People News April 2020

Dea Amparado ’23 helped organize a COVID-19 fundraiser for former students of the Phillippine Science High School, in which school alums collected commissioned artworks and logo designs to raise funds for face masks and other protective equipment for health workers responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Carrie Baker, professor of the study of women and gender, is co-author of “Sexual Harassment Law: History, Cases and Practice,” second edition (Carolina Academic Press).

Floyd Cheung, vice president for equity and inclusion and professor of English language and literature, is a contributing editor for “The Oxford Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature and Culture” published by Oxford University Press. Katarina Yuan ’21, a STRIDE scholar at Smith, was Cheung’s research assistant on the book.

The Smith-based journal Meridians, edited by professor Ginetta Candelario ’90, is featured in “Care in Uncertain Times,” a syllabus that Duke University Press is offering free online through June 30. Candelario is professor of sociology and Latin American and Latino/a Studies at Smith.

Colin Hoag, assistant professor of anthropology, has been awarded a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies for “Landscapes of a National Natural Resource in Lesotho, the World’s First Water-Exporting Country.”

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor Emerita of American Studies, has published “Traces of J.B. Jackson: The Man Who Taught Us to See Everyday America” (University of Virginia Press).

Marc Lendler, professor of government, was interviewed recently for “Bound by Oath,” a podcast by the Institute of Justice in Arlington, Virginia, about 19th-century anarchists.

James Lowenthal, Mary Elizabeth Moses Professor of Astronomy, was a speaker for the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in April, which this year was held virtually. Lowenthal spoke on the “threats from satellite constellations to astronomy and the challenges of radio spectrum management.”

Yoosun Park, associate professor of social work, is co-author of “COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate childhood obesity,” published in Health Medicine Network.

Maggie Pacheco ’19 is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship at Cornell University’s Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering. Pacheco majored in biochemistry and engineering arts at Smith.

Research by Maya Domeshek ’18, “Managing Investment Revenues and Costs in the Transportation Climate Initiative Region,” is published in an issue brief by Resources for the Future. Domeshek majored in physics at Smith.

Kelsey Moore ’15 successfully defended her dissertation on Zoom this month, earning a Ph.D. from MIT. She had 107 people tune in for her defense, and received wide ranging accolades for her exceptional scholarship and outreach, says her dissertation committee member Professor Sara Pruss. Moore, who majored in geosciences at Smith, will be doing postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Lab, where she will likely be involved in the Mars 2020 mission.

Allison Sirois ’16 S.M., is the recipient of an Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. Sirois, who earned a master of science degree in biological sciences at Smith, will be a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University in the fall.

Saadia Zahidi ’02, managing director of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, announced the COVID Action Platform, designed to help mitigate the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Zahidi majored in economics at Smith and earned a master of arts degree in economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies.

Rebecca Cavallaro ’97 M.A.T. is the new director of pupil personnel services overseeing special education services for the Southington Public Schools in Connecticut. She earned a master’s degree in education of the deaf from Smith, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and communications from Western Connecticut State University.

Young Huh ’91, founder of Young Huh Interior Design, has been named to the inaugural class of the Cosentino Design Alliance. The program showcases designers’ expertise at industry events and trade shows. Huh majored in English language and literature at Smith.

Nancy Yasharoff ’89 is the new senior associate commissioner and chief communications and branding officer for the Sun Belt Conference. A former associate athletics director for communications for American University and vice president of marketing and communications for YWCA USA, Yasharoff majored in American studies at Smith, where she played volleyball and basketball.

Mary Wagely Copp ’80 is the author of “Wherever I Go,” a children’s book about an African refugee family. Copp majored in mathematics and psychology at Smith, and earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Her book grew out of her work with refugee settlement organizations in Rhode Island and her travels to a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia.