said Athletic Director Martin Jarmond.

Athletics Inks Agreement with Learfield IMG for Multimedia Rights Boston College Athletics has signed a 12year agreement with Learfield IMG College to become the Eagles’ exclusive multimedia rights holder.

Learfield IMG College will manage BC’s corporate partnership program with an experienced on-campus staff dedicated to enhancing athletics sponsorships and traditional and digital media. As part of the new agreement, Learfield IMG College will make investments to improve gameday hospitality opportunities while upgrading digital signage infrastructure throughout BC’s athletics venues.

“This is yet another example of the exciting momentum and belief in our athletics program,” said Martin Jarmond, William V. Campbell Director of Athletics. “I appreciate Learfield IMG College making a significant investment in our partnership and vision for the future.”

Learfield IMG College provides its collegiate partners with access to licensing and multimedia sponsorship management, including publishing, audio, digital, and social media; fan engagement, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems.

“We are thrilled to work with the Learfield IMG College team for the foreseeable future,” said Senior Associate AD for External Relations J.M. Caparro.

“With their expertise, this relationship will allow us the opportunity to maximize our brand exposure regionally and nationally, drive revenue, improve fan engagement, and provide the resources that will benefit our athletic department and, most importantly, our student-athletes.”

Learfield IMG College President and CEO Greg Brown said his company is “honored to represent Boston College and work closely with Martin and his team.

There is strong passion for the BC brand, and we’re passionate about bringing new ideas and innovation in content, technology and sponsor connections to engage fans 365 days a year.”

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Learfield IMG College is a longtime advocate for intercollegiate athletics and the student-athlete experience. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

–Boston College Athletics

Chronicle

January 30, 2020

9

Unearthing History

Boston College researchers and colleagues pinpoint source of unique chemical composition of volcanic rocks

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

A new analysis has revealed the source of oxidation found in rock samples from the coast of Greece, where geological activity spawned explosive arc volcanoes about 45 million years ago, a team of researchers that includes Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Ethan Baxter reports in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Arc volcanic rocks are highly oxidized, which has led scientists to speculate that the fluids coming from subducted oceanic rocks might be the oxidizing agent, said Baxter, a co-author of the report.

To test that hypothesis, Baxter’s team at Boston College, along with colleagues from the Sorbonne, the University of South Carolina, and Durham University (UK), sought to identify a fingerprint of the fluid source in the remnants of ancient subducted oceanic crust found on the Greek island of Sifnos.

The researchers studied samples of large garnet crystals, which contain concentric rings of growth, much like the rings of a tree. Within these rings are chemically unique zones that change from the core of the crystal to the rim, said Baxter. These zones reflect the evolution of the rock system within which the garnet grows over millions of years. In these rocks, the iron isotope composition varies from core to rim in a way that supports the release of an oxidizing fluid.

The team used electron microprobe analysis and iron isotopic analysis to document progressive changes in the rock system recorded in these strongly zoned garnets, said Baxter, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

“Garnet chemical and iron isotope zo-

Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Ethan Baxter at work on the Greek island of Sifnos: “We knew we had found an untapped archive of fluid-related chemical change.”

nation supports the idea that these rocks released oxidizing fluids during subduction,” said Baxter. “We have chemically ‘fingerprinted’ a source of these oxidizing fluids in subduction zones.”

These novel measurements reveal for the first time that garnet crystals preserve zonation of iron isotopic composition from early formed core to later forming rims, the team reports.

“When we found significant zonation in iron isotope composition within these garnets, we knew we had found an untapped

archive of fluid-related chemical change,” said Baxter, who co-authored the report with BC researchers Anna R. Gerrits and Paul G. Starr, Edward C. Inglis of the Sorbonne, Besim Dragovic of the University of South Carolina, and Kevin W. Burton of Durham University.

Baxter said the next steps in this research involve further testing the hypothesis by exploring what caused the fluids to be oxidizing.

