Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs february 28, 2013 vol. 21 no. 12

Core Renewal Effort Seen As Making Good Progress

INSIDE •BC Idol returns tonight, page 2 •First Startup Fair, page 2

Adj. Assoc. Prof. Brian Braman (Philosophy) at a recent Perspectives class, which includes plenty of reading (photo below) as well as discussion. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)

•In wake of Nemo, BC says “Thanks,” page 2 •Hoveyda team creates catalysts, page 3 •USBWA honors SID Dick Kelley, page 3 •CSON dean enters hall of fame, page 3 •Sesquicentennial Q&A: Wayne Budd, page 4

•Two win Sloan Fellowships, page 5 •10 years on for Council for Women of BC, page 7 •Wen heads up technology transfer and licensing, page 9 •Affinity Groups, page 9 •Relay for Life, page 10

•BC Assoc. of Retired Faculty update, page 10 •Graver to talk about her new book, page 12

sultancy, on a renewal of BC’s undergraduate core curriculum, which was last revised in the early 1990s.

Core Renewal Committee coA broad-based effort to review and revitalize Boston College’s un- chair Mary Crane, the Rattigan dergraduate core curriculum has Professor of English and director made significant progress, having of the Institute for the Liberal Arts, produced a draft of goals and ob- and committee member DeLuca jectives that will serve as a basis Professor of Biology Thomas Chiles said the document for upcoming corerelated initiatives and Work continues on describes several “experience pillars” that programs.

The document — a draft of goals and should be the core’s goals in contributing still undergoing reviobjectives that will to BC students’ edusion — is the result of serve as a basis for cation. These include extensive discussions during the past few core-related initiatives inspiring intellectual engagement, establishmonths by the Core and programs. ing enduring foundaRenewal Committee tions and charting a with groups of faculty, administrators, staff, students purposeful journey, said Crane and and other stakeholders in the Uni- Chiles.

“What we sought to do is idenversity community. Formed last year, the committee is collaborating tify major themes for the core that with Continuum, an acclaimed in- all the groups we spoke with could novative thinking and design conContinued on page 5

By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

Instilling a Love of Great Books

Undergraduates who embrace the challenges of Philosophy’s Perspectives Program relish its rewards

By Jack Dunn Director of News & Public Affairs

For senior Bryan Cocchiara, his freshman-year decision to enroll in the Perspectives Program — a four-year interdisciplinary course of study grounded in the great books of Western culture — was based on a practical desire to satisfy his core requirements. But like so many students who embraced the challenge of the Philosophy Department’s signature program, something unexpected occurred along the way.

“I fell in love with the material — Aristotle, Aquinas, Nietzsche, Kant — which forced me to acknowledge my place in the world and my particular answers to the enduring questions of humanity: Namely, who are we, what are we doing, and where are we going?” said Cocchiara, a Holmdel, NJ, native. “It fulfilled me intellectually, oriented me spiritually and contributed a great deal to my personal growth and development.

But above all, it allowed me to develop deep relationships not only with superb faculty, but with some of the brightest and most thoughtful students at Boston College.”

Described by its student and alumni participants as the most academically challenging and rewarding experience of their four years, Perspectives integrates the humanities and natural sciences by bringing faculty and students into conversation with the ancient,

modern and contemporary thinkers who have shaped Western intellectual and spiritual thought.

Divided into four year-long sections, Perspectives I, or Perspectives on Western Culture, attracts some 580 of the University’s top freshmen from all four schools and colleges, immersing them in the works of the Greek philosophers, the Bible, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Calvin, Ignatius, Freud and Marx. In addition to the classroom lectures and extensive readings, the freshmen meet weekly with their instructors to discuss the assigned material and explore ways in which the course can help to shape students’ lives and the choices they make.

On average, some 70-80 students will choose to continue the Perspectives Program during sophomore and junior years. During the second-year course, Perspectives II, Modernism and the Arts, students Continued on page 8

QUOTE:

March 23 Sesquicentennial Concert

Students Relish Chance to Perform at Symphony Hall form include the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (by the Symphony only), Camille The University Chorale, the Saint-Saen’s “Tollite Hostias” — Boston College Symphony Or- which Finney describes as a “sigchestra, BC bOp! and the Uni- nature piece” for the combined versity Wind Ensemble will take the stage on March 23 in Boston’s Symphony Hall for a Sesquicentennial concert open to Boston College students, parents, alumni, friends, faculty and staff.

The Chorale and the Symphony Orchestra will perform during the first half — which includes a ensembles — and, as a climax, the guest appearance by actor Chris “Hallelujah Chorus,” with which O’Donnell ’92, who will narrate the audience will be invited to Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Por- participate.

The University Wind Ensemble trait” — with BC bOp! and the University Wind Ensemble round- will present an all-Leonard Berning out the event, which begins at stein program, including the beloved “Symphonic Dances from 2 p.m.

In addition to “A Lincoln Por- ‘West Side Story’” and “Slava!” trait,” other selections the Chorale The set by BC bOp! will feature Continued on page 4 and Symphony Orchestra will perBy Sean Smith Chronicle Editor

“When we went around the room and asked, ‘Did you ever have a mental health issue or have a friend who has had a mental health issue?’ Everyone raised a hand.”

— Asian Caucus of Boston College Co-President Matthew Alonsozana ’14, page 6

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Chronicle february 28, 2013

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Dylan Enright of Rightside, left, with Alice Chen ’14 and Albert Margossian ’13.

Carroll School of Management Associate Professor and BCVC advisor John Gallaugher said not only were current students widely represented, but many of the startups in attendance were founded by, or hired, BC alumni.

“This is truly a student effort, they deserve all the credit,” said Gallaugher. “It’s great to see students organize an event that exposes their peers to what is out there while inviting back some of our successful alumni to share their first-hand experiences.”

Over the past four years, said event organizer Sofia Papastamelos ’13, participation in the Boston College Venture Competition, as well as the “Elevator Pitch” Competition — in which students deliver a 60-second presentation to a panel of experienced venture capitalists and entrepreneurs — has grown significantly. The BCVC offers teams up to $20,000 to invest in an original startup business plan. The BCVC also gave rise to BCVC SEED (Social Entrepreneurs Envisioning Development)

and just being here over the past couple years, I have really seen the entrepreneurial spirit at Boston College grow. Students want to get experience and get involved, and I think the popularity of the events shows that.

“Some of the people here today are the co-founders or CEOs. It ranges from two guys putting together an app to companies that have a couple hundred people in them so there is a really diverse crowd,” Papastamelos said.

Fairly new companies like Jebbit and RunKeeper joined established industry leaders Etsy and Wayfair to offer a wide range of opportunities for students to investigate. Students talked with representatives from each of the companies, sometimes looking for advice, other times vying for internships.

“BCVC is also trying to provide other outlets for students to get involved with entrepreneurship startups, early stage tech companies and grow the innovative community at Boston College,” Papastamelos said.

As for advice to her peers, Papastamelos said the message was simple.

“My number one piece of advice is to get out there. This is a really rare event. You cannot stay on campus and expect the startups are going to find you,” said Papastamelos. “I hope students walk out today knowing that they should get out and start to develop a network so they can be successful in this highly competitive industry.”

For more information on BCVC, see www.bcvc.org. A video about the Startup Fair is available at www.youtube.com/bcchronicle.

—Melissa Beecher

CA

Jobs well done

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Juniors Maria Guillen-Gutierrez ’14, at left, and Brooke Dawley, far right, listen to Leaf representatives Isabella Townson and Alex MacKenzie talk about their company at the Feb. 18 Startup Fair. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)

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that combines the fundamentals of entrepreneurship with the Jesuit ideal of “men and women for others” by providing an avenue for students looking to establish social ventures.

The Startup Fair was the natural progression to get students thinking about life beyond BC, Papastamelos said.

“When I came in as a freshman

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Hundreds of students and dozens of Boston’s hottest startup companies packed the Corcoran Commons Heights Room last week for Boston College’s first Startup Fair.

Organized by the Boston College Venture Competition, the Feb. 18 event brought some of the city’s tech startups to campus, offering students a chance to gain more insight into the industry.

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A place to start

No Idol gesture What was once a small gathering of a few dozen Boston College students has morphed into an annual campus event that draws hundreds — and in the process benefits a local school.

BC Idol boasts, arguably, the best singers BC has to offer and has quickly become a major fundraising initiative to support the St. Columbkille Partnership School’s music programs. Tonight’s ninth annual BC Idol at Robsham Theater, beginning at 7 p.m., offers both BC and St. Columbkille students a chance to step into the spotlight.

Student Programs Office Assistant Director of Leadership Development Mer Zovko said the event brings together many groups across the BC and Brighton communities.

“BC Idol has become as popular as it has, I believe, because of the partnership Boston College has developed with St. Columbkille’s over the years,” said Zovko. “Not only do we showcase 10 very talented BC performers, we also showcase the top winners of the St. Columbkille Talent Show, which began as a result of Emerging Leadership Program’s partnership with the school.

“Every dollar that we generate goes directly to supporting the music program at St. C’s. Over the last two years, we’ve been able to contribute over $7,000 to sustain the music classes that were created with seed money from the Idol donations in 2010,” said Zovko.

“We hope to continue to strengthen BC’s partnership in any way that we can, and do our part to encourage these young students to dream big dreams.

“One September day in the fu-

Red Sox manager John Farrell (left) accepts the game ball from BC Director of Baseball Operations Pete Frates ’07 prior to the Sox-BC exhibition game Feb. 21 in Fort Myers, Fla. Frates, who was diagnosed last year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was accompanied by former Eagle Terry Doyle ’08. (Photo courtesy of BC Athletics)

After a nondescript 2011-12, winter reasserted itself with brutal familiarity in the Boston area during February, producing several significant snowstorms and bitterly cold days. The big event, for Boston College and much of the region, was the winter storm of Feb. 8-9 dubbed “Nemo” that dumped almost two feet of snow locally.

