The Boston College
Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs Summer 2013 Edition
Moore Heads Up Alumni Relations; Feudo Joins Development
INSIDE •Quad reconstruction update, page 2 •Racing scull named for Fr. Kennedy, page 2 •Good marks for BC Athletics in report, page 2 •Darcy wins Community Service Award, page 3
Former Boston College hockey player Ben Smith ’10, now a member of the National Hockey League champion Chicago Blackhawks, stopped by Conte Forum on July 16, bringing with him the Stanley Cup to show his former coach, Jerry York. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
•Padilla lab sees progress in terahertz work, page 3 •Kempa paper wins an award, page 4 •Smith: compensation does not resolve “Magdalenes” controversy, page 4 •University hosts major conference on vocations, page 5
•Epstein off to Russia on Fulbright grant, page 5 •Two named as Lilly Fellows, page 5 •CSON presents Kelleher Award, page 5 •Walk Across Campus program gathers pace, page 6 •Gaillardetz assumes CTSA presidency, page 6 •Clough, Gilman scholars are announced, page 6 •Fr. Hollenbach cited by Catholic Press Assoc., page 7 •BC students learn the art of books, page 8
Summers a National Humanities Ctr. Fellow By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
Associate Professor of History Martin A. Summers has been named as a Fellow at the National Humanities Center for the 2013-14 academic year, joining 35 other distinguished scholars from institutions across the United States, Canada, France and Russia. Chosen from more than 400 applicants, NHC fellows — who represent humanistic scholarship in history, literature, philosophy, anthropology, art history, classics, mu-
sicology, and religion — work on individual research projects and have the opportunity to share ideas in seminars, lectures, and conferences at the center, located in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina. Summers, who also teaches in the African and African Diaspora Studies Program, is the first recipient of the center’s newly established Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Fellowship for his research project, “Race, Madness, and the State: A History of Saint Elizabeths Hospital and Washington, DC’s African American Community, 1855-
1987.” “I’m thrilled to have been chosen for such a prestigious honor,” said Summers, the third Boston College faculty member to be selected as an NHC Fellow, along with English Professor Kevin J. Ohi (2004-05) and Professor of Theology Rev. James Weiss (1986-87). “My last external research fellowship — at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study during 2007-08 — was what originally brought me to Boston, which eventually resulted in me joining Boston College. Continued on page 4
Joy Moore, former director of stewardship and donor relations in University Development, has been appointed associate vice president for alumni relations, Senior Vice President for University Advancement James Husson announced. A 1981 alumna who received an honorary degree at the 2010 Commencement Exercises for her work with the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, Moore succeeds John Feudo ’82, who after seven years in the alumni relations post has joined University Development as senior development officer. Husson said the leadership transition would strengthen the University’s $1.5 billion “Light the World” campaign, which earlier this year crossed the $1 billion threshold. A major facet of the campaign’s success, he said, is “providing compelling Continued on page 3
BC Scientists Aid in Developing New Form of Carbon Electronic properties of nanographene can be modified in predictable manner By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Chemists at Boston College and Nagoya University have together synthesized the first example of a new form of carbon, the team reports in the most recent edition of the journal Nature Chemistry. This new material consists of many identical pieces of grossly warped graphene, each containing exactly 80 carbon atoms joined together in a network of 26 rings, with 30 hydrogen atoms decorating the rim. These individual
molecules, because they measure somewhat more than a nanometer across, are referred to generically as “nanocarbons,” or more specifically in this case as “grossly warped nanographenes.” Until recently, scientists had identified only two forms of pure carbon, diamonds and graphite. Then in 1985, chemists were stunned by the discovery that carbon atoms could also join together to form hollow balls, known as fullerenes. Since then, scientists have also learned how to make long, ultra-thin, hollow tubes of carbon
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atoms, known as carbon nanotubes, and large flat single sheets of carbon Joy Moore ’81 atoms, known as graphene. The discovery of fullerenes was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996, and the preparation of graphene was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Graphene sheets prefer planar, two-dimensional geometries as a consequence of the hexagonal, chicken wire-like, arrangements of trigonal carbon atoms comprising their two-dimensional networks. The new form of carbon just report- John Feudo ’82 Continued on page 4 (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)
“The benefits of walking and related activities — even for just a short time each day — are well-known, of course. But it seems the program goes beyond the physical benefits: People are developing a real sense of camaraderie — they see the Fitbit and have an instant connection — and that is healthy in and of itself.” —Associate Vice President for Human Resources Robert Lewis, page 6