“These oxidizing fluids carry certain agents capable of oxidizing rocks they en-

ter,” Baxter said. “The most familiar example would be the way that oxidizing fluids can cause iron-bearing materials to rust as they weather. Based on the garnet chemical zonation, we know the fluids liberated from our samples are oxidizing, but we don’t know why they are oxidizing or what the oxidizing agents are.”

The team is looking at other samples to study and exploring how to reconstruct the timescale over which these fluids were produced using zoned garnet geochronology in Baxter’s lab at Boston College.

OBITUARIES Neil Wolfman, a professor of the practice in the Chemistry Department who earned teaching awards from two Boston College honor societies, died Jan. 15. Dr. Wolfman had been on medical leave for most of the past year after being diagnosed with cancer.

Dr. Wolfman joined the University as a part-time faculty photo by peter julian member in 2000, after having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for nearly 30 years, primarily researching autoimmune diseases and muscle regeneration. He taught General Chemistry to classes comprised predominantly of freshmen, most of them science majors or on the pre-med track.

He also taught in the Gateway Scholars Program, which supports first-generation college students interested in majoring in science. Every year, Dr. Wolfman and his wife Deborah invited students in the program to their house for a homemade

dinner.

In 2015, the Boston College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa selected Dr. Wolfman for its annual Teaching Award. Three years later, he was chosen as Teacher of the Year by the Boston College chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities.

Those who nominated him for the teaching awards consistently emphasized his care for students, with many calling him a mentor and expressing gratitude for his guidance on course selections, job interviews, and graduate school applications.

One student praised Dr. Wolfman for devoting so much attention to “the growth and development of his students.” Another said Dr. Wolfman “pushed his students to think—not just to memorize —chemistry and helped us learn how to love learning.

He has helped me every step of the way during my journey to becoming a scientist.”

A funeral service for Dr. Wolfman was held in Nashville Jan. 19; a memorial service in Boston is planned for next month.

His family asks that pictures, kind words, and memories be sent to neilwolfmanlegacy@gmail.com.

[Read the full obituary at bit.ly/wolfman-obituary] Retired Boston College Police Captain Walter Durrane, who served in a number of roles during his 36 years at the University, died on Jan. 12 at age 84. A funeral Mass was held last Friday at St. Ignatius Church.

The son of an Irish cleaning woman from Mission Hill, Captain Durrane had been working in the production department of the old Boston HeraldTraveler but lost his job when the newspaper folded in 1972. He answered a classified ad for a security officer at Boston College, and thus began his long association with the University. He stayed

with the BC Police Department for 28 years, working his way up from patrol officer to captain.

Speaking with the Boston College Chronicle upon his retirement from the BCPD in 2000, Captain Durrane explained that his philosophy “has always been to resolve things as amicably as possible. Just give people a chance, and within two or three minutes, they’ll calm down. If you treat people patiently, and listen to their side of the story, things usually get resolved.”

He continued working part-time at BC as a security guard at the McMullen Museum of Art for eight years.

[Read the Chronicle interview with Captain Durrane at bit.ly/durrane-retirement] Custodian Ee Cho, 62, died on Dec. 17. He is survived by his wife, E Mwe (Chan) Cho; his daughters, Shirley—an academic resource and operations specialist at the University’s Center for Teaching Excellence—Sandy Brothers and Suzanne Brogan; and three grandchildren.

–University Communications

Chronicle

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January 30, 2020

Justice on the Agenda for Lowell Humanities Series Lowell Humanities Series Director James Smith sees a common thread among the distinguished speakers who are appearing this semester in the series, which begins Feb. 5.

“They all tackle issues of justice in their work: justice and religion, climate justice, global (in)equity, and social justice related to race and ethnicity,” according Smith, an associate professor of English.

