Gaudeamus

The Alumni Fellows for 2003-04 are: Umer Khan Baloch ’05, Pakistan; Matthew Donnelly ’04, Clayton, N.C.; Amy Lawrence ’04, Gettysburg, mathematics; Jaime Marks ’04, Macungie, psychology; Matthew Turtell ’04, Lindenhurst, N.Y., management. Chosen by the Alumni Association for their academic record and contributions to the campus and community, they will receive $750 awards at the freshman banquet August 31.

Michelle Schmidt, assistant professor of psychology, participated in the 28th International Conference on Improving University Teaching, June 16-19 in Växjö, Sweden (with a stop in Copenhagen on the way home). She presented a paper, “Creating a Learning Community Using Information Technology,” and moderated a session on issues in grading and assessing. The University of Växjö was the first non-English-speaking European university to create an integrated English-language program.

Barbara Golden Liebhaber, assistant professor of music and newly minted Ed.D., attended a world music conference in June in San Diego, where she participated in Balinese gamelan ensembles and African percussion ensembles.

Debra Wetcher-Hendricks, assistant professor of sociology, has co-authored an article, “Teaching Stratification with Crayons,” with Wade Luqet of Gwynedd-Mercy College. It appears in the July issue of Teaching Sociology. Their teaching exercise uses different-size packs of crayons to monitor social perceptions of those who have more and fewer resources.

Seeing Double

Tracy Bowers has been hired as a visiting instructor of mathematics for 2003-04, replacing Sylvia Forman, who is on a leave of absence. Tracy just received her Ph.D. from Lehigh University. She has an identical twin sister, Stacy Snyder, a first-year graduate student in physics at Lehigh. The sisters are from Newport.

As it happens, Alicia Sevilla, professor of mathematics and chair of the department, is also half of a set of identical twins. Her sister, Elena Sevilla, by training a physicist, is a systems administrator at the University of Connecticut. The Sevilla sisters are from Argentina, and both received their doctorates from Cornell University.

Ta-Da!

Kym Morrison, assistant professor of history, has clipped the wings of The Albatross, as she has referred to her dissertation all this past year. She is officially a Ph.D. after passing her defense at the University of Florida in July. ‘And Your Grandmother, Where Is She?’: Reproducing Family, Race, and Nation in Cuba traces the historical evolution of Cuban race relations within the domain of the family, as affected by individual reproductive choices and government policies on family formation.

All That Jazz

Neil Wetzel, artist-lecturer in saxophone since 1989 and guiding spirit of the 11-year-old July Jazz Getaway, has been appointed director of jazz studies, a half-time position in the Music Department. Neil holds a B.M. in saxophone and an M.A.T. in music education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is working on an Ed.D. at Columbia University. In 2001, he was honored by Moravian students as the first recipient of the T. Edgar Shields Award for Outstanding Studio Instruction.

Incoming!

Warren Hilton has been named director of career development, succeeding Scott Strausberger, who left in December. Warren comes from Johns Hopkins University, where he was assistant director of career services and disability support in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a B.S. in computer science and an M.A. in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Creamer is our new director of international studies, succeeding Cas Sowa and Karen Keim. She has a B.A. from Colby College and has just received a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Illinois. Her areas of interest are Japan and Oceania (Guam and Hawaii). She speaks Japanese and Spanish, and her dissertation was on the experiences of Japanese immigrant women in Oregon.

...and Outgoing

Joan Gilmore, who is expecting a baby this month, has left the position of assistant director of learning services. Katherine Restuccia of the counseling center has cut back her campus hours to give extra time to her private practice. So Angela Lutzi will combine the hours of both to become assistant director of learning and counseling services.

A Death in the Family

Barbara Lloyd, an adjunct faculty member who taught Spanish at the College for 25 years, died June 14. She was 82. Her degrees were from Boston University and Kutztown University. Survivors include her husband of 58 years, Thomas B. Lloyd; their son and two daughters. Memorial gifts may be made to Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, or the Lehigh-Pocono Committe of Concern, an Episcopal peace project.