Simmons Magazine - Fall 2014

simmons magaz覺ne

FALL 2014

contents FALL 2014

features 13

MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

Simmons alumnae/i, faculty, and students have traveled the world to share their intelligence, grace, and humanity with the people of Bangladesh, Uganda, Morocco, India, Warsaw, and the Congo, to name a few. The impact of these populations on Simmons reverberates in the lives that are changed

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forever when our community returns home.

BY KATHLEEN S. CARR AND ALIX ROY

departments 01 From the President 02 From the Editor 03 On Campus 19 Alumnae/i Achievements 20 Advancing Simmons 29 Achievements on Campus 30 Class Notes

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40 Voices 41 In Memoriam

x STAY CONNECTED If you want to watch videos of Simmons events, view happenings around campus, or hear from students and faculty, visit: YouTube.com/simmonscollege

In addressing human rights, students witness issues in translation, and they become key in students’ understanding of the world around them.

- HUGO KAMYA, Social Work Professor, on the student experience in Uganda

from the president

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his issue of the Simmons magazine focuses on “Making a World of Difference.” When I became president of Simmons College, I outlined my vision of Simmons College becoming a beacon of leadership in the world of higher education, a resource to our nation and world, and a global expert in educating women for empowerment and leadership.

This vision is based on our history and steeped in our values. Have we achieved this vision? Not yet, but we have made tremendous progress.

Simmons has offered six international programs since 2012. Through these programs, our faculty developed new curriculum focused on the unique needs of international women, and our students gained invaluable lessons working with women leaders from different cultures and backgrounds.

Our visibility increased substantially with the U.S. Department of State, among other colleges and universities, and with the more than 200 women leaders we hosted from around the world.

As a result of these programs, Simmons also gained significant media coverage from respected outlets such as the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.

Finally, the entire Simmons community gained important perspective on global issues. As a participant-observer, it has been a humbling experience for me to meet with emerging women leaders, many of whom live and work in countries that regularly see brutal political violence and harrowing human rights violations. No matter what kind of challenges I have faced in my life, I have never had to fear for my own or my family’s existence simply because I was trying to do the right thing. This is the reality for many women leaders outside of the U.S. You will see in the wonderful profiles on pages 13 – 18, that Simmons faculty, alums, and students are making a difference around the world. This is how Simmons is becoming a global expert in educating women for empowerment and leadership.

simmons Vice President of Advancement MARIANNE LORD

Vice President for Marketing CHERYL E. HOWARD ’71

Senior Director of Marketing Communications ALLYSON IRISH ’04SM

Editor KATHLEEN S. CARR ’14SM

Assistant Editor ALIX ROY ’14SM

Writers and Contributors JULIE CHOQUETTE ’14SM NAFEESA M. CONNOLLY ’14 ROBERT DUNN ELYSE PIPITONE ’07SW JULIE TURNER SARAH ZENGO

Design KAAJAL ASHER

Printing KIRKWOOD PRINTING

Photography JOHN GILLOOLY KRISTIE GILLOOLY KEESA MCKOY CARLA OSBERG ANASTASIA SIERRA

Illustration IAN DODDS BEN KIRCHNER LEIGH WELLS Cover illustration by Ian Dodds

The Simmons College Office of Marketing Communications publishes the Simmons magazine three times a year. Third-class postage is paid in Boston, Mass.

Diverse views presented in the Simmons magazine do not necessarily ref lect the opinions of the magazine or the College.

(ISSN) 0049-0512. For more information, call 617-521-2049, or visit www.simmons.edu.

CONTACT:

Allyson Irish Allyson.Irish@simmons.edu

HELEN G. DRINAN ’75LS, ’78SM President

alumnet.simmons.edu

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from the editor

Chair REGINA PISA

Vice Chair KAREN HAMMOND

Clerk of the Board of Trustees JILL GREENTHAL ’78

Trustees DENISE BENSON, ’12 LAUREN J. BRISKY ’73 DEBORAH BRITTAIN ’74SW JANE BUYERS ’81 JENNIFER KELLY CHOI ’87 BARBARA LATZ COHEN ’68 DWIGHT B. CRANE HELEN G. DRINAN ’75LS, ’78SM ELIZABETH FENDER, ’84 ATSUKO TOKO FISH JOHN W. HUMPHREY YVONNE R. JACKSON LESLIE L. LAKE ’86 KATHLEEN MORRISSEY LAPOINT ’84 STEPHEN P. MCCANDLESS JACQUELINE C. MORBY ’78SM DENISE DOHERTY PAPPAS ’71, ’85SM CHRISTIAN POPE CAMPBELL ’91 FAITH RICHARDSON ’84 KATHLEEN I. SCHULLER-BLEAKIE ’94SM TOBY M. SLOANE ’60 WINSTON TABB ’72LS JANET T. TOBIN ’67 PAMELA J. TOULOPOULOS ’73 ROSLYN M. WATSON ’71 AMY E. WHITE ’81

Alumnae/i Volunteer Leadership Alumnae Association Executive Board President ENNA JIMENEZ ’91 Graduate School of Library and Information Science Alumni Association President LINNEA JOHNSON ’01, ’04LS School of Management Alumnae Association President CHARLOTTE M. STREAT ’00SM School of Social Work Alumni Council President JOSEPH JAMES ’09SW

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Global Ambassadors

We have placed students in Guatemala City, Morocco, and the Czech Republic. And they report that, “Just by being here, we make a difference in the world. How far-spread our difference is, whether it’s positive or not, that is for us to decide.” (Student Danielle Ehrnstein) We have professors in India, who see the conflicting roles women are called to play, and who teach us that, “We are driven and ambitious with extreme jobs reinforced by our culture as the benchmark of success. When I am with women in other parts of the world, it’s incredibly affirming. They are equally serious about all the roles in their life and, on many levels, they are equally valued for all of those roles. Being a wife and mother is just as important as being a businesswoman.” (Professor Lynda Moore) And we have alumni in Warsaw, South Africa, Mongolia, Kabul and in the Congo, who say, “It makes us more human to care about people across the world. In the dark, bad things can happen. When you let the light in, when you create these connections, more can be told, rather than less.” (Alumna Emily Scott Pottruck) The stories of Simmons’s impact in the world are truly extraordinary. And humbling. I have been inspired and directed during my time at Simmons, both as the editor of this magazine, and as an MBA student in the School of Management. I am so grateful for the encouragement I’ve received to be a more outspoken, principled leader. This month, I will start a new chapter, working to bring free and open access to education to the world. Though I will be leaving my full-time post at Simmons, I will never truly leave, or forget, the lessons I have learned from professors, staff, and alumni. Because of Simmons, I am inspired to live a life guided by principled leadership—and I will always look to Simmons as my compass.

Turn to p. 12 to hear more about what your friends, professors, and colleagues have learned, and achieved, in their exploration as principled leaders around the globe.

Cheers,

KATHLEEN S. CARR ’14SM

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on campus GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

BY THE NUMBERS

400

DELEGATES WHO ATTENDED 2013 SIMMONS CONFERENCE IN UGANDA

130

TOTAL NUMBER OF FULBRIGHT WOMEN SCHOLARS HOSTED AT SIMMONS FOR U.S DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROGRAMS SINCE 2012

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WOMEN’S COLLEGE PRESIDENTS WHO COLLABORATED FOR THE 2014 WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE PROJECT INSTITUTE

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NUMBER OF TRIPS EMILY SCOTT POTTRUCK HAS MADE TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO TO HELP END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

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LETTER FROM U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY THAT WAS READ TO DELEGATES AT THE WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE DINNER AT THE JFK LIBRARY

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NUMBER OF AFGHAN WOMEN WHO EARNED SIMMONS DEGREES (INCLUDING ADELA RAZ, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR THE PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN) IN 2008 AS PART OF THE INITIATIVE TO EDUCATE AFGHAN WOMEN

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NUMBER OF PROGRAMS THAT SIMMONS HAS HOSTED WITH THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND THE WILSON CENTER SINCE 2012

25,000

NUMBER OF NURSES IN BANGLADESH AVAILABLE TO SERVE A POPULATION OF 150 MILLION

Simmons Hosts Women’s Leadership Institute

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immons joined with two other women’s colleges – Mount Holyoke and Smith – in June to co-host a two-week program on women’s leadership. “Reconstructing Societies in the Wake of Conflict: Transitional Justice and Economic Development” was held in partnership with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the U.S. Department of State. The event brought to the United States 48 women delegates from post-conflict societies who are working to rebuild their communities and promote sustainable economic livelihoods.

The Institute is part of the Women in Public Service Project (WPSP), which is focused on training early to mid-career women from around the world to advance their careers in government and public service.

While at Simmons, the delegates saw “Principled Leadership in Action” through a daylong event at the Massachusetts State House where they met state legislators and judges; heard a discussion from a panel that included the Massachusetts State Auditor and the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development; and took part in a special luncheon at the historic John Adams Courthouse hosted by Simmons alumna and Massachusetts Juvenile Court Chief Justice Designee Amy Nechtem. The delegates then were immersed for two days in Simmons classrooms focusing on leadership through the lenses of culture, ethics, gender, and visioning. Their time at Simmons culminated in a closing dinner at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, with special messages from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

This Institute was important for many reasons, including helping to raise the national visibility of Simmons College. As a result of the Institute, Simmons received coverage in the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and the Huffington Post.

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on campus

JANET MOCK ON CAMPUS

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ew York Times bestselling author Janet Mock delivered a keynote address to a sold-out Simmons crowd in February as part of a month-long program of events celebrating Black History Month at the College. Mock is an important advocate for the transgender community and her book, Redefining Realness, outlines her journey as a transgender woman. She is also the founder of the Twitter campaign #GirlsLikeUs, which encourages trans women to share their stories and experiences openly and honestly.

I thought studying abroad would be the perfect opportunity to escape from the modern, technological way of life. Free from these distractions, I would have a better chance to connect with myself, the French and Wolof languages, and the beautiful simplicity of the Senegalese culture.

- KATELYNN WHITNEY ’16 on her decision to spend the spring semester studying in Dakar, Senegal.

Whitney was awarded the highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to support her study abroad experience. This was her first trip outside of the United States.

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Sophomores Study Violence in Simmons World Challenge

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wenty sophomores spent nine days during their 2014 winter break delving into issues of violence as part of this year’s Simmons World Challenge — an intensive program where students develop solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.

Elsie Mayo ’16, an economics major enrolled in the 3+1 public policy program, worked with her group to address the connection between poverty and violence, focusing on local after-school programs like the Youth Workers Alliance. Other groups looked at intimate partner violence, violence in the media, school shootings, and the trauma women face before, during, and after being incarcerated.

Professors served as faculty advisors for students, and faculty and staff from across the College assisted groups in their research.

“The entire college was supporting us,” said Megan Lamberto ’16. “It really made us feel like we were a part of Simmons more than we ever have in the past.”

This is the third year of the Simmons World Challenge.

Previous themes included immigration and social justice, and world hunger and poverty.

STUDENTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST CONFLICT MINERALS Students enrolled in Communications Pro-

been killed in the Second Congo War.

fessor Len Mailloux’s Globalization on a

“Lots of people have heard of blood dia-

Shoestring course weren’t worried about how

monds, but they haven’t heard of conflict min-

their cell phones and laptops were made.

erals,” Mailloux said. “You can’t fix what you

That quickly changed once the class was

don’t know is broken – our mission is to let

tasked with raising awareness of conflict min-

people know this is broken.”

erals – natural resources mined under condi-

This past spring, Mailloux’s class launched

tions of armed conflict and human rights

a campaign encouraging consumers to pur-

abuses. Many conflict minerals are smuggled

chase conflict-free electronics. The campaign,

from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

dubbed “Know Your Power: Charging Change

and end up in cell phones, computers, and

in the Congo” included eye-catching flyers and

MP3 players in Western countries. The prof-

a live radio broadcast with the Enough Project

its finance ongoing violence in the country,

in Washington, D.C., a non-profit working to

where an estimated 5.4 million people have

end genocide and crimes against humanity.

Premier Children’s Literature Journal Moves to Simmons

SIMMONS FIRST-YEAR TAKES THE ICE

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he Horn Book, the premier journal of children’s literature, has moved its editorial offices to the Simmons campus, leasing space in the One Palace Road building adjacent to Simmons’s Center for the Study of Children’s Literature (CSCL).

Previously located in Somerville, The Horn Book has a long history with Simmons. Its founder was Simmons alumna Bertha Mahoney Miller, the Simmons Archives hold The Horn Book editorial papers, the CSCL has co-hosted the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards and Colloquium for the past several years, and The Horn Book Editor Roger Sutton has been an adjunct faculty member for the CSCL.

Simmons friends were in the stands at Boston’s TD Garden to cheer for first-year student Kiri Baga as she competed in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in early January.

Baga, who has been skating since the age of two and a half, placed 14th in the competition.

alumnet.simmons.edu

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on campus

International Collegiate Women Take Part in Summer Program

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or the third summer in a row, Simmons hosted a five-week Women Changing the Face of Leadership (WCFL) program that brought together 20 female college students from six African nations, and five Simmons students. Sponsored by the

U.S. State Department, the program aims to strengthen global awareness and develop future leaders.

The program included exciting volunteer projects with several missiondriven nonprofit organizations including ReVision Urban Farm, Cradles to Crayons, and More Than Words. It also featured field trips to local and national historic sites, such as the Massachusetts State House, the Museum of Fine Arts, and a tour of the United Nations in New York City with Simmons alumna Grace Richardson ’60. Some of the participants’ favorite parts of the program included visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., meeting other students from around the world, and learning about 19th century abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass.

FORMER SIMMONS PRESIDENT, WILLIAM J. HOLMES, PASSES AWAY

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ILLIAM J. HOLMES, the fourth president of Simmons College, passed away February 7. Holmes became president in 1970 and retired from the College in 1993.

During his tenure, President Holmes led several major initiatives that had a tremendous impact on the College. He oversaw two major fundraising campaigns: PRIDE I (for renovations to the Main College Building) and PRIDE II (to increase salaries, and the endowment, and to provide funding for endowed chairs). He also led the construction of both the Park Science Center and the Holmes Sport Center. During his presidency, the College added two additional graduate schools (the Graduate School of Management and the Graduate School of Health Studies, now called the School of Nursing and Health Sciences) and many new graduate programs.

President Holmes served on and chaired the executive committee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts. He was associated with the American Council on Education, the Women’s College Coalition, the American Association of Colleges, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, President Holmes received a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from the State University of Iowa, where he also taught for seven years, and later an Honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Northeastern University. He was married to the late Joanne Prokop for 50 years. The couple had three daughters, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Gifts in President Holmes’s memory should be directed to The Joanne and William Holmes Scholarship Fund at Simmons College.

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FALL 2014

College Elects Regina Pisa to Chair the Board of Trustees

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EGINA PISA, former chairman of Goodwin Procter, a leading Global 100 law firm, will lead the Board of Trustees as it positions Simmons to meet the challenges for higher education in the 21st century. Pisa succeeds Lauren Brisky, former vice chancellor for administration at Vanderbilt University, who served as chair for six years.

