In a ceremony earlier this month at the American Revolution Center in Philadelphia, His Excellency, Ambassador of France to the United States François Delattre, presented Washington and Lee alumnus and benefactor Gerry Lenfest '53, '55L, with the Insignia of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, commonly known as the Legion of Honor. Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in […]
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Adam Schwartz, the Lawrence Term Associate Professor of Business Administration in Washington and Lee’s Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics, has been credentialed as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He took three levels of exams over an 18-month period to achieve the CFA, a self-study program for people interested in learning more about investments. […]
Two members of Washington and Lee's School of Law are sharing their expertise with National Public Radio listeners today. Jon Shapiro, professor of practice, was interviewed for a Morning Edition story about the decision by the "underwear bomber," Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to fire his lawyers and represent himself. Shapiro discussed general issues of self-representation, including […]
John Jensen, currently a director of global equities for the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has been appointed assistant dean in the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics at Washington and Lee University. Larry Peppers, dean of the Williams School, announced Jensen's appointment, which is effective Dec. 15, 2011. A 2001 graduate of Washington […]
The October 2011 issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine contains its annual list of movers and shakers, "The New Establishment and the Powers that Be: 2011." At Number 39 in the 50-person list of the New Establishment, right in there with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder; Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon; and J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter, […]
Washington and Lee University is honoring longtime art history professor Pamela H. Simpson with a professorship in her name. An anonymous gift from a current parent established the professorship, providing the University with the opportunity to recognize a distinguished individual important to the life and history of the institution. The Pamela H. Simpson Professorship will […]
Janet Ikeda, associate professor of Japanese at Washington and Lee, will be participating on a panel in October, "Advancing the Study of Japanese," with representatives from Southern Methodist University, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Asia Society as part of a program sponsored by the U.S.-Japan Council. The conference is titled "Innovate, Educate, Collaborate: […]
Tammy Futrell, associate dean of students at Washington and Lee University, and J. Brodie Gregory, visiting professor of psychology at W&L and a member of the Class of 2003, appeared on NPR affiliate WMRA’s “Virginia Insight” show on Monday, Sept. 26. They discussed issues of leadership, including whether young American women are less willing to […]
When the Republican Presidential candidates held their most recent debate in Orlando, Florida, some of the questions were submitted via YouTube — and Washington and Lee sophomore Yates Wilburn, from Hilton Head, S.C., was one of the questioners. Fox News and Google received almost 19,000 questions from around the world, and more than 100,000 votes […]
At Washington and Lee University, getting — and staying — healthy is proving to be worth the effort, and the value has just gone up. As a way to increase participation in Live Well, the University's wellness program, employees who choose to participate will now receive a $50 per month discount on their health insurance […]
An award of $355,319 from the National Science Foundation will allow Washington and Lee University to replace its much-used but outdated scanning electron microscope with a state-of-the art version. “The existing machine works well for teaching purposes,” said Jeffrey Rahl, assistant professor of geology at W&L and principal investigator for the grant application, “but in […]
On Thursday, Sept. 29, distinguished legal historian Alfred Brophy will deliver the 2011 Hendricks Lecture in Law and History. The topic of Prof. Brophy's talk is "The Jurisprudence of Slavery, Freedom, and Union at Washington College, 1831-1861." The lecture will begin at 3:00 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons on the campus of Washington and […]
It's been a memorable few months for Uri Whang, a Washington and Lee junior from Collierville, Tenn., near Memphis. First, she won a $10,000 grant from the Davis Projects for Peace 2001. With that grant, Uri established a program called Benefitting All Children in Korea, or BACK. Her goal is to help North Korean refugees […]
Navy Cmdr. Michael C. Holifield, a 1989 graduate of Washington and Lee, was nominated for the 2011 Outstanding Career Armed Services Attorney Award for outstanding achievement. He received the recognition for the superior performance of his duties as a Navy judge advocate while assigned as staff judge advocate, Navy Region Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla. In 19 years […]
Washington and Lee University will hold two screenings of "Page One," the 90-minute documentary about a year in the life of The New York Times on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 26 and 27, at 7 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater. The movie is free and open to the public. On Sept. 26, the screening will be […]
The Amazon description of G. Scott Thomas's new book, A New World to Be Won, reads this way: "In 1960, Pat Robertson created the Christian Broadcasting Network, an issue of Time magazine describes the drug LSD as a useful 'facilitating agent' for therapy, and smokers in the United States bought nearly one million cigarettes every […]
Washington and Lee University students Morten Wendelbo and Cortney Patterson will be recognized at the first Generals of the Month presentation of the academic year on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 12 p.m. in the Marketplace in Elrod Commons. Wendelbo, a senior from Aalborg, Denmark, is majoring in global politics with a minor in environmental studies. […]
W&L's University Sustainability Committee (USC) has provided all new students — both undergraduate and law — with a stainless-steel water bottle, emblazoned with a "Drink Local Water" logo, as part of the committee's promotion of sustainability on the Washington and Lee campus. The USC aims to educate not only entering students but also returning students, faculty and staff about the advantages […]
The new America Invents Act, signed into law last week by President Obama, will have a substantial impact on the pace of innovation in the country, according to Alan C. Marco, a Washington and Lee University economics professor who specializes in intellectual property rights. Much of the media coverage of the new law focused on […]
"The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History," written by Julie Campbell, associate director of communications and public affairs at Washington and Lee, won first place for nonfiction book/history in the 2011 communications contest of the National Federation of Press Women.
