Odyssey, Fall 2023 | BUA Magazine

ODYSSEY Fall 2023

The Magazine of Boston University Academy

A LETTER FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL CHRIS KOLOVOS

Last spring, we gathered at the MFA to celebrate 30 years of Boston University Academy. Seeing 500 parents, past parents, alums, faculty and staff, former faculty and staff, and friends of BUA together was a beautiful testament to the love that this school has inspired in so many.

Early in the gala program, we watched a video featuring members of the BUA family past and present. Every time a teacher appeared on the screen, the audience erupted in applause and cheers. While those of us who planned the event did not anticipate that response, we were not surprised either. Teaching is about relationships. We are blessed to have a school full of adults who love their subject areas but love these young people even more, and I am glad that so many of our teachers and staff members were there to feel the love from the audience.

The 30th anniversary also gave us a chance, Janus-like, to look backwards and forwards. We reaffirmed those things that make BUA so special and have led us to become the school of choice for exceptionally kind, curious, capable students in the Boston area: a commitment to deep intellectual engagement, critical thinking, and joyful inquiry; a belief that students learn best in a small school and alongside exceptional mentors; an intentionally inclusive, diverse, and kind community; a conviction that students should be able to follow their curiosity beyond the limits of a traditional high school curriculum.

We also dreamed together about the school we can and should be. In the following pages, you’ll read about BUA’s Strategic Vision 2030 and its central aspirations: keeping BUA accessible to the most wonderful students regardless of their family’s financial situation; preserving and enhancing our culture of rich diversity and belonging; supporting this world-class faculty – the heart of the school; integrating more of the University and the City of Boston into our students’ experiences; and opening avenues for all students to find purpose through research and action that matter. These are not far-off destinations. You’ll see evidence throughout this magazine that we are already pushing forward in all of these areas. It is an exciting time to be at BUA.

We are deeply grateful to all of you who have made BUA a priority in your lives. Your faith and support are why we can dream big and ensure that generations to come have the kind of experience that only BUA can offer. Thank you.

Wishing you all a joyful, healthy year. And happy reading!

Chris Kolovos, Head of School

CONTRIBUTORS

Margo Cox

Nastaran Hakimi

Chris Kolovos

Elisha Meyer

PHOTOGRAPHY

Dave Green

Nile Hawver

Tara Teslow MAGAZINE DESIGN

Tara Teslow

COVER PHOTO

Dave Green

ALUMNI NEWS

Send notes and correspondence to Dave Stone at stoneyd@bu.edu

FEATURES

Strategic Vision 2030

Celebrating 30 Years of BUA

On Grades and Mindsets: Head of School Opening Address

Meet Our New Faculty and Staff

Office Artifacts: Dr. Kristin Jewell

Investing in University Partnerships Around Campus

A Passion for Sustainable Fashion

Boston-Area Students Hack@BUA

Bringing Biology In-House

Q&A with Dr. Colleen Krivacek 2023 Commencement Celebrating the Career of Ellen Evans

BUA 2030 STRATEGIC VISION

Lastspring, we announced BUA’s 2030 Strategic Vision – a vivid description of the institution we aspire to be and a guide to where we will focus our energy and resources in the coming years.

The vision is the culmination of a two-year, inclusive, and iterative effort involving members of every BUA constituency. We began with a community-wide survey, where hundreds of parents, past parents, students, alumni, faculty, staff, and others offered their views on what lies at the core of BUA and what we should prioritize going forward. Many months of conversations fol- lowed, and we are particularly grateful for the contributions of the Strategic Vision Steering Committee, ably led by board cochair Bob Mulroy P’24.

BUA’s mission statement (adopted in 2018) captures those timeless core values that make our school distinctive and that have driven the school’s success for three decades: “In our caring high

school community, students who love learning are challenged to think critically and read deeply, and to explore adventurously the wider world of learning at Boston University.” The goal of this new vision is to ensure that BUA can execute on that mission for years to come.

As you will see, the vision focuses on five strategic priorities –aspirational targets for 2030. Over the coming months and years, we will provide updates on our progress and turn to this community for its support in achieving these goals.

The best-kept secret no more, BUA is emerging as the school of choice for the Boston area’s most extraordinary young people. Our opportunity now is to build on that momentum and plan boldly for the future from a position of strength. We believe that this vision will not only serve our students well and ensure longterm financial sustainability but also position BUA as a model for what education can be.

BUA will be the school of choice for exceptionally kind, curious, and capable students who can attend regardless of their family's financial situation and who reflect the rich diversity of the Boston area.

We will be a model for what education can be, where students — guided by a world-class faculty and leveraging the University and the City of Boston — build a deep foundation, explore a limitless curriculum, and find purpose through research and action that matter.

1 Regardless of their Family's Financial Situation

We will maintain our current commitment to fund every qualified student regardless of their family's financial situation and grow our resources to ensure that we can continue to do so as our outreach into higher-need communities grows.

2 Rich Diversity

We will build on our reputation as the Boston-area independent school that best reflects the world our students will go into through enhanced outreach to students and families from historically under-represented backgrounds and programs designed to foster a deep sense of belonging.

3 World-Class Faculty

We will invest in our most valuable resource and the heart of this school — the teachers — ensuring that we can hire, retain, and provide growth for the people who deliver the program, mentor our students, and will lead the evolution of our curriculum in a new era.

4 The University and the City of Boston

We will deepen learning opportunities for our students not only through University coursework, but by opening doors to schools and interdisciplinary centers across BU and leveraging Boston as an extension of the classroom.

5 Purpose through Research & Action that Matter

We will create avenues for all students to engage in research or take action, large or small, that is personally meaningful and that has a positive impact on others, setting them up for lives of purpose.

30 YEARS OF BUA

On May 6, 2023, Boston University Academy celebrated its 30th anniversary with a gala at the Museum of Fine Arts. Five hundred alumni, current and former parents, faculty and staff past and present, and friends of BUA gathered to share in this milestone in the life of the school. The sellout crowd, having traveled from far and wide to attend the event, was a testament to the strength of the BUA community and the bonds of friendship and affinity spanning three decades.

500 $130,000 $7,000 450 7 1

guests in attendance (a sellout crowd!) raised for financial aid in faculty sponsorship tickets sold roses in custom centerpieces by Cristy Walsh P'22 pieces of student artwork donated to the online auction special anniversary video

On Grades and Mindsets: Head of School Opening Address

On September 5, 2023, Head of School Chris Kolovos delivered his opening address at an all-school meeting.

Good morning. It is lovely to see you all today. On behalf of the faculty and staff, welcome to this 31st year of BU Academy.

A special welcome to our new students. You are impressive individuals, but what binds you together is your curiosity and your kindness. That is also what connects you to all of us. You make us better, and we are so glad you are here.

An extra special welcome to the class of 2024. You have earned a reputation – a good one – for being cohesive and inclusive. That was on full display at the senior retreat, where I watched your friend groups mix and morph. You have also earned a reputation for being engaged and for trying to make this school better; we will all see evidence of that today from two of our Student Council leaders. You all are one of the reasons I'm so optimistic about this year. It is going to be a great one.

In just a few moments, you will hear from Anais, our Student Council president. But first, I'll offer some thoughts as I do at the start of every year.

My topic today is a rather serious one. I am going to talk today about the pressure that some of you feel to achieve academically – the oftentimes unhealthy focus on grades. Now, I am not saying that this is a BUA-only phenomenon or that this concern applies to all of you all of the time. Certainly not. In many ways, we are beautifully counterculture. So many of you exhibit a deep, abiding love for learning; curiosity is a thread that runs through this community, often overcoming a hyper-focus on grades.

But we are not immune to this phenomenon. It is something I worry about. The good news is that there is something we can do about it. Some of you will resist what I have to say. At your age, frankly, I might have too. Still, I wish somebody

had said it when I was in your position, and I hope I would have listened.

Learning as Play

After that dour note, I'll begin with something happier. At home right now, I have a front-row seat to how babies and toddlers learn. Those of you with young siblings and cousins know this too. Maggie and Penny, our twins, are nine-months old. They are learning how to walk. Right now they are at the stage where they crawl over to the couch, pull themselves up to stand, and then almost immediately land really hard on their backsides. My wife and I talk about lining the house with pillows and bubble wrap. But the girls just laugh hysterically and try again.