Pisa was the first woman to lead an AmLaw 100 law firm in the United States, and served as Goodwin Procter’s chairman since 1998, and as managing partner until 2012. Under her leadership, Goodwin Procter grew from 300 lawyers in Boston, to more than 850 lawyers serving clients from eight locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Among her many other awards, The American Lawyer recently recognized Pisa’s innovative leadership style and vision for big ideas, naming her one of the “Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Past 50 Years.”

Pisa is known for her work promoting women in the legal and business communities, and has used the power and visibility of her position to dismantle gender and cultural stereotypes, and to facilitate mentorship, business development training and work/life balance for women at Goodwin Procter and in the legal industry. Simmons is excited to welcome her as Chair of the Board of Trustees.

BILLIE JEAN KING SHOWCASES HER TENNIS SKILLS AT 109TH COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES

SWIMMING AND DIVING

BY THE NUMBERS

PLACE AT 2014 NEW ENGLAND INTERCOLLEGIATE SWIMMING AND DIVING ASSOCIATION (NEISDA) CHAMPIONSHIPS

SCHOOL RECORDS BROKEN

CONSECUTIVE GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS WON

FIRST-YEAR TEAM MEMBERS

NEW ENGLAND INTERCOLLEGIATE SWIMMING AND DIVING ASSOCIATION SWIM COACH OF THE YEAR IN MINDY WILLIAMS

BILLIE JEAN KING, KNOWN FOR GENDER EQUALITY, SOCIAL CHANGE, AND ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENT DELIVERED THE MORNING UNDERGRADUATE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS THIS YEAR. KING LOBBED TENNIS BALLS INTO THE EXCITED CROWD AT THE CONCLUSION OF HER TALK.

NUMBER OF SECONDS BY WHICH SIMMONS SWIMMERS BESTED THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL RECORD IN THE 800-METER FREE RELAY

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WOMEN, LEADERSHIP, & P n order to elevate more women to leadership positions, more women and girls need to be educated and trained with the skills needed to succeed. At Simmons, we educate young women on a daily basis. But simply educating women who take classes at our Boston campus or who take part in our online programs is not enough. In order to have a truly substantive impact in this area, more women need to be involved.

That is why Simmons has partnered with the U.S. Department of State and the Wilson Center to offer six international programs at Simmons since 2012. All of the programs have emphasized our expertise in women’s and girls’ education, leadership, and success.

These programs have included Fulbright Scholars, women from myriad countries around the world, and many of our undergraduate students, and have further reinforced Simmons’s long-term goal of becoming a beacon of leadership in the world of higher education, a resource to our nation and world, and a global expert in educating women for empowerment and leadership.

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SIMMONS & U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROGRAMS ON WOMEN & LEADERSHIP

YOU CAN NEVER LET THE BARRIERS OF YOUR CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT STOP YOU FROM BEING SUCCESSFUL. THESE WOMEN TRULY ARE EXAMPLES OF HOW TO TURN YOUR PASSION INTO LIFELONG PURPOSE. -ZARA ALI ’15

2014 WPSP STUDENT AMBASSADOR

PUBLIC SERVICE

MARCH 2012 Fulbright Re-Entry & Leadership Seminar, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education for 30 Fulbright Women Scholars from Latin America.

JUNE/JULY 2012

U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership, Women Changing the Face of Leadership Institute at Simmons for 20 undergraduate women from Sub-Saharan Africa.

APRIL 2013 Fulbright Global Re-Entry & Leadership in Transition Seminar, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education for 100 Fulbright Women from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Western Hemisphere, Southeast Asia, and South and Central Asia.

JUNE/JULY 2013 U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership, Women Changing the Face of Leadership Institute at Simmons for 20 undergraduate women from Sub-Saharan Africa.

MAY/JUNE 2014 Women in Public Service Institute “Reconstructing Societies in the Wake of Conflict: Transitional Justice and Economic Development.” Held in conjunction with Smith and Mount Holyoke colleges for 48 professional women delegates.

JULY/AUGUST 2014 U.S. Department of State, Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership.

“Women Changing the Face of Leadership” Institute hosted 19 undergraduate women from Cote d’ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Sudan. Nine Simmons students assisted as Richardson Fellows, program assistants, and a resident director.

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Hillary Clinton Inspires at the Simmons Leadership Conference

he 2014 Simmons Leadership Conference, now in its 35th year, was marked by powerhouses of the business, activist, and academic world, including Denise Morrison, president and CEO of Campbell’s Soup; humanitarian and activist Zainab Salbi; Mae Jemison, former astronaut and the first African-American woman to travel to space; and performer Rita Moreno, who sang and recounted her life as the only Latina entertainer to win the Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Emmy. And it was former Secretary of State Clinton’s appearance that was the perfect ending to a day imbued with smarts, determination, and energy.

During the Conference, Simmons President Helen Drinan sat down for a Q&A with Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We’ve captured some of their conversation below.

PRESIDENT DRINAN: In your role as Secretary of State, you had the opportunity to move in circles that few of us will ever have. But also, as a woman, you had particular experiences. Could you share with us what that was like?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Let me start with women leaders first. There

are a lot of very impressive women leaders on the world scene in the last several years. Latin America has had the most—Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Chile…it’s fascinating. Some came out of resistance movements. If you were to line these women up, from Michelle Bachelet to Angela Merkel, they would not all look the same, they would not all behave the same, they would not have the same demeanors. They are different, and that is an accomplishment. It’s no longer expected that you have to fit a specific mold, and that, in and of itself, is a great breakthrough.

There are several parts of the world where you’re treated like an honorary man. I developed cordial relations, but I never fooled myself that I was somehow breaking boundaries for women. I was breaking boundaries for the United States in my official role.

PRESIDENT DRINAN: Many of us thought you experienced some brutal conditions when you ran for president. We’d like to understand how one develops the personal resilience so that you can keep going forward.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I really give my parents credit for whatever

resilience I have. My father was a conservative Republican, a self-made businessman; my mother had a difficult childhood, got through it, and made a home for me and my brother. But they were both very clear that there wasn’t any difference between boys and girls. And that belief was a little unusual in the suburb of Chicago where I grew up. School was important, but sports was important, too: winning and losing and getting knocked down and learning to get back up. I was never very good but I was game.… Years later, I saw research that said that girls who played sports were more resilient because you knew you were going to lose, you weren’t going to win 100% of the time.

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For me, if you really want to do something, if you believe you’re the right person to do it, if you think it can make a difference, you have to be willing to compete, to get into the arena, knowing it’s going to be challenging, to say the least.

PRESIDENT DRINAN: Many of us, as average citizens, are overwhelmed by what to do with all the atrocities happening around the world. What do we do?

SECRETARY CLINTON: If you take Syria, for example, it’s what analysts call a “wicked problem.” You can be angry, heart sick, ashamed by this conflict that is killing tens of thousands, but you have to think about how you save more lives than put more lives at risk. There is a very honest debate about what’s next to do. In Africa right now, there are some very hopeful stories, Liberia being one of them. What is the best thing to do? You support the United Nations with peace keepers, you support the African Union with peace keepers…none of it is easy, and no individual would have all the knowledge. At the State Department, we had an extraordinary team of professionals who studied this for years. It’s important to keep standing up for your values and interests and keep looking for those openings where you can make a difference to save lives and stabilize society. Look for areas to support, nurture, and respond.

PRESIDENT DRINAN: What advice did you give to your daughter,

Chelsea, as she was growing up and heading toward adulthood?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Chelsea grew up in such unusual circumstances. Her father was governor of Arkansas when she was born, and she was just shy of 13 when we moved into the White House. We stressed education and those habits and attitudes about the way you’re supposed to treat other people. She had a full life outside of the cocoon of public life, and we tried to continue that in the White House.

As you go off into adulthood, the most important thing is to have a sense of purpose about your life, and it may not be the purpose your mother would choose for you, or your friends would choose for you, but it’s what drives you, what you feel gets you up in the morning. And how you put that together could be really unique, very entrepreneurial.

There are so many more paths than when I was graduating from Wellesley. You have a much longer life. What you’re doing in your 20s could be very different from what you’re doing in your 40s. But you prepare yourself and keep yourself open. S

I believe that advancing the rights, participation, and opportunities for women and girls, here at home and around the world, is the great unfinished business of the 21st century. — HILLARY CLINTON

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COVER STORY

making a world of

difference In this feature, we traveled the world with Simmons alumni, faculty, and students whose impact, intelligence, grace, and humanity is being shared with the people of Bangladesh, Uganda, Morocco, India, Warsaw, and the Congo, to name a few. We learned that the impact of these populations on Simmons reverberates in the lives that are changed forever when our community returns home to share their experiences.

BY KATHLEEN S. CARR AND ALIX ROY ILLUSTRATION BY IAN DODDS

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alumnae

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EMILY SCOTT POTTRUCK ’78, Republic of the Congo

KATHLEEN MORENSKI ’87, Warsaw, Poland

It is estimated that between 5.5 and 6 million people have died in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998, half of them children, and at least half a million Congolese women and girls have become victims of sexual violence. Sharing these numbers, and the stories behind them, is something Emily Scott Pottruck ’78 does regularly as a board member for V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls. In 2011, V-Day celebrated the grand opening of the City of Joy in the Congo, a transformational leadership community run by local women to help survivors of violence heal and rebuild their lives.

“We firmly believe that women on the ground know exactly what they need to do, they just need support in doing it,” says Pottruck. “They needed a place where women could turn their pain to power, so we raised money and helped to create this place.”

Pottruck flew to the Congo in 2011, the first of four annual trips. At the time, she recalls feeling nervous and also acutely aware of her status as a well-off American. “I thought, ‘What on earth can I actually say to them?’ But when we got there, music was playing, women were dancing, and I just jumped in and started dancing with them. We were just women of the world together.”

From that moment forward, Pottruck began focusing more of her philanthropic efforts on issues facing Congolese women and girls, which included funding for two of the local women to attend college, and delivering a TED talk to raise awareness.

“I think it makes us more human to care about people across the world,” she says. “In the dark, bad things can happen. When you let the light in, when you create these connections, more can be told, rather than less.”

As a student, Pottruck came to Simmons interested in non-profits and giving back. She credits Sociology Professor Steve London with “adding logs to the fire.” In 2000, she and her husband, David, established the Scott/Ross Center for Community Service at the College, promoting service-learning and connecting students with non-profits.

“Writing checks is spectacular. I love being able to give money away, but everybody can be on the ground and volunteer,” she says. “We all want to be connected, and the Center gives Simmons students an opportunity to do that.”

A few decades after graduating from Simmons in 1987, Kathleen Morenski is back in the classroom, and she couldn’t be happier about it. For the past year, Morenski spent most of her days in intensive language classes, learning Polish in preparation for her post in Warsaw.

“It keeps you humble,” she says of language learning as an adult. “When you’re an adult you learn differently – you don’t like the fact that you don’t ‘get it’ instantly. I think it’s always positive to have that moment, as you then better understand and empathize with others when they have difficult tasks.”

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Being a Foreign Service officer means constantly being challenged, which has helped Morenski build confidence in her ability to tackle the unfamiliar. Her mentor, Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas ’63, ’00HD, a classmate of her mother, Geraldine Morenski ’63, helped prepare her for the career’s many ups and downs. Today, Morenski says she feels fortunate to be in a role where change is continual.

“You are constantly asked to do something new,” she says. “I would rather be suffering the toughness of learning new things than not learning and feeling like I was in a rut, doing the same old thing.”

As a student at Simmons, Morenski felt similarly challenged by the administration’s openness to new ideas – and their insistence that students take responsibility for seeing them through to fruition.

“Simmons is highly empowering because it lets women take full ownership of an idea or project,” she says. “Simmons is there to support you, but the focus is on you.”

REBECCA SYKES ’83SW, ’HT, Henley-on-Klip, South Africa

A member of the Foreign Service since 1991, Morenski will be stationed in Poland at the U.S Embassy for three years heading up the political and economic section, which is responsible for monitoring political and economic developments in Poland, especially as they relate to the country’s relationship with the United States.

This will be Morenski’s sixth overseas assignment following postings in Toronto, Suriname, St. Petersburg, Brussels, and Mongolia. She was initially drawn to the Foreign Service by her lifelong fascination with history, and credits her career choice with allowing her to experience many countries as more than just a tourist.

“It’s an opportunity to live in a foreign country and accomplish something positive,” she says. “I have learned something important from every country I’ve been in – it has made me a better person.”

As president of the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, Rebecca Sykes ’83SW, HT has spent several recent months in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa, a village measuring fewer than five square miles just south of Johannesburg. In spite of its size, Henley-on-Klip is home to three schools, including The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG), a private high school for girls with disadvantaged backgrounds. Since opening in 2007, the academy has graduated three classes of around 70 students, most of whom are the first in their families to receive a diploma. Sykes estimates that each student to come to the academy has experienced at least six traumatic events in her lifetime.

Sykes oversees all of Winfrey’s philanthropic programs, including an operating foundation, which funds the school itself and provides financial support to the girls when they graduate and attend college. She also consults with the head of the academy on programs related to leadership, one of Winfrey’s top priorities for students.

“Oprah is devoted to having the young women there develop the leadership potential they have,” says Sykes. “This is a school with the aspirations to produce the leaders of tomorrow.”

Prior to her current position, Sykes spent most of the last 40 years working with students at

Phillips Academy, a prestigious New England private school. Transitioning from an institution with two centuries of tradition to one still evolving has been challenging, but rewarding, she says.

“This is a school that has chosen to do work that is somewhat unusual in its setting,” she says. “It’s an independent school providing an education to students who otherwise would probably be in the lowestachieving schools in South Africa.”

On a visit to the academy in November 2013, Sykes met with a handful of young women preparing to graduate, many of whom were concerned about life beyond OWLAG and its support systems. Although the school has its own dedicated psychologists and social work department, Sykes says her own clinical training has helped her to better understand the challenges students are facing in their personal lives.

“They arrived here when they were 13 or 14 years old and now they’re being launched into a broader world,” she says. “At Simmons, I learned to understand and appreciate systems and to recognize the challenge people have in meeting their goals if they have a lot of other burdens in their lives.”

CLAUDIA MORNER ’78LS, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Claudia Morner ’78LS is at home in any library, whether it’s housed in Madbury, New Hampshire or Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In the latter half of her 42-year career, Morner has consulted to public and academic libraries across the globe and taught courses on librarianship in the United States and abroad. She has served on six accreditation committees for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, including one that took her to Bluche, Switzerland, to evaluate the Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

One of her more memorable trips came in 2003, when Morner traveled to Mongolia and spent three weeks at the National University’s head library offering guidance on issues like automation, strategic planning, and personnel management issues such as the status of librarians, salaries, and working conditions. In the final week, Morner gave a presentation to a large crowd of librarians from across the country.

Morner’s international network also includes a handful of Korean students she taught during a two-week summer program at Yonsei University in 2009. The trip was part of an exchange program

between the university and Simmons, and Morner co-taught with a Korean professor to classes of American and Korean master’s students.

“It was a challenging classroom experience,” she says. “The students from Korea were less hands-on and more technology-oriented and more used to being lectured to than our students – I had to learn very quickly.”

