Campus
Hoyle’s ‘last lecture’ raises six questions
Joe Hoyle, associate professor of accounting, delivered Richmond’s first “last lecture” to an overflow crowd at Jepson Alumni Center in early April.
A “last lecture” is one given by a prominent professor who answers the question, “If you were to speak for the last time, what would you say?” The format was made famous in 2007 by the late Dr. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor who gave his last lecture while battling terminal pancreatic cancer.
Hoyle, who enjoys good health, has not lectured much since 1991, when he switched to the Socratic method of teaching. True to that style, he challenged his audience by asking six questions inspired by six former students. What is your biggest dream? When was the last time you made a new friend? When was the last time you were a good Samaritan? When was the last time you did something you got excited about? When was the last time you did something you thought was bold? And who are your heroes?
Governor challenges grads
At Richmond’s commencement ceremony in May, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine challenged the 2009 graduates to work with their parents and professors to reverse the backsliding of America’s educational system.
“If the power and the accomplishments and the opportunities of our state and our nation rest deeply on the kinds of investments that we make in education, we’ve got to do a lot better at it than we have been,” Kaine warned.
The governor compared Virginia’s education and economy today with that of 50 years ago, when a smaller percentage of children went to school than in “virtually any other state,” the higher education attainment rate—the percentage of adults with college degrees—was less than half the national average, and the commonwealth was 36th in per capita income.
Virginia overcame those deficits, but in the past 15 years, educational attainment in the United States has been “kind of stuck on a plateau” while other nations continue to climb higher, Kaine said.
Following the governor’s address, President Edward Ayers presented special honors to Pam Spence, retiring dean of admission, and E. Claiborne Robins Jr., R’68 and H’86, a longtime trustee.
Spence received the title of dean emerita of admission. She has been dean since 1993 and has worked at the University’s admission office since 1975.
Robins received the President’s Medal for his outstanding service to the University. He and his family have provided extensive financial and personal support to Richmond’s facilities, programs, and scholarships. Robins also has served on the University’s Board of Trustees for more than 40 years.
The University conferred 702 baccalaureate and 74 graduate degrees at its main commencement. In separate ceremonies, the School of Law granted 155 law degrees, while the School of Continuing Studies bestowed 124 associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees.
—Brian Eckert
“You are some of the most talented people God ever created,” Hoyle told his audience. “And with talent, there’s responsibility. Society needs you … to make a difference in this world.”
Hoyle has been named the University’s distinguished educator five times during his 30 years at UR. He also was Virginia Professor of the Year in 2007.
To view Hoyle’s lecture, go to Joe Hoyle’s "Last Lecture".
Mellon grant to fund Tocqueville Seminars
Richmond has received a three-year, $968,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop a series of Tocqueville Seminars that will explore the American experience in an international context.
The seminars are named for French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, an early 19th century visitor to America who described the country’s emerging cultural identity.
Working with visiting scholars and international partners, the University’s faculty will create a series of seminars analyzing the evolution of the United States using cross-cultural perspectives. Faculty and students will use a variety of approaches—including examining other societies’ impressions of America—to consider social, political, and cultural development in the United States.
Faculty from other Virginia private liberal arts colleges, Virginia’s historically black colleges and universities, and the College of William and Mary will be invited to join the project.
President Edward Ayers notes how well the Tocqueville Seminars fit into the University’s new strategic plan, The Richmond Promise. “We are creating an interdisciplinary and cross-school educational experience unlike any other in American higher education,” he says.
The grant will fund three course-development seminars for 12 faculty members beginning next spring. Prominent American and international scholars will contribute information and give public lectures, and the new courses will be offered in fall 2010.
Faculty
Professors receive Fulbright grants
Two Richmond professors have won Fulbright grants to teach and conduct research abroad next year.
Dr. Jennifer Nourse, associate professor of anthropology and women, gender, and sexuality studies, will travel to Indonesia to teach medical anthropology and women’s health care at Universitas Hasanuddin in South Sulawesi. She also expects to investigate the impact of new democratic policies in Central Sulawesi that give local people governance of public health projects.