The new CD, "Fleet Street," featuring Washington and Lee music professor Terry Vosbein's compositions of the music from the Stephen Sondheim musical "Sweeney Todd" merited a review on the website, All About Jazz. The review, originally from JazzWax, described the music as "a superb reworking and a throwback to an age of introspective interpretation." Vosbein […]
Jeff Shay, the Johnson Professor of Entrepreneurship and Leadership at Washington and Lee, appeared on NPR affiliate WMRA’s Virginia Insight show on Monday, Sept. 19, to discuss key lessons for small business success. An entrepreneur himself in his early 20s, Jeff has more than 20 years of consulting experience through his company, Shay Consulting International. […]
With fewer jobs available in investment banking these days, Washington and Lee University professor Scott Hoover's new book "How to Get a job on Wall Street" (McGraw-Hill August 2011) has already had an effect on the interviewing skills of W&L's students. He now believes it can have a similar effect on college students elsewhere. "I […]
Best-selling author and journalist Tom Wolfe, a member of Washington and Lee University's Class of 1951, returned to his alma mater for the 60th reunion of his class to give a lecture on "Art, Tenure Art, and the American Art World Today" during the Five Star Festival. Audio only of the Tom Wolfe lecture
Congratulations to Lesley Wheeler, the Henry S. Fox Professor of English at Washington and Lee. She is one of three finalists in the poetry category of the 2011 Library of Virginia Literary Awards, for her book Heterotopia (Barrow Street Press). Lesley, in fact, won a prize for the volume when it was still in manuscript, […]
Mark Farley, a Houston-based attorney who specializes in environmental issues, will present a public lecture on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Northen Auditorium of Washington and Lee University's Leyburn Library. The lecture, "Lessons from Deepwater Horizon and Similar Environmental Catastrophes," is open to the public at no […]
On Wednesday, Sept. 14, faculty at Washington and Lee University School of Law will discuss several of the most compelling cases on the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court docket during the School's annual Supreme Court Preview. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Millhiser Moot Court Room, Sydney Lewis Hall. The event is free […]
"Taking on Tradition: Six Young Virginia Painters and Printmakers," the newest exhibit in The Williams School Gallery in Huntley Hall at Washington and Lee University, opens Sept. 15 and runs until Dec. 15. "Taking on Tradition" is an invitational group show of young artists working in the two-dimensional art mediums of drawing, printmaking and painting. […]
This past August, Harlan Beckley, the director of W&L's Shepherd Poverty Program, told a group of entering Washington and Lee University students headed out to volunteer in impoverished communities that the U.S. poverty rate would soon rise above 15 percent. So Beckley was not surprised when the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that 15.1 […]
A team of Washington and Lee students, staff, and professors worked together to install a new stream gauge in Woods Creek during the 2011 Spring Term. The instrument is located on the W&L campus behind the Woods Creek Apartments and replaces one that was washed away in a flood a number of years ago. Meredith […]
Dr. Sylvia Earle, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and an accomplished oceanographer, will give a public talk as the first speaker in the 2011-2012 WS2: Women Scientists and Women in Science speaker series. Her speech will be Monday, Sept. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at the Stackhouse Theater in Elrod Commons. The title of Earle's talk is […]
Terrorism was not born on 9/11 or in Oklahoma City. It is, in fact, an ancient concept. But what is new about terrorism, says Washington and Lee law professor Erik Luna, is the development of a distinctive legal regime and heightened enforcement efforts in the decade since the Sept. 11 attacks. It is this legal […]
Annie Howard, a Washington and Lee sophomore from Alexandria, Va., has entered the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 6, with Team for Kids. She's hoping to raise at least $100 for every mile that she runs. If she succeeds, that will translate into a $2,600 donation to Team for Kids, which supports […]
When Washington and Lee engineering professor Jon Erickson introduced a new bioengineering course last fall, he said he wanted to show the students how many "beautiful problems at the intersection of biology, physics and engineering can be tackled using a synergy of ideas and techniques." His students started out studying the structure and function of […]
The liner notes on David Klabo's CD, Life of an Oyster, describe the music as "a kaleidoscope of a journey through different moments when we are falling in and then falling out of love." David, a 1989 alumnus of Washington and Lee, goes on to list some of his favorite musicians, writers and songwriters, who […]
On the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, members of the Washington and Lee community will once again gather in front of Lee Chapel on Sunday morning for a prayer vigil. On this coming Tuesday, Sept. 13, a panel of faculty will examine the attacks 10 years […]