Morner is currently an adjunct faculty member at Simmons’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science, teaching “International and Comparative Librarianship,” an online course where students conduct in-depth explorations of library systems and services around the world.

With the prevalence of digital information sharing, limiting one’s education to domestic library issues is no longer sufficient, or even possible, Morner says.

“I try to bring the international approach to courses I teach, and not be totally insulated,” she says.

could work even more and expedite the cycle of trying to make a difference.”

Raz is the first deputy spokesperson and director of communications for Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. She regularly speaks on his behalf on topics ranging from domestic issues to foreign policy, and represents the government at meetings and events. Raz is the first woman to ever hold this position, which is both a privilege and a challenge, she said.

“You have to do the job right and at the same time you have to convince people that they can trust a woman, they can trust the younger generation,” she said. “That if you give us the responsibility, we will deliver.”

Raz was one of four Afghan women to earn an undergraduate degree at Simmons as part of a partnership with the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women. She graduated with honors and a triple major in International Relations, Political Science, and Economics, and went on to complete her master’s degree in 2010 at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Raz said her experience at Simmons helped her gain both confidence and direction.

“The first day I arrived at Simmons, I was a different person with a different perspective,” she said. “That person was looking to grow and attain more knowledge, but needed guidance. The four years, academically and personally, helped me be who I am today.”

ADELA RAZ ’08, Kabul, Afghanistan Every day on her way to work at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Adela Raz ’08 crosses through the heart of downtown filled with locals going about their daily lives. Watching kids polishing shoes or selling chewing gum and magazines – she is re-inspired.

“Even if it is very small, I am trying to do my part in making this place better for them and it feels satisfying,” she said. “I wish I could do more. I wish the day was more than nine, 10, 11, or 12 hours so I alumnet.simmons.edu

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faculty ANNE-MARIE BARRON, Nursing, Bangladesh Anne-Marie Barron, SNHS Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Curriculum and Student Affairs, is also a clinical nurse specialist and faculty nurse scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In the spring of 2009, while working as a psychiatric nurse on the Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at MGH, Barron met Dr. Dey, a bone marrow transplant specialist.

“He told me he had a dream to elevate healthcare in Bangladesh and that he viewed nursing and nursing education as pivotal to that, and he asked if I would help,” says Barron.

Barron describes the initial efforts as exploratory to see if they could engage in an initiative in Bangladesh, which would include an affiliation with Simmons.

“We learned that too often nursing has been thought of there as low-class work. Compensation is low, and traditionally women have tended not to think about nursing if they are high achieving academically. Many students have gone into nursing programs after 10th grade in a non-science intense program. There are many positive changes currently underway in Bangladesh and nursing is poised on the threshold of transformation,” she says.

Nursing is moving into the universities and a standardized bachelor’s degree curriculum has been developed by the Bangladesh Nursing Council in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

In Bangladesh, there are currently 25,000 nurses (with 16,000 currently employed) for a population of 150-160 million. In the United States, there are 2.6 million RNs currently employed for a population of 317 million.

There is enormous regard for American nurses in Bangladesh, and Barron found that people’s doors opened widely and quickly for her. “The Bangladesh Nursing Council and representatives from the World Health Organization, for example, met with us immediately. The basic ingredients for a culture shift are coming together,” she says.

Barron’s main focus has been on developing a model for an affiliation in Bangladesh so that she and SNHS nursing colleagues could offer their expertise and create a sustainable partnership. She is

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working with six alumnae/i on this exciting journey — three nurse practitioners and three RNs. Laura Sherburne, 2012 Simmons grad, says: “While I was an undergraduate nursing student at Simmons, I was given the tools to prepare and adjust to a large variety of cultures and situations. This platform was vital to having successful trips to Bangladesh and was quintessential to process the emotional impacts of the third world, as I transitioned back to nursing at an institution as advanced as Massachusetts General Hospital.”

Jenna Moran ’12 NP says: “I began working for the Bangladesh project in July 2013. My role has been to develop a curriculum specific to oncology and bone marrow transplant. I have now made three trips to Dhaka, and each time I am so impressed by the progress of the students. It is so rewarding to provide them with the opportunity to enhance their practice and education.”

“At Simmons,” says Barron, “we help students find their voices through education. When I was in Bangladesh, the nurses participating in the bone marrow transplant training program said, ‘Having achieved this level of additional education and greatly increased responsibility, we deserve to be recognized and paid a higher salary.’ I thought to myself, wouldn’t John Simmons be proud? We are educating women to make a difference in their own lives and to make a difference in the lives of the health of the people of their own country.”

CHRISTINE EVANS, Education, Abu Dhabi “These are the most challenging kids to work with. They have significant learning challenges, and some have significant behavior challenges, it’s tough. These teachers aren’t doing this for the money. I am really proud of my graduate students. They work incredibly hard, and the payoff comes in ways other than the pocketbook.”

For the past 22 years, Christine Evans has served as the graduate program director for Simmons’s partnership with the New England Center for Children (NECC) program, servicing children with autism and other developmental

disabilities. More than 200 students are involved in this licensure program, which offers a master’s in education and in severe disabilities.

The center also has a satellite program in Abu Dhabi. Simmons professors teach classes face-toface and in video conferencing, with courses taught at the offsite program at NECC. NECC is a satellite campus and some students are face to face while the others are on the video monitor in Abu Dhabi. All of the Simmons students are employees of the center, and students get to interact with each other through this virtual classroom.

Evans visits Abu Dhabi once a year to observe graduate students and ensure programmatical consistency across the globe.

Nearly 900 Simmons students have gone through this program, and are making a significant impact. Many of the countries they work in do not have the expertise to serve children with developmental disabilities. “In the United States, we have laws that provide services and protect children, but other countries do not,” Evans says.

“Our students educate staff, children, and their families to maximize opportunities for children to live independent lives. If we hadn’t made these connections, some of these children would have to live at home for their entire lives.”

HUGO KAMYA, Social Work, Uganda When Hugo Kamya came to Simmons eight years ago, he started a study abroad program to take students to Uganda, to expose them to human services in a developing country. Uganda is Kamya’s home country and under his tutelage, students would spend a three-week study tour there learning about social inclusion and exclusion, mental health, human rights, women issues, children’s issues, and the impact of war and HIV/AIDS. Initially, he says, students respond with a mix of trepidation, enthusiasm, and excitement. Once there, he describes them as amazingly transformed by these experiences as they encounter culturally different populations. Kamya recounts a student telling him that she realized how close and how related we all are. Whether we live in

These teachers aren’t doing this for the money. I am really proud of my graduate students. They work incredibly hard, and the payoff comes in ways other than the pocketbook.

first world or developing countries, we have so many issues in common.

And that impact continues when the students return to campus and tell Kamya what a difference their travels have made on their lives. Suddenly, pieces on human rights, warfare, and mental health are brought before their eyes in a very practical and interactive way. Students talk about their sense of connection to the local and the global, and they realize that these are so closely intertwined.

They see issues of women’s empowerment, and they encounter amazing women doing entrepreneurial work with very little resources.

The human rights issues that students are exposed to in Uganda become key in students’ understanding of the world around them. And Uganda’s populations are excited to meet with students too; there is curiosity on both sides of the equation. “Ugandans are dying for connection, and many will not have opportunities to leave the country. Connecting to someone who brings to life some of the things they read about or see on TV gives them a sense of excitement and a zeal to learn more,” says Kamya.

Last year, Kamya exposed Simmons to the world when he brought 400 delegates to Uganda, including 200 from the United States and 25 student and faculty presenters from Simmons. The conference exposed the issues of social development around the world, with 40 countries represented.

Kamya feels strongly that we cannot afford to be isolationists in the work we do. “The world is interconnected, and I want to integrate students’ learning and understanding with experience,” he says. “On a larger scale, they will be spurred to become ambassadors elsewhere in the world to connect these experiences and opportunities into larger, global opportunities. This exposure will open their eyes to something beyond their comfort zone and allow them to be participants in the social development in the world at large.”

LYNDA MOORE, Management, United Arab Emirates and India Professor Lynda Moore has a long-held interest in studying the intersection of gender, leadership, and culture. In her research and in her teaching, she takes a critical lens to the cultural context and unique issues that women and historically underrepresented groups face, and relates that to how their experiences are different from the majority or dominant group leaders and managers in organizations.

Moore began to focus intensely on global women leaders as a part of a sabbatical year in the

Women in the United Arab Emirates and India have a level of confidence about integrating their roles, as working women and as mothers and wives, and they don’t apologize for it, or feel guilty about it.

United Arab Emirates in 2006. Her research focused on identifying a culturally relevant leadership model for women and understanding the context and culturally sensitive lens of their leadership identity and behavior.

According to Moore, women in the UAE and India have a level of confidence about integrating their roles, as working women and as mothers and wives, and they don’t apologize for it, or feel guilty about it. By and large they feel entitled to have a life in a way that women in the West don’t.

“We are driven and ambitious with extreme jobs reinforced by our culture as the benchmark of success, and it’s hard to adopt that view. When I am with women in those parts of the world, it’s incredibly affirming. They are equally serious about all the roles in their life and on many levels, they are equally valued for all of those roles. Being a wife and mother is just as important as being a businesswoman,” says Moore.

Moore was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2007 and taught leadership at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. She conducted research on Emirate women business leaders to understand leadership and also studied family business in different regions of the world. The women she interviewed were the first generation of highly successful business leaders. Moore says her research debunked the myths that all women in that region are oppressed. She found them to have highly integrated leadership identities as Muslim women, wives, and businesswomen who are extremely confident and effective.

In an attempt to expose her students to the issues women leaders face around the globe, Moore developed and taught the first SOM travel course on cross-cultural comparative analysis of women leaders in the United States, India and the United Arab Emirates. “Our students had a hunger to travel, experience the world, and understand these issues on a global perspective,” she says.

Moore’s global teaching has also brought her to the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, where she taught and researched gender diversity and leadership. After publishing her research on Indian women leaders, she continues to return to

India every year to teach, and that global perspective informs her teaching at Simmons. Her future research agenda includes writing cases on Indian women leaders.

“Simmons has allowed me to design courses with a more globally inclusive perspective, which is particularly important in management education,” Moore says. “I work to create transformational experiences for our students to teach them global citizenship and make them global leaders,” she says.

NANETTE VEILLEUX, Computer Science, Rwanda Computer Science and Informatics Professor Nanette Veilleux recently was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach computer engineering at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology in Rwanda, where the president wants the country to become a technology-based economy. Veilleux taught two classes of 75 second-year engineering students.

She describes the students as collaborative without the sense of cut-throat ambition that you see in the United States.

When Veilleux is teaching at Simmons, she spends a lot of time thinking about how students learn and how to meet an individual student’s needs. In Rwanda, only one-quarter of her students spoke English, so she had to use other ways to figure out what they knew and didn’t know. But the work wasn’t very different.

“Rwandan students are amazing at math, and there is an emphasis on memorization and grinding through problems,” she says. “They never forget any formula.” On the other hand, give them something a little different, and they have trouble, she says. “In differential equations class, they do great, where our students would have trouble.

There, they have trouble with programming. Very few students have their own computers and it’s difficult for them to get access to the labs.”

But in spite of all of the limitations, Veilleux saw students who were amazingly attentive, with a strong sense of community. “When I think about how the young people in my classes came from such a horrible history and still had such a alumnet.simmons.edu

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love of life, a playfulness, and were engaged and excited about learning and the future, that’s a valuable lesson on how healing the promise of a good future can be. Students are literally scarred and burned. You see this everywhere and yet the optimism persists,” she says.

Veilleux’s global perspective has informed how she thinks about her students’ futures. “Students worldwide now need to learn to make their own opportunities. When I graduated, the idea was that there was a job out there; you just had to find it. I think that’s less true now. People have to find their own jobs. Even when you get hired by a company, you need to figure out how your talents fit it. You have to have ownership for your work. And professors have to help students so that they are then able to take control of their professional lives,” she says.

students BRIANNA BOUCHARD ’14, Guatemala Most people know Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams through actor Robin Williams, who wore a red clown nose to portray him in the 1998 hit movie based on his life. For nursing major Brianna Bouchard ’14, however, seeing the doctor impersonated on screen wasn’t enough. Curious about the fate of Adams’ hospital, the Gesundheit!

Institute, which is featured in the film, Bouchard did some online research and wrote a letter to the doctor expressing admiration for his work. She received a handwritten response within three weeks.

“I couldn’t believe he responded,” she said. “He doesn’t have email, he doesn’t have a cell phone, he doesn’t have social media. The fact that he spent the time to sit down and write a letter back to me… it was a really thoughtful thing.”

Enclosed with the letter was an autographed copy of Adams’ most recent book, House Calls, which emphasizes the importance of compassion and friendship in the healing process. Adams is famous for his belief in laughter as an integral element of doctoral care – he has led clowning trips to hospitals in war zones, refugee camps, and orphanages.

At the Gesundheit! Institute, which offers free care to patients in rural West Virginia, traditional medical care is “infused with fun and play.”

In the spring of 2012, Bouchard decided to sign up for one of Adams’ clowning trips to Guatemala City, using scholarship money from her high school.

It was her first trip outside of the United States, and she was the only participant from New England.

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“It was a really scary thing for me,” she acknowledged. “We had to arrive at the airport dressed up as a clown. I had no idea what I was getting into.”

When she arrived however, her fears were quickly assuaged by the instant camaraderie within the group, facilitated by Adams’ welcoming demeanor. The group traveled to hospitals in the city, cheering up patients using clowning exercises. Since she couldn’t speak Spanish, Bouchard was forced to connect with patients in other ways.

“Finding my own way to be a clown taught me how I want to be a nurse,” she said. “I think that the best medicine you can give anybody is your presence – being there for them and helping them reach whatever their health care goal is. People are lonely, and health can be defined in so many more dimensions than being free of a disease.”

Since the trip, Bouchard has kept in touch with Adams through letters, and recently worked with the Simmons Student Nursing Association to invite him to speak on campus. Over 100 students, faculty, and staff attended the free event, held in early March.

“Patch had such an influence on my life,” Bouchard said. “Being in Boston and being able to go to all of these amazing hospitals, I still think that my experience with Patch has made me such a different nurse in a good way. I wanted to be able to share that.”

SARAH BUGAI ’14 AND ELIZABETH ROSE ’14, Spain For fall semester of their senior year, Sarah Bugai ’14 and Elizabeth Rose ’14 decided to trade in their Simmons dorm room for one with a family in Granada, Spain. The two nursing majors, who have been roommates since their sophomore year, received hands-on clinical training through the

Granada Institute for International Studies as part of a study abroad program run by the nursing and modern language departments at Simmons.

Neither student had been to Spain before, and for Rose, the trip was her first time leaving the United States. Although she’s been studying Spanish since elementary school, working in a hospital with no English-speaking patients was a welcome challenge, she said.

“I feel like I learned more over there in four months than I’ve learned here since third grade,” she said. “Nobody spoke English, and there’s no time to stop and think about conjugations like there is in class.”

While completing their rotations at San Rafael Hospital, both students were struck by the differences in staffing and supplies, compared to the Boston hospitals they had previously worked in.

Each nurse at San Rafael was assigned about 25 patients, while most nurses in major Boston hospitals have around five.

“It was definitely a bit of a shock,” Bugai said, “but it teaches you to be a well-prepared and thoughtful nurse – you don’t want to waste your materials. They’re also really good at time management because there are fewer nurses on the floor.”

Bugai has only taken two Spanish classes at Simmons, but her grasp of the language is strong in the medical field, thanks to several volunteering trips to clinics in the Dominican Republic.

Navigating a hospital where you don’t speak the language fluently is an important experience for a nurse, she said.

“It gave me a little bit of insight into how frustrating it must be for people in our hospitals who can’t communicate what their needs are,” she said.

“We take for granted that we speak in English and we’re in a country where most people speak English.”

When they weren’t caring for patients or attending classes and medical conferences, the duo got a chance to tour various Spanish cities and take a few short trips to nearby countries. For Bugai, a weekend trip to Krakow, Poland, was the highlight of her trip and a chance to research her family history.

Reflecting on their experience back at Simmons, both students said they would welcome the chance to practice their nursing skills abroad in the future.

“As nurses, we can’t just think about our hospital, our floor,” Bugai said. “What can we do to make our world a little better? I really want to look into that and hopefully do some good all around the world, not just in my community. I think Simmons really implanted that in my head.” S

alumnae/i achievements

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[1] EVA BONIS ’67LS published her second

cookbook New Hungarian Cuisine: Traditional and Contemporary Favorites (CreateSpace 2012).

The book features 177 recipes, including both traditional Hungarian specialties and modern, healthier interpretations of classic dishes. A retired librarian, Bonis is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Culinary Guild of New England.

KAREN KOENIG ’88SW released her fifth book Starting Monday: Seven Keys to a Permanent, Positive Relationship with Food (Gurze Books 2013). The book helps readers dig deeply into their psyches to figure out what mistaken beliefs and needless fears are holding them back from achieving their health and fitness goals. Koenig, an expert on the psychology of eating, is a psychotherapist, international eating coach, and national educator.

learn about Maine marine life and the local fishing industry through hands-on experiences.

Today, the Oceanarium is regarded as one of most popular attractions for children and adults in the Bar Harbor region.

“Audrey is a great example of a business owner who goes above and beyond to provide her visitors with a memorable experience,” says Maine Office of Tourism Director Patricia Eltman.

[4] ALICE LOCICERO ’03SM is the author of

JUDGE AMY L. NECHTEM ’76 recently was appointed to a five-year term as a Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court. In this role, she will be responsible for the administration and management of the Juvenile Court Department made up of 11 divisions and 41 authorized judicial positions across the state.

Judge Nechtem has served on the Juvenile Court since 2001.

[2] THERESE HUDSON-JINKS ’85 has been

promoted to chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care at Tufts Medical Center. Chief nursing officers are growing in significance as key players in improving health care quality and safety. Tufts Medical Center said in a statement that Hudson-Jinks is known for her ability to bring the voices and ideas of nurses and other caregivers to the forefront.

[3] JO KNOWLES ’92, ’95GS published Living with Jackie Chan (Candlewick Press 2013). In the novel, Knowles compassionately depicts the consequences of teen pregnancy from the boy’s perspective. Living with Jackie Chan, which is a sequel to Knowles’ critically acclaimed 2009 novel Jumping Off Swings, was featured in The New York Times Book Review and received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

the forthcoming Why “Good Kids” Turn into Deadly Terrorists (Praeger 2014). Following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, this book examines not only the lives, motivations, and key influences of the infamous Tsarnaev brothers, but also those of other young, unexpected terrorists worldwide, comparing factors that contributed to their decisions to become terrorists and identifying methods used to recruit them.

[5] AUDREY SANDS MILLS ’54, co-founder of

the Mount Desert Oceanarium, was presented with the award for Commitment to Customer Service during the Maine Governor’s Conference on Tourism Awards Dinner in Augusta, ME. Mills and her husband opened the Oceanaruim in 1972 to provide a place where visitors could

The U.S. Senate has confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Honorary Trustee CAROL WALLER POPE ’74 to serve as chairperson of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, a position she also held in the George W. Bush administration.

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college education. We feel it is our honor to help make education a little bit easier for young people, particularly young women.

What’s the most important quality you look for in an organization seeking your support?

We look for organizations that can focus philanthropic support primarily on benefiting students rather than underwriting administrative costs. At the schools we support – including Simmons – we’re confident the money is benefiting students.

What do you most enjoy about being philanthropic?

Conversation on Philanthropy Dolores Amidon D’Angelo ’69, ’72GS

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r. Dolores Amidon D’Angelo ’69, ’72GS, an honorary Simmons trustee, has devoted her career to education as a teacher and administrator. She has been actively engaged with the College as a volunteer leader and philanthropist. Her gifts include two scholarships for students in the Honors Program: the Dolores and Lawrence D’Angelo Endowed Scholarship for education majors, and the Dolores Amidon D’Angelo Honors Scholarship Fund for study abroad.

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In terms of the scholarships we create, it’s very rewarding to experience the personal feedback we receive, and to feel a sense of connection to the students. We enjoy the handwritten thank-you notes students send us, including students at Simmons who use our travel scholarship. I’ve enjoyed meeting students who use both of our Simmons scholarships.

At Elon University, we provide a scholarship for an outstanding senior, and the students keep in touch, telling us about their careers and progress. It’s very gratifying. One young man said he would have had to take a semester off and not graduate on time, but our scholarship made it possible for him to stay in school. He went on to do very well in television news.

What do you consider to be your most significant philanthropic achievements?

To see students complete their degrees and become successful in their fields, and to know that we helped them get that much closer to their degrees and career goals.

Which living philanthropist(s) do you most admire?

I would have to say Bill and Melinda Gates. What they’ve done with their money at all levels of education – from early education to older students – is very inspiring.

What inspires you to give? What causes mean the most to you?

What should everyone who aspires to be philanthropic know?

My husband, Lawrence D’Angelo, and I both know the benefits of education and advanced study, and most of our philanthropy is focused on education and scholarships. Thanks to our families, my husband and I were very lucky that we did not need scholarships and didn’t graduate with student-loan debts. But we realize that, given the economy and the high cost of tuition, it’s much more challenging these days for students to afford a

When you support young people or education, there isn’t always an immediate outcome. You are investing in the future. But helping students who would otherwise struggle financially is very rewarding. It feels good.

You’ll find an expanded version of this conversation online at alumnet.simmons.edu/D’AngeloQA.

$2.1 Million Bequest is Largest in College’s History Transformative Gift from Mara Dole ’61LS Funds Innovation, Technology

The late Mara Dole ’61LS, a former cataloger at the Harvard Law School Library, generously gave $2.1 million through a bequest which has been used to establish new funds to further enhance innovation and technology at the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Dole immigrated to Boston from her native Latvia in 1949 and worked as a private music teacher while earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music.

As an industrious student preparing for her life’s work, she took a job in the Simmons library in 1959 while completing the library science program.

Along with her late husband, Alexander, Mara Dole was an active philanthropist throughout her life. Her transformative gift to GSLIS is enhancing the School’s experiential learning environment for both face-to-face and virtual students. The Mara Dole Innovation Fund will support excellence in teaching and research – pillars of Simmons’s Strategy 2015. Each year, GSLIS Dean Eileen Abels and an advisory committee will select proposals from GSLIS faculty and students that support innovative teaching and research projects.

In addition, the Dole bequest has been used to upgrade the cataloging library and transform it into the GSLIS Collaboratory. This involved expanding the space and upgrading technology for teaching. The Collaboratory, which officially opened in March with a ribbon cutting ceremony, is being used by faculty and students in the library science degree program, in the archives concentration, and in the M.A. and M.F.A. programs in children’s literature.

“We will be able to teach in ways that we have not been able to teach before,” says Donna Webber, associate professor of practice in GSLIS. The bequest will also create the Mara Dole Innovation Lab, a collaborative space that will transform information services and deliveries through new technologies like the campus’s first 3D printer.

CUTTING-EDGE EXPERIENCES PREPARE STUDENTS FOR LIFE’S WORK

GSLIS DEAN’S FELLOW FOR TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT N. LAURENCE KOCH ’14LS

To help students succeed in the classroom and beyond, Simmons utilizes a wide variety of cutting-edge spaces and technologies – and those offerings will soon be expanded, thanks to the bequest from Mara Dole ’61LS. “I am excited to explore how this new technology can be used to enhance and perhaps alter the ways that we, as students, work and communicate with our peers and with our teachers,” says N. Laurence Koch ’14LS, the GSLIS Dean’s Fellow for Technology Support.

GSLIS Manager of Technology Linnea Johnson ’01, ’04LS, ’14SM echoes the importance of innovation and technology, saying, “When students graduate, they will take all they have learned from these hands-on experiences in classes and workshops, and they’ll become the technology innovators in their workplaces.”

We will be able to teach in ways that we have not been able to teach before.

DONNA WEBBER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE, GSLIS

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New Endowed Professorship to Focus on Women, Leadership

“ TODAY, MORE WOMEN HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE IN MAJOR POSITIONS IN LARGE COMPANIES, BUT I’M NOT SURE THE GLASS CEILING HAS BEEN BROKEN.”

MARY SHAPIRO IS FIRST DIANE KAGEN TRUST ’77GS PROFESSOR

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IANE KAGEN TRUST ’77GS recently gave $1.5 million to endow a professorship in her name at Simmons. She says her philanthropic commitment to her alma mater springs directly from personal experience.

“My husband and I both came from working-class backgrounds. Our successes in life were because of other people’s contributions to our educations. We believe we must give back in the same way,” says Trust, who earned a master’s degree in English literature from Simmons in 1977.

THE DIANE KAGEN TRUST ’77GS PROFESSORSHIP FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT President Helen Drinan says she’s very grateful to Diane Trust for pursuing her philanthropic goals at Simmons.

“An endowed professorship is prestigious and signals to the world we have made a long-term commitment to a particular field, in this case our strong, strategic focus on, and expertise in, women’s leadership development,” says President Drinan.

The Diane Kagen Trust ’77GS Professorship will be a rotating professorship every three years. Professor Mary Shapiro of the Simmons School of Management has the honor of being the first Diane Kagen Trust Professor.

Trust says her intent for the professorship is to help ensure that more women launch their careers well prepared to succeed as effective leaders. “Today, more

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FALL 2014

women have opportunities to be in major positions in large companies, but I’m not sure the glass ceiling has been broken,” Trust observes.

Trust herself embarked on a business track early on; she began her undergraduate studies working during the day and attending college at night. After marrying and moving to New Hampshire, her husband encouraged her to finish her degree by going full time. She attended Mount Saint Mary’s College (now closed), which was not far from their home, and earned her B.A. She later helped her husband, entrepreneur Martin Trust, launch an apparel business in their basement — an enterprise that ultimately grew into a large, successful, worldwide corporation.

“As the business took off, I stepped away to attend graduate school” says Trust. “I chose Simmons because I enjoyed the benefits of attending a small, women’s undergraduate college, and I wanted the same kind of student-centered experience again. It turned out exactly as I hoped!”

Trust has focused her philanthropy at Simmons on the pillars of any academic community: students and faculty. A steady supporter of The Simmons Fund, she also has created a scholarship establishing the Trust Family Scholars. “Scholarships are so vital. My husband graduated from Cooper Union and MIT’s Sloan School of Management thanks to scholarships,” says Trust.

“Things would have turned out very different without those opportunities.”

Mary Shapiro, professor at the Simmons School of Management, will be the first faculty member to hold the Diane Kagen Trust ’77 GS Professorship for Leadership Development. The endowed position rotates every three years and is renewable.

Shapiro has over 25 years experience teaching undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses focusing on leadership in the School of Management. She has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, private institutions, and non-profit organizations.

Simmons’ Provost Katie Conboy said, “Her research focus on the experiences of girls and their aspirations and gendered beliefs is thoroughly consistent with the Simmons mission.”

John Simmons Society Member to Establish Scholarship Through Bequest Charpentier Says, “I Want to Make Things Easier for Future Generations of Women”

Linda Charpentier ’68 accepting the Mary Logan Canavan ’38 Planned Giving Award from Alumni Association Executive Board Vice President Lisa Peterson ’03 during Leadership Weekend 2013.

L

inda Charpentier ’68, director of environmental health and safety at Boston Sand & Gravel Company, and a mentor in the Simmons Success Connection job-shadowing program, is committed to her role as both a leader and mentor to other women in her field – a responsibility she believes is a hallmark of the Simmons community.

“Everyone who graduates from Simmons wants to make it a little easier for the next woman than it was for her,” says Charpentier.

To further her impact on future generations of Simmons students, Charpentier established a planned gift in honor of her mother. And she has earmarked her gift for scholarship.

“Estate planning is so important. You want your assets to go where you want them to go, and you can’t guarantee that unless you plan ahead of time,” says Charpentier.

Charpentier has built an exemplary career in chemistry, but she understands how challenging the STEM professions – which include careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – can be for women.

While she thrived at Simmons with the encouragement of her professors, including her mentor the late Professor Emerita Phyllis Brauner, Charpentier says the atmosphere was remarkably different in graduate school and the working world.

“The president of a company I was working for in the ’80s used to start all meetings by saying, ‘Welcome gentleman, and Linda.’ I was the only woman in the room,” she says. “With my planned gift, I want to establish support for women entering STEM fields. There are too few women in these positions, and it’s an incredibly demanding career path. We need to support each other as much as possible.”

STEM AT SIMMONS: TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING IN THE LAB

Dr. Bruce Gray, associate professor of biology, is conducting cutting-edge neuroscience research examining beta amyloid protein – and he’s doing it right alongside a group of dedicated Simmons undergraduate students.

“Our lab’s research indicates that the beta amyloid protein plays a role in normal brain function, affecting how nerve cells talk to each other.

Students are examining what makes this protein pathological for some.”

Caroline Coughlin ’15 and Sana Sajjad ’15 are among those students conducting research in Gray’s lab, focusing specifically on the protein’s role in retinal cell glaucoma. Gray believes in the power of mentorship between his students, saying, “I want everyone in the lab as early as possible. Then they’re taught not only by me, but are also mentored by older students.”

Everyone who graduates from Simmons wants to make it a little easier for the next woman than it was for her.

LINDA CHARPENTIER ’68

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advancing simmons

Recent Graduates Stay Connected, Give Back to Simmons

COMMENCEMENT RECOGNITION CELEBRATION 2014

Associate members of the 1899 Leadership Society are recent alumnae who join the leadership giving society at graduated giving levels.

For more information, and to join, please visit alumnet.simmons. edu/1899_Leadership_Society_Associate.

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ix Scholar Madeleine Jeune ’10 and Kristie Flaherty ’12 both understand how critical it is to remain connected to the Simmons community to help advance their careers and nurture the life-long friendships they developed at the College.

“My education at Simmons gave me a solid foundation from which to explore, listen, and lead,” says Jeune. “Simmons helped strengthen my commitment to helping others.”

For Flaherty, Simmons provided invaluable professional connections – including one that led to a job as a production analyst working for another Simmons alumna.

As associate members of the 1899 Leadership Society, Flaherty and Jeune both say they also recognize the importance of giving back to their alma mater to support the next generation of Simmons students.