Young kids are amazing. They're just not afraid to make mistakes. They don't see mistakes as failures. They don't say, “I'm so embarrassed about my grammar.” They don't say, “You know, walking is overrated. I'm not really a walking person. I'm just gonna crawl.”

For them, learning is play.

Our son, Charlie, is three-years old. He's a verbal little guy; we have lots of fun conversations. But neither of us taught him how to talk. He learned by trying and by messing up over and over again. Over time, “ut” became “up.” "Where are them?” became “Where are they?” “Mys” is becoming “mine” (although I have to say I don't blame him for that one; “mys” makes so much more sense when you think about “ours” and “yours” and “his” and “hers”).

Young kids are amazing. They're just not afraid to make mistakes. They don't see mistakes as failures. They don't say,

“I'm so embarrassed about my grammar.” They don't say, “You know, walking is overrated. I'm not really a walking person. I'm just gonna crawl.” For them, learning is play.

So What Changes?

And then somewhere along the line things change, and not in a good way. Learning stops feeling like play and feels more like work. Learning becomes stressful and can provoke anxiety. Schools have a lot to do with that. This is not your fault. Particularly when we start giving grades, students can fixate on those measures – fixate on those grades, scores, and honors.

I started down this path early. I remember – and this is family lore – that I cried in the first grade when I received an A-. In the second grade, I remember the name of the student who beat me at a multiplication contest. I remember in the seventh grade, when I started at private school, the string of B's and C's on my report card – grades I had never seen before; I remember feeling like an imposter in those moments. And, for some reason, I kept all of my report cards and standardized test score reports in a little treasure box in my parents' closet.

The research shows that this is not healthy. This anxious hyper focus on grades leads to really pernicious outcomes. It squashes curiosity. It discourages risk-taking. It discourages asking for help when you need it. It actually makes your performance worse. It can have negative mental health outcomes, especially when you are measuring your self-worth by letters on a report card.

It can even lead someone to put their character at risk by cheating. A fellow head of school shared a particularly sad example. She told me that one of her students cheated on a placement test. Mind you, there are no reportable grades on a placement test. Cheating on a placement

test actually makes it harder for a student to succeed. When she asked the student why, the student said, “I wanted to do well.”

The question is, why does this happen? How do we go from happy, mistake-making, giggling toddlers to people who worry so much about outcomes, even for deeply curious and strong students like you? There are certainly external factors, and I do not want to downplay those: college, parents, and society more broadly. I will address those. But I suspect that the biggest driver for many of us is internal.

Grades and Growth Mindsets

I would like to tell you a story about a friend of mine from college who was a star in high school. She went to a school very much like this one, was at the top of her class, and went to a name-brand college. And she loved math. In her freshman year of college, she earned an A in multivariable calculus and differential equations in the first semester and then an A- in linear algebra in the second semester. That course was hard for her, but rather than being proud of her A-, she took it as a sign that she had reached her math limit. She never took a math course again. She decided to major in environmental science – a field aligned with her passion and where she thought she would be able to do some good in the world. In

her sophomore year, she earned a B in a course in her major. Not used to seeing that grade, she took it as a sign that she would struggle and switched majors to safer ground.

Like so many strong students, she learned the lesson early in life that she was smart – good at school. That was part of her identity. She received a lot of praise for that. She was really proud of it. The string of A’s she received along the way was evidence that she was smart and good at school.

And that’s just the problem. If an A means that you are smart or good at something, what does a B mean? What does an A- mean? Lower grades must mean that you are not smart, not good at something, and that you have maxed your ability. You should not take the next challenge because you might fail and expose your weakness, with consequences for your identity and your self-worth.

What she was exhibiting was a clear example of what is called a fixed mindset. The research here is fascinating. One of the leading thinkers in this area is Dr. Carol Dweck at Stanford. Her work describes two categories of people. In one category are people with what’s called a fixed mindset, who tend to believe that traits are fixed and stable over time –

things like your intelligence and mathematical ability. Those do not fundamentally change; you are born with them. By contrast, people with a growth mindset think very differently. They view traits as changeable over time. You can get smarter and more skilled through effort.

What is fascinating about the research is not the categorization; it is the outcomes. The research shows that people with a fixed mindset, controlling for all other factors, tend to perform worse than people with a growth mindset. Those with a growth mindset tend to perform better. For example, researchers tracked students with growth and fixed mindsets over time in math and found that students with a growth mindset ended up in higher levels of math years afterwards as they progressed through their education.

It might seem surprising that the way we think about learning impacts how well we do. But consider feedback and how we respond to mistakes. In response to a low grade, people with a fixed mindset often look around to see who did worse than they did and then feel a little better about themselves. They stick to areas where they can really excel and put their effort there. If you have a growth mindset, what do you do with a mistake? They are not scared of the result, but see it as a chance to learn. They ask for help. They try harder and see what their effort can accomplish – just like every toddler.

Retraining our Brains

Here's the good news: we can control our mindset. We can develop a growth mindset and we can change the way we think about grades.

We are working on this as a school. Last year, the faculty summer reading was a book called "Grading for Equity." Since then, we have been talking a great deal about our grading practices, our grading policies, what we want grades to mean, and how we telegraph that.

Classically, grades have been seen as sorting mechanisms. We reject that. We have no honors and non-honors tracks to sort you into. We have no class rank. We do not grade on a curve.

Head of School Chris Kolovos delivers his opening-of-term address on September 5, 2023.

The purpose of grades, for us, is not to tell you if you are good at Latin or whether you are better at math than the student sitting next to you. It is to answer one simple question: can you do the things we're asking you to do right now? Can you do all of them? Can you do some of them? How well can you do them? A grade is a diagnostic snapshot at a moment in time to tell you whether your effort is producing the results you are hoping for. And it is a guide to where you might want to work harder and ask for help.

Now, this does not mean you should not care about your grades. Of course you should – but not as a confirmation of some fixed ability or some innate skill. Take a grade as feedback. “Is what I'm doing for homework working? Where do I need to improve?” I also do not mean to suggest that talent does not matter. We all have natural strengths – of course we do. But we can all improve, and grades can help us do that if framed the right way.

This is perhaps the only time this year I will make a sports reference. It’s a story about Michael Jordan, who was, as some of you know, cut from his varsity basketball team as a sophomore in high school. He was placed on the JV team to develop. Worse yet, when he looked at the varsity roster, he saw the name of one of his classmates – another sophomore. Jordan's reaction famously was that he simply was not as good as the other players at that moment. Notice how different that is than “I'm not a good basketball player.” He also has said that getting cut was the best thing that could have happened to him because it led him to respond with effort. Effort and a growth mindset became lifelong habits for Michael Jordan, helping him become arguably the most dominant basketball player in history.

College Myths

Some of you are likely thinking, “Come on Mr. Kolovos. There's an enormous pachyderm standing in the corner: college. Colleges care about our grades. They are not looking at our effort. They don't care how hard we try. They are just

looking at the scores and the letters. Of course we're gonna stress about it.”

True. You're right. Colleges have become very selective, especially the places you all tend to want to go. Selectivity rates have plummeted as applications have increased. Eight percent admission rates are 92% rejection rates.

Scores and grades are important factors in college admissions, but I’ll suggest that they should not cause the distress that they do. There are four myths I want to unpack for you briefly.

The purpose of grades, for us, is not to tell you if you are good at Latin or whether you are better at math than the student sitting next to you. It is to answer one simple question: can you do the things we're asking you to do right now? Can you do all of them? Can you do some of them? How well can you do them? A grade is a diagnostic snapshot at a moment in time to tell you whether your effort is producing the results you are hoping for. And it is a guide to where you might want to work harder and ask for help.

One myth is that stressing about grades leads to better outcomes. That's nonsense. Stress makes outcomes worse. Anybody who has ever had a moment of test anxiety knows this. What helps is being open to feedback, learning, and bouncing back; that actually produces higher outcomes and the transcripts you may want.

Myth number two: we at BUA are competing against one another for a limited number of slots at these selective schools, and so small differences in GPAs matter. Nonsense. I can tell you that in one year, Brand X college admitted four or five BUA students. In the very next year, they admitted zero. They do not have a quota.

If they want you – if they see something in you that they really like – they will admit you. They do not care about how many of you are applying to their school.