The Feb. 5 annual Candlemas Lecture features Sarah Coakley, an honorary professor at St. Andrews University and visiting professorial fellow at Australian Catholic University, who will present “‘For Mine Eyes Have Seen Thy Salvation’: Spiritual Perception and the Works of Justice in Christian Tradition.” Recent publications

by Coakley—whose research interests are disciplines related to systematic theology, including the philosophy of science, the philosophy of religion, patristics, and feminist theory—include a series of her 2012 lectures titled Sacrifice Regained: Evolution, Cooperation and God. The event, in Gasson 100, is co-sponsored by the Theology Department.

All series events begin at 7 p.m. and are held in Gasson 100 unless otherwise indicated.

Feb. 12: Amitav Ghosh, “Embattled Earth: Commodities, Conflict and Climate Change in the Indian Ocean”— Ghosh’s writing, which includes nine novels and six works of nonfiction, has been translated into more than 30 languages and appeared in publications including The New Yorker, New Republic, and New York Times. In addition to his latest book, last year’s Gun Island, recent works include The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable and Flood of Fire, the concluding novel of his Ibis trilogy. He is the first Indian English-language writer to earn the Jnanpith Award for outstanding contributions to literature. Co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program, History and English departments, with the support of an Institute for the Liberal Arts Major Grant Award. This event is related to the current McMullen Museum exhibition, “Indian Ocean Current: Six Artistic Narratives.”

Feb. 26: Mae M. Ngai, “The Chinese Question, the Gold Rushes and Global Politics”—A U.S. legal and political historian interested in questions of immigration, citizenship, and nationalism, Ngai is the author of the award-winning Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America and The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America. Among other publications, she has written on immigration history and policy for the Washington Post, New York Times, and The Nation. Her current projects include The Chinese Question, a study of Chinese gold miners and racial politics in 19th-century California, Australia, and South Africa; and Nation of Immigrants: A Short History of an Idea.

Ngai is the Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University. Co-sponsored by the History Department.

(Clockwise from top left) Lowell Humanities Series speakers this semester are Sarah Coakley, Amitav Ghosh, Min Jin Lee, Ada Limón, Claudia Rankine, and Mae M. Ngai. photos by ivo van der bent (ghosh) and elena seibert (lee)

March 25: Fiction Days presents Min Jin Lee, “Pachinko”—Author of National Book Award finalist Pachinko and Free Food for Millionaires, Lee has received fellowships in fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, NPR’s Selected Shorts, and in other publications.

Lee is a writer-in-residence at Amherst College, serves as a trustee of PEN America, and as a director of the Authors Guild.

Co-sponsored by the American Studies and

Asian American Studies programs.

April 1 (Yawkey Center Murray Function Room): Claudia Rankine, “Citizen: An American Lyric”—Rankine is the author of five collections of poetry, including Citizen: An American Lyric and Don’t Let Me Be Lonely; two plays: “The White Card” which also was published, and “Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue.” The editor of anthologies including The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind, she co-founded The Racial Imaginary Institute in 2016.

Her numerous awards and honors include

the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, the Poets & Writers’ Jackson Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, United States Artist, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and the Yale University Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry. Co-sponsored by the American Studies and African and African Diaspora Studies programs, the English, History, and Sociology departments, and Boston College PULSE: Celebrating 50 Years of Service; with the support of an Institute for the Liberal Arts Major Grant Award.

April 22 (Devlin 101): Poetry Days presents Ada Limón, “The Carrying”— Limón’s five books of poetry include The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and was named one of the top five poetry books of 2018 by The Washington Post. Her book, Bright Dead Things, was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Limón serves on the faculty of Queens University of Charlotte Low Residency MFA program, and the online and summer programs for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center.

Smith urges faculty to incorporate the series into their classroom by utilizing the Resources for Teachers and Students feature on the Lowell Humanities Series website [www.bc.edu/lowellhs] and encourage their students to attend its events.

Lowell Humanities Series events are free and open to the public. The series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, BC’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties.

