faculty

Kalamazoo College President Announces Retirement

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Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran and Charlotte HallPresident Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran today announced her retirement from Kalamazoo College, effective June 30, 2016. She made the announcement at the College’s spring term all-campus gathering, a meeting of faculty and staff.

President Wilson-Oyelaran was unanimously elected the 17th president of Kalamazoo College by the board of trustees on December 11, 2004. She began her duties in July of 2005. Prior to the presidency of K she served as vice president and dean of the college of Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

A native of Los Angeles, President Wilson-Oyelaran earned her undergraduate degree (sociology) from Pomona College, a liberal arts school in Claremont, California. She studied abroad in England as an undergraduate, and used a postgraduate fellowship to study in Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania) for 16 months.

Eileen B. Wilson-OyelaranShe returned to the U.S. to earn a master’s degree and Ph.D. in child development and early childhood education (Claremont Graduate University) and then taught in the departments of education and psychology at the University of Ife in Nigeria for 14 years. She married Olasope (Sope) Oyelaran in 1980, and they have four children—Doyin, Oyinda, Salewa, and Yinka.

The family moved to the United States in 1988. President Wilson-Oyelaran taught or served in administrative leadership positions at North Carolina Wesleyan College and Winston-Salem State University prior to joining the faculty of Salem College.

At K she led the development of a 10-year strategic plan for the college that, among other priorities, focused on the re-imagination and integration of the elements of K’s internationally renowned curriculum, the K-Plan. “We’re helping students integrate and reflect on the building blocks they use to construct their own unique K-Plans,” said President Wilson-Oyelaran: classroom explorations in the liberal arts, study abroad, career internships and networking opportunities, civic engagement, social justice leadership, and the capstone experience that is the senior individualized project. “Those elements, alone and in concert, enhance the four years that students spend at Kalamazoo College and will enhance students’ lives for years to come,” added President Wilson-Oyelaran.

Other curricular improvements during her tenure include revised graduation requirements, implementation of the Shared Passages Seminar Series (which helps students reflect upon and integrate their academic and experiential opportunities), three new academic majors (business, women and gender studies, and critical ethnic studies), two new intercollegiate sports (men’s and women’s lacrosse), the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, and new career and professional development programs such as the Guilds of Kalamazoo College.

President Wilson-Oyelaran helped envision and implement another key focus of the College’s strategic plan: building a campus community whose diversity reflects the world where K students will live and work. She acknowledged that much work remains to be done in order to create a learning environment that is equitable and inclusive for each member of K’s diverse learning community–the most diverse in its history. In this the 10th year of her tenure, 26 percent of K students identify as U.S. students of color. International students (degree-seeking and visiting) are nearly 10 percent of the student body. Fifteen percent of K students are the first in their families to attend college; and one in four comes from a family of modest income.

President Wilson-Oyelaran has reinvigorated campus spaces that students and employees use to solidify the sense of community that characterizes Kalamazoo College. Not since Presidents Hoben and Hicks has the physical campus made such extraordinary gains in beauty and utility. New spaces that have been renovated or erected during President Wilson-Oyelaran’s tenure include the Hicks Center, the athletic fields and field house, and the extraordinary work of architecture that houses the social justice center. In addition to these spaces, construction of a new fitness and wellness center will begin at the end of summer, and preliminary design of a new natatorium is complete.

Also, per the strategic plan, enrollment has grown to nearly 1,500 students (the 2017 goal specified by the plan), and the College has implemented an ambitious alumni engagement plan. President Wilson-Oyelaran also has led the most successful fund-raising campaign in the College’s history. That effort, called the Campaign for Kalamazoo College, is in its final stages, having raised $123 million of its $125 million goal.

Charlotte HallChair of the Board of Trustees Charlotte Hall ’66 said that the search for a new president would begin immediately. She noted that the search committee would include trustees, alumni, students, faculty, and staff. The 18th president of Kalamazoo College is expected to assume those duties on July 1, 2016.

That new president will have big shoes to fill. “Eileen, we are so grateful for all the ways you’ve helped prepare K for its future,” said Hall. “I know I speak for the entire K community, the Kalamazoo Community, and all the people you have touched throughout your time in higher education when I say we hope the best for you and Sope.”

President Wilson-Oyelaran cited the “singular honor” of serving at Kalamazoo College and shared her belief that, K, “the very best is yet to come.”