“Simmons opened up the doors to so many opportunities, and I would not have been able to attend without the scholarships I received,” Flaherty says. “If I can help just one other girl become a strong, confident woman, then I have succeeded as an alumna.”

Jeune echoes those sentiments in encouraging support for the College. “A good education can transform lives, but a Simmons education transforms generations. What a great legacy!”

LIFETIME GIVING RECOGNITION

CAROLE AHERNE HAUKE ’61 AND WILLIAM HAUKE (PHOTO ON LEFT), NANCY SANDLER GAVRIN ’58 AND DAVID GAVRIN WERE AMONG THOSE HONORED AT THE COMMENCEMENT RECOGNITION CELEBRATION FOR LIFETIME GIVING TO SIMMONS.

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PRESIDENT HELEN DRINAN POSES WITH 14 OF THE 16 MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2014 WHO WON THIS YEAR’S PRESIDENT’S RECOGNITION AWARD, WHICH WAS PRESENTED AT THE COMMENCEMENT RECOGNITION CELEBRATION ON MAY 8.

T

he Simmons community expressed its gratitude to more than 272 of its most generous alumnae/i and friends at this year’s Commencement Recognition Celebration, held on May 11, the evening before Commencement.

Honored guests included members of the 1899 Leadership Society and the John Simmons Society, as well as this year’s four honorary degree recipients.

Simmons extended special recognition to several alumnae and friends for their lifetime giving to the College. Those honored for cumulative giving of $500,000 or more were Carole Aherne Hauke ’61 and William Hauke, Nancy Sandler Gavrin ’58 and David Gavrin, and Trustee Atsuko T. Fish and Lawrence K. Fish.

Diane Kagen Trust ’77GS, Martin Trust, and the Trust Family Foundation were recognized for lifetime gifts of more than $1 million.

President Helen Drinan concluded the evening by presenting 16 members of the Class of 2014 with the prestigious President’s Recognition Award. The winners shared more than $150,000 that will help reduce their student loans. The awards were made possible by donors’ generous gifts to Simmons, particularly through The Simmons Fund.

Reunion Weekend 2014 Simmons was pleased to welcome back to campus 560 alumnae and guests for Reunion May 29 – June 1. The weekend included a broad range of stimulating programs and traditional highlights such as the Kick-off Picnic, class meetings and photos, and the Awards Luncheon with the Daisy Chain featuring the 50th Reunion class: 1964.

“Over 60 members of the Class of 1964 attended Reunion which exceeded all of our expectations. We loved re-connecting and catching up with classmates. Being with them and reminiscing about our Simmons days, we could almost feel 20 years old again.

It was wonderful!” said Rachel Reck, planning committee member. Four members of the class also participated in Reunion as program presenters: Linda Weinstein Gassenheimer ’64; Mary Abbott Hess ’64, ’91HD; Mameve Stern Medwed ’64; and Alice Clark Vlcek ’64.

This year, generous alumnae made Reunion gifts to Simmons totaling more than $1.8 million. The Class of 1964 swept the giving awards: Highest Participation Award; Highest Class Gift Award with a combined contribution of just over $1.5 million; The Simmons Fund Award; and highest number of people attending Reunion. The Class of 1959 won the Kay Heggie ’35 Planned Giving Award.

THE CLASS OF 1964 CELEBRATED ITS 50TH WITH THE LARGEST ATTENDANCE OF ANY CLASS AT REUNION 2014. YOU’LL FIND THE LIST OF 50TH REUNION ATTENDEES AT ALUMNET.SIMMONS.EDU/REUNION1964 .

ALUMNAE ENJOYED A REUNION TOUR OF HISTORIC MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY.

AT REUNION, THE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION PRESENTED THE 2014 LIFETIME ALUMNAE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD TO CARMEN APONTE BAEZ ‘79, ‘03HD (LEFT) AND MARY ABBOTT HESS ‘64, ‘91HD.

“JOHN SIMMONS” GREETS ELEANOR CLARKE BLANTON ’59 AT REUNION.

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advancing simmons

2

Events A full calendar of upcoming events can be found at alumnet.simmons.edu/events.

These and other photos from Simmons events can be found at flickr.com/simmonsalumni.

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4 1 Denise M. Coll ’95SM, Lisa J. Jensen ’95SM, Vonda L. Shannon ’95SM, Helen Murphy Connors ’95SM, and Dean Cathy Minehan ’99HD at the 2013 SOM Holiday Party. 2 Simmons alumnae in the Bay Area at J. Lohr Vineyards in San

7

Jose, CA. 3 Provost Katie Conboy, The Hon. Pamela Dashiell ’75, Frederick E. Dashiell, and Diane Dickerson ’75, ’84SM at Simmons College’s 2013 Holiday Open House. 4 Susan Cannon Rudin ’59, Marlene Oriel Apkon ’59, Lorraine M. Shaw ’59, and Roberta Sacco Conte ’59 at a luncheon in Naples, FL. 5 Paul Belanger and Teri L. Groome-Kucheman ’04GS at Simmons College’s 2013 Holiday Open House. 6 “John Simmons” and Margaret DeVries Kane ’75 at Simmons College’s 2013 Holiday Open House. 7 Julia Kemp ’11SM and Nicole Adriance ’12SM attended the 2013 SOM Holiday Party. 8 Alumnae from the Simmons Southwest Florida Club met for a luncheon in Lakewood Ranch, FL.

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9 Chantel Adams ’09 and Marisha Mikell ’09 at Reunion. 10 Washington, D.C. alumnae/i and their spouses at the Sackler Gallery in D.C.: Roslyn Loiter ’63 and Barret Loiter, Ingrid Satalmajer ’94GS and Doug Pelley, Louise Cort ’66, Patricia O’Riordan and Diane Schoenfeld from Simmons Advancement, Leonade Jones ’69 and Walter Ellis. 11 “John Simmons” with members of the Class of 1984 at Reunion: Anne-Marie Dupre, Lori Evans Ragone, “John,” Diane Yanni Carson, and Janet Gilday Waldmann. 12 Albert H. Clark and Edith Lloyd Clark ’54; Susan Luther Austin ’74; Anne E. Person ’74; Margaret B. Slade ’64, ’66SW; “John Simmons;” Ronda Fleisher Krop ’74; Maureen Sabel Ecker ’74; Judith C. Sletzinger ’74, ’99GS; Barbara H. Wacholder ’74; Marjory Sherman-Bindman ’74; and Roberta Sacco Conte ’59 on a Reunion Boston Duck Tour. 13 Class of 1964 alumnae prepare for the Reunion Daisy Chain procession: Barbara Heilbrunn Waldman, Nina Runyon Brown, and Betsy Wise.

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advancing simmons

PROGRESS TO GOAL Help us raise $85 Million

by June 30, 2015

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UP

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PO

R TING SIMM

ON S

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Making Education Work

ONLINE: SIMMONS.EDU/MAKINGEDUCATIONWORK

BY PHONE: 800-831-4284

CE

The energy and generosity of the Simmons community is propelling the landmark Making Education Work Campaign toward the June 30, 2015 finish line with a record level of philanthropic support for the College.

Alumnae/i, parents, and friends have already made gifts totaling more than $82.5 million. That means the Campaign is on track to exceed the original $85 million goal established in 2009 – and set a new Simmons record.

By keeping the Campaign momentum going right through June 2015, the community will help ensure Simmons has that many more resources to put to work for scholarships and enhancements to our academic programs.

Every Campaign gift counts, regardless of size. We are especially grateful to members of the community who have made gifts of $50,000 or more. You can see the list of those donors at alumnet.simmons.edu/fy14donors.

Be sure to visit simmons.edu/makingeducationwork for the latest Campaign news and updates.

YOU CAN KEEP THE CAMPAIGN MOMENTUM GOING BY RENEWING YOUR PARTICIPATION WITH A NEW GIFT – MADE ONLINE OR BY PHONE.

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NS

COMMUNITY KEEPS MOMENTUM GOING

Help Set a Simmons Record!

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Making Education Work Campaign Sprints Toward Finish

AT I N G S I M M

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IT’S SIMMTOBER IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE AND SUPPORT ALL THINGS SIMMONS!

THROUGHOUT OCTOBER, YOU CAN:

• POST A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE FOR JOHN SIMMONS • MAKE A GIFT TO SIMMONS IN HONOR OF OUR FOUNDER • #SIMMTOBER: JOIN THE SIMMTOBER FUN ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND INSTAGRAM alumnet.simmons.edu/simmtober facebook.com/simmonsalumni twitter.com/simmonsalumni instagram.com/simmonsalumni

Progress: $82.5 Million

SIMMONS ON THE ROAD

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BETTY ALBERTS ’61 HOSTS ZINA KONDRATIUK IN SAN FRANCISCO 40

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0 [Progress to date as of June 30, 2014]

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FALL 2014

Betty Alberts ’61 invited Zina Kondratiuk of the Simmons advancement office to lunch at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, where Alberts is a docent and trustee. Alberts gave Kondratiuk a private tour of the Japanese Galleries, where four hanging scrolls are on loan from Alberts and her husband for eight months for a special exhibition.

Kondratiuk , a capital giving officer, gave Alberts an update on the scholarship the Alberts have established at Simmons. It provides a small grant to qualified applicants to help attract them to the College. President Helen Drinan encourages gifts of scholarship because they help Simmons stay competitive with other schools offering aid to desirable applicants.

achievements on campus

[1]

[3]

[2]

[4]

School of Nursing and Health Sciences DEAN

School of Social Work Professor HUGO

JUDY BEAL has been appointed to the board

KAMYA received the award for Greatest

of directors of the YWCA in Boston, and to the board of directors of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, where she will serve as board secretary.

Contribution to Social Work Education from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Massachusetts Chapter, at its April 2014 Symposium. Kamya has also been named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education Council for International Exchange of Scholars. The roster is a list of all Fulbright Specialists who are eligible to be matched with incoming project requests from overseas academic institutions.

LISA BROWN, [1] assistant professor of nutri-

tion, was the senior author on a study of nutritionally balanced recipes on popular food blogs.

The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and received coverage from numerous media outlets including Fox News and The Huffington Post.

Assistant Professor of Social Work TAMARA CADET was invited to attend a meeting of the

country’s top influencers in social work and health care in Chicago. The meeting, Social Work and the Affordable Care Act: Maximizing the Profession’s Contribution to Health Reform, focused on ways to maximize the social work profession’s role in health care reform.

An essay by Associate Professor of English SUZANNE LEONARD [2] titled “The Americanization of Emma Bovary: From Feminist Icon to Desperate Housewife” (originally published in Signs) was the winner of this year’s Florence Howe Award for Anglophone Languages and Literatures, presented by The Women’s Caucus for the Modern Language. Leonard accepted the award at a ceremony hosted by the Modern Language Association in Chicago in January.

Associate Professor BEVERLY SEALEY [3] was appointed to serve on the President’s Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Review Committee. The committee is responsible for reviewing applications and making recommendations for acceptance of applicants to the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Fellowship Program. The Washington Fellowship is the new flagship program of YALI, launched by President Obama in 2010 to support young African leaders.

A poem by Alumnae Professor of English AFAA MICHAEL WEAVER [4] titled “Passing Through

Indian Territory” was selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry 2014, an annual anthology of contemporary works. The poem first appeared in the December 3, 2012 issue of The New Yorker. Another of Weaver’s poems, “American Income,” appeared in The New York Times in February. In March, Weaver’s book The Government of Nature was awarded the $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, one the highest honors in poetry. S

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29

class notes

GRADUATE

GRADUATE

School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association effective Sept. 30, 2013.

CAS

Jennifer Nickerson-Hoffman ’85LS is now administrative specialist at the School of Med‑ icine at the University of Virginia in Charlot‑ tesville.

In January, the department of education hosted a panel discussion with students and alumnae who have done educational work overseas. More than 30 faculty, staff, alums, and students attended to hear the panelists talk about their experiences in places such as Spain, Abu Dhabi, and Nigeria. 1 The de‑ partment shared a photo, (from left to right) including attendees and panelists: Education Department Chair Dr. Janie Ward, Associate Professor of Practice Christine Evans, Tofoul Almarzouki ’15GS, Alicia Wells ’12GS, Alyssa Lapane ’12GS, Sara Toga Collings ’98LS, Katherine Burke ’09GS, Lauren Couillard ’12GS, Maria Hegarty ’01GS, Favour Umejiaku ’14GS, Adeola Oluwadara ’97GS, and Associate Professor of Practice Jane Hardin.

Corinne Carvalho ’12GS was not able to join the panel, but shared photos from her work in Haiti with Teachers Training Teachers.

Jessica Harris McGillivray ’98LS has been appointed instructional librarian at Santa Rosa Junior College, where she also teaches a course on Information Literacy.

Amanda Rust ’03LS, assistant head of research and instruction, arts & humanities, at the Snell Library of Northeastern University, is featured in a Wiley Exchanges video about big data in the humanities, which can be viewed at bit.ly/1iYk0eD. Katherine K. Coolidge ’04LS has been chosen as executive board secretary of the American Association of Law Libraries. Coolidge is a law librarian at Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP, in Springfield, MA.

GSLIS Dr. Harvey Varnet ’71LS, ’79DA has retired from his position as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of South Carolina, Beaufort.

Dr. Toby Pearlstein ’77LS, ’87DA received the 2014 GSLIS Alumni Achievement Award from Simmons this spring. Dr. Pearlstein and Dean Emeritus and Professor Jim Matarazzo ’65LS gave the keynote address at the SLA New England Chapter and SLA@Simmons Fall Conference on Sept. 27, 2013. On Oct. 18, 2013, Drs. Pearlstein and Matarazzo presented a webinar on electronic books to the Insurance Division of the Special Libraries Association.

Martha Bedard ’80LS is the new vice provost for University of Connecticut Libraries, effec‑ tive Oct. 14, 2013.

Sylvia Knight Norton ’83LS is the new ex‑ ecutive director of the American Association of

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FALL 2014

Kristin Fowler ’05LS is now senior researcher at the Boston Consulting Group.

Thomas Blake, Jr. ’06LS is the digital project manager for the Boston Public Library and accepted an award in October 2013 on behalf of the library honoring its digitization work for Massachusetts’ Digital Commonwealth.

Eric D. Weaver ’10LS joined the Miami University Libraries as library associate at the Amos Music Library. He returns home to Oxford, OH, having graduated from Miami University’s Western College program in interdisciplinary studies.

Sarah L. Gillis ’12LS was invited to present a talk at the University of Missouri‑Columbia on her experiences as a new professional librarian in the art museum world. She is currently assistant registrar for image management at the Worcester Art Museum and is establishing a digital image archive.

Jonathan Schmidt ’13LS, the youth depart‑ ment supervisor at the Emily Williston Library in Easthampton, MA, was featured in an arti‑ cle in the Daily Hampshire Gazette about new library developments.

SNHS 2 The Simmons Nutrition Alumnae/i Group hosted its second annual alumnae/i event on March 2014 in partnership with the Nutrition Department and the Office of Advancement.

Last spring, more than 70 alumnae/i, stu‑ dents, faculty, and staff gathered for the event.