–University Communications

Park Street Corporation Speaker Series in Health, Humanities, and Ethics Starts Tonight The Park Street Corporation Speaker Series in Health, Humanities, and Ethics spring schedule begins at 7 p.m. tonight with “Medicine for Mission: Shifting the Paradigm,” presented by Thea L. James, MD, a former winner of the David H. Mulligan Award for public service, in McGuinn 121.

Sponsored by the Park Street Corporation and by Boston College’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series seeks to engage students in exploring values and ethics related to health and health care practices.

An associate professor of emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center/ Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. James focuses on domestic and global public health. She also serves as the associate chief medical officer, vice president of mission, and director of the Violence Intervention Advocacy Program at Boston Medical Center. As a supervising medical officer on the Boston Disaster Medical Assistance Team, under the Department of

Health and Human Services, she has been deployed to post-9/11 New York City and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and to Iran and Haiti following earthquakes in those countries. Her appearance is cosponsored by the PULSE Program.

All Park Street Series events begin at 7 p.m.

Feb. 6: Gregory D. Zimet, professor of pediatrics and clinical psychology at Indiana University School of Medicine will speak on “Hard Choices: Ethical, Political, and Pragmatic Challenges around HPV Vaccine Delivery” in Gasson 100. Codirector of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Center for HPV Research, and a past president of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, Zimet began investigating attitudes about vaccines for adolescents in the mid-1990s.

His research has involved the study of vaccine acceptance and refusal, attitudes about HPV vaccine, and the behavioral and social determinants of HPV vaccination. He is

co-investigating the impact of HPV vaccine school-entry requirements on vaccination rates and has co-authored several articles on policy and ethical issues related to HPV vaccination.

March 19: Norman Spack, MD, will discuss “Treating Transgender Early Adolescents Medically to Avoid Self-Harm” in Gasson 100. A senior associate emeritus in the Endocrine Division of Boston Children’s Hospital, where he has been on staff for 45 years, Dr. Spack co-founded the Gender Management Service” (“GeMS”) at Boston Children’s Hospital, an interdisciplinary clinic for transgender adolescents.

The only program of its kind outside of Europe, GeMS became the model for 70 comparable clinics operating throughout North America. Dr. Spack has received numerous awards for his teaching, writing, clinical care, and community service.

For more information, see www.bc.edu/ park-street-series.

—University Communications

Chronicle

January 30, 2020

WELCOME ADDITIONS

BC in the Media

An Introduction to New Faculty at Boston College Melissa Fitzpatrick

(PhD).

Assistant Professor of the Practice, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Boston University (BS); Loyola Marymount University (MA); Boston College

WHAT SHE STUDIES: Moral psychology,

social responsibility, philosophy of pedagogy, pre-college philosophy.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Portico

You wrote your BC dissertation on the importance of “self-disruption” in ethical development. What is this concept and how does it contribute to your teaching in CSOM’s Portico program?

“My dissertation argues for the significance of ‘self-disruption’ —the experience of being torn away from self-concern by something other—in ethical development, especially as incited through conversation. This is an activity that I try to employ during our discussions in Portico, pushing students to step out of their comfort zone, think beyond their current perspectives, and attempt to see the world through a different lens.”

Ryan Hanley

Chicago (PhD)

Professor of Political Science, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: University of Pennsylvania (BA); University of Cambridge (MPhil); University of

Joseph Tassarotti

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Harvard College (AB); Carnegie Mellon University (PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Programming languages and formal verification.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Randomness and Computation

You recommend that computer scientists study probability theory. Why?

“Randomness is essential to many areas of computer science—algorithms can use it to run faster or use less space, for instance. But it’s challenging to study probability theory because we humans have poor intuitions for randomness, and so we see patterns where there are none and misestimate how likely events are. Here’s an example: Say you have a room with 23 randomly selected people in it. What are the chances that at least two of them have the same birthday?

Most people expect this number to be quite small, but it turns out that there’s a greater than 50 percent chance. That might just seem like an amusing curiosity, but variants of this example turn up over and over again in computer science. By applying the formal rules of probability theory, we can overcome our flawed intuitions.”