Myth number three: all colleges care about is grades and scores. I've talked to about three dozen deans of admission at the most highly selective colleges and universities in the country and I have asked them about how they read your applications. They turn away hundreds of valedictorians with perfect grades every year. What they are really looking for is a combination of students who can do the work at the college level, who are on fire with curiosity, and who have shown an inclination to connect that curiosity with something that matters – showing the promise to have an impact on their world. You all are in a unique position to do those things, and that is why they tell me that they love reading your applications.

The most pernicious college myth, though, is that going to the most selective college you can is a predictor of success and happiness. The research does not support that. What does matter is what you do when you are there. Who are the professors you meet? Who are your friends? What research do you engage in? What classes do you take? And I'll tell you that after a while nobody cares where you went to college. It is often the most insecure adults who remind you of where they went to college later in life. Pick a place you love and a program you connect with.

Parents

Some of you may have noticed that I have not talked much about another important piece here: parents. You might say, “Come on Mr. Kolovos, you're ignoring my parents, who really want me to excel. I have to get the grades.” For some of you, that parental pressure may be explicit. For others, likely for many of you, I'm guessing that the pressure is implicit or internalized. Even if your parents tell you to just do your best, you might feel some pressure to live up to the standard they set when they were in school. Or maybe, like my parents, yours did not go to col-

lege, but you feel the pressure to establish the family and do as well as you can on your family’s behalf.

I have two things I’d like you to think about when it comes to parents. One, if your parents seem anxious about your grades, scores, and college, have some empathy. It often comes from a desire to give you a happy life. They are just not sure how to do that. Here's why.

A psychologist I deeply admire shared the following thought experiment. Think about a time ten generations ago

and what our lives looked like. It would have been fairly easy for parents to ensure your success because the future was much more predictable. You would likely live in the same village or town that your parents lived in. You would likely marry somebody from that village, and perhaps the marriage would be arranged. If your parents made fishing nets, you would have been very likely to learn that trade at their feet and take over the business.

Now, who knows where you are going to live? It could be anywhere around the world. You might meet your part-

ner online. Your job could be anything; it might not even be invented yet. Your family cannot prepare you for that. And that's unnerving for parents. What they are trying to do is give you all the advantages they can in that great cloud of uncertainty. They sometimes see grades and college as something they can control in order for you to be happy.

Deep down, they just want you to be happy. I know this because I have asked them. I talked to the parents of about fifty incoming ninth graders during the month of August and asked them what their hopes are for you. Not a single person mentioned grades. Not a single person mentioned a college list or a career. What they said was that they want you to stay curious, find great friends, find great mentors, be challenged, grow, and be happy.

So, one piece of homework for all of you. When you go home tonight to your parents, to your guardians, to your family, ask them what their hopes are for you at BUA and what they hope for you beyond this place. Listen with an open heart. Tell them about your hopes. And then give them a hug and tell them you love them.

I wish you all a great year. Thank you very much.

MEET OUR NEW FACULTY & STAFF

Dr. Colleen Krivacek joins us as our new biology teacher. Dr. Krivacek earned her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College and PhD in biology from Boston College. She is a veteran independent school teacher, having spent the last eight years (of her 20+ year teaching career) at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

MS. MARIE-CLAIRE GUIDOUX: MATH TEACHER

Ms. Marie-Claire Guidoux joins BUA's math department this year. She is filling in for Mr. Nick Dent, whoh is on sabbatical this year pursuing an advanced degree in mathematics at BUA. thoughtful and experienced math teacher, Ms. Guidoux has taught most recently at St. Joseph’s Prep and Boston College High School, and has earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Boston College in mathematics and education.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Mr. Jingxiao Zeng joins us as our Music Teaching Assistant, supporting Dr. Abigaña and working with students across the program. He is an accomplished trombonist and is pursuing his PhD at Boston University.

MS. PAULA JURADO: ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ADMISSION

Ms. Paula Jurado has stepped in as our new Assistant Director of Admission. Ms. Jurado has previous admission experience at her independent school alma mater, The Athenian School in San Francisco, and has recently completed her master’s degree from Boston College.

Juniors in Ms. Kamen's history course engaging in a reading exercise during the first week of class.

DR. COLLEEN KRIVACEK: BIOLOGY TEACHER

MR. JINGXIAO ZENG: MUSIC

Office Artifacts: Dr. Kristin Jewell

1. These are several samples of my students' “My Word” projects from Greek and Latin: I asked students to choose a word in their target language that has some resonance for them, illustrate it, and write a little blurb about it. Some are light and funny; some are serious and thoughtful – but they all tell me a little something that I might not know otherwise.

2. My awesome young nephew Jake made this painting for me. He's a budding artist, and he knows I love the ancient world, so he wanted to make me a picture of Mount Olympus.

3. Aix the Goat! “Aix” is Greek for goat, so technically his name is Goat the Goat. Aix was a present from the Class of 2016: they gave each teacher a little personalized gift. Why a goat for me? Our Greek textbook at the time used Aix as a model noun, and a lot of its sentences had goats in them.

4. A pair of dormice, crocheted for me by Kendree Chen '25, as a last-day-ofschool gift in Latin II class. Dormice were a delicacy in Rome, and our textbook featured a story about a fancy Roman dinner party. We had fun going down a bit of a rabbit hole (mouse hole?) about how one prepares and eats dormice. By the way, these dormice need names. Any ideas?

5. A beautiful Chinese paper cutting –the work of Quinten Jin '25, who gave it to me last year. Quinten's amazing work can be seen around BUA, and he has run workshops to teach his fellow students!

6. An image of a Greek vase painting that Dr. Alonge shared with me, because the writing is a fun challenge for students to decipher. I saved this copy because one of my Greek II students wrote “hydrocar-

bon” on it: the border on the Greek vase reminded him of molecules he had seen in chemistry class. (If that's not BUA, I don't know what is.)

7. This mug was a present from my dear old roommate from graduate school. It says, “Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?”. . . which of course is Latin for, “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

8. More samples of student work! “My Word” projects in Greek and Latin, from my first and second year classes.

9. A pair of penguin beanie toys. We used them to play “Pin the Penguin on the Sentence” in Latin class, and the competition was fierce. Also, I like penguins.

Investing in University Partnerships

Animated by the strategic priority to “deepen learning opportunities for our students not only through University coursework, but by opening doors to schools and interdisciplinary centers across BU,” BUA is investing heavily in its University partnerships, capitalizing on the myriad resources available to it and opening new avenues for intellectual exploration.

MIX IT UP LUNCHES

In the 2022-2023 school year, BUA chemistry teacher and Director of Student Life Victoria Perrone stepped into the newly-created role of director of university partnerships.

Ms. Perrone’s signature university partnership project is her popular Mix It Up lunch series, which brings professors and researchers from across the University to BUA to chat with students about their respective fields.

Explaining the impetus behind the Mix It Up series, Perrone says: “I want the kids to understand that there’s not one straight path in life. You don’t have to know where you’re going — you can figure it out along the way.”

After meeting Subramanian Sundaram — a researcher in the College of Engineering Biological Design Center focusing on cardiac tissue engineering — at a Mix It Up lunch, Anna Augart-Welwood '23 was inspired to focus her thesis on the topic.

“I didn’t think that lunch would lead to a thesis project – I was just excited to talk with someone who was knowledgeable about an area of research that fascinated me,” says Augart-Welwood, whose thesis, advised by Sundaram, centered on the use of stem cells and porcine cardiac extracellular matrices in growing bioartificial hearts.

EPIC & BUILD LAB

Expanded access to University research and interdisciplinary centers also means that BUA students don’t have to wait until junior year to take advantage of BU’s many state-of-the-art resources and facilities.

As part of the revised 9th-and 10th-grade seminar curriculum, the Engineering & Entrepreneurship unit leverages two key University partnerships. Students learn the basics of fabrication – including laser and waterjet cutting and 3D printing –at BU’s 15,000-square-foot makerspace, the Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC). At the BU Innovate and BUild lab – BU’s innovation and entrepreneurship center – students learn to apply design thinking skills and methodology to real world problems.

COMPUTER AND DATA SCIENCES

In Python and Machine Learning, another 9th- and 10thgrade seminar option, students work with researchers from BU’s Software & Application Innovation Lab to learn the fundamentals of coding through interactive lessons in Python and doing hands-on work in machine learning.

Lawford Anderson, a BU professor of earth and environment and a longtime petrologist, talks to BUA students during a Mix It Up lunch.