If Nemo provided a stern test for Boston College’s various operations, employees were up to the challenge, administrators say. And to show its appreciation, the University took out an ad in Monday’s edition of The Heights [shown at right] thanking personnel in the Facilities Management, Dining Services, Residential Life, and Public Safety departments for their efforts.

Vice President for Facilities Management Daniel Bourque said, “We really think it’s important to acknowledge the dedication and hard work put forth by so many people during that weekend: the Facilities team, the Food Service department, Public Safety department, Parking and Transportation, Residential Life, Emergency Management — all worked together to provide the necessary services and support throughout the entire storm.”

Several dozen Facilities, Dining Services, Residential Life and BCPD personnel stayed on campus from Friday until Monday, administrators noted, helping clear entrances and walkways to residence halls, providing access to campus dining halls, maintaining food service operations and other tasks.

In addition, employees from various departments, including Athletics, were able to clear the area around Conte Forum and Lower Campus in time for the BC-Duke men’s basketball game Sunday evening.

“While clean-up efforts continued on early in the week,” Bourque said, “thanks to the great effort of all involved, the campus was open for classes as usual on Monday morning.”

—Sean Smith

ture, we hope they’ll be walking onto campus as freshmen and participating in BC Idol as BC students.”

In addition to the talented performers, another highlight of the show is the panel of Jesuit judges.

This year Michael Davidson, SJ, from Campus Ministry and School of Theology and Ministry student Mario Powell, SJ ’03, will join Campus Minister Donald MacMillan, SJ, a longtime veteran of the event.

Any remaining tickets for the show will be available at the Robsham box office starting at 5:30 p.m.

A promotional video of BC Idol is at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-Y9ozoXfAf8 —Melissa Beecher

The Boston College

Chronicle

Director of NEWS & Public Affairs

Jack Dunn Deputy Director of NEWS & Public AFFAIRS

Patricia Delaney Editor

Sean Smith Contributing Staff

Melissa Beecher Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Michael Maloney Photographers

Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini

The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (617)552-3350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.

Contact Chronicle via e-mail: chronicle@bc.edu.Electronic editions of the Boston College Chronicle are available via the World Wide Web at http://www. bc.edu/chronicle.

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Chronicle february 28, 2013

New Sustainable Catalyst Developed USBWA Selects BC’s Dick Researchers led by Vanderslice Millennium Professor of Chemistry and Chemistry Department Chairman Amir Hoveyda have created a new class of sustainable, small-molecule catalysts fueled by a single proton, the team recently reported in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

The simple organic molecules offer a sustainable and highly efficient platform for chemical reactions that produce sets of molecules crucial to advances in medicine and the life sciences.

The team succeeded in conceptualizing a reliable, truly general, efficient synthesis of single mirror-image isomers, which have so far proven elusive for researchers. Previous methods suffered from a combination of extreme temperatures, long reaction times, limited scope, low selectivity, the need for rare or precious metals, and highly toxic elements.

Hoveyda said the new catalysts are small organic molecules derived from the abundant and renewable amino acid valine and can be synthesized in four steps through the use of commercially available and inexpensive materials.

The catalyst, used in as little as one quarter of one percent, promotes reactions that are complete within two minutes to four hours typically at room temperature, according to the coauthors, who include Professor of Chemistry Marc Snapper, Senior Research Associate Fredrik Haeffner, post-doctoral researchers Sebastian Torker and Tatiana Pilyugina, and graduate students Erika Vieira and Daniel Silverio.

Products formed consist mainly of a single mirror-image isomer of a large assortment of

important to future advances in medicine and the life sciences.”

The catalyst’s ability to provide access to prized enantiomerically enriched organic compounds in a manner that is not only efficient and selective but also economical and sustainable for the long term, will be of enormous value to researchers developing anti-cancer agents, therapeutics that reverse multi-drug resistance or anti-viral drugs.

“Chemical transformations that are highly selective as well as economical are very important for both discovery and commercial development of new therapeutic and diagnostic “The new catalysts have all agents,” said Robert Lees, of the National Institutes the key characteristics of a of Health’s National Insticlass of molecules that can tute of General Medical Sciences, which partly funded serve as a blueprint for the the work. “The catalysts invention of many additional developed by Dr. Hoveyda important and useful reaction represent an impressive advance because they can be promoters in the future.” used to inexpensively and predictably produce either —Amir Hoveyda isomer of a mirror image pair of molecules using mild amines and alcohols, which serve as building blocks for the prepa- reaction conditions.”

Hoveyda said the discovery ration of molecules capable of advancing new drug therapies will allow chemists to access many valuable organic molecules relevant to human healthcare.

The team reported that the faster, cheaper and in a sustaincatalysts achieve high enantiose- able and economic fashion with lectivities – favoring one mir- minimal waste generation and ror-image isomer – as well as without continuing to depend unprecedented rates of catalyst on diminishing reserves of preregeneration and product release. cious metals.

“The new catalysts have all “A reaction that can be initiated by a minute amount of a the key characteristics of a class readily accessible and inexpen- of molecules that can serve as a sive catalyst to afford valuable blueprint for the invention of organic molecules with high se- many additional important and lectivity,” said Hoveyda, “and useful reaction promoters in the which requires only renewable future,” said Hoveyda. resources, as opposed to precious Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu and rare elements, is extremely

Faculty Participate at Annual AAAS Meeting Addressing topics ranging from the arts to the sciences, Boston College faculty were among the researchers discussing their latest findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, which was held in Boston this month.

Professor of Psychology Ellen Winner, whose research focuses on children’s cognition in the arts, examined the relationship between visual arts learning and understanding geometry as part of a panel titled “Evidence from

Music, Fiction and Visual Arts: Transfer of Learning from the Arts?”

Winner and colleagues from the Education Development Center in Waltham and Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston reported on a two-year study they conducted to determine if experience in the visual arts develops skills that could be useful in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The researchers found that students of the visual

arts outperformed their peers in tests of geometric, confirming earlier findings that the visual arts develop could serve as a gateway to STEM fields for some students.

In addition, researchers from the lab of Vanderslice Family Professor of Chemistry Lawrence Scott highlighted their latest research into the development of new types of hydrocarbons, carbon nanotube structures and graphene ribbons.

—Ed Hayward

Kelley as ‘Most Courageous’

Sports Information Director Dick Kelley will receive the US Basketball Writers Association’s Most Courageous Award, presented annually to individuals in college athletics who have demonstrated extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.

Kelley, who will receive the award at this Sunday’s BC-Virginia basketball game in Conte Forum, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2011. It’s an incurable disease that affects movement and speech and eventually causes death.

Although confined to a wheelchair and in declining health, Kelley has a viable and vibrant presence on campus and in BC’s athletics department and its basketball program.

“I am overwhelmed and very grateful for this amazing hon-

or,” wrote Kelley when told he was named a Most Courageous recipient. “I have never sought recognition but rather did what I did because I loved my job and everyone I had the privilege of working with.”

The USBWA will make a donation to Compassionate Care ALS in West Falmouth, Mass., on behalf of Kelley.

Oakland University’s women’s basketball coach Beckie Francis was selected as this year’s female recipient of the Most Courageous Award. Francis revealed last fall that she had endured sexual abuse by her now-deceased father throughout her childhood.

The US Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956.

With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball.

—Boston College Athletic Association

Gennaro Named to Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Connell School of Nursing Dean Susan Gennaro has been named to Sigma Theta Tau International’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, which recognizes nurse researchers who have “achieved significant and sustained broad national and/ or international recognition for their work, and whose research has impacted the profession and the people it serves.”

Gennaro’s research has focused on improving perinatal health outcomes for women and newborns in the US and developing countries. Her work in Ukraine, Malawi and Uganda has served as a model of sustainable care for women in underresourced areas. Gennaro has also conducted research to improve neonatal resuscitation, testing WHO recommendations for basic newborn resuscitation.

She is currently conducting a study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research on predictors of preterm labor and birth.

“Anyone familiar with Dean Gennaro’s scholarship and zeal for nursing will not be surprised; she serves as a role model as a scholar and researcher,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties Cutberto Garza. “Recognition of BC’s faculty by honors of this type reaffirms the University’s dual commitment to excellence and leadership in the improvement of the human condition

Gary Gilbert

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Lee Pellegrini

Chemical reactions designed by BC researchers produce sets of molecules that are viewed as crucial to advances in medicine and the life sciences

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Connell School of Nursing Dean Susan Gennaro

through scholarship.”

Gennaro joins two other Connell School faculty members in the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Professors Sr. Callista Roy and Ann Wolbert Burgess, both of whom were inducted in 2010.

Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society of nursing, supports the learning, knowledge and professional development of nurses committed to making a difference in health worldwide. Gennaro will be formally inducted during STTI’s 24th International Nursing Research Congress being held this July in Prague.

—Office of News & Public Affairs with material supplied by the Connell School of Nursing

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Celebrating Photos by Lee Pellegrini

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Sesquicentennial

Performing at Symphony Hall will be an honor and a pleasure for University Chorale President Erin Conlin ’13, left, and BC Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Annie Jihyo Park ’13 (watching conductor John Finney in photo at right).

Concert Offers Big Stage for BC Performers

Justin Knight

Continued from page 1 Hank Levy’s “Decoupage,” Don predecessor, C. Alexander Pelo- suit,” said Conlin, who majors Menza’s “Groovin’ Hard” as well quin, upon his retirement after 38 in communication with a Faith, as vocal renditions of “Moon- years at the University. Peloquin, Peace and Justice minor. “The glow,” “Perdido” and “That Cat who died in 1997, directed and Chorale was a perfect way for me Is High.” oversaw the Glee Club’s transition to keep enjoying music.”