Lai Wei

WHAT HE STUDIES: Political philosophy of the Enlightenment period.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Politics and

Literature; Enlightenment Political Theory; Adam Smith.

Imagine Adam Smith was able to travel through time to our day and age. Apart from the obvious differences (e.g. fashion, advances in technology, etc.), what do you think he would find most fascinating—or disturbing—about our era?

“Adam Smith was a remarkably balanced thinker who was able to see the pros and cons in everything. I suspect he’d take the same approach to surveying our world. On the plus side, he’d welcome the remarkable advancements we’ve made to reducing global poverty. But he’d also be worried by two other phenomena: the politically destabilizing effects of growing economic inequality, and the ways in which market culture incentivizes certain forms of selfcenteredness. And as someone always concerned to help us minimize costs and maximize the benefits of market society, I suspect he’d encourage us to try to recover certain virtues, especially prudence and benevolence and self-command.”

(PhD).

Assistant Professor of Operations Management, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Shanghai Jiao Tong University (BA); University of Michigan

WHAT SHE STUDIES: Omni-channel and e-commerce logistics, inventory management, and product strategy and pricing analytics.

WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Business Statistics

What led to your interest in retailing?

“Retailing is an industry with lots of

dynamics. Retailers have been experimenting with different practices, which affects customers’ behavior. New patterns of customers’ behaviors could also, in turn, affect retailers’ optimal strategies. Such interaction between retailers and customers could happen in different aspects, including logistics, inventory decisions, and pricing decisions. Retailing also is closely related to our daily lives. Everyone intensively interacts with retailers. Some of my research questions come from daily life, where I was intrigued by the drivers or mechanisms behind the observations of interesting or counterintuitive retailing strategies.”

—Ed Hayward and Sean Smith

Carroll School of Management Drucker Professor Alicia Munnell, director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, spoke with National Public Radio about the SECURE Act, which aims to help Americans without workplace retirement plans. Her comments about U.S. workers delaying retirement were cited by The Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

Asst. Prof. Ali Kadivar (Sociology/International Studies) discussed the widespread anti-government protests in Iran—both in recent weeks and last fall—in a number of media appearances, including interviews with independent news show “Democracy Now” and opinion pieces for The Washington Post and Foreign Affairs.

The controversy surrounding publication of a book co-authored by Benedict XVI underscores the need to rethink norms for retired popes, wrote Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology Richard Gaillardetz in National Catholic Reporter.

The Irish Times and Belfast News reported on a letter, “A Unified Approach to Loneliness,” published in the medical journal The Lancet by a group of academics, researchers, and public health officials—including Prof. Emeritus James Lubben (BCSSW)— from the U.S., UK, Ireland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Prof. Christopher Baum (Economics) spoke with Reuters on research he copublished in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine indicating that state laws restricting access to family planning and abortion are contributing to rising rates of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S.

Nota Bene Clough Professor of History James O’Toole was presented with a Distinguished Teaching Award by the American Catholic Historical Association at its 100th annual meeting in New York City.

The association is a conference of scholars, archivists, and teachers of Catholic studies whose mission is to promote a deeper and more widespread knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church and advance historical scholarship in all fields among its members.

photos by peter julian

Student Art Awards Nominations Due Feb. 3 The Boston College Arts Council is accepting nominations until Feb. 3 for student art awards, which will be presented at the annual spring Arts Festival. The awards recognize outstanding contribution to the arts by fostering, expanding, or participating in the arts on campus or in the community. Candidates become eligible in their sophomore year and may receive the award only once for an ongoing contribution. For the first time this year, student arts groups are eligible for the award, and

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may receive it only once every five years.

Nominators may be faculty or staff and should have some direct connection or supervisory role with the student or group nominated. The Arts Council awards subcommittee selects the recipients.

For more information, and to make nominations, click on the “Arts Council Awards” link at the Arts Council home page, www.bc.edu/arts.