Paul Arpaia, a 1985 Washington and Lee graduate, represented the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows earlier this month as part of an Italian-American delegation that traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, to meet Afghan families of the victims of terrorism and war and the representatives of Afghan civil and international organizations working in the country. Paul […]
Two popular destinations on the Washington and Lee website have undergone facelifts in recent weeks through the work of W&L's web communications team. WLUR-FM unveiled its new site in the summer. In addition to links to the weekly schedule and to a list of WLUR's Top 30 Albums, the site offers listeners several different ways […]
Congratulations to Isaac N. "Ike" Smith Jr., of the Classes of 1957 undergraduate and 1960 law, who was one of six West Virginia business leaders inducted into the inaugural class of the new West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. Announcement of the induction, part of the West Virginia Chamber's 75th anniversary, was made […]
Art Goldsmith, the Jackson T. Stephens Professor of Economics at Washington and Lee, appeared on NPR affiliate WMRA’s Virginia Insight show Thursday, Sept. 15. He was part of a panel that discussed President Obama’s latest job creation proposals. Other panelists were Robert North Roberts, professor of political science and public administration at James Madison University, […]
Rev. John Talley, minister of the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), told those gathered at a prayer vigil in memory of the 9/11 terror attacks on Sunday morning in front of Lee Chapel that the events 10 years ago represent an opportunity to change as individuals. The prayer vigil was sponsored by W&L's College Democrats and […]
Charlie Sweet, of the Class of 1965, has just co-authored the seventh book in the “It Works for Me” series that he has written with Hal Blythe, a colleague at Eastern Kentucky University. This latest edition is titled It Works for Me Creatively. The books all offer shared tips for teaching. Some of the other […]
Washington and Lee University's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) Resource Center is throwing a housewarming for its new headquarters on the second floor of Hill House on Friday, Sept. 9, from 4 to 6 p.m. The center is a project of the student organization GLBT Equality Initiative (G.E.I), itself a recent evolution from […]
Addressing the Fall Convocation to open Washington and Lee University's 263rd year, Pamela Hemenway Simpson, the Ernest Williams II Professor of Art History at the University, told the Warner Center audience that development of the W&L campus over several hundred years resulted in not just a collection of buildings, but a symbol. "What we so […]
When the Class of 2015 arrived at Washington and Lee University on Saturday, members of the University's Information Technology Services offered them a quick way to find popular websites and add contact information to address books with their smartphones and the new QR code technology. QR codes, short for Quick Response code, is a two-dimensional […]
Washington and Lee University welcomed the largest entering class in its history on Saturday, Sept. 3, when 497 members of the Class of 2015 arrived for a five-day orientation. The entering students and their families unloaded their cars and, with the help of upper-division student "movers," hauled their possessions into the residence halls on an […]
Washington and Lee University's Staniar Gallery will open the academic year with "Abandon," a two-person exhibition featuring prints by Barbara Duval and a film installation by Meredith Root. The exhibit will be on view from Sept. 6 through Oct. 6. Barbara Duval will present a public lecture in Wilson Hall's Concert Hall on Wednesday, Sept. […]
Readers of Stacy Morrison, former editor of Redbook and author of the 2010 memoir Falling Apart in One Piece, will be pleased to know that this member of Washington and Lee’s Class of 1990 has a new platform. This time it’s online rather than print — she is heading BlogHerMoms.com, an offshoot of BlogHer.com. Stacy will have […]
On Sept. 1, the Fall 2011 issue of Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review hits the newsstand — the virtual newsstand, that is. The 61-year-old literary journal is now entirely online and free. While its physical form is different, its spirit is the same. "Different can be just as good," said R.T. Smith, Shenandoah […]
Washington and Lee University's Art Department will present an exhibition of prints by recent graduate Michael O'Brien which will be on view from Sept. 6 – Oct. 6 in Wilson Hall's Lykes Atrium. O'Brien will give a brown bag lunch artist's talk on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 12:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall, room 2017. O'Brien […]
The Washington Post had a fascinating interview with Washington and Lee alumnus Alex Castelli not long ago. Alex, a member of the Class of 1986, currently heads the 50-person growth-markets practice in the Tysons Corner, Va., office of the Reznick Group, a top 20 national accounting, tax and business advisory firm. He also is a visiting assistant […]