EPIC seminar students, mentored by BU lab technicians, showing off their acrylic pieces after using the laser cutter for the first time.

Boston University's Center for Computer and Data Sciences

Listen up!

Sally Jamrog '23 was featured in an episode of BU's “Today I Learned” podcast, discussing her experience in Professor Lawford Anderson's “Crises of Planet Earth” class.

It's not every day you get to chat with an astronaut! In April, Astronaut Bob Hines (BU ENG'97), who recently returned from a stay on the International Space Station, visited BUA to recount his time on the ISS and answer student questions. This event followed a live NASA downlink from the ISS to the BU community in July 2022.

When in Rome...

80 students and 10 chaperones spent a week in Italy visiting Rome, Firenze, Ostia, Orvieto, and Assisi on BUA's largest ever international trip to date!

40 students played on 3 volleyball teams coached by math teacher Mr. Seth

AROUND

X 2

"Iter Iuliae"

The title of a novella written in Latin by commencement speaker Giselle Wu '23 for her Senior Thesis!

The BUA girls varsity soccer team took home the Girls Independent League championship for the second year in a row.

3 SENIORS

Alex Jin '23, Alvin Lu '23, and Joseph Wang '23 were named among the top 300 scholars in the 2023

REGENERON SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH:

The nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. A total of 1,949 students around the country entered the competition this year.

Dr. Brett Abigaña led a trip for members of Vox Caeli and Polytropos, BUA's A capella groups, to Mystic Seaport where they met with Geoff Kaufman, the world's leading authority on sea chanteys and nautical work songs.

The Bethany Hill Changemaker Award

was awarded to Rohan Biju '23 at their annual gala for his three years of volunteer work providing tech support and raising funds for adults and children living in poverty.

“On Residues of Rounded Shifted Fractions with a Common Numerator”

The number theory article published by BUA math teacher Nick Dent.

CAMPUS

1ST PLACE

Sophia Tang '25 won overall Best in Show at the 2023 Small Independent School Art League (SISAL) art competition for her colored-pencil drawing

“Can't Eat Fish.” Five other BUA student artists earned top prizes in the competition.

Chemistry teacher Victoria Perrone presented a talk entitled “Exploring the intersectionality of science and societal issues in high school chemistry: a science communication approach” at the New England Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

$5,000

Awarded to English teacher Ariana Kelly as a winner of the 2023 Jack Hazard Fellowship, bestowed annually to support the artistic endeavors of fourteen creative writers who teach high school around the country.

A Passion for Sustainable Fashion

Back in sophomore year, for her final chemistry presentation, Claire Hsu '23 researched the use of polyethylene textiles, a type of recycled textile that can reduce the amount of waste that the fashion industry produces. That project sparked her interest in this unique intersection between her two passions, fashion and STEM, and ignited an impulse “to do something hands-on to help fashion become more sustainable."

polycotton from end-of-use textiles to replace virgin materials and create new clothes without added costs or compromises in quality.”

How did Claire get her hands on this cutting-edge new material? Using advocacy and outreach skills honed at BUA, she reached out to Dr. Sean Su, Circ's head of materials chemistry, to pitch the idea of a partnership – and he agreed!

Claire Hsu '23 Senior Thesis:

"The Wearability of Textile-to-Textile Recycling: A New Closed-Loop Fashion."

Fast forward two years: Claire is hard at work at her home sewing machine, stitching together a pair of “Worksweatpants” for her senior thesis, “The Wearability of Textile-to-Textile Recycling: A New Closed-Loop Fashion.” The lyocell fabric she is using to sew these pants was engineered by Circ, a Virginia-based company that has pioneered a hydrothermal processing technique that “sustainably recovers cotton, polyester, and

ter; a water absorption and retention test determining “the moisture wicking ability and potential applications of different types of Circ's fabrics”; and lastly, the design and creation of a wearable garment, “Worksweatpants,” to “demonstrate the fabric's comfort and usability.”

After carefully conducting these three experiments, Claire concluded that “Circ's fibers and fabrics are just as comfortable

The premise of Claire's thesis is that current methods of textile recycling (like the one she examined for her 10th-grade chemistry project) “is a linear system that does not fully solve the fashion industry's issues since these recycled textiles will still eventually end up in landfills.”

As she lays out in her abstract: "As the world's first true textile-to-textile recycling solution for polyester-cotton blends of any color combination, Circ's fibers have the potential to change the fashion industry's wasteful and unsustainable ways and achieve closed-loop fashion, a design and production system that reuses garments and their materials for as long as possible and safely returns materials to the biosphere when they are no longer of use."

For her thesis research, Claire designed three experiments to determine the wearability and comfort of Circ's fabrics: a fiber cross-section test comparing the shape of Circ's lyocell fibers to cotton and polyes-

and wearable as common textiles such as cotton and polyester by showing its soft and shiny texture, excellent water absorp tion and retention abilities, comfort, and versatility,” and thus provide a potential solution.

Claire's project is the latest example of BUA students marrying their academic and personal passions to carry out impactful research with real-world application – all while they're still in high school. On how fellow students can follow in her footsteps, Claire offers this guidance: “My advice is to stay updated on the latest developments and trends in both your academic and personal interests. I would also recommend reaching out and engaging with any professionals, companies, or labs that interest you. For instance, when I sent out dozens of cold emails to labs and companies related to textile recycling, I learned a lot about the different technologies involved in making fashion sustainable, and was also fortunate enough to be able to conduct my own research on this topic.”

Claire's final thesis presentation at BUA in May 2023 The "Worksweatpants" in action

Boston-Area Students Hack@BUA

On April 2, 2023, Boston University Academy hosted its first-ever hackathon, Hack@BUA, attracting 42 students from 14 schools in the Greater Boston area. Hack@BUA was the brainchild of the BUA Computer Science Club, and was capably organized and led by Rohan Biju '23, Joie Liu '23, and Alvin Lu '23, with the assistance of many BUA student volunteers. The daylong hackathon was held at Boston University's Photonics Center.

Hack@BUA attracted a diverse group of students from public and independent middle and high schools in and beyond Boston. Participants ranged in age from 11 to 18, making for a dynamic and spirited event.

The hackathon featured three compelling tracks focusing on the themes of Sustainability, Healthcare, and Student Life. Over the course of eight hours, teams of 3-5 students worked together to conceive, develop, and code an application or project addressing a critical need in one of the above tracks.

Three BUA alumni judges – Emilio Lattore '19, Duarte Albuquerque '21, and Phevos Paschalidis '21 – were on hand to provide guidance and expertise, and to evaluate each project and determine the winners. Emilio, who graduated from BU with a dual degree in computer science and psychology in 2023, reflected on the experience:

“I'm really glad that the current students put on this Hackathon. When I was a junior at BUA going into CS111, I had never seen a programming language before. I think that getting kids started early by providing them with a fun, encouraging, and in-depth introduction to programming like the Hackathon is a great way to give them a leg up later, whether they go into computer science or not. In addition to teaching important technical skills, it makes me happy to see the next generation of BUA students continuing to lead in sharing the joy of learning with their peers.”

- Emilio Lattore

'19

The top prize was awarded to Ride Clean, an innovative application that optimizes carpooling routes for maximum fuel efficiency. Using Dijkstra's algorithm, the app calculates the shortest path between multiple destinations, resulting in a sustainable and cost-effective solution for daily commuting. Even more impressive, the team built the software entirely from scratch, rather than relying on pre-existing templates. Their prototype featured seamless integration between the back end and front end, resulting in a polished and functional product. In addition, the team exhibited excellent collaboration and a deep understanding of the project, which made for a truly outstanding submission.

Taking home the second-place prize was Noter, a unique application that leverages OpenAI's API to create an AI-powered notebook. With the click of a button, users can summarize text and create AI-generated quizzes on the topics covered in their notes. The product's implementation was truly fascinating and demonstrated an innovative use of cutting-edge technology. Noter capitalizes on the current AI craze and provides a new and exciting way to approach note-taking and studying. Overall, the judges were impressed by the team's creativity and execution.

In third place was Patient Monitor, a project that aims to improve patient care and hospital efficiency. The device features a combination of cameras and speech-to-text technology to monitor patients and detect keywords and phrases like “ouch” or “that hurts.” With this information, the device alerts doctors and nurses to attend to patients who require assistance, eliminating the need for constant monitoring by a nurse.