–University Communications

Associate Professor of Music Ralf Yusuf Gawlick’s string quartet “Imagined Memories (Bîranînên Xeyalî)” was recognized as one of the Top Albums of 2019

by Global Music Awards. “This is an intensely personal work: a musical offering to the composer’s biological mother he never knew,” read the citation. “This new piece…is a major essay of haunting and evocative beauty, representing the intersection of memories, both real and imagined, of three personalities whose paths crossed only briefly.” [Read an interview with Gawlick about “Imagined Memories” at http://bit.ly/gawlick-imaginedmemories]

Companies must recognize and embrace transformative powers of artificial intelligence, Prof. Sam Ransbotham (CSOM) contended in a Sloan Management Review podcast.

Libby Professor of Theology and Law Cathleen Kaveny explained what culture warriors get wrong when they debate political and religious issues in an essay for Commonweal magazine.

Catholic News Service distributed a column written by Assoc. Prof. Hosffman Ospino (STM) about an Austin, Tex., organization that helps economically disadvantaged, and mostly Hispanic, children to attend Catholic schools.

Prof. Thomas Groome (STM) described

the changes and defining moments in religion over the past 10 years as a guest on WBUR’s “Radio Boston.”

Is there really such a thing as sustainable shopping? Prof. Juliet Schor (Sociology) offered comments on the social process of consumption and materialist vs. throwaway culture for a piece that ran in the Boston Sunday Globe “Ideas” section.

Jobs The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Research Economist, Academic Affairs/ Provost Assistant Director, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs/Provost Recovery House Manager, Student Affairs/Residential Life Senior Accounts Payable Assistant, Financial/Budget Associate Director, Career Advising & Programming, Academic Affairs/Provost Director, Center for Isotope Geometry, Academic Affairs/Provost Senior Associate Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations, University Advancement International Student Advisor, Academic Affairs/Provost Associate/Senior Associate Directors, Major Giving, University Advancement Geographic Information Systems Research Consultant, Information Technology Fiscal & Procurement Assistant, Student Affairs/Residential Life Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Academic Affairs/Provost Program Director, Ever to Excel, President’s Office Stewardship and Donor Engagement Specialist, University Advancement Manager, Financial Applications & Reporting, Financial/Budget

Chronicle

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January 30, 2020

BC Global

A Path Away From Revenge and Hatred

School of Theology and Ministry, Jesuit Refugee Service aid reconciliation effort in Uganda

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Violent political conflicts in South Sudan have driven more than one million people over the border into Uganda. But the politically manipulated tribal animosities that caused their flight from South Sudan have traveled with them: They live in settlements alongside people from other ethnic groups who have inflicted serious, even deadly, harm to the refugees and their families.

How to overcome the conflict and tensions of the past? A collaboration between Boston College and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) may provide an answer.

JRS—an international Catholic organization that accompanies, serves, and advocates on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons—reached out to BC’s School of Theology and Ministry to help develop a faith-based reconciliation training program. The BC representatives worked closely with JRS for months to design a five-day workshop to build capacity for reconciliation and peace-building among refugees.

Last August, STM Associate Professor Ernesto Valiente, Professor of Theology Stephen Pope, and STM doctoral candidate Rev. Matthias Wamala traveled to Adjumani, a town in the northern region of Uganda, to conduct the workshop for 55 young people (ages 18–30), who were identified by JRS and community leaders as having the potential to become agents of change in their settlements. There, the BC team worked with JRS representatives Diana Rueda, a reconciliation and social cohesion assistant for JRS International, and Claudine Nana Tchuingwa, a peace and reconciliation coordinator for JRS Uganda (Adjumani).

The workshop they developed centers around five modules: how personal and group identity is created; how listening well to the stories of others can reveal similarities; the causes and effects of their experience of anger, hatred, and violence; the resources in their own communities that might enable them to move beyond animosity toward each other; and how to build empathy, community, and peace.

