People News September 2021 | Smith College

Four incoming Smithies are recipients of the 2021 Kaplan Leadership Fellowships awarded to high potential, low income and underrepresented community college students. This year’s recipients are Rosina Asiamah AC, Victoria Flores-Almazan ’23, Suleidy De La Cruz ’24 and Chanthea Quinland ’24.

Major in theater Kathleen Green ’23 played Ariel in an August production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” for Shakespeare Productions, Inc., based in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Jenna Stanley ’23 was an intern this summer with the Ernest F. Hollings Fellowship Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Stanley, who specializes in environmental science and policy, completed a project using microscopic images of yellow perch to examine the health of the species in New Jersey streams.

Teia Willa Shannon ’25 is the recipient of a Girl Scout Gold Award for a program she created, “Consenteens: Educating High Schoolers about Sexual Assault and Consent”. Shannon, who has been a Girl Scouts member since kindergarten, was honored at a ceremony in August hosted by Girl Scouts San Diego.

A musical for teens by Annika Schmitt ’24, “52 Blue” – written in the last year of the pandemic – was performed in August by Portland Players in Schmitt’s hometown of Portland, Maine. Schmitt also co-created another teenage teen show, “Gen Z: The Musical,” in 2019.

A translation of Paige MacKinnon ’23 of the poem “Siberia Burns” appeared in August in the Los Angeles Review of Books. MacKinnon is majoring in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at Smith.

Carrie Baker, Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman Chair of American Studies and Professor of Women and Gender Studies, was featured in a recent podcast, “Are Critical Race Theory Bans Targeting Women of Color Scholars,” on the History News Network at George University Washington. Baker was also a panelist at a September online forum at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, “Texas Abortion Ban and the Future of Reproductive Justice and Constitutional Rights.”

Maren Buck, assistant professor of chemistry, published “Molecular Design of Polymer Coatings Capable of Photo-triggered Stress Relaxation Via Dynamic Covalent Bond Exchange” in August in the Journal of Polymer Science.

Ginetta Candelario ’90, a sociology professor and editor of the Smith-based journal Meridians, was cited for her mentorship in a Stanford Graduate School of Education News article on community learning.

Adrian Gras-Velázquez, speaker in Spanish, is the author of “Spanish gay male subjectivity, body, intimacy and affect on Instagram”, recently published in Sage Journals.

Soliman Mourad, professor of religion, is co-author of the new anthology, “Muslim sources of the period of the crusaders”. Mourad also published “His Own Prophet: Adonis’ Misguided Controversy Against Islam,” in August in The Baffler. The article focuses on the work of the Syrian poet and intellectual Adonis.

Sara newland, an assistant professor of government, was selected as a member of the 2021-2023 Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on US-China Relations. Newland is a member of the US-Taiwan Next Generation working group.

“IPSA DIXIT”, a composition of Kate soper, Iva Dee Hiatt Professor of Music, was performed on September 4 at PS21 in Chatham, New York. The 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist chamber play explores the intersection of music, language and meaning.

Candice Prize, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, received a grant of $ 230,782 from the National Science Foundation for “LEAPS-MPS: DNA Knot Shadows Exploration”.

Steven williams, Gates Professor of Biological Sciences, published “Parasitic Disease Surveillance, Mississippi, USA” in the August 31 edition of Mecountryside. The research focuses on human populations in Mississippi that have historically been at risk for hookworm and other parasitic diseases. Williams is also the recipient of a $ 255,318 grant from the National Institutes of Health for “Soil Epidemiology: A New Tool for Environmental Surveillance of Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections in Endemic Settings.”

Will williams, associate professor of physics, received a grant of $ 481,758 from the National Science Foundation for “PM: RUI: ​​High-precision spectroscopy for QED testing.”

A research post by Adena Collens ’21, “Giant Bacteria, Giant Genomes”, was published in That’s Life [Science] after being shortlisted as a finalist in the spring 2021 online publication writing competition. Collens received her Smith degree in Biological Sciences and Jewish Studies.

A blog post by Amy Olson ’21, “Rediscovering Stories in Stacks: The Carvalho Monteiro Collection,” was published by the Internship Archives of the Library of Congress. Olson received her Smith degree in the study of women and gender.

Elena Rossen ’14 spoke this summer about “Online Skills Development for LifeMAP Coaches, AAPCA Members and AsperCoaches: Supporting Gender Diverse Clients” during a virtual training session hosted by The Asperger / Autism Network. Rossen majored in psychology at Smith and received a master’s degree in education from Lesley University.

Brook Eller ’98 was appointed to the board of directors of the Wilderness Youth Project in Santa Barbara, California. Eller, who received a degree in anthropology from Smith, holds a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of California.

Patience Nombeko Mbava ’96 has been appointed to a five-year term as Chairman of the South African Finance and Fiscal Commission, a government agency that focuses on “the equitable distribution of nationally collected income”. Mbava, who majored in economics at Smith, earned an MBA and a doctorate. to the government of the University of Stellenbosch.

Mona Sinha ’88 is a member of the inaugural advisory board of the new Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC Sinha, Smith’s Trustee Emeritus, will receive the Smith Medal in February.

Alison Shaw ’75 received a Walter Cronkite Award from SailMV for photography that helps “tell the story of Martha’s Vineyard”. Shaw, who majored in art in Smith, is the owner of Alison Shaw Photography in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.

Susannah Gal ’80 was appointed Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the Bahamas. Gal, who majored in chemistry and biochemistry at Smith, earned a doctorate. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. She was Associate Dean of Research and Outreach at Pennsylvania State University and is a former program manager for the National Science Foundation.

Esther Cohen ’52 was named “Local Legend 2021” by Peoria Magazine for decades of community volunteering and supporting the arts. Cohen, who majored in history at Smith, helped start and fund a range of arts and cultural organizations in Peoria, Illinois.