By all accounts the inaugural Hack@BUA was a smashing success, and Boston University Academy looks forward to instituting the hackathon as an annual signature event.

Adam Quackenbush '24, Joie Liu '23, Alvin Lu '23, and Rohan Biju '23 led the inaugural Hackathon at BU's Photonics Center.

Left: Hackathon participants working on their coding project. Right: BUA student organizers at the check-in table.

Bringing Biology In-House

In our ongoing efforts to better serve our students, BUA has moved away from the “physics-first” model beginning this fall. Instead of physics, entering ninth graders are taking an exciting, newly created biology course that not only covers the fundamentals of microand macrobiology with the depth and rigor that our school is known for, but also leverages the City of Boston as a living laboratory.

In the tenth grade, students will continue on with chemistry at BUA. In the junior year, they will then be able to choose from various lab-based science courses at the University, including physics courses where placement will match their math experience. The change impacts the Class of 2027 and future classes.

Dr. Colleen Krivacek joins the BUA faculty this fall as the school’s inaugural biology teacher. A veteran of independent schools, Dr. Krivacek taught most re-

9th-Grade Biology Course Description:

cently at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, where she infused her courses with her deep appreciation for the power of experiential, student-centric learning and used the District of Columbia as an extension of the classroom. A former cancer researcher and college professor, Dr. Krivacek graduated from Wellesley College and earned her PhD in biology from Boston College. We sat down with Dr. K. for a wide-ranging conversation about everything from her path to teaching and women in STEM to her preferred grading snack.

In this experiential, inquiry-based class, students will explore the natural world and learn about the many living creatures with which they share the planet. This course covers a range of topics including scientific method, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, ecology, and evolution. Extensive laboratory work supports the main themes of the curriculum, and is reinforced by hands-on, place-based learning, extending the borders of the classroom to include the living world in and around BUA.

Q&A with Dr. Colleen Krivacek

BUA: Welcome to BUA, Dr. Krivacek! We're thrilled that you'll be joining us this fall as our school's inaugural biology teacher. By way of introduction, please tell us a little bit about your background and your journey in science education.

CK: I was interested in science my whole life, and I always thought that I would grow up and be a medical doctor, and my life was kind of leaning that way. So I kind of took stock and I got a job after college working at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, just to do something science related. I did two years at Dana Farber, and I applied to graduate school at BC and some other places. I spent seven years at BC getting my PhD. The thing that I ended up loving most at BC was the teaching.

BUA: You are passionate about advocating for

girls and women in the STEM fields. Why is this important to you?

CK: My graduate school program was predominantly women, but all of our teachers were male. So that was the first time I noticed the disparity and thought about why that was. I always told myself I wasn't going to leave the workforce after having children, but it turns out that babies smell really good!

I'll do anything I can to support women and young girls to pursue an interest in science – it doesn't have to be research, it can be anything.

One of the things I did a lot at Episcopal was bring in different women to talk to my classes about topics we were covering.

For example, when we were studying genetics, I brought in a young genetic counselor to talk to my students about her career and do mock genetic counseling sessions. The students learned about genetic diseases, but to me, the most important lesson was that they learned about these other opportunities for careers in science – for anyone, but for women especially – that are more kind or friendly towards the life that a lot of women want to lead, which is to be a mother; to have the opportunity to have a career in science and also the kind of rewarding family life that they want to have.

BUA: How did your own boarding school experience shape your path to becoming a teacher?

9th-graders learning about watersheds during Dr. Karnaukh and Ms. Kamen's summer course: " Environmental History and Science of Boston."

CK: I grew up in a very small, rural community – more cows than people in my hometown. By the time I was in eighth grade, I was doing the work of a high school junior, and my teachers encouraged my mom to look at boarding schools. Someone suggested the Emma Willard School (in Troy, NY), so I visited, I loved it, and it really changed my life.

I was a shy, quiet person before that –not to use a cliché, but I really blossomed there. All the credit goes to my teachers: they didn't accept shy, quiet me. They encouraged me to learn about what I was passionate about – they supported me, they inspired me. The way that they guided my journey and helped to form the person that I've become has been something I've carried with me throughout my life.

So when I started teaching, I modeled my teaching after my experience in high school: I wanted to support my students and help them find their own path and really try to inspire them and make them feel the way my own teachers had. It's what drew me to teaching, it's what's kept me in teaching, and it's what makes me want to keep teaching.

BUA: So why BUA? Are there aspects of the school that stood out to you when you visited as part of the interview process?

CK: Initially, when we were making our move back up to Boston, I really wanted to look for a school in the city. So I was doing my research on all the high schools in Boston, and once I dug a little bit deeper into BUA, I thought, 'What a cool place, I really like how they do things there.' But given the school's small size, I wondered, 'What are the odds that a position would open up there?'

Lo and behold, I saw the job posting, and it just felt — to use my favorite word in the English language — it just felt serendipitous. I was super excited about designing a new curriculum, place-based learning, extending the walls of the classroom and incorporating the city – it just seemed so perfect for me. It just felt fated.

After my interview day at BUA, all I could

talk about was how amazing the students are. I was so impressed with them while I was there. In the class that I guest-taught, I was talking about how the DNA in every one of your cells is identical, and one student raised their hand and asked “Okay, but Dr. K., what about mosaicism?” And I was like, “You're entirely correct – but how do you know about mosaicism?!” And that was the moment when I knew, this is gonna be good.

The students I had in that class, every time I saw them in the halls, they greeted me. When I poked my head into an English class, they were having a salon. I sat in on a math class and was so impressed. But

"What

sealed the deal was having lunch with a group of students: they felt so comfortable conversing with me, as an adult, but what impressed me the most was how they treated each other. They genuinely seemed to care about each other, to respect each other's opinions, they listened to each other. The whole lunch conversation was so impressive — I was just like, 'I have to be with these children.'"

what sealed the deal was having lunch with a group of students: they felt so comfortable conversing with me, as an adult, but what impressed me the most was how they treated each other. They genuinely seemed to care about each other, to respect each other's opinions, they listened to each other. That whole lunch conversation was so impressive – I was just like, 'I want to be with these children.' Not only how they interacted with me, but also how they interacted with each other.

BUA: What extracurricular activities or sports are you excited to be involved in at BUA?

CK: I'm going to be doing the Science

Olympiad, which is not something I have done before, so that should be interesting. I'm a big rower, so I'd love to get involved with the crew team down the line – I love coaching crew. Honestly, anything that the students want my help with! I have many secret talents.

BUA: BUAers are passionate about nerdy games of all varieties (crossword puzzles, Wordle, D&D, Magic the Gathering, you name it). What's your favorite nerdy game and why?

CK: I love cards. I grew up playing pinochle and hearts and euchre, but I've always wanted to learn how to play bridge. Or maybe mahjong.

BUA: Because food is one of our love languages at BUA – and seems to be a passion of yours as well – what's your go-to grading snack?

CK: Anything with cheese. I love a charcuterie board. I make a really good whipped goat spread with agave, thyme, and Aleppo pepper.

BUA: Lastly, and just for fun, we'll end with some of our favorite all-school meeting questions of the week. Think before you answer – these are hot-button topics at BUA!

BUA: Favorite work of Shakespeare?

CK: Comedy of Errors.

BUA: Favorite word in the English language?

CK: Serendipitous! But my favorite word of all time is actually Kummerspeck. It's a German word that literally means “grief bacon,” but is a word that is used to describe the weight put on by emotional eating.

BUA: What is the best “bad” movie?

CK: Anything with Nicholas Cage: Con Air, National Treasure, The Rock. I've probably watched National Treasure 1,000 times.

BUA: Favorite Halloween candy?

CK: 100 Grand Bar. I hand them out at Halloween just so I can eat them.

BUA: Is a hot dog a sandwich?

CK: Yes, of course.

Commencement 2023

On Monday, May 22, 2023, Boston University Academy hosted its 29th commencement exercise at BU's Tsai Performance Center. The BUA Class of 2023 crossed the stage to receive their diplomas from Head of School Chris Kolovos and Associate Head of School Dr. Rosemary White. Margaret Chu '23 and Giselle Wu '23 recited the Classics orations in Greek and Latin, respectively. Sally Jamrog '23 and Condredge Currie '23 delivered the student addresses.