For the four University per- into the Chorale, which made its Annie Jihyo Park, a violinformance groups, the March 23 inaugural appearance during BC’s playing senior from Bethesda, concert is a welcome opportunity centennial celebration in March Md., majoring in communication to present their skills in a world- of 1963. and music, is the Symphony Orclass venue, and to be part of an The Sesquicentennial con- chestra’s 2012-13 concertmaster. important milestone in Boston cert will be perhaps the biggest Being selected for the position — College history. highlight in an already eventful which traditionally entails being “Performing at Symphony four years of Chorale activities for leader of the orchestra, subordiHall is likely a once-in-anate only to the conductor — lifetime event for these stuis among many satisfying expedent musicians,” said BC riences she has had at BC. Park Bands Director Sebastian has played with the Chamber Bonaiuto, who directs BC Music Society, Liturgy Arts bOp! and the Wind EnGroup, BC Baroque as well as semble. “And to do this the orchestra, worked as a studuring such an important dent coach for chamber groups year for Boston College and as a music theory tutor at makes it all the more spethe Connors Learning Center, cial. The students are very and — through an Advanced excited about performing in Study Grant — participated in such a prestigious venue in the International Music Acadthis anniversary year.” emy in Italy last summer.

“It is truly an honor “I started violin at age 12 to participate in this speand took it pretty seriously cial celebration,” said John throughout middle school and Finney, who directs the high school: competitions, auUniversity Chorale and the ditions, festivals and so on,” Symphony Orchestra. “We BC Bands Director Sebastian Bonaiuto calls she said. “But at BC I started do our absolute best for evenjoying the violin in a differthe March 23 concert a “once-in-a-lifetime event for these student musicians.” ery concert, of course, but ent sense, without the comthis one will be at Symphony Hall Chorale President Erin Conlin petitive nature that dominated my — one of perhaps the five finest ’13. During her time, the Cho- earlier days. concert halls in the world — and rale, in addition to campus and “As a senior in the sesquicenin front of audience filled with local performances, has gone to tennial class, I am extremely gratethose who know and love us. It Germany, Ireland and Prague for ful for the opportunity to play in will be a momentous event for the its annual spring break tour, and this concert — to me, Symphony Chorale and Orchestra.” this year will be visiting Rome.

Hall has always been a perforIn fact, as Finney notes, there “We’ve appeared in some mance venue for the best of the is more than a little serendipity beautiful places, but not in a large, best. Moreover, I am very glad where the Sesquicentennial con- professional music hall. We’re so that BC is celebrating its sesquicert is involved: This academic excited at the way our sound is centennial year with a musical year marks the 100th anniversary coming together for this concert,” event featuring BC musicians. It of the Boston College Glee Club, said Conlin, a Minneapolis native is the first time for all four groups the forerunner of the Chorale, whose involvement in music goes to come together for one concert, which is observing its own 50th back to elementary school and and I am thrilled about the colanniversary. Furthermore, Finney has included taking part in a local laborative effort.” says, it was 20 years ago when the choir and musical theater, and For information on the March Chorale last gave a formal per- singing with her dad at relatives’ 23 concert and other Sesquicentenformance at Symphony Hall (the weddings. nial events, news and features, see ensemble was part of an “open “I always looked on music as www.bc.edu/150. house” event at the venue in a ‘hobby,’ as something I do for Contact Sean Smith at 1997) to commemorate Finney’s fun, rather than an academic pursean.smith@bc.edu

When Wayne Budd ’63 arrived at Boston College for freshman orientation in September of 1959, he learned he was one of only three African-Americans in the entering class.

The son of the first black police officer in Springfield, Mass. — a highly respected law enforcement professional who Gary Gilbert rose through the ranks to become a department captain — Budd was unfazed by disparity of people of color on a campus that was, at the time, removed from the big social movements and upheavals that came to define the 1960s.

He went on to become president of his senior class, an honor that empowered him to introduce poet Robert Frost to the undergraduate body when the famed writer visited campus in 1963.

Since graduating with a degree in economics, Budd — now senior counsel in the litigation department of Boston law firm Goodwin Proctor — has pursued an impressive career in ERSPECTIVES the legal and corporate worlds, highlighted by service in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and senior management roles at the Bell Atlantic Corporation (now Verizon) and John Hancock Financial Services Inc. He’s also served BC as a University Trustee and adjunct Law School faculty member, and by establishing the Budd Family Scholarship to assist worthy students to share in the University’s education experience.

Recently, Budd took some time out to recall his BC experiences for Chronicle correspondent Reid Oslin. The full interview is available at www.bc.edu/ chronicle.

How did you decide to attend Boston College?

I went to a Catholic high school [Cathedral High in Springfield] and the nuns would push those going on to college toward Catholic schools. Between my junior and senior years of high school, I was working for a camp for the disabled out in Westfield, Mass., and I met a man who was disabled himself but was also a “Double Eagle,” both undergrad and law school. He was always gushing about the great experience he had at BC. I thought that living and going to school in Boston would be great idea. The combination that BC was Catholic and in Boston sold me.

What was the atmosphere on campus like during the “changing times” of the 1960s?

It was a time of change, for sure, but we at BC really didn’t get too involved in that. The protests against the war really hadn’t started yet and there was no involvement there. As far as civil rights go, that was going on, but the focus wasn’t so much in Boston or in Massachusetts as it was in the South. While there was some discussion about it, there really wasn’t any organized activity at BC during that time that I can recall. We really didn’t get involved in that very much.

That era — and I have thought about this over the years — was just before student activism was really coming on, and the fact that Boston College was a relatively conservative place, it just wasn’t in the forefront. The only thing I remember of a “student protest” was when we had a pretty good football team in my senior year and there was a decision made — I believe

by Cardinal Richard Cushing — not to let BC go to the Gotham Bowl in New York City. A group of hundreds of students went down [to the Archdiocesan Chancery, across Commonwealth Avenue] to protest the decision.

By today’s standards, it would be totally innocuous, but that was the BC of the day.

Where does BC fit in your life?

Of all of the things that I have had a chance to do throughout the course of my career — and I have been extraordinarily fortunate — as I think about it, there has been a “touch” of Boston College everywhere I went.

Doors were opened, opportunities were presented, and I have always felt that people I went to school with — Jack Connors was in my class, Sam Gerson was in my class, and a number of others who have remained my good friends over the years – the fellow alums, the people at the school, the Father Monans of the world, that provided assistance and opened doors for me. I can’t think of anything that I had a chance to do in my professional career, when somewhere, lurking about, was my affiliation with Boston College. I love the school.

P

on the Heights

Read the full interview at www.bc.edu/chronicle

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 28, 2013

“What we’ve heard is overwhelmingly strong support for having a core curriculum, that it is viewed as critical to the BC experience.”

—Mary Crane, Core Renewal Committee co-chair

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Sloan Fellowships Awarded to Greene and Treumann

inhabit? More specifically, I am actively working on problems connected to unknotting knots and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation looking at the manifolds that rehas awarded prestigious Sloan Re- sult from performing an operation search Fellowships to Mathematics called surgery along them.”

Department faculty members AsTreumann, who also received sistant Professors Joshua E. Greene his PhD from Princeton, lists reand David Treumann. search and teaching interests in alGreene and Treumann are gebraic geometry and string theory, among 126 outstanding US and a highly conceptual field tied to Canadian researchers chosen this advances in the theoretical realms year to receive the fellowships, of both math and physics. Prior to which are given to early-career sci- his arrival at BC this year, he taught entists and scholars whose achieve- at the University of Minnesota and ments and potential identify them Northwestern University, where he as rising stars among the next gen- was also a post-doctoral researcher. eration of scientific leaders.

“I am honored and very pleased “I congratulate Josh and Da- to receive a Sloan Research Felvid on their awards, and on the lowship. I am grateful to the Math outstanding mathematical research Department and the University for that led to them,” said Mathemat- the support of my research and ics Chairman Professor Solomon teaching. Boston College is a very Friedberg. “Josh and David are exciting place to be a mathematisuperb scholars and devoted teach- cian.” ers. They and our other assistant Treumann acknowledged that professors, an amazingly talented to the lay audience “string theory” group, are the next generation of is highly conceptual and focused intellectual leaders in their fields.” on the problems the mathematical Greene, who earned his doc- world presents to itself. But within torate from Princeton University, the mathematics and physics fields researches topics it is a frontier space within geometric with few boundaries The fellowships honor topology, particu- early-career scientists and that has helped to larly knot theory, advance both fields which probes com- scholars whose achieveand their thought plex geometric ments and potential iden- leaders. structures and has tify them as rising stars “String theorists applications to re- among the next generation have a hard time search in the areas making predicof scientific leaders. of physics and bioltions about the real ogy. world, but they have “The award will allow me to made many predictions about pure concentrate entirely on my research math,” said Treumann. “These for a semester in the near future,” predictions look very strange, even Greene said. “In that respect, I unbelievable, to a mathematician, would like to repeat a quote from but mostly they have turned out Jonas Salk that has resonated with to be right. I am part of a big me since I first heard it in high community of mathematicians and school: ‘I feel that the greatest re- physicists working to understand ward for doing is the opportunity what’s going on.” to do more.’ Naturally, I am very Both professors have received grateful to the Sloan Foundation research support from the National for that opportunity; their support Science Foundation. is tremendous.”

