Julie Campbell, associate director of communications and public affairs at Washington and Lee University, was honored on Saturday, Oct. 15, when her book, The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History, won the People’s Choice Award for Nonfiction at the Library of Virginia’s 14th Annual Literary Awards, in Richmond. At the same event, Lesley Wheeler, the […]
To Washington and Lee University marketing professor Amanda Bower, October means two things: the arrival of Christmas catalogues in the mail and the predominance of pink. "Everybody looks around at all the pink — from batteries to the White House — and wonders what is this and does it work," said Bower, referring to the […]
When Bill Hamilton, associate professor of biology, and Tom Lovell, Class of 1991 and associate director of alumni affairs, appeared on WMRA radio last month to talk about their Lexington micro-brewery, Blue Lab Brewing, the show on which they appeared hadn't even been given a name yet. It was being called "The Not Yet Named […]
Lucas Morel, the Lewis G. John Term Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee, was a featured lecturer for the Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series in Springfield, Ill., on Oct. 13. the theme of the series, held at the University of Illinois at Springfield, was "Lincoln and the Civil War." Morel's speech was titled "War and […]
Angelica D. Light, a 1975 graduate of Washington and Lee's School of Law, is being honored this Friday as an honorary alumna of Old Dominion University. Angelica is president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in Tidewater. She joined the foundation (originally The Norfolk Foundation) in 1999, after 20 years as an attorney with […]
When he graduated from Washington and Lee in 1943, Bill Wilcox discovered that he was in demand. He had majored in chemistry, and the Tennessee Eastman Co. was in the market for young chemists. As Bill told the St. Petersburg Times in 2010: "In May of 1943 they grabbed up all the graduating chemists from around […]
Senior Zach Wilkes is bound and determined to start a new streak when Washington and Lee University's 2012 Mock Republican Convention nominates its presidential candidate on February 10, 2012. In its last attempt to predict the presidential nominee of the party out of power, the W&L conventioneers incorrectly chose Hillary Clinton in 2008 to win […]
Washington and Lee alumnus Thomas N. McJunkin, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, died at his home in Charleston, W.Va., on Saturday, Oct. 8. He was 62. Tom received his B.S. in business economics in 1970 and his J.D. from the School of Law in 1974. “Tom epitomized the loyal alumnus,” said Washington […]
Civil War historian James I. Robertson Jr. addressed what he called "three forgotten months" in Robert E. Lee's life during his lecture, “Lee and the Mobilization of Virginia Forces 1861,” at the annual Remembering Robert E. Lee program in Lee Chapel on Oct. 10, 2011. The event commemorated the 141st anniversary of Lee's death on […]
Pamela Hemenway Simpson, an art historian who was one of the most influential figures of the last four decades at Washington and Lee University, died at her home in Lexington, Va., on Oct. 4. She was 65. "She was a dear friend and colleague," said W&L President Kenneth P. Ruscio. "Washington and Lee is a […]
This Saturday night at 8 o'clock, or thereabouts, Doug Harwood, of the Class of 1974, will sit down at the controls of WLUR-FM for yet another Saturday night. Since 1971, the Saturday nights stretch beyond 2,000. He will spend the next four hours playing music that may be accurately described as eclectic, though it is […]
Back in June, we wrote about President George W. Bush's trip to Little Rock, Ark., to honor Warren Stephens, a 1979 Washington and Lee graduate, for his work on First Tee, the national organization that gives young people free access to golf courses, equipment and instruction. Last month, Warren received yet another honor for his work […]
George Kester, Martel Professor of Finance at Washington and Lee, received a Financial Education Association 2011 Conference Competitive Paper Award for his paper, “Reflections on Thirty Years of Using the Case Method to Teach Finance,” which he presented at the conference. In this paper, which will be published in Advances in Financial Education, he discusses […]
Washington and Lee University celebrates the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of jazz icon Stan Kenton in a musical extravaganza conducted by Washington and Lee music professor Terry Vosbein. The concert, featuring the University of Tennessee Studio Orchestra combined with the trombones of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, will take place in Wilson Hall at […]
Washington and Lee alumnus Philippe Labro, of the Class of 1958, has been in the news in his native France these past several weeks, largely because of a new documentary on his life, "Philippe Labro, Entre Ombre et Lumiere," which appeared on France 5 television last month. Parts of the documentary were filmed in Lexington […]