Tiffany Chu, Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, delivered this year's Commencement keynote address. Ms. Chu, a first generation Taiwanese American, comes from a background in design, urban planning, and entrepreneurship.

In her keynote remarks, Ms. Chu described her nonlinear education and career path as a series of “lily pads floating on the surface of a pond,” her journey from lily pad to lily pad propelled by her love of cities, her inherent curiosity, and a keen desire to explore. The full video of BUA's 29th Commencement ceremony, including Ms. Chu's remarks, is linked on the BUA website.

The members of the BUA Class of 2023 are attending the following institutions this fall:

Barnard College

Bentley University

Boston College

Boston University (11)

Brown University

Bryn Mawr College

Carnegie Mellon University (2)

Cornell University (2)

Dartmouth College

George Washington University

Harvard University (2)

Haverford College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2)

McGill University

New York University (2)

Northeastern University (4)

Northwestern University

Oberlin College

Oregon State University

Smith College

Tufts University (2)

University of California - Berkeley

University of California - San Diego

University of Chicago

University of MarylandCollege Park

University of MassachusettsAmherst Williams College

University of Pennsylvania

Yale University (3)

Tiffany Chu, Chief of Staff to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, delivers her Commencement address.

Celebrating the Career of Ellen Evans

Co-Director of Student Support Ellen Evans retired from BUA at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, following a 21-year career at the school. The community celebrated Ellen with a reception at the BU Pub on June 2, with alumni, parents, and current and former faculty in attendance. An extraordinarily gifted counselor and mentor, Ellen's wisdom, empathy, hard work, patience, and perspective have been a gift to a generation of BUA students.

Ellen arrived on BU's campus in 1994, when she took a job as assistant director of admissions in Boston University's undergraduate admission office. She joined the BUA community in 2001. In the intervening years, she served as a calm and positive presence in the college office, helping generations of BUA students turn down the noise on the college process, focus on finding the right match, and learn about themselves along the way.

In a written tribute to Ellen, one recent alumna reflected:

“Ms. Evans was truly the reason I applied to the school that ended up being the perfect school for me. She saw something that I wasn't able to see yet and got me to trust the process with her. Without her I wouldn't have decided to go to Rochester and to keep pursuing sign language there, and I can't imagine the domino effect that decision has had on my life. She really was my champion during the college application process and now I'm so lucky to have found a job doing what I love!”

"Ms. Evans was truly the reason I applied to the school that ended up being the perfect school for me. She saw something that I wasn't able to see yet and got me to trust the process with her."

In her role as university liaison, Ellen forged relationships with BU professors, working to ensure that BUA students making their way at the University had the support system they needed to succeed in undergraduate classes. Her inbox overflowed with thousands of glowing emails from BU instructors marveling at the maturity and poise of BUA students. In her final year at BUA, she stepped into the role of co-director of student support, serving students alongside her longtime colleague and friend Jill Atkinson.

Regardless of her position, Ellen was best known as the warm and thoughtful advisor, mentor, friend, and colleague who always – always – saw the best in people and put students first. She was a champion for all students, with a particular commitment to supporting students from underserved communities. Ellen

was a supportive, non-judgemental presence in the BUA community, and over the years hundreds of students, parents, and some faculty, too, sought out Ellen for her counsel and comfort.

As a parent remarked: “Ellen calmed me as a parent going through the admissions gauntlet the first time. She made it clear that every student found a place — that worked — and that modeling a process that put trust in our children was as important, or more important, than where they were admitted. I was so grateful to be able to travel that road with her.”

Ellen's humility, intelligence, and kindness permeated every corner of school life and touched every student, parent/guardian, and colleague. Her legacy at BUA will be felt for many years to come.

Top: Ellen supporting a student in her role as Assistant Director of College Counsling. Bottom: A hug shared between Ellen and Cris Latorre '23 prior to the Commencement ceremony.

IMPACT REPORT

The Annual Fund: Raising the Bar

Every dollar raised stays with BUA. Funds support:

Financial aid

Professional development

Curricular innovation

Diversity and inclusion

Classroom upgrades

TOTAL GIVING IN 2022-2023

$1,229,551

ANNUAL FUND GIVING

$1,025,631

GROWTH OF BUA'S ANNUAL FUND OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS

Arts, athletics, extracurriculars PARTICIPATION IN GIVING

$2.6 MILLION TOTAL AID GRANTED

30% OF BUA

STUDENTS

received financial aid

AVERAGE AID AWARD

$39,700

"Without the generous financial aid package granted to us from BUA, sending our child to this amazing program wouldn't be possible. We don't take for granted how privileged our family is to have this opportunity and are grateful beyond measure.”

BUA Family

“Financial aid for our family was the difference between being able to attend BUA and not. Thanks to BUA's generosity, our student's experience was as rich as that of her peers. Financial aid allowed our student to explore Italy on the BUA spring break trip, something that would have been a burden to our family without support.”

BUA Family

“It may seem like a mundane thing, but having the option to purchase food at the George Sherman Union with the points provided by the financial aid grants made my daughter feel just like everyone else.”

BUA Family

All smiles in Italy!

Students using spectrometers to investigate atomic emission spectra to understand how atoms are structured in Ms. Perrone's Chemistry class.

STUDENT TO TEACHER RATIO 10 1 TO

RECOGNIZED IN THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM OF THE CLASS OF 2023

MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS

STUDENTS OF COLOR REPRESENTS 30 LANGUAGES 35%

ENDOWMENT GIFTS

A named endowed fund is a gift established in perpetuity, with annual investment earnings used to provide support for a particular purpose agreed upon by the donor and the school. BUA is grateful for these funds, which ensure long-term financial stability and represent enduring tributes to faculty, mentors, alumni, family, and friends.

The following endowed funds were generously established or added to during the 2022–2023 year:

Dr. Jennifer Formichelli

Memorial Scholarship Fund

Established in 2022, in memory of BUA English teacher Dr. Jennifer Formichelli, to provide scholarship awards to students with backgrounds historically underrepresented at BUA, with a preference for students from the City of Boston.

Haley Murphy Morrill

Memorial Scholarship Fund

Established in 2008, in memory of Haley Murphy Morrill (BUA Class of 2010), to provide a tenth grade girl with scholarship assistance.

Great Teachers Fund for Faculty Support

Established in 2018 by Ruth A. Moorman (CAS '88, Wheelock '89, Wheelock '09, Par BUA '15) and Sheldon N. Simon (Par BUA '15) to honor retired teachers by supporting current faculty members' efforts to improve their teaching.

Manning Fund for Holistic Financial Aid

Established in 2020 by Timothy Manning (MET'97, Par BUA'16) to alleviate non-tuition expenses incurred by students who receive financial aid.

Additional Current-Use and Endowment Funds that Support BUA Financial Aid and Programs:

Diversity & Inclusion Fund

Head of School Discretionary Fund

Jacob Koton Classics Fund

James Berkman Fund for Faculty Support

Robotics Team Fund Scholarship Endowment Fund Strategic Initiatives Fund

Young-Mayer Fund for Excellence & Access

I'm so impressed at how they hold their own in a lecture class of 100 students! I was amazed to learn they're in high school — they are standout students in my lecture for their thoughtful questions and obvious preparation for every class. Truly they are both a joy to have in class. I wish the undergraduates were this excited to learn.”

BU Professor

THANK YOU!

We are grateful to the many alumni and parents/guardians who donated their time, energy, and expertise to help our school thrive.

2022-2023 Head of School Advisory Board

The BUA Advisory Board is composed of parents, alumni, members of the BU community, outside educators, and other experts in their respective fields. The Board provides support and counsel to the Head of School, with a focus on the longterm success and sustainability of the school. The Board is sanctioned by the Provost of Boston University, as are each of the University's advisory boards.

Paul Bernard P'24

David Chard

Joanna Davidson P'24

Gerry Fine P'08

Graham Healy-Day '07, co-chair

Katie Kozin '00

Ray Liu P'23, P'25

Alice Owolabi Mitchell P'24

Bob Mulroy P'24

John Quackenbush P'24

Elizabeth Saltonstall P'22

Esmeralda Swartz P'22, P'24, co-chair

Abby Walsh '04

Cristy Walsh P'22

2022-2023 Alumni Council

The BUA Alumni Council works to strengthen BUA's community through initiatives that engage graduates with each other and the Academy.