Some of the attendees were Associate Dean for Research and Innovation Dr. Nancie Herbold; Susan Hazarvartian ’91, ’98HS; Elissa Goldman ’11HS; Elise Reitshamer ’10HS, ’11HS, ’11HSC; Dr. Ellen Margolis Glovsky ’70; Meg Schade ’11HS, ’11HSC; and Assistant Profes‑ sor Dr. Lisa Brown.

SOM Ellen M. Gaffney ’80SM is author and illustrator of Wings for a Flower, a true story inspired by a young girl in Chennai, India, named Lotus Blossom, who received a wheelchair through The Free Wheelchair Mission (TFWM). All proceeds from the 32page picture book benefit TFWM. The book is available at wingsforaflower.com.

Lorraine Maddams ’83SM writes of her friend and classmate Barbara Shaw ’83SM, who passed away in March 2013. “Barbara was one of my closest and dearest friends. Barbara epit‑ omized all that Simmons stands for: brilliance, excellence, determination, courage, and loyalty.

She believed that women can make a special contribution to this world and that their contri‑ bution should be encouraged and recognized.”

Audrey Ellison ’85SM earned her doctorate in marketing from Nova Southeastern University.

Her dissertation topic is “Internal Branding in the Learning Industry.”

Arthur James Withers III and Roxane Romulus Withers ’03SM were married Sept. 27, 2013, in GA. They honeymooned

in beautiful St. Thomas and are very excited about starting this new chapter in their lives.

Greg and Joanna Owen Schmergel ’05SM and big brother Gage Kingsbury announce the birth of Aurora Whitney Schmergel, born Sept. 20, 2013

SSW Effective Oct. 1, 2013, Erika Schmidt ’75SW assumed the position of director of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis for a three‑year term. She is the first female, first child psychoanalyst, and first social worker elected to this position.

UNDERGRADUATE

1946

Priscilla H. Hanks ’73LS 6 Wildon Road Wellesley, MA 02482 pat.hanks@verizon.net Pat Hanna Hanks ’73LS shared that 2013 was a busy and exciting year for Margaret (Cricket) West Laun. Cricket attended her grandson Ben’s graduation from Riddle Aero‑ nautical University in AZ in May. In June, granddaughter Kat was married in CO, where she also met her first great-granddaughter, Maggie Webb. In September, another grand‑ daughter was married in VT and in August, Cricket sang with her choral group in an opera

by Handel. The crowning event was the birth of her first great-grandson.

1947

Barbara Burke Garlick P ’70 43 Whitehall Street Dedham, MA 02026 Barbgarl43@aol.com Thelma (Teddy) Santoro Lumpkin is finishing the last story for her 19th book. “I can’t believe that I have written a book a year for 19 years!” she says. Two of her short stories have been honored by Glimmer Train Press: one received

Dora Lear, 104, Credits Simmons for her Exciting Career in D.C.

C

lass of 1930 alumna DORA LEAR, currently age 104, sent a fan‑ tastic update about how her Simmons education impacted her life and career.

Shorthand in the secretarial science department was one of the required courses Ms. Lear took as a student in the late 1920s. After graduation, she took the Civil Service Exam, hoping to find a job in the midst of the Great Depression. Later, she accepted a job offer to join the secretarial pool in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) in Washington, D.C., which was created by President Franklin Roosevelt as part of his New Deal initiatives to help the American farmer.

Ms. Lear shares: “One day, not long after I started, I met a woman, and as we chatted about our work, I told her how bored I was in the secretarial pool. She perked up and asked, ‘Do you take shorthand?’ ‘Yes, of course,’ was my curious and enthusiastic reply. The woman explained that Dr. Max Wasserman, the secretary of finance at the AAA, was looking for an administrative assistant who was proficient in shorthand. After a brief interview with Dr. Wasserman, he dictated a long letter about economics to me and said, ‘If you can transcribe this, the job is yours.’ When I went home that evening, I quickly transcribed the letter.

Thanks to that shorthand class at Simmons, I got the job and began a wonderful, eight-year, life changing adventure in our nation’s capitol. As Dr. Wasserman’s assistant, I was in the thick of the New Deal. Not only was I involved in day-to-day government activities during an extraordinary era, I availed myself of the social and cultural life of Washington, met fascinating people in and out of government, enjoyed concerts, lectures, and museums on a regular basis, and even spent many lunch hours in the gallery at the Supreme Court hearing cases tried.

My Simmons education might have led me in any number of directions.

How fortunate for me that one required course in shorthand enabled my great adventure in Washington. I have been forever grateful.”

an honorable mention, the other was on the “25 Best” list. “I’m overjoyed when I swing my legs off the bed and find that they can actually hold me up for another day.”

1948

Jane Washburn Parker 1210 Evergreen Avenue Plainfield, NJ 07060 parkerjg@comcast.net

Elizabeth (Betty) Adams Laub, our Class president, presided at our 65th Class meeting on June 1, 2013, at the College. This was to be our last Class meeting, because as Betty ex‑ plained, she had been unable to persuade any‑ one to volunteer to be Class officer. She thanked those who had served the past five years: Vice President Jean Vanicek Babcock; Treasurer Virginia Nowell Klein; Class Agent Nancy Ryder Brissette, and Secretary Jane Washburn Parker. Jane volunteered to remain as the con‑ tact person for our section in the alumnae/i alumnet.simmons.edu

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class notes

UNDERGRADUATE

1

magazine. The Class of 1948 scholarship was awarded to a senior nursing student. Class‑ mates present for the meeting were Elizabeth Adams Laub, Roberta Prescott Hansen, Nancy Ryder Brissette, Margery Garland Nickerson, Mary Burgess, Jane Washburn Parker, Rosamond Muldoon Finocchio, Lorelle Lundeberg Schiewetz, Katherine Morris Fisher, Jean Vanicek Babcock, Jane Bergwall Shattuck, and Marcia Snow Darnell. Those present voted to discontinue any regularly scheduled mini-reunions. There will be a 70th Reunion only if a group of classmates wishes to get together and work through the College to plan, make arrangements for, and expedite whatever is necessary for the event. | Joan Nash Bell a former English teacher, en‑ joyed travel to Florida between 2005‑2010 for the winters in her small camper. Now confined to her home in Massachusetts, she shops via

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“Pea Pod” services. She has two daughters and one son. | Dorothy Novakoski Whittemore has retired from teaching middle school English in VT. She enjoys quilting and walking with a group of friends. Five of her seven children still live near her. | Rachele (Skip) Davis Dakos reported from AZ that she learned from her son, Dan, that Nancy (Cricket) Worth Tiffany was living in the Los Angeles area in a facility that cares for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s.| Robert Carlson, husband of Winifred (Freddie) McCalmont Carlson, wrote that they were unable to attend Reunion because Freddie was suffering from Alzheim‑ er’s and he was the primary caregiver. They live in MI. | Telephone visits with Rosamonde Cole Little and Elizabeth (Betty) Nelson Bleiler in NH confirmed that health problems prevented them attending our Reunion. | We learned of the passing of our classmates June

Radebaugh Hall and Betsy Ahlfeld Craig. We send our sincere condolences to the families of our cherished classmates in the Class of 1948.

Please phone/email/write to me, Jane Washburn Parker, with your bits of news. We still have a good number of living members with very active lifestyles.

1951

Virginia Willon Clark 4519 Baybrook Drive Pensacola, FL 32514‑7823 ginlee@cox.net

3 Kate DeBartolo shared an update about her grandmother, Marian Torkelson O’Rourke. Marian’s husband’s career took them all over the world and she worked as a nurse in Hawaii until her early 70s. Marian

raised six children and many pets, includ‑ ing a monkey. She lived in Hawaii from 1968 until recently and lived on her own into her 90s. She traveled all over the world visiting friends and family for most of her life. She has nine grandchildren.

1952

Ann David Young 126 Berwick Place Norwood, MA 02062 drocey@comcast.net

sistant Professor Benjamin Cole, who spoke to us regarding his active research agenda focused on comparative politics.| In October, three class officers, President Charlotte Sampson Meyer ’54SW, Treasurer Jean Burgarella Anjoorian and Secretary Ann David Young attended Leadership Weekend at the College. | Doris Kelleher Walsh passed away Sept. 26, 2013.

Her family asked for memorial donations to be made in her honor to Simmons.

1954

Nadia Ehrlich Finkelstein finehr@aol.com

Georgette McMurray Sampson ’73GS 8 Bedford Street Lexington, MA 02420

Claire Meyer Kretschmer loved visiting with old friends and reminiscing at our 60th Re‑ union. She and husband Ray spent a day in San Francisco with Mildred (Milly) Thompson Colahan and Wayne, who gave them a marvel‑ ous tour of the city.| Claire and Jane Echlin Kammerer had a wonderful visit over lunch in Florida. | Edna Cohen Landesman volunteers for MA Special Olympics and the Regional YMCA and works part time at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft. Edna met with Gerness Rosenfeld Alpert and Harvey in Fort Lauderdale, FL, this past winter while spending two snowfree months there. | Geraldine Jamiolkowski Elion and husband Ron continue their work with the “Cat Connection,” a volunteer organi‑ zation which benefits homeless cats. They are enjoying their two adopted cats, Cooklie and Lilcat, formerly homeless. | Paula McGinley Mathews keeps busy with the Thrift Shop at Greenspring and also with membership in the Little Theater of Alexandria. She reports that her family members are all successfully edu‑ cated and employed. | Patricia Thunfors Dann is still executive director of the Science and Dis‑ covery Center in Corning, NY. Our fall mini-re‑ union luncheon was held at the Riverside Bar and Grill at the Newton Marriott Hotel on Oct. 16, with 14 classmates and two guests in atten‑ dance. Representing Simmons were Director of Alumnae/i Relations Diane Schoenfeld and Po‑ litical Science and International Relations As‑

Meredythe Phelan Schober just planned her 30th Elder Hostel travel program. She has nine wonderful granddaughters ages eight to mid‑30s. Her granddaughter Samantha, a graduate of Lasalle College costume depart‑ ment, works for Boston Ballet. | Charlotte Howlett Reinemann says that Simmons has “stayed a beacon for me all these years and taught me so much.” She and her husband Richard have three sons, three terrific daugh‑ ters‑in‑law, and six grandchildren. Her most fascinating travel trip was a month in Zimba‑ bwe in 1986 being missionaries for the Epis‑ copal Diocese of Massachusetts. Charlotte also mentions that Joanne Freeman Grossman ’70GS’s oldest grandson was married in Au‑ gust in Irving, CA. His wife was born in Taiwan. | Carolyn Higgins McGray has a daughter and granddaughter getting married in 2014. | Constance (Connie) Lamprey Krapf keeps busy canoeing, helping with church worship, and doing outreach to newborns in 12 hospitals. She has seven “grandies” and her youngest son is engaged while her oldest son is a surgical assis‑ tant. | Traveling is still frequent and important to our classmates. Ruth Berglund Armknecht is enjoying different cultures. She has seen countries without telephones or internet that have built structural civilizations. | Betty Winer Heller has three children and four grand‑ children. She hopes to travel with her husband and family to Israel in 2014. | Marian Lombar-

CLASS NOTES SUBMISSIONS 1All Notes received will be posted in full on Alumnet 1Individual Notes should not exceed 35 words 1Notes published in the magazine will be edited for space and content 1Submit Notes on the Class Notes section of alumnet.simmons.edu 1Email Notes to classnotes@simmons.edu 1 Send Notes to your Class Correspondent 1Mail Notes to

Simmons College,

300 The Fenway,

Boston, MA, 02115

Attn: Advancement,

Class Notes Editor 1Call the Office of Advancement, 800-831-4284 or email classnotes@simmons.edu with questions

do Whelton and husband Jack are going to NC this fall for the christening of their “honorary” great‑granddaughter!| Beatrice (Bea) Medoff is proud of her European connection through her oldest grandson, Johan, who, after gradu‑ ating from Brown, is now playing football for the Berlin Rebels in Europe. | Our Class Presi‑ dent, Marilyn Sarkisian Woloohojian is finally retiring after working for Weight Watchers of North America for 31 years. Her last position was events coordinator for the Northeast terri‑ tory. | Diane Hanna informed Lorraine Fraser, who informs us, that Hazel Coleman Connor passed away at the Cape Cod Hospital on June 9, 2013, after a brief illness. She was the last of her family, and we send warmest sympathy to her classmates and friends. | Bernice Katkis Lichtenstein had a stroke, but is doing better and hopes to be home soon. She’d love to hear from you at: 275 Cypress Street, Newton Cen‑ ter, MA 02459.

alumnet.simmons.edu

33

class notes

UNDERGRADUATE

1955

Barbara L. Keough ’83GS barbarakgh11@verizon.net Patricia Chisholm Wallace pwallace10@verizon.net Nancy Reid Whitman nrw190@gmail.com The Class of 1955 had a mini‑reunion lunch at the Marriot Hotel in Newton on Oct. 26, 2013.

Those present were Jean Marie Lehan Levergood, Shirley Trull Hardy, Priscilla Belyea Trussell, Jackie Pell Tuttle, Rita Taddonio Walsh, Alice Koerner Wolf, Ruth Reed Cretella ’88GS, Dorothy Shapiro, Laura Bondi Carchia ’60LS, Edith Syrjala Eash, Patricia Chisholm Wallace, Barbara Meaney Keough ’83GS, and Liz Webster from the Advance‑ ment Office. Laura Bondi Carchia began the meeting by asking everyone if they knew that Alice Koerner Wolf recently had a building named after her. The building, now called the Alice K. Wolf Center, was dedicated to Alice in honor of her many years in public service.

Among her accomplishments are 16 years as a Massachusetts state representative, two years

2

34

FALL 2014

as mayor of Cambridge, eight years on the Cambridge City Council, and four terms on the Cambridge School Committee. Laura, who was at the building dedication, said that she and classmate Ellie Dosick first met Alice when she arrived at their kindergarten class in 1939.

1956

Dorothy Bruce Willis 24 Bradford Lane Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 dandfwillis@verizon.net Sylvia Ohanesian continues to play golf “with a much higher handicap,” is involved in her homeowners association, and is a Democratic leader in her area. Her housemate is very in‑ volved in California politics. | Ina Seinfeld Bechhoefer has moved to an urban condo in DC where she can walk everywhere. Husband Chuck has moved to a nearby assisted living facility where he is able to keep up with most of his former daily routine and have frequent outings.| Marian (Mim) Bamford Smith con‑ tinues to be immersed in the French language.

She plays golf and tennis and swims or works out each week. She had an opportunity to visit with Joan Rosati Johnston in Little Comp‑

ton, RI. Joan spends the winters in Naples, FL. | Marcia Ufland Alper writes, “Still in my home in Pasadena and planning to stay here – can’t imagine cleaning out 40 years of closets.”

Her two daughters and granddaughter are all involved with aviation. | Pat Morris Dennehy is retired from real estate and spends time playing bridge and visiting with her son and family in Caracas, Venezuela. He is in the For‑ eign Service and is vice consul in the embassy.

1957

Margaret Witton Russell 212 Gazebo Circle Reading, MA 01867 jhrx642@comcast.net Two themes seem to recur time and again in correspondence from classmates: down‑sizing (or not!) and travel. | Joan Sharrow Gochberg and husband Don, a retired professor of English at Michigan State University, have stayed in the house where they raised their five children. Joan still plays the piano at various community functions and has been the pianist at their synagogue for 15 years. She and Don have traveled in the US and Europe. | When Josephine Morello Butz ’07HD and Bob Butz moved into University Village in Tampa, FL, five years ago, she contemplated a relaxing time for reading and needlework. Now she is the secretary of the Employee Scholarship Foundation, co‑editor of the Village’s monthly newsletter and chair of the book selection committee for the University Village Library. | Barbara Lloyd Hayes and I have both successfully “downsized.” Barbara and husband Sam have moved to a retirement community in their hometown of Westwood, MA. They also spend time at their second home in Millsboro, DE. | Jack and I have moved to a condo in our hometown of Reading, MA, where we continue to be active in town affairs. We visit our place on St. John, Virgin Islands, three times a year and continue to travel as much as we can. | Elizabeth (Betty) Spencer Ivey recently took a National Geographic trip to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce canyons, which involved hiking 4-6 hours daily at elevations above 8,000 feet.

3 She holds a chair on the Mitchell College board of trustees and is on two other college boards, as well as the board at her church. | 4 Phyllis Isenman Buchsbaum and I, Peg Witton Russell caught up with each other at our 60th Newton High School Reunion. Phyllis continues to travel and spends three months each winter in Florida, where she always sees Sandra Frank Goldberg and Sheilah Cohen Harrow. | Judith Wolper Ennis has been exhibiting her photographs at local libraries.

She also sells photographs and note cards through her website: www.judithennis.zenfolio. com. She teaches computer skills to beginners and continues to travel to Israel twice a year.

She and her husband visit their two married sons and 8 grandchildren. | Sandra (Sandy) MacLean Clunies has published another book on lighthouses and their keepers titled: Bodie Island Keepers. She continues to travel around the country speaking at genealogy conferences, and in August had a great Rhodes Scholar trip to London. She says she plans to keep traveling “as long as the back and budget permit.” She and I got together in June. | Please keep those cards and letters coming!

1958

Dianne Kofman Chirls 306 Smith Manor Boulevard West Orange, NJ 07052 diannechir@aol.com You should be so proud of the most recent scholarship from our Class in the amount of $4,990 – our biggest yet – which was awarded to a nursing student from Cape Cod who plans to work in labor and delivery in a Boston hos‑ pital. | Lilo (Lee) Stargardter Feinstein once again hosted members of our Class at the New Seabury Country Club in Mashpee, MA, on Cape Cod. Classmates who attended were Valerie Abdou Wyckoff, Sandy Rosenfeld Dickerman, Sylvia Bossman Tolman, Judith Epstein Levine, Clotilde Chaves Zannetos, Sheila Wolf Agranat, and Louise Razin Brown ’77LS. Lee outdid herself with favors for all. | May Smith Jacobson, who still works full time as a stem cell researcher and teacher at Harvard

Medical School, had to cancel at the last minute because of work. | Hannah Lewin and Jim en‑ joyed visiting family in NH and VT, and vaca‑ tioned in ME this past summer. Hannah works with students with learning disabilities at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, and is planning to retire after 17 years.| Valerie Abdou Wyckoff began hiking every year in the early 1960s in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy with a group of friends. When their leader retired, Val began traveling to India, and has hiked in the Himala‑ yas, Southeast Asia, Burma, and Thailand. She also travels regularly to the United Kingdom to visit her daughter and family in London. Her younger daughter lives in Minneapolis with her family. | Sandy Rosenfeld Dickerman proudly wrote that her 16-year-old grandson played in the Maccabi lacrosse games in Irvine, CA, last summer. He was also invited to play lacrosse in Israel, where he played with the Israeli teams. | Nancy Sandler Gavrin’s daughter, Beth Gavrin, is a candidate for a master’s degree in education at Simmons. She is so pleased with their Simmons connection. | Thank you all for

contributing to Class Notes. Keep up the good work by staying in touch by email or mail.

1960

Elaine Gilboard Goralnick romaxe@aol.com Ann Devine Gross igross@bellsouth.net Barbara J. Zlotnick‑Sanders zlotnicksanders@verizon.net Barbara J. Zlotnick‑Sanders writes, “Thanks to those who responded to my request for Class Notes. I regret I couldn’t reach more of our Class since my list is quite outdated, but feel free to reach us, your Class secretaries.” | As they enter their second half‑century of mar‑ riage, Ann Devine Gross and Irwin recently took a trip to India which included Dehli, sur‑ rounding cities, and Nepal. | Madeline (Maddie) Emery White has achieved the top item on her “bucket list,” a spectacular rafting trip alumnet.simmons.edu

35

class notes

UNDERGRADUATE

down the Grand Canyon accompanied by her daughter and sister. | Carol Jorjorian Gibbon and Sam celebrated Sam’s belated 80th birth‑ day with a trip to Ireland via London. The trip was delayed due to the length of time required to repair the extensive damage to their home as a result of flooding from tropical storm Irene. They visited with their son’s family in London and enjoyed spending time with their three granddaughters. | Barbara Safier Shoag wrote of a recent trip to the five “stans,” Kara‑ kistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and visits to the seven M’s: mosques, minarets, mausoleums, madrasas, markets, and many miles. | Elaine Brutin Winshell and Alan Ziegler visited China this past spring. Elaine teaches a program for senior citizens and is presenting a course on the im‑ pending problems of world population, titled “Seven Billion and Counting.” She is the editor of the bulletin of the League of Women Voters of Fairlawn, NJ. She visits her daughter Jamie and grandson Enzo in Chapel Hill, NC. Her son Jason lives in San Francisco and is a software engineer. | Last year Sandra MacIver Thompson received the Simmons Alumnae Com‑ munity Service Award. She was nominated

by Carole Carsten Everett. Sandy’s daughter Deb and her son Andy, his wife Michelle, and their children, Jonah and Ella, attended the ceremony. Subsequent to the recognition of her

4

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efforts by Simmons, Sandy was invited to the Tenth Annual Unsung Heroes reception at the Massachusetts State House. Congratulations, Sandy, you certainly deserve to be among these women. | Jane Gillett Hinckley is engaged in the Cape Cod community of Orleans, MA, working with the Orleans Community Partner‑ ship, a young organization that works with the town and local businesses. She also participates in the Simmons Club of Cape Cod. She is try‑ ing her hand at oil painting and taking courses at the Orleans library. Jane recently dined with Betsy Anderson Dennison while she and her family vacationed on the Cape. | Clare Rosoff Holland and Rick, who has retired, are relocat‑ ing from their home of 51 years in Framing‑ ham, MA. Their new home, a condo in Plym‑ outh, MA, at Pine Hills, will be ready in May. They look forward to a life of leisure. | Norma Bress Fleischman and Chuck celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and have relocated to a downsized home in Oxford, CT. Congratu‑ lations and best wishes to the Hollands and the Fleischmans on their new homes and lifestyles. | Elizabeth (Betty) Jablonski Cygan says that she has moved on to yoga and is investigating her heritage via Ancestry.com. Peter is prepar‑ ing a study of the railroad in 1935, which he will donate to the railroad center at UCONN, his alma mater. The stars of her book A Tale of Two Tails, cats Bel and Ben, keep her and Peter busy. Her son Doug works in conservancy, and her son Fred allows Betty to fly his plane with his instruction, of course. Betty enjoys lunches with Maria (May) Cook Rogers regularly. | Geleta Fenton Hunsicker has published her first book of a series, The Adventures of Joel.

The series is written for children in middle school. Roger also had his first book published, a suspense novel titled Death of a Novice Attorney. Geleta adds that she has retired from her position as an officer in the Jackson Lake Homeowners Association. | I, Barbara Zlotnick‑Sanders, continue to keep in touch with Lynne Ross Wood and Phil as we commiser‑ ate on weather, politics, family, and a daughter in medical school. Stacy is in the process of applying for residencies following her gradua‑ tion in May. | Ann Kohler Ashley and I enjoy catching up during our biannual lunches in

July and September when Bob and I vacation in Harwichport. | Anne Stevens Blomstrom’s favorite trip of 2013 was two fabulous weeks in Tanzania. She enjoys oil painting and has been a docent at The Huntington Library, Art Col‑ lections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino for 25 years, where she was recently honored at a ceremony. | Dear Classmates, your secretar‑ ies appreciate your input, so please send a note, email, or call us with your news.

1962

Myrna Abbott Kasser 214 Thirteenth St. Hoboken, NJ 07030 Myrna@TwoKassers.com Mary Ellen “Mellen” Chadwick Linderman wrote that she recently returned from a driv‑ ing trip with her Arkansas son and Connecti‑ cut daughter, meeting in Portland, OR, driving to Cannon Beach, and then down highway 101 to CA. She said, “The coastal ocean drive is a must for everyone.” | Hope Strum Myers is giving classmates in the South plenty of notice about an impending mini‑reunion. There is a Gold Coast Simmons Club that has a meet‑ ing once a year, usually around the beginning of February. She also left for China at the end of October with Viking River Cruises, aiming for the Yangtze River, Three Gorges Dam, and Xian. | Joan Moskovitz Druckman was so lucky to celebrate three family weddings dur‑ ing the summer of 2013. Her nephew Adam married Beth in Maine, then her grandson Nate married Hannah. Finally, her nephew Dustin, co‑founder of Facebook, married Cari in San Francisco. “I’m still tutoring math and now have the fun of bonding with my grand‑ children over their math homework and SATs.” | Gail Trust and husband Marty are getting ready to head south for the winter. “We are in West Palm Beach and look forward to seeing Simmons friends in the area.” | Arlene Greenbaum Cohen is testing out her traveling shoes.

“Our NY son moved to Brussels from Brooklyn, and we sold our White Plains home and have become full-time Arizona residents. Our other kids are in FL and CA.”

1965

Marjorie Levine Lappen malappen@aol.com Sara Weinstein Rothman retired Feb. 1, 2013, at the age of 83, after 35 years as an Army scientist. “I owe my career to Simmons College and loved everything about it! Sim‑ mons accepted me as a full‑time freshman in September 1961. I was a 32‑year-old married mother of two, and the Simmons admission director encouraged me to apply. I’ve been enjoying retirement, with travel to Greece and Germany, as well as trips to Maryland’s Chesa‑ peake Bay area and to New England and New York. I’m planning to remain in my home in Silver Spring, MD.”

1966

Jacqueline Doughty Trask bjtrask01@comcast.net Rose Bryant Woodard rosewoodard@verizon.net Rose Bryant Woodard writes, “Some of our classmates in the New England area met in the beautiful College Archives in the Beatley Library for a mini‑reunion Sept. 21, 2013.

President Drinan joined 13 members of the Class of 1966. We had fun, and we found each other even more interesting people today than we were more than 40 years ago! President Drinan spoke to us about some of the concerns we all have: the future of women’s colleges, the value of women’s education, and the changes that need to happen for women to achieve all they can in the workplace – like universal childcare and thinking of men as our allies. And she had statistics that would make you very proud to be one of the Simmons graduates!

1968

Pamela Street Walton pawalton@myfairpoint.net Pamela Street Walton notes, “Reunion 2013 marked 45 years since our graduation.

While about 20 of us made it for at least part of the weekend, you should know that Sally Weinberger Weiner ’69GS and husband Jim have attended every 1968 Reunion. Think they’ll make the 50th? | Class members enjoyed many of the activities. One included a presentation by our own Vicki Danberg ’88SM on the challenges of getting things done at the state and local levels of government. Saturday afternoon featured our Class meeting, where we formed “The Unofficial Official Reunion Committee” for our 50th in 2018. Gail Foote Gamble and Peg Williamson will be our fearless leaders.

The Saturday night repast concluded with looking through the Class yearbook together.

This brought to mind fond memories of classmates not present, as well as speculation about what they are doing. | Ruth Gitchell Rempt wrote that there were individuals she had hoped to see who did not attend, but that she was amazed by the contributions made by classmates in their chosen fields. She hopes to see everyone at our 50th. | Maxine Sherburne Williams ’74GS stated that she and husband Don had a fabulous Reunion weekend. She has served on the planning committee of Reading Across Rhode Island and on the board of the Simmons Club of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. | Donna Splittgerber Weber recently moved to Cranston, and she and Maxine often see each other. | Sally Farrington‑Clute (Maxine’s Simmons roommate) lives in Iowa; they use the old-fashioned telephone to keep in touch. | Marianne Bourget Loomis noted that it was eye-opening to see how the College has enhanced its physical plant and hear how the school continues to reaffirm and strengthen women to be future leaders. She bought Simmons t‑shirts for her three granddaughters. | After living in Port Washington, NY, for 27 years, working in IT and raising their daughter, Terry Sayah Zukerman and husband Jeff sold their house, moved aboard their sailboat, and took off cruising for five years. In 2004 they moved to Northampton, MA, also hometown to classmate and longtime friend Laura Radwell. Last year Laura and Terry enjoyed a mini-reunion with Jane Bougess

Lindenbaum and Michele Satty Gage ’67.

So seamless and wonderful to catch up after more than 40 years! | Berkeley to Boston is quite a commute, so Ann Rogers missed Reunion. Though retired, she is vice chairman of the Berkeley Police Review Commission, enjoys the company of two golden retrievers, and said the welcome mat is out to any classmates visiting the West Coast. | Carmen Perry Santos hoped to attend Reunion but was unable to do so. She was matron of honor on July 27, 2013 for her Simmons roommate Jane Avery. Jane and her long-time partner, Denise Merritt, were married at their seaside home in Winter Harbor, ME, thus completing the circle, as Jane was Carmen’s maid of honor 43 years ago! | While I enjoy compiling the ’68 column, I, Pam Street Walton, will be taking a break for a year or so due to other commitments. After my 50th high school reunion, I’d be happy to come back on board.

Anyone willing to help with Class Notes or take it over for the next year? Having two or more Class secretaries would get more classmates involved for our Simmons 50th.

And do remember to send Simmons some money!

1969

Dolores Amidon D’Angelo ’72GS d_dangelo27@hotmail.com Our class was honored during Leadership Weekend in October 2013 as the winner of the Hoyt Trophy. This trophy is presented to the non-Reunion class with the highest in‑ crease in class participation from one year to the next to The Simmons Fund. Our par‑ ticipation increased by five percent! Class of‑ ficers Jeanne Mahoney Leffers and Sharon Tennstedt received the award on behalf of the Class. Francine Pennino and Eleanor Repetto also attended the awards dinner. | If you have news to share please contact me, Dee Amidon D’Angelo.

alumnet.simmons.edu

37

class notes

UNDERGRADUATE

1971

1976

manage the Queen City Pipe Band. Lastly, David and I made it official! We eloped with a good old Colorado do‑it‑yourself marriage on the Autumnal Equinox, Sept. 22, 2012!”

Wendy Ochsner recently traveled to France and Germany with the International Lyce‑ um Club. She visited the cathedrals of Metz, Nancy, Reims, and Trier, as well as the battle‑ fields of Verdun. Though living in Switzerland, Wendy keeps her connection to Simmons.