Dr. Jimmy Kandeh, associate professor of political science, will travel to Sierra Leone to lecture and conduct research on the country’s development and democratization following civil war. “As the only post-conflict state to experience an alternation of political parties in power, Sierra Leone represents a test case for the liberal peace project in Africa,” he says.
Kandeh will be based at Fourah Bay College of the University of Sierra Leone, his undergraduate alma mater.
Leopold wins grant to study proteins
Dr. Mike Leopold, associate professor of chemistry, has received an $85,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue his research on proteins. He expects the grant to be renewed to provide a total of $255,000 over three years.
The funds will support summer research for Leopold, three undergraduate students, and a post-baccalaureate fellow.
Leopold’s team is researching the use of specialized nanoparticles, known as monolayer-protected clusters, as a functional component of protein monolayer electrochemistry techniques designed to probe the electron transfer properties of immobilized redox proteins.
The study is significant to the development of electron transfer model systems and biosensor technology, as well as the understanding of fundamental biological processes such as mitochondrial respiration and photosynthesis.
Leopold has published several articles on interactions between proteins and synthetic nanomaterials.
Staff
UR police lieutenant completes FBI training
Adrienne Meador Murray, ’08, a lieutenant in the UR Police Department, has graduated from the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Va.
Murray is the first member of Richmond’s campus police force to complete the program.
During her 11 weeks at the residential academy, Murray studied law, behavioral science, forensic science, terrorist mentality, leadership development, communication, health, and fitness. She also earned a yellow brick for completing an optional fitness test called the Yellow Brick Road, a grueling 6.1-mile course built by the U.S. Marines. Yellow bricks guide runners across rugged terrain. Along the way, Murray climbed over walls, ran through creeks, jumped through simulated windows, scaled rock faces, and crawled under barbed wire in muddy water.
Robins School ranks 12th
BusinessWeek has ranked the Robins School of Business No. 12 among America’s top undergraduate business programs in the magazine’s 2009 rankings.
The Robins School moved up from No. 20 on last year’s list, No. 23 in 2007, and No. 25 in 2006—the first year that BusinessWeek published rankings.
To identify the top programs, the magazine used nine measures of student satisfaction, post-graduation outcomes, and academic quality. The Robins School tied the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Wake Forest University’s Calloway School for No. 1 in academic quality.
“With Richmond’s strong performance in the classroom, it’s no surprise that the school moved up the overall ranking eight spots to No. 12,” the magazine states. “Robins is not only tops in [marketing, financial management, and macroeconomics], but also in corporate strategy and quantitative methods, making it the most celebrated program” on the list.
BusinessWeek asked senior business majors to grade the school in 12 academic areas including marketing, accounting, calculus, financial management, and corporate strategy. Richmond business students describe “a small program focused on hands-on, real-world experiences with engaging, accessible professors, and a strong alumni base,” the magazine concludes. “Students laud the fact that up-to-the-minute news is incorporated into core business courses with current market trends and announcements from the Federal Reserve directing daily discussions.”
Dr. Jorge Haddock, the school’s dean, says outstanding faculty and students, strong corporate support, and alumni backing continue to drive Richmond’s rise. “The generosity of alumni and other supporters enables us to provide students with a small-class environment that is conducive to high-quality education,” he says. “And the median starting salary of our graduates has increased again this year, continuing the upward trend of the past several years.”
—Brian Eckert
But perseverance is Murray’s trademark. Last year she graduated with honors from the School of Continuing Studies, completing the major in human resource management she began 15 years ago. Now she is pursuing a master’s degree in emergency management through SCS.
Students
Student film features Burmese Buddhists
While studying Buddhism in India, philosophy major Theodore Martland, ’09, of Groton, Mass., met a Burmese nun and social worker who rescues young girls from the South Asian sex trade.
With the nun’s help, Martland gained permission from the Burmese government to film a documentary in Myanmar (Burma) called State of Sangha: The Theravada Monastic Tradition in Myanmar. Theravada is the orthodox Buddhism followed in Myanmar and much of South Asia.