Emily Engler '97

Ramesh Sen '98

Kenny Bacow '00

Mike Siripong '03

Rebecca Carr '04

Abby Walsh '04

Dan Forward '05

Natan Magid '06

Sarah Esterquest '07

Graham Healy-Day '07

Sinan Parsons '07

Samantha Cohen '08

Ben Daus '08

Adam Bear '09

Sonja Page '09

Will Maness '10

Josephine Massey '11

Ella Hathaway '13

Victor Kamenker '13

Lia Kaynor '13

Isabelle Bertolozzi '14

Hadassa Mikalixen '14

Mayrose Beatty '16

Dheekshita Kumar '16

ALUMNI NEWS

Congratulations to Leah Magid '13 and Zach Herbert on their wedding in April! Pictured from left to right: Bennett Vogt '13, Benny Magid '19, Leah Magid '13, Simon Nichols '13, Ella Cohen '13, Natan Magid '06, Caroline O'Leary '13, Aaron Schein '06, and Lia Kaynor '13,

Distinguished Alumni Award: Jon Freeman '04

BUA is delighted to present the 20232024 Distinguished Alumni Award to Jon Freeman '04 for his groundbreaking work in social neuroscience and for his national advocacy for LGBTQ+ visibility and representation in STEM. This annual award, launched in 2022, goes to an alumnus/a who best exemplifies the values of BUA and has used those qualities to make an impact on the community and world around them. Recipients are nominated and selected by the BUA Alumni Council.

Jon Freeman is a social neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, where he directs the Social Cognitive & Neural Sciences Lab. His research examines the human brain mechanisms underlying snap judgments, first impressions, and unconscious bias using neuroimaging, computational modeling, and behavioral paradigms.

Jon is also leading national advocacy on the challenges that LGBTQ+ people face in the STEM workforce and on policymakers' blind spots in resolving these disparities. Since 2018, he has been working to have sexual orientation and gender identity demographics incorporated into official data collection and reporting systems of the US government and higher education that are used to ensure the equity and inclusion of underrepresented groups in STEM and was instrumental in the House of Representatives' passing of the LGBTQ+ Data Inclusion Act. Due to Jon's efforts, for the first time since 1957 every graduating PhD student at every US university will soon voluntarily be asked their sexual orientation and gender identity on the government survey required to graduate. For this work, Jon was recognized as the 2019 LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year by Out to Innovate for his “exemplary, cross-disciplinary scientific contributions and his public advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ+ people in STEM.”

Q&A with Jon Freeman

BUA: Congratulations on being the recipient of the 2023-2024 BUA Distinguished Alumni Award! How did your BUA experience impact your career trajectory?

Jon Freeman: Being able to take college courses while at BUA helped cement my interests in the neural mechanisms underlying psychological processes. I was able to take courses such as Physiological Psychology while a high school student, which was exciting and formative. The teachers at BUA also were so passionate and quirky, and encouraged us to be independent thinkers. I think this all had an important impact on my trajectory.

BUA: Your work combines the hard math and science of algorithms and neural imaging with social psychology to better understand our interpersonal relationships and judgements. How do you explain what you do to a lay audience?

JF: That's right. If you've ever had an MRI of a body part or your brain, it was likely a structural MRI. My research uses functional MRI, tracking how oxygenated blood flows in the brain while a participant reacts to stimuli, such as other people's faces. In turn, this lets us track which brain regions are involved in participants' reactions and judgments, or even within a specific brain region the kind of computations the brain is doing to process social information. In other words, from a bunch of fancy images of a person's brain, we can get insights into how people form snap judgments of others, how they understand others' emotions, or how social biases are learned and maintained in the brain.

BUA: What are some practical applications of your work?

JF: The findings of this research help pave

the way for new and more effective interventions that aim to reduce or eliminate unintended social biases. In addition, some of our work has relevance for developing treatments in clinical populations, such as autism spectrum, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, or prosopagnosia, which is an inability to recognize faces.

BUA: You are also a leading national advocate for LGBTQ representation and visibility in STEM. Why is it important to include gender identity and sexual orientation demographics in higher education and governmental data collection?

JF: Equity in STEM is a moral issue, as equity always is generally, but in STEM it's also a very practical or utilitarian issue too. Last year, for the first time ever, two openly LGBTQ scientists—the chemist Carolyn Bertozzi and the geneticist Svante Pääbo—won Nobel Prizes. Their scientific discoveries have paved the way for life-saving treatments and groundbreaking technologies. Had they faced insurmountable career challenges, our world today would be very different. So when scientists and engineers experience challenges in STEM because of their gender, race, disability status, or being LGBTQ, we all lose as a society but we all reap the benefits of their work and their ingenuity.

In terms of sexual orientation and gender identity data collection, we can't improve a problem that we refuse to measure. For decades, policymakers and researchers have tracked demographics related to gender, race, and disability status to understand the make-up of who's participating in STEM. Researchers use these data to help identify the issues keeping certain groups out of STEM and to help develop and test strategies that can solve them. Policymakers use the data to set national policies, such as NSF and NIH diversity-related funding opportunities, and direct taxpayer money toward solutions, interventions, and programs. Universities and scientific organizations use the data to benchmark against their own institutions to understand how they're doing and identify potential issues keeping groups behind and solutions to push through them.

The few studies that have been conducted so far point to alarming disparities LGBTQ people are facing in STEM, including underrepresentation, retention failure, career barriers, and harassment. But without official data, there is no pathway to change and policymakers and administrators are relatively helpless to act.

BUA: What have you learned through your advocacy work about how to effectively bring about systemic change? Any dos and don'ts of lobbying that you've picked up along the way?

JF: It's definitely been an interesting process. My advocacy has had two aspects to it. One is actually scientific in nature. That's been pushing the federal statistical agency in charge of nationwide surveys of the STEM workforce to collect sexual orientation and gender identity data on methodological grounds – responding to concerns about privacy, confidentiality, how to word the questions and what kind of response options to provide, use of an opt-out option, and engaging with them on survey methods. The other part is the public advocacy part. What I've discovered in this process is how crucial individual human actors are. In 2018, I didn't know what I was doing advocacy-wise but I just knew I had to do something about getting these data collected.

And so I reached out to lots of folks in many spaces quite foreign to me to learn about how questions get added to official government surveys, who are the players, what kind of precedents are there for this and what can I learn from them, and who in the STEM policy world do I need to talk to about this.

I don't want to pretend I'm by any means an expert on public advocacy – I only know my one small effort here. But what I can say is there's a lot of people to interact with and convince of the importance of what you're doing and get them behind you, certain government leaders, federal statisticians, Congressional staffers, CEOs of scientific organizations, individual scientists, university administrators, policymakers, LGBTQ advocacy groups who haven't thought about STEM before. All of them care about wildly different things and they think about things in vastly different ways. Know who you're talking to and do the perspective-taking to help them arrive at why they should care and why they should help you.

BUA: What resources would you suggest to someone looking to get connected with other LGBTQ scientists?

JF: There's a fantastic site, 500 Queer Scientists, where scientists at all career stages and across fields post a photo and profile and can connect with others. There's also two national organizations, Out in STEM is one and Out to Innovate is the other. They hold annual conferences where LGBTQ scientists can connect and meet.

BUA: What advice would you share with students and alumni on how scientific research can have a broader societal impact beyond the walls of academia?

JF: The truth is many of us get into science because we're just curious. I'm fascinated by psychology and neuroscience because I'm curious about how the mind and brain work and give rise to the human experience. But science is almost always useful, even if you're not trying to solve an immediate problem. Think about ChatGPT and the like. For better or worse, it's dramatically transform-

ing how people can integrate information, perform tasks, and get work done. Last week I had ChatGPT code a large set of complicated analyses that would have otherwise taken me or folks in my lab several weeks to do. It performs it instantly. How did we get here? This is hardly attributable only to some ingenuity of OpenAI. This is the culmination of almost a century of basic AI research, and arguably the vast majority of scientists at the forefront of AI were not doing what they were doing because they wanted to see something like ChatGPT make people's mundane tasks easier for them. I imagine most were just fascinated by the boundary of human and machine and the nature of intelligence. All the basic science work and decades-long debates within the walls of academia contribute to an insight or development in the current moment that makes a real-world impact. It takes a village. It's okay if you're not trying to solve a pressing problem right now.