Administered and funded by Greene said his area of expertise, the Sloan Foundation, the fellowwhile highly theoretical, focuses on ships are awarded in eight scienstructures we make and see on a tific fields—chemistry, computer daily basis – from the knots we use science, economics, mathematics, to tie our shoelaces to the twisting evolutionary and computational contours of a cable-knit sweater. molecular biology, neuroscience, Similar structures are found in ef- ocean sciences, and physics. Felforts to better understand fields like lows receive $50,000 to be used to physics and molecular biology. further their research.

“Knots come up in applications Greene and Treumann join to theoretical physics and biology, four BC faculty who received Sloan like in the way that DNA knots Fellowships last year: Assistant Proup when it attempts to replicate,” fessor of Biology Michelle Meyer, said Greene. “My own inter- Assistant Professor of Physics Ying est is more theoretical and aes- Ran, Assistant Professor of Chemthetic. What are the basic proper- istry Dunwei Wang and Assistant ties about knots? How do you tell Professor of Psychology Liane them apart? How do they relate Young. to the geometry and topology of Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu the three-dimensional space they

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

A recent core renewal workshop conducted by Continuum yielded plenty of ideas and suggestions. (Photo courtesy of Thomas Chiles)

Core Renewal Effort Continues Progress Continued from page 1 agree on,” said Crane.

The goals themselves may comprise several components, as Crane explains. “When we talk about ‘inspiring intellectual engagement,’ for example, that relates to encouraging more faculty involvement in the core, bringing their expertise and ideas into a classroom and looking at resources for faculty development. “‘Enduring foundations’ commits the new core to the traditional liberal arts education, while promoting interdisciplinary pathways and linking to current and contemporary issues that are of concern to students. Similarly, the core should pay attention to the great writing and speaking traditions while also drawing on new media and technology, and preparing students to live and work in a multicultural world.”

Added Chiles, “The ongoing question is, how to make the core curriculum relevant to the world we live in, while retaining its ties to the classic liberal arts tradition that is a hallmark of Boston College? That is a challenge facing any effort to renew the core — what we’re trying to do is put in a place a framework to explore this question.”

The creation of goals and objectives is integral to the fourth of the planned five phases in the core renewal process designed by Continuum. In the first phase, called the alignment phase, Continuum met with the Core Renewal Committee and key administrative stakeholders to gain an understanding of the challenge of core renewal and the University’s goals and priorities.

In the second phase, discovery,

Continuum did in-depth interviews with faculty, students and alumni to gain more insight into their needs and motivations, especially in connection to the core. In addition, the team did research on best practices at leading peer institutions and key trends in higher education, and held town hall-style meetings for faculty to discuss the project.

Last month, in the third or analysis phase, Continuum worked with the key stakeholders on an overall vision and general goals for the core. The resulting draft is undergoing revision in response to comments from faculty and administrators.

The current fourth phase, envisioning, will produce concrete plans for the structure and characteristics of the renewed core curriculum, and a mechanism that will provide for future innovation in the core. This will lead to the final stage, deployment, which will prepare the renewed core curriculum experience for implementation beginning on a small scale with the 2013-2014 academic year and continuing over several years.

Crane and Chiles said the various discussions within the University community throughout the process have been thoughtful, revealing and positive overall.

“What we’ve heard is overwhelmingly strong support for having a core curriculum, that it is viewed as critical to the BC experience,” said Crane. “That so many diverse groups agree the idea of ‘the whole person’ is an important one for BC to uphold is very significant.”

“The common thread is, for all

the different perspectives, people see the core as having value,” said Chiles. “The ideas and innovations that have come out of these talks are very reassuring, in that they show there are people on this campus who care about the core enough to want this renewal to be successful.”

Crane noted that student involvement has been a key feature of the process, including the presence of UGBC Academic Affairs co-chairs Siobhan Kelly ’15 and Nicholas Reposa ’14 on the advisory board for the Core Renewal Committee. She added that Continuum has attended UGBC meetings, sat in on core classes and held informal discussions with undergraduates in a further effort to cull student viewpoints.

Continuum’s performance in helping to lead and document the process drew praise from Crane and Chiles. “Continuum’s emphasis on thinking out of the box guarantees that the core will be innovative and improved,” said Crane, “and will make BC a distinctive university — perhaps even a model for others.”

College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Quigley, who cochairs the Core Renewal Committee with Crane and Carroll School of Management Dean Andy Boynton, said, “The core renewal process is turning out to be a powerful reminder of the University community’s commitment to undergraduate education. I’ve been impressed by the range of thoughtful contributions and inspiring ideas that have come from colleagues across campus.”

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

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‘Silver Week’ Reflects Focus on Mental Health Issues in BC Asian Community

By Melissa Beecher Staff Writer

Ferris Professor of Physics Michael Naughton, right, with Senior Research Associate Michael Burns, left, and doctoral student Fan Ye. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Halo Effect: Physics Team’s Device Controls Plasmonic Waves

By Ed Hayward Staff Writer

Using the geometric and material properties of a unique nanostructure, Boston College researchers have uncovered a novel photonic effect where surface plasmons interact with light to form “plasmonic halos” of selectable output color. The findings appear in the journal Nano Letters.

The novel nanostructure proved capable of manipulating electron waves known as surface plasmon polaritons, or SPPs, which were discovered in the 1950s but of late have garnered the attention of scientists for their potential applications in fields that include waveguiding, lasing, color filtering and printing.

The team, led by Ferris Professor of Physics Michael Naughton, put a layer of a polymer film on a glass substrate and then dotted the surface with holes precisely defined by a process of electron beam lithography, using the BC Integrated Sciences Nanofabrication Clean Room facility.

Researchers next applied a layer of silver, thick enough to be nontransparent to visible light.

In addition to covering the thin film on top, the silver coated the contours of the holes in the film, as well as the exposed circles of the glass substrate below. The effect produced an array of silver microcavities.

When the researchers directed light from below and through the glass substrate, light “leaking” through nanoscale gaps on the perimeters of the microcavities created SPP waves on their top surfaces.

At particular wavelengths of the incident light, these waves formed modes or resonances analogous to acoustic waves on a drumhead, which in turn effectively filtered the light transmitted to the far side, accounting for the “halo” appearance, said Naughton, who co-authored the report

with Senior Research Associate Michael J. Burns and doctoral student and lead author Fan Ye. Central to this control effect are “step gaps” formed along the perimeter of each circle, which give the nanostructure the ability to modulate which waves of light pass through. It is within this geometry that the interaction of light upon the silver surface coating resulted in the excitation of plasmon waves, said Naughton.

Examination of the SPPs by Ye, using a near-field scanning optical microscope, offered unique insights into the physics at work

An image of a “plasmonic halo” captured by Boston College researchers.

within the structure, Naughton said.

By adjusting the type of metal used to coat the structure or varying the circumferences of the microcavities, Naughton said, the step-gap structure is capable of manipulating the optical properties of the device in the visible light range, giving the researchers newfound control in light filtering.

This kind of control, the team reports, could have applications in areas such as biomedical plasmonics or discrete optical filtering.

The W.M. Keck Foundation funded the research. The report is available at: http://pubs.acs.org/ doi/full/10.1021/nl303955x Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

Shining a light on mental health issues among the Asian American community is a burgeoning movement at Boston College, one that organizers say aims to spark a national dialogue among college students and their families.

Last week, the University observed “Silver Week,” five days of activities to raise the issue of mental health among Asian American groups on campus (silver is the national color for mental health). Members of the Asian Caucus of Boston College collaborated with University Counseling Services, the Office of Health Promotion and the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association to “break the silence” and fight a stigma many students say is deeply cultural.

Asian Caucus of Boston College Co-President Matthew Alonsozana ’14 explained that student leaders felt called to action after discussions among one another put the problem in perspective.

“AC presidents of the different cultural organizations came together and asked ourselves, ‘What does our community really need?’ We could have dealt with issues on Asian American identity or immigration, but the one issue that affected us most intimately and most widespread was mental health awareness,” said Alonsozana.

“When we went around the room and asked, ‘Did you ever have a mental health issue or have a friend who has had a mental health issue?’ Everyone raised a hand.”

That powerful moment was something that University Counseling Services had become aware of and, simultaneously, been working to better address. UCS Staff Psychologist Aarti Khullar said over the past year, her office has started a pilot project to improve accessibility to all students who need help. Throughout the semester UCS will be holding a walk-in group every Friday in Gasson 001 from 3 to 4 p.m., so students can ask questions about therapy, counseling or general concerns regarding mental health on campus.

“Asian American and international student populations are not accessing our services to the same level as other students on campus. The goal is to address the disparity that exists,” said Khullar.

“We are focused and working on addressing these needs. This session will allow us to understand individual needs and the needs of the campus community. Our goal is to begin to have the dialogue.”

Silver Week included forums on managing stress, diet and exercise, established the #BeAFriend social media campaign and provided two discussion forums at which UCS staff

and AC presidents shared resources and personal struggles about mental health. The culmination of the week was the “Opening the Cabinet: Real Talk on Mental Health” event, where presidents of various culture groups talked openly about their challenges.

Chinese Students Association CoPresident Josh Li ’13 said “Opening the Cabinet” was a call to action.

“There is such a stigma on mental health, especially in the Asian community, we figured if we put our

it with the label of mental health. You think it’s personal and you should keep it to yourself. But then, to see that everyone you know in the community is going through the same thing – I feel like the understanding really branches out and supports everyone.”

Alonsozana explained that the groundswell of support from students and BC departments has been why Silver Week will be a springboard for greater mental health access for Asian

The “#BeAFriend” social media campaign was launched at a Silver Week event. (Photo courtesy of the Asian Caucus of Boston College)

stories out there, other students would be more inspired to reach out to us or use the services on campus,” said Li. “We went into this event as the presidents of our respective clubs — all with our own membership base.