Filmed entirely in Myanmar, State of Sangha captures the beauty of the Theravada monastic tradition, showing how Burmese Buddhists find freedom within themselves.
Westerners, tourists, and journalists are not usually allowed into Myanmar, so Martland was constantly asked for documents showing he had government approval to film there. “My subject was Buddhism, so I was very careful to film only that subject,” Martland notes.
Martland traveled in Myanmar with the nun and two other people. They stayed in monasteries and meditation centers, sometimes sleeping on hard wooden floors. They traveled on overnight trains and buses, including one trip on top of a bus.
At Richmond, Martland majored in philosophy with a minor in rhetoric and communications studies. State of Sangha debuted on campus in late April. Now Martland is working on a proposal to film a documentary about the South Asian sex trade.
Der receives Goldwater
Matt Der, ’10, of Chester, Va., has won a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, science, and engineering.
He is among 278 undergraduates selected nationwide from 1,097 nominees. The awards provide up to $7,500 a year to cover tuition, fees, books, room, and board.
Der is double majoring in mathematics and computer science, and he plans to continue his studies in graduate school. He has been conducting research on sequence design in wireless communications with Dr. James Davis, professor of mathematics, through the University’s Long-term Undergraduate Research Experience (LURE). Der and Davis are searching for sequences that are suitable code for a transmission scheme called OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing).
Debate team climbs in national rankings
Coached by Dr. Kevin Kuswa and Kelly Congdon, Richmond’s debate team broke into the national rankings at No. 24 and earned a bid to the 2009 National Debate Tournament.
“The main accomplishment behind the rankings is that we have novice, J.V. and varsity teams all doing well at their respective levels,” Kuswa says.
In college debate competition, two-person teams speak both for and against the proposition of the year in alternating matches. They also cross-examine, trying to undermine each other’s arguments, and then sum up their positions with closing rebuttals. This year’s question was: “Should the federal government substantially reduce its agricultural supports?”
Richmond’s debaters began researching that proposition last summer and continued throughout the 2008–09 academic year.
The varsity duo—senior Liz Lauzon of Spotsylvania, Va., and sophomore Ashley Fortner of Addison, Texas—won 32 of 63 matches at 11 major tournaments around the nation, including UR’s 100-team Jay Weinberg Autumn Debate Tournament last October.
Lauzon attributes Richmond’s success to its coaches, who were outstanding college debaters. As a student at Georgetown University, Kuswa and a teammate won the 1992 national tournament. Congdon qualified for the national tournament quarterfinals as a student at the University of Texas.
Before Kuswa began coaching in 2001, Richmond had not qualified for the national tournament since the 1970s. Since Kuswa’s first year, Richmond has sent a team to nationals every year.
Books
Medicating Children
Three faculty members—two of them alumni—have written Medicating Children: ADHD and Pediatric Mental Health, a new book from Harvard University Press.
Six grads earn Fulbrights
Six 2009 graduates have accepted Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grants.
Kyle Bell of Wyomissing, Pa., and Aaron Daugherty of Oregon City, Ore., will teach approximately nine months in Spain and Indonesia, respectively. Lauren Grewe of Tulsa, Okla., and Kate Simma of Richardson, Texas, will teach for one academic year in Bangladesh and Peru, respectively, while Jill Eisenberg of Lexington, Mass., and John Calhoun of Bronx, N.Y., will teach in Taiwan.
“Receiving a Fulbright grant is an honor, a great opportunity, and a significant item on any job or graduate school application,” says Dr. Uliana Gabara, dean of international education. “By applying in the fall of their senior year and receiving the grants in increasing numbers, Richmond students have demonstrated that they are aware of the Fulbright program’s value for themselves as individuals and for the country as a whole.”
The year’s Fulbright scholars expressed a strong desire to continue the international educations they began or expanded at Richmond.
“People are like mosaics, shaped and colored by experiences and relationships,” says Bell, who studied abroad in Spain and India as a UR student. “Studying in the Basque Country and conducting original research in South India (pictured above) certainly colored my mosaic, fanning my passion for other cultures and scholarship.”
Fulbright ETA grants cover the cost of travel, living expenses, health insurance, and enrichment activities overseas. The Fulbright program, established in 1946, is named after the late Sen. J. William Fulbright, who introduced a bill in Congress to create a program “promoting international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science.”
—Karl Rhodes
The authors are Dr. Catherine Bagwell, ’94, associate professor of psychology, Dr. Jennifer Erkulwater, associate professor of political science, and Dr. Rick Mayes, R’91, associate professor of public policy. They explore how and why ADHD has become the most commonly diagnosed psychological disorder among children and
adolescents.
Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, of the University of California at Berkeley, calls their book “a beacon of reason … in the loaded crossfire between big pharma, media frenzy, biology versus culture, and the very nature of childhood itself.”
More faculty books
Buchanan’s Reach. Dr. William Cooper, University professor. Matt Preston, a university president, faces crises and opportunities for Buchanan University during his last year at the fictional Ivy League school.
Flashpoint China. Dr. William Cooper, University professor. Tensions between Taiwan and China bring the world to the brink of war in 2012.
Legalizing Identities. Dr. Jan Hoffman French, assistant professor of anthropology. French shows how legal maneuvering played a key role in creating two distinct identities—Xocó Indian and quilombo—among similar people in northeastern Brazil.
Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America. Dr. Ladelle McWhorter, James Thomas Professor of Philosophy. McWhorter describes racism, sexual oppression, and discrimination against the disabled, and poor as kindred aspects of the same societal malady.
Culture
Reich wins Pulitzer for ‘Double Sextet’
Composer Steve Reich has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in music for “Double Sextet,” a piece he wrote for eighth blackbird, the University’s Grammy Award-winning ensemble-in-residence. Co-commissioned by the Modlin Center for the Arts, the composition’s world premier occurred in Camp Concert Hall in March 2008.
“We are incredibly excited that ‘Double Sextet’ was the Pulitzer winner this year,” says Lisa Kaplan, eighth blackbird’s pianist. She adds that the Modlin Center’s role as co-commissioner “was absolutely essential in making this project happen, and for that, we are extremely grateful.”
Reich is considered a pioneer in minimalist music. The New York Times recently called him America’s “greatest living composer.”
Law
VSB honors Swisher for lifetime of service
In March the Virginia State Bar’s Family Law Section presented its 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award to law professor Peter Swisher.
“He has propelled and contributed to the evolution of family law in Virginia for nearly three decades,” says Fairfax attorney Aaron Christoff. In addition to teaching family law to an entire generation of lawyers, Swisher has written seminal books about practicing
family law.
He co-authored Virginia Family Law: Theory, Practice and Forms, Understanding Family Law, and Family Law: Cases, Materials and Problems. Swisher joined the Richmond School of Law faculty in 1974.
Law students win ABA competition
A team of students from the School of Law defeated teams from 69 other law schools to win the American Bar Association’s Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
The ABA’s Labor and Employment Law Section hosted the finals, with federal judges, law professors, and prominent employment lawyers from around the nation serving as evaluators.
Coached by Paul Thompson, adjunct professor of law, Richmond’s team featured third-year students Scott Jones, of Stafford, Va., Kristen Wright, of Atlanta, Jeannine Panzera, of Rockville, Md., and second-year student Hank Gates, of Richmond.
Sincell accepts award for pro bono work
In April, Miriam Sincell, L’09, of Oakland, Md., received the Virginia State Bar’s 2009 Oliver White Hill Student Pro Bono Award for providing extraordinary public service during her law school career.
Tara Louise Casey, director of the University’s Harry L. Carrico Center for Pro Bono Service, describes her as “an ambassador of the legal profession and the law school to the Richmond community.”
Sincell worked with the Street Law Project, where she recruited volunteers to teach disadvantaged youths about basic legal concepts. She was among the first volunteers in the Richmond Child Health Advocacy program, which addresses legal needs of low-income children who are patients at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. She also has worked with the Richmond Housing Law Project and the Christian Law Fellowship.
