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: […]
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 […]
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of $355,319 from the National Science Foundation will allow Washington and Lee University to replace its much-used but outdated scanning electron microscope with a state-of-the art version.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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
"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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
This year a record number of more than 200 first-year students at Washington and Lee University are spending five days in one of two "Leading Edge" pre-orientation programs. Appalachian Adventures takes students backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. Volunteer Ventures is a service-learning program that educates students about the realities of poverty by living, learning and […]
University's Staniar Gallery will present eight exhibitions ranging from W&L Professor Emeritus I-Hsiung Ju to legendary pop artist Andy Warhol. The gallery, which opened in 2006, is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary and art historical works in all media by regionally, nationally and internationally recognized artists. The season kicks off with a two-person exhibition […]
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 […]
Local community organizations throughout Lexington and Rockbridge County received a helpful boost when students from Washington and Lee University's School of Law took part in the Student Bar Association's (SBA) Service Day during orientation this year. "The last time we did this was in 2005 or 2006," said SBA President Negin Farahmand. "It used to […]
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. […]
Dating to its founders' first amateur performance of Antony and Cleopatra in 1985, the American Shakespeare Center (ASC), now one of the country's leading performers of Shakespeare, has kept a careful record of everything associated with the plays it staged. The center's archives include directors' notes, prompt books, set designs, posters, fliers, still and candid […]
Two Washington and Lee classmates from the Class of 2010, both double majors in English and theater, are working together on the off-off-Broadway stage in New York City this month. Jenna Worsham is directing “What the Sparrow Said” at Teatro LATEA. Included in the cast is her classmate Kevin Mannering, who plays the role of […]
A new book of stories by R.T. Smith, editor of "Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review," will be published next month by Stephen F. Austin University Press in Texas. "Sherburne" is about members of the same family spanning over a century with all but one story set primarily in Rockbridge County. According to Smith, […]
Members of the Washington and Lee community, along with Lexington residents, experienced the Virginia-based 5.8 earthquake on Tuesday. W&L has received no reports of any injuries or damage from the event. The quake, which was centered 82 miles from the W&L campus in Mineral, Va., struck at 1:51 p.m. with a low rumble and a […]
Roy T. Matthews, emeritus professor of history at Michigan State University and a member of the Class of 1954, is the author of a new book, Gittin’ Through. Published by Trafford Publishing, Gittin’ Through is subtitled A Southern Town During World War II. The book follows three generations whose lives were changed by the war: […]
As the world waits to see what might transpire in Libya over the days ahead, a Washington and Lee University politics professor believes there is a huge risk for chaos and infighting and points to the Congolese wars as a comparable situation. Ayşe Zarakol, who studies political transformations and is the author of "After Defeat: […]
Earlier this month at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Richard L. Duchossois, of the Class of 1944, received the The Ellen & Herbert Moelis Equine Savior Award for Philanthropy from Equine Advocates, a national non-profit dedicated to saving horses from slaughter. The award is just the latest in a long list of honors recognizing Dick's impact on Thoroughbred […]
Ted DeLaney, the Harry E. and Mary Jayne W. Redenbaugh Term Professor of History and head of the history department at Washington and Lee, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the St. George Tucker Society, an interdisciplinary organization of southern specialists at was founded in 1992 by the most important living historian […]
Following the success of this summer's Virginia Governor's French Academy at Washington and Lee University, Dick Kuettner, coordinator of the program, has announced that W&L has been selected to host three such "full-immersion" language academies in French, German and Spanish simultaneously for the next five years. "We are all very excited at the prospect of […]