Her legacy here is truly a blessing for our entire community. More than a decade ago, when she was considering the decision to move from Salem Academy and College to Kalamazoo College, Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran was seeking some sort of sign to tip the scale. She found it when she learned that the great abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth had once met with kindred spirit Lucinda Hinsdale Stone (head of the female department at K, which was one of the first colleges in the country to provide higher education for women). “Ever since I was a child,” President Wilson-Oyelaran said in 2004, “Sojourner Truth has been an icon for me.”

Now, in turn, Kalamazoo College President Eileen B. Wilson-Oyelaran can be an icon for us.

Kalamazoo College Professor Awarded NEH Grant

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Dennis Frost, the Wen Chao Chen Associate Professor of East Asian Social Sciences, was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to support his project titled “The Paralympic Movement, Sports, and Disability in Postwar Japan.” His was one 232 humanities projects in the country to receive NEH funding. Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Professor Frost earned his B.A. at Wittenberg University and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He completed research programs at University of the Ryukyus (Okinawa, Japan) and Iwate University (Iwate, Japan). He is the author of Seeing Stars: Sports Celebrity, Identity, and Body Culture in Modern Japan. In addition to his study of the Paralympic Movement, sports, and disability in postwar Japan, his current research interests include a comparative exploration of military “base towns’ in Okinawa and mainland Japan. Said NEH Chairman William Adams: “The grants announced continue the Endowment’s tradition of supporting excellence in the humanities by funding far-reaching research, preservation projects, and public programs.”Congratulations to Professor Frost!

Great Adventurer

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Richard T. Stavig[NOTE: A memorial service for Dr. Stavig will occur on Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m. in Stetson Chapel. A reception will follow in the Hicks Center Stone Room.]

Richard T. Stavig, Ph.D., died on Sunday, Easter morning, April 5, 2015. He was 87 years old. During his tenure at the College Professor Stavig established his legacy in several areas. Generations of students remember him for his inspired teaching, careful scholarship, preparation and dedication to excellence. Colleagues at home and abroad owe a great deal to his skills as a gifted administrator. The College community benefits from the legacy of his high ethical and moral standards.

In 1955 Professor Stavig began his 37-year career at Kalamazoo College as an assistant professor of English. Some 30 years later–in a speech he gave on Honors Day (October 31, 1986) about the beginning of study abroad at Kalamazoo College–he described his feelings on being chosen to accompany the very first group of 25 K students to experience three months of foreign study in the summer of 1958:

“Wonder of wonders, a thirty-year-old untenured assistant professor of English who had been at K only three years, who had never been to Europe, and whose oral language skills were minimal was selected to take the first group over [on the ship Arosa Star, departing from Montreal on June 17] and give them–what else could he give them–minimal supervision. Plans had been carefully made, but there was simply a lot we just didn’t know. We did know, however, that we were involved in a great adventure, an adventure that had tremendous implications for us and our college. And we knew we had the responsibility for making it work.”

That same year he accompanied the first group of students to study abroad Professor Stavig also was promoted to associate professor English.

He became a full professor in 1963 and served in that capacity until his retirement from K in 1992. And he did much more. In 1962–the year the K-Plan launched as the College’s curriculum–Professor Stavig became K’s first director of foreign study. In this role he established procedures and goals that are still valid today. Five years later he was named dean of off-campus education. He served in both of those posts until 1974.

Rightly considered one of the founders of the K-Plan, Professor Stavig loved, believed in, and advocated for the educational leaps that result from foreign study. He credited study abroad in large part to the vision of his friend, English department colleague, and fellow K-Plan architect, Larry Barrett, who also died on an Easter morning. “Larry Barrett saw foreign study as a unique opportunity for us to experiment and innovate,” said Professor Stavig, “to see if a boldly different kind of educational experience could be made to work. And he wanted this because he always wanted education simply to be better for the students.” And so, too, did the man who wrote those words about his friend.

Funeral arrangements for Professor Stavig are pending. The family is considering a memorial service in Stetson Chapel some time in May. More information will be shared, and an obituary will appear in the June issue of BeLight magazine and the December issue of LuxEsto.

Kalamazoo College, Robot Bees, and Computer Programming

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Associate Professor of Biology Binney Girdler
Associate Professor of Biology Binney Girdler at a recent K commencement ceremony

Associate Professor of Biology Binney Girdler knows about bees and Beebots. She teamed up with Woodward Elementary School first grade teacher Jenn Rice and won an “Inspired Learning Grant” through the Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo. The grant will help pilot a new program at Woodward: little bee shaped robots called “BeeBots” that help to teach the basic skills of computer programming. The little robots will help student learn about spatial awareness, sequencing, counting and more.

Exposure to programming at this age (first graders!) will make technology seem more accessible and less magical. Eventually, the program may help students take fuller advantage of the Kalamazoo Promise (which covers college tuition for Kalamazoo Public School students). Early exposure to computer programming and related educational schools also may help students one day secure employment in high technology jobs.

Girdler certainly is looking towards the future, “If the BeeBots program at Woodward gets a lot of buzz, we would like to apply for more funding to follow a cohort of these students through their Kalamazoo Public School careers. We’d like to make available in their middle schools and high schools even more sophisticated programming tools and environments, and foster a peer-mentoring program that extends all the way to college.”

The two teachers’ winning proposal included a delightful video about the program’s potential. Click the VIEW ENTRIES button to see the video. Text by Mallory Zink. Photo by Keith Mumma.

Kalamazoo College Faculty Members Achieve Outside the Classroom

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Kalamazoo College faculty members not only teach, also advise students, and serve on numerous committees that help direct the College’s academic programs, they publish books, essays, scientific papers, and other writings, and they receive awards, grants, and countless other accolades. Below are recent achievements by just a few K faculty members. Well done, professors!

(By the way, K has a very low (13-1) student-to-faculty ratio. Of the nearly 100 full-time “resident” faculty, 96 percent hold a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree.

 

Bob Batsell, professor of psychology, received a 2014-2015 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant, from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee, for his project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Jeff Bartz, professor of chemistry, received a $220,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project entitled “Photodissociation Dynamics Studied by Velocity-Mapping Ion Imaging.”

Lisa Brock, academic director of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and associate professor of history, co-edited a special issue of the Radical History Review on the global antiapartheid movement.

Henry Cohen, emeritus professor of romance languages and literature, published the article “The river, the levee, love and confession: The thematic of Grazia Deledda’s L’argine” in Forum Italicum.

Kiran Cunningham, professor of anthropology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee, for her project “An Assessment of Transformative Learning through Change-Oriented Research.”

John Dugas, professor of political science and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership associate, published two book chapters. “Old Wine in New Wineskins: Incorporating the ‘Ungoverned Spaces’ Concept into Plan Columbia,” appeared in U.S. National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Concept of Ungoverned Spaces and Failed States. “Colombia” appeared in Politics of Latin America.

Peter Erdi, Luce professor of complex systems studies, co-authored Stochastic Chemical Kinetics, a book published by Springer.

Dennis Frost, Wen Chao Chen associate professor of East Asian social sciences, published “Sporting Disability: Official Representations of the Disabled Body at Tokyo’s 1964 Paralympics” in the Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science. He also received a 2014-15 scholarship of teaching and learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for his project “Acquiring the Gift of Gab: Demystifying Public Speaking.”

Laura Furge, Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney professor of chemistry, published two papers with student co-authors: “Mechanism-based Inactivation of Human Cytochrome p450 3A4 by Two Piperazine containing Compounds” appeared in Drug Metabolism and Disposition; “Molecular Dynamics of CYP2D6 Polymorphisms in the Absence and Presence of a Mechanism-based Inactivator Reveals Changes in Local Flexibility and Substrate Access Channels” appeared in PLoS One. Also, her article “Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education” was published in Social Ecology of the Classroom: Issues of Inclusivity. 

Adriana Garriga-Lopez, assistant professor of anthropology and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership associate, published “Azucar dura y melaza vaga” in the online journal 80grados.

Menelik Geremew is the new Stephen B. Monroe assistant professor of money and banking, a chair held by the faculty member within the Department of Economics and Business who teaches in the field of money and banking. Charles J. Monroe established this chair in 1966 in honor of his father, Stephen B. Monroe.

Christine Hahn, assistant professor of art and art history, has begun a three-year term on the College Art Association’s (CAA) Committee on Diversity Practices, one of CAA’s nine Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees. Her committee supports the development of global perspectives on art and visual culture; promotes artistic, curatorial, scholarly, and institutional practices; and assesses and evaluates the development and implementation of curricular innovation, new research methods, curatorial and pedagogical strategies, and hiring practices that contribute to the realization of these goals. The Committee is committed to organizing conference sessions that address issues concerning race and ethnicity.

Autumn Hostetter, associate professor of psychology, had three articles published recently. “Gesture-speech integration in children with specific language impairment” appeared in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders; “Gesutre in Reasoning: An Embodied Perspective” appeared in The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition; and “Action Attenuates the Effect of Visibility on Gesture Rates” appeared in the journal Cognitive Science. She also received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Patrik Hultberg, associate professor of economics, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for his project “Assessing the Flipped Classroom.”

Andrew Koehler, associate professor of music and director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonic won the American Prize in Orchestral Programming – Community Division.

Maksim Kokushkin, assistant professor of sociology published “Standpoint Theory is Dead, Long Live Standpoint Theory! Why Standpoint Thinking Should Be Embraced by Scholars Who Do Not Identify as Feminists?” in the Journal of Arts and Humanities.

Amy Lane, visiting assistant professor of sociology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “An Assessment of Transformative Learning through Change-Oriented Research.”

Charlene Boyer Lewis, professor of history, was selected into the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lectureship Program.

 

Sarah Lindley, associate professor of art, had an exhibition at the Lansing Art Gallery titled “Of Consequences: Industry & Surrounds.” She also received a Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) Expanding Collaboration Initiative titled “Surrounding Industry and Environs: An Intellectual Resource Collective.”

Amy MacMillan, L. Lee Stryker assistant professor of business management and her co-authors received the award for best conference refereed paper from the Marketing Management Association for their paper “Improving the Collaborative Online Student Evaluation Process.”

Simona Moti, assistant professor of German, had her essay “Between Political Engagement and Political Unconscious: Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the Slavic East” published as a chapter in the edited volume of German Literature as World Literature.

Andy Mozina, professor of English, published Quality Snacks, a book of 15 short fiction stories.

Stacy Nowicki, Title IX coordinator and library director, was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the Library of Michigan Board of Trustees.

Jennifer Perry, visiting assistant professor of psychology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Taylor Petrey, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone assistant professor of religion, published his article “Semen Stains: Seminal Procreation and the Patrilineal Genealogy of Salvation in Tertullian” in the Journal of Early Christian Studies.

Di Seuss, writer in residence and assistant professor of English, received residency at Hedgebrook, a writing retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Wash. Her essay/prose poem was published in Brevity and several of her poems have been selected to be published in the Missouri Review. Her piece “Wal-Mart Parking Lot” received the “½ K Prize” from the Indiana Review and her piece “Free Beer” was selected to be included in Best American Poetry 2014. Di is now in a tenure track position at K.

Mike Sosulski, associate provost and chair and associate professor of German, won 2014’s Best Article Award from the journal Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German with his article “From Broadway to Berlin: Transformative Learning through German Hip-Hop.”

Noriko Sugimori, assistant professor of Japanese, received a grant from the GLCA Expanding Collaboration Initiative for the project “Bringing East Asia to the Great Lakes Region: An Intergenerational Cross-Cultural Digital Oral History Project.”

Amanda Wollenberg, assistant professor of biology, was a recipient of a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant, from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Assessment of Student Experiences in the Cell and Molecular Biology Lab.”.

Margaret Wiedenhoeft, associate director for the Center of International Programs, was selected as one of three co-editors of the forthcoming 4th Edition of NAFSA’s Guide to Education Abroad for Administrators and Advisors.

Michael Wollenberg, assistant Professor of biology, co-authored “Propioniobacterium-Produced Coproporphyrin III Induces Staphylococcus aureus Aggregation and Biofirm Formation.” a paper titled in mBio.

[Malllory Zink ’15, helped compile this list. Thanks, Mallory!]

Challenge and Imagination: Working Science at K

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Kalamazoo College alumnus Parker de Waal
Parker de Waal ’13

Parker de Waal ’13 had a wish: he wanted to work on a computational chemistry project.

Laura Furge, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Professor of Chemistry, had a challenge: she needed models of the variants of an important human enzyme. (Some background: The aforementioned enzyme, found in the liver, helps the body process medicines, but it’s not exactly the same–hence, variants–in all individuals. Such variability means some people react differently (including adversely) to important medicines. That’s a serious health problem, and part of Furge’s current grant from the National Institutes of Health calls for the study of these variants. And for such study a model of the variants’ structures would certainly be useful!)

In spring 2013, wish met challenge, and, one year later, the two researchers (along with co-author Kyle Sunden ’16) have published a paper in PLoS ONE, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.

That culminating publication traces back to a laboratory question: Could de Waal (a student in Furge’s “Advanced Biochemistry” class) make computational models of the variants? “I suggested some different ways to approach the problem,” says Furge, “and those approaches took Parker all of about two days!” It was at that point that de Waal suggested to Furge some different, more powerful computational approaches–specifically, molecular dynamics using more sophisticated software. “I said, ’Let’s go for it!’” says Furge. “And we both started on the journey to learn more about Molecular Dynamics approaches.”

The journey included consulting with other scientists around the country and the world (Germany, the Czech Republic) both by email and in person at various scientific conferences. Furge and de Waal used a supercomputer at the University of Texas for the computational work. Analysis of the resulting structures was completed by Furge and Sunden during the winter and spring terms of 2014. “The project is a beautiful example of how research and teaching go together at K,” says Furge. The work has been presented at two major medical meetings.

The paper includes 21 figures and tables. Parker de Waal performed all the experiments that led to the figures; Sunden did the experiments and analyses for two of the figures. Furge did the majority of the analysis. In true liberal arts fashion, the cross-disciplinary work combines computer science and biochemistry. Furge taught Sunden, a chemistry and computer science double major, the relevant biochemistry as they progressed with the project. Sunden hopes to continue the work for his Senior Individualized Project after he returns from study abroad in Australia. The work may one day contribute to personalized solutions for people who have adverse drug reactions to important medicines. The paper has had more than 300 views in the six weeks since it’s been published.

Great academics, cross-disciplinary collaboration, research at the edge, and science that matters! Science education at Kalamazoo College: a double helix of challenge and imagination.

K on the Art Hop this Friday, Nov. 7

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The Birds of Great Britain
“Nyctea Nivea.” Plate from John Gould’s “The Birds of Great Britain, London, 1862-1873.

Even if you don’t know much about art, there will be plenty to like this Friday, Nov. 7, 5-8 p.m., when K students, faculty, and the campus itself participate in the monthly Art Hop in downtown Kalamazoo.

“John Gould’s Glories” features beautiful images from the College’s permanent collection by this renowned 19th English ornithologist and artist. Aided by his wife, Elizabeth, Gould published numerous monographs and illustrations of birds from around the world. His famous “Darwin’s finches” played a key role in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
5-8 p.m. – A.M. Todd Rare Book Room, Upjohn Library (third floor), 150 Thompson St., Kalamazoo College

The Miller-Johnson Art Scholarship and Exhibition for K students concludes in the Park Trades Center. Earlier this year, a jury of K art faculty selected artwork by K students Donna Aguilar ’15, Zoe Beaudry ’14, Lauren Gaunt ’15, and Gabe Montesanti ’15 to be displayed in the lobby of Miller-Johnson Attorneys and Counselors in downtown Kalamazoo. Each student also received $150 from Miller-Johnson. This Friday, the public may vote on their favorite among the four, with the top vote-getter receiving an additional $400! THANK YOU, MILLER-JOHNSON, for supporting Kalamazoo College student artists!
5-8 p.m. – K Community Art Studio, Room 312 (third floor), Park Trades Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave.

More K faculty and student art will be on display from 5-8 p.m. in the Park Trades Center (326 W. Kalamazoo Ave.), including:

  • An exhibit of artwork from the current K Advanced Studio class: Room 312
  • An installation by studio art major Cheyenne Harvey ’15 that explores the individual and social demarcations of “in/out” through use of video and mixed media sculpture: Room 411B
  • An exhibition of K student artwork of all levels organized by the College’s “Arts in the Community Living Learning House”: Room 209L
  • Artwork by Department of Art faculty Tom Rice and Sarah Lindley in the K Faculty Studio: Room 405A.

