Colleagues, former students reflect on Cline’s teachings in classics, ancient near Eastern studies

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Cline said his wife was an “innovative” researcher who was “frequently” 10 years ahead of her field. Diane Cline used her intelligence experience at the NSA of analyzing social networks to begin research in the field of ancient social network analysis, which involved investigating the social relationships between ancient figures.

Eric Cline said Diane Cline was also an accomplished cellist and that their house was always “filled” with the sounds of her playing the instrument.

Christopher Rollston, the department chair of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, said Cline was a “wonderful” scholar and “utterly devoted” to her students.

“Professor Diane Harris Cline had the ability to light up a classroom and to bring the lives of ancient Greeks and Romans to life,” Rollston said in an email. “Her students loved her, and she loved her students. She will be so very sorely missed.”

Elise Friedland, an associate professor of classical and ancient near Eastern studies and art history, said Cline was an incredible colleague and friend as well as a “fabulous” coordinator for GW’s Classical & Ancient Near Eastern Studies program. Friedland said Cline created a warm, vibrant and “connected” community for students.

“She was an electrifying presence in the classroom and one of the most compassionate and dedicated professors I have had the privilege to know,” Friedland said in an email.

Alexandra Ratzlaff, Cline’s former student and an assistant professor of classical and early Mediterranean studies at Brandeis University, said Cline was a “dynamic” professor and researcher and a supportive mentor.

“Diane was the first professor for me who really showed the importance of the humanities and looking at the world in a humanistic way,” Ratzlaff said. “Later over the years, I started actually using her research and her work in my own classes, and her work in the digital humanities was very inspiring to me.”

John Ziolkowski, a GW professor emeritus of classics in residence, said Cline was a generous, “spirited” and helpful colleague and friend. Ziolkowski said one of his fondest memories of Cline is when she played the cello at his retirement party in 2007.

Sydni Haggerty, Cline’s former student, said Cline always greeted her with a “bright” smile and addressed her in Greek. She said Cline taught her students how “magical and enriching” studying ancient history can be.

“I am so grateful to have met her and had her in my life even if only briefly, as I’m sure many of her students feel. To have a mentor in your life so wonderful and compassionate — that is worth more than I can express,” Haggerty said in an email.

Josh Sanchez, a former student who first met Cline in the fall of 2020 during a department “happy hour,” said in 2020 she once stayed on a Zoom call with him for an extra 30 minutes to tell him the story of a classical period leader in Greece. He added that Cline also attended his graduation last spring to watch the last group of classicists she taught graduate.

“She had to leave shortly after but honestly being able to see her in the robes, her seeing us in our regalia,” Sanchez said. “It was, I can’t even describe the feeling. It was just so, so wonderful, so beautiful.” ment and a lead researcher, said the majority of the increase in overall primary care providers who accept Medicaid comes from advanced practice nurses, like nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. She said policies should support systems and resources, like specialists who accept Medicaid patients, for advanced practice nurses – which she said are the fastest-growing clinician group – and physician assistants so they can continue to be able to treat patients with Medicaid and refer them to specialists if needed.

Chen said the tracker will be ongoing and will update as data from subsequent years becomes available. She said she is “worried” that COVID-19 caused the number of providers who take Medicaid to decrease because of the “pressure” it put on the health care system and workforce, which decreased the overall number of people working in health care.

GW to partner with federal research, innovation institute

RILEY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The University partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce focused on research for advancing quality of life in areas like climate, artificial intelligence and infrastructure, to launch a five-year research program for GW community members and members of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, a collaboration between more than 50 research universities to advance scientific discovery. The program will run through the NIST Maryland campus and provide up to $29.9 million in federal funds for financial and laboratory resources, according to a University release published earlier this month.

John Lach, the dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the partnership reflects the University’s commitment to advancing scientific educational opportunities and national research efforts, according to the release.

“By partnering directly with our NIST neighbors, we can develop a diverse talent pipeline, create the knowledge and innovate the solutions for our future,” Lach said in the release.

GW graduate and postdoctoral students are eligible to attain financial assistance for research projects and undergraduate students can apply for part-time work or summer research at the campus, according to the release. The release states students who graduated from the University, faculty and researchers not enrolled in a degree program are also eligible to work with NIST projects.

David Broniatowski, the program coordinator, principle investigator and an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering, works to facilitate connections between interested GW community members and NIST members, according to the release. He said in the release that the program will focus on diversifying the scientific workforce by recruiting members from historically marginalized groups and advancing national industrial, technological and economic research efforts.

“These are synergistic goals – everyone can benefit from the diverse perspectives of our nation’s top talent,” Broniatowski said in the release.

Broniatowski said in the release that researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Business, and the School of Media and Health Sciences are already slated to participate. He said the University’s strong government and STEM programs provide NIST with qualified applicants.

“GW has a unique opportunity to contribute because of our historic strength both in policy and in specific fields of engineering that have policy relevance,” Broniatowski said.

Pamela Norris, the vice provost for research, worked with Broniatowski to draft the initial proposal for the program and said the University’s scientific programs support the research goals of NIST, according to the release.

“GW is well positioned to lead a successful NIST-PREP collaboration thanks to our strong research and academic programs, our diverse community of broadly educated faculty and students and our proximity to NIST headquarters,” Norris said in the release.