Her nephew, Jason Ochsner, is doing gradu‑ ate work at Simmons while employed in the Newton school system. | Elaine Kraimer is the children’s and young adult librarian at Ban‑ croft Memorial Library in Hopedale, and loves working with the little ones. She’s also teach‑ ing second grade at Hebrew school in West‑ wood. She took a wonderful summer vacation to New Brunswick, and then to Prince Edward Island. Her next trip will be to Austin, TX, in January. | Karen Donovan Tewhey is living in Boston, but also recharges in her home on Martha’s Vineyard. She is vice president at an educational consulting firm in Needham. | Paula Fabiano Ganzi has a getaway in Ber‑ muda, and last year hosted Elaine Zetes at the Grand Slam Tournament at the Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton. | Elaine Zetes has been named to the board of overseers at Salem State University, and an advisory member to the board of trustees audit and risk committee.

She also co‑chairs the American Heart Asso‑ ciation’s Boston Go Red for Women Circle of Red. In her spare time she works at the Fed‑ eral Reserve Bank of Boston as the corporate secretary. In November 2013, she attended a small Washington, D.C., dinner and reception with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Governor Janet Yellen, President Obama’s nominee for next Fed Chair. | Thanks to every‑ one who sends in updates!

Wendy Nimer Gordon recently downsized to a century-old foursquare in a leafy neighbor‑ hood of Portland. She has four children; all live in the Northwest, and are frequent visitors to her home. She writes, “Last year daughter Rhianna gave birth to our first granddaughter, Halle, and she hangs around here a lot, too! I am still working as a freelance writer and do‑ ing my urban homestead thing, gardening, baking, and canning.”

1981

Susan Kupor McHugh marketingedge@msn.com

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Katherine Wenc kwenc@mac.com

1979

Debra Casey debcaseyrd@gmail.com Marcy Adler Krumbine enjoyed two visits re‑ cently to her favorite city of Boston. In Octo‑ ber 2013, she attended Leadership Weekend and was amazed at the changes to the academ‑ ic campus. Earlier in August, Marcy traveled to Little Brewster Island to climb the Boston Lighthouse where she received a very roman‑ tic and surprising proposal of marriage.

1980

Michelle A. Mitchell shellmitchell@verizon.net Susan M. Barrett sue.barrett@aetna.com Heather Miller Nugent shared a great update about her life and family. “Sold my home of 23 years in Ken Caryl Ranch…and then moved into a neat old 1940 farmhouse in Lakewood, CO. We are putting in elbow grease to remove old wallpaper and make other much-needed repairs and updates.

I continue to be involved with the Rocky Mountain Highland Dancers, the St. Andrew Society of Colorado as newsletter editor, and

Nancy Finneran Walke nwalke@aps1.net Tom Hall, proud husband of Karen Richter‑Hall, wrote to update us on Karen’s life since Simmons. She graduated from Tufts with a doctorate in veterinary medicine then returned to Maine, where she practiced vet‑ erinary medicine at several hospitals in the greater Portland area. In 1997, she became certified in veterinary acupuncture, treating her patients with ailments such as arthritis and offering pain management. In the sum‑ mer of 2008, she left Freeport to start her own practice in her hometown of Pownal.

1983

Gisela G. Bauerle gbauerle@yahoo.com More than 50 classmates gathered to share memories at our 30th Reunion event at the Hampshire House on June 1, 2013. | Let’s keep connected! Join our Facebook group “Class of 1983 ‑ Simmons College.”

1986

Karen D. Wedlock‑Hunt ’06SM Karen_d_wedlock‑hunt@raytheon.com Rebecca A. Sanford sanford1217@yahoo.com Holly S. Gelfond recently married Haruo Mizutani. Holly is a psychiatric nurse practitio‑ ner at McLean Hospital. Her husband is a neu‑ roscientist researcher at Harvard University.

They hope to honeymoon in Japan next year.

5

1998

Shauna L. LaSpina slaprel98@aol.com Chandra Tallman-Miller and her husband, Garrett, welcomed daughter Finley Hart on Sept. 5. She joins big brother Thatcher, who turned 3 on Christmas Day. | Gina Hill Marshall and husband Jay welcomed son John Robert Marshall IV on Sept. 23. He was ea‑ gerly welcomed by his twin sisters, Jasmin and Jayla, age 3. | Classmates should send in their news. We want to hear what you’re doing!

2000

Tenisha M. Ramsay tmr224@aol.com Manorack de Kok‑Somviengxay manorack@aol.com Emily M. Howe ’02GS has been hired to do communications for the University of California system. Additionally, she started a feminist art project, Femme Cartel, and has promoted over 100 female artists.

2005

Zahra Kanji Ishikawa kanjiz@gmail.com

5 Denise Ouellet McCarthy ’06GS was married May 11, 2013. Simmons roommate Kate Tighe was her bridesmaid. Denise was recently named managing partner at the law firm of Cody, Cody, Cusano & McCarthy, LLC, a boutique estate planning law firm in Quin‑ cy, MA.

2007

Britta E. DeVolder bdevolder63@gmail.com On May 31, 2013, Carly Claffey Duffy married Padraig Duffy in San Francisco, CA. Shortly thereafter, she was promoted to director of

catalog and website merchandising for Resto‑ ration Hardware.

2009

Addison Haight anhaight@gmail.com Samantha Furbush Taraskiewicz writes, “On Oct. 12, 2013, I married Jason at Cape Cod Academy in Osterville, MA. Laura Thompson and Catalina Rojo Ianetta were in the bridal party. Jay and I then took two weeks and trav‑ eled around the Olympic Peninsula and Seattle area. | Kaitlyn Proto Pedotti married Stepha‑ nie Roberts‑Pedotti on June 15, 2013.

2010

Andrea M. Grant avoccio5@gmail.com Katie‑Ann DiFilipo Mason was promoted in July and is the admissions officer for Boston University School of Social Work. “It is a won‑ derful position that allows me to interact even more with students interested in the program while also allowing me to take on more respon‑ sibility. Life is good!” | Emily Mills wrote to let us know that Alyssa Manning Gramajo mar‑ ried Axel Gramajo on Oct. 13, 2013. It was a wonderful celebration of a wonderful couple.

alumnet.simmons.edu

39

voices

VENCHELE SAINT DIC

Peace of Mind If you asked alumna Venchele Saint Dic ’12 the number of ways Simmons prepared her for the Peace Corps, she would probably need a third hand.

W

hether learning to speak another language, or being on the front lines facing some of the globe’s most pressing issues, Venchele Saint Dic says her undergraduate experience couldn’t have complemented or equipped her better for her voyage to Senegal.

During her time at Simmons, Saint Dic became more aware of international studies and community service opportunities abroad, and felt a passion ignite from within.

Her interests for international work grew as a junior, when she learned more about non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that tackled public health crises around the world. Course after course, all signs pointed to joining the Peace Corps, which would serve as a springboard to the beginning of her career and allow her to put her passion to work.

“It was an appealing organization to me because it addressed these problems using grassroots methods in rural and urban communities,” she says.

For the past two years, Saint Dic has been volunteering with the organization and has completely immersed herself in her service. She says some of her most prized moments involve working with the Senegalese and learning about their traditions and customs.

“My professors imparted in me the desire to learn and nurture my knowledge outside the classroom,” she says, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural exchanges.

One of her proudest accomplishments was helping construct a new, fully equipped hospital.

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“This project was initiated to bridge the socioeconomic gap between those who had access to healthcare services and those who did not,” she says.

The hospital will serve more than 2,000 people in several communities in which Saint Dic is stationed, and will include solar panels and a maternity ward in the near future.

“My experiences at Simmons and the Peace Corps have truly prepared me to overcome challenges and help communities on a larger scale,” she says.

Saint Dic says her time at Simmons encouraged her to have higher aspirations as a woman and to be able to impact the greater good. Upon graduating last May, she left with a legacy rooted in her career and one that is instilled in all Simmons students: “To empower people to see the greatness in themselves.” S

In Memoriam

From August 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013, the Office of Advancement received notifications that the following alumnae/i are deceased.

GARLAND JUNIOR COLLEGE

Eleanor Eastman Spinney December 9, 2013

1962 Susan Lawson Farmer September 16, 2013

1942 Ruth Cottrell Bowling August 25, 2013

UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE

Priscilla Armstrong Caswell November 11, 2013

1932 Clara Cleaves Seymour September 20, 2013 1933 Dorothy Ruhl Doyle July 15, 2011 1934 Marjorie Knapp Martin July 18, 2013

Paula Heyman Freedman October 7, 2011

1965 Eleanor Halperin Brooks July 16, 2013

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES GRADUATE STUDIES

1973 George Fukuhara October 10, 2011

1950 Sara Berger Bramblett October 11, 2013

1966 Mary Hall Smithline July 28, 2013

1942 Florence Daniels Drury December 8, 2013

Sharon Sullivan August 17, 2013

Elizabeth Young Galavotti December 6, 2013

1968 Sheila Zablotsky Strassburger October 1, 2013

1949 Margaret Utter Durant August 27, 2013

1974 Roberta Hankamer June 10, 2013

1961 Louise Temple Gaiero July 15, 2013

1980 John Bryant April 26, 2012

1970 Pamela Salisbury Wyzga November 24, 2013

1984 Florence McManus December 22, 2013

1973 Shirley Lovett August 17, 2013

2001 Mary Perreault November 3, 2013

1982 Mary Kahao June 1, 2013

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Helena Farren Maguire December 16, 2013

Beatrice David Krakoff October 1, 2013

Eleanor Hazen Spaulding May 26, 2011

Jacqueline Adams Moore July 24, 2013

Seva Joakim Zervanos December 10, 2013

Miriam Krensky Shore January 6, 2011

1951 Sally McCarthy Bolster August 16, 2013

1936 Helen Hirschfeld Angell July 12, 2013

1943 Beatrice Burke Green May 4, 2013

Minna Schreiber Richmond April 24, 2011 1938 Margaret Manning January 17, 2010 Lucille Kiely Marshall September 19, 2013

1949 Lucy Wellington Edwards February 26, 2013

1970 Cornelia Briskow Cummings April 13, 2013 1971 Gail Lund Barwis August 20, 2013

Doris Judson Christensen December 24, 2012

1972 Barbara Leavitt January 27, 2012

1944 Nancy Boyce September 18, 2013

1952 Lillian Wolcott Charron September 2, 2013

1975 Barbara Boyd Guilmet June 5, 2013

Anna Morris Dox November 20, 2013

Carol Rodgers Jaffe August 9, 2013

Catherine DeLuca Giardiello August 12, 2013

Pilar Regalado Kerson September 8, 2013

1976 Carol Giorgetti Giorgetti June 9, 2013

Doris Kelleher Walsh September 26, 2013

1977 Mary Mollica Cannon August 11, 2013

1953 Maria Tavla July 8, 2013

1978 Wendy Levine Rich August 11, 2013

Lucille Lundy Lagerloef November 16, 2013

1954 Rosemary Feck Caldwell January 15, 2011

Mildred Kornetz December 19, 2012

Elizabeth Petersen Leighly December 17, 2010

Pearl Feldman Lemchen April 20, 2011

1955 Maralyn Rosenbush Keay September 10, 2013

1980 Tacie Mansfield McCarthy November 16, 2013

Grace Noren Newton December 18, 2013

Betty Ferbstein Mattlin August 19, 2013

Dolores Geeraert Vallario October 30, 2011

Phyllis Robinson Roboff July 18, 2013

1940 Dorothy Barrett Duddy October 3, 2013

Doris McGuire Sheppard October 12, 2013

1939 Priscilla Averill August 14, 2013 Jacqueline Tappan Cathcart May 31, 2012 Georgette Lavoie Hosford November 10, 2013

L. Gwendolyn Patterson Mountain June 29, 2013 Carol Vanderzee Van Buren July 12, 2012 Lucy Shen Wu October 21, 2013 1941 Frances Bowden Balmer June 1, 2013 Clare Harrington Burgun October 24, 2013 Helen Jones Ford July 21, 2013 Mary Whitcomb Godfrey June 23, 2013 Anne Koppelman Kline September 29, 2013 Norma Hough Love July 22, 2012

1945 Barbara Harlow Dillon October 29, 2012 Helen Kenney Frank December 25, 2012

1946 Pauline Hill Doggett October 10, 2013 Sylvia Perlman Stearns October 20, 2013 Margaret Foss Wood August 21, 2013 1947 Evelyn Jackson October 30, 2013 Cecille Deroches Stapleton September 25, 2013 1948 June Radebaugh Hall July 20, 2012 Frances Fleming Owen August 9, 2012 Mary Duggan Robichaud August 1, 2013

1956 Dorothy Sutherland Cain September 8, 2013 Mary Ann Donnelly Gallagher May 5, 2013 Diane Webster McMahon October 27, 2013

1982 Maureen Harris October 4, 2013 Grace Skinger Lefrancois September 2, 2013 1984 Diane Kolson November 5, 2013 1985 Stephanie Harrell‑Williams August 12, 2013

Jane Rusk Simmons November 1, 2013

1988 Erin O’Handley February 21, 2009

1957 Frances Chiabrandy Neville December 10, 2013

1997 Rosemary Driscoll September 10, 2013

Barbara Cloper Perlo August 3, 2013

1998 Diane Bermingham July 5, 2013

1960 Ruth Pudolsky Frank August 1, 2012 Jeanne Kindy Luiz December 6, 2013 Jane McMullen Lynn‑Jones November 2, 2013 1964 Judith Drezner Lippard September 9, 2013

1983 Eleanor Dell January 2, 2013 1986 Betty Finley December 31, 2013 1996 Jane Sheehan Maddox October 28, 2013 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE 1946 Doris Crane Oliver December 10, 2010 1948 Muriel Shaw Doherty July 14, 2010 1955 Muriel Adams Sanford September 5, 2013 1956 Anne Roess December 21, 2013 Stanley Truelson February 11, 2013

1976 Katheryn Cusick October 28, 2013 1983 Barbara Shaw March 29, 2013 1991 Pamela Wells September 21, 2013 1992 Elaine Janetatos Gallivan March 21, 2013 2001 Ann Schaffner June 19, 2013 SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK 1938 Marguerite Daniels Armstrong February 14, 2010 1941 Ruth Talbot Plimpton September 1, 2012 1947 Bernice Braidy Rothseid December 17, 2010

Rita Abbott September 27, 2013

1948 Nancy Graham Renfro December 21, 2013

1960 Hope Brown August 1, 2013

1952 Dorothy Spivey Field August 17, 2013

1967 Mary Melia Fisher November 1, 2013

Mitchell Hadge April 4, 2010

2007 Beth DiMasi Tupper September 30, 2013

1969 Ann Wolpert October 1, 2013

2009 Maria Basile December 11, 2012

1970 Frances Black October 29, 2013 1971 Patricia McKeon September 4, 2013

1957 Janice Heald Stevens December 18, 2013 1968 James O’Donnell February 2, 2010 1975 Eleanor Nickerson November 13, 2012 1976 Richard Bordas July 26, 2012

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STUDENT-CENTERED During winter break, Simmons sophomores take part in the Sophomore World Challenge—an intensive, two-week program on campus. Students work with faculty from many different disciplines to address a big, tough issue such as Poverty or Hunger.