Washington and Lee University's Alumni Association has bestowed its 2011 Distinguished Young Alumna Award on the Rev. Jennifer R. Strawbridge, of the Class of 2001. Announcement of the award was made on Friday (Sept. 30) during the annual Young Alumni Reunion on campus. Rev. Strawbridge is chaplain of Oxford University's Keble College in England, where […]
During her summer internship at "D Magazine" in Dallas, the Washington and Lee senior Kelsy McCraw, from Greenville, S.C., interviewed chefs and professional women bowlers, wrote about advertising and did a video with Dallas' best children's entertainer. But maybe her most memorable assignment — and most compelling story — was one that she did on […]
At first glance, Room 201 in Payne Hall looks much like it did 100 years ago: slate blackboards, plaster walls, large windows. It's only after you step inside that you notice the recent upgrades, which include central air, overhead projectors, a high-definition ceiling-mounted document camera and a recessed screen. It's also fully wired for Internet […]
Two members of Washington and Lee's Class of 1993, now partners in a Idaho fly shop and lodge, had a close encounter with a bear last month, while they were bow hunting for elk in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. According to both media reports and a first-hand blog post, the men, Rich Paini and Jon Stiehl, […]
Terry Vosbein, professor of music at Washington and Lee, was one of seven composers from Associated Colleges of the South institutions commissioned to set poems to music as part of a project at Southwestern University of Texas. Vosbein's composition became part of a song cycle that focuses on the environment, particularly the importance of water […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
When blues guitarist and singer Scott Ainslie, of the Class of 1974, saw the normally eight-inch-deep Whetstone Brook in his hometown of Brattleboro, Vt., transformed into a raging torrent as Hurricane Irene passed through on Sunday, he got out his video camera and recorded some remarkable images. Then Scott added his own recording of Stephen […]
In June we blogged about Rebecca Makkai, of the Class of 1999, whose first novel, The Borrower, has been widely praised. But it was one of Rebecca's short stories that landed her a spot on a recent edition of NPR's "This American Life." As part of the program's show on Gossip, Rebecca reads a portion of one […]
Bill Buice, of Washington and Lee’s Class of 1961, and his wife, Stuart, were the subject of a nice recent profile in their local paper, the Shelter Island (N.Y.) Reporter, this summer. The focus is their mutual love of books. The Buices, who live in Shelter Island Heights, N.Y., are both natives of North Carolina. They […]
Washington and Lee University will observe the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks with two different events — a prayer vigil and a panel presentation and discussion. The prayer vigil will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, in front of Lee Chapel on campus. The Rev. John Talley, minister of […]
Barbara Jeanne Brown, University librarian at Washington and Lee University from 1985 to 2003, died on Aug. 27, 2011, in Lexington, Va. She was 69. Brown was named University librarian in 1985 and served in that position until retiring in 2003. She had previously spent five years, from 1971 to 1976, as head of reference […]
Suzanne LaFleur, of the Class of 2005, has just published her second novel, Eight Keys, with Wendy Lamb Books, a division of Random House. It tells the story of best friends Elise, who’s lost her parents, and Franklin. As the publisher describes it, “There’s always been a barn behind the house with eight locked doors […]
Mike Neer’s retirement lasted 16 months. The former Washington and Lee basketball Hall of Famer, a member of the Class of 1970, is headed back to the hardwood this winter as the new head coach at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. In April 2010, Mike stepped down after 34 years as the coach at the […]
Attending a Brown Bag Lunch at Washington and Lee's Howe Hall in the summer is akin to earning a mini college degree. During these sessions, held weekly in June and July, Washington and Lee undergraduates share highlights from their summer research projects. The quick-moving presentations zip between disciplines, offering an up-to-the-minute glimpse into experiments and […]
Jack Vardaman, of the Class of 1962, is going to have to postpone his induction into Washington and Lee’s Athletic Hall of Fame. But he has a perfectly good excuse. Jack was scheduled to be among the four inductees during the Hall of Fame weekend Sept. 9-10. He was to be honored for his four-year […]
Pamela Hemenway Simpson, the Ernest Williams II Professor of Art and Art History at Washington and Lee University, will present the 2011 Fall Convocation address on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 5:30 p.m., in Warner Center. The title of Simpson's address is "Reflections on White Columns." The event will be streamed live on the University's website. […]