Some discussions focused on cultivating empathy and the problem with collective responsibility or blaming an entire group for the actions of a single member.

“Our focus is to accompany refugees in their journey to rebuild their life projects,” said Rueda. “They have their own capacities to do so, we are just a guide for them to unlock, rediscover, or strengthen those capacities.

“BC is part of our learning community

(Above) Closing ceremony for the reconciliation program organized by the School of Theology and Minstry and the Jesuit Refugee Service. Says BC Theology Professor Stephen Pope of the participants, “I was so impressed with their desire to forgive people from groups who had really hurt them, and in many cases, even killed people in their families.”

that offers not only opportunities for contextualization of our principles but also different methodologies and perspectives that enrich our approach and training materials.”

Other BC members of the JRS-STM Reconciliation Project are STM Associate Professor Melissa Kelley; retired international educator Doc Miller, who worked for Facing History, Facing Ourselves for more than 30 years; and STM Associate Director of Supervised Ministry/Global & Community Engagement Marcia Ryan.

STM Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., noted that Ryan, who coordinated with the JRS representatives on the logistics, was particularly instrumental in this initiative.

The project is a component of JRS’s global strategy that includes making faithbased reconciliation and social cohesion integral priorities and strengthening the capacities of the JRS teams, refugees, and host communities to resolve conflict, address causes of discrimination and violence, and strive together for individual and communal transformation. It also reflects the longstanding ties between BC and JRS, which last year entered into a formal partnership.

The impetus for the reconciliation project came from a meeting in Rome between JRS International Director Thomas H. Smolich, S.J., and Fr. Stegman, who cites the program as a response to the call by Jesuit Superior General Arturo Sosa, S.J., for the Society of Jesus to “accompany and serve” refugees and—echoing a plea by Pope Francis—for the international community to mount a shared response.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Uganda has more than 1.4 million refugees, making it

the largest refugee host country in Africa.

In Adjumani, there are about 200,000 refugees living in some six settlements.

“The refugees need to feel heard and have their grievances acknowledged,” said Pope. “But through the workshops, we want them to see that their past conflicts do not have to define their future, and to help them imagine a path from revenge and hatred to cooperation and partnership.”

The future of the refugees—whether they can ever return home, and if not, where they will settle—is unclear. This uncertainty, coupled with poverty and lack of jobs and education, exacerbates an already strained situation, according to Valiente and Pope.

Though the situation in the settlements in Uganda is quite challenging, Valiente— who teaches the STM class Reconciliation in a World of Conflict—said his encounter with the participants left him hopeful.

“We were impressed with the demeanor of the young people. There was a gentleness and resilience about them. There was an openness to change,” he said.

“They were exceptionally open to hear the story of the other, people who they had been told all their life they should be suspicious of,” added Pope. “I was so impressed with their desire to forgive people from groups who had really hurt them, and in many cases, even killed people in their families.”

A priest from Kampala, Uganda, Fr. Wamala was himself a refugee and his experience and cultural knowledge contributed immensely to the program, according to team members.

The project capitalizes on the strengths and skill sets of both BC and JRS, according to Pope. Boston College faculty combined their research and scholarship in the area of reconciliation with JRS staff’s practical experience on the ground.

Pope said he has a long-standing admiration for JRS. He first visited JRS refugee camps in 2003 in Tanzania and worked with JRS in Cambodia four years ago to help create a pamphlet on interreligious peace building. “Accompaniment is the most distinctive part of JRS. From being with the people, [JRS] knows the best way to serve them and what to advocate for.”

The workshop in Uganda ended with action steps for the participants on how they will replicate the lessons learned and work in their own communities to mitigate conflict and promote peace-building initiatives.

Another BC contingent will return to Uganda this year to work directly with some 50 religious leaders in the settlements.

A workshop in progress. The impetus for the program came from a meeting between School of Theology and Ministry Dean Thomas Stegman, S.J., and Jesuit Refugee Service International Director Thomas Smolich, S.J.