We all feel as if we are put on some kind of pedestal – some people may look up to us as role models. It was interesting because people shared something that was personal to each one of us, but collectively we were feeling the same things. Maybe it helped to kind of take us off those pedestals,” said Li. “There were a lot of tears. I cried,” said AC co-president Jeena Hah. “One graduate student came up after the event and said it felt so powerful to talk about it. This showed me that you feel like you are so isolated in whatever you are going through, so much that you don’t want to associate

American students at the University – and beyond. Alonsozana said the idea has been suggested for the White House mental health initiative.

“In my time here at BC I have never seen a collaboration at so many different levels. Horizontally, you look across this room and we are all different ethnicities and different cultures.

Vertically, all of the departments that have been involved here at BC and now, it has been gaining talk regional circles and our idea is taken to the White House initiative on mental health. BC, our community, our friends have really been at the forefront,” said Alonsozana.

For more information about mental health services available to students, see http://www.bc.edu/counseling Contact Melissa Beecher at melissa.beecher@bc.edu

CSON’s Burgess Is ‘Living Legend’ Connell School of Nursing Professor Ann Wolbert Burgess, a trailblazer in the study of the impact of trauma and abuse on victims, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Living Legend Award from the New England Chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (NEAPNA).

The award recognizes an individual from the region who has significantly influenced the science and practice of nursing, honoring those whose professional accomplishments have enabled them to be examples of excellence within the profession, and whose work has significantly benefited others, both consumers and practitioners in psychiatric care.

Burgess will receive the award on March 8 at the NEAPNA spring conference, where she will deliver a lecture on “Reflections: Pioneering the Assessment and Treatment of Victims of Trauma and Abuse.”

The NEAPNA Living Legend Award is the latest in a long list of honors for Burgess, whose groundbreaking work is internationally recognized. In 2009, the International Association of Forensic Nurses established the Ann Burgess Forensic Nursing Award to honor an individual who has made exceptional research contributions to the field of forensic nursing, through clinical program development, scientific achievement, legislative changes, or educational activities.

—Kathleen Sullivan

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Preparing for the Journey, at BC and Beyond Council for Women of BC marks 10 years of impressive successes

By Patricia Delany Deputy Director of News & Public Affairs

vehicle to encourage, support and advance that participation, by providing women with the opportunity to engage with and influence the University’s future on a real and personal level.”

In turn, Boston College has been the beneficiary of a group of highly focused alumnae who have committed their wealth of professional and personal experience, as well as time and financial support, to its service. Since its first meeting in 2003, the council has grown to include nearly 150 alumnae, with a membership roster that reads like a “Who’s Who” of leaders in business, financial services, law, medicine, education, broadcasting and other fields. An associate level of membership, added in 2006, is now more than 700 alumnae strong.

Over the past decade, the CWBC has organized more than 300 events attended by nearly 20,000 women graduates. Its signature initiative is the “Journey Series” for alumnae at varying stages of life and career. The hallmark “Beginning the Journey” program, which connects successful women graduates with young alumnae, proved so popular that it is now offered in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, as well as

take my career to the next level and join her at New York Presbyterian,” said Lamousnery, now a registered nurse. “It has been an honor and a blessing to have the

board chair, also speaks highly of the friendly forum for students created by the council, and says her experience on the board has encouraged her to stay connected

When the Council for Women of Boston College was first envisioned, few could have imagined the essential role it would play in leading alumnae to develop powerful connections with their alma mater.

This year, as it marks its 10th anniversary, the council celebrates an impressive record of success in engaging the women of BC, and (Above and below) The Council for Women of Boston College has sponsored numerin furthering their role as leadous events for BC alumnae and students in a variety of formats during its first decade. ers and partners in the life of the opportunity to learn from her.”

University.

Lamousnery’s praise for Through its organization and CWBC initiatives is frequently sponsorship of professional, eduechoed by council members. “We cational, cultural, athletics and serhave received so much positive vice activities both on campus and feedback from alumnae who are across the country, the CWBC delighted to be able to come tohas provided alumnae with myriad gether with a common objective,” professional and personal enrichsaid McGillycuddy. “It has been ment opportunities; connected wonderful to see how invested them to the University’s Strategic they are in the advancement of and Master Plans and the “Light the University — and especially in the World” Campaign; supportconnecting with students.” ed Alumni Association initiatives In fact, the council program for including the National Day of undergraduates, “Preparing Service and Sesquicentennial for the Journey,” is one of on the Road; paid tribute the CWBC’s most successto the history of women at ful ventures, bringing womBoston College through the en students together with to BC. documentary film “Making accomplished alumnae in a “I learned from a lot of the Our Place,” and, importantvariety of fields to discuss women on the CWBC,” said Mcly, reached out in numerous career choices, networking Cool, now an associate at JP Morways to the alumnae of tostrategies and internships, gan New York. “What I still remorrow through programs and providing direct expo- member today, and experience as I for women undergraduates. sure to companies and in- go through my professional life, is “After a decade of great dustries through a day “on the value of building a network in work by so many talented the job,” sponsored by a order to learn about others’ diverse and dedicated women, the experiences and career choices.” council has become a vital CWBC founding co-chair Kathleen McGillycuddy NC’71 council member.

In addition, the CWBC For CWBC associate member part of Boston College,” said founding co-chair Kathleen Mc- Boston and New York, and has reaches out to women under- Kristen Kelly ’09, three years on Gillycuddy NC ’71, who, in her prompted the companion pro- graduates with relevant speakers, the student board led her to realpresent capacity as the first woman grams “Continuing the Journey” said Jaclyn Carey ’13, chair of ize the vast resources that would to chair the Board of Trustees is for professionals navigating back the council’s 25-member student be available to her through BC’s emblematic of the rise of alumnae to the workforce after taking time advisory board that includes rep- alumnae network, as well as the off for family or children, and “Re- resentatives from all class years, value to students of being coninvolvement and influence.

“It has provided a much-need- fining the Journey” for those later schools and colleges. Lonergan nected to successful women who Center Associate Director Kerry could help prepare them for the ed platform for women to em- in their careers.

Djerica Lamousnery, a 2011 Cronin spoke about dating and challenges of life after college. brace their stewardship of the Uni“I don’t think I would be as versity, which, given that they now graduate of the Connell School relationships to a capacity audicomprise the majority of alumni, of Nursing who is now a CWBC ence of more than 250 students involved with BC as an alumna associate member, says she feels at a CWBC-sponsored event on without the council,” said Kelly, is imperative to its future.”

When University President closer and more connected to BC campus Feb. 21, she said; another a College of Arts and Sciences William P. Leahy, SJ, appointed through council events for young recent speaker offered advice on graduate who recently left a position in Latin American and Global McGillycuddy and trustee Cyn- alumnae, which, she says, make healthy eating choices.

“Involvement with the CWBC Partnerships at AmeriCares to prethia Egan ’78 as co-chairs of the her feel like the University truly has been an amazing experience,” pare for medical school in the fall. nascent council, the initiative had cares about their needs.

She cites in particular her re- Carey said. “I have connected with “The experience,” she said, “made a clear mission.

“There had long been a strong lationship with CWBC member many women on the council who me want to stay connected to BC desire among alumnae to engage and “amazing mentor” Ann Riley have helped me through my jour- and give back to the school that taught me so much, both inside in active leadership roles at Bos- Finck ’66, a nurse practitioner and ney in college.”

Catherine McCool, a 2009 and outside the classroom. ton College,” said McGillycuddy. ICU nurse at Columbia Presby“Ingrained in all BC students is “The establishment of the Coun- terian Medical Center. “Through graduate of the Carroll School of cil for Women created the ideal her guidance I have been able to Management and former advisory the mantra ‘men and women for

others,’” she added. “The CWBC is a great example of the fact that one doesn’t have to travel far to find ‘others.’ There are women in younger generations who need guidance and assistance, and alumnae can provide that through the CWBC.” Lisa Relle ’11, also a former student board chair, concurs.

“The experience I gained [on the board] informed all of my job interviews during my senior year, and I believe played a large part in demonstrating my capabilities for the job I ultimately accepted and now love,” said Relle, a Lynch School of Education graduate and a senior analyst at Towers Watson in Boston. “I am forever grateful to [council members] Mary Lou DeLong and Anne Phelan,

who recognized my abilities and introduced me to such a wonderful organization and network of women.”

McGillycuddy, who notes that she didn’t reconnect with Boston College until three decades after graduation, believes the council’s groundbreaking role in helping women students discern the value of active participation in BC life will ensure that future alumnae continue the CWBC’s important work.

“The council has made great strides in helping the women of Boston College to establish a lifelong relationship with the University,” McGillycuddy said. “As we begin our second decade, we hope to build on this foundation, to nurture existing relationships, to reconnect more alumnae with their alma mater, and to continue to inspire our women students to embrace their role as guardians of the University’s future.”

For more information on the Council for Women of Boston College, see the group’s website at www.bc.edu/cwbc.

Contact Patricia Delaney at patricia.delaney@bc.edu

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‘Knowledge That Stays With You Your Whole Life’ Continued from page 1 grapple with the contradictions of modernism through the novels of Flaubert, Tolstoy and James Joyce; the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington; and the contributions of artists ranging from Monet and Picasso to architects such as Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Perspectives III, Horizon of the New Social Sciences, investigates secularism and the new social sciences through the writings of Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Jefferson, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, John Maynard Keynes, Louis Brandeis and Max Weber.

While Perspectives IV, New Scientific Visions, explores contemporary thinking in science and math through the lens of scientific visionaries ranging from Newton and Einstein to Darwin and Kelvin.

Approximately 20-25 students will complete the four-year Perspectives sequence and the senioryear honors thesis it requires.

Founded in 1971 by the late Philosophy Department Chairman Joseph Flanagan, SJ, and Lonergan Summer Workshop and Institute Director Frederick Lawrence, the Perspectives Program has been guided since 1998

by Adjunct Associate Professor of Philosophy Brian Braman who, students say, is the heart, soul and animating spirit behind its success.

“I made the decision to enroll in Perspectives when I heard Brian Braman talk about it during Admitted Eagle Day,” said senior Taylor Cavallo of Douglaston, NY. “Professor Braman is not only a brilliant professor, but more importantly, he is approachable, congenial and caring. He pushes students to meet their fullest potential, a level that they might not even know they possess, while always offering the right words of encouragement. He is the best professor I have had at BC.” Grace Simmons ’05, a former UGBC president who took Per-

Brian Braman, who has guided Perspectives since 1998, is its heart, soul and spirit, according to students. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)

spectives and double-majored in philosophy and political science before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School and embarking on a career as vice president of strategic initiatives at Chobani, cites Braman as an unforgettable professor who inspires his students with his passion for teaching and his own life-long love of learning.

“Of all of the many things I cherish about my BC experience, Perspectives and my philosophy major were my greatest gifts,” said Simmons. “I have never felt as passionate about learning as I did with Brian Braman. He makes such deep intellectual connections with his students, and cares personally about each individual in his class, becoming, along with his

wife, Peggy, surrogate parents to so many BC students.”

Simmons came to BC to study political science in preparation for her original goal of studying law.

One class with Braman changed her direction.

“He told me early on, ‘Don’t be afraid to pursue what you are passionate about,’” said Simmons. “I trusted his advice, and the knowledge I learned during those four years helps me so much in the business world today. It is knowledge that stays with you your whole life. I am so glad to have met Brian, and to have taken Perspectives at BC.” For Braman, teaching Perspectives and mentoring students are the logical responses to the ultimate philosophical question: What should I do with my life?

“Fifteen years ago, my wonderful friend and mentor Father Joe Flanagan, SJ, gave me a chance to teach this course,” said Braman.

“He had the capacity to see things about me that I could not see myself. What he helped me to appropriate intellectually is something I can never put a value on.”

Braman seized the opportunity and with the help of colleagues from the Philosophy Department, including Professor Patrick Byrne, Lonergan Center Associate Director Kerry Cronin, Adjunct Assistant Professor Michael Kelly, Associate Professor Jeffrey Bloechl and Adjunct Assistant Professor Holly Vandewall, has created one of BC’s most intellectually stimulating courses, one that upholds the longstanding traditions of a Jesuit, liberal arts education.

“All of our Perspectives courses encourage students to live their lives intellectually and to examine how they will unfold once they leave the classroom,” said Braman.

“Our goal is to teach our students to be men and women for others, individuals who will see their lives as something greater than themselves and who will choose what is worthwhile and meaningful for

them and their community. Our beyond for his students,” said hope is to get them to fall in love Wostbrock. “He is willing to volwith something significant that unteer his time during evenings will shape the choices they make and weekends to offer them opportunities to augment their classthroughout their lives.”

Braman’s infectious love of room learning because he knows teaching has inspired those who it is an invaluable educational work with him. “Brian is an in- experience. I see first-hand how credible teacher; his pedagogical his student-focused approach to range is stunning and, I would teaching has such an extraordinary argue, unsurpassed at Boston Col- impact.”

Fifteen years after taking his lege, and his depth and breadth of knowledge is impressive. But charge from Fr. Flanagan, Braman it is his desire for, and cultiva- remains energized teaching his tion of, intellectual friendship and Perspective sections and working with students to companionship “Data from employers find their place in that makes him the man and teacher he suggests that they are look- the world. “This is my vocation,” is at Boston Coling to hire employees who said Braman. “It lege,” said Cronin. can think critically, are is what God has “I and others who have worked with creative, and are intellectu- blessed me with, by helping me him over the years so deeply admire ally flexible,” says Braman. find what I was how he instills a “From that viewpoint, our meant to do.”

Braman sees love of great books, Perspectives students are the Perspectives great conversations, and great friend- the ideal candidates to suc- Program and Pership among his stu- ceed in the workplace, as spectives Honors Sequence continudents.” well as in life.” ing to thrive in BC Resident the years to come, Director Katie serving as a natuWostbrock, whose freshmen Perspectives students de- ral counter to the popular trend of vote three to four hours per month majors in science, technology, ento non-classroom events in addi- gineering and math. “Data from tion to the 18 hours of monthly employers suggests that they are coursework, offered similar praise looking to hire employees who for the Perspectives Living and can think critically, are creative, Learning program, which Bra- and are intellectually flexible,” said man developed to give students Braman. “From that viewpoint, additional opportunities to inter- our Perspectives students are the act with their professors and each ideal candidates to succeed in the workplace, as well as in life.” other.

Contact Jack Dunn at “Brian always goes above and jack.dunn@bc.edu

Dick Hoyt — who along with his son Rick made up the famous “Team Hoyt” as participants in hundreds of marathons and triathalons, including 30 Boston marathons — spoke Feb. 18 at an event sponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics and Campus School Volunteers. Approximately 200 BC students will be running in the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Campus School.

Photos by Caitlin Cunningham

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A Mission to ‘Help Inventors and Protect BC’s Intellectual Property’ Wen settling in as director of technology transfer and licensing

by Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer

Jason Wen, who negotiated multi-million dollar licensing agreements on behalf of the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, has joined Boston College as director of the Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing (OTTL).

Wen’s role is to protect the University’s intellectual property, including any research activity that may result in a patent or copyright.

“Although we are small, our office’s role is critical. We are here to help inventors and to protect BC’s intellectual property,” said Wen, who assumed the post in December. “What is a university about?

It’s all knowledge. If we don’t pay attention to that, we lose a lot.”

Wen emphasized that OTTL is available to work with any member of the University — from undergraduate to senior faculty member — on issues related to intellectual property and industry collaboration.

He said it is imperative for inventors to contact his office early in the process, before research or discoveries are published in print or online or shared at a conference. “Once the idea is public, we have lost our opportunity to file an international patent application and it could damage BC’s and inventors’ interests significantly,” said Wen. According to Wen, the first step for faculty, staff or students

Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing Director Jason Wen joined the University in December. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

is to fill out an Invention Disclosure Form, found on the OTTL website [www.bc.edu/ottl], so the invention can be evaluated.

Wen admits that sometimes it is difficult for a faculty member to know if they are working on something that could be an invention or could be patentable.

“They should contact me as early as possible. We will discuss: What is patentable? Is there any commercial value?” said Wen. “We can do an early assessment and determine the potential or if we need more data.”

OTTL assumes the responsibility and expense of conducting market research, filing for the patent and negotiating the licensing.

Licensing revenue is shared with the inventor(s).

“One of my goals is to increase the licensing revenue at BC. Many universities spend more on patenting than they make on licensing.

I want to turn that around,” he added.

Wen is a registered technology transfer professional and a registered patent agent with the US Patent & Trademark Office.

He was among the first to earn a Certified Licensing Professional credential, and he is a member of Licensing Executives Society and the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).

He is participating this week in AUTM’s annual meeting in Texas, where he has been invited to serve as a judge and speaker.

As impressive as his credentials are, it is Wen’s unique background

as a biomedical researcher with Among his objectives at BC, an MBA degree that makes him Wen is interested in building OTwell-suited to lead the University’s TL’s external relationships with tech transfer efforts, a position that industry partners in order to take demands knowledge of science, advantage of possible funding opbusiness and law. portunities. In his previous post, After earning a PhD in mo- Wen obtained funding for princilecular biology, Wen started his pal investigators from companies career as an assistant professor in such as DuPont and Pfizer. the Department of He also wants to Microbiology & Imconduct outreach munology at Virgin- “What is a university with alumni, espeia Commonwealth cially those who are University. Though about? It’s all knowl- entrepreneurs and he had 10 years of edge,” says Wen. “If investors. research experience Wen said OTTL with grants and we don’t pay attention has internship oppublished papers, to that, we lose a lot.” portunities for BC he yearned to have undergraduates, a greater impact on graduate students, society. law students and “I wanted to do postdocs who are public good and help people. I interested in working in the field decided that if I couldn’t do it with of tech transfer. Wen said it is an my research, then I wanted to help exciting opportunity that would others’ research do that.” provide invaluable professional exWen hit upon the idea of work- perience. ing in tech transfer, a then-emerg“I love the BC setting. I enjoy ing field. Although he had the it here. I see so much potential,” scientific background necessary to said Wen. “Boston is a great place evaluate technology, he lacked the to conduct tech transfer business. business and law skills needed to It is a highly educated city. There do other aspects of the job. To are entrepreneurs, investors, and compensate, he enrolled part-time technology all around here.” in the University of Richmond He said he was drawn to Bosand earned his MBA, and also ton College because the Univercompleted a year of study in a JD sity’s mission aligns with his own. program. Wen then worked in a “BC is about helping people pharmaceutical company and later and benefitting society. I would in Virginia Commonwealth Uni- feel so satisfied to see BC’s technolversity’s Office of Industry Part- ogy transferred to an industry and nerships. then become a product or service Most recently, he spent more that benefits people.” than eight years as an assistant diJason Wen can be reached at ext. rector in the Office of Technology 2-1682 or jason.wen@bc.edu.

Transfer at the world-class Cold Contact Kathleen Sullivan at Spring Harbor Lab, where several kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu Nobel Prize winners have worked.

BC Affinity Groups Provide Opportunities to Make Connections

By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer

Whether an employee has been at Boston College for a few weeks or for several decades, Office for Institutional Diversity (OID) Executive Director Richard Jefferson wants them to know there are opportunities to connect with colleagues via the University’s Affinity Groups.