In January 2023, Jon was invited to the White House by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy for the release of the Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity.

BUA Alumni Class Notes

1998

Sudip Saunders (Peterson) '98 will be welcoming her first baby in September 2023.

Christos Viores '98, Chris Agostino '98, Nik Ligris '99, and Dave Stone reunited on the parquet Garden floor for a Celtics game. Three-point shots were attempted…and proved to be almost as difficult as Ms. Pollock's 10th grade English course!

2002

Alex Maloney '02 welcomed baby Vivian in March!

2004

Jon Freeman '04 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science secured a $2M award to improve LGBTQ+ disparities in STEM.

2006

Congratulations to Liz Maroney '06 on the arrival of baby Michael in February!

2007

Simon Van Zuylen-Wood '07 welcomed baby Josephine this spring!

2008

Anna Tanasijevic '08 and her husband Joey welcomed Emilia to the world in February!

2009

Mallory Hennigar '09 got married on May 13, 2023, to Dr. John Borchert in Greensboro, NC, where they currently live. Her great friend and fellow BUA alum, Samantha Byles '09, made the trip to join in the celebration! Mallory also recently began working in service operations at Paper Education Co.

2013

In addition to being a certified sommelier and the Wine Specialist at FINN Partners, working with clients such as St Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Marchesi Antinori and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Matt Demma '13 will be starting Georgetown this fall to complete his MBA.

Congratulations to Leah Magid '13 and Zach Herbert on their wedding in April!

On June 3, 2023, Dr. Bennett Vogt '13 and Dr. Lia Kaynor '13 became engaged. Although having attended BUA and Harvard together for eight years, they did not start dating until 2019 after reconnecting at an alumni event. They like to joke there was a 10-year vetting process. Bennett designed a 14-clue scavenger hunt leading from Worcester to Boston, culminating in a proposal at Spy Pond. Lia also had a ring, which she then immediately offered to Bennett. Lia continues to work as a family medicine resident physician at Cambridge Health Alliance in Malden, MA, and Bennett is starting as a combined internal medicine and pediatrics resident physician at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA. They are thrilled to share this significant life update with the communities that have helped bring them together.

2014

Benal Johnson '14 moved to Amsterdam to work as a designer for the internationally renowned design agency Tellart. She will be working with an interdisciplinary team to design immersive exhibitions for venues such as World Expo in Osaka, Japan and United Nations Climate Conference in Dubai, UAE.

Hadassa Mikalixen '14 graduated and completed her JD from Northeastern University School of Law in May 2023.

2016

Sarah Hough '16 started a non-profit, Maternal Health Initiative, that works to expand access to contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa. They launched their first program in northern Ghana in partnership with a local NGO. Maternal Health Initiative is accepting donations and Sarah would love to connect with other global health professionals.

Emily Tyszka '16 has spent the past two years working as a data analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's State Laboratory, cleaning, analyzing, and reporting results from infectious disease testing in the Microbiology Division. She has been involved in a diverse set of projects, including testing for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, tracking foodborne illness, and assisting in the investigation of Group A Streptococcus clusters.

As of this July, she will be moving up to epidemiologist in the Division of Surveillance, Analytics, and Informatics, where she will be working in syndromic surveillance. The MassDPH Syndromic Surveillance Program utilizes data from emergency visits across the Commonwealth in order to infer trends in health conditions that don't always show up in hospitals, Emily is absolutely thrilled to dive into this next big phase of her career.

Adeline Um '16 and Charlotte Um '19 both moved back to Boston after college and joined Ms. Hakimi for lunch at BUA.

2017

Zoë Haggard '17 who is currently pursuing a PhD in astrophysics at UCLA, won a 2023 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award. This fellowship supports outstanding students who are pursuing or planning to pursue full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education.

Some members of the Class of 2017 enjoyed breakfast with Dr. Proll at Johnny's Luncheonette in Newton. This was the first time some of us had caught up with a BUA teacher since 2017! Featured from left to right: Nate Handleman '17, Celine Pak '17, Miles Goldenberg '17, August Osterlund '17, and Clara Rotger '17. Missing from the picture, but present at the event was Grace Teixeira-Li '17.

2019

Linda Jing '19 was named to the 2023 AACYF Top 30 Under 30, an annual award for Chinese American youth entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders, selected by the All American Chinese Youth Federation, LA Post, and Chinese American Institute for Public Diplomacy.

2021

Aditi Deokar '21 was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship, a national scholarship awarded to college sophomores and juniors planning to pursue research careers. Goldwater Scholars are selected based on their potential to be one of the next generation of research leaders.

up-to-date on all things BUA Alumni! Follow @bua_alumni on Instagram and Facebook

Emelie Watkins-Valls ’20, Michaela McCormack ’19, Emilio Latorre ’19, Kallipe Glavas ’19, Andrew Yan ’19, and guests

Boston University Academy Class of 2023

Dan Forward ’05, Zach Biletch ’14, Nastaran Hakimi, Isabella Bertolozzi ’14, and Tori Perrone

Isabella Bertolozzi ’14, Hadassa Mikalixen ’14, and guests

Cris Latorre ’23, Sally Jamrog ’23, Kate Dickinson ’23, Alyssa Ahn ’23, Theo Sloan ’23,and Margaret Chu '23

Mayrose Beatty ’16

Dave Stone, Magdalena Slosar-Cheah ’99 , and Chris Kolovos

Sarah Esterquest ’07

Amrita Sridhar ’17 and Courtney Cheng ’18

Ms. Paige Brewster, Jeffrey Quinn ’07, Michelle Cannon, Gabriela Jackson ’16, and guest

Ilya Yudkovich ’14 and Daniel Gorelik ’14

Nikhil Singh ’18, Brooke Skinner ’19, Arjun Sawai ’18, Divya Bachina '18, Svayam Dialani ’18, Isaac Yamnitsky ’18, and Courtney Cheng ’18

Nadia Bulekova ’16, Habiba Shaheed ’16, David Walsh, and Gabriela Jackson ’16

Phil Gambone, Leah Magid ’13, and guest

Cameron Steward ’12, Svayam Dialani ’18, Isaac Yamnitsky ’18, Sinan Parsons ’07, and Neil Mauskar ’18

Mia Cellucci ’06 and guest

Bob Mulroy

Sherry Xiao P’23, Jenny Xiao P’23, Young Pi P’23, and Jaewon Ahn P’23

Jennifer Johnson ’00, Katie Kozin ’00, Anna Winestein ’00, Chris Agostino ’98, Drew Baker ’96, Beth Hiett ’97, Nik Ligris ’99, Kenny Bacow ’00, Jenny Chen ’00, Kristin Leavy Hendren ’99, Magdalena Slosar-Cheah ’99, Emily Engler ’97, Christos Viores ’98, Ramesh Sen ’98, Jason Krumholz ’98, Jen Stevenson ’98, and Emily Manz Krumholz ’98

Chris Harvey Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Mia Cellucci ’06, Ross Littauer ’04, and guests

Willy Suwoto P’23, John Iafrate P’23, Lakshmi Jayaraman P’20, P’23, and Muthusamy Jayaraman P’20, P’23

Sarina Karim ’18, Divya Bachina ’18, Ilona Demler ’18, Nick Dent - Math Teacher, Kyle Zschokke, Easwar Raman ’20, Neil Mauskar ’18, Jim Davis , Nikhil Singh ’18, Anton Peraire-Bueno ’18, and Sinan Parsons ’07

Ilona Demler ’18 and Mia Chung ’18

Chris Agostino ’98, Christos Viores ’98, and guests

Sarina Karim ’18, Mia Chung ’18, Eli Mendels ‘18, and Brooke Skinner ’18

Katie Kozin ’00, Jennifer Johnson ’00, Kenny Bacow ’00, and guest

Alex Bizanek ’18, Simon Babb ’18, and Max Ellsworth ’18

Irena Vodenska P’21, P’24, Ronnie Sadka P’24, P’26, Giovanni Nicolai P’24, and Silvia Alberta P’24

New York City

November 6, 2023

Washington D.C.

November 7, 2023

San Francisco

January 23, 2024

Annual Reunion

June 8, 2024

Fall Festival

October 20, 2023

Pub Night (21+)

November 24, 2023

Simon Korn ’13, Sophia Wedeen ’13, Njeri Grevious ‘13, and guest