K Professor and Students Publish Important Chemistry Research

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K students Rina Fujiwara, Erran Briggs and Amanda Bolles with Professor Laura Furge
Medicinal researchers and members of the Furge Lab (l-r): Rina Fujiwara, Erran Briggs, Amanda Bolles, and Laura Furge

Laura Furge, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Professor of Chemistry at Kalamazoo College, is the senior and corresponding author of an important scientific paper that includes three Kalamazoo College student co-authors: Amanda Bolles ’14, Rina Fujiwara ’15, and Erran Briggs ’14. The paper is titled “Mechanism-based Inactivation of Human Cytochrome P450 3A4 by Two Piperazine-containing Compounds” and appears in Drug Metabolism and Disposition, a highly regarded, high impact international journal published by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. The research the paper describes, which was conducted in the Furge Lab on K’s campus, contributes the understanding of how some drugs “apply the brakes to” the activity of an enzyme–in this particular case, an enzyme important to the metabolism (or processing) of about half of all medicines! What are the human implications of the work? “Many individuals take multiple medicines each day,” said Furge. “Multiple-drug regimens can lead to unwanted side effects, including drug-induced inhibition of the very enzymes responsible for the metabolism and clearance of other co-administered drugs.” In fact, side effects from drug interactions of polypharmacy therapy are the number one cause of hospitalization in the U.S. “This paper adds in understanding of how certain classes of drugs may cause this type of unfavorable medical event,” said Furge. “New insights will hopefully lead to better prevention in the future.”

The paper includes 13 figures and tables. Furge noted that Bolles, Fujiwara, and Briggs performed all the experiments that lead to those figures, and “all the work was done on the campus at Kalamazoo College. We had all the equipment here needed to complete these studies, and we have already started full swing on another set of experiments for a future publication.” The students have presented parts of the preliminary data at national meetings in the past year, and the research forms of basis of the Senior Individualized Projects for Bolles and Fujiwara.

Such research, and the extraordinary educational opportunities it provides for K students, requires the cooperation, coordination, and collaboration of many funding sources. “This is so important,” Furge stressed. The Richard Cook Fellowship and the Alan and Elaine Hutchcroft Fund (endowments created and supported by alumni gifts) paid for the summer stipends of Fujiwara and Bolles, respectively. The mass spectrometer essential to the experiments was paid for in part by the Hutchcroft Fund and a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The research also was funded by grants Furge secured from the National Institutes of Health.

“Drug Metabolism and Disposition is an international journal with a high impact factor,” added Furge. Impact factors measure how frequently manuscripts in a journal are referenced by other authors.

Baby Tears and Dancing Twins

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Kalamazoo College Psychology Professor Siu-Lan TanPsychology Press has launched a new social media campaign called “Ask Dr. Tan.” And, yes, it’s “our” Dr. Tan–Professor of Psychology Siu-Lan Tan. Psychology Press is one of her publishers. Their Twitter account has many followers (among the highest number of any academic press). To celebrate having surpassed 50,000 followers, Psychology Press asked Siu-Lan to do #ASKDRTAN.

They chose wisely. Even though Siu-Lan confessed (in a recent BeLight article) to being a neophyte in the world of social media, her blog about a baby moved to tears by her mother’s singing was an incredibly successful “must-read” on two popular blogs in 2013. Psychology Press has launched its Twitter campaign with videos of twin girls dancing to their father’s guitar at ages 1, 2, and 3. The videos had gone viral, and #ASKDRTAN invites denizens of the blogosphere and Twitterverse to ask Siu-Lan any questions that come to mind about the girls’ behavior and their early responses to music. Example: What do most infants respond to first in music: melody or rhythm?

Siu-Lan will receive all questions before October 29 via Psychology Press’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Submitters of questions deemed top picks get a prize (a free copy of her book, Psychology of Music: From Sound to Significance). Top pick questions will be developed as part of an article that will appear on the Psychology Press website and on Siu-Lan’s Psychology Today blog, What Shapes Film?

Philharmonia Director Wins Music Award

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Associate Professor of Music Andrew KoehlerAssociate Professor of Music Andrew Koehler, who also serves as music director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, is the 2014 winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award—in the community division. Andrew was selected from applications reviewed this summer from all across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The award honors the work of Vytautas Marijosius, who served for 35 years as director of orchestral activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford. Andrew has appeared as a guest with the West Michigan Symphony; the Lyatoshynsky Chamber Orchestra in Kyiv, Ukraine; and the Festival South Chamber Orchestra in Mississippi, among others. Recently, he took part in the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conductor’s Competition in Katowice, Poland, where he won First Distinction and the Youth Jury Prize. Andrew is a graduate of Yale College, where he completed a B.A. in music and German studies (graduating with honors and distinction in both majors). He holds a certificate in conducting from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where he studied for two years as a Fulbright scholar, as well as a Master’s degree from Northwestern University.