Affinity Groups are volunteer, employee-managed groups that bring together individuals with common interests for activities and discussions, advancing and sustaining a campus climate that supports diversity and inclusion.

OID provides logistical and occasional financial assistance to Affinity Groups, which are open to any interested employee.

“We think these groups cre-

ate a welcoming environment on campus,” said Jefferson. “It helps us be the type of place we want BC to be.”

While the Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association (BFSAA) has been around for more than 30 years, many of the other Affinity Groups, like APIE (Asian, Pacific Islander Employees), are more recently established. Other BC Affinity Groups are Latino/ as at Boston College (L@BC), Lesbian and Gay Faculty, Staff and Administrators Association, Women’s Collaborative and Staff Advisory Senate.

Jefferson said the groups offer Boston College employees a way to celebrate their differences and a safe space to talk about issues of common interest.

Groups also have put on some “tremendous activities,” according to Jefferson. The L@BC developed and presented computer

Latino/as at Boston College is one of the University’s Affinity Groups.

classes for service employees and another event that profiled the scholarship of faculty of color.

APIE sponsored a presentation about the University performance management system by representatives from Human Resources and is planning a future meeting to learn more about the Jesuit tradition.

The groups also reach out to, and connect with, students from

similar backgrounds. The BFSAA regularly hosts a reception for students to get to know its members and to relax and relieve stress before final exams.

The Affinity Groups offer a benefit to the OID as well, noted Jefferson. “They give us the opportunity to be tied in to interests and concerns of diverse groups.

We learn how we, as an office, can help address concerns and celebrate differences.”

The Affinity Groups also feed the membership for the University’s Diversity Advisory Committee, which was revamped about a year ago. Each Affinity Group selects two members to be part of the Diversity Advisory Committee. The committee meets every other month. OID

staff members serve as the meeting’s facilitator but seek agenda suggestions from the membership.

“The meetings have been very gratifying,” said Jefferson.

“There is rich conversation and a lot of information sharing.”

OID has expanded into social media in an effort to communicate and connect with more people. Find OID on facebook [http://www.facebook.com/BCDiversity] or Twitter [@BC_Diversity].

For a complete list of Affinity Groups and contact information, go to the “Resources” page on the Office for Institutional Diversity website, at www.bc.edu/ /diversity/ diversityresources.html.

Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu

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Assoc. for Retired Faculty Names First Grant Winners The Boston College Association for Retired Faculty recently launched an updated website and a grant program, as part of the nearly decade-old organization’s mission to promote collegiality among retired faculty for personal enrichment and active service.

The BCARF website [www. bc.edu/retiredfaculty] now includes information and links to resources on retirement planning, benefits, volunteer opportunities, events and activities as well as a remembrance page honoring deceased members of the University community “who have paved the way for all that Boston College has become.” In addition to the website, BCARF publishes an annual newsletter and maintains a listserv to communicate with members.

Last month, the BCARF announced the first recipients of Retired Faculty Grants, which support travel and expenses for research, lectures, conferences, education, publishing, volunteer work and/or other significant activities.

Those receiving grants were John Dacey (“Emotional Health and the Standards: Recommendations for Elementary School Classroom Strategies”), Ramsay Liem (“Memories of Forgotten Wars”),

o b i t u a r ies

SCENES FROM ‘RELAY’

Vera Lee (“The Story Behind the Story of Misha”), Judith Wilt (“Fictions about Catholics”) and Joseph Casey, SJ (“Current Divisive Moral Issues”).

Said BCARF President Jean O’Neil, “These individuals represent what has been described by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research as the ‘new active retirement’ and exemplify the growth of the association in fulfilling its mission.”

The BCARF formed in 2004 through the efforts of a small group of retired faculty working with then-Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculties Jack Neuhauser. Supported by University Provost and Dean of Faculties Bert Garza, the association provides meeting and computerequipped workspace, monthly program presentations, book club and research seminar meetings, and guided tours of McMullen Museum of Art exhibits.

BCARF members volunteer in international graduate student partnerships, in mentor or advisory roles with students or student groups, as Commencement marshals or hosts, and as visitors to retired Jesuits at the Campion Center in Weston.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

Boston College held its annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life event Feb. 15-16 in the Flynn Recreation Complex, which included a tribute to cancer survivors (top photo).

In photo above, (L-R) Nicholson Durand ’13, Dan Park ’16 and Becky Kim’ 15 of of the ALA (AHANA Leadership Academy) team took some time to relax.

Below left, Baldwin joined members of #stillfighting for an inspirational team cheer.

Photos by Christopher Huang

History Professor Thomas Perry; Won Teaching Award

Thomas Perry, whose teamtaught core history course earned him a coveted award at Boston College, died on Feb. 8 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

He was 87.

Dr. Perry joined the History Department faculty in 1964, and taught and researched in the areas of English history, early modern Europe, and the intellectual and cultural history of modern Europe.

His publications included Public Opinion, Propaganda and Politics in Eighteenth-Century England: A Study of the Jew Bill of 1753, and numerous reviews in academic journals.

He was best known in the University community for the popular core course in European history he taught with colleague John Heineman — which became popularly known as “the Perry-Heineman course.” The two had been appointed to a committee charged with recommending core courses; at the time, the two-year sequence in European history had been reduced to one, and Perry and Heineman made a proposal for a course that covered Europe from 1500 to the present — as opposed to what Heineman called a “Plato to NATO” timeline.

“From the beginning, Tom and I just clicked,” said Heineman last week. “We shared ideas and developed a wonderful working relationship. We felt it was very important for full-time faculty to teach in the core. Tom, in fact, said this was the single-most important core course, and we spent more time on it than anything else we taught.”

In 1997, Dr. Perry and Heineman were chosen for the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, given by students in the Boston College chapter of the academic honor society to faculty members who have achieved distinction as teachers and advisors.

Interviewed by the Chronicle on being selected for the honor, Dr. Perry said the award affirmed the central importance of teaching in the University: “For many years, BC’s sole academic mission was the teaching of undergraduates. Today, BC has become a major university, with a number of missions and purposes. It is important to have reminders, such as this yearly award, that teaching the fine young men and women who make up our undergraduate body, though no longer our sole mission, must remain our central

and primary one.”

A former student of Dr. Perry, Michael Duffy ’96, said, “Tom was a wonderful teacher, who prepared his lectures integrating music, poetry, and art, making history come alive. His love of the subject matter was infectious, so much so that I left his class with a love of British history — no small feat for a firstgeneration Irish American!”

Dr. Perry was active in other aspects of the University’s academic life, serving on faculty panels that examined BC’s core requirements and student issues. He formally retired in 1998 as an associate professor.

A native of Elmira, NY, Dr. Perry graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1950 from Harvard University, where he obtained his doctorate

in 1957.

He is survived by his wife Mary, his children Sarah Correia, Taft Perry, Charles W. Perry, Julia T. Perry and Thomas W. Perry, five grandchildren, and his brother William P. Perry.

A celebration of Dr. Perry’s life will be held on May 18 from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

John McCarthy; Namesake of Writing Prize John Francis (Jack) McCarthy, who taught English at Boston College for more than 40 years and was the namesake for an undergraduate prize in creative writing, died Jan. 16 at Cape Cod Hospital after a long illness. He was 82.

Dr. McCarthy specialized in British Victorian literature and had an abiding interest in poetry.

Colleagues recalled him as quiet, thoughtful and good-humored, and a popular teacher whose legacy is reflected in the McCarthy Prize, awarded annually by the English Department for the best collection of pieces of creative writing (fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction or pieces from several different genres) by a junior or senior. Dr. McCarthy,

who taught at the University of New Hampshire prior to BC, retired in 1997 as an associate professor.

A native of Auburndale, Mass., Dr. McCarthy was a graduate of Wellesley High School, where he inspired his classmate, future Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton, to write her first lines of poetry, according to Sexton’s biographer. He went

on to earn an undergraduate degree at Harvard University and a master’s and doctorate at Yale University.

In between attending Harvard and Yale, he served as an officer in the US Army during the Korean War while stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta.

A lover of music and theater, Dr. McCarthy was a talented pianist and performed with local classical performers.

Dr. McCarthy is survived by his sister, Marcia McCarthy de Onís, a nephew and five nieces.

A private service will be held at a date to be determined later.

For more information or to express condolences, contact Ana de Onís at anadeonis@aol.com.

—Office of News & Public Affairs

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle february 28, 2013

Sandra Hannon-Engel joins the Connell School of Nursing as an assistant professor, having previously served as a clinical instructor. She has worked as psychiatric/ mental health nurse practitioner in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Her research interests are eating disorders, neurobiology, and life-threatening behaviors She earned her doctorate from Boston College and her master’s degree from Rivier College. She has been published in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care and Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Marius Stan spent three years as a Mellon postdoctoral instructor at California Institute of Technology prior to arriving at BC last fall. In 2011 he was a visiting fellow at the Max Planck Institute for History of Science as part of the research group “Modern Geometry and the Concept of Space.” Stan’s major areas of interest are bioethics, moral and political philosophy, and logic, with specialization in modern philosophy — particularly Kant and Leibniz — and the philosophy of science. He earned his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, and was awarded the David Sachs Memorial Fellowship for his dissertation year. His recent and forthcoming peer-reviewed publications include articles in Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science and The Southern Journal of Philosophy, and a contribution to The Reception of Newton in the 18th Century.

Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics Can Erbil — who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Boston College — brings 16 years of experience in economic modeling, international trade, economic development, macroeconomics, forecasting and research with a special focus on emerging markets, MENA and GCC regions and Europe, and publications on macroeconomic policy, international trade, economic development, fiscal policy and tax reforms. His recent research concentrates on trade policy, financial regulation, health policy and energy policies. Director and research fellow for the EcoMod Modeling School and Global Economic Modeling Network in Brussels, Erbil was a member of the faculty at Brandeis and Harvard. His honors include several teaching awards, including at BC while a graduate student. Erbil has also worked for the Boston Fed and World Bank on research projects.

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biology Danielle Taghian has become part of the BC faculty this academic year after having served as a visiting assistant professor since 2002. She teaches Developmental Biology and Cancer Biology and has taught labs in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Mammalian Cell Culture, and is faculty advisor to the Science Club for Girls student organization. Her research background includes work in DNA recombination and repair mechanisms and the response of human cancers to ionizing radiation. Taghian earned her doctorate from Harvard University and her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.

—Kathleen Sullivan and Sean Smith Photos by Gary Gilbert and Lee Pellegrini “Welcome Additions,” an occasional feature, profiles new faculty members at Boston College.

Cal Tech’s Dougherty to Speak at Chemistry Series California Institute of Technology Professor Dennis Dougherty will be the featured speaker of the Chemistry Department’s annual University Lecture Series.

Dougherty, the George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry at Cal Tech, will deliver lectures in Merkert 127 on March 20 and 21 at 4 p.m. and on March 22 at 2:30 p.m.

His keynote lecture on March 20 is titled “Chemistry on the Brain: Understanding the Nicotine Receptor.”

Boston Magazine cited Boston College’s Infant and Child Cognition Lab, among Boston’s collection of world’s leading baby-brain research labs, with comments by principal investigator and Asst. Prof. Sara Cordes (Psychology).

The longer and more arduous the path to citizenship, the less effective it will be in reassuring Americans that illegal immigrants aren’t being given an unfair advantage, wrote Prof.

Peter Skerry (Political Science) in The Weekly Standard.

Carroll School of Management Dean Andy Boynton wrote in Forbes on the successful crowdsourcing, or “open innovation,” model of global software company TopCoder — founded by Carroll School alumnus Jack Hughes ’84 — which has allowed it to leverage global expertise and provides another crucial way of thinking about the challenge of diversity.

Lee Pellegrini

WELCOME ADDITIONS

Newsmakers

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The Center for Human Rights and International Justice sponsored the roundtable “Human Rights in History” on Feb. 6, with (L-R) center director David Hollenbach, SJ, Michael Rosen of Harvard University, Samuel Moyn of Columbia University and moderator Prof. Dan Kanstroom (Law), the center’s associate director.

Cable News and the Boston Herald, was among the BC faculty members to comment on speculation that Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean

BC BRIEFING O’Malley, OFM, Cap., may be a contender to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

Prof. Thomas Groome (STM), who was interviewed by ABC World News The Boston Business Journal and BosTonight, WCVB-TV, New England ton Herald ran obituaries on Giles

NOTA BENE Connell School of Nursing Associate Dean for Research and Professor Barbara Wolfe and Assistant Professor Kelly Stamp will be honored by the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses (MARN) at its convention this April.

Wolfe will receive the Mary A. Manning Mentoring Award, given annually by the MARN to a nurse who exemplifies the ideal image of a mentor and has established a record of consistent outreach to nurses in practice or in the pursuit of advanced education. Wolfe is an advanced practice registered nurse whose expertise is the psychobiology of eating disorders. She holds a doctorate from Boston College and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Stamp will be presented with the Excellence in Nursing Education Award, which honors a nurse educator who demonstrates excellence in nursing education. As a certified adult nurse practitioner, Stamp’s focus is on coronary heart disease diagnosis and treatment, specifically nurse practitioners’ assessment of coronary heart disease risk factors and self-care in women with heart failure. She earned a doctorate from the University of South Florida.

—Kathleen Sullivan J. Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay Schlozman and co-authors Sidney Verba and Henry Brady have won two PROSE Awards for their book, The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy. PROSE awards are presented by the Association of American Publishers and recognize excellence in professional and scholarly publishing, as judged by peer publishers, librarians and academics.

The authors and their publisher, Princeton Press, were honored for the best scholarly book in the field of Government & Politics.

They also were named winners of the Award for Excellence in Social Sciences. According to the publisher, Unheavenly Chorus is “the first book to look at the political participation of individual citizens alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests — membership associations such as unions, professional associations, trade associations, and citizens groups, as well as organizations like corporations, hospitals, and universities...[T]his book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality.”

—Kathleen Sullivan

E. Mosher Jr., a longtime Boston College trustee and corporate titan who rose from a part-time teller to the head of one of the Bay State’s biggest banks.

Honors/Appointments Prof. Jeffrey Cohen (CSOM) has been named the incoming senior editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, the premier international journal for academic research in auditing.

“Occupy the Tax Code: Using the Estate Tax to Reduce Inequality and Spur Economic Growth,” an article co-authored by William J. Kenealy, SJ, Professor of Law James Repetti, was cited as one of the top five tax articles downloaded on the Social Science Research Network.

Time and a Half African and African Diaspora Studies Program Director Assoc. Prof. Cynthia Young (English) participated in a “Scholar Talk” at the Huntington Theater after a performance of “Invisible Man.” She also chaired and presented a comment at panel “Solidarity Against the Odds: Cultural Politics of Resistance and Affiliation in the Late Cold War,” held as part of the American Studies Association Annual Conference in Puerto Rico.

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/: Head Librarian, Social Work Library Manager, Human Resources Service Center Student Services Associate Art Director, Office of Marketing Communications Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Institutional Diversity Resident Director, Residential Life Assistant Manager, Dining Services

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LOOKING AHEAD

BC’s Graver to discuss her new book, a saga of a family and change

By Rosanne Pellegrini Staff Writer

For generations, the Porter family has enjoyed solitude and serenity at Ashaunt Point, a remote summer community on Massachusetts’ Buzzards Bay. But World War II is raging, and although the conflict at first seems far away, it invades the Porters’ sanctuary and changes the course of their lives — especially teenagers Helen and Dossie and their younger sister Janie — in ways they can scarcely imagine.

The Porters’ odyssey through the momentous events and various social trends and developments of the second half of the 20th century — World War II, the Vietnam War, women’s liberation, psychoanalysis, environmentalism, land development — is the subject of The End of the Point, a new novel by acclaimed author and English Professor Elizabeth Graver.

Set for release March 5 by HarperCollins, The End of the Point examines the powerful legacy of family and place and explores what we are born into,

BC SCENES

what we pass down, preserve, cast off or willingly set free.

Graver will give a reading and talk about the novel at a Dean’s Colloquium in the O’Neill Library Reading Room (Entry Level) on March 14 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event, which will be followed by a reception, is free and open to the public.

“I wanted to portray a small place but go deep, to use a narrow lens to examine larger issues of social class, money and property, of parenting and caretaking, of what adults pass on, both literally and figuratively, to children,” said Graver.

“I look at how this kind of private seaside community can function as a protected or contested space, isolated but never entirely, as its boundaries are porous and the events of history are never far away,” she said. “I realized partway through that I was also writing about a world whose ways are fast-fading, a world on the way out, for better or worse — probably both.”

Graver is the author of three previous novels: Awake, The Honey Thief, and Unravelling.

Her short story collection, Have You Seen Me?, won the 1991 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, and her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories (1991, 2001), Prize Stories: The

Lee Pellegrini

A Small Place, But a Big Story to Go With It

“I realized partway through that I was also writing about a world whose ways are fast-fading, a world on the way out, for better or worse — probably both.”

—Elizabeth Graver

O. Henry Awards (1994, 1996, 2001), The Pushcart Prize Anthology (2001), and Best American Essays (1998). Her story “The

Mourning Door” was awarded the Cohen Prize from Ploughshares Magazine.

The End of the Point “took me a long time to write, both because of the particular challenges and pleasures that went into it and because over the past decade, my non-writing life has been very full,” according to Graver, whose extensive research for the book comprised topics such as World War II, Scotland — where she spent two weeks — and 1970s counterculture.

A slate of prominent writers — including Gish Jen, Margot Livesey, Ron Rash and others — have commended Graver’s new work.

“In this globalized age, with everyone talking about migration, here comes Elizabeth Graver to remind us of just what place can mean,” wrote Jen, author of World and Town, among other acclaimed works. “The attachment in this gorgeously written, enormously moving book transcends time and personality. It is deep, extraordinarily ordinary, and finally provocative.”

Graver also drew praise from Booklist: “With a style and voice reminiscent of William Trevor and Graham Swift, Graver’s powerfully evocative portrait of a family strained by events both large and small celebrates the

THE RINK CYCLE Photos by Christopher Huang

Students had the opportunity to take an evening spin on the Conte Forum ice Feb. 15 and 16 as part of the University’s “Night on the Heights” program. Hot chocolate, hot cider and cookies helped to sweeten the deal.

indelible influence certain places can exert over the people who love them.”

An advance review by Publishers Weekly was equally laudatory: “Graver’s gifts — her control of time, her ability to evoke place and define character — are immense.”

Graver said there will be a strong Boston College component to her March 14 reading and talk.

“I have felt wonderfully supported by Boston College during the seven-plus years it took me to complete this project. In addition to reading from the book at the Dean’s Colloquium, I thought I’d talk a bit about researching the novel, since my research — aided at key moments by an undergraduate assistant, as well as by conversations with colleagues within and outside of the English Department — owes a great deal to several people at BC.” Graver’s website, www.elizabethgraver.com, offers information about The End of the Point and her other work. The site also lists readings she is slated to give in several Boston-area venues, including Newtonville Books, the Lincoln Library and Concord and Andover bookstores.

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu